Today we commemorate St. John of the Ladder. I made the mistake of reading his book while an inquirer to the Orthodox faith, pure spiritual meat that I was no where near equipped to handle. St. John Climacus thought himself unworthy to compose a guide to the monastic life. However, in obedience to his abbot, St. John (4th Sunday of Great Lent) did so, drawing inspiration from the story of Jacob's ladder in the Old Testament (Gen. 28:12). St. John called his work The Ladder, for the book is “a fixed ladder leading from earthly things to the Holy of Holies." The thirty steps of spiritual perfection correspond to the Lord's age at the beginning of His ministry. In the book, the fourth step of the ladder is obedience— a word so many people misunderstand. It is not “giving up one's will and losing one's freedom. Christian obedience … is the proper exercise of our freedom, freely offered to God and to our neighbor. As St. John Climacus teaches us, this type of obedience - true obedience- is an act of love.”

"Obviously, the temple of Solomon which had been destroyed is the temple the Antichrist will rebuild, and not in any other city but Jerusalem. Thus, when we see these crucial developments, they will help us to discern the signs of the times[...]Consider the state of television programming—it does nothing but corrupt. The quality of entertainment, the state of our politics, the economy, the system of education—all have been instituted and infected by anti-Christian masterminds. They have accomplished their goals for the most part. The main goal is to beat the nations (as a fisherman beats an octopus on a hard rock to make it soft) to paralyze the nations. Then the Antichrist will come and proclaim, 'I am here to save you. I will save you.' After all those years of propaganda the nations will not be able to react at all, and in their despair they will welcome the idea of a one-world governor. The anti-Christian agenda will have done its work quite well in order to make the nations kneel to this degree..." —Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios Homily 46 on Revelation

The Psalter is a powerful tool for spiritual warfare, and in the Orthodox Church, every Lent, the entire Psalter is read by the parishoners daily throughout the great fast. It's a beautiful way to get involved in your local parish. My in-laws are currently catechumens at the parish I attend, and they are part of the team reading the Psalter every day!

St. Arsenios of Cappadocia: BLESSING-PSALTER

The Lord shall not be mocked.

Many will scream and seethe after reading this 🤷‍♂️ St. Hilarion Troitsky: Holy Scripture and the Church Do note that when St. Hilarion references the Catholic Church he is not alluding to Rome ☦️

St Hilarion (Troitsky) - The Holy Scripture and the Church

Or PDF https://www.holycrossyakima.org/orthodoxPdfs/HOLY%20SCRIPTURE%20AND%20THE%20CHURCH%20by%20Heiromartyr%20Hilarion.pdf

The Russian Revolution is such an important piece of modern history that has been propagandized quite well through the bunk education system here in the West.

Memory eternal! ☦️

Abba Macarius of Egypt said there is no need to waste time with words [in prayer]. It is enough to hold out your hands and say, “Lord, according to your desire and your wisdom, have mercy.” If pressed in the struggle, say, “Lord, save me!” or say, “Lord.” He knows what is best for us, and will have mercy upon us.

The Lorica of St. Patrick "I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of creation. I arise today through the strength of Christ's Birth with His Baptism, through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial, through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension, through the strength of His Descent for the judgment of Doom. I arise today through the strength of the love of cherubim, in obedience of angels, in the service of archangels, in hope of resurrection to meet with reward, in prayers of patriarchs, in predictions of prophets, in preaching of apostles, in faiths of confessors, in innocence of holy virgins, in deeds of righteous men. I arise today through the strength of heaven: light of sun, radiance of moon, splendor of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock. I arise today through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me: from the snares of devils, from temptations of vices, from everyone who shall wish me ill, far and near, alone and in a multitude. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of creation."

http://crossfilm.info/holyarchipelagocom This documentary is now available on YouTube, I've been waiting for this to make its way to the U. S. ☦️

Substack

Buck Johnson (@buckjohnson)

I had the honor of hosting the Provoked podcast with Darryl Cooper aka Martyr Made. At the end, I HAD to ask him about Orthodox Christianity. Here�...

👀

☦️

Any of y'all read or even heard of this? I'm very intrigued 🤔

From Michael Warren Davis over at Substack: *Florensky was a bonafide genius and polymath, his writings are quite difficult to digest for slowbois like me but if this sort of thing interests you, go check him out!