English Corner

[tabitha]

"People who trust solely in the apparent righteousness of the outward way of their life are like the foolish virgins (cf. Mt. 25:1-12), who did indeed preserve their outward virginity, yet in spite of this were not admitted to the marriage-feast; they also had some oil in their vessels, that is, they possessed some virtues and external achievements and some gifts of grace, so that their lamps remained alight for a certain time. But because of negligence, ignorance and laziness they were not provident, and did not pay careful attention to the hidden swarm of passions energized within them by the evil spirits."

St. Mark the Ascetic

[tabitha]

How the Christian Life Begins in Us.

We must make clear for ourselves when and how the Christian life truly begins in order to see whether we have within ourselves the beginning of this life. If we do not have it, we must learn how to begin it, in so far as this depends upon us.
It is not yet a decisive sign of true life in Christ if one calls himself a Christian and belongs to the Church of Christ. Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 7:21). And they are not all Israel, which are of Israel (Rom. 9:6). One can be counted as a Christian and not be a Christian. This everyone knows.

The Path to Salvation
A Manual of Spiritual Transformation.
By St. Theophan the Recluse

[tabitha]

Among the virtues some are practical, others are natural, and others are divine and conferred by the Holy Spirit.

The practical virtues are the products of our resolution -
the natural virtues are built into us when we are created -
the divine virtues are the fruits of grace.

St Gregory of Sinai
On Commandments and Doctrines, Warnings and Promises

[tabitha]

Every satanic conflict in us comes from these three generic causes:
either from negligence,
or from pride,
or from the envy of the demons.

The first is pitiable,
the second is disastrous,
but the third is blessed.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent -- St. John Climacus

[tabitha]

Stand at the brink of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it anymore, draw back a little, and have a cup of tea.

Elder Sophrony of Essex

[Mihnea Dragomir]

The best answer I ever heard to those imprudently claiming that conversion to a life centered in Our Lord in an option for an insipid way of life: it belongs to Chesterton, who, in 1913, published this poem:

If I had been a Heathen,
I'd have praised the purple vine,
My slaves should dig the vineyards,
And I would drink the wine.
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And his slaves grow lean and grey,
That he may drink some tepid milk
Exactly twice a day.

If I had been a Heathen,
I'd have crowned Neaera's curls,
And filled my life with love affairs,
My house with dancing girls;
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And to lecture rooms is forced,
Where his aunts, who are not married,
Demand to be divorced.

If I had been a Heathen,
I'd have sent my armies forth,
And dragged behind my chariots
The Chieftains of the North.
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And he drives the dreary quill,
To lend the poor that funny cash
That makes them poorer still.

If I had been a Heathen,
I'd have piled my pyre on high,
And in a great red whirlwind
Gone roaring to the sky;
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And a richer man than I:
And they put him in an oven,
Just as if he were a pie.

Now who that runs can read it,
The riddle that I write,
Of why this poor old sinner,
Should sin without delight-
But I, I cannot read it
(Although I run and run),
Of them that do not have the faith,
And will not have the fun.
(G. K. Chesterton - 1913)


(Note: Naerea was a nymph)

[tabitha]

Prayer is by nature a dialog and a union of man with God.
Its effect is to hold the world together.
It achieves a reconciliation with God.
St. John Climacus