The Catalog of Good Deeds

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

In this Beatitude we continue our climb toward perfection.

Gregory says,

All that the Divine Word has so far laid down is indeed perfectly holy. But what we are now' invited to contemplate is truly αδυτον, and the Holy of Holies. For if the blessedness of seeing God cannot be surpassed, to become the son of God transcends bliss altogether… If you call that which the Beatitude promises good, or glorious, or sublime, yet what is made known is something more than these words mean: it is fulfillment that outstrips prayer, gift surpassing hope, grace transcending nature...

How can one give thanks worthily for such a gift? With what words, what thoughts that move our mind can we praise this abundance of grace? Man transcends his own nature, he who was subject to corruption in his mortality, becomes immune from it in his immortality, eternal from being fixed in time–in a word, a god from a man. For if he is made worthy of becoming a son of God, he will possess in himself the dignity of the Father and be made heir of all the Father's goods. How munificent is this rich Lord! How generously He opens His Hands wide to give us His ineffable treasures! Through His love of man He brings our nature, dishonored by sin, to an honor that almost equals His own.

If we were to obtain all the benefits available to us in this world; riches, good health, friends, all kinds of pleasures, etc.; what would it mean if peace were missing.

Gregory says,

Therefore peace itself is sweet to enjoy, and sweetens all that is held dear in life. And even if we suffer any human misfortune, as long as there is peace the evil is borne more easily, because it is mixed with some good; but if life is haunted by war, we become in a way insensible even to our own occasions of grief. For the common calamity is greater than the individual causes of pain…

By this, therefore, one can see how greatly He loves man, that He bestows the precious reward not on pains and sweat, but, so to speak, on the enjoyment of happiness. Peace is indeed the greatest of the joy-giving things; and this He wishes each of us to have in such measure as to keep it not only for himself, but to be able to dispense from the overflow of his abundance also to others.

Now who is a peacemaker? This is a person who “gives peace to another.” To be able to give peace to another you must first have peace in yourself. Therefore God wants us to be filled with the blessings of peace so we can then pass it on to others.

What is peace?

Gregory says,

Surely it is nothing else but a loving disposition towards one's neighbor. Now what is held to be the opposite of love? It is hate and wrath, anger and envy, harboring resentment as well as hypocrisy and the calamity of war. Do you see for how many different diseases this single word is an antidote? For peace is equally opposed to every one of the things mentioned, and wipes out these evils by its own presence. Just as illness vanishes when health supervenes, and as no darkness is left when light begins to shine, so also when peace appears, all the passions connected with its opposite are eliminated.

Gregory asks us to focus on all the passions associated with hate. He say the the passions of the devil appear in those dominated by wrath.

He says,

For when the passion lays hold of a man and the heart-blood bolls over, when wrath, as they say, makes the black gall diffuse itself throughout the body, then all the senses that are placed in the head are affected with cramp by the compression of the internal vapors. The eyes protrude from under their confining lids, staring bloodshot like dragons at the offending object; the inside is compressed, panting for breath, the veins III the throat swell and the tongue thickens...

The evils of wrath are obvious and one who prevent such actions are truly blessed. But still worse, he says, is envy and hypocrisy because they are hidden deep in a man’s heart.

Gregory says,

It is cherished secretly in the depth of the heart, like a hidden fire, while externally everything is made to look deceptively like friendship. It is like a fire that is hidden under chaff. For a time it smolders inside and burns only what lies near; the flame does not flare up visibly, only a biting smoke penetrates, because it is so vigorously compressed from within.

We never know when this will bust out causing great harm. This is the story of an envious Cain who murdered Able who received praise. The envy within commanded the murder, but hypocrisy became its executioner, says, Gregory.

Those who have obtained a pure heart, who are able to imitate the Divine love of others and who exemplify the Divine energies of God are truly blessed.

Gregory concludes,

I think that man is called a peacemaker par excellence who pacifies perfectly the discord between flesh and spirit in himself and the war that is inherent in nature, so that the law of the body no longer wars against the law of the mind, but is subjected to the higher rule and becomes a servant of the Divine ordinance.

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com.by/2009/09/7th-beatitude-blessed-are-peacemakers.html

A conversation with Hierodeacon Seraphim (Molibog)

of the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great in Arizona

Last year a frequent contributor to our site, Olga Rozhneva, was blessed by the providence of God to visit the well-known Monastery of St. Anthony the Great in the Arizona desert, founded by Elder Ephraim (Moraitis), a disciple of the venerable Elder Joseph the Hesychast. The trip was amazing, as it occurred not without the miraculous help of Elder Ephraim.

Amongst the brethren of the monastery is the Russian Hierodeacon Seraphim, who spoke with us about his path to God, how he found himself in a monastery in the middle of the American desert, and the instructions of Elder Ephraim.

—Fr. Seraphim, the providence of God is at work in the life of every man, but sometimes it is hidden and sometimes it clearly reveals itself in some kind of sign, remarkable encounters, or words. Did you have such signs—a clear manifestation of God’s providence for you in your life?

—You know, the Lord leads every man to Himself when the most opportune moment for him comes. I was born in Moscow. In childhood, like my peers, I was an Octobrist, Pioneer, and Young Communist. I graduated from the Moscow Aviation-Technological Institute with a diploma in mechanical engineering for aircraft engines. I started to get involved in various religious currents, but didn’t arrive at Orthodoxy.

In 1995 a professor of physics from Chicago, David Chesek, came to Moscow. He was a very good Catholic and wonderful family man with eight kids. He died two years ago. We got acquainted, having similar interests in physics, and he invited me to America to study and work. He helped me with my visa.

I was twenty-three and had the opportunity to travel to another country, live and study there, and receive some life experience. The Lord allowed me to do all of it.

Several American universities cooperate with various companies where the companies pay the universities for research. The university in Alabama, where I began to study, collaborated with automotive companies. They looked for students who would do research along with their studies, so they paid for my education and gave me a salary for work in the metal casting department. This was the most ideal option for me. I rented a small house from a family, studied for seven years and received my masters and doctorate. I was offered work at General Motors.

But the Lord already had other plans for me. In America I studied and worked, worked and studied, and was deprived of those human consolations I had in my homeland: interaction with my parents and relatives and friends. People who move to other countries lose these comforts they had at home.

Any Orthodox country is a country of collective communication. You know, you can just drop by a friend’s without calling, and you’ll drink some tea in the kitchen and have a heart-to-heart… But western countries are societies of individualists: “Hello,” “Goodbye.” There’s parties, but the conversation is very superficial. And no matter how well you speak English, you always feel that you’re from another culture.

Being without these human consolations, you begin to look for them in God. My mom, learning of my interest in faith, advised me to get baptized.

St. Anthony's Monastery

When the Lord wants to bring someone to Himself, He creates such circumstances, arranges meetings through which the man can begin to recognize Him. I made some Russian friends, and they turned out to be Baptists. I was always very curious, and here I wanted to immediately know: where is truth? After all, there can’t be several truths. I started to attend the catechumen courses at the Orthodox church and learned about Church history and doctrine. I compared and analyzed, and realized that the truth is in Orthodoxy. I received Holy Baptism.

My life changed dramatically. Prestigious work at General Motors didn’t entice me anymore. I didn’t want to stay with the university department—I had developed an interest in monasticism.

—And why did you choose the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great?

—Once my spiritual father, Archpriest Alexander Fekanin, the rector of the church of St. Symeon the New Theologian in Birmingham, advised me to go to St. Anthony’s Monastery. My first time there I was twenty-six. I met the founder of the monastery, Elder Ephraim—a spiritual child of Venerable Elder Joseph the Hesychast. I said to him in broken Greek: “Father, I want to become a monk,” and he blessed me.

I came here a few more times; I liked it, but I was confused: I wasn’t sure that I was supposed to stay in this monastery. I even wanted to return to Russia and enter seminary.

I had just graduated from my university in Alabama, and after my defense and all my work I felt tired, and my spiritual father blessed me to go on vacation to the west coast. California is a huge, beautiful state: mountains, the Grand Canyon, nature, monasteries… I went to St. Anthony’s and told the fathers that soon, after my vacation, I was going to Russia, and rented a car and drove to California.

I went to the convent of the Lifegiving Spring Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which Elder Ephraim had also founded, in 1993. There I met one mother, Schemanun Fevronia, who bore obedience in the guest house. We started talking, and I told her: “You know, I’m soon returning to Russia,” to which she replied: “You forget to add a phrase.” “What phrase, mother?” “If it’s God’s will”…

I spent three days there, and somehow Mother Fevronia, and she was a spiritually experienced person, began to talk with me about the monastic life. At the end of the conversation I felt like she wanted to tell me something, but she wasn’t saying it. It’s a sign of a spiritual person, to not enforce his point of view, but to wait until you ask. And if you ask, then he answers. That is, he speaks to those who are ready to listen.

I asked her: “Mother Fevronia, it seems to me you want to say something to me…” and she responded that she had prayed for me all night. She told me: “God’s will for you is to go to Fr. Ephraim and be a monk in his monastery.” I was amazed. Then she advised me to go to San Francisco to the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” cathedral, to St. John of Shanghai. His relics are in a wooden shrine under glass, and underneath there’s an opening where anyone who wants to can drop a note to the saint.

I went to San Francisco and wrote a letter to St. John of Shanghai, requesting that he pray for me. Then I went to St. Anthony’s and immediately felt sure that it was “my” monastery. That’s how I wound up here.

Elder Ephraim

You see, I prayed for several years, from the time I felt the pull of monastic life, that the Lord would teach me: to go to a monastery or not, and if so, which one. I prayed that the Lord would inform me about it in such a way that no doubts would remain about the correctness of my choice, and I received my answer at the most opportune moment—when I had graduated from college, when I was free to choose my path—that is, precisely when I needed it. There are many monastic testimonies that when they had chosen the monastic path in life, they couldn’t immediately leave for the monastery—some obstacles appeared for them. The Lord revealed it to me when it was most necessary, to secure my path.

It’s worth noting that when I would come to the monastery, being unprepared, I tried to meet with Elder Ephraim every time, but he didn’t want to receive me at all. And when I was finally ready to choose my path, the elder immediately received me. And moreover, he summoned me himself and instructed me.

—Could you tell us about the elder’s instructions?

—I told him I had been baptized as an adult, and he anxiously asked if I had been baptized by full immersion. It was obvious that it’s important to him. When I answered affirmatively he began to smile and joked about me being tall: “And where did they find some a large font?”

He gave me a few pieces of advice for beginning the monastic life. Perhaps they’ll be useful for your readers, because they can be applied to monks or to laypeople. The elder stressed the importance of preserving your conscience everywhere: at work, during our obediences. He advised me to keep that initial zeal with the help of obedience to a spiritual father and unceasing prayer. He said that ascetics have three enemies: the world, the evil one, and our own selves—our passionate nature.

He emphasized that, taking care for our salvation, we mustn’t waste time doing nothing. He gave the example of one nun (I suspect he was talking about his mother, Nun Theophano). When this nun would hear the chiming on the hour, she would say to herself: “Another hour has passed, and I’m another hour closer to death.” Thus she kept the memory of death, helping her to never forget the salvation of her soul.

In September 2002 I arrived at the monastery and became a worker, working in the kitchen. After four months the elder blessed me with the novice’s cassock and gave me an obedience in the bookstore: book orders, receive pilgrims. I speak in English and Greek, so I can also answer phone calls and take care of the mail. In 2012 I received the monastic tonsure and in January 2015 I was ordained a hierodeacon. Perhaps, that’s it… I can tell a few more stories about the providence of God.

Elder Ephraim and Mother Evpraxia

—Please do.

—The first is about Schemanun Evpraxia. Our elder, Fr. Ephraim, has tonsured about fifteen people into the schema just before death. Most of them were in the final stages of cancer. Mother Evpraxia joined a Greek monastery when she was eighteen. She took the monastic tonsure. The elder summoned her to America and placed her as the abbess of the Monastery of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Florida. Then he moved her to another monastery, in Canada.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer. The elder told her: “Come here. You will die in our monastery.” She arrived a few days before death. The elder tonsured her into the schema with the same name. Two days later she departed to the Lord.

The deceased was brought into the church. We took a picture for remembering. The Psalter was read over her body, according to tradition. When they took more pictures after forty minutes, they were amazed. A smile had appeared on her lips. The elder said: “She had great love for people, and a serious illness. She is very high in Paradise.”

The second is about Schemanun Thekla. Mother Thekla is an American from Texas, from a big family—kids, grandkids. She lived the normal life of a family woman. But before death she was deemed worthy of the schema.

Her house was by the Monastery of the Holy Archangels near San Antonia, TX. She often went to the monastery, helped with obediences, and offered her house to pilgrims when the monastery was full. She was very zealous. Elder Ephraim went to the monastery for its feast day, and, together with other pilgrims, went to see her.

He looked at her and suddenly asked: “Haven’t you thought about monasticism?” He invited her to one of the women’s communities. The elder blessed her with the tonsure into the schema three months before her death with the name Thekla.

The Nativity of Christ was drawing near, and Mother Thekla started to say: “I want to meet Nativity with Christ.” And so it happened. When the sisters changed her clothing after death, they smelled a sweet fragrance throughout the whole room. These are my stories…

—Allow me to thank you, Fr. Seraphim, for the interesting and soul-profiting conversation. What would you wish for the readers of Pravoslavie.ru?

—In Russia, especially amongst the laity, we lost the tradition of the Jesus Prayer. Even some priests look askance at laypeople who carry a prayer rope in their hands. They consider the Jesus Prayer with a prayer rope a monastic tradition, and are afraid of prelest.

Our spiritual father, Elder Ephraim, blesses laity to engage in the Jesus Prayer, to the extent, of course, that their life in the world, work and family allow them. The elder explains that there’s no danger for those praying at the beginning stages of the Jesus Prayer, when a person says it orally, when he has a small prayer rule he does at home or on the road.

Usually our spiritual fathers bless laity new in the faith with a daily rule to do at home in the morning or in the evening. It’s about 50—150 Jesus Prayers with the Sign of the Cross at each knot, and 50—150 prayers to the Mother of God, “Most Holy Theotokos, save us,” also with the Sign of the Cross on each knot, and 20—50 prostrations with the Jesus Prayer and Sign of the Cross at every prostration. You should fulfill this rule given by the spiritual father, and not change it arbitrarily.

Elder Ephraim

The rest of the day you walk around the streets, ride on the bus, in the subway, and pray to yourself, with a small prayer rope in your hand, or without one. When there’s no one else around, it’s useful to say the prayer out loud, quietly. It helps the mind to concentrate on the words of the prayer and not get lost in dreams. The main condition is a feeling of repentance. Don’t strive for spiritual achievements, but ask for mercy and forgiveness of sins.

Elder Ephraim also strongly recommends (and for us it’s part of the monastic rule) to read the Akathist to the Mother of God every day, that she might shield us from all evil, and also when we have to go somewhere.

We had a novice here in the monastery, a Greek (he’s a monk now). During obediences and at other times he often said the Akathist to the Mother of God aloud, which he knew by heart. One night he was walking around the monastery, praying his favorite Akathist aloud. He went a little beyond the bounds of the monastery, and not noticing it in the dark, stepped on a rattle snake. Usually if a snake touches you, it bites you. But a miracle occurred here: the Mother of God covered the novice and the snake didn’t bite him, but simply slithered away. That’s the benefit of reading the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos.

God bless!

Olga Rozhneva spoke with Hierodeacon Seraphim (Molibog)

Source: http://orthochristian.com/99282.html

It was in 2006. I was a junior student at a university and a non-conformist in a certain sense. Nevertheless, I had already begun my path to the Church. It was in February that my friend and I first came to St Elisabeth Convent to pray and to see what kind of young people went there… I felt at home during the service. The young people turned out to be open-hearted and welcoming. The spiritual father of the youth group was simple and ready to help. Little by little, I became a parishioner of the Convent and a member of the youth group. After I graduated from my university, I became a sister of the Sisterhood in honour of the Holy Martyr Grand Princess Elisabeth and an employee of the Pilgrim’s Office and the website of St Elisabeth Convent. The spiritual father of the youth group became very close not just to me but also to my entire family…

Tatiana Khomenkova

***

The current issue of One of Us features Father Andrew Malakhovsky who continues working with the youth in the Medical University and carries out many other obediences in the Convent.

Restored Church, Restored Self

There comes a time in one’s life when one begins to think about the meaning of life. You are left discontented with the things that the world has to offer. You start seeing a lot of injustice and grief in this world. You are particularly regretful for having caused others so much trouble due to your absent-mindedness and lack of wisdom, in spite of the fact that you had wanted to do good… You start looking for internal resources and seeking a foundation in your life. You try to come up with good explanations for everything and bind them together in a coherent philosophy…

You may not even be aware that you are looking for Christ at that moment but you do it anyway. As a rule, it is the time when you start philosophising in a purely scholastic manner but the question that you have to face is always “What for?” It is no sooner than you come to church that your soul can feel genuine satisfaction and inner joy. When you grow stronger in faith, you begin to understand all things, including sorrows of other people and your own afflictions. You want to be in tune with the newly-revealed Divine beauty and to be chaste and graceful inside. It is often impossible to rebuild your life according to the newly-acquired knowledge but you can clearly see that you are on the right track… You are willing to commit your entire life to the incorruptible. That was what my own discovery of the Church and God was like.

I graduated from Minsk Radio-engineering Institute. I came to the faith when I had already been working in the Academy of Sciences. I consider my distance learning in the Institute of Apiculture in Rybny, Ryazan Oblast, to be an important period in my spiritual journey. I had the opportunities to visit churches and monasteries during my sessions. I was especially impressed by Holy Trinity St Sergius Lavra, Gethsemane Skete, and St John the Theologian Monastery in v. Poshchupovo. Upon graduation from that institute, I came to realise that my profession fеll short of my expectations, too. I was overwhelmed by a desire to participate in the restoration of a church. It turned out that I also participated in the revival of my own soul…

When I came to carry out my obedience in the church, I spent six more months working in the world, and then I devoted myself to working in the Church exclusively. Life was miserable in the early 1990s. There were no sights of the future glory: the churches that had been returned to the Orthodox by the state lay in desolation. There was no finesse like today but it fully corresponded to the conditions of our souls: they weren’t great, either, so the outward appearance of the churches was in total accord with them. It was a period when both church buildings and human souls were being restored.

Rest for the Soul

When I worked in the Academy of Sciences, I grew fond of mountain tourism, ski trips, and kayaking. I had never been into acquiring wealth and new possessions and I didn’t have a knack for them. Hiking in the mountains was a real inspiration and solace for me.

I managed to see the Kuril Islands, Siberia, Crimea, the Carpathians, and the Khibiny. We kayaked on the rivers of Belarus. Once I had the chance to do kayaking in Karelia.

I got to know my wife during my first trip to the Carpathian Mountains. She did not treat hiking seriously. It was merely a hobby, a way to know and test herself, to learn something about the world, and to build up willpower.

Our son inherited our hobby, too: he prefers various activities to lying on a couch. We go mountain hiking in the Caucasus. We like walking, looking around, and talking. I think this pastime does not throttle one’s spiritual life. One needs some time to stop and breathe in and have a rest for his soul and touch the elegance and brilliance of God’s creation.

We organise kayak trips around Belarus together with the parishioners. We had a three days long journey this summer but later some people admitted that they felt as if they had spent their entire vacation in that trip because they had had such a wonderful time. In support of the well-known phrase “Moving is living,” I can say that people even get healed of their illnesses. One of the participants of our trip had not been able to raise his arm for two years but he forgot about his health problem while rowing. Arm movements during rowing are different from the commonly used ones, and that was possibly why it helped him. Of course, close and informal conversations are the best part of a hiking trip.

Hard to Live Without Obediences

Life is not easy. You have to make yourself do something. You keep seeing and realising that you are inadequate to the field that the Lord has put you onto… However, life is even harder when you have no obediences.

Father Andrew’s Current Obediences: Boarding Home No.3 for Mentally Challenged and Elderly: Chapel in honour of Holy Blessed Xenia of St Petersburg where a Divine Liturgy with the Akathist to St Xenia is celebrated weekly; the National Applied Research Centre of Pulmonology and Phthisiatry: Chapel in honour of St Luke of Crimea; Social Shelter for Children Left Without Parental Care; Spiritual Education Centre of the Belarusian State Medical University, Chapel in honour of the Mother of God the Quick to Hearken; Akathist to the Inexhaustible Chalice icon of the Mother of God.

Past Obediences: Spiritual leadership of the Sunday School and the Youth Group in honour of Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia; visits to the Correctional Colony No. 10 in Navapolack; Clinical Hospital No. 2, and the National Applied Research Centre of Mental Health.

I have been carrying out my obedience in the Boarding Home for the Mentally Challenged for almost two decades. A small community has formed around St Xenia Chapel during that time. This community consists of the sisters and the brothers of our Sisterhood of Saint Elisabeth; the staff members of the Boarding Home; and its patients. We have learned to share sorrows and joys.

It is easier to serve in the National Applied Research Centre of Pulmonology and Phthisiatry because people stay there for a long time — up to six months or even longer — which is enough to become a practising Christian.

The children who end up in the social shelter are a different story but it is obvious that our society is recovering. Although drug abuse remains fairly common among schoolchildren, it seems to me that the society improves in this respect. There used to be many juvenile delinquents among the children who ended up in the shelter. Teachers and school boards pay much more attention to children nowadays: if a student misses classes, his or her teacher immediately alerts the school board. They can even send that student off to a special school as a prevention measure. Missing school is a visible sign that something wrong is going on and that it can cause some serious sin.

The students who attend the Spiritual Education Centre of the Belarusian State Medical University tend to be in search of the faith already. It is easy to work with them, naturally. We understand each other well. It is much more difficult to work with the student masses, riddled with atheism and scepticism. Few students come to our Centre, and this may be the greatest difficulty with this obedience. There must be a priest who can encourage young people and lead them by his own example. I don’t think I am such a priest. I would like to ask for your holy prayers.

We have a moleben and an Akathist to the Inexhaustible Chalice icon of the Mother of God in St Nicholas Church every Thursday. This moleben is mostly frequented by the co-dependent — the relatives of those who suffer from substance addictions. Some of them keep praying for their loved ones for years. They don’t give up and continue to come to church and pray during the Akathist. I wish they had everything they are praying for but this struggle is very demanding…

Quick Poll

What would you wish those who have not met God yet?

— I would like them to have that encounter. A person’s life can be divided into two periods: before Christ and after Christ. There is a commonly accepted chronological division between the centuries “before Christ” (BC) and the centuries after Christ (AD, Anno Domini, the year of the Lord). Likewise, every person’s life can be divided into two main periods. I believe it happens to every person: one’s inner life changes when he meets the Lord. One may appear the same, of course, but one becomes completely different inside. That’s the way it should be. May the Lord help all of us!

What prayers, apart from the Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian, would you suggest for our readers to gain the penitential mood, which is so crucial during the Great Lent?

— Listen to a recorded Great Penitential Canon of St Andrew of Crete recited by Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeyev).

What would you recommend doing during the Great Lent to the young adults and the students whom you counsel?

— I advise them to attend church services more often and do their best to avoid entertainment. One should observe physical fast to the extent that one deems useful.

Prepared by Tatiana Khomenkova,

Maria Kotova, Nun Joanna Pankova

February 27, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

"Some people, if they stumble at all, or are slandered by anyone, or fall ill with a chronic disease, gout or headache or any such ailment, at once begin to blaspheme. They submit to the pain of the disease, but deprive themselves of the benefit. What are you doing, man, blaspheming your benefactor, savior, protector, and guardian? Or do you not see that you are falling down a cliff and casting yourself into the pit of final destruction? You do not make your suffering lighter, do you, if you blaspheme?

Indeed, you aggravate it, and make your distress more grievous. For the devil brings a multitude of misfortunes for this purpose, to lead you down into that pit. If he sees you blaspheming he will readily increase the suffering and make it greater, so that when you are pricked you may give up once again; but is he sees you enduring bravely, and giving thanks the more to God, the more the suffering grows worse, he raises the siege at once, knowing that it will be useless to besiege you any more. A dog sitting by the table, if it sees the person who is eating continually throwing it scraps of food from the table, stays persistently; but if stopping at the table once or twice it goes away without getting anything, it stays away thereafter, thinking that the siege is useless.

In the same way the devil continually gapes at us; if you throw to him, as to a dog, some blasphemous word, he will take it and attack you again; but if you persevere in thanksgiving, you have choked him with hunger, you have chased him away and thrown him back from you. But, you say, you cannot keep silent when you are pricked by distress. I certainly do not forbid you to make a sound, but give thanks instead of blasphemy, worship instead of despair. Confess to the Lord, cry out loudly in prayer, cry out loudly glorifying God. In this way your suffering will be lightened, because the devil will pull back from your thanksgiving and God's help will be at your side. If you blaspheme, you have driven away God's assistance, made the devil more vehement against you, and involved yourself even more in suffering; but if you give thanks, you have driven away the plots of the evil demon, and you have drown the care of God your protector to yourself."

From "Third Sermon on Lazarus and the Rich Man,"

On Wealth and Poverty, 69-70.

Source: http://orthodoxhealing.blogspot.com.by/2011/02/st-john-chrysostom-when-you-suffer.html

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The Seventh Beatitude: Climbing Toward Perfection

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Interview with Hierodeacon Seraphim of the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great in Arizona

Personal Stories of the Clergy of St. Elisabeth Convent: Father Andrew Malakhovsky

Monologue on the Second Week of Great Lent: St. Gregory Palamas

St. John Chrysostom on giving thanks when suffering

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The Seventh Beatitude: Climbing Toward Perfection

What do we prepare for during the third week of Great Lent?

Interview with Hierodeacon Seraphim of the Monastery of St. Anthony the Great in Arizona

Personal Stories of the Clergy of St. Elisabeth Convent: Father Andrew Malakhovsky

Monologue on the Second Week of Great Lent: St. Gregory Palamas

St. John Chrysostom on giving thanks when suffering

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