☦️🕯️"God has not forgotten the man to whom he sends sufferings and trials, but in this way is proving His closeness to Him."☦️

♰ St. John Chrysostom ♰

☦️🕯️"In love did He bring the world into existence; in love does He guide it during this its temporal existence; in love is He going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state."🕯️☦️

♰ St. Isaac the Syrian ♰

St. Theophan the Recluse explains how one may stay in touch with God through the whole day.

1) during the course of the day, cry out to God more often, even if only with a few words, according to need and the work of the day.
2) Beginning anything, for example, say ‘Bless, O Lord!’ When you finish something, say, ‘Glory to Thee, O Lord’, and not only with your lips, but with feeling in your heart.
3) If passions arise, say, ‘Save me, O Lord, I am perishing.’
4) If the darkness of disturbing thoughts comes up, cry out: ‘Lead my soul out of prison.’
5) If dishonest deeds present themselves and sin leads you to them, pray, ‘Set me, O Lord, in the way’, or ‘do not give up my feet to stumbling.’
6) If sin takes hold of you and leads you to despair, cry out with the voice of the publican, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ Do this in every circumstance, or simply say often, ‘Lord, have mercy’, ‘Most Holy Theotokos save us”, ‘Holy Angel, my guardian, protect me’, or other such words.

Say such prayers as often as possible, always making the effort for them come from your heart, as if squeezed out of it. When we do this, we will frequently ascend to God in our hearts, making frequent petitions and prayers. Such increased frequency will bring about the habit of mental conversation with God.

☦️🌟 Magnificent ancient icons, the Metropolia of Yekaterinodar and Kuban.

People prefer to talk about “easy way of salvation” of the thief on cross, often justifying their wish to get “saved without works” (which is not true). However it’s not what we should take as an example. The main thing the thief showed us is his great repentance and humility, he brought it to God as his works of faith. How can we apply it to ourselves? The Saint explains.
“To confess one's fall by one's life means to bear all the sufferings of this earthly life as a just recompense for the fall, as a rational and logical consequence of one's sinfulness, and constantly to refuse all pleasures as improper for a criminal and exile who has angered God and has been rejected by God.”
St. Ignatius Brianchaninov
Moreover, what happened to the thief happened before CHrist Ressurection, he faced Christ in person hanging on cross beside him. Obviously, we can’t extend his example on us.

To raise the children the right way, it's necessary to offer them both practical participation in the sacramental life in the church and sufficient Orthodox education at home, along with the daily prayer rule. The latter better should be short, but fulfilled infallibly.

☦️🕯️"When you have sinned against God, and your sins torment, burn you, then seek quickly the only Sacrifice for sins, eternal and living, and lay your sins before the face of that Sacrifice. Do not think you can obtain salvation by your own means."🕯️☦️

♰ St John of Kronstadt ♰

☦️🕯️"Complaining is worse and more harmful than anything else… You must especially beware of complaining against Divine Providence which arranges everything good and beneficial for our souls through the Mother of God."🕯️☦️

♰ St Ambrose of Optina ♰

On the cross Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice to God the Father for our sins on the cross, and by it, He has saved us from the works of the enemy; and this is why we honour it with such great reverence.
St. John of Kronstadt

🌟🙏☦️ Prayer is the only means by which we can purify our minds, and without it we cannot live spiritually.
St. Joseph the Hesychast

☦️🕯️"The fear of God illumines the soul, annihilates evil, weakens the passions, drives darkness from the soul and makes it pure. The fear of God is the summit of wisdom. Whoever does not have the fear of God is open to diabolical falls."🕯️☦️

♰ St. Ephraim the Syrian ♰

God cares of everyone, and especially about those who are with Him.
God has a way of providing. He sees our needs, our desires, and when something is for our good He gives it to us. When someone needs help in something, Christ and Panaghia help.
Sain Elder Paisios of Mount Athos

Pray persistently about everything, and then you will never do anything without God's help.
St Mark The Ascetic

🌟☦️ Christ the Savior Cathedral inside, and a Cross procession near it.

Before liturgy faithful write lists of names of people they want to be prayed for by priest during Liturgy (the living or/and the dead). Often people ask why it should be only baptised people in the list.
Saint Symeon of Thessaloniki explains it clearly:
“The commemorated names are offered because through their taking part in the Holy Chalice they invisibly partake of God and Commune and are consoled, that is, they are comforted and Saved and gladdened in Christ.”