"There is no peace without the inner Presence of God ..."

"There is no peace without the inner Presence of God ..."

TENDING THE GARDEN OF ONE'S SOUL

[According to] Elder Pavlos, the desert ascetic united to Christ in purity of soul remains closer to the problems of those in the world than would be possible if he lived amongst them.

If the elder was asked one question more than another during his tours of American universities and theological schools, and he was, it was, “How can I retain inner peace amidst the pressures of this world?”

It was a good question, a profound one, for, as the inquirers well knew, there is no peace without the inner Presence of God. Many things masquerade as peace or happiness, but all that glitters is not gold. Were they real, would they vanish so precipitously, between one blink of an eye and the next? Father Pavlos broached the matter in the classic video filmed at St. Catherine’s many years ago by Lydia Carras, “Where God Walked on Earth.”

“In the garden the monk is not losing that simplicity and peace which is dear to him because the trees, although each one of them can be seen as an entire factory, have been created by God to work secretly as man works within his own heart. When a monk is tending to the garden, he can pray at the same time and feel God very close to him, and not lose that peace of soul. It’s physically tiring of course, but then, a monk too should get tired.

“Saint John Klimakos stressed that one's breath should be united with the thought of Christ. The fathers devised a short form of prayer, the well-known Jesus Prayer, the prayer of the heart, as we call it. ‘Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me the sinner.’ What can one say about the power of this prayer, the joy it instills into the heart ... Man in this world is often tired and under pressure. The Jesus Prayer fills him with a sense of peace."

Built – literally – on the roots of the Burning Bush where God revealed the knowledge of His name in fire as I am The Being, the Sinai basilica ceaselessly serves humanity – ever since its construction by the builder of the Great Church of the Wisdom of God, Hagia Sophia – as the repository the knowledge of that which cannot be revealed. ...

From the Article "On the Holy Summit of Transfiguration" in the FMSM News Blog: https://www.mountsinaimonastery.org/news-blog/on-the-holy-summit-of-transfiguration