Saturday, June 27, 2009

Quote I found lying around..

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humanity. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be it's foundation.
St. Augustine

Friday, June 26, 2009

Martyr Evgeny Rodionov

So I was looking at some iconography online, and I came across this one saint (or rather, I don't think he's been canonized yet, as he is really recent). He is called Martyr Evgeny Rodionov, and he was a Russian soldier in Chechnya who was beheaded because he would not convert to Islam, and would not remove his cross. Had been captured by the Cheschnyan soldiers, and was executed on his 19th birthday. I'm more than likely not doing him justice with his story, so check this link out. Because he is quite recent (I believe he martyred in 1996) there are photo's of him, just like Mother Maria Skobtsoba. It's like getting a window into a saints life, to see what they actually looked like.

When we were at a monestary when Fr and I were at the Byzantine music workshop, we had the privlage to venerate some relics that they had there (and there were some really big saints, like St. John of Damascus, St. George, the 40 Martyrs of Sabaste to name a few) and it struck me, especially looking at the bones of some of they 40 Martyrs of Sabaste, that these were real people. We forget that the saints lived and breathed as we did, and we're alive like we are. It's really easy to forget their humanity and they were real people, not just characters of legends and stories.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Music

When, indeed, the Holy Spirit saw that the human race was guided only with difficulty toward virtue, and that, because of our inclination toward pleasure, we were neglectful of an upright life, what did He do? The delight of the melody He mingled with the doctrines so that by the pleasantness and softness of the sound heard, we might receive without perceiving it the benefits of the words, just as wise physicians who, with giving the fastidious rather bitter drugs to drink, frequently smear the cup with honey. Therefore, He devised for is these harmonious melodies of the psalms, that they who are children in age, or even those who are youthful in disposition, might to all appearances chant, but in reality, become trained in soul.
-St. Basil the Great

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Mother Maria

Since I'm on such a Mother Maria kick, I thought I'd post more quotes from her. She really is fantastic. A true theologian.

If you didn't read about her life, she was martyred for helping the Jewish people.

“There is no such thing as a Christian problem.
Don’t you realize that the battle is being waged
against Christianity? If we were true Christians
we would all wear the Star. The age of confessors
has arrived.” - Mother Maria



It amazes me, this quote. Imagine what would have happened if people had actually done this.

And even when she knew that the Gestapo were having her under surveillance, this quote is from her diary when asked why she wouldn't give up;

"There is one moment when you start burning with love and you have the inner desire to throw yourself at the feet of some other human being. This one moment is enough. Immediately you know that instead of losing you life, it is being given back to you twofold."

Sunday, June 21, 2009

New Location

So, I have re-done this blog a bit, changing the name, though I will keep the content (and try to import the old blog here) so that the content stays the same. Much of the content will be the same, though you might get more of my thoughts and feelings about various things, church fathers, etc. Hopefully it will still be interesting!

And since you must know that I just absolutely love quotes, here is one from Mother Maria Skobtsova (who if you don't know who she is, google her. Or better yet, read this. She is excellent. One of my favorite saints.

"We like it when the “churching” of life is discussed, but few people understand what it means. Indeed, must we attend all the church services in order to “church” our life? Or hang an icon in every room and burn an icon-lamp in front of it? No, the “churching of life” is the realization of the whole world as one great church, adorned with icons—persons who should be venerated, honored, and loved, because these icons are true images of God that have the holiness of the Living God within them.

We cannot see the Church as a sort of aesthetic perfection and limit ourselves to aesthetic swooning. Our God-given freedom calls us to activity and struggle. And it would be a great lie to tell searching souls: “Go to church, because there you will find peace.” The opposite is true. She tells those who are at peace and asleep: “Go to church, because there you will feel real anguish for your sins, for your perdition, for the world’s sins and perdition. There you will feel an unappeasable hunger for Christ’s truth. There, instead of becoming lukewarm, you will be set on fire; instead of pacified, you will become alarmed; instead of learning the wisdom of this world you will become fools for Christ.”