Λόγια αγάπης από το γεροντικό του Αγίου Όρους…
Στην Σκήτη της Αγίας Άννας, ο Μοναχός Προκόπιος από την Καλύβα «Εισόδια της Θεοτόκου» είχε μεγάλη επιθυμία να μάθει μουσικά, για να δοξολογεί κι αυτός το Θεό, όπως και οι άλλοι αδελφοί.
Επειδή όμως ήταν λίγο παράφωνος αποφεύγανε οι Πατέρες να τον μάθουν μουσικά.
Ο αδελφός Προκόπιος είχε χάρισμα από το Θεό λάβει να λέει ακατάπαυστα την ευχή το «Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ υιέ του Θεού ελέησόν με τον αμαρτωλό» και στο αριστερό του χέρι κρατούσε πάντα το κομβοσχοίνι, το όποιο δεν αποχωριζόταν ποτέ.
Μια μέρα, ήταν πολύ λυπημένος, πού δεν μπορούσε να βρει κανένα για να τον μάθει μουσική και συλλογιζόμενος αυτό το πράγμα, από την πολύ του λύπη, είχε σταματήσει να λέει την ευχή.
Ξαφνικά παρουσιάζεται μπροστά του ένας σεβάσμιος, αλλά άγνωστος σ’ αυτόν γέροντας ο όποιος του είπε: «Αδελφέ Προκόπιε, τι έχεις κι είσαι τόσο λυπημένος; τι σε απασχολεί; Ο Προκόπιος του απάντησε: «τι να έχω γέροντα, να, θέλω κι εγώ να μάθω λίγα μουσικά και δε βρίσκεται κανένας να με μάθει, γιατί μου λένε πώς είμαι λίγο φάλτσος». Ο ασπρογένης γέροντας τότε του είπε: «Γι’ αυτό κάθεσαι και στενοχωριέσαι καημένε, εγώ θα σε μάθω μουσικά και θα σε κάνω να γίνεις ο καλύτερος ψάλτης του Αγίου Όρους, θα κελαηδάς σαν το καλύτερο αηδόνι, αλλά θέλω κι εσύ να μου κάνεις μια χάρη».
«Δηλαδή τι ζητάς από μένα, του είπε ο Προκόπιος, θέλεις να σε πληρώσω; Εγώ ότι θέλεις θα σου δώσω!». Τότε ο ασπρογένης του είπε: «Ή πληρωμή ή δική μου είναι να πετάξεις από τα χέρια σου αυτό που λέτε κομποσχοίνι και να πάψεις να λες αυτό πού λέτε ευχή και θα σε μάθω ‘γώ, ότι θέλεις».
Ο Μοναχός Προκόπιος άμα άκουσε αυτά κατάλαβε πως ο φαινόμενος δεν ήταν Μοναχός, άλλα ο παμπόνηρος Δαίμονας, που ήθελε να τον κάνει να σταματήσει την προσευχή, και αμέσως έκαμε το σταυρό του και είπε: «Ύπαγε οπίσω μου Σατανά παμπόνηρε, δε μου χρειάζονται τα μουσικά σου και οι πονηρές και οι καλοσύνες σου» κι ο Δαίμονας έγινε άφαντος.
Απ’ αυτό μαθαίναμε πόσο ο Διάβολος φοβάται το κομβοσχοίνι, για το οποίο καλά λένε οι Πατέρες ότι είναι το όπλο του χριστιανού κατά του Διαβόλου και την ευχή, η οποία καίει τον Δαίμονα. Ενώ τους ψάλτες δεν τους φοβάται τόσο και δεν τους υπολογίζει, γιατί, εύκολα με το ψάλσιμο αφαιρούνται από την προσευχή και πέφτουν στον εγωισμό και την υπερηφάνεια!
Elder Paisios is another holy person among many who place an emphasis on the practice of what is called the “Jesus Prayer.”
He says,
We should constantly and unceasingly repeat the Jesus prayer. Only the name of Christ must remain inside our communication with God, then the devil finds the chance to confuse us with negative thoughts. Thus, we end up not knowing what we want, do, or say.
Source: Elder Paisios on the Holy Mountain, p 79
Κάθε άνθρωπος έχει τρεις φίλους.
Ο ένας τον εγκαταλείπει κατά την ώραν του θανάτου, ο άλλος κατά τον ενταφιασμόν και ο τρίτος τον συνοδεύει πέραν του τάφου.
Ο πρώτος είναι τα υλικά αγαθά, ο δεύτερος oι φίλοι του και ο τρίτος τα καλά έργα.
Δια τούτο ο άνθρωπος πρέπει να φροντίζει, ώστε ενώ, όταν εγεννήθει, όλοι γελούσαν και αυτός έκλαιεν, όταν αποθάνει, οι άλλοι να κλαίουν και αυτός να γελάει!
http://www.diakonima.gr
Those, who have realised how dangerous and evil is the life they lead, the devil succeeds in keeping in his power, mainly by the
following simple but all-powerful suggestion: ‘Later, later; tomorrow, to-morrow.” And the poor sinner, deluded by the appearance
of good intention accompanying this suggestion, decides: ‘Indeed, to-morrow; to-day I shall finish what I have to do, and then, free
of all care, will put myself in the hands of Divine grace and will follow unswervingly the path of spiritual life. To-day I shall do this
and that; to-morrow I shall repent.” This is the net of the devil, my brother, with which he catches a great many, and holds the
whole world in his hands. The reason why this net catches us so easily is our negligence and blindness. Nothing but negligence and
blindness can explain why, when the whole of our salvation and all the glory of God are at stake, we fail to use immediately the most
easy and simple and yet the most effective weapon, namely: to say to ourselves, resolutely and energetically: ‘This moment! I shall
start spiritual life this moment, and not later; I shall repent now, instead of to-morrow. Now, this moment is in my hands, tomorrow
and after is in the hands of God. Even if God will grant me’ to-morrow and after, can I be sure that I shall have to-morrow
the same good thought urging me to mend my ways?’ Moreover, how senseless it is when, for example, a sure remedy is offered for
curing one’s illness, to say: ‘ Wait, let me be sick a little longer!” And a man who delays the work of salvation does exactly this.
So, if you wish to be free of the prelest of the enemy and to over come him, take up at once this trusty weapon against him and
obey immediately in actual deed the good thoughts and promptings coming from the Lord and calling you to repent. Do not allow
the slightest delay, do not permit yourself to say: ‘I have made a firm resolve to repent a little later and I shall not abandon this
intention.” No, no, do not do this. Such resolutions have always proved deceptive and many people, who relied on them, have for
many reasons remained unrepentant to the end of their lives.
(a) The first of these reasons is that our own resolutions are not based on distrust of ourselves and a firm trust in God. Therefore
we are not devoid of high opinion of ourselves, the inevitable consequence of which is always withdrawal from us of the blessed
Divine help and our consequent inevitable downfall. This is why a man, who decides in himself: ‘ To-morrow I shall abandon the
path of sin without fail ‘, always meets with the opposite effect— that is, instead of rising up he falls down worse than before, which
is followed by downfall after downfall. God sometimes allows this to happen deliberately, in order to bring the self-reliant to the
realisation of his weakness and urge him to seek Divine help, renouncing and abandoning all trust in himself, since God’s help alone
can be trusted. Do you want to know, 0 man, when your own decisions will be firm and reliable? When you abandon all trust in
yourself and when all your hopes are based on humility and a steadfast trust in God alone.
(b) The second reason is that in making such resolutions we mostly have in view the beauty and radiance of virtue, which attract our
will, however weak and impotent it may be; and so naturally the difficult side of virtue escapes our attention. To-day this side
escapes notice, because the beauty of virtue strongly attracts our will; but to-morrow, when the usual works and cares present
themselves, this attraction will not be so strong, although the intention is still remembered. When desire weakens, the will also
becomes weaker or relapses into its natural impotence, and at the same time the difficult side of virtue stands out and strikes the eye;
for the path of virtue is by its nature hard, and is hardest of all at the first step. Now let us suppose that the man, who decided
yesterday to enter upon this path, today does so; he no longer feels any support for carrying out his decision. The desire has lost its
intensity, the will has weakened, nothing but obstacles are in sight—in himself, in the habitual course of his life, in the usual
relationships with others. And so he decides: ‘I shall wait a while and gather my strength.” Thus he goes on waiting from day to day,
and it is no wonder if he waits all his life. And yet had he started work yesterday, when the inspiring desire to mend his ways came
upon him, had he done one thing or another in obedience to this desire, had be introduced into his life something in this spirit—
today his desire and will would not be so weak as to retreat in the face of obstacles. There must be obstacles, but if the man had
something to lean on in himself, he would have overcome them, be it with difficulty. Had he been occupied all day with overcoming
them, the next day he would have felt them far less; and on the third day still less. Thus going further and further he would have
become established on the right path.
(c) The third reason is that if the good of awakening from sinful sleep is not translated into practice, such awakenings do not easily
come again; and even if they do come, their effect on the will is less strong than the first time. The will is no longer as quick in
inclining towards following them and so, even if the resolve to do so is there, it is weak and lacks energy. Consequently, if a man was
able to put off till to-morrow obedience to a stronger impulse and then lost it altogether, how much more easily will he do this a
second time, and still more easily the third. And so it goes on: the more often obedience to good impulses is put off, the weaker
their effect. After a time they lose their effect altogether, come and go without leaving a trace, and finally cease to come at all.
The man surrenders himself to his downfall: his heart hardens and he begins to feel an aversion from good impulses. Thus delay
becomes a straight road to final perdition.
I shall add also that delays occur not only when an inner impulse is felt to exchange one’s bad life for a better, but also when a man
already leads a good life. For instance, when an opportunity presents itself to do good and a man puts it off till to-morrow or till
some other indefinite time. All that was said about the first form of delay applies to this second one, and it may lead to the same
consequences. Know that if someone misses a chance to do good, he not only deprives himself of the fruit of the good he might
have done, but also offends God. God sends him a man in need, and he says: ‘Go away, later!’ Although he says this to a man, it is
the same as saying it to God, Who has sent him. God will find him another benefactor; but the man who refused will have to
answer.
Taken from "Unseen Warfare" By St.Nikodemos the Hagiorite
Γέροντος Κλεόπα Ηλίε.
Όχι. Κανείς δεν μπορεί να σωθεί, ούτε λαϊκοί ούτε μοναχοί ούτε κληρικοί, χωρίς την εξομολόγηση των αμαρτιών και χωρίς τη λύση από τον πνευματικό, κατά τον λόγο του Κυρίου που λέει: «λάβετε Πνεύμα Άγιον. Αν τινών αφήτε τας αμαρτίας, αφίενται αυτοίς. Αν τινών κρατήτε, κεκράτηνται» (Ιω. 20, 23). Και σε άλλο χωρίο: «όσα εάν δήσητε επί της γης, έσται δεδεμένα εν τω ουρανώ. Και όσα εάν λύσητε επί της γης, έσται λελυμένα εν τω ουρανώ» (Ματθ. 18, 18).
Επομένως, πώς θα μπει κανείς στη βασιλεία των ουρανών, μη όντας λελυμένος στη γη από τις αμαρτίες του; Διότι η εξουσία αυτή δόθηκε μόνο στους εκλεκτούς, δηλαδή στους Αποστόλους, στους Επισκόπους και στους Ιερείς, και όχι στους λαϊκούς.
Πρέπει όλοι να έχουμε τους πνευματικούς μας και να εξομολογούμεθα τακτικά, ακόμα και εκείνοι οι οποίοι νομίζουν ότι δεν έχουν αμαρτίες. Ετσι μας διδάσκει ο άγιος Απόστολος και Ευαγγελιστής Ιωάννης: «εάν είπωμεν οτι αμαρτίαν ουκ έχομεν, εαυτούς πλανώμεν και η αλήθεια ουκ έστιν εν ημίν. εάν ομολογώμεν τας αμαρτίας ημών, πιστός έστι και δίκαιος, ίνα αφή ημίν τας αμαρτίας και καθαρίση ημάς από πάσης αδικίας» (Α’ Ίω. 1, 8-9). Και ο άγιος Συμεών Θεσσαλονίκης δείχνει λέγοντας: «Όλοι πρέπει να μετανοήσουμε, και λαϊκοί και μοναχοί και ιερείς και αρχιερείς. Να μετανοήσουμε όλοι (να εξομολογηθούμε), για να σωθούμε». Χωρίς εξομολόγηση, κανείς δεν μπορεί να σωθεί, επειδή «πολλά γαρ πταίομεν άπαντες» (Ιακώβου 3, 2). Πας άνθρωπος συλλαμβάνεται και γεννιέται με αμαρτίες (Γεν. 8, 21˙ Ψαλ. 50, 6˙ Ματθ. 7, 11˙ Ρωμ. 3, 11). Η Αγία Γραφή μας δείχνει ότι «η δε αμαρτία γεννά τον θάνατον» (Ιακ. 1, 15) και ότι «τίποτα ακάθαρτο δεν θα εισέλθει στη βασιλεία των ουρανών». Να ενθυμούμαστε ότι «αμαρτία είναι η καταπάτηση του νόμου του Θεού και ακαθαρσία ενώπιον Του», και ότι η οργή του Κυρίου έρχεται πάνω στους κακούς και αμαρτωλούς, οι οποίοι πεθαίνουν ανεξομολόγητοι και χωρίς μετάνοια. Οι αμαρτωλοί, δι’ εξομολογήσεως και μετανοίας, στρέφουν την δίκαιη οργή του Θεού και αποκτούν την σωτηρία, των ψυχών τους….
http://orthodox-answers.blogspot.gr/2013/02/blog-post.html
One of the things that folks often mention when they’re making their confession is inattention during the divine services. So, I thought I would use this month’s column to talk about that important subject.
If we want to be focused during the services, one thing we can do is prepare adequately. And even if we can’t do all the prayers that the Church encourages us to do leading up to the Divine Liturgy, we can at least avoid over-stimulation from media. For example, if we stay up late Saturday night to watch an exciting movie and then read the paper or check out our favorite web-sites before we leave for Church—and then listen to music or text our friends right up to the very moment that we get out of the car and walk into the nave, then we’ll probably spend most of the Liturgy processing all those experiences and all that information instead of attending to what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are trying to say to us. Another thing we can do is spend more time in the Divine Services. In fact, one of the main reasons why our services are so long is because the Church understands that it takes most of us a good while just to relax and calm down before we can ever get around to actually praying. A good rule of thumb that works for most people is one hour in the Divine Services equals about two minutes of genuine interaction with the Most Holy Trinity. Of course, that two minutes can be life changing and world-changing. However, if we never actually spend a full hour in the Divine Services, then we’ll never experience that two minutes of authentic prayer. So, the more time we invest in the services, the more focused we will be.
But what if you have an infant or a small child, and you’re constantly in and out during the Divine Liturgy? What if you are an usher or a chanter or you sing in the choir? Does that mean that you’re never going to be able to really communicate with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Of course not, because there is a special grace that accompanies each of those roles. Folks who are raising young children or helping with the service are performing important tasks, and the Most Holy Trinity is going to make sure that they get what they need while they are doing their jobs. But we’re not going to receive any special grace if we just wander in and out of the nave because we’re bored or because we don’t like to be still.
Still another thing we can do to stay focused during the services is to be honest about who we are. For example, if we are concerned about our health or stressed about our job or anxious about a family situation, it’s not going to do any good at all to pretend like we’re not thinking about those issues. But rather than just obsess over those things, we should turn them into prayers. And there are lots of ways to do that: we can light a candle for each of those problems when we first go into the nave; we can make the sign of the cross or make a metanioa every time one of those subjects pops up in our mind; we can touch the priest’s vestments during the Great Entrance and attach all those topics to his intercessions; we can raise all of those issues up to the Most Holy Trinity when the deacon elevates the Holy Gifts over the altar. It may take quite a while and a lot of effort, but, eventually, we will clear all that stuff out of our hearts, and then we will be able to hear what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are saying to us.
Worship is hard work—there’s no doubt about it. But it is the most important work that we do all week long, because it’s how we are getting closer to the Most Holy Trinity, it’s how the people we love are going to get closer to the Most Holy Trinity, and it’s how this world is being transformed through the love of the Most Holy Trinity. And the more attentive we are during at that work, the more those incredibly important goals will be realized.
Source: The Voice in the Wilderness: The Parish Newsletter of St. John the Forerunner Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church
