St. Mary Orthodox Christian Church

Holy Images God infuses His Energies into the icons The Old Testament God was revealed to us by Christ Jesus. Prior to the incarnation of the Logos, God's peopl...e were forbidden to make any image of Him, for no one had seen His face. Yet when Christ said to His disciples, "he who has seen Me has seen the Father", the fullness of this loving God was revealed to His creation. Early Christians used icons to depict this truth of the incarnation. The very first icons showing the Holy Virgin and the Christ Child, were painted by non other than the holy Apostle Luke. Since Christ is revealed in His saints, even the Holy Virgin and the Martyrs were soon depicted in images, worthy of veneration by the early Christians. The icons are not worshiped, nor are the saints worshiped, for adoration is reserved only for God. They are venerated because Christ dwells in His saints. Orthodox, from the very first century, have venerated the holy icons as windows into eternity, representing as they do, the deified state of those who've won the good fight and are in Paradise with God. Our icons are not seen as religious art, but indeed windows into the other world. Perhaps a better description would be to say the icons are doors into the Heavenly Realm, for God infuses into the icons His Divine Energies, whereby we are lifted up into a place where there is neither time nor space. When we venerate the icons, our devotion and love is passed on to the archetypes, where we are connected to the saints who are in the Church Triumphant, together with the heavenly hosts, and Christ is glorified in His Saints. Our veneration of the holy icons must not be considered worshiping idols, for they are only likenesses of the saints. We do not pray to material icons depicted with paint on wood or metal, but rather, who is represented in the icon. With love in Christ, Abbot Tryphon

- Geronda, a person asked us: If our salvation is in the hands of God, then why do we pray to the Mother of God: "Most Holy Theotokos, save us?" - Suppose a wom...an has a neighbor who is the mother of a priest, and a woman asks her to help her child find a job. The neighbor is ready to help, but she herself will not be able to do anything, but will ask her priest son, who due to his position, can and will help because the mother asks. So we ask the Mother of God for his salvation and She asks Her Son, who can save. And He fulfills the Mother's request because He loves Her very much. St. Paisios the Athonite Icon from Mt. Athos of Mother of God with St. Paisios and St. Arseney

Do not only do your work when you wish to, but do it especially then, when you do not wish to. Understand that this applies to every ordinary worldly matter, as... likewise, and especially, to the work of the salvation of your soul to prayer, to reading God's word and other salutary books, to attending Divine service, to doing good works, whatever they may be, to preaching God's word. Do not obey the slothful, deceitful, and most sinful flesh; it is eternally ready to rest and lead us into everlasting destruction through temporal tranquillity and enjoyment. St John of Kronstadt See more

[Stories of St. Paisios and the wild animals] The Elder was given the gift of associating with wild animals without being harmed by them, just as Adam did befor...e the fall as well as many other Saints. Wild animals sensed his great love and saw in the Elder the purity that man possessed before the Fall. The Holy Fathers teach that when man regains the ancient beauty he had when he was first created that long-lost Divine Grace he becomes a master of creation, having dominion over the fowl of the air, upon every creeping thing and beast upon the earth. Thus comes reconciliation with creation, as the Holy Fathers call the state before the Fall attained by the Saints. When God dwells in a man and rests upon him, we read in the Life of Saint Euthymius, all things are subject to him, as they were to Adam before he transgressed God’s commandment. The Elder used to say, As soon as man puts himself in someone else’s place, then he can love everyone, all people, even the animals and the wild beasts. He fits everything inside himself. He does not even leave room for himself because of his love. When I see a wild animal, I think about how I could have been one myself. God is Head of the household, and He could have made me an animal. When I put myself in the place of a wild animal, I love it and have compassion on it even a snake. How I would like to be a snake, to go out into the sun to warm up, and then have someone come over and step on me, and crush my head? Divine Love communicates with animals. An animal can tell the difference between someone who loves it and a hunter who wants to kill it. The animal will come up to the person who loves it it will not be afraid. I thought it was like that for all the wild animals except snakes. Even the viper and if the other snakes were lambs, vipers would be goats. A deacon once asked him, Elder, I heard you have got some snakes, is it true? Sure, deacon. I have got snakes in my heart. replied the Elder speaking of his passions. Come back when you are a Father Confessor, and I will show them to you. We went to the monastery in Stomio almost every weekend, writes a man named Georgios. It was as though we were drawn to Father Paisios by an inexplicable force. We found serenity there near him, our spirit and souls grew calm. And we would try to help him with different jobs. Once, he sent me to get a pickaxe and shovel from the shed just beyond the main entrance of the monastery. ‘Georgios,’ he said, ‘do not be scared a couple of little snakes live in there, but they are harmless.’ I was about to do what he asked me to do when I saw two huge tree snakes in front of me, moving toward where the tools were stored. Terror-stricken at the sight of them, I stepped back, ready to run. Then I felt the Elder’s hand, bony yet strong, restraining me; and, with a calm and peaceful voice, he ‘rebuked’ the snakes. ‘Get in your corner! Can you not see George is scared?’ He had followed me, since he knew that the sight of the snakes would frighten me. I turned to look at him, but I could not catch his eye he was looking down at the ground. I tried to stammer something out, but he had already gone he was far away, as though his appearance had been a mirage. Another time, as I entered the monastery kitchen, I heard an old schoolmate of his day, ‘Let me shoot it, Elder.’ And, as he said it, he lifted his hunting rifle. In a peaceful and quiet voice, the Elder mildly replied, ‘No, John he has got a Cross on his forehead.’ I leaned out the window and saw a hare casually nibbling something. On his forehead, he had a black Cross. The Elder called the hares to himself, like we do with cats, and they were not afraid to live around him. He had caught a hare among the bean plants, and he had made the sign of the Cross on it’s head and told Vasileios (his brother-in-law) and the other hunters to be careful not to kill it. One time two small bears came into the yard of the monastery at Stomio. The Elder grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and told them, Next time, do not come into the monastery like that. Come around the back by the kitchen, so I can feed you. And then he took them there. A group of Cypriots had come to Panagouda in order to see the Elder, recounts a pilgrim from Cyprus. He told them to have loukoumia. But when they opened the container, they glanced, looking at each other and murmuring: it was full of ants. Apparently, despite the instructions written on the lid, a pilgrim had failed to close it tightly. There were so many that it looked liked the sweets had turned black you could not see them. When the Elder realized what had happened, he took a look at the container, nonchalantly removed a piece of loukoumia, and placed it to one side. Then, affectionately, but seriously and somewhat authoritatively, he addressed the ants. ‘This one is yours,’ he told them. ‘Go eat it, and leave the rest for the visitors.’ Astonishingly, the ants obeyed him. They all left the container and gathered around the piece of loukoumia to eat it. I knew the Elder from when he was fifteen years old, remembers Father Alypios, a monk at the Skete of Saint Anne. By the Grace of God, I became a monk at the Holy Monastery of Koutloumousiou. Going to see him regularly, I would hear about his miracles, and I started wanting to see one. The thought tempted me for about a month. One winter’s morning, at the beginning of November, I went to see the Elder. I found him alone, washing his hands in the drum outside. He opened the gate and told me to wait. Then he took a piece of aluminum foil with some crumbs in it, opened it, and looked towards the sky. There were usually no birds around there, but a flock of them had gathered. What were they doing there all of a sudden? Some were sitting on his head, others on his arms and shoulders, and he was feeding them. I was bewildered by the spectacle I was watching. My heart pounded quickly with excitement, and I was laughing helplessly. Smiling, the Elder addressed the birds, ‘Go over to him too.’ He talked to them as though they were people. ‘Go over to him too,’ he said to a bird sitting on his arm. ‘He is one of us.’ This lasted about two minutes, and then the Elder folded up the aluminum foil, and the birds flew away. While I was still staring at him in bemusement, he told me, ‘go on now.’ - Saint Paisios of Mount Athos, by Hieromonk Isaac, pp. 522-526

In a church, an old lady was praying on her knees, next to a pillar. A young woman, a great scientist, goes up to her and says, "This is old fashioned!" And the old woman answered her, "Right here, by this very pillar where you now see me weeping, you too will weep one day. Your ways will come and go; they will become outdated, but Christianity will never become outdated." (St. Paisios, Spiritual Councels Vol. 1 p.393)

Through the intersessions of your saints, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and save us!

O holy martyr Paraskeva, pray unto God for us. For more information about this holy woman visit http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/19111