"Speak of these things to those who wish to hear you!" Aegeates said when Andrew concluded. 'But if you do not sacrifice to the gods, I will have you beaten with staves and the crucified upon the cross which you so glorify.'

Saint Andrew, the first-called Apostle of Christ, was a native of the city of Bethsaida, the son of a Hebrew named Jonah and brother of the holy chief of the Apostles Peter. Disdaining the vanity of this world and preferring virginity to wedlock, he did not wish to marry, and having heard that the holy Forerunner and Baptist John was preaching repentance by the Jordan, he forsook all things and became his disciple. When his teacher pointed to Jesus as He passed by, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God," Andrew left the Baptist and followed Jesus Christ. Andrew knew from the books of the Prophets that Jesus was truly the long-awaited Messiah, so he hurried to find his brother Simon Peter, to whom he declared, "We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ!"

Fasting is the second ascetic practice you should begin as part of the Orthodox Christian way of life. Of course if you do not have sufficient faith to participate in the regular worship services or to participate in the sacraments or time for daily prayer, fasting will not be of much help to you. Fasting is a practice that was also shown to us by Jesus as well as the holy Prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus fasted for 40 days and we are told "He ate nothing." The Prophet David fasted "I ate no delicacies, nor meat or wine, nor did I anoint myself" (Daniel 10:3). Ester instructed Mordicai, "Go, gather all the Jews... and hold a fast on my behalf and neither eat nor drink for three days, night and day. I and my maids will also fast as you do" (Ester 4:16). Saint Paul engaged in a three day absolute fast following the encounter with the Living Christ (Acts 9:9). Moses and Elijah fasted for 40 days. (Deuteronomy 9:9, 1 Kings 19:8).

As is evident from the Holy Scripture, bows, kneeling and prostrations were employed during prayer even in the Old Testament. The holy Prophet King David refers to bowing down to God or to His temple in many of the psalms, for example: "Bow down to the Lord in His holy court" (Psalm 28:2); "I shall bow down toward Thy holy temple in fear of Thee" (Psalm 5:8); "O come, let us worship and fall down before Him" (Psalm 94:6); "Let us go forth into His tabernacle, let us bow down at the place where His feet have stood" (Psalm 131:7), etc.

Holy and Great Martyr Katherine was the daughter of Cestus, a wealthy patrician of Alexandria the capital of Egypt and metropolis of the arts and sciences. She was widely admired not only for her noble birth but also for the exceeding beauty and intelligence that God had given her. Taught by the best masters and most illustrious philosophers, she learnt while still a girl to follow complex lines of argument and obtained a perfect understanding of Aristotle and their followers. She also excelled in the literary sphere, and familiar with the works of all the great poets from Homer to Virgil, was capable of discussing every subject, in a variety of languages learned from scholars and foreign visitors to the great city.

You asked somebody, "where is God?" And you got an answer that God is inside you. And you marvel at this answer. How can that be?

Kind of like in a room, or like fire in a stove. When you are able to feel God within you, you will feel and know that He is inside you, but you will not be able to explain it to someone else. But you will look for images in nature and then you will speak to the other person as I speak to you: God is within me like light in a room, or a like fire in a stove, or like air in the lungs, or like life in every creature, or like force and love and thought inside of man.