Behind the Monastery Walls (Romanian documentary with English subtitles)

An absolutely beautiful & positive documentary. Monastic monks & nuns who love Jesus Christ with their entire mind, soul, body, and strength. It is a peaceful & loving situation that they choose to LIVE. Death to the world--death to the materialistic passions of this gross plane. We are stuck in this muck, treading water & living on borrowed time. The mortality rate for humans is 100%. Sometimes I wonder, 'what exactly am I supposed to do HERE? Why was I manifested on this globe? What does the Lord want from me? Anything? Nothing?' I'm of the opinion that the Lord wants nothing in particular from me. He gave me freewill, and I am to choose to LOVE.

"St. Theophan the Recluse"

St. Theophan the Recluse 

Here is a rule for reading: 

Before reading you should empty your soul of everything. 
Arouse the desire to know about what is being read. 
Turn prayerfully to God. 
Follow what you are reading with attention and place everything in your open heart. 
If something did not reach the heart, stay with it until it reaches. 
You should of course read quite slowly. 
Stop reading when the soul no longer wants to nourish itself with reading. That means it is full. If the soul finds one passage utterly stunning, stop there and read no more. 
The best time for reading the Word of God is in the morning. Lives of saints after the mid-day meal, and Holy Fathers before going to sleep. Thus you can take up a little bit each day. 

The Path to Salvation

"Mount Athos Tour 2009 --Monasteries of Mount Athos" [I edited the title slightly for clarity]

I stumbled across this absolutely beautiful video of still shots that a guy made from his trip to Mount Athos, Greece. Wow! This is so beautifully done, it's breathtaking!!! This REALLY makes me want to go to Mount Athos even more. I just got done researching everything I'd need for a visit. Now I'm prepared.....

" An Excerpt From the Life of St. Job of Pochaev " Orthodox Holy Monk

Here we have a link to an interesting excerpt from the book, Saint Job of Pochaev
published by Saint John of Kronstadt Press. This link takes you to the Orthodox Christian
Information Center. I absolutely love reading about & learning about the Eastern Orthodox Christian religion!  I find it so mesmerizing & fascinating!  Who would've known all those years ago, as a small Catholic boy, that I would be this interested in theology & religion in general?!?  
The nurse at my doctor's office today told me that I should take some theology classes at the local community college, since she sees me reading different historical religious books everytime I come in there.  Not that I haven't thought of this idea before.  I just get nervous & flustered whenever I think about things having to do with school & formal education.  I mean I love learning and reading and studying, but just on MY terms at MY pace & on MY time.  Does that make sense?  I think it does.

Anyhow, check out this link by this Orthodox monk & holy man!   I hope you enjoy it! ♥♥♥


An Excerpt From the Life of St. Job of Pochaev (link)