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The Lord flees glory, which all the more pursues Him. When the crowd pressed against Him, He entered the boat, so that from the boat He could teach those standing on the shore, and everyone would be in front of Him, rather than some coming towards Hum from behind. And when He has finished teaching the people, He did not leave the owner of the boat without payment, but gave him a two-fold benefit: He bestowed on him an abundance of fish and He made him His disciple. Marvel at how wisely the Lord arranges our salvation, drawing to Himself each one by means of the things that are his own and with which he is familiar. As he had attracted the Magi with a star, so now He draws the fishermen by means of a fish. See the gentleness of Christ, how He does not command, but requests that Peter put our from the land. See also the obedience of Peter, how he welcomes into his boat a man whom he did not know, and obeys Him in everything. When the Lord tells him to launch out into the deep, Peter does not become exasperated and leave him, nor does he reply, "I have toiled the whole night and gained nothing, and now I should obey you and do it all again?" Peter said nothing like this, but instead, "At Thy word, I will let down the net." Such was the warmth of his trust even before he had faith. And he caught so great a number of fish that he was not able to haul them in, and he beckoned to his companions in the other boat. He calls them with a signal, because his astonishment at the catch was so great that he could not even speak. Out of great reverence for Jesus, Peter begets him not to remain in the boat, and calls himself a sinner who is not worthy to be with Him.
-St. Theophylact of Ochrid on today's gospel reading.
Now Jesus shows the reason why He put off healing [the Canaanite woman] at the beginning. So that the faith and understanding of the woman might be made manifest, Christ did not immediately give His assent at the beginning and even drove her away. But now when her faith has been revealed she hears the words of praise. "Great is thy faith". By saying, "Be it unto thee even as thou wilt," Christ showed that if she too had not had faith, she would not have obtained her request. So, too, if we desire to obtain something, nothing prevents us from obtaining what we desire. Notice that even if saints should ask on our behalf, as the apostles did for the woman, still, we accomplish even more when we ask for ourselves. The Canaanite woman is also a symbol of the Church gathered from among the Gentiles. For Gentiles who first were even driven away, later were advanced to the rank of sons and we deemed worth of Bread, I mean, the Body of the Lord; while the Jews became dogs, thinking that they were being fed by the crumbs, that is, the minute and insignificant details of the letter of the Law.
-- St. Theophylact of Ochrid, in Explanation of the Gospel of Luke
On the face of it, there is nothing at all in the world over which it is worth losing our temper; for what is more valuable than the soul and its peace? This peace is destroyed by anger. When a man is angry, he assumes the role of a slanderer and fans the flames into a great blaze, in his imagination magnifying the offence of another. The reason for all this is that he does not keep his attention turned on himself - and so ill-feeling bursts out. Deep in the heart we cling to our right to judge and punish others for their sins, instead of ourselves. That is all there is to it. If a man saw himself as a sinner, being vividly conscious of all the consequences of sin, anger would be far from him.
Recollection of God is the life of the spirit. It fires your zeal to please God, and makes unshakeable your decision to belong to Him. It is, I repeat, the mainstay of the spiritual life; and it is, I will add, the base for your campaign against every passion that invades the heart.
- St. Theophan the Recluse.
The inner man, amidst worldly vanity, amidst the darkness of his flesh, is not so bound by the temptations of the evil one, and looks out more freely early in the morning, just after waking up, like a fish, which sometimes throws itself up playfully on the surface of the water. All the remaining time he is enveloped in almost impenetrably darkness, his eyes are covered by a bandage, which conceals from him the true state of things spiritual and physical. Take advantage of these morning hours, which are the hours of a new life, or of a life renewed by temporary sleep. They show us in part that state in which we shall rise up renewed on that great and universal morning of the nightless day of resurrection, or when we shall rid ourselves of this mortal body.
- St. John of Kronstadt, from My Life in Christ
It was said of Abba John the Dwarf that when he returned from the harvest or when he had been with some of the old men, he gave himself to prayer, meditation and psalmody until his thoughts were re-established in their previous order.
- from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
The soul knows but cannot contain Him, and therein lies her pain. Our days are filled with longing to penetrate into the Divine sphere with every fibre of our being. Our prayer must be ardent, and many-sided is the experience that may be given. In our hearts, subjectively, it would seem – to judge by the love whose touch we feel – that the experience cannot be open to doubt. But despite the all-embracing surge of this love, despite the light in which it appears, it would not only be wrong but dangerous to rely exclusively on it. From sacred writ we know that the most pure Virgin Mary hurried off to her cousin Elizabeth to hear whether the revelation was true that she had received – of a son to be born to her who should be great and should be called the Son of God the Highest; and whose kingdom should have no end. St. Paul, who 'was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words,' affords another example. 'It pleased God...to reveal His Son in me;' nevertheless, he went twice to Jerusalem to submit to Peter and others 'which were of reputation' the gospel he was preaching 'lest by any means he should run, or had run in vain.' The history of the Church provides innumerable such instances, and thus we learn to ask those with more experience to judge whether our case is not merely imagination but grace proceeding from on High. We look for reliable witnesses who are to be found only in the Church, whose age-old experience is immeasurably richer and more profound than our individual one... Only after authoritative confirmation may we trust our personal experience, and even then not to excess. Our spirit ought not to slacken in its impulse towards God. And at every step it is essential to remember that self-confident isolation is fraught with the possibility of transgressing against the Truth. So, we shall not cease to pray diligently to the Holy Spirit that he preserve our foot from the paths of untruth.
-Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex, His Life is Mine
Yesterday we leveled an accusation at women – or, rather, not women, only Eve – for introducing servitude through sin. Women would reply to us, Why are we condemned for her sin, and one persons fall became a charge against all humankind? Slaves would also say, Why on earth was it that, when Ham was insolent to his father, the effects of sin were transmitted to the whole race? People in fear of governors would also make a complaint as to why it is that, when others were living a life of wickedness, they were the ones consigned to the yoke of government. So what reply would we give to all these people? There is, in fact, a single resolution to all the problems: while they were the first to sin and thus introduced slavery through disobedience on their part, once it was introduced, those who came afterwards ratified it by sins of their own. In other words, if they had been able to show that they were always free from sin, later generations would decide to object; but if they were even liable to many punishments, the basis of this claim would have no substance. My statement, in fact, was not that sin does not henceforth introduce sin; it was that every sin has been associated with slavery, and my censure was directed at the nature of sin, not at a solitary kind of sin. Just as all incurable diseases bring one to the point of death without all being of the same nature, therefore, so too all sins give rise to slavery wihout all being of the same nature. Eve sinned by tasting of the tree, and was condemned for it; accordingly, in your turn do not commit a sin that is different but perhaps graver than hers.
-St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis
The blind man believed that Jesus was the awaited Messiah; having been raised among the Jews, it is certain that he knew that the Christ would be of the seed of David. Therefore he cries out with a great voice, Son of David, have mercy on me. His words have mercy on me show that he understood Jesus to be divine and not merely a man. Marvel at his staunch confession: although rebuked by many, he did not keep silent, but cried out all the more, urged on by the fervent zeal within him. Therefore Jesus summons him as one who is truly worthy to approach Him and asks him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? He asks the question not in ignorance of what the blind man wanted, but so that it would not appear to others who were present that the Lord gave something different from what the man wanted. Otherwise, some might have said that the Lord, in a vainglorious show of power, healed the man's blindness when the man had only been begging for alms.
--St. Theophylact of Ochrid in his Commentary on Luke
Abba Poemen said, “As far as you can, do some manual work so as to be able to give alms, for it is written that alms and faith purify from sins.” The brother replied, “What is faith?” The old man replied, “Faith is to live humbly and give alms.”
-Abba Poemen in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
On another occasion, while walking through the desert, Sava came upon four Saracens weak from hunger. The saint fed them with his own food, the root of melagria and hearts of reed. After regaining their strength, the Saracens departed. A few days later they returned, bringing bread, cheese, and dates, in thanks to Sava for his compassion. Moved by this, the saint lamented from the bottom of his soul, “Woe is me! How grateful are these people for the little favor done them! What shall become of us who live carelessly and slothfully, failing to keep God's commandments, although we are benefitted hourly by His ineffable goodness?”
from the life of St. Sava the SanctifiedSnow can never emit flame. Water can never issue fire. A thorn bush can never produce a fig. Just so, your heart can never be free from oppressive thoughts, words or actions until it has purified itself internally. Be eager, therefore, to walk this path. Watch your heart at all times; constantly say the prayer, 'Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me.' Be humble, and set your soul in quietude.
-St. Hesychios the Priest
Abba Anthony once said, “Whoever sits in solitude and is quiet has escaped three wary: those of hearing, speaking and seeing. Then there is only one war left in which to fight, and that is the battle for your own heart.”
-from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
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