Great sayings of Elder Porphyrios

7/25/2019 Great sayings of Elder Porphyrios

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Elder Porphyrios, Elder Porphyrios, Prayer Wounded by Love

Love and Fear of GodWhen we are called to communion in the divine Liturgy we hear, "With the fear of God,faith and love draw near." This implies two quite dimensions in our approach to God.

One is fear and the other love. How can we oth fear and have love!

The first requirement is faith. This is the starting point. The second is fear of God.Why! We must have total respect for His infinite power. He oth gives live and taes it.With love, through His grace, we enter #aradise and without it we condemn ourselves tohell.

What is #aradise! $lder #orphyrios tells us,It is Christ. Paradise begins here and now. It is exactly the same: those who experienceChrist here on earth, experience Paradise... Our task is to attempt to find a way to enter

into the light of Christ.With this "light of Christ"we are lessed with immense %oy of His love. $lder #orphyriostells us that what &hrist wants most of all is "to fill us with oy, because !e is the well

spring of oy. #his oy is a gift of Christ."

This gift is always waiting for us. To receive it is true life '' a life in &hrist.

$lder #orphyrios says,Christ is the source of life, the source of oy, the source of the true light, e$erything.whoe$er lo$es Christ and other people truly li$es life. %ife without Christ is death: it is

hell, not life. #hat is what hell is&&the absence of lo$e. %ife is Christ. %o$e is the life ofChrist. 'ither you will be in life or death. Its up to you to decide.The fear comes from our recognition of the awesome responsiility we have to loveothers. (s $lder #orphyrios says, ")t is up to you to decide." *o you want life or death!*o you want #aradise or hell!

)t+s up to each of us

Quotes from Wounded by Love, p 96 & 97

The Way of Love: Christ is Our Love, Our Desire

One of the ways &hristians see unity with God is y what ) term the Way of Love. Thisis where the emphasis is paced on the love of &hrist. )t is the way of the heart. )t is aspiritual path following the first commandment-()ou hall lo$e the %ord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind*/att 00-123

45.One who lived and taught this approach was $lder #orphyrios. His teaching has eenrecored for us in the wonderful oo put together from his tals titled, Wounded y Love.

$lder #orphyrios continually emphasi6es that our first thought should always e love of

God. He says,
http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/04/love-and-fear-of-god.htmlhttp://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/04/love-and-fear-of-god.html


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Christ is oy, the true light, happiness. Christ is our hope. Our relation to Christ is lo$e,eros, passion, enthusiasm, longing for the di$ine. Christ is e$erything. !e is our lo$e. !eis the obect of our desire. #his passionate longing for Christ is a lo$e that cannot betaken away. #his is where oy flows from.The Way of Love is the unending focus on love of &hrist. $lder #orphyrios+ method, isnothing more than loving &hrist''Loving Him so much that nothing else taes

precedence. )n this way we overcome our ego, passions and evil. )t is an all consuminglove. Our mind has no room left for anything else ut &hrist.

He says,

Imagine that the person you lo$e is Christ, Christ is in your mind, Christ is in your heart,Christ is in your whole being, Christ is e$erywhere.He chooses to use the term 7eros8 for love. The term eros is commonly used to refer to apassionate, intense desire for someone. 9or #lato eros is a common desire we have for atranscendental eauty3'the eauty that e:ists in the world of 9orms or )deas. #latoniclove is a love of the form of eauty3'not of a particular individual, ut the element theyposses of true )deal5 eauty. 9or #lato, eros is initially the love felt for a person, utwith contemplation it ecomes an appreciation of the eauty within that person, or even

ecomes appreciation of eauty itself.

)n the case of $lder #orphryios we can thin of oth of these ideas. He is passionate inhis love for &hrist. He loves God with intensity, oth as a person and also as an ideal for

human ind. ;y his use of the word "eros" he puts the emphasis on the all consumingpassion we must have for &hrist.

)n Gree /ythology $ros is the young son of (phrodite depicted as a winged oy,considered to e oth the most eautiful of the gods. When $ros falls in love with #sychehis radiance is such that for her own safety, he insists that she must never loo upon his

face, and he only visits her at night. $lder #orphyrios also sees &hrist as the mosteautiful of persons with a radiance that permeates all with his love and he received a

radiance and gifts of the Holy 2

re !ou "n Love#

What is it lie when you are in love! @othing disturs you. Aou only thin aout yourlover and all else lurs into the acground. This is true also with when we fall in lovewith &hrist.

$lder #orphyrios says,If you are in lo$e, you can li$e amid the hustle and bustle of the city center and not be

aware you are in the city center... Imagine the person you lo$e is Christ Christ is inyour mind, Christ is in your heart, Christ is in your whole being, Christ is e$erywhere.


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This is our challenge. To love &hrist is is to lift us aove all our earthly concerns, toe:perience continual %oy no matter how difficult a situation we face, no matter whatturmoil is taing place around us. This is the way life was meant to e lived.

$lder #orphyrios says,

+hoe$er lo$es Christ and other people truly li$es life. %ife without Christ is death/ it ishell, not life. %ife is Christ. %o$e is the life of Christ. 'ither you will be in life or in death.It0s up to you to decide.

)sn+t this the only answer to all the an:iety of our present world situation! When ) livewith &hrist as my true lover, there is no room for an:iety. ;ut when others tae His

position then ) find myself filled with an:iety. Oh, how ) yearn for the wisdom to live inthis world with this other worldly love.

Lord have /ercy

Buotes from +ounded 1y %o$e, p >2

$o% Christ Transfor&s

#he lo$e of od transforms e$erything/ it sanctifies, amends and changes the nature of

e$erything. $lder #orphyrios

What was it lie when you first found &hrist in your heart! How did it transform you!

9or me, my life was totally changed. The &hurch ecame the center of my life and )found that ) was mired in sin ut now continually growing in my relationship with God.

This #ascha celeration affirmed this for me. )t was truly the most spiritually alive*ivine Liturgy of my life. Glory e to God for all He provides for us.

Here are some thoughts from $lder #orphyrios-+hen you find Christ, you are satisfied, you desire nothing else, you find peace. )ou

become a different person. )ou li$e e$erywhere, where$er Christ is. )ou li$e in thestars, in infinity, in hea$en with the angels, with the saints, on earth with people, with

plants, with animals, with e$eryone and e$erything. when there is lo$e for Christ,

loneliness disappears. )ou are peaceable, oyous, full. 2either melancholy, nor illness,nor pressure, nor anxiety, nor depression nor hell.Source: Wounded By Love, pp 99 - 100

When Christ Enters Our $eart Life Chan'es

The Way of Love is the simplest and most direct way to %oin in union with &hrist.

Through our love of Him we are sanctified.


+hoe$er experiences Christ within himself, experiences ineffable things&&holy andsacred things. !e li$es in exultation.

With &hrist as our lover there is no loneliness. We find peace and %oy. The thought of&hrist permeates everything. We find patience and have endurance of everything.

$lder #orphyrios says that with our love of &hrist even our passions disappear. There isno longer possiility for hatred, dislies, an:ieties or depressions. @ot even deathconcerns us. He says this longing we have for &hrist maes even death seem lie aridge what we can cross in an instant to continue our life in &hrist We find ourselves in

&hrist and Him in us.
http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-christ-transforms.htmlhttp://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-christ-transforms.html


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With our Love of Him there is no longer pain or suffering. Our craving for God, ourpassionate love for Him, overcomes all pain.

He says3i$ine cra$ing defeats e$ery pain, and so e$ery pain is transformed and becomes lo$e ofChrist. %o$e Christ and !e will lo$e you 4ll pains will pass away, they will be defeated

and transformed.$verything is transformed y this love.

#he lo$e of od transforms e$erything/ it sanctifies, amends and changes the nature ofe$erything.

=eference- +ounded by %o$e, pp >>3CDD

What (ivals the Love for Christ#

Once you have the love of &hrist in your heart what else is there to long for! (ll the

things of this world only leave us wanting more and often urden us with worries andupeep. ;ut having &hrist in our heart is all fulfilling and yields only %oy. (s $lder#orphyrios says, "2o other oy, no other beauty, nothing else can ri$al !im."

Once you have this love for &hrist what can surpass it! What is greater! How can it eeven greater than our love for our parents or our children! ;ut it is. )t is a love thatnever falters. )t is unwavering, unconditional and unlimited. @o other ind of love is asgreat as this.


5leshly lo$e has a point of satiety. therefore ealousy and disgruntlement may setin...%o$e in Christ knows no alteration. +orldly lo$e remains for a time, and is graduallyextinguished, whereas di$ine lo$e continually grows and deepens.

This love for &hrist has no point of satisfaction. $lder #orphyrios says,)ou cannot ha$e enough of !im, the more you belie$e that you don0t lo$e !im and the

more you desire to lo$e !im. 4t the same time, howe$er, your soul is flooded by !ispresence and your oy in the %ord is inalienable.

Source: Wounded By Love,p 100

Elder Porphyrios Tea)hin' the *esus Prayer+

This is a story one of the spiritual children of $lder #orphyrios told aout how he taught

them to pray.!e placed us towards the east, two of us to his left and two to the right, with him in the

middle. (2ow we6ll pray noetically. first, I will say the words, and you will repeat them.1ut be careful, without anxiety or force, you6ll say the words calmly, humbly, with lo$eand sweetness.* #he 'lder started off with his fine, delicate and elo7uent $oice, (%ord

8esus Christ, ha$e mercy on me.* !e said it $ery slowly, word by word, without forcing itat all. It was a though he had Christ before and he was begging him, with a log pauseafter the word (Christ*, Coloring his words (ha$e mercy on me* with an entreating tone.

4nd we repeated it each time, trying to imitate his stance, the color of his $oice and if itat all possible his spiritual disposition. 4t some point, the 'lder stopped saying the

prayer out loud and ust continued whispering it on his lips. +e did the same thing. !ow


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long did our nighttime prayer take9 I don6t remember. 4ll I remember was that the'lder imparted an emotion to us that I cannot express with human words./ore on Eesus #rayer....

=eference, With $lder #orphyrios, y &. Aiannitsiotis, p FF

Once a mon from the Holy /ountain who practices the Eesus prayer visited $lder

#orphyrios and inquired aout how he said the Eesus prayer. Here is the dialogue thattoo place-"How do you say the Eesus #rayer! *o you sit on a stool! *o you lower your head and

concentrate!""@o, " ) replied. ") say, +Lord Eesus &hrist...+ clearly in my mind giving attention to the

words. +Lord Eesus &hrist, have mercy on me... Lord Eesus...+ That is how ) do it in mymind and pay attention to the words."

"That+s not right at all, $lder," he said. "The way you descrie it is quite erroneous, notto say deluded. The mind needs to e in the heart. That is why it+s called +prayer of theheart.+"

")+ll tell you something else," ) said to him. "


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$lder #orphyrios says,#hose who desire and cra$e to belong to Christ and who abandon themsel$es tot he will

of od become worthy.This is the greatest spiritual challenge to give up our will and sumit it to God+s will. )t isa necessity to e ale to eep all of His commandments. This is the sign of our love of

God.

Eesus says,!e who has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who lo$es me/ and hewho lo$es me shall be lo$ed by my 5ather and I will lo$e him and will manifest myself to

him. Eohn C-0CTo e in union with God taes great effort on our part.

#he 'lder says:+e ha$e to wrestle with the roaring lion.

More on Orthodox Prayer

=eference- +ounded by %o$e, p CC?

What hould We s- For "n Our Prayers#

$lder #orphyrios says we should not as in our prayer for something lie "free me fromillness" or "solve my prolem". What we should as for is for His support and strengthto deal with what we are given in life. )t is natural for us to as God for what we want.

;ut this is self centered. *o we now what it is that God wants!

$lder #orphyrios says,+e shouldn0t continue relentlessly in order to ac7uire what we want/ rather we should

lea$e all things to the will of od. +hat happens when we peruse what we want9 #hesealways increase and we are ne$er satisfied with what we ha$e. #he more we chase afterthese wants the more elusi$e they become. If we pray for good grades next we will askfor a good ob. #hen it will be for a better ob and so forth.What should we as for in our prayer!

The $lder says,In our prayer we should ask only for the sal$ation of our soul.... #he secret is to ask for

your union with Christ with utter selflessness, without saying "gi$e me this" or "gi$e methat."... +e should ask for the will of od to be done.

The enemy is our egoism.

Throu'h Prayer We .nite our /ind With God

To e ale to have our mind continually turned towards God in love we must pray andmeditate on His words. $lder #orphyrios advises that prayer is not ased on our effort. )t

is only done with the Holy


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He says we need to have the proper surroundings#he reading of cripture, the singing of psalms, the light of an oil lamp, and thefragrance of incense all create the appropriate atmosphere so that e$erything happensnaturally, in simplicity of heart.)t is important to create a quiet placein our homes for our daily prayer.

He advises us to pray for the divine light to shine within us to open our spiritual eyes tounderstand His divine words. To pray the words, 7Lord Eesus &hrist have mercy on us,8

we need divine eros, he says.%o$e is sufficient to bring us into a suitable frame of mind for prayer. Christ will come on

!is own and !e will stoop o$er our soul as long as he finds certain little things whichgratify !im: good intention, humility and lo$e.

There are some preconditions for this to tae place. He advises,Our heart must be pure and free from all impediments. It must be de$oid of hatred,egotism and malice. +e must lo$e !is and !e must lo$e us. the secret is to ask forforgi$eness.The message is always the same. Love. Love God with all your heart and you will

receive His grace. Aou will have a pure heart and your mind will e suitale for prayer.@o effort will e needed.

/ore on Orthodo: #rayer....

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, pp CC1 3 CCF

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, p CC2

"n Prayer What "s /eant 0y 1i&pli)ity of $eart1#

1e mindful of the %ord in goodness and seek !im in simplicity of heart/ for !e is foundwith those who do not tempt !im, and appears to those who are not unfaithful to him.Wisdom C-C 3 0

$lder #orphyrios tells a story aout a converstion on prayer he had with a visiting ;ishop.

He ased the ;ishop, "What is meant y praying +in simplicity of heart and artlessness!+"

The ;ishop replied, "#raying with simplicity."

The elder then ased, "(nd do you understand what that means, your $menince!"

He responded, "Aes ) do."

The $lder then said, "Well, ) don+t. )t is a mystery. )t+s something that happens only with

divine grace."

The ;ishop replied, "Aou are quite right. ) don+t understand either. (n )+m grateful to youfor reminding me that simplicity and artlessness can only e understood and achievedthough divine grace."

The lesson is that true prayer cannot e gained y any e:ternal set of rules or method.)t only comes ased on a humle loving relationship with God. #rayer is mystical andcomes with grace.
http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Place%20for%20Prayer.htmlhttp://www.orthodoxprayer.org/http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Place%20for%20Prayer.htmlhttp://www.orthodoxprayer.org/


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The $lder tells us,implicity and gentleness are a $ery saintly mode of spiritual life, but you cannot learnthis in an external way. It must suffuse itself mystically within you so that your soulembraces this mode of life through the grace of od.

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e,p CC4

Porphyrios2 dvi)e on the *esus Prayer$lder #orphyrios teaches that the prayer of the heart is for those who have alreadyattracted the grace of God.

He warns,I mustn0t be done with the thought. "I0ll learn it, I0ll so it, I0ll ac7uire it", because in thisway we may be led to egoism and pride.This is the serious danger for those who set out to practice the Eesus #rayer to see thedivine light of God. They apply it lie an e:ternal method. )t is their ego acting, their

self will seeing some ind of pleasure from God. This will most liely result in onlyincreasing ones pride and will attract much assistance from the devil. Aou maye:perience visions and lights which encourage you on your quest. /eanwhile your

relationships with others will worsen. Aou we e seen as aloof and impatient. )t is a verydangerous situation.


2ot only experience and genuine desire, but also wisdom, care and prudence arere7uired if our prayer is to pure and pleasing to od.

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, p. C0C

$o% to Pray the *esus Prayer$lder #orphyrios gives us some instruction on prayer using the Eesus #rayer.

He says,Prayer should be interior, prayed with the mind and not with the lips, so as not to causedistraction witht he mind wandering here and there. %et us bring Christ into our mind inan unforced manner by repeating $ery gently, 0%ord 8esus Christ, ha$e mercy on me.0don0t think anything except the words, 0%ord 8esus Christ, ha$e mercy on me.0 2othingelse. 2othing at all. Calmly, with open eyes, so that you are not in danger of succumbing

to fantasies and delusions, and with care and de$otion, turn towards Christ. ;epeat theprayer in an unforced manner and not continually, but when there is the disposition andan atmosphere of compunction which is a gift of di$ine grace. +ithout grace you fall into

a state of selfhynotism and you can end up seeing lights and delusions and becomementally deranged.

#rayer should not e seen as a chore or an oligation ut rather an act of love. There isno need for techniques such as a stool, owing the head or closing the eyes. True prayeris not dependent on anything e:ternal.

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, pp C0C3C00

piritual Guide is a /ust for Pra)ti)in' the *esus Prayer


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Why is a guide necessary! ;ecause you can easily e lead astray. )n prayer, you maye:perience visions or lights which are demonic and lead you to pride. ( guide can helpyou deal with such such e:periences. He can help you avoid eing trapped y your prideand self will. He can guide you in a progressive way, growing step y step to the stagewhere you will see the true light.

$lder #orphyrios speas of the danger of delusion,

4nd if in this spiritual dimension desire is enkindled, not by your good self, but by the

other self, the egotistical self, then undoubtably you will begin to experience a pseudooy. 1ut in your outward life you will be e$er more aggressi$e and irascible, more 7uick

tempered and fretful. #hese are the signs of a person who is deluded.

( guide must e a person who is e:perienced in the prayer of the heart. )t cannot e

someone who prays mechanically and has not e:perienced prayer with the grace of God.


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=eference- +ounded by %o$e, p C02

Prayin' for OthersWhat are we to pray for! We should pray for"the Church, for the world, for e$eryone,"says $lder #orphyrios. We cannot %ust pray for ourselves. We must have a strong desire

for the world to ecome sanctified.

When we are suffering or in need, we should as others to pray for us. When we all praywith faith and love seeing God+s help He intervenes and this is when miracles happen.

$lder #orphyrios speas to prayer for others.

Prayer for others which is made gently and with deep lo$e is selfless and has great

spiritual benefit. It brings grace to the person who prays and also to the person forwhom he is praying. +hen you ha$e great lo$e and this lo$e mo$es you to prayer, then

the wa$es of lo$e are transmitted and affect the person for whom you are praying andyou create around him a shield of protection and you influence him, you lead himtowards what is good. +hen !e sees your efforts, od bestows !is grace abundantly onboth you and on the person you are praying for.

He then adds,1ut we must die to oursel$es. 3o you understand9

We cannot pray properly without humility. This is essential. Our own wisdom is neversufficient. The personal advice we give to others is not the secret. )n prayer we see

God+s grace. His grace comforts and heals.

The $lder says,

#he secret lies in our de$otion, our prayer to od for what is best for our brethren tocome about through the grace of od. #hat is the best. +hat we are unable to do willbe done through !is grace.#ray always, "%ord 8esus Christ, ha$e mercy."

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, p C10

We 0e)o&e a $oly Person Throu'h Love

)t is through the Holy


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+e must become filled, replete with the !oly pirit. #his is where the essence ofspiritual life lies. #his is an art&&the art of arts. %et us open our arms and throwoursel$es into Christ6s embrace.We need to approach &hrist %ust lie we willingly, with a %oyful heart, %oin with a lovedone who approaches us with open arms for an emrace. )t is a self3giving, a surrender, a

%oy3filled sumission to His love. Once we are willing to accept His love without any

conditions, the Holy


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achievements and imitate them. They egan their lives %ust lie us. We have the sameopportunity to ecome sanctified lie them.

We should undertae this study, as with all things in our life, with great attention. The$lder advises us to loo up each word in the dictionary and read clearly understandingthe meaning of every word.

This is the easy way he tells us. (ll one needs to do is to do these things and ignore

other things.

He says that the ind of effort necessary is,#o study and pray and ha$e your aim to ad$ance in the lo$e of od and of the Church.The o%ect is not to sit and afflict and constrict yourself in order to improve. The o%ect isto live, study, to pray and to advance in love''in love for &hrist and for the &hurch.

This is a very practical way in today+s usy life. *on+t aggravate yourself with fightingthe evil, ut concentrate on your own study and prayer until this love for God is alwaysat the forefront of your mind and heart.


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The Way of Love (e6uires i&pli)ity and /ee-ness

We should do everything simply and meely.

This means that our spiritual laor must e done in secret. Our effort should never ediscerned y others or even ourselves. Eesus says,3on6t let your left hand know whatyour right hand is doing /att ?-15. (s we grow spiritually, in the Way of Love, we leaveehind our old self that questions everything and we surrender in love to &hrist. Weecome a new person in &hrist. We dont want the old self to now and then distract us.

)n this sense we eep our efforts a secret even to ourselves. We endlessly, privately,see union with our lover, God.

He says,#he whole secret lies in simplicity and meekness. +hen simplicity is lacking and you say,(I0ll do this, that and the other, and od will gi$e me what I ask for," then nothinghappens. )es, indeed, I should do this, that and the other, but with such secrecy andsuch simplicity and such meekness that e$en I who ask for the thing am unconscious ofit.


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)ou will ac7uire remembrance of od though prayer (%ord 8esus Christ* through theprayers of the church, through the hymns and though bringing to mind the acts of odand recalling passages from !oly scripture and from other spiritual books.

+e experience Christ and we take off= +e feel great oy and ha$e wondrous spiritualexperiences. #hen we gradually become capti$es of good, capti$es of Christ. 4nd when

you become capti$e of good, you cannot speak e$il, you cannot hate and you cannot telllies #hey cannot enter when your room is full of your aetherborne spiritual friends&&Imean the angels, the saints, the martyrs and abo$e all Christ.

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, p CC

$o% to Deal %ith Evil in the Way of LoveWhat do we do when we are othered y a seductive thought or a temptation!

9irst of all, dont e afraid.


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He says,2o one can ascend to spirituality without exercising himself. #hese things must be done.

4scetic exercises are such things as prostrations, $igils, and so on, but done withoutforce. 4ll are done with oy. +hat is important is not the prostrations we will make orthe prayers, but the act of selfgi$ing, the passionate lo$e for Christ and for spiritual

things.


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priceless is the 3i$ine %o$e that ust a tiny drop exceeds any earthly, physical andsecular lo$e.The Orthodo: faith is all aout Love.

$lder #orphyrios says,Our religion is lo$e, it is eros, it is enthusiasm, it is madness, it is longing for the di$ine.

4ll these things are within us. Our soul demands that we attain them./ore on the *ivine LiturgyI

=eference- +ounded by %o$e, pp >D, >0, C?F, C??

Love for Christ is "nsatiable


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$verything we do needs to e done with love. $lder #orphyrios says, (%o$e towards one6s

brother culti$ates lo$e towards od.*

The is the second commandment &hrist gave us.)ou shall lo$e the %ord your od with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all yourmind. #his is the greatest and the first commandment. #he second resembles it: )oushall lo$e your neighbor as yourself./t 00-1231>5Eesus also told us,5or the person who does not lo$e his brother whom he has seen, how can he lo$e od

whom he has not seen.C Eohn -0D5)n all our actions with others we must act with love.

The $lder says,+hate$er we do, whether it is prayer or offering ad$ice or pointing out some error, let

us do it with lo$e. +ithout lo$e prayer is of no benefit, ad$ice is hurtful and pointing outerrors is harmful and destructi$e to the other person who senses whether we lo$e him ornot and reacts accordingly. %o$e, lo$e, lo$e= %o$e for our brother prepares us to lo$eChrist more.

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e,pp C4D 3 C4C

$o% Can We Love When o&eone $ar&s .s#

9irst, we should never e:pect others to spea to us politely. This e:pectation is an ego3centric trait of ours. We need to let other spea as they wish . $lder #orphyrios says,(weshouldn6t become beggars for lo$e. Our aim should be to lo$e them and pray for themwith all our soul.*

;ut what do we do when someone in%ures us with slanders or insults. This is a difficultteaching. Here is how $lder #orphyrios approaches it.+hen someone inures us in whate$er way, whether with slander or with insults, we

should think of him as our brother who has been taken hold of by the enemy. +e needto ha$e compassion for him and entreat od to ha$e mercy both on us and on him 4

person who condemns others does not lo$e Christ. Our egoism is at fault.He gives us an e:ample-%et6s suppose someone is all alone in the desert. uddenly he hears a $oice crying out indistress in the distance. !e follows the sound and is confronted by a horrendous sight: atiger has grabbed hold of a man and is sa$aging him with his claws. #he man isdesperately shouting for help. In a few minutes he will be torn to pieces. +hat can the

person do to help9 Can he run to his side9 !ow9 It is impossible. Can he shout for help9+ho will hear him9 #here is no one within earshot. hould he perhaps pick up a stone

and throw it at the man to finish him off9 Certainly not, we would say. 1ut . +e fail thatis exactly what can happen if we don6t reali-e that the other person who is acting badly

towards us has been taken hold of by a tiger, the de$ilto reali-e that when we react tosuch a person without lo$e it is as if we are throwing stones at his wounds and

accordingly we are doing him great harm and the (tiger* leaps onto us and we to the

same as him and worse. +hat kind of lo$e do we ha$e then for our neighbor and e$enmore importantly, for od9.. +e should regard our brethren with sympathy and beha$e
http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-can-we-love-when-someone-harms-us.htmlhttp://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-can-we-love-when-someone-harms-us.html


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with courtesy towards them, repeating in our hearts with simplicity the prayer, (%ord8esus Christ,* so that the grace of od may strengthen our soul and so that we don0tpass udgment on anyone.Our tas when we are in%ured and we see an vice in another person is to inundate him orher with the grace of God and have the upmost compassion so he or she may ehealed.

In e$erything, do to others what you would want them to do to you. #his is what iswritten in the %aw and in the Prophets. /atthew 2-C05

=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, pp C40 3 C41

aint y&eon the 3e% Theolo'ian: Love for Others 5 We are One

This message from


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$lder #orphyrios tells us that God shows us what unconditional love is.%o$e needs to be sincere. 4nd only the lo$e of od is sincere lo$e. #o a person whom wefind tiresome and troublesome, lo$e needs to be offered in a subtle manner without the

person being aware that we are stri$ing to lo$e him. It shouldn6t be gi$en much outwardexpression, because then the person will react. ilence sa$es us from all e$ils. ;estraint

of the tongue is a great thing. In a mystical way silence radiates out to our neighbor.


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/eeness and graciousness are terms to apply to one who practices the Way of Love. Toinfluence others we must show great consideration for the opinions of others. We have tolisten with understanding and compassion. We have to demonstrate we understand theother person+s viewpoint and we care. Listen, listen, listen. *o not attac or condemnin any way. +hat you are saying is untrue,a downright lie=6 +hat will you achie$e9 1e >as sheep among wol$es6 /att CD-C?5. +hatshould you do9 how indifference outwardly, but be praying inwardly. 1e prepared,know what you are talking about and speak boldly and to the point, but with saintliness,meekness and prayer. 1ut in order to be able to do this you must become a saint.

This last thought is an important one-(#o be able to do this you must become a saint.* (s yourself, "How do ) ecome asaint!"

=eference- +ounded by %o$e,p C44

Our $eart Can Trans&it Either Good or Evil

We are not always aware of the powers we have. *epending on the disposition of ourheart we can transmit either good or evil, $lder #orphyrios advises us. He warns us to every careful to see things with a positive view.

He says,

'$en the slightest anger or indignation does harm. +e need to ha$e goodness and lo$ein our soul and to transmit these things.

We need to e careful not to haror any resentment against those who harm us, utrather to pray for them with loveI We need always to have thoughts of love and alwaysto thin good of others.

He highlights for us the e:ample of


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well for his monastery. One of his spiritual children, &onstantine Aiannitsiotis, recountshow he saw in oth people and things the cause of events. )n his oo, +ith 'lderPorphyrios, he offers many e:amples of these powers in action. He understood the pastas well as the future.

The person who receives this gift of clairvoyance is one who loves God as $lder

#orphyrios does.


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=eference- +ounded 1y %o$e, 00 3 01C

Documents

Great sayings of Elder Porphyrios