Father Ephrem Philotheu
 

When Do We Pray Correctly?

Prayer is “the catapult” against demons, passions, sin and in general against everything that is opposed to the path of salvation.

Do not spend the Day without Prayer, for You Will Be Vulnerable

Do not leave your mind free so that it be kept busy with prayer or contemplation because otherwise, the enemy uses all his power in order to destroy your watchfulness. Say this prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” because it sanctifies the man and the place where it is said.

What Is the Use of so Much Pain?

When a doctor makes a surgical intervention and the patient, because of the pain, reacts and tears off all the bandages and hits the doctor, what will he say? That he didn’t do the surgery in order to harm him but to cure him. The patient’s reaction can bring him his death. We act the same when we react to God’s tests that he sends for our own good. We should accept pain, suffering and sorrow, as a cure from God. We should endure the pain, the difficulty of our work and thank Him, be grateful and accept that our Father doesn’t make errors.

When You Are in Deep Sorrow, Kneel and Ask God to Fulfil His Will

When you are in a deep sorrow, a spiritual, economical struggle, either you suffer from an illness or any other thing, kneel and pray, asking God to fulfil his will and not yours. And God, who allowed for that problem come into your life provides at the same time also a way to overcome it.

Illness and suffering are God’s “medicine”

For instance, a young man will think “I am great and strong and there is no one greater than I am.” And he looks at his awards, sees that he is beautiful and healthy and the rest. But when he is ill, then he starts thinking differently. "Vanity of vanities ... all is vanity."

The two types of saving love

When a man doesn’t have longsuffering, kindness, this indicates that it does not have love inside him. Again, when he is not able to bear for long, has no kindness or generosity in all aspects he is loveless and godless.

In case of illness one needs both medication and prayer

‘I, a poor hermit, grew old in the wilderness and I wanted to become healthy again only by faith. But now I’ve learned that there is need for both medicine and Grace.’

Behind every pain there is a blessing

Pain is a bad thing, but behind it, behind the suffering and the test lies the blessing of God, the rebirth and the refashion of man and of family. Almost everyone owes their return to this aspect. Behind any trial there is God’s will and of course at that time we cannot see the benefit, but in time we will be able to see it. We have so many examples in this regard!

Oh, Heaven, how beautiful you are!

What is Heaven? It is a place filled with evergreen flowers, full of spiritual scents, the joy of angels, the paschal life, divine love, incessant doxology to God and eternal life! Therefore, there is so much to fight for and yet, our fight is so little!

Oh, Heaven, how beautiful you are!

What does Heaven represent? It is a place with unfaded flowers, filled with spiritual fragrances, it is the angels’ joy, the Easter life, divine love, ceaseless prayer raised to God and an eternal life! Thus, how hard we should fight for it, but how small is our effort!