Our Thoughts
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives
"Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica)".
Saint Saraphim of Sarov said that if we "acquire peace, a thousand around us will be saved", for having been created in the image of God, and we are part of the Divine thought that was made material in time and space. We not only influence those around us with our thoughts, but we even influence the cosmos. If we focus on the negative, those negative thoughts impact everyone around us, and even the whole world. The Elder Thaddeus tells us we can be either very good, or very bad, depending on the thoughts and desires we breed.
There is a lot that is wrong with the world, but it begins with us. If there is to be peace in our world, it must begin with me. If hatred, anger, envy, lust, and spite, are to end, it must end with me. When we allow destructive thoughts to destroy our peace, the peace around us is destroyed. We can not blame the world, or even those around us, for that which happens around us, radiates from us. Blame for all that is wrong with the world, can not be placed beyond our own hearts.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Monday August 26, 2013 / August 13, 2013
10th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Dormition (Theotokos) Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Apodosis of the Transfiguration.
Venerable Maximus the Confessor (662).
Uncovering of the relics of St. Maximus of Moscow, fool-for-Christ (1547).
St. Tikhon (Tychon), bishop of Voronezh, wonderworker of Zadonsk and All Russia (1783).
New Hieromartyrs John, Ioasph and Constantine priests (1918).
New Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), bishop of Dmitrov, Nicholas, Jacob priests and Alexis deacon (1937).
New Hieromartyr Basil (1942).
New Hieromartyr Basil (Preobrazhensky) bishop of Kineshma.
Martyr Hippolytus of Rome and 18 martyrs with him, including Martyrs Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius (258).
"Minsk" (1500), "Seven Arrows" (1830) and "Of the Passion" (1641) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Venerable Serid (Seridos), abbot, of Gaza (6th c.).
Empress Irene, tonsured Xenia (12th c.).
St. Eudocia the Empress (460), wife of Theodosius the Younger.
Venerable Radegunde of Poitiers, nun (587) (Gaul).
Venerable Abba Dorotheos of Gaza (Greek).
St. Wigbert, abbot of Hersfeld, English missionary to Germany (738) You can read the life of the saint in red, by clicking on the name.
THANKS to all of you who have been able to contribute towards the support of the monastery. These difficult times of economic hardship have impacted the monastery, and those of you who have been able to donate, have been our lifeline. May God bless you for your generosity, and kindness.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Abbot Tryphon
Donations can be made directly to the monastery through PayPal, or you may send donations to:
All-Merciful Saviour Monastery
PO Box 2420
Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA
The Scripture Readings for the Day
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
The Risen Christ, Our Hope
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.Matthew 21:18-22
The Fig Tree Withered
18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
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