Κατηγορία

In English

Saint Mary the Egyptian (5th Sunday in Lent) (Saint Justin Popovich)

Κατηγορίες: In English

The 5th Sunday in Great Lent, the Sunday which is the week of great vigils, and ascetic struggles, the week of lamentations and sighs, is also the Sunday of the greatest among the women saints, our holy mother Mary the Egyptian. She spent forty-seven years in the desert and the Lord gave her something which He gives only rarely to one of the saints. For years on end, she tasted neither bread nor water. When she was asked about this by Abba Zosimas, she answered: ‘We do not live by bread alone’ (Matth. 4, 4). The Lord fed her in a particular way and introduced her to the life of a hermit, to the struggles of an ascetic. And the result? ...

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Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt (Metropolitan Anthony Bloom †)

Κατηγορίες: In English

1 April 1990 In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. On the fifth Sunday in Lent we remember Saint Mary of Egypt, and she can teach us a great deal of what we need to know. She was a sinner, publicly known, a temptation and a scandal to men. How she became a sinner – we do not know; whether there was evil in her, whether she was seduced or raped, how she became a harlot, we shall never know. What we know for sure is that one day she came to a church of the Mother of God – the image of perfect wholeness – and she suddenly felt that she could not enter it. We ...

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The Repose of Father Job (Miracles of Saint Joseph the Hesychast) (Elder Ephraim of Arizona)

Κατηγορίες: In English

In 1978 when I was at Philotheou Monastery, Father Job passed away. He was a good disciple of mine. Soon afterwards we had an all-night vigil for St. John the Forerunner. I have a soft spot for him, because I was born on his Nativity and was named after him. During this vigil, I felt St. Johns living presence tangibly. After celebrating his vigil with great joy, I went to rest, and in my sleep I saw the following vision: I saw that I left Philotheou along with Father Job and his guardian angel. We went to Geronda who was at our huts in the wilderness of the Small Skete of St. Anne. WEen we arrived, I felt as if I had ...

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