Sunday

Elder Joseph the Hesychast on Meekness…
“Good deeds and almsgiving and all other external good things do not subdue the haughtiness of one’s heart. But mental work, the pain of repentance, contrition, and humility are what humble the unsubmissive spirit. An insubordinate person is unbearable and toilsome to deal with. Only with utter patience can he be handled. Only with utter patience on behalf of the elders and with the forbearance and love of the brethren can stiff-necked disciples come to their senses. But behold: many times they, too, are as useful as your right hand. Almost always such people, who are in some way more gifted than the others, humble themselves with difficulty. They think highly of themselves and look down on others. So a great deal of hard work and patience are needed until this old foundation of pride is dug up, and another foundation is set with Christ’s humility and obedience. But the Lord, seeing their efforts and good intentions, allows another trial to come upon them which counteracts their passion, and by His mercy, He “Who will have all men to be saved”1 saves them too.”
– ‘Monastic Wisdom’

Prayer:  Having risen from sleep I hasten to Thee, O Lord, Lover of men, and by Thy loving-kindness I strive to do Thy work, and I pray to Thee:  help me at all times, in everything, and deliver me from every evil thing of the world and every attack of the devil, and lead me into Thine eternal Kingdom. For Thou art my Creator, the Giver and Provider of everything good, and all my hope is in Thee, and to Thee I send up glory, now and ever, and to the ages of ages.  Amen.
*Prayer for the next day’s morning

Monday

Elder Ephraim on Remembering Death…
“When we remember death, we find an excellent guide that helps us discover the truth of things. Death says, “Why are you treasuring things up, why are you proud, why do you boast, O youth, O health, O science? When I come, 1 will render you your worth! When you are laid in the dark grave, you will know what the profit of earthly good things is!” We are departing to the world that transcends the senses, my children. We do not stay in this world which is full of bitterness, distress, sin, and miseries. There in the unfading life, God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of the saved, and there will be no pain, grief, or sighing, but an eternal day, a life without end or death! This is the life, my children, that we should long for wholeheartedly and fervently, so that by God’s grace we may acquire it and be delivered from painful hell.”
– ‘Counsels from the Holy Mountain’

Prayer:  Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace good will among men.
Tuesday

Elder St. Porphyrios on Inattention…
“…the snares of Satan are many for those who worship God. Temptation manages very successfully to ensure that we pay no attention to the worship. We go to church frequently, only to continue our sleep. As soon as we hear the readings and the hymns, we close our eyes. We enter into a state of lethargy and we are unable to follow the words of the hymns. It is a satanic thing, this soporific state, and very obviously so. Think what we are missing when we are in church in this thoughtless state! Although before you go to church you say to yourself, ‘I’ll pay attention, I won’t doze off again, I’ll be alert’, yet you don’t succeed. All these exhortations…are attempts to compel ourselves which provoke a negative reaction within us. And with compulsion we achieve nothing. On the contrary, the state of sloth overtakes us and ridicules us: ‘Concentrate hard now, force yourself, do what you like, but I, your old self, have you in my hand and I’ll keep a tight hold on you, and now, if you can, let me see you make your spiritual progress!’”
– ‘Wounded by Love’

Prayer:   Blessed by the name of the Lord from henceforth and forever more.

 

Wednesday

Elder Paisios on True Suffering…

“If we only remembered that Christ suffered the greatest injustice of all, then we would be ready to accept with joy every injustice done to us. Though God, He descended to earth out of infinite love and accepted to be confined in the womb of the Panaghia for nine months. Then He lived quietly for thirty years. From the age of fifteen to thirty, He worked as a carpenter among the Jews. Even the tools used in those days were very rudimentary, and required hard work to transform rough pieces of wood into useful furniture. It is difficult for us imagine how difficult the work of a carpenter was in those days. And after that, Jesus endured three years of hardships, wandering around barefoot and preaching. He healed the sick, restored the sight of blind people with spittle and clay, and they still wanted Him to show them signsd and miracles. He cast out demons from the possessed but unfortunately, the ungrateful people claimed He Himself was possessed by a demon… in the end He was mocked crucified.” – ‘Spiritual Struggle’

Prayer:   May the Strength of God guide us. May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Angels of God guard us. – Against the snares of the evil one.
Prayer for the Faithful of St. Patrick Part 1

 

Thursday

Elder St. Porphyrios on Unity…
“Our religion is the religion of religions. It is from revelation, the authentic and true religion. The other religions are human, hollow. They do not know the greatness of the Triune God. They do not know that our aim, our destiny, is to become gods according to grace, to attain likeness with the Triune God, to become one with Him and among ourselves. These are things the other religions do not know. The ultimate aim of our religion is that they may be one. Here the work of Christ finds completion. Our religion is love, it is eras, it is enthusiasm, it is madness, it is longing for the divine. All these things are within us. Our soul demands that we attain them.”
– ‘Wounded by Love’

Prayer:  Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3X)

Friday

Elder St Paisios on Spirituial Wealth…
“…if we don’t want to lose out in vain, worldly gains, how much more must we be careful not to harm ourselves spiritually! Worldly people seek material gain and don’t let it go to waste; is it right for spiritual people to throw away spiritual gain? But even if worldly people spend the money they have, they are at least wasting only material things, while we, when we do not accept an injustice, waste spiritual and heavenly things. We consume everything down here. Why trade the heavenly for the earthly?”
– ‘Spiritual Struggle’

Prayer:   May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

Saturday

Elder Ephraim of Arizona on Guarding the Conscience…
“We must guard our conscience on three points—with respect to God, with respect to our neighbor, and with respect to things. One guards his conscience with respect to God when he avoids the various sins. He guards his conscience with respect to his neighbor when he does not grieve him, judge him, slander him, scandalize him, or push him towards evil deeds. He guards his conscience with respect to things when he does not cause destruction or damage to material things through carelessness, negligence, or unscrupulousness. The greatest wealth is obtained when one strives to preserve his conscience unburdened. But in the event that he senses that something has wounded him, he should correct it immediately, and thus he will return to his prior state.”
– ‘Counsels from the Holy Mountain’

Prayer

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.