Spiritual words

In the End, Two Things Will Help Us

  • Foto: Oana Nechifor

    Foto: Oana Nechifor

Church is our mother. Through Church we enter the world, the life and through it we leave this world and enter the eternal one.

What other piece of advice can you offer us for the salvation of the soul?

Stay in the ship of the Church and listen to its word, because the Church is the Body of Christ. Church is our mother. Through Church we enter the world, the life and through it we leave this world and enter the eternal one. We, Christians, are like a tree planted by God. The branch that was broken from the tree is dead, can no longer live. In a similar way, Christians that break from the Church can no longer live, or achieve salvation unless they return to the bosom of the Church. All good deeds are useless if our mind questions faith and leaves the Church. And where there is unity and understanding there is salvation and the help of God. Holy Fathers say that, in the end, two things will help the Church and Christians: sensed wilderness - the mountains, caves and forests; and the thought wilderness – keeping faith in the mystery of the heart.

(Translation from: Arhimandrit Ilie Cleopa, Ne vorbește Părintele Cleopa, ediția a II-a, volumul V, Editura Mănăstirea Sihăstria, Vânători-Neamț, 2004, p. 131)