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LOVING GOD WITHOUT STRESS
“It is a great art to succeed in having your soul sanctified. A person can become a saint anywhere... At your work, whatever it may be, you can become a saint through meekness, patience, and love. Make a new start every day, with new resolution, with enthusiasm and love, prayer and silence — not with anxiety so that you get a pain in the chest.” (St. Porphyrios, Wounded by Love)
Today is the day of the repose (on December 2, 1991) of Elder Porphyrios Kavsokalivitis, so I’m reflecting on some of the wisdom of this beloved, modern-day saint. I love that he encouraged us to make a new start every day, “not with anxiety so that you get a pain in the chest.” He often advised people to lead their spiritual lives based not on stress or anxiety, but on love. It’s such a useful and consoling tip, as we proceed along the journey of the Nativity Fast.
“We love God without contorting ourselves and without exertion and struggle,” St. Porphyrios says in another passage from the above-quoted book.“What is difficult for man is easy for God. We will love God suddenly when grace overshadows us. If we love Christ very much, the prayer will say itself. Christ will be continually in our mind and in our heart.”
Let us continue the journey of this Nativity Fast, dear friends, making “a new start every day” and not with anxiety. Holy Father Porphyrios, pray to God for us!
