Venerable Nikita the Stylite, Wonderworker of Pereyaslavl, Zalesski
Beloved brothers and sisters,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!
An Extemporaneous Prayer to the Holy Spirit
O Divine and All-Holy Spirit, twenty centuries ago You descended upon Zion, and the upper room where the disciples had gathered was changed into a Church, while the Galileans who were mere fishermen then experienced the great transformation and became Apostles and Evangelists.
Descend also upon us who beseech You in fervent prayer and on bent knees. Come into the midst of our disorderly chaos and transform it into a beautiful order of harmony and beauty. Like a powerful stormy wind, come to uproot our passions and cast them aside. Like a revitalizing river, come to irrigate our moral and spiritual aridity. Like a pleasant dew from Heaven, come to renew and refresh our spiritual debility. Like a fire, come to warm and kindle our religious indifference and laxity. Like a seal, come to secure and protect the spiritual treasure of our adoption. Like an engagement of commitment, come to bind and betroth our hearts for all time with the Divine Bridegroom. Like a healing oil, come to heal our secret wounds. Like a dove of peace, come to make us into sons and daughters of light and peace. Like a fiery tongue, come to speak consolation in us. As a Divine Builder, come and transform our souls into dwellings built by God, in which the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, may find a worthy temple to dwell now and always. Amen.
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BLESS MY ENEMIES, O LORD!
Prayers of Holy Bishop Nicola Velimirovich
Bless my enemies oh Lord! I too bless them and curse them not.
The enemies have led me to Your embrace ever more so, than my friends. My friends have tied me to the earth, while my enemies have loosened me from the earth and have shattered all my worldly aspirations.
My enemies have alienated me from the worldly realities and made me a stranger and irrelevant inhabitant of this world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer refuge that one not hunted, protecting myself from the enemies, I have found safer refuge, being sheltered under Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can threaten my soul.
Bless my enemies oh Lord! I too bless them and curse them not.
Rather they than I, have confessed my sins in front of the world.
They have flogged me whenever I hesitated to be flogged.
They have tormented me whenever I had tried to avoid torments.
They have rebuked me whenever I had flattered myself.
They have hit me whenever I puffed myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies oh Lord! I too bless them and curse them not.
Whenever I presented myself as wise, they called me foolish...
In truth, my enemies have loosened me from this world and stretched my hands to touch the hem of Your robe.
Bless them and multiply them! Multiply them and make them be even harder on me.
So that running to You has no return.
That any hope in men be dashed like a spider's web.
That absolute peace begin to reign on my soul.
That my heart become the grave of my twin evil brothers: arrogance, and anger.
That I may store all my treasures in Heaven.
And that I be enabled to become forever free from self-delusion which has caught me in the deathly net of this deceitful life.
The enemies have taught me - what one learns with difficulty-that man has no enemies in this world except himself.
One hates his enemies only when he fails to recognize that they are not his enemies but hard and heartless friends!
It is truly difficult for me to tell who benefited me more and who hurt me more in this world: the enemies or friends.
Therefore oh Lord bless both my friends and my enemies...
[Please note: I cannot begin to tell you about the many and great spiritual treasures that our Holy Orthodox Christian Church possess that remain untouched by its faithful. How very tragic! I say this because I know how many of our Orthodox Christians are lost, confused, hurt, depressed, and searching for answers and spiritual nourishment and guidance and yet it is right in front of them. Our Holy Church is complete and possess everything that the Christian believer needs for healing, for reconciliation, for communion, for hope, for agape, for blessing, for purpose in life, for joy, for strength, for life itself, for the Kingdom of Heaven, for salvation, etc., etc.
Our spiritual guides are the great and holy men, women and children of our Church who intercede for us continuously and unceasingly.
With sincere agape in Our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George