What is the perfect joy

ONCE when St. Francis was coming from Perugia to Santa Maria degli Angeli with Friar Leo in the winter, and the very great cold vexed him sore, he called Friar Leo, who was going before, and spake after this manner: "Friar Leo, albeit the minor friars in every land set a great example of holiness and of good edification, nevertheless, write and note diligently that therein is not perfect joy". And when St. Francis had gone farther, he called unto him the second time: "O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should give sight to the blind, make straight the crooked, cast out devils, make the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dumb to speak, and, what is a greater thing, should raise those who have been dead four days; write that therein is not perfect joy". Going a little farther, he shouted loudly:

 "O Friar  Leo, if the minor friar knew all tongues, and all sciences, and all the Scriptures, so that he was able to prophesy and to reveal not only things to come but also the secrets of consciences and souls; write that therein is not perfect joy". Going a little farther, St. Francis yet again shouted loudly: "O Friar Leo, little sheep of God, albeit the minor friar should speak with the tongue of angels, and knew the courses of the stars and the virtues of herbs, and albeit all the treasures of the earth were revealed to him and he knew the virtues of birds and of fishes and of all animals and of men, of trees, of stones and of roots and of waters; write that therein is not perfect joy". And going yet farther a certain space, St. Francis shouted loudly: "O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should know to preach so well that he should convert all the infidels to the faith of Christ; write that therein is not perfect joy". And this manner of speech continuing for full two miles, Friar Leo, with great wonder, asked and said: Father, I pray thee in the name of God to tell me wherein is perfect joy". And St. Francis answered him: "When we shall be at Santa Maria degli Angeli, thus soaked by the rain, and frozen by the cold, and befouled with mud, and afflicted with hunger, and shall knock at the door of the Place, and the doorkeeper shall come in anger and shall say: 'Who are ye?' and we shall say: 'We are two of your friars,' and he shall say: 'Ye speak not truth; rather are ye two lewd fellows who go about deceiving the world and robbing the alms of the poor: get you hence'; and shall not open unto us, but shall make us stay outside in the snow and rain, cold and hungry, even until night; then, if we shall bear such great wrong and such cruelty and such rebuffs patiently, without disquieting ourselves and without murmuring against him; and shall think humbly and charitably that that door-keeper really believes us to be that which he has called us, and that God makes him speak against us; O Friar Leo, write that here is perfect joy. And if we persevere in knocking, and he shall come forth enraged and shall drive us away with insults and with buffetings, as importunate rascals, saying, 'Get you hence, vilest of petty thieves, go to the hospice. Here ye shall neither eat nor lodge.' If we shall bear this patiently and with joy and love; O Friar Leo write that herein is perfect joy. And if, constrained by hunger and by cold and by the night, we shall continue to knock and shall call and beseech for the love of God, with great weeping, that he open unto us and let us in, and he, greatly offended thereat, shall say: 'These be importunate rascals; I will pay them well as they deserve,' and shall come forth with a knotty club and take us by the cowl, and shall throw us on the ground and roll us in the snow and shall cudgel us pitilessly with that club; if we shall bear all these things patiently and with cheerfulness, thinking on the sufferings of Christ the blessed, the which we ought to bear patiently for His love; O Friar Leo, write that here and in this is perfect joy; and therefore hear the conclusion, Friar Leo; above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which Christ grants to His friends, is that of self-conquest and of willingly bearing sufferings, injuries and reproaches and discomforts for the love of Christ; because in all the other gifts of God we cannot glory, inasmuch as they are not ours, but of God; whence the Apostle saith: What hast thou that thou didst not receive from God! and if thou didst receive it from Him, wherefore dost thou glory therein as if thou hadst it of thyself! But in the cross of tribulation and of affliction we may glory, because this is our own; and therefore the Apostle saith: I would not glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

From the Little Flowers of St. Francis

 

 

Remedies of the soul

It (your letter) would have made me perfectly happy if it hadn’t told me that the illness you had before I left The Hague has lingered on in the form of stomach troubles. The remedies you have chosen—involving •diet and •exercise—are in my opinion the best of all. Well, they are the best (all things considered) after the remedies of •the soul, which certainly has great power over the body, as is shown by the big changes that anger, fear, and the other passions arouse in it. But when the soul conducts the animal spirits to the places where they can help or harm, it does this not by directly willing the spirits to go in those ways but by willing or thinking of something else. For our body is so constructed that certain movements in it follow naturally upon certain thoughts: as we see that blushes follows from shame, tears from compassion, and laughter from joy. I know of no thought more conducive to continuing health than a strong conviction that our body is so well constructed that once we are healthy we can’t easily fall ill—unless we engage in some excess or are harmed by air pollution or some other external cause. Someone who is ill can restore his health solely by the power of nature, especially when he is still young. This •conviction is certainly much truer and more reasonable than the view of some people—I have seen this happen—who are influenced by an astrologer or a physician to think they must die in a certain amount of time, and are caused purely by this belief to become sick and even, often enough, to die. I couldn’t help being extremely sad if I thought that you were still unwell; I prefer to hope that the illness is all over; but my desire to be certain about this makes me eager to return to Holland.

reading the letter you did me the honour of writing to me, I couldn’t help being very distressed to see that such a rare and perfect ·level of· virtue isn’t accompanied by the health and prosperity that it deserves. I can readily understand the multitude of distressing things that keep turning up in your life—things that are made harder to overcome by being of such a kind that true reason doesn’t issue the command ‘Oppose them directly or try to chase them away’. These are domestic enemies that you are forced to keep company with, and you have to be perpetually on guard lest they injure you. The only remedy that I know is to channel your imagination and your senses as far from them as you can, and think about them, when prudence requires you to, using only your intellect.

In this matter it is easy, I think, to see how the intellect differs from the imagination and the senses. •Consider someone who has every reason to be happy but who continually sees enacted before him tragedies full of disastrous events, and who spends all his time brooding on sad and pitiful objects.

Suppose that he knows that these are imaginary fables: they draw tears from his eyes and move his imagination, but don’t touch his intellect at all. I think that this by itself would be enough gradually to constrict his heart and make him sigh in such a way that the circulation of his blood would be clogged and slowed down. The bigger parts of his blood, sticking together, could easily block the spleen, getting caught in it and stopping in its pores; while the more finely divided parts, being continually agitated, could affect his lungs and cause a cough which in time might be very dangerous. •Now consider someone who has countless genuine reasons for distress but who takes such trouble to direct his imagination that he never thinks about them except when some practical necessity forces him to, and who spends the rest of his time thinking about things that can give him contentment and joy. This will greatly help him by enabling him to make sounder judgments about the things that matter to him, because he’ll look on them without passion. Furthermore, I am sure that this by itself could restore him to health, even if his spleen and lungs were already in a poor condition because of the bad condition of the blood caused by sadness. Especially if he also used medical remedies to thin out the part of the blood causing the obstructions. The waters of Spa are very good for this purpose, I think, above all if while taking them you follow the usual recommendation of physicians and free your mind from all sad thoughts, and even from all serious meditations on scientific subjects. Simply imitate people who convince themselves that they aren’t thinking of anything when they are observing the greenness of a forest, the colours of a flower, the flight of a bird, or something else requiring no attention. This doesn’t waste time; it uses time well, because one can content oneself with the hope that by this means one will recover perfect health, which is the foundation of all the other goods of this life.

*

 I know that everything I write here is better known to you than to me, and that what’s difficult in this matter is not the theory but the practice. Still, the great favour that you do me in showing that you aren’t averse to hearing my views makes me take the liberty of writing them down just as they are, and of adding this: The remedy I have just suggested cured an illness of mine that was very like yours and perhaps even more dangerous. I was born of a mother who, a few days [actually, 14 months] after my birth, died from a disease of the lungs caused by distress. From her I inherited a dry cough and a pale colour which stayed with me until I was more than twenty, so that all the doctors who saw me predicted that I would die young. But I have always tended to look at things from the most favourable angle and to make my chief happiness depend upon myself alone; and I believe that this tendency caused the indisposition gradually to disappear completely—the indisposition that was almost part of my nature!

*

Descartes

( from letters to Elizabeth)

 

Sayings of Heraclitus

*Those awake have an ordered universe in common, but in sleep every man turns away to one of his own.

*The thinking faculty is common to all

*Of the Logos, which is as I describe it, men always prove to be uncomprehending, both before they have heard it and when once they have heard it. For although all things happen according to this Logos, men are like people of no experience, even when they experience such words and deeds as I explain, when I distinguish each thing according to its constitution and declare how it is; but the rest of men fail to notice what they do after they wake up just as they forget what They do when asleep.

* Therefore it is necessary to follow the common; but although the Logos is common the many live as though they had a private understanding.

* Listening not to me but to the Logos, it is wise to agree that all things are one.

*The things of which there is seeing and hearing and perception, these I prefer.

*Sun will not overstep his measures; else Erinyes, Justice’s ministers, will find him out.

* In the same river we both step and do not step, we are and are not.

*It is not possible to step twice into the same river.

*Upon those that step into the same rivers different and different waters flow.

*Sea is the most pure and polluted water; for fish it is drinkable and salutary; but for man undrinkable and perilous.

*Disease makes health pleasant and good, hunger satiety, weariness rest.

*What is in opposition is in concert, and from what differs comes the most beautiful harmony.

* War is the father of all, the king of all; and some he shows as gods, some as men; some he makes slaves, some free.

* One must know that war is common and justice is strife, and that all things happen by strife and necessity.

* For souls it is death to become water, for water death to become earth, from earth water comes-to-be and from water soul

* Immortals are mortal, mortals immortal; each lives the death of the other and dies their life.

* After death things await men, which they do not expect or imagine.

* Time is a child playing a game of droughts; the kingship is in the hands of a child.

* They purify themselves by staining themselves with other blood, as if one stepped into mud to wash off mud. But a man would be thought mad if one of his fellow men saw him do that. Also they talk to statues as one might talk with houses, in ignorance of the nature of gods and heroes.

* The consecration of the mysteries, as practised among men, are unholy.

* To god all things are beautiful and good and just, but men have supposed some things to be unjust, some just .

* This cosmos (the same of all) none of gods or men made, but it always was and is and shall be; an everlasting fire, kindling in measures and going out in measures.

* Asses prefer chaff to gold.

* Dogs bark at those whom they do not recognise.

* If happiness lay in bodily pleasures, we should call oxen happy when they find vetch to eat.

* It is not good for men to obtain all they wish.

* Sane thinking is the greatest virtue, and wisdom is speaking the truth and acting according to nature, paying heed.

* All men are granted what is needed for knowing oneself and sane thinking.

* A dry soul is wisest and best.

* A man when he is drunk is led by an unfledged boy, stumbling and not knowing where he goes, having his soul moist.

* I sought myself.

*If one doesn’t expect the unexpected one will not find it, for it is not reached by search or trail.

* Character is man’s fate.

* Nature loves hiding

* The lord whose oracle is in Delphi neither speaks out nor conceals, but gives a sign.

Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher 

Night to little flower

I AM LIKE the night to you, little flower.

        I can only give you peace and a wakeful silence hidden in the dark.

        When in the morning you open your eyes, I shall leave you to a world a-hum with bees, and songful with birds.

My last gift to you will be a tear dropped into the depth of your youth; it will make your smile all the sweeter, and bemist your outlook on the pitiless mirth of day.

 

Rabindranath 

 

Waiting in the dark

WHEN I GIVE up the helm I know that the time has come for thee to take it. What there is to do will be instantly done. Vain is this struggle.

Then take away your hands and silently put up with your defeat, my heart, and think it your good fortune to sit perfectly still where you are placed.

These my lamps are blown out at every little puff of wind, and trying to light them I forget all else again and again.

But I shall be wise this time and wait in the dark, spreading my mat on the floor; and whenever it is thy pleasure, my lord, come silently and take thy seat here.

 

Rabindranath 

A prayer from Talmud

MAY it be Thy will, O God, that we return to Thee in perfect penitence, so that we may not be ashamed to meet our fathers in the life to come.

Unite our hearts, O God, to fear Thy name; keep us far from what Thou hatest; bring us near to what Thou lovest; and deal mercifully with us for Thy name’s sake. May it be Thy will, O God, that love and peace and brotherliness dwell among us! May our hopes of Heaven be fulfilled! Grant that the good inclination may uphold us. Fill us with the desire to fear Thy name, and do Thou give us our soul’s peace. Amen. 

TALMUD.

Real religion

DO not seek for the City of God on earth, for it is not built of wood or stone; but seek it in the soul of the man who is at peace with himself and is a lover of true wisdom.

If a man practises ablutions of the body, but defiles his mind—if he offers hecatombs, founds a temple, adorns a shrine, and does nothing for making his soul beautiful—let him not be called religious. He has wandered far from real religion, mistaking ritual for holiness; attempting, as it were, to bribe the Incorruptible and to flatter Him whom none can flatter. God welcomes the genuine service of a soul, the sacrifice of truth; but from display of wealth He turns away.

Will any man with impure soul and with no intention to repent dare to approach the Most High God? The grateful soul of the wise man is the true altar of God.

PHILO JUDAEUS, 1st cent.

-->

A person should be soft

The Rabbis taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar." 

Once R. Elazar the son of R. Shimon was coming from his teacher's house in Migdal Gedor, riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the bank of the river with a feeling of great joy and a sense of arrogance, because he had learned a great deal of Torah. 

A very ugly person happened upon him. The ugly person said: "How are you Rebbe?" 

R. Elazar did not respond. [Rather,] he said: "Empty one - how ugly this fellow is! Are all the people of your town as ugly as you?" 

The ugly person responded: "I don't know, but you should go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel that he made." 

R. Elazar knew that he had sinned. He got off the donkey, prostrated himself before the other fellow and said: "I have pained you. Forgive me." 

The man said: "I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel he made." 

R. Elazar followed him until they came to his town. All the townspeople came out to greet R. Elazar and they said: "Welcome, our Rabbi, our Rabbi, our teacher, our teacher." 

The ugly fellow said: "Who are you referring to as your rabbi?" 

They said: "The one who is walking behind you." 

He said to them: "If this is a rabbi, let there not be more like him in Israel." 

They said: "Why?" 

He said to them: "This is what he did to me." 

They said to him: "Nevertheless, forgive him because he is a great Torah scholar." 

He said to them: "For your sake I forgive him, but on condition that he not become accustomed to act this way." 

R. Elazar immediately entered [the study hall] and taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar." (Ta'anit 20a-20b)

-->

Charity and kindness

Rabbi Janay upon seeing a man bestowing alms in a public place, said, "Thou hadst better not have given at all, than to have bestowed alms so openly and put the poor man to shame."

"One should rather be thrown into a fiery furnace than be the means of bringing another to public shame."

Rabbi Juda said, "No one should sit down to his own meals, until seeing that all the animals dependent upon his care are provided for."

Rabbi Jochanan said that it is as pleasing in God's sight if we are kind and hospitable to strangers, as if we rise up early to study His law; because the former is in fact putting His law into practice. He also said, "He who is active in kindness toward his fellows is forgiven his sins."

Both this Rabbi and Abba say it is better to lend to the poor than to give to them, for it prevents them from feeling ashamed of their poverty, and is really a more charitable manner of aiding them. The Rabbis have always taught that kindness is more than the mere almsgiving of charity, for it includes pleasant words with the more substantial help.

-->

In presence of the King of kings

There are two ways before me, one leading into Paradise, the other into Hell." When Yochanan, the son of Zachai, was sick unto death, his disciples came to visit him; and when he saw them he wept, upon which his disciples exclaimed, "Light of Israel! Pillar of the right! Mighty Hammer! why weepest thou?" He replied, "If I were going to be led into the presence of a king, who is but flesh and blood, to-day here and to-morrow in the grave, whose anger with me could not last forever, whose sentence against me, were it even unto death, could not endure forever, and whom perhaps I might pacify with words or bribe with money, yet for all that should I weep; but now that I am about to enter the presence of the King of kings, the Holy One—blessed be He forever and ever!—whose anger would be everlasting, whose sentence of death or imprisonment admits of no reprieve, and who is not to be pacified with words nor bribed with money, and in whose presence there are two roads before me, one leading into Paradise and the other into Hell, and should I not weep?" Then prayed they him, and said, "Rabbi, give us thy farewell blessing;" and he said unto them, "Oh that the fear of God may be as much upon you as the fear of man."

-->

Repent one day before death

"Repent one day before thy death." In relation to which Rabbi Eliezer was asked by his disciples, "How is a man to repent one day before his death, since he does not know on what day he shall die?" "So much the more reason is there," he replied, "that he should repent to-day, lest he die to-morrow; and repent to-morrow, lest he die the day after: and thus will all his days be penitential ones."

From Talmud 

Wisdom of Einstein

1. I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.
2. Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.
3. My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
4. The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.
5. Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe-a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.
6. The scientists’ religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.
7. There is no logical way to the discovery of elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance.
8. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
9. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious; It is the source of all true art and science.
10. We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
11. Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods.
12. When the solution is simple, God is answering.
13. God does not play dice with the universe.
14. God is subtle but he is not malicious.
15. A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.
16. Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
17. The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.
18. Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
19. Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.
20. The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—-a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.
21. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.
22. What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.
23. The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men.
24. The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.
25. True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.
26. Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. But mere thinking cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clear these fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life of the individual, seems to me precisely the most important function which religion has to form in the social life of man.

-->

Blessings

R. Yitzchak said: "Blessing is found only in something that is hidden from the eye, as it says: 'God will command the blessing to be with you in your silos' (Devarim 28:8; ba-asamekha – 'your silos' – relates to the word samuy, hidden)." It was taught in the school of R. Yishmael: "Blessing is found only in something upon which the eye cannot gaze, as it says: 'God will command the blessing to be with you in your silos.'" The Rabbis taught: He who goes to measure (the produce in) his silo should say, 'May it be your will, Lord, our God, that you send blessing in the work of our hands.' If he began to measure, he should say, 'Blessed be the One who sends blessing to this pile.' If he measured and afterward blessed, it is a wasted prayer, because blessing is not found in something measured or counted, but only in something hidden from the eye." (Bava Metzia 42a)

From Talmud 

investigate your deeds

The Rabbis taught: For two and a half years, the house of Hillel and the house of Shammai argued. One said that it was pleasant for man to be created, and the other said that it would have been more pleasant for man to not have been created. They voted and determined that it would have been more pleasant not to have been created, but now that he had been created, he should investigate his deeds. (Eruvin13b) 

Everything is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven. (Berakhot 33b)

From TALMUD

Mother, it is no gain

THE CHILD WHO is decked with prince's robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step. 

In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust he keeps himself from the world, and is afraid even to move. 

Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.



Rabindranath Tagore 

Wisdom or truth?

When Rav was taking leave of his uncle and teacher, Rabbi Ḥiyya, upon his return from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: May the Merciful One save you from something that is worse than death. Rav was perplexed: Is there anything that is worse than death? He went, examined the sources, and found the following verse: “And I find more bitter than death the woman, etc.” (Ecclesiastes 7:26). Rabbi Ḥiyya was hinting at this verse, and indeed, Rav’s wife would constantly aggravate him. When he would say to her: Prepare me lentils, she would prepare him peas; if he asked her for peas, she would prepare him lentils.

When Ḥiyya, his son, grew up, he would reverse the requests Rav asked him to convey to her, so that Rav would get what he wanted. Rav said to his son Ḥiyya: Your mother has improved now that you convey my requests. He said to Rav: It is I who reverse your request to her. Rav said to him: This is an example of the well-known adage that people say: He who comes from you shall teach you wisdom; I should have thought of that idea myself. You, however, should not do so, i.e., reverse my request, as it is stated: “They have taught their tongue to speak lies, they weary themselves to commit iniquity, etc.” (Jeremiah 9:4). If you attribute such a request to me, you will have uttered a falsehood.

-->

Sayings of Mother Gabriel

1. Any place may become a place of Resurrection, if the Humility of Christ becomes the way of our life.
2. You may sleep, as long as you are in a state of watchfulness.
3. There are some who stay awake for a few, and some who stay awake for all.
4. Do not wish for many things, whether they are within or out of reach. Instead, take care to sanctify the little you have.
5. To learn how to love God: this is the one and only Education.
6. There is nothing cheaper than money.
7. Better Hell in this world than in the other.
8. It is not what we say, but what we live. It is not what we do, but what we are.
9. If you have love for all the world, the whole world is beautiful.
10. Someone said that a Christian is he who purifies love and sanctifies work.
11. We become a reflection of Heaven by saying: 'Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven'.
12. He who loves is not aware of it, as he is not aware of his own breathing.
13. When doors are open in Heaven, they are also open on Earth.
14. When the mind is not distracted by worldly matters and remains united to God, then even the 'Good day' that we say becomes a blessing.
15. We must not 'exist' in the presence of the other person, who is God's 'image and likeness'.
16. In the early steps of our life we need the presence of someone we love. As we advance, the One, God, fills us with His Love and Joy so much that we no longer need anyone. The soul does this at the beginning because she does not know yet Whom she loves, and thinks it is this or that person.
17. Many times what God expects from us is the intention rather than the act itself. Our readiness to follow His Commandment is enough for Him.
18. When God created us, He gave us Life and breathed His Spirit into us. This Spirit is Love. When love deserts us, we become as dead as corpses. We are not alive any more.
19. A Christian must have reverence for the Mystery of Existence in everyone and everything.
20. To reach the state of non-existence, love and love and love until you identify yourself completely with the Other One, whoever this may be at the time. Then, at the end of the day you may ask yourself: Is there anything I want? No. Is there anything I wish 'No. Is there anything I lack' No... So, that's it!
21. The spiritually advanced person is the one who has reached a state of "non-existence" and has deeply understood that whatever happens to him is either because God Wills it or because God Permits it.
22. True inner progress begins only when a person stops reading anything but the Gospel. It is only then that, united with God through the Jesus Prayer, he can hear God's Will.
23. Never wish for anything but the Will of God and accept with love any trials that may come your way.
24. Never identify a person with the wrong way in which he is treating you, but see Christ in his heart.
25. Never ask: "Why has this happened to me" 'When you see somebody suffering from gangrene or cancer or blindness, never say: "Why has this happened to him"' Instead, pray God to grant you the vision of the other shore... Then, like the Angels, you will be able to see things as they really are: Everything in God's plan. EVERYTHING.
26. A wise man said: If you are to live only for yourself, it would have been better if you had not been born.
27. A person's most vulnerable spot is found in much talking and discussing.
28. To be meek is to wish never to have a guilty conscience.
29. When thoughts of passing judgment on another person cross your mind, pray God to take them away at once, so that you may love this person as He does. Then God will help you see your own faults. If Christ were visible, could you have such thoughts?
30. If you do not like somebody, think that you see Christ in that person. Then, you would not even dare utter a word of criticism.
31. We must love people and accept them in our hearts as God presents them to us. It has been thus ordained by the Lord Himself and by the Orthodox Tradition.
32. No one should become the servant of another man. We are only servants of God. 'For ye are bought with a price', says the Apostle (1Cor.6:20). Therefore, there should be no servility in human relations.
33. What we say remains in Eternity.
34. Only when you are perfected in Love can you reach the state of Dispassion (Apatheia).
35. Only those who act without true love face adversities.
36. The faculty of judgment (Krisis) comes naturally to man. Criticism (Katakrisis) and reproval spring from malice. Discernment (Diakrisis) is a gift from God and we should pray for it. It is essential to our protection and progress.
37. When we must be helped, God will send someone to us. We are all fellow-travellers.
38. The voice of God is silence.
39. Our destination is to worship God and love our fellow-men.
40. We find happiness and peace only by living according to God's Commandments.
41. The most essential act of Philanthropy is to speak well of our fellow-men.
42. I could not get worried, even if I tried. When we worry it is as if we say to God: "I do not agree. You don't do things right". Besides, this is sheer ingratitude.
43. To speak in the presence of Beauty is superfluous. It disturbs its harmony.
44. It is the oil-lamp of our soul that must be always lighted, burning forever.
45. We are the first to feel the joy we give to others.
46. Better a prayer of the lips than no prayer at all.
47. Let God intervene between you and your purpose, instead of letting your purpose intervene between you and God.
48. The agony of dying is the effort made by the soul to free herself and run towards the Lord.
49. Correspondence is the only way that combines solitude and company.
50. Miracle is the normal course of events according to God's Will. What we call a Miracle is only what is natural to God.
51. If we meet with an adversity, let us not ask who is to blame. Because the blame is only ours. We shall find the reason if we ask for it in our Prayer: perhaps we have not loved enough, or we have disobeyed another Commandment, or we have mishandled the situation, or we have moved faster than we should, or we have relied on the wrong person.
52. When we lose something, let us say: 'In this manner, Lord, deliver me also from any evil thought I may have for my neighbour'.
53. Anxiety is for those who have no Faith.
54. Human relationships become difficult when the "I" stands above the "You".
55. God loves your enemies as much as He loves you.
56. Do you want to Pray? Prepare yourself to meet the Lord in secret.
57. By God's Permission some people become instruments of the Power of Darkness for our own testing and progress.
58. You must not get upset, because a restless heart drives away all Help.
59. If one can live in the world and yet not mix with it - just as the oil and water do not mix in the oil-lamp - then he can live in God. He is in this world but not of this world.
60. We are all vessels, sometimes of Light and sometimes of Darkness.
61. Keep your mouth shut in the hour of crisis, when a problem is acute. Do not say anything, because you may regret it a thousand times. Instead, tell it to the Angels so that they may place it at the Lord's Feet, and pray the Lord for an Angel of Peace to calm your soul.
62. Sometimes people ask for your advice or instruction, so that they may put the "blame" on you afterwards if things go wrong. Quite probably though, whatever you say will be ignored, in which case it will all be a waste of trouble.
63. When the 'I' breaks and becomes 'You' and the 'You' also breaks so that they may both become 'He', then we all become 'His'.
64. If you ever feel fear in your heart, close your eyes and say the Jesus Prayer: 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me'...
65. Only when we are still, do we give the Angels an opportunity to do something.
66. Do what you must do, and God will do what He must do.
67. When you feel a fluttering in your heart, a deep yearning for something, this will come true after a lapse of time determined by God.
68. We ourselves cannot get rid of any of our faults. He takes them away from us, one by one.
69. We should ask God everyday to break our will and make it His, so that we may become as He wants us to be.
70. We must not 'surrender' to His Will. This is what soldiers do. We, who are His Children, must offer Him our own will along with all our being - in whatever pitiful state we may be - and tell him: "Lord, take all my faults and imperfections and set them right."
71. The Grace of God comes when we raise our hand. It is Faith that draws God's Grace to us. God is 'pouring down' His Grace, but where is the hand reaching out to receive it? Instead, we are wearing hats or carrying umbrellas...
72. Love alone is enough to make a miracle happen. Neither Prayer nor the Komboskini (Prayer rope) have such power.
73. Experience has taught me that no one can help anyone, no matter how strong his wish and love may be. Help comes only in the Hour of God, from the One.
74. We are useful only when we do not exist for ourselves. And vice versa.
75. We must not take decisions on behalf of others. We should leave this to the Angels for they always find the best solution.
76. Like Simon of Cyrene, we must be always ready to rush to the help of our fellow-man.
77. If you seek assistance from someone who is busy, he will do it for you, not the indolent and the lazy.
78. Woe to me if I do not love.
79. Three things are needful. First Love, Second Love, Third Love.
80. When we are talking and someone interrupts us, we should not continue. It means that he should not hear that which we would have said. The Angels do thus.
81. He who does not want to see anybody is not human.
82. Nowhere are we ‘forever'. (We are never anyplace "forever".)
83. Whatever happens to us is only our own fault.
84. Every morning, on the new page we open, we sign the blank. Whatever God wills, let Him write. (Every morning open a new page and put your signature on the blank. Whatever God wants, let Him write.)
85. When we pray we should lock our door.
86. If you do not reach the point of despair, you will never see the Light.
87. Be still and know...There is no greater school than this kind of stillness of the mind.
88. The only true joy is freedom from worry.
89. Just as you cannot get very close to the sources of great rivers because of the noise of the waters, and you cannot talk or hear, so you cannot get close to the source of life and love, which is God. And only from a distance can you receive the warmth, the energy, the power and the "water" which He gives you, to conduct it in your turn.
90. Like a little bird who, when the branch he is standing on breaks, doesn't worry but opens his wings and flies, so our faith and hope in God give us the strength and joy to fly when the twig breaks beneath our feet.
91. The more closed is the door of our cell, the more open the gate of heaven.
92. When somebody sets out to spoil our joy, we should remember within ourselves that God loves us.
93. You should be with people as you are with Christ; just as if He were present, and then you will not get upset about anything or with anybody.
94. The more we take things and problems to heart, the more we show our pride and lack of faith.
95. Someone truly humble does not get upset, because whoever gets upset starts off with judgement, with condemnation and rebellion.
96. The libraries and lecture halls are always full; but what saint has ever come from them?
97. Our intellectual cultivation is done in the heart. That is an intellectual person. Not somebody educated, as many think.
98. God our Father Himself takes us by the hand and takes us to testing. For our purification and perfection. That is why God the Son has taught us to pray to Him, "and lead us not into temptation".
99. When we ask somebody to pray for us to obtain such and such a virtue, we should also pray the same, for in this case, our prayer is the best.
100. We need patience under the darts of the evil one, persistence in the breaking of our ego, and submission to the holy will of God. Only with these can we progress.
101. Never take part in a discussion where someone is being condemned or even simply gossiped about.
102. Often His will does not seem to us either just, or convenient or pleasant. But when we see that behind this is a mountain, the mountain of His love, then we see that things could only have been thus; harmonized in God.
103. The greater your faith in the heavenly, the less you get upset about the earthly.
104. What makes us upset is the sense of wrong that we have when we think we have been wronged. But what we see as wrong, God regards as the greatest school for the progress of our souls.
105. Never rely on something somebody tells you. Find out for yourself.
106. We must know when to be quiet, and when to leave where we are.
107. The more we discuss something that happens, the more it stays in our lives, whereas in the normal course of events it would leave at the right time.
108. Do not discuss with anyone anything not related to God, and you will always be quiet.
109. Better to be dumb than stupid.
110. When we say that somebody is "sensitive", this means he suffers because his ego is hurt and because he is proud. The same happens with children, who as soon as somebody scolds them or opposes them, immediately start crying. This is not permissible for a person of God. The saints didn't have pride, and whatever people did to them they accepted it because they had humility and meekness. In this case the soul is not "sensitive", is not offended; it has love, dispassion...
111. Illness always comes along with spiritual experiences to a person who is in a position to grasp them.
112. We all think that we are right. That is why we think that all our deeds are rightly done. But unfortunately, just as the Truth is One, so also the Right is One... but we are not in a position to discern.
113. If we don't stumble, we don't progress. We should thank God that we don't break an arm or a leg into the bargain.
114. If you want to do something, don't advertise it. It will "materialize" in words and will no longer need to materialize in reality too. Keep it secret until the last moment - from everybody!
115. When you spontaneously say something about God, this is from God. On the other hand when it becomes "preaching", then it is the ego leading the way. In the first case the seed catches, in the second it does not.
116. Where there is no respect for the person, there is none for God either. And the other way round.
117. If people had two things, readiness for change and "yes" to that spiritual person who loves them and who they trust, then the blessing of God would come upon them. This is why wherever there is obedience, God's blessing comes and the miracle happens.
118. After obedience there comes, at the time appointed by God, direction from above.
119. Love is a bomb that destroys all evil.
120. Never say that it is too late, even if you have fallen very low...
121. We should always say "Thank God for our existence." Thank God for the existence of the other. This is the true thanksgiving God wants.
122. We must guard against the feeling of ownership.
123. Never let the other understand that he has hurt you.
124. When we have doubt about some stance that we ought to take, we should ask our conscience, not only ourselves. And always take the position of the other.
125. We must never betray the truth which we feel in ourselves. Not for anybody. Not for any situation. Perhaps that is why you see me here today and there tomorrow. But rather than betray the voice of God within me, I prefer to be homeless and a beggar.
126. Never leave anywhere of your own accord. No, no, no! If the other does not drive you away, don't leave.
127. If I had the possibility I would do special "caprices" to whoever doesn't have means... Not charity.
128. The other day a lady asked me what would happen with the 'toll booths' after death. I said to her, " I will tell them the Light of Christ shines to All! You however are in darkness and I don't see you!"
129. The over-aged and the under age have the same problem in this world... As soon as you pass a certain age, they tell you: "Ah, now he will fall ill and what are we going to do - shall we treat him? Don't move, don't do this, don't do that." Just for their own sake, so that they don't have to treat you. Not for yours!
130. The greatest part of my prayer here and for years now is Thankgiving. What else should I ask, when I have everything?
131. It is not the Abbot's fault when he is strict. It is the fault of our own conscience. Because whatever fearful sin we may have committed, we have to tell it. On the other hand when the Ego in capital letters holds us back, the other gets strict.
132. He who honours somebody else, is essentially honouring Christ who is in him. That is how it works. And when we ourselves give others an honour or a position, we are really honouring the Lord who we have within us and who every person has.
133. Whatever you eat and whatever you drink after the Table, make the sign of the cross over it and say to yourself, "For healing of soul and body".
134. Even if personally we have no sorrow of our own, we see the sorrow in the world and sorrow over it. But if people do not have faith we cannot do anything.
135. God put the senses in the head. Why? Do you know? So that we can not see ourselves. Yes! So that we see only the other and love only the other. And so that we see ourselves only in the eyes of the Other.
136. You should have continual conversation with your guardian angel. About everything. Especially in difficulties and when you cannot get across to someone. He always helps.
137. Two things are very important... "Love one another," and "Fear not, only believe."
138. Saint Paul himself says, "After one or two admonitions, give up." Finish! You have said what you ought, you have helped the person as much as you have been able. From that point on, you pray for him and sit quietly and look at your own wretchedness.
139. In the end we have been teaching the universe, while leaving ourselves as they are, to have fun!
140. If coal is not "beaten", can it become diamond?
141. Don't forget at the "Dynamis" in the Divine Liturgy to cross your head and your whole body... whatever you ask at that moment is heard. It is a very powerful moment.
142. In our lives, if we look carefully, we will see that we learn lessons both from positive things and negative. Whoever we find ourselves with, even within just a few moments.
143. "Bad temper" is egoism.
144. Looking after is one thing and love another.
145. Instead of asking "Does this person love me", it is better to say "I love this person". Then everything changes. The Apostle Paul put it so beautifully.
146. Hour after hour I think my heart is going to break from love.
147. Only people with an inferiority complex want to always be bossed around.
148. Love is always on the cross. Because Christ is on the cross.
149. When I want to feel sorry for somebody, do you know what cheers me up? I say, "I love him that much; God loves him ten thousand times more. He will be fine!"
150. True fasting is to cease from all badmouthing, self-interest, seeing the mote in the eye of our brother, judging another's servant...
151. When one is alone with God, the time passes unimaginably quickly. More quickly than when you have companionship... And yet even within the world one can remain united with God. How? When whatever he is doing he directs his thoughts to Him... when whatever good comes his way he gives Him glory... and whatever testing he meets, he gives Him thanks.
152. I find the faith of the centurion very moving.
153. This is our purpose on earth. To try and live in the Kingdom of God, here. For how can we come and leave without sensing paradise here? We have fallen from paradise, but if we do not return to it here, how will we win it there?
154. If someone really believes, he can never take part in the vices or illegal things that we see every day. For anybody who does them, has not believed in God, has not lived Him in their souls. But as soon as they believe in Him, they will watch his miracles every day.
155. Be careful of people who want to upset you and then to ask forgiveness. They take double satisfaction. They have upset you, and you have forgiven them.
156. That which the world calls co-incidences, I call meetings.
157. The world is even "smaller" for those who God intends to meet.
158. Here you have an earthly father and mother and you feel so beautiful. How much more when you know that the Omnipotent is protecting you!
159. All those who research and "see" the future, see everything badly, coldly and upside down. That is to say, can't they see anything good? Nothing? Well, then of course they suffer evil, They attract evil by their thought.
160. In the evenings, in my prayer I say to my angel, "Take my soul even tonight and put it at the feet of Christ to be perfected throughout the night, and in the morning may I find it better!"
161. Never accept anything from a rich person. From someone who struggles to make a living or a poor person yes, with much gratitude.
162. The truth is One and that is Christ.
163. Many troparia describe the Nativity of Christ in such a way that we could forget that the Virgin conceived supernaturally. How I like the Nativity in the Perivleptos monastery in Mystras and the painting of Gyzis...
164. You should think about and see only the light. Everything else is just parentheses, which should not leave so much as a trace on you.
165. We often hear, "I met this man, or this woman, and my life changed"... and we see that in the end nothing has changed. No life. Why?
166. We come to monasticism like those sharp rocks from a quarry which are all corners and protrusions. Gradually by the grace of God we become like the pebbles in a river or on the shore which are round and smooth.
167. To equalize our freedom and our autonomy and so that we may always have a sure conscience, the holy Apostles and the Fathers of our Church gave us a guide. And thank God for that... Because the moment you ask, whether in the middle of rocky ground, up on a mountain, in a street which you don't know, suddenly there you are... with two words he comes and gives you your answer and then you know that you are all right now.
168. I have simply been something for your preparatory steps. If you do not stick fast to Christ and the Church, then you will be lost, even if in your minds you think of a person. Woe betide him who instead of going to Christ goes to a person.
169. The hour when you make the step, either you do it alone or you are lost for the rest of your life.
170. Nobody can live in both this world and the next. Either he will fall ill periodically or he will die prematurely. You cannot live in two worlds. It is not possible.
171. I like it when we say "Bless the Lord my soul" and then afterwards the Beatitudes, instead of "Through the intercessions" and "Save us". That is how it used to be in Constantinople.
172. Those who see people in the world do not cease to be human. They keep their humanity...
173. You can not avoid pointless "chats" unless your thought is elsewhere. But this takes a lot of practice. Especially when the surroundings are friendly and dear to you.
174. Christ said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do". But, who is it that does not know what he is doing? A madman. You understand?
175. When it is in God's programme for you to go somewhere, you will go. That is why I am generally quiet in life. I have observed that even if a person does not want to, God moves him.
176. A woman who had been widowed said to me, "Why would God take away from me my family?" And I said to her, "Why don't you ask why He left him to you for so long?" "Well OK, but there are so many who live." "But also, how many who die as soon as they get married. Have you ever asked that question? You should give yourself to some kind of work now, to forget."
177. When God wants to help someone, He can create "children of Abraham" from these stones. If it wasn't you, it would be somebody else. You were the impersonal delegate of God. Woe betide you if you think one day that this someone should owe gratitude to you! If he comes and thanks you, say that you ought to thank God, because He would undoubtedly have sent somebody anyway to help them. He sent you, consequently you ought to thank him, and be grateful to God for sending you.
178. Nobody "exists" unless he wants to exist.
179. Some people want to go to the Resurrection without passing by way of Gologatha.
180. Because the Christians could not put in practice the Gospel while living in the world, they fled. That's how they became the first monastics.
181. Only people of God, who don't make compromises, recognize each other.
182. My wishes: may the grace of our Christ, the love of the omnipotent Father and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit be with you! May your example be the life of the Mother of God, who will lead you at every step with her archangels and angels as your heavenly mother; that you love your mother who brought you into life and brought you up, and may you give love and joy first to her, and then to all who come near you.
183. True prayer always reaches heaven. The angels carry it to the right place and the answer comes. Its basis is Truth, and "Not My will, but that of the Father Who sent me."
184. Egoism is self-protection. A Christian's security should be divine protection.
185. We all help ourselves in helping others. Some indirectly, some directly.
186. The Lord said, "Forgive your enemies." It is incomprehensible for us not to forgive our brothers, so He didn't mention it. What right has a person not to forgive a person? If he doesn't, he is inhuman.
187. Love is not taught. It is given from above when we ask with recocognition of our egoism, which we want to shatter.
188. Do you want everything to happen as you want it? Accept everything and everybody either as His will, or as His concession.
189. To remember the other is an expression of love.
190. And so the passer-by and traveller that the love of God has granted me to be, continues on the way towards what is unknown to people but known to the Lord...
191. To a novice: Be simple. Talk to everybody. Let your spirituality be seen in your simplicity.
192. No saint ever knew that he was a saint.
193. If you do not get rid of "No" and "Tomorrow" from your life, you will never get to where the Lord wants you, Who grants you everything. He will give you the bodily strength when you answer "Yes" and "Now". The prophets, the angels and the saints all said, "Behold here I am... Let it be according to Your word."
194. Not as you knew, but as you found.
195. Every person is 'sent'.
196. Our influence, whether for good or for ill, takes the other person away from the destination that God has for him. He has to realize it by himself. This is why we have to be very careful.
197. The gifts of the Spirit are not of course individual achievements...
198. What we don't see, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. And what we don't hear, doesn't mean that it does not speak.
199. As one of the ancients said, "don’t be deaf to your personal “demon” "
200. Truth and light are synonymous.
201. The sermon on the mount and the epistle of Saint James. Every day! What a pity that we do not hear them more often...
202. When you follow the truth you are in the light, you are with Christ. He himself said, "The truth will make you free". But from who? From your own self! From passion. And then, no power will be able to enslave you because God Himself will help with His power.
203. Our souls are Divine Breath. Our body is His Creation. In the whole of us we are the icon of God.
204. I am under obedience to HIM. I live and exist for Him.
205. Before the Lord prayed... "Lifting up His eyes to heaven..."
206. Do not darken your mind with the various heresies and para-religions and masonries. All these are in the "Basket of Vanity".
207. The Lord allows those who love Him to be tested, first, so that their faith in Him may grow stronger, and second, to set an example for those around.
208. Don't forget in Church to always light a candle "for the sick and for travellers".
209. Say prayer-ropes also just with "Thank you".
210. Have a Cross in the door and window of your cell. It should be wooden like the one we wear.
211. We can recognize a person who has spiritual experiences only by the way he lives and behaves. For these experiences direct his life.
212. No fear any person.
213. It is easier to sacrifice youself for those you love than to live with them.
214. Love means to respect the freedom of the other.
215. You only feel free when you are locked up.
216. Two things: care, and prayer.
217. Mildness and meekness are the weapons and the marks of a spiritually strong person. He "understands" everything and forgives everything.
218. We should not become Judases, nor give the Holy Things to the dogs... I mean the supernatural mysteries that happen within the sanctuary. It says in the hymn, "Not to your enemies..."
219. The angels always come.
220. We can all give joy. One by coming, and another by leaving.
221. When we are passing through a dark tunnel, we never imagine that the other end will take us to the light. We fall into despair, and see everything black and dark. The same in life. The light of Christ is waiting for us at the other end. And saying to us, as He said to Saint Peter, "You of little faith, why are you fainthearted?"
222. Whenever we are in great pain, we should not forget the great honour that the Lord is doing us in letting us share in His crown of thorns.
223. All idiocy begins with "i(f)".
224. The fridge of the faithful should be almost empty.
225. However much one works in a spiritual way, one's body cannot get tired. Tiredness only comes when the spirit gets involved. When the spirit is continually at its "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us", no amount of work can easily make us tired.
226. Day and night let us bless God for the gifts He gives us.
227. Few words, much love. To all. No matter who they are.
228. Joy, calm, love, the wish we give to everybody, if they are not accepted come back to us and to the Lord. In other words, just as we breathe, as our heart beats, without any act of will on our part and without us being able to stop it; in the same way rivers of love, of which He is the source, should flow out of us day and night and always... regardless of where they go. That is His concern.
229. So many years now the Lord has granted me to keep the first three days of Lent without opening my mouth for food or water. I have been able to do this because at the same time I also keep silence.
230. Just as I cannot stand praying out loud, so I cannot stand monologue, only dialogue.
231. At "Christ is risen" we leave futility behind with Him and pass, thanks to His love, into eternity.
232. There is something which is often called "spiritual pride". But where there is pride, there is no Spirit, in which case all that is left is a nothing - pride.
233. To a novice: Be careful about two things. Love, without discrimination, without condemnation... and humility, as if you are the slave of everybody.
234. Never expect anybody to understand you. Only God.
235. Forgive everybody and see only the light of Christ, which one day, by the prayer of the Mother of God and all the saints, we will encounter ourselves.
236. People tell us that which we inspire.
237. The ministry of service should be constant. We should continually be "forgetting" ourselves. It is not a momentary action, it is life. It is the sign of the presence of Christ.
238. A person lives only when he loves. Otherwise he is a lifeless creature, with only organic powers.
239. The love which binds people together, is the greatest Divine Gift.
240. The life in God consists in "You, follow Me." Together, you continually feel a joy, a joy, with certainty of love and an equally continual "Thank you" for EVERYTHING, day and night.
241. Jerusalem, as it says in the hymn "Shine, shine [new Jerusalem]", enlightens us all. Whoever goes there at the right time, will get direction for his path.
242. He who is occupied with himself, whether bodily or emotionally, does not have time to occupy himself with anyone else and is not interested. He becomes egocentric.
243. Peace to all - in this way the spirit is at rest, the heart loves, the soul becomes calm, the world of the Earth becomes a paradise. The Kingdom of God inside us, and we inside His Kingdom.
244. Blessed are those who begin to feel that they have become a "shadow". This is the beginning of "non-existence".
245. Changes, great changes, inner journeys must continue. Woe betide him who stays still like stagnant water.
246. Heaven is the monastery of the angels and earth their priory (outpost).
247. We should live permanently in the joy of the resurrection.
248. What a beautiful song life is! And what blessing when after a journey of many years, I can say from 1937 to today, the invisible face of God has never departed from beside me and inside me.
249. Few words, much love... The powers of darkness are waiting for an opportunity. Let us not talk, so that we do not regret it.
250. Even in this life, Christ raised us too from the dead.
251. What a gift God gave to the world, in sending His Son Jesus Christ.
252. The resurrection of Lazarus is the symbol of the resurrection of our soul in the world.
253. Read one Father of the Church and only him.
254. He who does to another what he hates, is "sent". Watch him.
255. There are people who persist, of their own will, in destroying the bodily power that God gave them, creating a perpetual state of hyperactivity and overwork.
256. Evening readings do not go into the soul.
257. If we do not have boldness when the Lord calls us, we are lost.
258. I wish that God grant you His grace, His power and His love, so that you may be near to those who are in need and who seek Him.
259. Where there is attunement to the will of God, there there is prayer.
260. Don't let anything upset you; neither people, nor reverses, nor obstacles. Christ says to us once in a while, "I received this command from My Father," and proceeds with the certainty that He is fulfilling the will of His Father, however difficult and tough, and however much hatred He encounters.
261. Children are not black or white or red or yellow in the eyes of God. They are souls which God produced through His heart like drops of blood. Who can say which drop is worth the most?
262. When we want to help someone, half of ourself must be assimilated to them. The other half, even in the face of objections, will be able to find the right solution.
263. God works in eternity. Not in the hurry of our temporary life. Everything will happen as and when He wants.
264. I hope you are always in a position for God to use you in His work.
265. Love of neighbour according to God, joy, and calm, are acquired by continuous prayer.
266. What these days we call "down", does not happen to a person who is called faithful. Because he is united with the love of God.
267. Don't listen to what they say. Look at what they do.
268. At the end of the day, ask your guardian angel to take from your thought everybody you have seen, but also you from everybody's thoughts. Otherwise you cannot pray correctly. Say to him, "My guardian angel, bless them all and remove their thoughts from mine.
269. When we are conversing with a person, we are conversing with our guardian angel at the same time, and the silent and invisible listener is Christ. Never forget it.
270. I always remember what one of my Abbots once said to me: Your mind to God, your hand to the plough.
271. If we are asked, you or I or anybody, where we come from, we will say in reply, not Athenians, Constantinopolitans, whatever... but citizens of heaven! Even if we have't yet ever been up there. [They are auspicious words.]
272. Only when an Abbot or Abbess is at rest in their souls, can those under obedience find rest.
273. The greatest Christmas present we can give to Christ is ourselves.
274. How valuable are little and simple things.
275. The birds make a chain round the whole Earth. Wherever you go, they remind you of the same things. The cuckoo shouts to you, "Get up, get up!" The peacock reminds us, "Pilgrims, pilgrims", so that we don't forget that we are just passing pilgrims on His Earth. And the rook cries, "Pray, pray!".
276. The God-sent Mother of the Apostles, true Mother of God we magnify You.
277. Somebody said, "When you are conformed to the world, you are deformed. Only when you meet God are you transformed."
278. Just imagine if "volunteer" angels are hidden within incurable psychopathic patients... just to test our love...
279. You cannot be a Christian without loving everybody the same. Both those of your own and other faiths. Both of your own and other religions, and nationalities. We are not responsible for where we are born...
280. Thank God that I know the whole Gospel and can now carry it around in my mind and recite it all day... (two months before her death)
281. All this "mine" is for this world. In the other one there is only "Yours". "You, Lord", "You, All-good one", "You, Compassionate one", "You, Miracle-worker", "You, the Guide of our lives".
282. Christ is the Original.
283. The Apostles were all together. But when the Beloved left, they separated. The same with you; that is how it ought to be. To enlighten the world with the bits of light you get from Christ. And like them, to spread it that Christ is the resurrection of the living and the departed. (a few days before she departed)
284. The years go by, we too go by, and only a pure soul can remain in the hands of the angels who He will send to receive it.
285. Read Isaac the Syrian.
286. Don't be concerned what people will say to you or do to you.
287. Marriage is love, affection, friendship. It is not "sex". "Sex" is something anti-divine because it is "of this world". It has no relation to the soul.
288. Couples should not try to "attract" each other through jealousy. Jealousy is from Satan.
289. The sacrament of marriage is a sacrament like baptism. If you are not "born again" within the other's heart, and the other in your heart, it is as if God is absent. Of course He is present, but he sees you and sorrows. He cannot help you, because you have shut Him out, without knowing it.
290. But above all I thank Him that He directs everything, guides everything, loves everybody and everything and has sent into my life only angels...
291. Always obey your conscience. Your conscience is from God.
292. Forget everything. Be united with Him in prayer. And then, you will be get messages and will know the way...
293. Together with Him we conquer all.
294. We should not be proud because we supposedly help people. We don't help anybody. He is the Helper, He is the Guide, if we adhere to Him and He guides us.
295. God does not want us split. Either we love Him, or the "world". We cannot have one foot in the "world" and the other in the Church.
296. At the "sound" of Him we should, like the Samaritan woman, leave the "pitcher". That is the only way God can help.
297. When our health gives us a knock, it is a message that we should stop something.
298. Beware of fame. It is not what God wants.
299. When it comes to health, a saying goes, "One doctor is advice, two doctors are confusion. Three doctors are... a graveyard." The same holds for spiritual matters. One spiritual father is from God. A second is confusion. A third, the loss of your soul!
300. Our purpose is to begin eternity here and now... for the Lady of All to receive us there above with the ranks of angels... and for us to live eternally in the light of Christ.
301. Just as the law of nature cannot endure a vacuum, so when we empty ourselves completely, the Holy Spirit rushes inside us, like a hurricane.
302. Don't associate with company among which you would not like God to see you.
303. There are some people who deprive us of solitude without offering us companionship.
304. There are some people who deprive us of solitude without offering us companionship.
305. Love the other without judging him, just as He presents him and as He loves him. Then God will help you and will overlook your own transgressions.
306. To a woman in mourning: Above all, give up all "material" recollections and expectations.
307. For somebody to love really and deeply, he must not allow his body to interfere. Love is never forgotten when it is elevated to that level.
308. Follow your path and don't let anything bother you. Keep your ears open and don't be impatient. Many years must pass and we must be tested before we can acquire patience.
309. Lord, I beg you, do not allow me ever to have my own will. Do Your own will in me. However difficult it may seem to me, it will be easy because it will be Yours!
310. God is free, and love dwells within freedom.
311. Love of money leads to hell, because the man who loves money steals.
312. He who loves can only do beautiful things.
313. I do not have to know you. I have to love you.
314. I am not "intellectual". I am simply happy to be alive and to love Him and everybody.
315. Photographs and graves are such sad and pitiable things when the generation that loved them has gone...
316. How do we dare to ignore and disobey the will of God and do what we consider human duty? Can't we see that our health is impaired? The words duty and obligation do not exist in the Gospel. We owe them only to God. Otherwise we become like the millions of dead in this world.
317. Do not ever get tied to anybody anywhere except Christ alone, and go wherever the Holy Spirit leads you, bringing His love to ALL, beyond frontiers and discrimination. Your destination is to love! That is what I was once told by my Abbot Fr Lev, and that is what I say to you.
318. Indulgence during Lent causes illness, and illness brings sluggishness.
319. Always forwards. Even at a tortoise space.
320. You feel freedom when the behaviour of others does not bother you and you forgive them.
321. Love does acrobatics in people's hearts.
322. The person has not yet been born who will make me upset...
323. We should not be interested in other people's response or what results we have. Our “job” is simply to try - the rest God will do.
324. It is pain that allows freedom.
325. Come - be silent.
Everywhere are people of God. You never know if the one you see today might tomorrow be a saint.

And the Mother said . . .

Only one thing do I know that I have always, and it is not pride, nor fantasy, but that which I have day and night, wherever I find myself--three things: first, Faith; second, Faith; third, Faith. That’s all! Nothing else can I say to you. It has directed all my life.

When we believe and someone says, “Do you want to come to Lebanon with me?” I say, “Yes.”

“How do you say Yes to everything?”

I say yes because I believe that 

if it is not for my good God will make it so that the "No" will come from the very one who invited me. Some paper will not be ready, or something will happen.

Today I am ninety years old--may you live so long! I read again and again and again in the Gospels, and I see something strange. Jesus Christ comes and says to the Apostles, “Leave now what you have and follow Me.”

Now, if they said, “And who are you? Why should we lose what we have? Why should we lose our profit? Where will you take us? What will you do with us?”--if they had said that, what would have happened? They would have remained in darkness.

They said Yes to some Unknown who came and said, “Throw all that away!” Why? Because they believed in God, and they waited for the One who would say to them, “Come!” And that was the beginning.

Because if we say No, what will happen? . . . One or the other: If you believe, you will walk on the water like St. Peter. If you are scared--Bloop! Nothing else.

Through all my life it has been like that. They called me to the strangest and most distant place in India. One night they sent me a message: “Come and see someone who is sick.” We started out in an ox cart driven by some shepherd boy. And as we were going up the mountain in the forest, what do I see above us? Two eyes shining, a tiger. What do you say then? “Lord have mercy on me, and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

So I closed my eyes and saw that written within me. Because He said to us, “Why do you worry? Why do you worry? Even the hairs of your head are numbered!” Why worry? Faith is lacking. May we have faith.

Again, Mother said . . .

Once when I was there where I was, some foreign missionary came and said to me, “You may be a good woman, but you’re not a good Christian.”

I said, “Why?”

“Because you have been here so long and you only go about speaking English. What local languages have you learned?”

I said to him, “I haven’t managed to learn any of the local languages, because I travel a great deal from place to place. As soon as I learn one dialect, they start speaking another. I’ve only learned ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good evening.’ Nothing else.”

“Bah, you’re no Christian. How can you evangelize? All the Catholics and Protestants learn all the local dialects in order to . . .”

Then I said, “Lord, give me an answer for him.” I asked it with all my heart, and then I said, “Ah. I forgot to tell you. I know five languages.”

“Really? What are these five?”

“The first is the smile; the second is tears. The third is to touch. The fourth is prayer, and the fifth is love. With these five languages I go all around the world.”

Then he stopped and said, “Just a minute. Say that again so I can write it down.”

With these five languages you can travel the whole earth, and all the world is yours. Love everyone as your own--without concern for religion or race, without concern for anything.

Mother Gabriel - The Sayings From the book: "Mother Gabriel, The Ascetic of Love", by Sister Gabriel.

-->