#st. nikolai velimirovich

[orthodoxsoul]

[godlovesyousoiloveyou]

If we weave by day and undo at night, nothing gets woven.

If we build by day and destroy by night, nothing is ever built.

If we pray to God and do evil before Him, then nothing is woven and a house for our soul is not built.

+ St. Nikolai Velimirovich

[dramoor]

(Spotted on facebook)

[orthodoxiaonline]

St. Nikolai Velimirovich - About how God whitens the repentant sinners

St. Nikolai Velimirovich – About how God whitens the repentant sinners

“Though your sins be like scarlet, they may be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). (more…)

[orthodoxadventure]

HYMN OF PRAISE: The Venerable Paraskeva

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"The Lord desires a pure heart": Thus says the Gospel. A pure virgin you remained, And you gave your pure heart to God- O most wonderful saint, Saint Paraskeva, our ideal!

The Lord seeks a most pure mind, Without fancy and without falsehood; And you presented Him your most pure mind, Like that of an angel, of the same kind. O most wonderful saint, O Saint Paraskeva, hearken to our petitions!

The Lord seeks a pure soul, As a heavenly shrine; You perfected such a soul, And now shine in heaven. O most wonderful saint, Paraskeva, help us!

By your prayers, help us In the misfortunes of life. Through the clouds of earthly sorrow Bring us light, like a rainbow- O chaste virgin, most wonderful, Holy Mother Paraskeva!

[cassianus]

“If you become rich, consider whether or not you could worthily bear poverty. If you are happy, imagine how you could worthily meet unhappiness. When people praise you, think how you might worthily bear insult. And, all your life, think how you might worthily meet death.”

– St. Nikolai Velimirovich

[bylagunabay]

Devotion to the Holy Souls

REMEMBER THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY

“Man is sublime when he cares for the living; man is more than sublime when he cares for the dead.

A man often cares for the living out of selfishness. But what selfishness can there be in a man’s caring for the dead? Can the dead pay him, or express their gratitude?

Some animals bury their dead; giving them to the grave, they give them over to forgetfulness. But when a living man buries a dead one, he buries a part of himself with the dead man and returns home carrying a part of the dead man in his soul. This is especially clear – terribly clear – when a kinsman buries a kinsman, and a friend a friend.”

+ St. Nikolai Velimirovich

[de-gueules-au-lion-d-or]

God is not the God of equality, but of love….. Equality would exclude all justice and all love; it would exclude all morality. Look more closely at yourself, and you will see that you never in fact desire equality. That which you desire is not an equalising of all but the raising up of the small and weak to the great and powerful. But, not having the power to raise up the small and weak, you drag the great and powerful down from their height to the level of the small and weak.

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

[orthodoxydaily]

THE PROTECTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

october 1_october 14

Today the Old calendar( Julian calendar) celebrates the feast of the protection of the Mother of god. A beloved event for all orthodox christian. Here is why.

            " The Church has always glorified the Most Holy Mother of God as the Protectress and Defender of the Christian people, entreating, by her intercession, God's loving-kindness towards us sinners. The Mother of God's aid has been clearly shown times without number, both to individuals and to peoples, both in peace and in war, both in monastic deserts and in crowded cities. The event that the Church commemorates and celebrates on October 1 [October 14, Civil Calendar] proves this constant protection of the Christian people by the Mother of God. On October 1st, 911, in the time of the Emperor Leo the Wise (or the Philosopher), there was an all-night vigil at the Blachemae church of the Mother of God in Constantinople. The church was crowded. St. Andrew the Fool for Christ was standing at the back of the church with his disciple Epiphanius. At four o'clock in the morning, the most holy Mother of God appeared above the people with a veil spread over her outstretched hands, as though to protect them with this covering. She was clad in gold-encrusted purple and shone with an unspeakable radiance, surrounded by apostles, saints, martyrs and virgins. Seeing this vision, St. Andrew gestured towards it and asked Epiphanius: 'Do you see how the Queen and Lady of all is praying for the whole world?' Epiphanius replied: 'Yes, Father; I see it and stand in dread.' As a result, this commemoration was instituted to remind us both of this event and of the Mother of God's constant protection whenever we prayerfully seek that protection, that shelter, in distress. (from The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich)

[ststevanofdecani]

St. Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich was bold enough to speak out against the Nazi party. He was arrested and taken to Dachau, a concentration camp. Shortly after being freed, he fled the communists and came to America where he taught for several years before falling asleep in the Lord in 1956. That being said, this prayer was not written by a man who knew only the normal difficulties. He suffered much, and wrote the following beautiful prayer about enemies:

“Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.

Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.

They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.

They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.

They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.

They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless my enemies, O Lord, Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.

Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.

Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.

Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.

Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.

Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.

Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitter against me:

so that my fleeing to You may have no return;

so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;

so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;

so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins, arrogance and anger;

so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;

ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.

One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.

Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and enemies.

A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.

For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life.

Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.”

[eternal-echoes]

[uncreatedlight]

[godlovesyousoiloveyou]

The righteous have no sorrows that are not turned into joy, as sinners have no joy that is not turned into sorrow.

+ St. Dmitri of Rostov

[dramoor]

“O Lord Jesus Christ, our Life, our Wisdom and our Love, cleanse us and enter into us.

To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.”

~St. Nikolai Velimirovich

[bast38]

There are three things about which we must not rush to discouse: about God, while you are not established in faith; on other's sins, while you do not remember your own; and on the coming day, while you have yet to see the dawn. + St. Nikolai Velimirovich Photo: Dunilovo village, Russia

[cassianus]

Thousands upon thousands of souls bid farewell to their bodies at dawn. And when the sun is born, it will burn like a funerary candle over the thousands of deceased. And I watch You, my love, keeping vigil beside the thousands dying as you wait for them to call upon Your name. And behold, some of them repent for the whole slumber of their life and cry out to You for help.

Bless, O Lord, all penitents at death, and respond to their cry.

st Nikolai Velimirovich