Hello??? Anybody out there??? Anybody reading these, or am I wasting my time translating them????

Alexandr

Alexandr,

I read every single one.

I really appreciated the quote from St. Seraphim.

Keep 'em comin'!

Alexandr

I suspect that some folk are like me - being exposed to these wonderful writings for the first time.

I'm spellbound by them , and dare not comment other than to say

Thank you

Alexandr:

We're here. We're reading these. No, you're not wasting your time in translation.

In Christ,

BOB

Dear Alexandr,

This is not the first time I have encountered writings of the Optina Fathers. They strike me as profound today as they did the first time I encountered them. Coincidentally, it was our absent Moderator and brother in Christ, Father Gregory who first introduced them to me.

In a way, their profound wisdom and truths are more for contemplation than discussion...so please don't take offense!

Your sister in Christ,
Alice

Alexandr

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!!

Each of these gems can be food for a day's meditation. Maybe the folks are just sitting quietly by soaking them up like a sponge soaks up water.

In Christ,

BOB

"I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I
said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I
heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."

St. Anthony the Great


Alexandr

I just recieved a wonderful little book from Russia Called "Chistim Tsertse" "With a Pure Heart". It is a little book to be read at the breakfast table with Christian thoughts for the workday. I'll be posting some of it here.

Alexandr

I am yet another person who is looking forward to it.

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!!

Check out my reference in the book area for further material from the Optina Elders. One example . . .

Elder Ambrose (Vol IV)--On prayer: "If you do not feel like praying, you have to force yourself. The Holy Fathers say that prayer with force is higher than prayer unforced. You do not want to, but force yourself. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force."

In Christ,

BOB

“… I know from the teachings of the Holy Fathers that every temptation or illness is sent to us by God as a cure for our infirm soul. For if our body suffers, God forgives our past and present sins and prevents us from sinning in the future. That is why we should wholeheartedly thank the Lord God Who is so merciful to us and turns everything to our benefit and permits us to be ill. Thus, we shouldn’t grumble. This is the reason why I am trying, with the help of God, to endure my illness meekly.… I have never had as much time for reading soul-profiting books as I have now in my prolonged illness, and therefore I wonder—how shall I thank my God for all He has granted me!”

—from a letter of Elder Anthony

Alexandr

"The way of humility is this: self-control, prayer, and thinking
yourself inferior to all creatures."

Abba Tithoes

"Why do you trouble yourself in a house that is not your own? Let
the sight of a dead man be a teacher for you concerning your
departure from hence."

St. Isaac the Syrian


Alexandr

“No one has to be embarrassed over his sinful state. ‘There is no man who, while living, does not sin,’ and the more sinful the man, the stronger will be God’s help in leading him out of his sinful mire. But the help of God comes only when the sinner repents with heartfelt contrition and has the will to reform. Not seeing in himself enough strength of soul to break away from sinful deeds, he asks for God’s help. This is where the mercy of God, Who does not wish the death of the sinner but wants him to be converted and live, is often evident.… If the voice of conscience awakens in us a feeling of remorse or repentance, then we must pray fervently to the Guardian Angel of our human existence that he may keep us from corrupt downfalls and help us ‘serve God with fear and trembling.’”

ELDER MACARIUS OF OPTINA

Alexandr

If the soul is vigilant and withdraws from all distraction and
abandons its own will, then the spirit of God invades it and it
can conceive because it is free to do so.

Abba Cronius

Alexandr