A story about His Grace Anthony of Surozh.
During one Liturgy service, he said the following sermon: “Yesterday evening, a woman walked in here with her child. She wore pants and had no head covering.
One of you reprimanded her. She left. I do not know who spoke to her but I command this person to pray for her and her baby till the end of his or her days that Lord saves them.
Because of you, she may never return to the church.” Then he turned around and went back in. That was all the sermon for that day.
“May Christ enlighten us! I wish that Christ brings light to all. May you, as a consequence of receiving it, are rejoiced where you felt burdened before. So, as soon as menacing darkness rolls in, exactly such an impulse from within your soul, calling to find light, will become a sign of spiritual health and renewal.”
“If one desires to see the pyramids of Egypt, he must either trust those who have seen them or better yet travel to see them himself. No third option, actually.
Similarly, a person may have an impression of God: he either will trust those who had been, or are, standing in the presence of God, or take pains to get just as close as them.”
“When we travel to such places and receive no benefit for our soul, then it truly is our own fault and so we ought to blame ourselves, not the circumstances, or a place we visited, or what not.”
“After a long life spent in Iveria in the labors of prayer, St. David went on a long and dangerous trip to Jerusalem. However, upon reaching its city limits, he did not walk in, but instead he tearfully spread himself on its soil and told his fellow pilgrims of his unworthiness to reach the sacred shrines. Having asked his fellow Christians to complete their travel and pray for him at the Holy Sepulchre Church, the Venerable David picked up a stone off the road, put it in his basket and started on his way back towards his monastery. His life’s chronicles tell us:”Having seen such a humility of his mind, the Most Merciful Savior has blessed him to reveal his sainthood and faith to others. After the stone was placed in the monastery by the venerable saint, it has shown miracles to the infirm and the suffering ones who approached and venerated it with faith and received healing.”
One man remembered since childhood how his grandmother used to tell him: “Dear grandson, you will be an adult one day, but if you ever feel low – come to church, you will always feel better afterwards.”
A man grew up. At one point in his life, he felt his life became too hard to bear any longer.
He remembered his granny’s words and came to church.
There, a man came up and told him: “You don’t keep your hands right!”
Next, a lady jumped at him: “You don’t stand where you are supposed to!”
Another one grumbled: “You are not dressed the right way.”
Someone else tugged at the back of his coat: “You don’t cross correctly!”
Right afterwards, a woman walked up to him and said:
– Why don’t you leave the church, go buy yourself a book how to behave at church, and then come back again.
He left the church, sat down on a bench and cried bitterly. Next, he heard a voice:
– Why do you cry, My child?
A man lifted his tear-stained face and saw Christ. He said:
– O Lord! They don’t allow me in!
The Lord hugged him:
– Do not cry, they do let Me in either.
“How mistaken are those people who seek happiness elsewhere, in foreign lands or through journeys, in riches and glory, in having great possessions or pleasures, in diversions and vain things, – as their search will bring bitterness! Building happiness based on material things is just as shaky an idea as building a house on an earthquake-prone mountaintop.
Happiness comes from within and blessed is the man who has understands it. Happiness belongs to those who are of pure heart, for the heart like this becomes the throne of God.
Christ says of those who have pure hearts: “I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (II Cor. 6:16) Are they short of anything? No, nothing at all! For they have the greatest gift inside their hearts: God Himself!”
“A man must solve a problem in this world: to be with Christ or to be against Him. And so, every man decides whether he desires it or not. He will either love Christ or fight against Christ. There is no third option.”
“All of us live in perpetual sin. We slip and fall. In reality, we fall into a trap set by the demons. The holy fathers and the saints continually reminded us, ‘It is imperative to get up right after the fall and to keep on walking towards God’. Even though we fall a hundred times a day, it does not matter; we must get up and continue on our path toward God without looking back. Whatever has happened – it has happened – and belongs to the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God.”
“A person who loves God values knowledge of God more than anything created by God, and pursues such knowledge ardently and ceaselessly.”
“Hadn’t God become incarnate on earth, hadn’t He made us godly, hadn’t He taught us in His Own person about how to live, what to hope and have expectations for, hadn’t He not directed us to the source of perfect and eternal life, had He not suffered, died and risen from the dead— we would have still had some reason to live, as we live now—that is, leading a carnal, earthly life.
But through Him, we have received a chance to meditate upon otherworldly things and consider the earthly things as muck, for everything of this world is nothing in comparison with the heavenly world.
Meanwhile, the Devil, the father of all lies, in spite of the Savior’s teachings and His spirit, leads us away, gets us attached to the earthly life, and forcibly nails our sensual heart there.
Our heart naturally seeks happiness, so the Devil gives the wrong direction to this tendency and allures it by the earthly satisfaction, that is—by riches, honors, splendor of dress, furniture, silver, equipages, gardens and various amusements.
