The Catalog of Good Deeds

Canonization was always considered by the Church to be the fact of the work of God’s holiness in the Church, revealed through a graceful ascetic of righteousness. This is why at all times the main condition for canonization was true sanctification and holiness of a righteous person. Metropolitan Juvenalian of Krutetsk and Kolomenskoe stated the following criteria of the Orthodox ascetics' holiness in his report during the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church:

1. Church’s faith in the holiness of the canonizing ascetics as people, who have pleased God and related to the coming of the Son of God on earth and the preaching of the Holy Gospel (canonization of forefathers, fathers, prophets and apostles).

2. Martyrdom for Christ and torments for Christ’s faith (canonization of martyrs and confessors).

3. Miracles performed through the prayers to the saint or by their Holy Relics (canonization of venerable saints, silentiary saints, pillar ascetics, passion-bearers, fool-for-Christ saints etc.)

4. High primatial and hierarchal service in the Church.

5. Special service to the Church and God’s people.

6. Virtuous, righteous and holy life.

7. In the 17^th century, according to Patriarch Nektarios, the fololowing three things were acknowledged as the reasons of people’s true holiness:

- irreproachable Orthodox faith;

- performing all the virtues and fighting for faith even with his life;

- revealing supernatural signs and miracles by God.

8. Often it happened so that glorifying of a saint by people was considered the evidence of his holiness even during his lifetime.

Although there were many reasons for canonization of saints in various periods of the Church history, one thing remained unchanged: canonization of saints is the work of God’s holiness; it has always occurred with the blessing and according to the will of the Church.

Excerpt from: https://azbyka.ru/kriterii-kanonizacii-mestnochtimyh-svyatyh-v-russkoj-pravoslavnoj-cerkvi

Perhaps, there is no person on earth who has never dreamt of being happy. However, everyone has their own concept of happiness. For some people happiness means material welfare and richness, while other people see happiness through success and popularity among other people. Some people lack a soulmate to reach happiness, other people need to be healthy… According to the Holy Fathers, the true happiness of a human being is kept not in the secular joys, which can disappear in a flash, but in the love towards the Lord, which transfigures the world around us.

1. Faith in God

Of course, the first key to happiness of the Athonite monks is faith and love towards the Lord. If a person manages to come to this in his life, then nothing more can make him unhappy. Once, a woman asked St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia why keeps saying he is happy although his health condition has got much worse. The saint replied: “Read the Holy Scripture, go to church, find a spiritual father, partake of the Holy Communion – in other words, be a good Christian and then you will find the happiness you are looking for. You see, I am sick now, but I am still happy. The same concerns you: when you will come closer to Christ, you will become happy with your life”.

2. Becoming free from worries and vanity

St. Paisios the Hagiorite said that to feel happy one has to live a natural and simple life, in which there is no place for excessive luxury, vanity and senseless worries. The saint told: “Once a doctor from America came to me. He told me about the life they live there. People there have already turned into machines. They devote their life to work. Each family member is supposed to have their own car. What is more, to make every family member feel comfortable at home, there must be at least four TV-sets. So go on, work and get exhausted, earn a lot of money so that you can say your life is happy and comfortable. But does this life have something in common with happiness? Such a life, full of worries and non-stop rush, is not happiness, but a torment.”

3. Sober mind

Monk Simeon the Athonite has a short parable, which shows that outer circumstances cannot influence on whether we feel happy or not. Salvation is within us, and this is why one must have a sober mind to endure any difficulties. Here is the parable: “A person who could not swim was floundering in water. He caused waves, which he mistook for a dangerous stream. He began to fight with the waves. Finally, he understood that he can float on the water and then managed to reach the riverbank. When he came out of water, he saw that the river was calm and understood that the waves he was fighting with were caused by him. Any misfortune begins within us. If you get your head straight, it will end within us.”

4. Pure heart

According to St. Nektarios of Aegina, the right way to happiness is to have a pure and kind heart. “Happiness is a pure heart because such a heart becomes the throne of God. The Lord said about people with pure heart, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people (2 Corinthians 6:16). What can they lack then? Nothing indeed. They already have the greatest good in their hearts – the Lord Himself!”

5. Ability to forgive

Forgiveness is one of the most important Christian virtues. This is why everyone who is trying to reach happiness must learn to forgive his neighbor. Due to forgiveness, a person makes his heart free from old offences, and a joyful heart is always happy. “This is our law: if you forgive, then it means that the Lord has forgiven you too. But if you do not forgive your brother, then your sin will stay with you”, - said Silouan the Athonite.

6. Give more, take less

To become happy one must share his joy and happiness with their people. It seems that there is no secret in it, but Monk Simeon the Athonite considered this ability to be the rarest among people. The one who comprehends it, becomes happy.

7. Being grateful for small favors

“Desires are the mess of the world”, - said Simeon the Athonite. Indeed, the more a person dwells on his desires, the bigger his appetite gets. Having no opportunity to get enough of what he wants, a person dooms himself to unhappiness. St. Paisios the Hagiorite suggested fighting against desires with abstinence: “We find happiness when we are grateful for small favors. What do people do today? They buy, and buy, and buy again various goods, cars, electronic devices and many other things. Of course, they lack money and worry all the time about this. We must be grateful for small favors and try not to grasp as much as possible. Having only the necessary things, one should not work too much. Then people will have more time to be at home with their children and family, for activities together, for prayer and for living in a warm family circle instead of being constantly under pressure.”

Source:http://dishupravoslaviem.ru/7-sekretov-schastya-ot-afonskix-starcev/

An elder once said:

– Anyone thinking that he can understand God’s mysteries through scientific theories is like a fool who wants to see the paradise through a telescope. This is precisely why one cannot make the Gospel comply to the common sense: the common sense is grounded in the search of profit, whereas the Gospel is grounded in love.

There was a wise old man who came to live in a village. He loved children and spent a lot of time with them. He also liked giving them presents but he would only present them with fragile things. No matter how hard the children tried to be careful, their new toys would break often. The children would be upset and cry. Some time later, the wise man would give them new toys, which were even more fragile.

The children’s parents could not bear it any longer, so they came to the wise man and asked him:

— You are wise and benevolent, but why do you give our children such fragile gifts? They try their best but the toys still break, and the children start crying. Your toys are so wonderful that it’s simply impossible not to play with them.

The elder replied:

— In just a few years someone will give them his heart. Perhaps, it will teach them to treat this precious gift just a little bit more carefully.

There were two severely ill patients in one hospital ward. One of them lay near the window, and the other lay near the door.

— What do you see in the window? — the patient who lay near the door asked.

— Oh, — the first patient exclaimed in excitement, — I can see the sky and clouds that resemble animals, a lake, and a distant forest.

The man who lay at the window would tell his neighbor about the things that were going on outside. He saw a boat, fishermen with lots of fish, children playing on the shore, young lovers who held one another’s hand and could not take their eyes off one another.

While he was looking at all those wonderful things, his neighbor was overcome by resentment. “It’s unfair,” he was thinking. “What did he do to deserve to lie near the window? Why do I have to look at the door covered with flaky paint, while he enjoys the perfect view out of the window?”

One day, the man who lay by the window was coughing so hard that he started to choke. He tried to push the button and call the nurse but he couldn’t because he was breathless. His neighbor was looking at him. He could easily push his own button but he chose not to.

After a while, the first patient stopped coughing and died.

When he was taken away, his neighbor asked the nurse to lay him near the window. The nurse did as he requested: she made his bed and helped him to lie comfortably by the window. When she was about to leave, the man screamed out:

— Impossible! This window overlooks a gray brick wall! The man who has just died used to tell me that he saw a forest, a lake, clouds, and people… How could he see all those things?

The nurse smiled sadly:

— He couldn’t see anything at all: your late neighbor was blind.

There was an old man who had three sons. They would quarrel all the time. The old man wanted his three sons to live peacefully after his death. He decided to teach them a lesson. He called his three sons and asked them to break a broom. The oldest son tried to break it but he couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried. The other two brothers did not succeed, either. Then the old man took the broom apart and asked each of the sons to break some thin twigs. Of course, they could easily do it.

Then the father said:

— Life’s no different. If you stick together, no one will break you but if you are separate, defeating you will be as easy as breaking up a couple of thin twigs.

A Frenchman was traveling across the Sahara desert accompanied by an Arab Christian. The Arab would kneel down on hot sand and call upon God every day.

One evening, the unbelieving Frenchman asked the Arab:

— How do you know there is a God?

The Arab paused and then responded:

— How do I know that God exists? Why do you think that it was a camel and not a man who walked past our tent last night?

— Well, you can tell it by the footprints, — the unbelieving Frenchman was surprised.

The Arab pointed at the sun, which spread its rays over the entire horizon, and said:

— It doesn’t look like man’s footprints.

There was a monk who bought a young and ill-trained mule. He tied it to a tree and left it to graze on a meadow. When he returned, he found out that the mule got loose. The monk chased the mule but the mule ran away so quickly that the monk could not catch him. The monk was furious. He started shouting at the mule but it didn’t help. Finally, he was so tired that he gave up, thinking, “Why do I chase the mule? Why not the other way around?”

He went home, took some bread with salt, sat in the refectory, and started eating the bread slowly…

He heard crackling in the bushes. The mule came closer—and closer—and closer. He was moving his ears and smelling the air. Finally, the mule came very close and neighed quietly, asking for a piece of bread. The monk could not help laughing. “Oh you, a dum-dum. Okay, you can have the bread!” He bridled the mule and went back to his field. That was how they got to know one another…

If you want to get rid of absent-mindedness, you should teach your mind to follow the rules that will attract your mind to your heart, like a good owner baits a horse by showing it a piece of bread with salt.

If Pumpkins Grew On Oak Trees

There was a peasant who went to the woods to cut some timber. After doing some work, he was tired, so he lay down to rest under a big oak tree. He saw its branches and lots of big acorns hanging on them. The man thought, “If only pumpkins grew on oak trees…” He closed his eyes. An acorn fell down and hit him on his lips. The man blurted out, “I admit I was wrong. God is wiser than me, and He has made it well that there are acorns on the oak tree and not pumpkins. If I had been hit by a pumpkin, I’d have died.”

We often condemn God’s creations instead of relying on God’s will. He who relies on God’s will is always at peace, whilst the person who tries to grasp everything with his own mind, is unsophisticated in spiritual life. You have to submit yourself to God’s will if you want to comprehend it. The Lord will instruct you through his grace, and your life will become easier. Regardless of whether such a man is sick or poor, he will be happy because both his soul and his mind is healthy, and he can see God with his mind and love God with his humble spirit, and forget the world because of that love; and even if he remembers the world, God’s love urges him to pray and shed tears for the world.

That is the pleasant way of the Lord for our spirit. (Saint Silouan the Athonite)

Translated from: https://azbyka.ru/days/

About fifteen years ago, I heard this story about an event that took place in Northern California—an unusual story, about a miracle of St. Xenia of Petersburg. Nun Nina, now Abbess Nina of St. Nilus Skete in Alaska, had heard it from Fr. Weldon Hardenbrook, who at the time was the rector of a church in Santa Cruz County. I wrote it down immediately, but unfortunately the notebook I wrote it in is located somewhere far away from me now, and I am writing it again from memory—so that people might know that Blessed Xenia the fool-for-Christ of St. Petersburg helps people everywhere, even people who previously knew nothing about her. She helps not only those who have prayed to her, but even those who will pray to her.

This priest, Fr. Weldon, served in a parish that consisted of former Evangelical Christians who had embraced Orthodox Christianity. There was a time when their flourishing community was not Orthodox, and all kinds of people came to them to hear their Christian message. One day, a young man rode up to the church on his Harley Davidson. His appearance betrayed the life of a prodigal, but he was sincerely interested in hearing about Jesus. A relationship formed with the Fr Weldon, now an Orthodox priest (who told this story), and the young man began to gradually change his ways. He had given up one vice after another when the pastor told him that his “biking” would have to go if he wanted to truly follow Christ. This was too much for the newly-born Evangelical to bear, and he left the community and his pastor’s care, never intending to return.

Our biker rode off on his Harley Davidson, and soon had a terrible accident, which cost him his legs. Eventually he landed back in the company of his old “friends”, in a run-down apartment in a low-rent neighborhood in the bad part of a crime-ridden city. One evening, as he and his companions were abusing drugs and alcohol in a particularly vigorous way, he slipped over the edge and lost consciousness. The others were also far from sober and took him for dead. Not understanding clearly what they should do, and as usual avoiding all contact with the police, they simply dragged his limp, legless body to the street and threw him into the nearest garbage dumpster. In there, the next morning, he came to his senses. It was a rude awaking indeed to find himself in a dumpster, wallowing in refuse. Climbing dazedly out of that would-be coffin, he sat down on the curb, thinking the darkest thoughts. “So, this is what I have come to. Useless, human trash. Thrown away like garbage.”

Sunk in these pessimistic thoughts, he was suddenly stirred by the presence of an old lady in tattered clothes—what people call a “bag lady”. She was coming closer to him with a fierce, accusatory expression. “You know where to go,” she said, pointing at him. “So, go there!” At that moment the man remembered his former pastor, and the church where he had almost reformed. Determined to find it again, he made his way back to the town where it is located.

When he returned to that church it was different. There were gold domes with crosses on the roof, and the interior was completely changed. No pews; and there was a sort of screen at the front, with strange images of holy people. He looked around in wonder, when his gaze caught the image of a woman—the very “bag lady” who had told him where to go in that hour of dire depression. It was Holy Blessed Xenia, the fool-for-Christ of Petersburg.

He met his old friend, now an Orthodox priest in a cassock, wearing a cross. He received holy Baptism himself, and began to live the life of a dedicated parishioner, this time truly transformed.

I do not know what has come of this man since. I have no reason to believe that he is anywhere other than at that parish, but as I have said, this story was related to me fifteen years ago. However, the fact remains that this miracle of St. Xenia happened to person who knew nothing of her, who lived in a place very far from Russia, and when he needed it the most.

By Nun Cornelia (Rees)

Source: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com.by/2017/01/a-miracle-of-st-xenia-of-st-petersburg.html

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