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."

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.”