Loving angels strive to protect us
Today we celebrate the Council of the Archangel Gabriel – the Bringer of the Good News. But the angels are with us today. For the faithful of the Lord, the last voice of the Arkhangelsk trumpet will be the Good News.
When we are like angels and make them happy
Venerable Paisiy Svyatogorets:
– If you have love and kindness, you are an angel, and wherever you go, you carry paradise with you everywhere. So already in this life we begin to feel heaven or hell.
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnitsky:
“For many years now, a young man from Banja Luka has been coming to me to practice the Jesus Prayer. He recently taught prayer to a friend who has a wife and children. I was surprised when his friend told me that prayer was constantly flowing in his heart. He is illuminated with such joy, filled with such peace. He, along with his family, completely surrendered to God and acquired grace.
If you have love and kindness, you are an angel, and you carry heaven with you everywhere
But the one who told him about the Jesus Prayer, who prayed longer than his comrade, does not have such grace. This means that the Lord looks into the heart, and when we turn to Him with all our hearts, He immediately comforts us. Only those who have acquired such grace can experience the state of angels and saints, because it is impossible to explain it in words. This is a state of indescribable peace and indescribable joy.
Let us not console the devil with our sorrow, let us please the angels with our joy
You remember how you were before, you were irritated, but now you are no longer irritated. There is no person who can offend you, no evil thought can harm you, because you are protected, led by the Holy Spirit.
This is why we must pray with all our hearts, be jealous of the Lord; He will give us His grace, and we will comprehend the state of saints and angels, and no one will be able to hurt us. Love everyone - and you will gain indescribable peace and indescribable joy, which are indescribable in words.
Nun Nadezhda (Brenner) , the last nun of the pre-revolutionary Marfo-Mariinsky monastery:
– What a reward awaits you in Heaven! Our most priceless value is when we receive the opposite for selfless good. This, although weak, is an imitation of the path of Christ Himself. Let us not console the devil with our sadness, let us please the angels with our joy!
How can you see your Guardian Angel, and where is it better not to meet?
Saint John Chrysostom:
– Angels are present everywhere, and especially in the house of God they stand before the King, and everything is filled with these incorporeal forces.
Venerable Justin (Popovich):
“When the earth torments you with its hell, you hasten to the temple, enter it, and behold, you have entered heaven.” If people annoy you with their evil, you run to the temple, fall before God, and He will accept you under His good and omnipotent protection. And if it happens that whole legions of demons attack you, you run to the temple - stand among the holy angels, for the temple is always full of angels, and the angels of God will protect you from all the demons of this world. And nothing can harm you. Don’t forget, brothers: we Christians are strong in God. Who then can be stronger than us? Nobody, nobody!
Holy Liturgy. It is always a ladder, a bridge to Heaven. Every day you are in Heaven. Everything in it instantly lifts you into this world and places you among the angels and saints.
Venerable Seraphim (Romantsov) , Glinsky:
– Don’t really trust comforting dreams. It is better not to accept an angel than to accept a demon in the form of an angel. We are proud, we can easily be wrong about this.
And I really saw my angel
Saint Macarius (Nevsky):
– When an evil thought appears, try to drive it away with the memory of death, of hellish torment. Imagine that an angel is standing next to you; remember that you belong to Christ, you partake of His Divine Body and Blood.
Abbess of the Chrysoleontis Monastery of Nektarios , spiritual child of St. Nektarios of Aegina:
– One day I was walking with my spiritual father (St. Nektarios of Aegina - Ed.), when he unexpectedly asked:
– Nektaria, would you like to see your angel?
“Oh yes,” I replied, “I want to see him.”
“Look,” he said, “your angel is in front of you.”
And I really saw my angel, but his appearance was so dazzling that I was scared.
How to attract the love of angels?
Saint John Chrysostom:
– Decorate your face with chastity, modesty, almsgiving, philanthropy, love, friendliness... meekness, humility, patience; these are the colors of virtue; with them you will attract the love of not only people, but also angels; God Himself will praise you for them.
Venerable Gabriel of Sedmiezersk:
- I ask you - be pure in heart and soul, like the angels of God and heavenly people, be kind, cheerful, loving about Christ Jesus, our Lord God... And then you will feel that the Spirit of the Lord is with you, and you will feel freedom from sins. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (cf. John 8:32), and the word of the Lord will be clear to you. “If the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed” (John 8:36)[1].
Venerable Andronik (Lukash) , Glinsky:
– Sleep little, in moderation, and the angels will watch over you.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine:
– You need to behave in such a way as not to upset your Guardian Angel, whose boss is the holy Archangel of God Michael, that is, you need to try to live according to the commandments of the Lord.
Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev:
– Reading the Psalter is a special state of spirit: when a person immerses himself in these verbs, he, as it were, acquires angelic grace. We know that angels constantly stand before the Throne of God and sing His wonderful Names. And every time you open the Psalter and begin to pray through it, you join the angelic choir. And while living on earth, it’s as if you find yourself in Heaven. Love the Slavic language, demons fear it, but angels love it. Prayer brings spiritual joy, and with it true consolation and hope for Divine mercy and love.
Everything we eat is a sacrifice of God's love for us
Rev. Seraphim Vyritsky:
– Everything we eat is a sacrifice of God’s love for us people; Through food, all nature and the angelic world serve man. Therefore, before a meal you need to pray especially earnestly. First of all, we invoke the blessing of the Heavenly Father by reading the prayer “Our Father.” And where the Lord is, there is the Mother of God, there are the angels, so we sing: “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary...” and the troparion to the Angelic Powers: “Heavenly armies of the Archangels...”. It is not for nothing that we say: “An angel at the table” - and truly the angels are with us at the meal, when we eat food with prayer and thanksgiving. And where the angels are, there are all the saints. Therefore, we sing the troparion to St. Nicholas, calling with him the blessing of all the saints on our meal[2].
Archimandrite Macarius (Veretennikov):
– There is an ancient tradition when fasting is observed on Monday, as well as on Wednesday and Friday, and it is dedicated to the holy angels. In the Nomocanon, at the end of the Great Trebnik, we read:
“Let the monks keep Monday throughout the summer, just like Wednesday and Friday, just as they received from the saints: for there is forgiveness for a monk if his fast does not exceed, but especially as the laity keep this with reverence.”
IN AND. Dahl gives a special word for this meaning: “Monday, Monday” means “to fast, except Wednesday and Friday, also on Mondays.” He also cites a Russian proverb: “Whoever spends Monday will rejoice at the intercession of Archangel Michael.”
Nun Nadezhda (Brenner):
– Our prayer before and after meals is often formal, forgive me, Lord. And you do it in defiance of the demon - eat with heartfelt gratitude and ask: “My good angel, stop me in time so that I don’t burden myself with unbearable food...”.
How to enter the angelic system?
Patriarch Pavel of Serbia:
– In 1993, one German journalist asked me a question: does a just war exist, and can a war even be fair? I answer: if there is a just war in Heaven, why cannot there be one on earth? That is, we are talking about how Satan and his army rebelled against God and fell away from Him because of the sin of pride. But the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel with other angels remained faithful to God. Satan rushed at them, but the Holy Archangel Michael and the angels fought with him and cast him to the ground.
On the other hand, a war of conquest for Christians is not only unacceptable, but subject to condemnation, while a defensive war of liberation is blessed. For Christ says: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” He who defends his home, his homeland, the graves of his fathers, his own freedom, he really sacrifices himself completely... This is also what we are talking about when we talk specifically about our people.
Abel's duty was to protect himself from his brother, who had raised his hand against him
Abel's duty was to protect himself from his brother, who raised his hand against him. Our duty, determined by God's law, is to fight for our existence. This has always been the case, even when our people for 500 years rebelled against the Turkish yoke, against slave life. So it was in 1941, during the invasion of Hitler - both the state and the Church, the whole people, as one, were ready to fight the invader, who even then was much stronger than us. This is the kind of war we are talking about...
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine:
– You can’t cleanse yourself right away, you won’t become an angel in one fast, you need to cleanse yourself gradually... From fasting to fasting, from fasting day to fasting day, try to limit yourself, keep yourself within the framework of the Divine law - this is how a person comes to the measure of perfection.
Proverb:
Fasting gives rise to angelic life.
Angelic Ministry
Venerable Paisiy Svyatogorets:
– The Guardian Angel is God’s special care for His creation. The Guardian Angel is the Providence of God, a manifestation of His economy for man. And for this we are indebted to God.
Angels especially protect little children. How do they store them? One day two children were playing on the street. One wanted to throw a stone at the head of the other and had already taken aim. The second child did not see the danger. And at the last moment, apparently, his angel made the baby see something, jumped up - and the stone flew past his head.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:
– These holy and blessed spirits contribute to our salvation, so that we diligently serve them and our Lord and thus be saved.
Nun Nadezhda (Brenner):
– You shouldn’t seriously seek the help of your Guardian Angel. You can pester him constantly, like a beloved saint, like your closest friend: “Please help me! Help me, merciful and bright angel, to do this work that I don’t want to do; help me bear the unbearable burden; help - don’t think! not to tell! not to do! - unnecessary..."
You can bother him constantly, like a beloved saint, like your closest friend
And so - in all cases of life.
Every day, with your heart, ask your Guardian Angel to watch over you: “My angel, holy and good, if I am so inattentive that I am not able to notice how a demon is robbing me in broad daylight, you yourself, merciful one, watch over me. Stop me when it comes to my mind to say something inappropriate!”
And then they say: we are lonely, we have no real friends. We offend our angel - as long as you live, you will not find a better friend. If you are worried, for example, about your unbelieving loved ones, pray to their Guardian Angels to lead them to faith. You read the canon to your angel - and you can add: “After all, this is me and you, beloved angels of my relatives, - and I bow to you, and with all my soul I pray: intercede for the souls given to you by God, help them to be saved, they will guide their destinies.” Do not think that this is useless: they will see your warm compassion for those whom they are entrusted with caring for, and they will definitely do something that we cannot do. So you, if someone cares about your work, involuntarily try to make it better.
Man imitates angels
Saint Basil the Great:
– Angels come to visit us of their own will and power. For the main and natural goal of their life is to immerse their gaze in the beauty of God and constantly glorify God.
Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt:
– If you see a beautiful girl or a handsome young man, immediately glorify God for this beauty and think how much more beautiful the heavenly angels are.
Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev):
– St. Isaac the Syrian says that knowledge of incorporeal entities consists in assimilating them, and does not occur through external feelings.
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina:
– People can know God as they improve while still here on earth, but mainly in the future life. In Heaven, all disembodied blissful spirits are constantly improving, imitating the lower, the higher... The highest spirits are Seraphim, but they also do not see God as He really is, although every moment they are improving with great speed, and they imitate God to the best of their ability. And the Seraphim are imitated by the Cherubim, etc. Finally, man imitates the angels. And so, imitating each other, everyone strives for perfection, therefore, knowing God, they will never be able to know or see Him, for the Lord God is an infinite Being, and all other beings, as created by God, are limited. There was one attempt not only to compare with God, but even to rise above Him - and it ended with this Seraphim becoming lower than everyone else and immediately acquiring all the negative properties for his pride and insolence.
Archimandrite Emilian (Vafidis):
– When a person wants to learn holy feelings, is it possible that God deprives him of this and does not respond to his desire? This is precisely why the Lord arranges church meetings and services. Therefore, he sends angels, and Archangels, and saints here - to us, sinners, so that we communicate with each other, so that the saints bestow their holiness on the sinners, and the sinners tell the saints about their desire to acquire the same holiness and become like them in it.
The Archangel's voice will sound at the end of the world
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina:
-...Angels take an active part in the fate of a person; if enemies attack us from all sides, then all the more bright, loving angels strive to protect us, unless the person himself deliberately goes over to the side of evil.
Loving angels strive to protect us, unless the person himself deliberately goes over to the side of evil
Saint Nicholas of Serbia:
– All Holy Scripture, from the first to the last page, teaches us that our world is under the supervision and guidance of the spiritual world, which directs it to good.
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina:
– What is blagovest? Do you know what he represents? The Archangel's voice that will sound at the end of the world. The gospel reminds us of this end, and someday we will hear that terrible voice. But now we were warned about it, we were already expecting it. But with that voice it will not be so. Suddenly, without any warning, it will be heard, and behind it - the Last Judgment, which will last not a year, not a month, or even a day, but just one moment [3], one word will decide the fate of humanity, only the words “come” or “go away” - and it’s all over! Blessed are those who hear “Come,” life will begin for them in paradise.
By the bookshelf. August 14
Audio |
An angel for you at your meal: Culinary recipes for everyday life, fasting and holidays.
Every Orthodox woman, a housewife, a mother of a family, knows how much a well-prepared and timely served dinner means for maintaining peace, tranquility and love in the family. There is no doubt that reasonable nutrition plays a big role in a person’s life. According to Christian teaching, the correct attitude towards food is one of the components of a person’s moral purity. It is important to remember that caring for our daily bread should not become the goal of life, overshadowing spiritual quests. Therefore, in Christianity throughout history, despite all the differences between eras, the main and unchanged idea has remained a sober, reasonable attitude towards food, maintaining moderation in satisfying the needs of the body. The publishers of the book that we bring to your attention today remind us of this, in particular. It was published by the Father's House Publishing House and is called “An angel for you at your meal: Culinary recipes for everyday life, fasting and holidays.” ***
This book will help you prepare delicious, healthy and varied dishes on any day of the year: on weekdays and holidays, on fasting and fasting days, during strict fasting and on Easter. It is designed in such a way that it is convenient to prepare food in accordance with church regulations. According to the publishers, the right attitude towards food is of great importance for every person. “Proud man! - writes Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), “you dream so much and so highly about your mind, but it is in complete and continuous dependence on your stomach.” That is why the holy fathers, who reveal the laws of spiritual life in their creations, pay so much attention to this issue.
So, for example, Bishop Barnabas (Belyaev) in his book “Fundamentals of the Art of Holiness” Fr. They reasoned that the measure of abstinence in food should be determined by the court of everyone's conscience... in proportion to the strength and strength of the body, that harm comes from immeasurable satiety and from immoderate abstinence.
Fasting helps a person learn to curb his desires and observe moderation in food. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) calls fasting the basis of virtues and emphasizes that the law of fasting is, in essence, a law for the mind, and not for the stomach: “The head of the virtues is prayer; their foundation is fasting... The law of fasting, being outwardly a law for the belly, is in essence a law for the mind. The mind, this king in man, if it wants to enter into the rights of its autocracy and preserve them, must first of all submit to the law of fasting. Only then will he be constantly alert and bright, only then can he rule over the desires of the heart and body, only with constant sobriety can he study the commandments of the Gospel and follow them. The basis of virtues is fasting.”
Let us also remember what the Lord Himself commanded: Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness (Luke 21:34). How can we accustom ourselves to fasting? This requires, first of all, gradualism. Some people thoughtlessly and hastily take on the feats of fasting. In this case, a person may ultimately abandon the fast, since he will not be able to withstand it, or may upset his health. The amount of food consumed cannot be reduced without measure, otherwise you can become exhausted, weakened, and therefore incapable of doing anything. “The rules of fasting,” says Saint Ignatius, “were established by the Church for the purpose of helping her children, as a guide for the entire Christian society. At the same time, everyone is instructed to consider himself with the help of an experienced and prudent spiritual father and not to impose on himself a fast that exceeds his strength: because, we repeat, fasting is for man, and not man for fasting; food given to support the body should not destroy it.”
The quality of food is also very important. The most natural food, the saint emphasizes, is that which was assigned to man immediately after his creation by God: from the plant kingdom. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is on all the earth, and every tree that has fruit yielding seed; - This will be food for you (Gen. 1:29). It was only after the flood that meat consumption was allowed. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) says that plant food “is the least hot for the blood, the least fattening for the flesh... it is the healthiest.” When eaten, “the purity and vigor of the mind are preserved.” The same idea is confirmed by Bishop Varnava (Belyaev): “...Eating predominantly plant foods makes us hardy and makes it possible to work evenly and without premature fatigue. The whole secret lies only in the appropriate selection and mixing of food products and in their careful and correct preparation.”
The Church Charter specifies what food can be eaten and at what time. Everything is strictly calculated so that a person can fight the passionate movements of the flesh, excited by abundant and sweet food, and at the same time not exhaust himself, strengthen his bodily nature, make it light, strong, capable of obeying the movements of the spirit. Keeping fasts is a mandatory rule for all members of the Church. “The Church,” says Bishop Justin of Polyansky, “has arranged its fasts so that they serve as healing for us: after prolonged consumption of modest food, it fasts to cleanse and restore the activity of the stomach; and, having done this, he again allows fast food.” The book “An Angel for You at Your Meal” will help the reader prepare a variety of dishes on any day of the year. It includes two sections: “Culinary recipes for everyday life, fasts and holidays” and “Your first Lent.”
In the section “Culinary Recipes for Weekdays, Lents and Holidays,” recipes are presented in such a way as to make it convenient to prepare various dishes in accordance with the requirements of the Church Charter. The section consists of four main parts: “Fast dishes”, “Lenten dishes with fish”, “Lenten dishes without fish”, “Dishes of strict fasting”. Each part contains recipes for appetizers, first and second courses, sauces and desserts. Throughout the book there is a lot of emphasis on baking. In addition, the book includes a chapter about foods that are prepared on the most important holiday of a particular period of the year - Easter, and on Christmas and Epiphany Eves, and on Maslenitsa.
The second section - “Your First Lent” - is addressed primarily to new Christians who are taking their first steps in the Church. Many of them are wary of fasting, doubting that they can prepare varied, tasty and healthy food during fasting. The section is dedicated to Lent, since it is the most important and strictest. A person who is fasting for the first time and fears that he will not have enough culinary imagination for the entire Lent can turn to the recipes from this section. The publishers have conditionally distributed the recipes according to the days of Lent, but, of course, they can be used on other days. Experienced housewives who have fasted many times will also definitely find something new for themselves.
*** About the post of St. Ambrose Optinsky says the following: “Although those who think freely think that it makes little difference whether to drink tea or mint infusion, in fact it is of considerable importance. Every deprivation and every compulsion is valued before God, according to what is said in the Gospel: “The Kingdom of God is in need, and the needy women delight in it” (Matthew 11:12). And those who boldly and willfully violate the rule of fasting are called enemies of the cross: “whose belly is God, and whose glory is in their cold” (Phil. 3:18-19). Of course, it is a different matter if someone breaks the fast due to illness and bodily infirmity. And those who are healthy from fasting are healthier and kinder, and what’s more, they live longer, even though they seem skinny in appearance. With fasting and abstinence, the flesh does not rebel so much, and sleep does not overcome so much, and fewer empty thoughts enter the head, and spiritual books are read more readily and understood more readily.” With these words, St. Ambrose Optinsky we are completing our program.
In conclusion, we congratulate you on the beginning of the Dormition Lent.
