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☦️GM Divine Liturgy time

A transcribed page from the writings of the latest transsexual child killer, captured before the scrubbing: “I feel like there is some kind of god or higher force controlling me. I sometimes notice how I suddenly start writing things that I don’t even think of myself. It"s as if someone is putting these thoughts in my head. I used to think that all of this was nonsense, but now I’m not so sure. “Maybe there is really some kind of higher mind that communicated with me this way. “I often notice how my body does things automatically as if by itself. I can just walk down the street and suddenly realize that I don’t even remember how I got there. It scares me but at the same time it makes me curious. Maybe people are all controlled like this, but they don’t notice it. “Maybe I am the only one who has noticed it and that's why i feel special. “But I don’t know if that's good or bad.” Worth noting too that he did not get into the church.

Who is the best teacher? – Suffering. Who is the worst teacher? – Pleasure. What is the rarest skill? – The ability to give. What is the greatest skill? – The ability to forgive. What is the hardest skill? – The ability to keep silent. What is the most important skill? – The ability to ask. What is the most needed skill? – The ability to listen. What is the most dangerous struggle? – Fanaticism. What is the most unpleasant habit? – Quarreling. What is the most harmful habit? – Talkativeness. Who is the strongest person? – The one who can understand the Truth. Who is the weakest person? – The one who considers himself the strongest. Who is the most intelligent person? – The one who guards his heart. What is the most dangerous attachment? – Attachment to one’s own body. Who is the poorest person? – The one who loves money the most. Who is the closest to God? – The merciful one. Who is the weakest person? – The one who has conquered others. Who is the strongest person? – The one who has conquered himself. How do we confront affliction? – With joy. How do we endure suffering? – With patience. What is the sign of a healthy soul? – Faith. What is the sign of a sick soul? – Despair. What is the sign of wrong actions? – Irritability. What is the sign of good deeds? – Peace in the soul. ☦️ Monk Simeon of Athos

Esmee Noelle Covey: There is no such thing as a “homosexual” in the Orthodox tradition—not as an ontological category, at least. To claim that someone is homosexual or transgender, as if it were an essential aspect of their being, is to make a category error. It elevates a sinful inclination to the level of a defining attribute or even a created “nature.” Same-sex attraction is a passion—a distortion of desire—not an identity. Yes, homosexual lust is particularly unnatural, but it is still just lust. A man who lusts after women is not ontologically labeled a “fornicator.” He is a man struggling with sin—just as any of us are. We don’t categorize people into spiritual castes based on which sins tempt them. That, ironically, would be a kind of gnostic essentialism: defining souls by their passions, rather than their repentance. This is an area where the Church perhaps needs to speak more clearly. The truth is this: same-sex attraction is not an identity, and as such, it can be healed. It is not immutable. The Church, through her ascetical and sacramental life, offers transformation. The passions can be conquered. And we have powerful witnesses to this truth—saints who struggled with same-sex desire and overcame it through prayer, fasting, and humility.

From Prismatic Orthodox: "Here's a repost of a reply to further explain the East v. West Trinitarian differences: Catholicism begins with God as Essence; Orthodoxy begins with God as Person. The Catholic perspective of the Trinity starts with the idea that God’s essence is utterly simple (I.e. has no composition or distinction of existence, attributes, operations, will or activity). To maintain this simplicity, they define the distinctions of the Persons by their relation to one another. I.e. the Father is Paternal, the Son is Filial, the Spirit is Spirated. Their hypostases share all things apart from these relational distinctions, which is what safeguards Divine Simplicity. This leaves no room for the Essence-Energy distinction because there can be no other distinctions apart from the relationship between the Persons. The Orthodox view on the other hand does not begin with God's essence (we hold the divine essence is apophatic and is eternally unknowable), but rather as God the Father as Person. The Father is the source of Persons (begetting and spirating) and is only made known by His energies. So in our view, the Persons share all things and are made distinct by their origin (Father as monarch, Son as begotten, Spirit as spirated) and simplicity is safeguarded by the apophatic transcendence of the Father, who is expressed perfectly by the energetic procession through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. A useful analogy is to consider the energies this way: the Father thinks (apophatic/simple), the Son articulates, the Spirit is the breath that makes the sound. The analogy of course breaks down (as all analogies of divine metaphysics do) because they don't have distinct operations in this way—that is, they are not composed of separate parts, but are instead undivided in operation. In Catholic theology, because all of God’s internal life is identical with His essence (apart from the relational distinctions of Father, Son, Spirit), any talk of energies as really distinct activities in God would compromise simplicity. They would instead say that God’s thinking, speaking, and breathing are simply God’s essence as one simple act, not additional distinctions in Him. Distinctions only arise on the side of creatures who receive and name them".

This is worth a read☦️

Becoming Orthodox | Kenneth B. | Substack

A journey into the ancient Christian faith—through history, story, and real conversations. Click to read Becoming Orthodox, by Kenneth B., a Subs...

Not a bumper sticker guy but I would.

Elder now Saint Cleopa who was recently glorified! ☦️

☦️GM #Christianity

Interactive map of St. Paul's journey. https://www.intofarlands.com/map-of-pauls-journeys

☦️ #Christianity

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Dostoevsky is in a league of his own. ☦️

A tough choice to make and excluding the ancient canon (both East and West) these are the 4 books that completely inverted and solidified my worldview. What are yours? #bookstr

Been using Obsidian a lot lately...I now understand the hype.

“Not everything in the divine Scriptures is clear to everyone, nor does the meaning lie on the surface for all to grasp, but it requires much study and the guidance of the Spirit to understand the depth of what is written.” + St. John Chrysostom, Homily 13 on Genesis 2 Peter 1:16-21 — For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 3:14-18 — Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. Here in the book of Acts we see Philip act as an authority of the Church who helps a man understand Divine Scripture and then baptizes him after his confession in believing that Jesus is the Son of God. Acts 8:26-40— Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. #Christianity