Mar Saba Monastery
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"O Thou who hears the cries of the world, come to us!"
"Pray, Hope
and don't Worry!"
Saint Padre Pio
A Pictorial Visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Short movies and pictures of the Church and the Sea of Galilee. Read More
Repentance is the ship, Fear is the governor, Love is the divine port.
Until we find love, we work in the earth with her thorns. Among thorns we sow and reap, even if we sow the seed of righteousness. Perpetually we are pricked by them, even if we are justified, and live with sweat on our faces.
Rare interview with the personal attendant of Saint Pio
This rare interview is with the personal attendant of Saint Pio who was with him, day and night, for the last years of his earthly life. During the recording, Fr. Alessio recounts many miracles and wonderful stories about this glorious Saint of God never before heard.
"O When I lay me Down to Sleep"
When thou approachest thy bed, because the time for sleep has come, say: "O bed, perhaps thou wilt become my grave this night and I not know it. Perhaps instead of temporary sleep, eternal sleep will fall on me this night, while I thought of preparing for days and months, which I did not see."
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount - Lectures 1, 2 and 3
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, given by Jesus to all mankind. These rare lectures, the first 3 of 12 parts, were given by Swami Jyotirmayananda of the Yoga Research Foundation.
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount - Lectures 4, 5 and 6
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, given by Jesus to all mankind. These rare lectures, parts 4, 5 and 6 of 12 parts, were given by Swami Jyotirmayananda of the Yoga Research Foundation.
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount - Lectures 7, 8 and 9
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, given by Jesus to all mankind. These rare lectures, parts 7, 8 and 9 of 12 parts, were given by Swami Jyotirmayananda of the Yoga Research Foundation.
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount - Lectures 10, 11 and 12
The Mystical Meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, given by Jesus to all mankind. These rare lectures, parts 10, 11 and 12 of 12 parts, were given by Swami Jyotirmayananda of the Yoga Research Foundation.
Love of God annihilates Fear
Love is sweeter than life. And understanding concerning God, from which love is born, is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. What is the sweetness of love which excels life? Love is not spiteful if it has to undergo a myriad of deaths for the sake of it's friends.
Faith, the Way to Union with God
For knowledge is opposed to faith, and faith with all its means destroys the laws of knowledge. I do not mean spiritual laws. For the circumscription of the domain of knowledge is this, that a man is allowed to do anything without inquiry or examination, but he must investigate, so as to comply, if possible, with what befalls him.
The Meaning of "I-I"
Now what is this union? It is that we should be of a truth purely, simply, and wholly at one with the One Eternal Will of God, or altogether without will, so that the created will should flow out into the Eternal Will, and be swallowed up and lost therein, so that the Eternal Will alone should do and leave undone in us.
The Idea of Prayer by Maurice Nicoll
The mission of Christ was to bridge, to connect, and to bring into correspondence in himself these two levels, the divine and human; and of this we will speak in another place. But it can be said here that unless this connection is made by a few at certain intervals in time, all communication with the higher fails and Man is left without any ideas or teachings that can lift him—that is, he is left to his instincts, his self−interests, his violence and his animal appetites, and so without any influences that can lift him beyond the level of barbarism.
On Those who Live in the Neighborhood of God
Until a man becomes humble, he does not receive the wages of his service. Remuneration is not given for service, but for humbleness. He that wrongs the latter, looses the former.
The True Meaning of "Sin"
Sin means to miss the mark. The Greek word άμαρτανω (hamartano) really means 'to miss the mark'. But it is translated as sin. Literally the word was used in archery, when the target was missed. It would seem clear, therefore, that we cannot understand the idea of sin in the right way unless we gain some idea of what it is we have to aim at. To miss the mark is 'sin'; but what is the mark?
The Final words and Blessing of Saint Francis to this world
"Farewell, my children, in the fear of the Lord, and abide always in it. And since the time of tribulation and temptation is approaching, blessed shall they be who shall persevere in what they have begun. I, indeed, have done what I had to do; may Christ teach you what you ought to do!"
Chapters on Prayer by Evagrius Ponticus
Prayer is the offshoot of meekness and the absence of anger.
Prayer is the fruit of joy and gratitude.
Prayer is the defense against sadness and discouragement.
Those who accumulate pains and grudges in their heart and then imagine that they pray,
are like people who pour water into a cracked vase.
From East to West, the Saints who underwent the most trying labors and hardships all declare with one voice: "Be Happy!"
“EVER-NEW JOY IS GOD. He is inexhaustible; as you continue your meditations during the years, He will beguile you with an infinite ingenuity. Devotees like yourself who have found the way to God never dream of exchanging Him for any other happiness; He is seductive beyond thought of competition.”
From the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ
Meeting of the World Sages - Presentation of the Seven Universal Postulates
“Man was evolved a seed of everlasting life; but in the ethers of the Triune God the light
was far too great for seeds to grow. And so man sought the soil of carnal life,
and in the darksomeness of earth he found a place where he could germinate and grow...
The quality of soul that makes it possible for man to rise to spirit life is purity.”
The mighty giants of the Philistines. Wisdom from Saint Mark the Ascetic
“Every good comes providentially from God. However, it quietly leaves those
who are ungrateful, unfeeling and idle.
Every tribulation reveals the state of our will.”
Divine Wisdom from a Lover of God, Saint Therese
As I grew older I loved the good God more and more, and very frequently did I offer Him my heart, using the words my mother had taught me.
A Prayer of Saint Francis
"A very strong mind, can transcend all physical difficulties and attain to God-realization. Many saints have ignored illness and succeeded in their divine quest.
St. Francis of Assisi, severely afflicted with ailments, healed others and even raised the dead." Paramahansa Yogananda
Charity: The Killer of Snakes in the Garden of Anger
For one‘s Spirit to see it’s own light, we must abide within a ‘standing still of the mind’ (apatheia). The God-parents of this apatheia are charity and love (agape).
This agape is the highest form of love, that exists in the state of tranquility, the stillness of mental activity, that consumes the sensual imaginations that give birth to sadness.
Love Embracing the Beloved
“This practice of the Presence of God is somewhat hard at the outset, yet, pursued faithfully, it works imperceptibly within the soul most marvelous effects; it draws down God’s grace abundantly, and leads the soul insensibly to the ever-present vision of God, loving and beloved, which is the most spiritual and most real, the most free and most life-giving manner of prayer.”
Jesus teaches the Faithful to Meditate
Men carry with them all the time the secret place where they might meet their God.
It matters not where men abide, on mountain top, in deepest vale, in marts of trade, or in the quiet home; they may at once, at any time, fling wide the door, and find the Silence, find the house of God; it is within the soul.
The Divine Mother, Immaculately Conceived
The mystical meaning of the Immaculate Conception entreats all humankind to the highest, yet possible, spiritual attainment. The implication is concurrent with all traditional religions wherein becoming twice-born, a regeneration, a stream entering into a life in communion with the deathless while still abiding within the physical body is the goal to be sought after and achieved.
A Hopi Indian Prayer for Departed Souls
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain.
Saint Pio’s personal advice to devotees
Part 1 - On modern-day fashions
Padre Pio never tolerated those dressed in an inappropriate fashion. Women came not in mini skirts, but in skirts that were shortish. Padre Pio got very upset about this as well. One woman tried to change her skirt before going to confession; she borrowed a longer one from a friend. When she entered the confessional, he drew back the little shutter, and then snapped it shut again, stating: “Well? Have we been dressing up for a carnival, then?”
Saint Pio's personal advice to devotees Part 2 - On Sins of Impurity
A man who was being unfaithful to his wife confessed to Padre Pio that he was having a “spiritual crisis.” Padre Pio stood up and yelled, “What spiritual crisis? Your a vile pig and God is angry at you. Go away!”
O Pure Virgin, Thou who hears the Cries of the World
"O Virgin Pure" by St. Nectarios, who received in a vision from an angel of the Lord this hymn, where the angel declared:
“This is how we praise the Most Holy Mother of God.”
Excellence is the Mother of Afflictions;
from Afflictions Humbleness is Born.
Until a man becomes humble, he does not receive the wages of his service. Remuneration is not given for service, but for humbleness. He that wrongs is the latter, looses the former.
On the Faith of the Soul and the Treasures of Mysteries
hidden in it.
When the soul in the course of its behavior walks in the way of faith, this improves it much. When it then turns towards the means of knowledge, it becomes alienated to faith at once.
