Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Elder Sophrony's prayer

O Eternal Lord.... and Creator of all things , in your inscrutable goodness you have called me in to this life, and have given me the grace of baptism, and the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
You have instilled in me the desire to seek your face , Hear my prayer!

I have no life, no light, no joy, no strength, no wisdom without you, O God.
Because of my unrighteousness I dare not lift my eyes in your presence,
but I obey you who said : " whatever you ask in prayer , believe that you have received it and it will be yours." and "if you ask anything of the Father He will give it to you in My name" .
Therefore , I now dare to approach you. Purify me from all stain of flesh and spirit. Teach me to pray rightly Bless this day which you give to me, your unworthy servant. By the power of your blessing enable me at all times to speak and to act with a pure spirit to your glory; with faith, hope and love,
humility, patience, gentleness, peace, purity, simplicity, sobriety, courage and wisdom. Let me always be aware of your presence.

In your boundless goodness, O Lord God show me your will and grant me to walk in your sight without sin. O Lord, unto whom all hearts are open, you know what I need and what is necessary for me. And when my perverted will leads me otherwise, O Lord do not spare me ,but force me back to your way.

You know my infirmity and corruption . You know my blindness and ignorance ,My pain and anguish are not hidden from you,  Therefore I beg you : Grant me ,Lord to hold fast to what is good ,by the power of your love. Preserve me from every word and act which corrupts the soul ,and from every impulse that is unpleasing in your sight and harmful to the people around me and teach me by the power of your Holy Spirit the way in which I should walk. Teach me what I should say and how I should speak. If it be your holy will that I be quiet and make no answer, inspire me to be silent in a peaceful spirit that causes neither harm nor hurt to my fellow human beings.

Establish me in the path of your commandments and until my last breath do not let me stray from the light of your ordinances. May your commandments be the sole law of my being in this life and for all eternity. O Lord, I pray to you: Have mercy on me. Spare me in my affliction and misery and hide not the way of salvation from me. By your Holy Spirit, Lord, teach me good judgment and sound knowledge. Let me know the truth before I die. Maintain my life in this world until the end that I may offer worthy repentance. Do not take me away while my mind  is still blind and bound by darkness. When you are pleased to end my life, give me warning that I may prepare my soul to come before you. Be with me, Lord , at that awesome hour and assure me by your grace of the joy of my salvation. Cleanse me from secret faults. Purify me from hidden iniquities. Give me a good answer at your dread judgement seat. In my foolishness, O God , I plead with you for many and great things. Yet I am ever mindful of my wickedness, my baseness, my vileness. Have pity on me ! Cast me not away from your presence because of my foolish presumption. Increase rather in me the right presumption of your grace and grant that I, the worst of people, may love you with all my mind, all my heart, all my soul and all my strength. as you have commanded. Lord of great mercy and measureless love for all people:Hear my prayer ! Amen.

From

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaI5dvjpHcE

Note:  Ever more reminded that  Lord gives us  infinite ways to help us.
Fr. Stephen Freeman had this prayer as early at 2008 after a friend shared this to him
Ms. Teodora monica fulga could share this in You tube,
St.  Siluoan and his disciple Elder Sophrony who moved to Essex outside of  Greece to help the western world,
Ancient faith radio and many  others could bring  St, Siluoan and Elder Sophrony's  thoughts to the world.
Lord Have mercy








Wednesday, December 21, 2016

2016 Saint Thomas day thoughts

Traditionally , the Church in India and its Diaspora pride themselves as their community being the first Christians in the world , founded by none other than the St. Thomas the Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ . St. Thomas came to point the lost generation of Jews to Christ  , as commanded by our Lord.  In this tradition, through St. Thomas  the locals too turned to Christ and he  was instrumental in establishing the Church in India , speared on December 18 and suffered Martyrdom on December 21.

For me, my fascination on St. Thomas was a series of incidents in my own history not limited to my grandmother speaking of her family background to St. Thomas, my own glorious building up castles in air seeing how generations back we were members of the first parish - the  Church in Niranam founded by St. Thomas
(http://niranamchurch.com/history/) , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niranam_Church

My personal take on history , as written by Mankind  is that it is and was always written and will be rewritten and being modified at any particular time to suit any particular side or a particular position . It is my faith that in seeking this history , we will see that Truth lies in between the positions and views of the differing sides , and even as we discover a partial knowledge of this Truth in this journey, will only be humbled  that there is more to it and our time is limited . It is my hope that you will forgive any errors and  correct any short comings in this posting.  It is my prayer that  you reading this and me posting this will be inspired and seek Him the Truth whom St. Thomas declared as soon it was revealed to him by crying out ' My Lord and My God'

1. It was He that led the Church in India to defend against  subjugation by the Roman Catholics in 16th Century
2. It was He that made our forefathers to seek out help from amongst all the other historical Churches  founded by Apostles or their disciples
3. It was He that led  after 50 years the age old bishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem HG Gregorios Abdul Jaleel to come to Kerala.
 3. It was  He that caused through this interaction with this West Syrian Church to introduce the Church in India to turn more fully to Orthodox Christianity as developed till 16h Century.
4. It was He that made us to chose and adopt this Liturgical practice that sustain us in Right Glory.
5. It was He that led the Church and St. Dionysius to stand up to show its independence and put trust in God to tell the West Syrian Patriarch  that Church in India is not going to under the Syrian Orthodox Church as its subdivision .
6. It was He that led yet another  West Syrian Patriarch to come to India and have the Catholicate established in 1912. (http://rightglory.blogspot.ca/2014/02/last-kalpana-of-vattasheril-tirumeni-to.html)
6. It was He who led the Church in India to not follow teachings that were known as heresy to the Church all over even though it was brought forward the British and Anglican Church
7.It was He that led the Church in India to be united though for a short time that led the aged Bishop Augen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baselios_Augen_I) to be a part of the 1965 Oriental Orthodox Conference where the Heads of the Church could meet after 16 Centuries of separation through it brought the relics of St. Thomas to the Church even though he was martyred in India and  his remains taken to Edessa

Let us  remember today  St. Thomas and seek his intercession and prayers to God so that this history that God started in Kerala will still being written through each of us irrespective of where we are and what situation we are being placed and His Mercy upon us.


December 21, 2016