11
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 11 • Greatmartyr Euphemia the All-praised REFLECTION A change of fortune strikes the hardest when it strikes unexpectedly. But, he who expects the stroke and guards himself against it beforehand, should he then be surprised? King Charlemagne the Great ordered his sons to learn a trade and his daughters to learn to spin wool in order to be able to earn a living should their fate change. The famous and renown Belissarius, a great general and a great conqueror, was slandered by the envious before the king and......
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10
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 10 Venerable Anthony of the Kiev Caves, Founder of Monasticism is Russia REFLECTION The thought of death is like a downpour of cold rain, which extinguishes the fire of passions. The Psalmist David says: “For when he dies he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him” (Psalms 49:17). Who would not be ashamed when he sometimes sees, even among the unbelievers, a better comprehension of our earthly nothingness than with some Christians? When Caliph Saladin died, a crier went before his coffin with......
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09
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 9 • Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Taormina in Sicily Many ask themselves, why God takes young men, young girls and children from this life and why does He not permit them to grow old and then take them through death to the other world? That is God’s plan of Dispensation and that is the holy will of His Providence. However, there are some examples in the enormous experience of the Church that sometimes God does so according to the wishes and prayers of his chosen ones in the......
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08
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 8 • Holy Greatmartyr Procopius of Caesarea in Palestine St. Anthony teaches: “Be fearful that you do not become famous because of some work that you do. If they begin to praise you because of your work, do not rejoice in that and do not find satisfaction in that but keep your works in secret as much as you can and do not allow anyone to speak about them.” How much more peace and joy would there be among men on earth if a part of mankind would......
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07
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 7 • Holy Greatmartyr Domnica The example of St. Dominica, the beautiful virgin, and the example of St. Astius the rich young man, both of whom submitted themselves to torture and death for Christ the Lord, leads us to contemplate that there is nothing comparable in history to the power of Christ by whose help young men conquer themselves and through that, everything else. To obtain victory over one’s self is the greatest victory. Such victors, the Church numbers by the thousands and many thousands. In writing about......
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07
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 6 • Venerable Sisoes the Great From where do we know that there is life after death? We know from Christ the Lord: on the basis of His words, His resurrection and by His many appearances after death. Philosophers, who recognize life after death, recognize it on the basis of their thinking but we recognize it on the basis of experience, especially the experience of holy men who were not capable of falsehoods nor could they proclaim falsehoods. When Sisoes lay on his deathbed, his face was very......
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04
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 4 • St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete If your entire life passed smoothly and without worry, then weep for yourself. For the Gospel and the experience of the people, with one accord assert that no one has, without great suffering and pain, left behind any great and beneficial work on earth or was glorified in the heavens. If, however, your earthly sojourn is completely adorned with sweat and tears to attain justice and truth, rejoice and be exceedingly glad for truly great is your reward in the heavens.......
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03
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 3 • Martyr Hyacinth of Caesarea in Cappadocia Love is all-powerful. It can, among other things, ease the judgment of the souls of deceased sinners. The Orthodox Church confirms this resolutely and continues to offer prayers and performs corporal works of mercy for the deceased. Abundantly rich in every spiritual experience, the Church knows that prayers and works of mercy for the deceased helps those in the other world. Before her death, St. Athanasia the Abbess (April 12) made the sisterhood promise that for forty days after her......
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02
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 2 The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most-holy Theotokos at Blachernae Every device of which man boasts as an invention of his mind is revealed by Divine Providence and every invented device has its two-fold significance one physical, the other spiritual. Even the clock is a wonderful device but it was not invented merely to tell us the time of day and night but also to remind us of death. This is its spiritual significance. When the small hand completes its rounds of seconds and minutes......
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02
Jul 2020
DAILY REFLECTION • JULY 1 Holy Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs at Rome Through their prayers and alms for the deceased, Christians display the relationship between this world and the world to come. The Church in this world and the Church in the other world are one and the same – one body, one in being – as does the root of a tree beneath the earth comprise one organism with the trunk and the branches of the tree above the earth. It is clear from this how we who comprise......
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