Demonizing Others Often Begins With Our Own Unquestioned Thoughts of Suspicion (St. Paisios the Athonite)

 

Saint Paisios once said:

 

We must question our thoughts of suspicion. I will tell you of an incident so you can see what these thoughts do. One day a monk came to the hut and said to me:

"Elder Haralambos is a magician; he did magic."

"What are you saying, you lost fool? You should be ashamed of yourself," I told him.

A Once Popular Icon of Fear and Mortality

 

 

In Russian iconography during the 17th and 18th century there was icon to remind Christians that they are mortal beings and taught them how they ought to direct their fear. It tells about the futility of human transitory hopes and efforts, about the inevitability of death. The hero is a man endowed with power and wealth. This plot was popular throughout the 19th century.

 

There are two plot variations. The hero of the first image is a merchant known as a mortal man who has spent many years and efforts to accumulate earthly riches, as depicted before him. But on his face there is sadness, anxiety and fear of death. The image of Death with a scythe behind him and a coffin beneath him reminds him of the impending punishment for the mortal sin of greed. Christ is above, the Judge of all.

The Secret-Eater Monk

Painting: "The Secret-Eater Monk"

 

Location: Dochiariou Monastery, Mount Athos

 

About: The painting "The Secret-Eater Monk" hangs in the Archondariki (Guest House) of Dochiariou Monastery on Mount Athos as a warning of inappropriate eating habits. This is a modern painting based on a miracle that happened on Mount Athos in one of the monasteries. One of the monks who worked in the kitchen stole some food and secretly ate it in his cell in the evening. One day after Great Vespers, when everyone was going for supper, in the presence of many brethren, the earth opened and a serpent emerged from the earth, consuming the soul of the careless monk.   

Synaxarion of the Venerable James, Who Was Beguiled to Worship the Devil

St. James, Who Was Beguiled to Worship the Devil (Feast Day - June 13)

Verses

Haughtiness is not the most severe passion,

But through it the enemy beguiled James.

Because he loved Christ, the blessed James hated the world and parted with all of his belongings, without needing any of these things. After this, however, through his cooperation with the misanthropic devil, he became prideful, to the point where he dared to say: "Who knows my salvation better than I?" He therefore pursued many and great struggles, not by asking the experienced, as the divine Fathers teach, but by his own will and self-indulgence, and through this he was beguiled by the demons.