That's scary!

If the Church shone with outward splendor, and spiritual gifts, and the consent of its bishops, and the multitude of its flock, and the good life of its members, then there would be no temptation. Just as for the Apostles the terrible temptation began on Holy Thursday and continued until the first meeting with the risen Lord, so for us the temptation of the Church, which began long ago, still continues, intensifying, and we do not see its end.

You need to support yourself with something; we must be transported from the sad reality either to the past, where there are joyful facts, or to the future, about which the Word of God tells us that it is full of ineffable bliss for believers.

Just think what happened on Tabor! The Body of Christ, the human body, such as we have, has become luminous; His garments (again, an earthly, perishable thing) became white as snow. This is what God's grace did on Tabor! She transformed the perishable so that it became light-like, and those who were close to the Lord (Moses and Elijah) were partakers of this light.

If the Lord manifested Himself on Tabor in this way in order to support the disciples in difficult moments for them, then the remembrance of this can support our faith in those days when trials came for the body of the Church.

Each of our prayer meetings here, each minute spent in prayer at home, is like a repetition of the Tabor miracle. There the body of Christ and His garments were enlightened, here, during prayer, our soul is enlightened, and with pure eyes it is able to contemplate God in His glory. Such a soul is not afraid of the passion days of the Church. She will survive them, seeing in all this a voluntary humiliation of Christ, and she will not waver, she will not change, she will remain faithful to her Lord. Amen.

The Three Faces of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands

On August 16, the Orthodox Church commemorates the transfer of the Image of Christ Not-Made-by-Hands from Edessa to Constantinople

The origin of this image is as follows

During the lifetime of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Syrian city of Edessa, ruled Prince Abgarus, who was ill with leprosy. Local doctors could not help him in any way. Hearing about the miraculous healings performed by Christ, he sent a letter to Him with an invitation to come to Edessa: "I humbly beseech You, wrote Augarus, "take the trouble to come to me and heal the incurable illness from which I have been suffering for several years"

This letter was brought by the painter Ananias, who was commissioned to paint His image in case Christ could not come.

Often and with all attention Ananias peered into the face of Christ, but all efforts to depict it with colors remained in vain. Then the Savior Himself came to his aid: having washed Himself, He wiped Himself with a towel. And a great miracle took place: the face of Christ was miraculously reflected on the towel. Ananias took this miraculous face of Christ to his prince in Edessa. Prince Abgarus received this sacred image with the greatest joy and kissed it; At the same time, he received considerable relief from his illness.

After the Ascension of the Lord, one of the 70 apostles, Thaddeus, came to Edessa and completely healed Prince Thaddeus. Abgarus from leprosy, after which both the prince and all his people accepted holy baptism. The Not-Made-by-Hands Face of Christ was placed in a niche above the main gate of the city wall, where it remained until 944, when, by order of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, it was transferred to Constantinople. And we can easily imagine with what reverence the inhabitants of Constantinople reacted to this holy payment!