Monday, July 11, 2016
For those who find it hard to drive to church…
Thousands of faithful walk for days, for hundreds of kilometres, in all weather, praying and keeping a fast joyously and in happiness, praying for the assistance of the Mother of God of Pochaev.
We should not presume we are more righteous than others! We do not see such examples of piety in the west any more. We should humble ourselves and understand that God acts in mysterious ways in drawing people to piety and a Christian life.
Although massive demonstrations of faith are uplifting and touching, they are not the essence of life in the Church.
The main path for us, according to Saint Ignaty Brianchaninov, is to endure sorrows without grumbling, with the understanding that everything God allows is for our spiritual healing and growth. Presumption, self-righteousness and judgement are the great modern spiritual diseases, which totally prevent spiritual growth…If we have these illnesses, even if we have some outward virtues, we will not gain entry into the Heavenly Kingdom! We should read the writings of the Holy Fathers to find out whether these diseases are present in our hearts - and follow their advice on how to uproot them.
