Category Archives: saints

Renowned and Bright Star

quotes, saints

St. Basil the Great reposed on this day in the year 379. He was only 49 years old, but had accomplished a great deal of benefit for the church and the world, so that some called him “a renowned and bright star.” You can read about his blessed life here. “Philosopher, philologist, orator, jurist, naturalist, possessing profound knowledge in astronomy, mathematics and medicine, ‘he was a ship fully laden with learning, to the extent permitted by human nature.'” But on this festival day I offer a simple admonition from him:Basil the Great - from St. Sophia Cath of Kiev

When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator.

–St. Basil the Great

(Icon from St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev)

Lament for a Stone

history, poetry, saints, ,

LAMENT FOR A STONE

The bay where I found you faced the long light
of the west glowing under the cold sky

there Columba as the story goes looked
back and could not see Ireland any more

therefore he could stay he made up his mind
in that slur of the sea on the shingle

shaped in a fan around the broad crescent
formed all of green pebbles found nowhere else

flecked with red held in blue depths and polished
smooth as water by rolling like water

along each other rocking as they were
rocking at his feet it is said that they

are proof against drowning and I saw you
had the shape of the long heart of a bird

and when I took you in my palm we flew
through the years hearing them rush under us

where have you flown now leaving me to hear
that sound along without you in my hand

W.S. Merwin

St. Columba's Bay Iona
St. Columba’s Bay, Iona

 

We seek a happy and peaceful path.

quotes, saints, , , , ,

“Woe to our times: we now depart from the narrow and sorrowful path leading to eternal life and we seek a happy and peaceful path. But the merciful Lord leads many people from this path, against their will, and places them on the sorrowful one. Through unwanted sorrows and illnesses we draw closer to the Lord, for they humble us by constraint, and humility, when we acquire it, can save us even without works, according to St. Isaac the Syrian.”

+ St. Macarius of Optina

We would have been destroyed.

current events, quotes, saints, , , ,

“The good thing is that God does not abandon us. Our Good God is guarding the world with both hands. In the past, He used only one. Today we face so many dangers….”

“Things are really bad… May God help us! It is like a mother whose children have all kinds of problems. One is cross-eyed, another is slow, and yet another is difficult to handle. Then on top of that, she has to care for the neighbors’ children so that they don’t climb up somewhere and fall down, or find a knife and get cut, or hurt one another. And she must be constantly on the watch, vigilant and attentive, while they have no sense of her anguish and worry. It’s the same with our world. People do not understand that it is God Who is helping us. With all the dangerous devices available to us, we would have been destroyed many times were it not for His help….”

“If you only knew how much the devil hates humanity and wants to annihilate us! How easily we forget who our enemy is! Do you know how many times the devil has wrapped his tail around the world and tried to destroy it? But God has not allowed it. He ruins his plans. When the devil tries to cause harm, God takes the evil and turns it into good. The devil may be ploughing the field now, but in the end it is Christ Who will sow the seeds.”

-St. Paisios of Mount Athos