The Ascetic Struggle

Nov 30

Not Posting Anymore

I tried posting here, but just don’t care for some the images posted on this site. Once tumblr. starts policing the content a little better I’ll start posting again. If you want to check my postings, I have my twitter (asceticstruggle) and blog (http://asceticstruggle.blogspot.com).

May God hold each one of you in the palm of his hand…

Theophan

“Our thoughts must be turned over to God, such that their effects will be positive. Yes, we need to encourage ourselves in our inner monologue, but most importantly, we need to bring God into our thinking and hearts by prayer. Then our thoughts will become seeds of transformation and victory in our lives, aiding and abetting us to fulfill God’s purposes.” Hieromonk Calinic (Berger)

Oh if he only knew…

simplyorthodox:

The unrighteous man laughs at the relics of the Saints, and he is consumed by malicious laughter. Oh if he only knew that the dead relics of the saints contain more life than his own flesh and blood!

- from St. Nikolai’s Prayers by the Lake

“Вера от слышания, а слышание от слова Божия.” (Рим.10:17)

Nov 29

“The sun is in the middle, and all of our planets go around it, all are drawn in toward it, and all turn some side of themselves towards it. What the sun is in the material world, God is in the spiritual world - the rational sun. Bring your thoughts to heaven, and what will you see there? Angels, who, according to the word of the Lord, ever see the face of their heavenly Father. All bodiless spirits and all saints in heaven and turned towards God, all direct their mental eyes toward Him, and do not wish to turn away from Him, because of the ineffable blessedness which flows from this vision of the face of God. But what the Angels and saints do in the heavens, we should learn to do on earth: get used to the angelic, unceasing standing before God in our hearts.” Saint Theophan the Recluse

Nov 28

“Whether you are in church, or in your house, or in the country; whether you are guarding sheep, or constructing buildings, or present at drinking parties, do not stop praying. When you are able, bend your knees, when you cannot, make intercession in your mind, ‘at evening and at morning and at midday’. If prayer precedes your work and if, when you rise from your bed, your first movements are accompanied by prayer, sin can find no entrance to attack your soul.” Saint Ephraim the Syrian (via theophilus79)

(via jamesfromta)

“Do not be surprised if you fall every day and do not surrender. Stand your ground bravely. And you may be sure that your guardian angel will respect your endurance. A fresh, warm wound is easier to heal than those that are old, neglected, and festering, and that need extensive treatment, surgery, bandaging, and cauterization. Long neglect can render many of the incurable. However, all things are possible with God.” St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 5 (via theophilus79)

“If Christ were to walk in this world today, do you know what would happen to Him? He would be placed in a mental institution and given psychotherapy, just as would His saints. The world would crucify Him today just as it did two thousand years ago, for the world has not learned a thing, except more devious forms of hypocrisy.” Father Seraphim Rose

“…unless a man imagines to himself that he has been lying for three years in the grave and under the earth, he will never die to himself.” Abba Moses

“It is easier to measure the entire sea with a tiny cup than to grasp God’s ineffable greatness with the human mind.” Saint Basil the Great