Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

luke12,49

2 Entries

I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" (Lk. 12:49). The holy apostles accepted this divine fire into their hearts, and fired with flaming love toward the Lord, left the world and everything in it and followed Christ. They gave themselves to Him both in soul and in body, and renounced both their will and reasoning, so that they could say with great joy: "Lo, we have left everything and followed You" (Mt. 19:27). They kept this holy obedience to the Lord in their hearts to the end of their lives, imprinting it in our memories through their experience of innumerable temptations, diverse deaths, and the pouring out of their blood unto the last drop. ... And this same fire of divine grace was accepted by all the truly holy servants of Christ, people of all ranks and calling, who meticulously observed the soul-saving Gospel commandments, without the fulfillment of which salvation is impossible through faith alone. Starets Paisius Velichkovskii by Fr. Sergii Chetverikov

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