Reader: If you are willing, take a few moments and study deeply Mother {Amma} Seraphima's countenance in the photo above and then read her biography (link below). I think you will find the bio and her image a perfect match.
I met Matushka (Amma) Seraphima in Bulgaria in 2000. 4 years later, she reposed in the Lord
Read her life
The patriarch heard of the great virtues of this man and ordained him a priest. At that time, Emperor Justinian the Great became ill and his illness, according to the conviction of all physicians, was incurable. The emperor prayed to God with great fervency and God revealed in a dream to him that Sampson would heal him. And indeed, when the emperor learned of Sampson, he invited him to his court and just as the elder placed his hand on the ailing place, the emperor recovered. When the emperor offered him enormous wealth for this, Sampson thanked him and did not want to accept anything saying to him: "O Emperor, even I had gold and silver and other goods, but I left all for the sake of Christ in order to gain eternal heavenly goods." But when the emperor insisted on doing something for him, holy Sampson implored the emperor to build him a hospice for the poor where Sampson served the poor as a parent serves his children. Mercy toward the poor and the helpless was natural to him. Finally, this saintly man, completely filled with heavenly power and goodness, reposed peacefully on June 27, 530 A.D. and was interred in the church of his relative, the holy martyr Mókios. After his death, Sampson appeared many times to those who called upon him for assistance.
Romans 8:2-13 KJV
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Saint Matthew 10:16-22 KJV
16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
The Unhealthy Fear of Relinquishing Our Complacency
by Saint Theophan the Recluse
The Gadarenes saw the Lord’s wondrous miracle when He cast out a legion of devils, and yet the whole city came out and besought the Lord “that He would depart out of their coasts” (St. Matthew 8:34).
We do not see them regarding the Lord with hostility, but neither do we see any faith in Him. They were seized with a kind of indeterminate fear, which resulted in them asking Him to go wherever He wished, as long as He would not bother them. This is a true image of people who live in peace with their possessions. An order of things has formed around them which is not unfavorable. They are accustomed to it; they never give any thought or feel the need to change or discontinue anything, and they are afraid to take a new step. They sense, however, that should a command come down from above, the fear of God and their conscience would force them to renounce the old and accept something new. Thus, they strive to avoid any situation that might lead them to such convictions, so that they might continue to live quietly in their old habits, pleading ignorance. These are the sort of people who are afraid to read the Gospel and Patristic books, or to discuss spiritual matters. They fear that if their conscience be thereby disturbed, it might wake up and start forcing them to abandon what they had and accept something new.
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| HOLY PROPHET KING DAVID |
Occasionally read the 6 Psalms from Orthros.
Why? . . . Why not?
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You know you will meet our Lord face to face one day, do you wish to hear Him say: "Well done, beloved. Come receive the mansion I have prepared for you."
If so then become deaf to the voice of the devil and the carnal 'you within' both of which tell you how good you are.
Anegada Island BVI
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