The Art of Spiritual Life

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Episodes

St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, Barberton, Ohio.

Episodes

Sunday Oct 29, 2023

Sunday Oct 29, 2023

Let all involuntary suffering teach you to remember God, and you will not lack occasion for repentance.
Forgetfulness as such has no power, but acquires it in proportion to our negligence.
Do not say; 'What can I do? I don't want to be forgetful but it happens.' For when you did remember, you cheated over what you owed.
Do good when you remember, and what you forget will be revealed to you; and do not surrender your mind to blind forget-fuUness.
Scripture says: 'Hell and perdition are manifest to the Lord' (Prov. 15:11. LXX). This refers to ignorance of heart and forgetful-ness.

Sunday Oct 29, 2023

Sunday Oct 29, 2023

Sunday Oct 29, 2023

Sunday Oct 29, 2023

Even when nothing is going wrong, be ready for affliction; and since you will have to give an account, do not make extortionate demands.
Having sinned secretly, do not try to hide. For 'all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we have to give an account' (Heb. 4:13).
Reveal yourself to the Lord in your mind. 'For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart' (i Sam. 16:7).
Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted effort.
Because God's justice is inexorable, it is hard to obtain forgiveness for sins committed with complete deliberation.

Monday Sep 25, 2023

Monday Sep 25, 2023

Every blessing comes from the Lord providentially. But this fact escapes the notice of the ungrateful and the idle.
Every vice leads in the end to forbidden pleasure; and every virtue to spiritual blessing. Each arouses what is akin to it.
Censure from men afflicts the heart; but if patiently accepted it generates purity.
Ignorance makes us reject what is beneficial; and when it becomes brazen it strengthens the hold of evil.

Monday Sep 25, 2023

Monday Sep 25, 2023

He who suffers injustice escapes sin, finding help in proportion to his affliction.
The greater a man's faith that Christ will reward him, the greater his readiness to endure every injustice.
By praying for those who wrong us we overthrow the devil; opposing them we are wounded by him.
Better a human than a demonic sin. Through performing the Lord's will we overcome both.

Monday Sep 25, 2023

Monday Sep 25, 2023

Cease rebuking a man who has stopped sinning and who has repented. If you say that you are rebuking him in God's name, first reveal the evils in yourself.
God is the source of every virtue, as the sun is of daylight.
When you have done something good, remember the words 'without Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5).
Afflictions bring blessing to man; self-esteem and sensual pleasure, evil.

Monday Sep 25, 2023

Monday Sep 25, 2023

When we are compelled by our conscience to accomplish all the commandments of God, then we shall understand that the law of the Lord is faultless (cf. Ps. 19:8. LXX). It is performed through our good actions, but cannot be perfected by men without God's mercy.
Those who do not consider themselves under obligation to perform all Christ's commandments study the law of God in a literal manner, 'understanding neither what they say nor what they affirm' (1 Tim. I :7). Therefore they think that they can fulfill it by their own works.
There are acts which appear to be good, but the motive of the person who does them is not good; and there are other acts which appear to be bad, while the motive of the doer is good. The same is true of some statements. This discrepancy is due sometimes to inexperience or ignorance, sometimes to evil intention, and sometimes to good intention.
When a man outwardly praises someone, while accusing and disparaging him in his heart, it is hard for the simple to detect this. Similarly a person may be outwardly humble but inwardly arrogant. For a long time such men present falsehood as truth, but later they are exposed and condemned.
One man does something apparently good, in defense of his neighbor; another, by not doing it, gains in understanding.
Rebukes may be given in malice and self-defense, or out of fear of God and respect for truth.