At one time, I took a sick person to him who was diagnosed with AIDS. Some of my friends who knew that I was friendly with the Elder asked me to help this sick person who was extremely depressed. The AIDS victim was in really bad shape and he wanted to commit suicide. When I heard that he wanted to commit suicide, I sent him to another priest who was also a doctor. His name is Fr. Stamatis. The sick person went to this priest but the priest advised him to go and see Elder Porphyrios.
I took him to the Elder. He was a person who did not appear to look like a Christian. He had a very worldly look about him. I left him in the cell with the Elder. The Elder kept him there for a long time. When he finished, he came out of the cell crying but he was very serene with a prayer rope in his hand that the Elder had given him. He was crying but not in a way that made him appear helpless. His eyes were filled with light. The Elder called me into his cell. “Come in here so that I can speak to you. What was that soul that you brought to me? What a marvelous soul that was!”
The person from that encounter repented and he truly lives in a spirit of penance. I have seen him many times since then as a doctor. I see that he has been reborn. He visits monasteries. He goes to confession. He receives Holy Communion and he thanks Christ for AIDS because this has become for him the reason for his true salvation.
From the book: “Miraculous Occurences and Counsels of Elder Porphyrios
He spoke to us about our faith and how Orthodoxy is the only true faith. It is like a pearl because the Elder knew all other religions. At other times he would say, “when someone does something bad to you or thinks something bad about you, you should communicate to him your goodness” and he would move his hand in the form of a blessing. “In this way you will not be harmed.”
When we asked him about death, he said, “death is like getting up, opening the door and going out into the light. Now you are in the light! This is the truth and we should not be very sad when loved ones leave us.” All the time he was talking, he was praying and we heard “Lord Jesus” and he was repeating this constantly.
Once when he was talking to us some people had come from Mt. Athos to visit him and because he could not talk, he asked them all to pray together and they would communicate spiritually. One day, when I saw him outside of his cell, it appeared to me that he was not standing on the ground, he was walking so fast.
Now, following his repose, a nun from the Monastery of St. Meletios in Kytherona related to us how the Elder a few years ago visited their monastery and he disappeared during meal time. In searching for him, he was found outside the monastery in a grassy area and suddenly she saw the Elder flying high towards her. He had his hands clasped on his side. When he approached her, he told her not to tell anyone about this until after his death. This is just as it happened.
He spoke to us a lot about the relationships of people such as those who cohabitate. He told us how this can be very difficult even if both of them are saints. Many problems are created and the Elder knew from confessions he had heard that they would often reach the point of hatred.
Often in the face of difficulties, the Elder would be indifferent and he would simply raise his shoulders like a little child. He would say “yes, all those hindrances exist but God never abandons us when we sincerely call upon Him. Because of this, you should not worry. Leave all things in the care of God and pray.”
He told us that a happy life is only that which God tells us about in the Gospel. The Gospel is a revelation and every one of its words requires an analysis and commentary in order for us to understand it. And we should not read the Gospel mechanically.
From the book “Miraculous Occurences and Counsels of Elder Porphyrios“
With the love of Christ He becomes our friend. Saint John says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. The person who fears is not perfected in love" (1 John 4:18). So as our love grows it dissolves our fear. Christ then becomes our friend.
Elder Porphyrios says,
Let us stretch out to Him and approach Him as a friend. Do we fall? Do we sin? With familiarity, love and trust let us run to Him––not with fear that He will punish us, but with the confidence which we deserve from the sense of being with a friend. We can say to him, 'I have fallen, forgive me.' At the same time however, let us have the sense that He loves us and that He receives us with tenderness and love and forgives us. This requires a surrender to His lordship and a willingness to work continually to carry out His will. We cannot lead a life of disregard and willful pursuit of self-gratifying pleasure a the expense of love for others and expect Christ to be our friend.
He continues,
Don't let sin separate us from Christ. When we believe that He loves us and we love Him, we don't feel strangers and distanced from Him, even when we sin. We have secured His love, and however we behave, we know that He loves us.With true love for Him there is no fear. As long as we bind our soul with Him, our relationship with Him is unshakable. Love permeates and dominates.
Elder Porphyrios reminds us,
It is not the outward formalities that count; it is living with Christ that matters. When you achieve this, what else do you want? You have gained everything. You live in Christ and Christ lives in you. Thereafter everything is easy: obedience, humility and peace.Quotes from Wounded By Love, pp 104 - 105.
I said to the elder, "They are constantly saying prayers at the monastery. They are always saying the Jesus prayer. While at their various chores they recite supplications and salutations. They do this for whole hours at a time. After this they go to the Church for services.
"I cant stand it any more. My mind has become tired. I feel that I am about to burst. But Never the less I want to become a monk. What will I do? Help me."
The Elder said,
A young girl used to come here and confess her sins. She was in her second grade of Junior High School. She told me once, 'Father, I have fallen in love with a boy and I can't get him out of my mind. My mind is constantly on him, on Nick. One would think that Nick is here, (she pointed with her finger to her forehead). I begin to read and Hick is here. I go to eat and to sleep but nothing changes. Nick is here. What can I do father?'"
"My child," I told her, "you are still young. Be patient, finish school and then Nick will still be here. Now you must put effort into your lessons. A week passed and she came again."
"Dear Father, It's impossible for me to concentrate on my lessons. Constantly all day long my mind and my heart are on Nick. Nick has become an obsession with me and it won't go away."
(As he was saying these things, I was thinking, "What connection do these things have with me? Maybe he is telling me these things to give me a respite from my obsession.")
The elder continued, (while reading my thoughts) "you are now saying, why is he telling me these things?"
"But nevertheless, tell me, please."
"Did this girl sit on a stool? Did she force herself to focus her mind on Nick? No.
"This happened spontaneously. This was unforced love.
"This same happens with us. When we love Christ with divine love, without any coercion, pressure of worry, with love we will proclaim His holy name, 'Lord Jesus Christ.'
"And when the heart is flooded by this divine love, it does not require us to verbalize the whole prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.'
Before he finishes the prayer the heart stops at that point of love and rejoicing.
Other times he proclaims only the "Lord..." and stops. He proclaims this mystically and without speaking."
In saying these things he gave me an answer to my first question that was not expressed verbally. I had only thought it without verbalizing it.
I was flabbergasted. I was totally amazed at his responses. A divine flame enveloped my inner being and I felt the desire to begin proclaiming within my heart the ineffable love I had for the name of our Christ.
Elder Porphyrios
Our prayers are not heard because we are not worthy.
Elder Porphyrios tells us that "the slightest murmuring against your neighbor affects your soul and you are unable to pray." We must make ourselves worthy for prayer he advises us. And our unworthiness comes from our inability to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Jesus says,
If you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother holds something against you leave your gift before the altar and go first to be reconciled with your brother and then offer your gift. Matt. 5:23 - 4True prayer is not easy. It is based on a close relationship with God. It requires a self-giving to God and His will.
Elder Porphyrios says,
Those who desire and crave to belong to Christ and who abandon themselves tot he will of God become worthy.This is the greatest spiritual challenge to give up our will and submit it to God's will. It is a necessity to be able to keep all of His commandments. This is the sign of our love of God.
Jesus says,
He who has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves me; and he who loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21To be in union with God takes great effort on our part.
The Elder says,
We have to wrestle with the roaring lion.
Reference: Wounded by Love, p 116
Elder Porphyrios
The Way of Love is the simplest and most direct way to join in union with Christ. Through our love of Him we are sanctified.
Elder Porphyrios says,
Whoever experiences Christ within himself, experiences ineffable things––holy and sacred things. He lives in exultation. With Christ as our lover there is no loneliness. We find peace and joy. The thought of Christ permeates everything. We find patience and have endurance of everything.
Elder Porphyrios says that with our love of Christ even our passions disappear. There is no longer possibility for hatred, dislikes, anxieties or depressions. Not even death concerns us. He says this longing we have for Christ makes even death seem like a bridge what we can cross in an instant to continue our life in Christ We find ourselves in Christ and Him in us.
With our Love of Him there is no longer pain or suffering. Our craving for God, our passionate love for Him, overcomes all pain.
He says
Divine craving defeats every pain, and so every pain is transformed and becomes love of Christ. Love Christ and He will love you All pains will pass away, they will be defeated and transformed. Everything is transformed by this love.
The love of God transforms everything; it sanctifies, amends and changes the nature of everything.
Reference: Wounded by Love, pp 99-100
What saves and makes for good children is the life of the parents in the home. The parents need to devote themselves to the love of God. They need to become saints in their relation to their children through their mildness, patience and love. They need to make a new start every day, with a fresh outlook, renewed enthusiasm and love for their children. And the joy that will come to them, the holiness that will visit them, will shower grace on their children. Generally the parents are to blame for the bad behaviour of the children. And their behaviour is not improved by reprimands, disciplining, or strictness. If the parents do not pursue a life of holiness and if they don't engage in spiritual struggle, they make great mistakes and transmit the faults they have within them. If the parents do not live a holy life and do not display love towards each other, the devil torments the parents with the reactions of the children. Love, harmony and understanding between the parents are what are required for the children. This provides a great sense of security and certainty.
The behaviour of the children is directly related to the state of the parents. When the children are hurt by the bad behaviour of the parents towards each other, they lose the strength and desire to progress in their lives. Their lives are constructed shoddily and the edifice of their soul is in constant danger of collapsing. Let me give you two examples.
Two sisters came to see me. One of them had gone through some very distressing experiences and they asked me what was the cause of these. I answered them:
'It's because of your home; it stems from your parents.' And as I looked at the girl I said:
'These are things you've inherited from your mother.'
'But,' she said,' my parents are such perfect people. They're Christians, they go to confession, they receive Holy Communion and we had a religious upbringing. Unless it is religion that is to blame...'
I said to them:
'I don't believe a word of all that you're telling me. I see one tiling only, and that is that your parents don't live with the joy of Christ.'
On hearing this, the other girl said:
'Listen, Maria, the Father's quite right. Our parents go to confession and receive Holy Communion, but did we ever have any peace at home. Our father was constantly complaining about our mother. And every day either the one refused to sit at the table or the other refused to go out somewhere together. So you see what the Father is saying is true.
'What's your father's name?' I asked her,
She told me.
'What's your mother's name?'
She told me.
'Well,' I said,' the feelings you've got inside you towards your mother are not at all good.'
You see, the moment she told me her father's name I saw his soul, and the moment she told me her mother's name, I saw her mother and I saw the way her daughter looked at her.
Another day a mother came to visit me with one of her daughters. She was very distressed and broke down in tears.
'What's the matter?' I asked.
'I'm in total despair over my older daughter. She threw her husband out the house and deceived us all with a pack of lies.'
'What kind of lies?' I inquired.
'She threw her husband out the house ages ago and she didn't tell us anything. We would ask on the phone, "How's Stelios doing?', and she would reply, "Oh, he's fine. He's just gone out to buy a newspaper." Each time she would think up some new excuse so that we wouldn't suspect anything. And this went on for two whole years. A few days ago we learned the truth from Stelios himself when we bumped into him by chance.'
So I said to her:
'The fault's your own. It's you that's to blame, you and your husband, but you most of all.'
'What do you mean!' she said indignantly. 'I loved my children to the point that I was never out of the kitchen. I had no life of my own at all. I took them to the church and I was always telling them the right thing to do. How can you say that I'm to blame?'
I turned to her other daughter who was with her and asked:
'What do you think about the matter?'
'The Father's right, Mum,' she said. 'We never ever enjoyed a single day when you weren't quarrelling with Dad.'
'Do you see then, how I'm right? It is you that are to blame. You traumatised the children. They are not to blame, but they are suffering the consequences.'
Elder Porphyrios
Wounded by Love: The Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios, trans. by John Raffan (Limni, Evia, Greece: Denise Harvey, 2005), 195-205.
I said to the elder, "They are constantly saying prayers at the monastery. They are always saying the Jesus prayer. While at their various chores they recite supplications and salutations. They do this for whole hours at a time. After this they go to the Church for services.
"I cant stand it any more. My mind has become tired. I feel that I am about to burst. But Never the less I want to become a monk. What will I do? Help me."
The Elder said,
A young girl used to come here and confess her sins. She was in her second grade of Junior High School. She told me once, 'Father, I have fallen in love with a boy and I can't get him out of my mind. My mind is constantly on him, on Nick. One would think that Nick is here, (she pointed with her finger to her forehead). I begin to read and Hick is here. I go to eat and to sleep but nothing changes. Nick is here. What can I do father?'"
"My child," I told her, "you are still young. Be patient, finish school and then Nick will still be here. Now you must put effort into your lessons. A week passed and she came again."
"Dear Father, It's impossible for me to concentrate on my lessons. Constantly all day long my mind and my heart are on Nick. Nick has become an obsession with me and it won't go away."
(As he was saying these things, I was thinking, "What connection do these things have with me? Maybe he is telling me these things to give me a respite from my obsession.")
The elder continued, (while reading my thoughts) "you are now saying, why is he telling me these things?"
"But nevertheless, tell me, please."
"Did this girl sit on a stool? Did she force herself to focus her mind on Nick? No.
"This happened spontaneously. This was unforced love.
"This same happens with us. When we love Christ with divine love, without any coercion, pressure of worry, with love we will proclaim His holy name, 'Lord Jesus Christ.'
"And when the heart is flooded by this divine love, it does not require us to verbalize the whole prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.'
Before he finishes the prayer the heart stops at that point of love and rejoicing.
Other times he proclaims only the "Lord..." and stops. He proclaims this mystically and without speaking."
In saying these things he gave me an answer to my first question that was not expressed verbally. I had only thought it without verbalizing it.
I was flabbergasted. I was totally amazed at his responses. A divine flame enveloped my inner being and I felt the desire to begin proclaiming within my heart the ineffable love I had for the name of our Christ.
Elder Porphyrios
From the Divine Flame: Elder Porphyrios Lit my Heart, by the monk Agapios, pp 25-26, Published by the Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the savior, Athens 2005.
You should see the pain that some people have to bear!
They are good people, but both their children, Costas and Maria, have become fanatical followers of Sai Baba of India. Costas was a medical student. He left home along with his sister just before Easter. As they were leaving the house, the father said to his daughter: ‘Joyous Resurrection, Maria!’
‘The Resurrection has come, father, but people haven’t recognized it,’ she replied.
In the meantime their parents continually gave them money, Now they have stopped this because they (their children) were using it for their ‘god’. Costas went to Thessalonica to spread his propaganda. Indeed, he was beaten up there. He tried to proselytize some young people up there and their parents got a hold of him and beat him up.
These good people brought me a periodical. On the cover there is a photograph of Sai Baba. He has created a new religion in which they believe that he is the new Christ who came into the world to save it and to lead it to truth. They say he is the ‘new God’. Sai Baba is alive now. He is married and has his wife and two children next to him. At the bottom of the photograph we see lots of young people who are his followers; may of them, indeed, are educated people. How did these educated young people end up there? On another page they are kissing his feet. ‘The days of that Christ’ – the true Christ, that is – ‘are over now,’ he tells them, ‘This is another age,’ he tells you. Everything now is changing. Its like a fairy tale. Perhaps Sai Baba is mad. They say he has collected a lot of money.
I’ll tell you about another related incident.
One day an officer in the Greek Navy took me down tot he waterfront at Oropos. We walked along the breakwater where a man was fishing. I said to the officer:
‘Go and get me one of the fish that man is catching.’
The fisherman, however, replied:
‘The basket is empty. I’ve been here since the morning and I’ve caught nothing. Go and leave me in peace…’
I said to him:
‘Throw your hook into the sea.’
‘Go away,’ he said to us in an aggravated tone of voice.
We turned to go, but at that moment, just as the fisherman threw his line into the sea he felt a bite on it. He drew in the line and a large fish was struggling on the hook. He shouted to us:
‘Don’t go! Come here! Don’t go away, I’ve caught a fish!’
The officer said:
‘I know why that happened Father. It happened so that I would believe in you, that you are of God, and so that the fisherman would believe. Up till now I believed in the new Christ, the Sai Baba of India. Now I believe in the true Christ.’
Christ in our midst!
Wounded by Love by Elder Porphyrios
Almost all illnesses are caused by our lack of trust in the Lord. This creates stress. Stress is caused by the negation of the religious sentiment. Unless you love the Lord and preoccupy yourself with holy deeds, you will certainly have depression and nasty feelings.
There is one thing which helps someone who is depressed: work and showing an interest in living: For example having a garden, some plants, flowers, trees, or getting outside, going for a walk in the countryside, or for a simple walk. All these create an interest and stop a person’s apathy. They act like medicine.
Moreover, being interested in music or the arts is very beneficial. But I specially emphasize the need to show an interest for the Church, for the Gospel and the liturgical services. Just by studying the Lord’s word one is healed without realizing it.
We ought not to be discouraged or be in a hurry. We ought not to judge things superficially or by their external appearance. If for example you happen to see a naked woman or one who is dressed inappropriately, do not criticize her but try to enter her soul. She may have a good heart and may express her existential worries through her wild appearance. She may process an inner strength and wish to show off arousing interest. She may have a distorted view of things because of her ignorance. Imagine what will happen if she does actually come to know Christ. She will become a believer and will direct all this passion towards Christ. She will do anything to attract divine grace. She will become a saint.
Because of our anxiety and our fears we often cause harm to someone without meaning to and without realizing it, even if we love him very much, like a mother does her child. A mother may transfer to the child all her anxiety about his life, his health and progress, even though she does not express it with words. This kind of love, this natural love, may sometimes cause harm. However, this does not happen with the love of Christ which is coupled with prayer and a careful way of life. This love sanctifies and calms a person, since God is love.
Translation of excerpts from the book «ΓΕΡΟΝΤΟΣ ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΜΟΝΑΧΟΥ Ανθολόγιο Συμβουλών»
Elder Porphyrios
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (A John, 4, 18)
When you love Jesus, despite your many weaknesses and your awareness of them, you rest assured that you have overcome death because you are in communion with Jesus’ love.
We ought to feel that Jesus is our friend. He is our friend. He confirms it Himself when He says: ‘You are my friends…” (John 15, 14).We ought to look up to Him and approach Him as our friend. If we fall, if we commit an offence, we ought to approach Him with love and courage and be filled with trust bestowed to us by our mutual friendship without fearing His punishment. We ought to tell Him: ‘Yes, Lord I have done this, I have fallen, forgive me”. At the same time we ought to feel that He loves us, that He receives us with tenderness and love and that He forgives us. Let our trespasses not separate us from Jesus. If we believe that He loves us and that we love Him, we will not feel strangers, neither we will feel separated from Him, not even when we commit a sin. We have secured His love and no matter what we do, we know that He loves us.
The Gospel, speaking allegorically, warns that the unjust will be taken to the place where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25, 30); indeed this is how it is going to be for someone who lives away from the Lord. Several of the Niptic fathers also speak about the fear of death and of Hell. They say: ‘You must always remember death’. Such words, if examined deeply, cause the fear for Hell. Someone who is trying to avoid committing a sin nurtures such thoughts, so that his soul is overcome by the fear of death, of Hell and of the devil.
Everything has its own importance at the appropriate time and the right circumstances. The fear of death is appropriate at the early stages of spiritual struggle. It is right for the novices, for those whose old-self is still active. The novice, who has not yet had the chance to be ‘sensitized’, is kept from sinning by this fear. Fear is necessary since we have a physical nature prone to wickedness. However, this is an elementary stage, an early level of relating to the divine. At this level the relationship with the Lord becomes a transaction: to gain Paradise and to avoid Hell. If we examine this properly we will see that it reeks from some kind of selfishness and self-interest.
I do not like this route. As soon as one progresses and enters the love of the Lord, why does he need fear? Whatever he does, he does it out of love and this is more important. It is not worth that much if someone becomes good because he fears the Lord and not because he loves Him.
Whoever would like to become a Christian ought to become a poet first. Once the soul is knocked about it becomes undeserving of Jesus’ love; Jesus interrupts the relationship since He does not want ‘thick’ souls with Him.
When you are worshiping the divine make sure that no one sees you nor recognizes what you are doing. You ought to do all these in secret, like the ascetics. Remember when I mentioned the nightingale? It sings in the forest, when there is silence, so that no one hears it neither praises it. What a magnificent singing in the desert! Did you notice how its throat swells? The same thing happens to the person who loves the Lord. As soon as he experiences this love, his ‘throat and his tongue swell”. He runs in the wild, in the desert and communicates with the Lord in secret, “with inexpressible sighs”.
You ought to ignore your passions; do not preoccupy yourselves with the devil. Turn towards Jesus instead. Divine grace teaches us our duties. We must employ love and longing in order to draw divine grace. The grace of the Lord needs divine Eros.
Once we have acquired love, then we are ready to pray. The Lord comes to such a soul by Himself as soon as He finds some pleasing things: a good intention, humility and love. Without these we are not able to say: ‘Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”.
The slightest criticism against someone else, affects our souls and we become unable to pray. The Holy Spirit does not dare approach such a soul.
We ought to let the Lord do what He wants with us; this is more beneficial and more appropriate for ourselves and for those whom we are praying for. Jesus will hand over all things in abundance. However, with the slightest selfishness, nothing can happen. The Lord has His own reasons for not giving us whatever we ask of Him. He has His own ‘secrets’.
Unless you obey your spiritual father and show humility, Jesus’ prayer (Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me) will not work and you risk being deluded as well. Do not recite this prayer as a chore. If you apply pressure you may be harmed. Several people have fallen ill because they were reciting Jesus’ prayer under pressure. It can be done, of course, but it is not a healthy way to pray.
You do not have to concentrate excessively in order to recite Jesus’ prayer. You do not need special effort when you have divine Eros. Any place is appropriate for this prayer: sitting on a low chair, on an armchair, in the car, while on the road, at school, at the office, anywhere. Just say ‘Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’ gently, without pressure or feeling any tightness.
Intensity and not duration is more important in prayer. Pray even for five minutes, but your prayer ought to be offered to the Lord lovingly and with longing. This five-minute prayer may be more valuable than prayer which lasts all night. This is, certainly a mystery, but it happens.
The end
Elder Porphyrios
We must not approach Christ out of fear of how we will die and of what will become of us. Rather, we must open our hearts to Him, as when we tug at a window curtain and the sun immediately shines in.
In this way Christ will come to us, that we might truly love Him.
This is the best way .
Elder Porphyrios
This is the way we should see Christ. He is our friend, our brother; He is whatever is good and beautiful. He is everything. Yet, He is still a friend and He shouts it out, “You’re my friends, don’t you understand that? We’re brothers. I’m not…I don’t hold hell in my hands. I am not threatening you. I love you. I want you to enjoy life together with me.”
Love Christ and put nothing before His Love. He is joy, He is life, He is light. Christ is Everything. He is the ultimate desire, He is everything. Everything beautiful is in Christ. Somebody who is Christ’s must love Christ, and when he loves Christ he is delivered from the Devil, from hell and from death.
Source: Klitos Joannidis. Elder Porphyrios: Testimonies and Experiences. The Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Savior: Athens 1995
Our prayers are not heard because we are not worthy.
Elder Porphyrios tells us that "the slightest murmuring against your neighbor affects your soul and you are unable to pray." We must make ourselves worthy for prayer he advises us. And our unworthiness comes from our inability to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Jesus says,
If you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother holds something against you leave your gift before the altar and go first to be reconciled with your brother and then offer your gift. Matt. 5:23 - 4True prayer is not easy. It is based on a close relationship with God. It requires a self-giving to God and His will.
Elder Porphyrios says,
Those who desire and crave to belong to Christ and who abandon themselves tot he will of God become worthy.This is the greatest spiritual challenge to give up our will and submit it to God's will. It is a necessity to be able to keep all of His commandments. This is the sign of our love of God.
Jesus says,
He who has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves me; and he who loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21To be in union with God takes great effort on our part.
The Elder says,
We have to wrestle with the roaring lion.More on Orthodox Prayer
Reference: Wounded by Love, p 116
Almost all illnesses are caused by our lack of trust in the Lord. This creates stress. Stress is caused by the negation of the religious sentiment. Unless you love the Lord and preoccupy yourself with holy deeds, you will certainly have depression and nasty feelings.
There is one thing which helps someone who is depressed: work and showing an interest in living: For example having a garden, some plants, flowers, trees, or getting outside, going for a walk in the countryside, or for a simple walk. All these create an interest and stop a person’s apathy. They act like medicine.
Moreover, being interested in music or the arts is very beneficial. But I specially emphasize the need to show an interest for the Church, for the Gospel and the liturgical services. Just by studying the Lord’s word one is healed without realizing it.
We ought not to be discouraged or be in a hurry. We ought not to judge things superficially or by their external appearance. If for example you happen to see a naked woman or one who is dressed inappropriately, do not criticize her but try to enter her soul. She may have a good heart and may express her existential worries through her wild appearance. She may process an inner strength and wish to show off arousing interest. She may have a distorted view of things because of her ignorance. Imagine what will happen if she does actually come to know Christ. She will become a believer and will direct all this passion towards Christ. She will do anything to attract divine grace. She will become a saint.
Because of our anxiety and our fears we often cause harm to someone without meaning to and without realizing it, even if we love him very much, like a mother does her child. A mother may transfer to the child all her anxiety about his life, his health and progress, even though she does not express it with words. This kind of love, this natural love, may sometimes cause harm. However, this does not happen with the love of Christ which is coupled with prayer and a careful way of life. This love sanctifies and calms a person, since God is love.
Translation of excerpts from the book «ΓΕΡΟΝΤΟΣ ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΜΟΝΑΧΟΥ Ανθολόγιο Συμβουλών»
Published by Η ΜΕΤΑΜΟΡΦΩΣΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΗΛΕΣΙ ΑΤΤΙΚΗΣ
The Way of Love involves uniting ourselves with Christ. Our efforts should be continually focused on how we will be united with Him and keep Him continually in our heart. Our love for Christ is what must dominate both our mind and heart.
Elder Porphyrios says
What is holy and beautiful and what gladdens the heart and frees the soul from every evil is the effort to unite yourself to Christ, to love Christ, to crave for Christ and to live in Christ, just as Saint Paul said, ”It is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). He advises us to make our struggle with calmness and simplicity. We don’t gain by forcing ourselves to be good or forcing ourselves to pray. We need to do things naturally and calmly. We need to do them because of our love of Christ. With love there is no need for forcing. When we love Christ we enthusiastically long for time in prayer and to participate in the Divine Liturgy and the Sacrament of Holy Communion and Confession.
Likewise when we love God we should not struggle with temptations. When we do we only acknowledge the strength of the temptation and it gains control in you. When temptations arise focus on your love of God instead of attacking. When our mind is filled with Love of Christ there is no room to entertain temptations.
He says,
Let all your strength be turned to love for God, worship of God and adhesion to God. As we study the hymns and psalms, when we pray, devoting ourselves to love of Christ, we receive grace and are able to combat temptations with ease. The challenge is to keep our mind focused on our heart which contains our insatiable love of Christ.
Elder Porphyrios
Reference: Wounded By Love, p 137
Elder Pophyrios spoke of the following experience:
In the old days, during the feast of the Theophany, we used to sanctify homes. One year I also went to sanctify. I would knock on the doors of the apartments, they would open for me, and I walked in singing "In Jordan, You were baptized O Lord...."
As I went along the road called Maizonos, I saw an iron door. I opened it, walked into the courtyard which was full of tangerine, orange and lemon trees, and proceeded to the stairs. It was an outdoor staircase that went up, and down was the basement. I climbed the stairs, knocked on the door, and a lady appeared. Since she opened I began my common practice singing, "In Jordan, You were baptized O Lord...." She stopped me abruptly. Meanwhile, girls began to emerge from their rooms after hearing me from the left and right of the hallway. "I see that I fell into a brothel," I said to myself. The woman walked in front of me to stop.
"Leave", she told me. "It is not right for them to kiss the Cross. I will kiss the Cross and then you should leave, please."
I took seriously her disapproving attitude and said: "I cannot leave! I am a priest, I cannot go! I came here to sanctify."
"Yes, but it is not right for them to kiss the Cross."
"But we don't know if it is right for them or you to kiss the Cross. Because if God asks me for whom it is more right to kiss the Cross, the girls or you, I probably would say: 'It is right for the girls to kiss and not you. Their souls are much better than yours.'"
With that she became a bit red in the face, so I said: "Leave the girls to come kiss the Cross." I signalled for them to come forward. I began to chant more melodically than before: "In Jordan, You were baptized O Lord..." because I had such joy within me, that God had ordained things so that I may also come to these souls.
They all kissed the Cross. They were all made-up, with colorful skirts, etc. I told them: "My children, many years! God loves us all. He is very good and 'allows the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous' (Matt. 5:45). He is the Father of everyone and God cares for everyone. Let us make sure to come to know Him and for us to also love Him and to become good. May you love Him, and then you will see how happy you will be."
They looked at me, wondering. Something took a hold of their tired souls.
Lastly I told them: "I rejoice that God has made me worthy to come here today to sanctify you. Many years!"
"Many years!" they also said, and I left.
Elder Porphyrios
Elder Porphyrios once said:
One day a hippie visited me. He was dressed in something colorful, strange clothes, and wore an amulet and jewelery, and he asked to see me. The nuns were worried, so they came and asked me, and I told them to have him enter. As soon as he sat across from me, I could see his soul. He had a good soul, but was wounded which was why he was a revolutionary.
I spoke to him with love and he was moved. "Elder", he said, "nobody until today has ever spoken to me like this." I had told him his name, and he was confused as if I knew him. "Well," I told him, "God revealed your name and that you travelled as far as India where you met a guru and you followed him." He was in even greater wonder. I told him other things about himself, and he left pleased. The next week he arrived with a group of hippies.
They all gathered together within my cell and sat around me. A girl was also with them. I liked them very much. They were good souls, but wounded. I did not speak to them about Christ, because I saw they weren't ready to hear of it. I spoke their own language about topics that interested them. When we were finished and they got up to leave, they told me: "Elder, we would like a favor: allow us to kiss your feet." I was embarrassed, but what could I do, I allowed them. After they gave me a blanket as a gift. I will call for it to be brought, so you can see it. It's very nice. After a time the girl visited me, the hippie, by herself. They called her Maria.
I saw that Maria was more advanced in her soul than her friends and she was the first I spoke to about Christ. She received my words. She has come other times, and has taken a good path. Maria also told her friends: "Hey naughty children, I would never have imagined that I would come to know Christ through hippie friends."
Christ created the Church on earth as His body with Him as the head. To love Christ is to love His Church. Elder Porphyrios says the Church is “exactly the same as Paradise in heaven.” All souls are one in His Church.
Elder Porphyrios says
Love, worship of and craving for God, the union with Christ and with the Church is Paradise on earth. The services of the Church are the way we can express our love for Him and He His love for us.
He says,
The divine services of the Church are words in which we converse and speak to God with our worship and with our love. The hours spent closest to paradise are the hours spent in the church together with all our brethren when we celebrate the divine Liturgy, when we sin and when we receive Holy communion. How do we show our passion for Him? When we love Christ we enthusiastically observe the formal aspects of the church, the services, and are eager to participate in the sacraments especially the sacrament of Holy Communion. We enthusiastically come to church to express our love for our lover.
He says,
The divine services are a very great affair. The precondition is for everything to be done with eros, with interest and with a sincere disposition to worship Christ--not as a chore and not perfunctorily, but with eros and divine enthusiasm. Worship must spring from the whole soul and whole heart. What does this mean? Your only thought must be God… It is not something that is done under duress. You feel a spiritual delight and pleasure. It’s not like the homework a child does for school. It is like the passionate love between people, but higher and spiritual.
Above all, the sacrament of Holy Communion is an act of Divine Love. This is an act of joining in ecstatic union with Him.
Elder Ephriam of Arizona writes about the splendor of the Divine Liturgy.
The Divine Liturgy, what a splendor indeed! Man has been honored by God in such a way that He Himself comes down to earth with His Angelic Orders every time there is a Liturgy, in order to nurture man with His Most Holy Body and His Most Precious Blood! For He has given us everything. Is there anything physical or spiritual, perishable or everlasting, that has not been offered to us? None! Is there anything superior to His Most Holy Body and Blood, which is given to us on a daily basis? There is certainly not. God has enabled man, who is full of soil and dirt, to serve the Divine Liturgy. So priceless is the Divine Love that just a tiny drop exceeds any earthly, physical and secular love. The Orthodox faith is all about Love.
Elder Porphyrios says,
Our religion is love, it is eros, it is enthusiasm, it is madness, it is longing for the divine. All these things are within us. Our soul demands that we attain them.
Reference: Wounded by Love, pp 90, 92, 165, 166
The Way of Love is the simplest and most direct way to join in union with Christ. Through our love of Him we are sanctified.
Elder Porphyrios says,
Whoever experiences Christ within himself, experiences ineffable things––holy and sacred things. He lives in exultation.
With
Christ as our lover there is no loneliness. We find peace and joy. The
thought of Christ permeates everything. We find patience and have
endurance of everything.
Elder Porphyrios says that with our love of Christ even our passions
disappear. There is no longer possibility for hatred, dislikes,
anxieties or depressions. Not even death concerns us. He says this
longing we have for Christ makes even death seem like a bridge what we
can cross in an instant to continue our life in Christ We find ourselves
in Christ and Him in us.
With our Love of Him there is no longer pain or suffering. Our craving for God, our passionate love for Him, overcomes all pain.
He says
Divine
craving defeats every pain, and so every pain is transformed and
becomes love of Christ. Love Christ and He will love you All pains will
pass away, they will be defeated and transformed.
Everything is transformed by this love.
The love of God transforms everything; it sanctifies, amends and changes the nature of everything.
Reference: Wounded by Love, pp 99-100
Elder Porphyrios
