The Morning Offering

Taste the Presence

Taste the presence of Christ beside you

We all need a good dose of silent prayer each and every day. Finding that perfect place in your home that can become your cave, or prayer closet, will afford you that sacred space wherein you can go deep into the heart and connect with God. That place wherein you can close off your family, your worries, your job, your distractions, and go deep into your heart wherein you will find the peace that comes from Christ.

The Jesus Prayer is the perfect prayer, for it is a prayer of adoration and praise, and a prayer that proclaims that Jesus is Lord and, as God, can grand mercy upon you. The simple prayer which invokes the Holy Name of Jesus can transform your life, and take you into the very Heart of God. This prayer is known as the Prayer of the Heart for the very reason that it is of the heart.
 
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Said with the aid of a Prayer Rope (thus bringing your body into the action of the prayer), this prayer accomplishes Saint Paul's admonition that we should "pray always". It is a prayer that takes you out of yourself and into communion with Christ. It is a prayer that can change your life because through this prayer you can taste the presence of Christ beside you.
 
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos: We were blessed to host Bishop Theodosy during the celebration of Liturgy on Saturday morning, during which time he ordained Father Moses as a Reader in the Orthodox Church. Our friend, Archpriest Alex Kotar, dean of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seattle, and who has been traveling with the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, concelebrated with us, as the holiest of the Russian Diaspora icons graced the temple with it's presence. A festal meal of octopus stew, was served in the trapeza, following the Hierarchical Liturgy. Originally we'd planned to have a quiet Midnight Liturgy in commemoration of our Patronal Feast, but a last minute change brought the bishop to the monastery late Friday evening, thus the unplanned Saturday morning Liturgy.

Sunday August 17, 2014 / August 4, 2014 10th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone one. Dormition (Theotokos) Fast. Food with Oil Holy Seven Youths (the "Seven Sleepers") of Ephesus: Maximilian, Jamblicus, Martinian, John, Dionysius, Exacustodian (Constantine) and Antoninus (250 & 5th c.). New Hieromartyr Nicholas (Prozgrov) (1930). New Hieromartyr Michael, Martyrs Simeon and Demetrius (1937) Martyr Eudocia of Persia (362). Martyr Eleutherius of Constantinople (4th c.). New Hieromartyr Cosmas of Aitolia, Equal to the Apostles (1779) (Greek). "Kazan-Penza" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Martyr Ia and 9,000 with her in Persia (Greek). Martyr Thathuil (Greek).

You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.


"Blogs and social networks give us new opportunities for the Christian mission...Not to be present there means to display our helplessness and lack of care for the salvation of our brothers." His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

The Scripture Readings for the Day

1 Corinthians 4:9-16

⁹ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ¹¹ To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. ¹² And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care

¹⁴ I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. ¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

Matthew 17:14-23

A Boy Is Healed

¹⁴ And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
²⁰ So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²² Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

I invite my readers to listen to my Ancient Faith Radio podcasts:
http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/morningoffering

All-Merciful Saviour Monastery is a monastery of the Western American Diocese, under the omophor of His Eminence Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America. The Monastery is a non-profit 501 C3 organization under IRS regulations. All donations are therefore tax deductible.

We depend on the generosity of our friends and benefactors. You can donate to the monastery through PayPal, or by sending donations directly to the monastery's mailing address.

All-Merciful Saviour Monastery  
PO Box 2420
Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA

Abbot Tryphon's email address:
frtryphon@vashonmonks.com