Church Fathers V3 - Fr George Grube - Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox ...

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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Since You came into the world for all people, My Savior, therefore You came for me. Since You came into the world to save sinners, therefore You came to save me. Since You came to find those who are lost, You came to find me. O Lord my God, I should have come to You, I should have cast myself before You as a miserable sinner, I should have tried to find You. But I was so proud and so stubborn that You had to come to me. You came to earth as a tiny baby, enduring poverty, discomfort and danger, in order to reach me. You had to walk dusty lanes, enduring insults and persecution, in order to reach me. You had to suffer and die on the Cross, in order to reach me. Forgive me my stubborn pride that I have put you to such trouble and such pain on my behalf. - St. Tikhon of Zadonsk SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES: > Genesis 32:10, 50:17 > St. John 20:23 > Exodus 34:5-9 > Colossians 3:12-17 > Daniel 9:19 > 2 Corinthians 2:9-11 > Isaiah 55:7 > Ephesians 5:8-14 > Micah 7:18-19 > Galatians 5:22-26 > 1 Samuel 15:25 > Romans 8:28-30, 12:9-21 > Act 2:38, 1:34-43 > St. Mark 1:4, 2:7 > St. Luke 1:77, 7:47, 17:3-4 > St. Matthew 5:43-48, 7:15-20, 10:32-33, 26:28 > Psalm 31:19, 33:5, 52:1,25:18, 85:2, 86:5, 25:11, 13:5, 25:6, 36:5, 89:1, 100:1-5 REFLECTION: Exactly what is repentance? Repentance is a genuine sorrow for some isolated act, or a spectrum of sinful behaviors, we have committed in our lives. Repentance is for a time when we could have acted but didn’t, or an entire pattern of living, something theologians call “our fundamental option.” But repentance is still more! It is the fact that, even when we turn from the wrongful past, yet stumble and fall again, our eyes remain on God and we continue our path toward Him, undaunted and determined. An elder was once asked what monks do in a monastery and he replied, “We fall and get up again, we fall and get up again.” That is repentance. It’s keeping your eye “on the prize” - on Almighty God and His all- embracing love. No athlete is concerned about the ups and downs of his training period, he knows these do not affect his ultimate destination. It is losing one’s direction or choosing the wrong path that is the ultimate danger. -1 1 3 -
This is the way it should be with us. As long as the path remains narrow and does not deviate we need not fear the daily faults and failures along the way. While they may cause us pain or sorrow, in the end we enter into the love of the Lord because we have been faithful in our quest - no matter how imperfect it may be. We must stay on the path of obedience to the Lord .He alone sees our heart and knows our desires. He watches over us because we are infinitely precious in His eyes. And those who believe, who walk in His way- will ultimately be led to Him, the source of all being! WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS: ++++++++++ + Repentance has been given to the human race as a “grace beyond grace”. Repentance is a second birth from God, of which we have received a baptism - and we receive this second baptism by means of repentance. - St. Isaac the Syrian + Repentance is the gateway to mercy which is open to all who seek it. By way of this gate we enter into Divine mercy, and apart from this entrance one cannot find salvation. - St. Isaac the Syrian + Repentance imitates God and disappoints Satan. - St. John Chrysostom + “Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not despise” (Psalm 50:17). When a man strives within himself to have his heart humbled and his thought not agitated, but peaceful, then all the snares of the enemy are without effect and there resides the Lord Himself. “His place is in peace” (Psalm 75:3). - St. Seraphim of Sarov + A penitent purchases humility. It is a continual distrust of bodily comfort, a self- condemning reflection, and a joyful self- care. - St. John of the Ladder + Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair. A penitent is an un- disgraced convict and one who reconciles with the Lord by the practice of good deeds contrary to their sins. - St. John of the Ladder + Repentance is a purification of conscience and the selfless endurance of all afflictions. A penitent inflicts his own punishments. - St. John of the Ladder -114 -
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More— What the Church Fathers Say
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Light & Life Publishing Company P.O
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INTRODUCTION The Church depends on
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BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF SOME CHURCH FA
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TABLE OF CONTENTS wfaat the Church
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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: O Lord, grant
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+ To be subjected to our lusts, and
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generally kept the commands of Jesu
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+ In writing to a young man, a holy
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+ God created us in His image and l
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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Prayer of Phil
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+ Glory is like the human shadow; i
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+ What is “the world”? What are
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+ Show forth all your wealth in giv
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W pat tye Qnwcy Fathers Say About..
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much is one willing to pay, and do
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“Why are you crying, Father?" the
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+ A young monk confessed to his eld
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+ An anchorite who, going to a spri
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Wlpat th)e cbrwrcl) Fathers Say Abo
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While we cannot meet Christ in the
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you pay back abuse with abuse. You
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+ It is useless to try to teach wha
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+ For the preservation of peace of
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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Dear Lord, the
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+ Even if we are entirely despised
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+ The wrath of man is a terrible, u
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well as his impurities, his darknes
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Wlyat tbe C \)w c\) Fathers Say Abo
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to perform or refuse. An example of
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even sharper than fire and knives.
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+ He that is freed owes obedience t
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+ The Lord helps us amid sorrows an
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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: An Athonite Pr
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+ The constant welcome expectation
Page 71 and 72: + A Christian has great difficulty
Page 73 and 74: + We view the water of a river flow
Page 75 and 76: + He is not worthy to receive conso
Page 77 and 78: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Prayer of St.
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Page 81 and 82: + Three monks met unexpectedly at t
Page 83 and 84: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Prayer to the
Page 85 and 86: + No sense of virtue can possibly b
Page 87 and 88: the name of the One who became huma
Page 89 and 90: + If you live in the noisy world, h
Page 91 and 92: we cannot practice the bodily virtu
Page 93 and 94: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Increasing the
Page 95 and 96: + When despair seizes us, let us no
Page 97 and 98: + Be true to yourself and no one ca
Page 99 and 100: + As long as you have bad habits do
Page 101 and 102: Wyat tv)e Cyurcy Fathers Say About.
Page 103 and 104: Devil for his sins because the Devi
Page 105 and 106: through our fasts, we know the Holy
Page 107 and 108: eckon them as nothing. Often, we pl
Page 109 and 110: + Our most dire enemy is pride. Its
Page 111 and 112: W pat uie Cv)vwc\) Fathers Say Abou
Page 113 and 114: People of the world do not understa
Page 115 and 116: partner in God’s nature, refuse t
Page 117 and 118: + Some say the flesh is a sinner, s
Page 119 and 120: + He who does not believe in God is
Page 121: Wyat tl)e Cyurcl) Fathers Say About
Page 125 and 126: + In a brokenness of spirit a man c
Page 127 and 128: + Christ, who is the Good Shepherd,
Page 129 and 130: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Prayer of Hipp
Page 131 and 132: + It behooves us to do all things i
Page 133 and 134: + I will honor the king but only Go
Page 135 and 136: + Where the Church is, there also i
Page 137 and 138: + Follow the custom of the Church i
Page 139 and 140: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: Remember, Lord
Page 141 and 142: + The Church is the salt of the ear
Page 143 and 144: + Only the priest who imitates that
Page 145 and 146: What tl^e Church Fathers Say About,
Page 147 and 148: operated in this way He would becom
Page 149 and 150: The Holy Fathers of the Church arme
Page 151 and 152: + When a trial comes upon you sudde
Page 153 and 154: + Live each day as if you were dyin
Page 155 and 156: PRAYER: Christ, give me strength; Y
Page 157 and 158: + God has shown how close He is to
Page 159 and 160: W^at tf?e cl?u rcl? Fathers Say Abo
Page 161 and 162: REFLECTION: Much of contemporary Ch
Page 163 and 164: + There was in the monastery an old
Page 165 and 166: + In all your works, either at home
Page 167 and 168: + Happiness consists in not regardi
Page 169 and 170: 16. O Lord, grant me only pure thou
Page 171 and 172: PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: With You Lord,
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+ Many parents teach their children
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+ If any woman should abandon her h
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+ Marriage is honorable above all,
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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: We bless You,
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+ An intelligent use of concepts (i
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+ There is a knowledge that precede
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+ instead of searching after no oth
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+ He who knows himself is a man. -
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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY: PRAYER AGAINST
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+ If one man should suffer all the
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+ Those, therefore, who cast away t
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W yat tye Cyurcv} Fathers Say About
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There is a constant struggle both f
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+ We leave undone what we know we s
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+ It is very important that the inn
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W pat tf?e Cyurcy Fathers Say About
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How often we Christians bemoan the
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+ The Bible limits itself to reprov
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W yat tye Cyurcy} Fathers Say About
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Jesus talks about a man's faith as
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+ Even the demons with their malice
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+ Among angels, some are angels of
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MiERKMNCHmsiwt by J. Bajis t DAILY
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Church Fathers V3 - Fr George Grube - Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox ...

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