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the meaning🦋the music🦋the imagery🦋. ✨visitor to turtle island✨

[Angelina Serbska ☦️ @Angelina_Lina8]

Has anyone ever seen the body of a righteous person, abandoned by the soul?
There is no foul odor from it, and there is no fear in approaching it; at its burial, sorrow is dissolved by some unfathomable joy.

The features of the face, frozen as they were at the moment the soul departed, sometimes rest in the deepest peace, and sometimes they shine with the joy of sweet encounters and embraces—certainly with the angels and the faces of the saints, who are sent from heaven to receive the souls of the righteous.

📜 Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)

[Orthodox Christian @orthodox_33ad]

You are wiser today, if you have acknowledged yesterday's mistakes.

— Saint Ephraim the Syrian

[John Worthington @Iron12cross]

The Eastern Orthodox quote of the day is ☦️

[TheOrthodoxWay @_theorthodoxway]

“All the diamonds in the world are nothing compared to a moment spent in the divine light.”
- St. Arsenie Boca

[Fr. Daniel☦️ @Fragbaza]

Someone says: “I dreamed in my life of having a family, and I wanted through that way and that path to be saved.
But that goal was not achieved…
I got married, and my marriage failed…
I got married and had no children…
I didn’t get married at all…
Or someone deceived me, betrayed me, hurt me, a thousand and one things happened…
My plans were cancelled.
This is not how I wanted my life to be!
What do I do now?”

Alright, I use the reason that God has given me and say:

“Look, this is my reality. I am here, in this place, with these circumstances, with these facts, with these people, with these possibilities.
So, with these, I will make sure to be saved.”

Because the will of God is not this or that. His will is my salvation.

You might say, “I was dreaming…” Well, I too once dreamed. I dreamed of staying on Mount Athos, having a nice little hut in Nea Skiti, where I was living then, and enjoying the honey of the quietness of the Holy Mountain.
And instead, I found myself in Limassol, in the very center of the city! Not even on the outskirts, right in the middle of the city!

And in fact, when I first came to Limassol, because the Metropolis building we stayed in then had many difficulties, I lived in a very small room, 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters long. It still exists today. And it was right on the street.
So every night we couldn’t sleep, especially on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, when all the clubs around here hold their own “vigils” and “prayers” all night long.
Especially on major feast days, we have “all-night vigils” with loud “chanters” and “psalmists” singing all through the night.
Which, by about 4:00 in the morning, end in chaos — shouting, swearing, and fighting among young people.
We still hear them every night. Now we are used to it, but in the beginning, it was very difficult.

What can we say? This is our world.
And I see the same thing in my personal life.
It was never my life’s dream to come to Limassol and become a Metropolitan.
I confess to you, I had never thought about it, not even once.
Not even in a dream.
I had another vision for my life.
But God changed things; that is how life unfolded.
Naturally, as human beings, when the visions of our life change, we feel shaken. We say, “Ah, I wish I were there, I wish my life were like that.”

But what is the true goal?
Is it Mount Athos? Monasticism? Family? Children? Home? Job? Even health?
No, these are not the goal.
These are means that can lead us toward the goal.

The goal, the true desire, is Christ.
Christ is what we seek!

So leave behind your fantasies and daydreams, and land where you are!

You are in this city, with these circumstances, with these strengths you have, at this age you are, with these people around you
and with everything that exists in your life now, you must work out your salvation.

✝️ Fr. Athanasios, Metropolitan of Limassol

[Fr. Daniel☦️ @Fragbaza]

When you condemn a fallen man, you condemn God Himself. If you see a robber, a prostitute, or a drunkard lying in the street, do not judge them, for the Lord has allowed their passions. Perhaps this is how they must find their way to God, so they may humble themselves, see their own weakness, know God, and repent. Are you virtuous? That is only because God is restraining your passions. If He were to loosen His hold on you, you might fall into even greater sins and perish.

~ St. Gabriel (Urgebadze) of Georgia

[Orthodox Christian @orthodox_33ad]

Christianity is an entirely new way of being human.

— Saint Maximus the Confessor

[Orthodox Christian @orthodox_33ad]

Christ is the only exit from this world.

— Father Seraphim Rose

[Jonah In Wales 🦊 @JonahInWales]

🙏🏻☦️

[Angelina Serbska ☦️ @Angelina_Lina8]

Never seek to correct each other with anger, but only with humility and sincere love, because one temptation does not cast out another temptation. When you see anger ahead, forget about correcting for the moment. Once you see that the anger has passed, that peace has come, and that your powers of discernment are functioning properly, then you can speak beneficially.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

[TheOrthodoxWay @_theorthodoxway]

"We are free when we accept God's plan for our life, and when we strive to achieve it. Being free does not mean lethargy and bliss, but the fulfillment of our duty in life."
- Elder Justin Parvu

[Orthodox Christian @orthodox_33ad]

📍Holy Trinity Church, Tbilisi 🇬🇪