Ioanndi K. Elder Porphyrius. Athens, 1993.

Kaliatsu A. Father Porfiry. Athens, 2000.

Krustalakpus G. Starets Porphyrius. Athens, 2001. Elder Porphyrios. Athens, 2000.

Tzavra A. S. Memoirs of the Elder Porphyrius. Athens, 2001.

Hieromonk Hrnstpodul, a citizen of the Holy Mountain. The Chosen Vessel. Holy Mountain, 1996.

Various periodicals and publications.

The Love of Christ

"Christ is everything." [10]

So, life without Christ is not life. It is gone, it is over. If you do not see Christ in all your actions and thoughts, you are a stranger to Christ.

How did you understand this?

I remember one song:

With Christ everywhere,

There is no fear anywhere.

Have you ever heard it? And? This is a children's song, as I remember it.

This is how we should really look at Christ. He is our friend, He is our brother, He is the best and most beautiful thing that exists. He is everything. As a friend, He speaks to us and says, "You are My friends. Don't you understand this? We are brothers and sisters. I don't... I do not have the keys to the abysses of hell in my hands, I do not intimidate you, but I love you. And I want you to enjoy life with Me." Understand?

That's what Christ is. And there is no place for gloom, despondency, isolation on oneself, when a person is immersed and tormented by all kinds of thoughts, suffering from the wounds he received on his life's path.

Christ is the new life. Christ is everything.

He is joy, He is life, He is light, true light [11], who makes a person rejoice, strives upward, sees everything, sees everyone, cares for everyone, wants everyone to be with him, and everyone is next to Christ.

When we find any thing or treasure, we do not want to talk about it anywhere. But a Christian, when he finds Christ, when he comes to know Him, when Christ enters his soul and he feels Him, wants to talk and shout about it everywhere. He wants to talk about Christ, about what Christ is. Love Christ and prefer nothing to His love. Christ is everything, it is the source of life, the limit of desires, it is everything. In Christ there is everything, all the most beautiful.

Far removed from Christ are sorrows, despondency, nervousness, worries, memories of life's traumas, battles and sufferings. All this happens in our lives. We hurry there, we run here, but all in vain, and we cannot stop anywhere. But where we find Christ, even if it is a cave, there we remain and are afraid to leave, so as not to lose Him. Read on and you'll find out. The ascetics, who came to know Christ, did not want to leave their caves, did not want to go into the world for the work of preaching, they wanted to remain where they felt Christ present to them.