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Archpriest Nikolai Deputatov

was born on December 5, 1896, in Volsk, Saratov Province.
A prominent theologian and church writer of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), who served in the Russian Imperial Army before emigrating and completing his theological education in Harbin in 1938.

For the Christian salvation presupposes an active life, in constant communion with God and with the help of His grace, fulfillment of His will.
The zeal to please God is very similar to fire. During a fire, the flames engulf the whole building, so the flames of zeal fill the whole being of a person. Salt preserves food from spoiling and the zeal permeates our whole being, drives out sin, which corrupts the body and soul and in this way saves people from moral and spiritual decay.
Martyrs eagerly went to their death because an inner fire was burning within them.
Pleasing God is a joyous procession to God, giving wings to the spirit.

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Seraphim (Chichagov) of Leningrad

Leonid Mikhailovich Chichagov
(9 June1856 – 11 December 1937). The holy, glorious, right-victorious hieromartyr Seraphim of Leningrad and Gdov was the Metropolitan of the Diocese of Leningrad and Gdov in the Church of Russia between 1928 and 1933. Influenced by Fr. John of Kronstadt, he became a monk after serving in the Russian army, executed by firing squad, and was canonized by the Church in 1997 as a New Martyr.

St. Anthony the Great says that people are usually called intelligent because the word is being used incorrectly.
It’s not those who have studied the speeches and writings of the ancient philosophers who are intelligent, but those whose souls are intelligent, who can discern between good and evil; they flee the evil and the harmful, but they rejoice in what is good and soul-profiting; these alone should, in truth, be called human.
A truly intelligent man has one care: to obey and please God in everything, giving thanks for sorrows and woes, believing that they are for our benefit. An intelligent man is he who pleases God and is silent more, or if he speaks, does so only a little and says only what is necessary and pleasing to God.
The mind that’s located in a pure and God-loving soul truly sees God—unborn, unseen, unspoken—the only Pure one for the pure in heart.

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St. Silouan the Athonite

Semyon Ivanovich Antonov (January 17, 1866, village of Shovskoye, Tambov province — September 11 [24], 1938, Athos, Greece) -
Russian Saint who lived on Mt. Athos in the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and known for his ascetic feats and spiritual teachings.
He was glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople on November 26, 1987.

Some people argue about faith, and there is no end to these arguments, but there is no need to argue. Instead, we should pray to God and the Mother of God, and the Lord will enlighten us without argument, and soon.

Many have studied all the faiths, but they have not learned the true faith as it should be. But those who humble themselves and pray to God to enlighten them will be given the knowledge of how much God loves them.
Proud people think they can understand everything with their minds, but God does not allow them to.
But we know the Lord: He has shown Himself to us by the Holy Spirit, and the soul knows Him, and is glad, and cheerful, and at peace, and this is our holy life.

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Saint Luke, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea

Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky 
(14 April 1877, Kerch, the Soviet Union–11 June 1961, Simferopol) – was a Russian surgeon, spiritual writer, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, and archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea from May 1946 until his death.
He was a laureate of the Stalin Prize in medicine in 1946.

Let us watch our hearts; let us evaluate what goes from within us and from our mouths.
Let us live according to the commandments of holy love, for the entire Law of Christ can be summed up in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27).
Let us remember this, and God will bless us and forgive all our sins.

Help us, O Lord, to love you till the end of our lives.
Help us to pursue the path that You showed to us.
Help us to get rid of the devil’s power and the temptations he comes up with.
Guide us on the path of salvation and lead us into your Kingdom. Amen.

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Hieroschemamonk Macarius of Optina, venerable

Mikhail Nikolaevich Ivanov (November 20 (December3), Dmitrov district, Oryol viceroyalty, 1788 – September 7 (20), 1860, Optina Hermitage) a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church and a venerable Optina elder.

The Lord has shown the way to everyone seeking salvation: the fulfillment of His commandments, which have been passed down to us through the Holy Gospel, and which consist in love of God and neighbor. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me (Jn. 14:21), said the Lord.
The Holy Fathers, having in deed accomplished their journey down this path, have left us instruction on how we may also take this path, and have shown us various ways in accordance with every one of our inner-dispositions that can help us attain salvation. And just as pride is the cause of every fall, evil, and unease, so on the contrary does humility vanquish all passions and sins, and brings one tranquility according to the words of the Lord: Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Mt. 11:29).

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Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Alexander Vasilievich Mileant
(22 July 1938, Odessa – 12 September 2005, California) - bishop of Buenos Aires and South America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
Bishop Alexander is well known for his missionary leaflets. From 1985 to 2005 Bishop Alexander published a total of 763 brochures: 300 in Russian, 192 in English, 168 in Spanish and 103 in Portuguese.

Every person is familiar with his inner voice which on occasion accuses and oppresses him, and on occasion brings him joy. This small subtle voice, an inborn feeling, is called conscience. Conscience by its nature is a spiritual instinct, which more clearly and quickly differentiates between good and evil than does the mind. He who listens to the voice of his conscience will never regret or be ashamed of his behavior.

In the Holy Scripture conscience is also called «heart.» In the Sermon on the mount the Lord Jesus Christ compared conscience to the «eyes» by which a person can evaluate his moral condition (Matt. 6:22). The Lord also compared conscience to a «rival» with whom a person must come to terms before he presents himself at God's Judgment (Matt. 5:25). The word «rival» stresses the main attribute of conscience: to oppose our evil desires and intentions.

Our personal experience convinces us that this inner voice, called conscience, is not under our control but expresses itself spontaneously in spite of our will. In addition, just as we cannot persuade ourselves that we are full when we are hungry or that we are rested when we are tired, similarly we cannot convince ourselves that our behavior is correct when our conscience tells us otherwise.

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Nectarius  of Optina
(Tikhonov)

Nikolai Vasilyevich Tikhonov
was a Hieroschemamonk among the group of monastics of Optina Monastery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who were known as the Optina Elders.
The Elder Nectarius is venerated on April 29 and with all the Optina Elders on October 11.

It would seem that it is enough for us to say "Lord, have mercy" once in prayer, and we say three, twelve, and forty times in church.
This is for those sufferers who can't even say" Lord, have mercy, " and the Church says it for them. And the Lord hears, and at first — a little bit of grace, like a light, and then more and more, and it turns out relief."
My father said to one spiritual son:"I will light a lamp for you, and you will take care of the wick yourself."

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St.Philaret of Moscow

Vasily Mikhaylovich Drozdov
(26 December 1782/6 January 1783 – 1 December 1867) - Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna and the most influential figure in the Russian Orthodox Church for more than 40 years, from 1821 to 1867.

The Lord himself said, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." 20:35). When food is given to a hungry person or warm clothes are given to a shivering person, does he not feel happy at that time? But the Lord assures us that at the same time, the giver is more blessed. Where can this bliss be found? In a God-loving and human-loving Heart. What is this bliss?
In the feeling of doing and having done good, in the testimony of conscience about the fulfillment of God's will in us, and in the joy of the neighbor who has been gladdened by us.
A person, while preserving within himself, albeit not perfectly, the image of the All-Good God, according to whom he was created, rejoices in all good, even when he only hears about it, so it is natural for him to be blissful when he does good himself.
In addition to this inner bliss, the word of God promises a charitable person not only inner happiness, but also special providence from God: "In the day of trouble, the Lord will deliver him. "The Lord will preserve him" (Ps. 40:2-3).

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St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov
(February 5 [18],1807-April 30 [May 13],1867) stands out as one of the greatest patristic writers of the nineteenth century.
This great Russian saint left to Orthodox Christians a compass by which we can check our direction as we traverse the complex path of spiritual life, to avoid the dark forests and pitfalls of spiritual delusion and pride.

Those who have been enriched with a living faith in Christ are changed in their attitude to the visible world and earthly life: the law and sentence of corruption, change, and end in the perishable objects of the visible world become apparent to their pure eyes; earthly advantages, as short-lived, are insignificant to these pure eyes.

Enriched with living faith in Christ, they fly like winged ones through all sorrows, through all the most difficult circumstances. Drunk with faith in the all-powerful God, they do not see labor in work, nor do they feel disease in sickness. They recognize God as the only active force in the universe, and they have made Him their own through living faith in Him.

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Saint Sergiy Mechev
Holy Martyr

Sergei (Sergius) Alekseevich Mechev
(September (17) 30, 1892, Moscow - January 6, 1942, Yaroslavl) - archpriest, fourth child of Archpriest Alexei Mechev, saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Throughout his life, Saint Sergiy Mechev was a good shepherd to his flock, a beloved head of a church parish, and also an outstanding and unwavering witness of Christ who remained steadfast in his faith, ultimately rising to the highest form of service to Him, the feat of martyrdom.

By the grace of God, we are once again at the door of Lent. Today, the Holy Church gives us a hymn that reminds us that this is the most opportune time for us to repent:
"Open to me the doors of repentance, O Lifegiver; For my spirit rises early to pray towards Thy holy Temple!.."

One holy father, when he was called to judge a brother who had sinned, went out, took a large bag of sand, and carried it behind him, and in front of him he carried a small basket with a little sand in it. When he was asked what this meant, he replied, "This bag is my sins, and I have left them behind me, because I have not repented of them. These few sins of my brother are before me, and I am troubled by them."

In order to walk the right path, we must not boast of our virtues, for they are from God, and we must not look at our brother's sins, but instead focus on the vast bag of our own sins.

If we look at our sins, we will come to prayer not like the Pharisee, but like the tax collector, and we will ask, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

It is only in this state that we can approach the second week, the week of the prodigal son, for only then will the Lord accept the prodigal son when he comes as a tax collector. The Pharisee does not need a father; he has already achieved everything on his own. But the one who cries over his own sins and does not see the sins of others can come, fall at the Father's feet, and say, "Accept me as one of Your hired workers."

Amen.

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Archimandrite Cyril

Ivan Dmitrievich Pavlov                            
(8 September 1919, Ryazan region -  20 February 2017,  Peredelkino, Moscow).
Russian Orthodox Christian monk, elder and Archimandrite, who was confessor to Patriarch Alexy II. He was also confessor to the previous patriarchs Alexy I and Pimen.

Most people go to church with the word "give":
"Lord, give me health, give me financial well-being, give me a family, give me children."
Very few come to church with the words: "Forgive me, Lord! Forgive me for my sins; forgive me for not loving; forgive me for forgetting You."
And, unfortunately, most of these words are never spoken.

Having attended church for many years, they do not understand that a repentant sinner with a contrite face should come to church, not a self-righteous person who is doing God a favor by being there.

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St. John of Kronstadt

Ivan Ilyich Sergiyev
(31 October [O.S. 19 October] 1829 – 2 January 1909 [O.S. 20 December 1908]) was a Russian Orthodox archpriest and a member of the Most Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
He was known for his mass confessions, numerous miracles, and charitable work.

The Holy Mysteries are called Divine Gifts because they are given to us by the Lord entirely gratuitously, as a gift, undeservedly on our part. Instead of punishing us for our countless transgressions, committed every day, hour, minute, and delivering us to spiritual death, the Lord, in the Holy Mysteries, bestows upon us forgiveness and purification of sins, sanctification, peace of soul, healing and health of soul and body, and every good thing, solely through our faith.

If, then, the Master daily bestows Himself, His Divine Mysteries, upon us gratuitously for us to partake of, should we not urgently give gratuitously, as a gift, perishable goods: money, food, drink, clothing – to those who ask them of us?

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Reverend Maximus the Greek, Maximos the Hagiorite

Commemoration
January 21/February 3

Michael Trivolis
(1475,  Arta, Greece - 1556,  Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius)
Orthodox monk, humanist scholar, and linguist, whose principal role in the translation of the Scriptures and philosophical–theological literature into the Russian language. 
In 1988, Maxim the Greek was canonized as a saint of God for All-Russian church veneration.

Reverend Maximus the Greek lived at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was the son of a wealthy Greek dignitary. In his youth, Maximus traveled extensively and studied languages and sciences in European countries. He took monastic vows at the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos. At this time, Grand Prince Vasily Ioannovich of Moscow wished to sort through the Greek archive of his mother, Sophia Palaiologina. He asked the Patriarch of Constantinople to send him a learned Greek. Thus, Maximus arrived in Moscow. He not only worked on the archive but also translated various theological and liturgical works into the Slavic language. At that time, Grand Prince Vasily Ioannovich intended to annul his marriage to his wife, Solomonia, because she could not bear him an heir. Maximus spoke out in condemnation of this act. The Reverend was imprisoned.
Аn angel appeared to him and said: "Endure, elder! By these torments, you will be delivered from eternal torments."
Reverend Maximus the Greek spent the last years of his life in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
He continued to labor, translating the Psalter from Greek into the Slavic language.

The beauty of a mindful soul is found in its warm earnestness towards God.
Everything else that is beautiful on earth is a falsehood,
utterly vain and passing."

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Alexius Mechev, archpriest of Moscow, righteous


Alexei Alexeevich Mechev
(March 17 [29], 1859, Moscow — June 22, 1923, Vereya, Moscow province) clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, a famous Moscow archpriest of the early 20th century.

We do not imagine a Christian as a purely spiritual being, detached from all earthly cares and attachments. He is, first and foremost, an inhabitant of the earth, which inevitably influences him and imposes its duties and conditions of existence. He is a son of his fatherland, to which he is devoted, and a member of humanity to which he belongs. At the same time, he is a being endowed with mind and heart, with the needs of holy faith, knowledge, and goodness, and with aspirations for higher development on earth for the sake of heaven. In accordance with this calling, manifold cares lie upon him: in relation to the world, his duty is to labor and to arrange his external well-being; in relation to his fatherland, to honestly fulfill the duties of his calling and to serve for the common good; and, moreover, to engage in the work of his soul, adorning himself with purity of conscience and good deeds.

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Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky) hieromartyr

Alexander Ivanovich Zhadanovsky   
(March 6, 1874, Nizhnyaya Pisarevka, Kharkov province - September 27, 1937, Butovo firing range, Moscow region) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, bishop of Serpukhov, vicar of the Moscow diocese.

The external world around us gives us food for vain, impure, and wicked thoughts and feelings.
A beautiful house of a rich person, for example, arouses envy in us, a beautiful woman – lustful thoughts, and so on.
And if we experience this, it's a clear sign of the low level of our spiritual growth.
So educate your heart so that the external world arouses in you only elevated, pure, good thoughts and and feelings. Looking, for example, at nature, glorify the Creator; seeing wealth, luxury, say:
how great is man in the universe, when he can possess everything – in short, gather spiritual treasure for yourself from the world.

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Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
 
Andrei Borisovich Bloom  
(June 6 [19], 1914, Lausanne — August 4, 2003, London) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Sourozh. In 1965-1974 - Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe, author of numerous books, memoirs and articles about spiritual life and Orthodox spirituality. One of the most popular Orthodox preachers of the 20th century.

Humility, if we speak of the Russian word, begins at the moment when we enter a state of inner peace: peace with God, peace with conscience, and peace with those people whose judgment reflects God's judgment; this is reconciliation. Simultaneously, it is reconciliation with all life's circumstances, a state of a person who accepts everything that happens from God's hand.
"Humility" is a state of reconciliation, when a person has reconciled themselves with God's will, meaning they have surrendered to it without reservation, completely, joyfully, and say: "Do with me, Lord, whatever you wish!" – but as a result, they have also reconciled themselves with all the circumstances of their own life: everything is a gift from God, both the good and the terrible.

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Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

Ivan Mikhailovich Krestiankin

(April 11,1910, Orel—February 5, 2006, Pskov-Pechersk Monastery).
One of the most revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church at the end of the XX — beginning of the XXI century.

...It is difficult for me to answer your question for the simple reason that it depends on what a person is seeking in life.
So, look within yourself and you will understand.
To be saved, there is no need to run from place to place, fleeing from the circumstances of life sent by God.
After all, it is precisely these trials, blessed by God, that are necessary, beneficial, and saving for the soul.
So, dear L., I will not refuse to pray for you, but I will not give advice. Do as you see fit according to your own measure. May God grant you wisdom.
Troubles in the whole world will be the same, and this is a sign of the times.
And salvation is only in the Church and only with God.

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St.Tikhon of Zadonsk

Timofey Savelyevich Sokolov (1724, Novgorod region –1783, Zadonskiy Nativity Virgin Monastery).
Russian Orthodox bishop and spiritual writer whom the Eastern Orthodox Church glorified (canonized) as a saint in 1861.
He forbade corporal punishment of the clergy, cared about education,  opened many schools.

Leave the darkness and aspire to the truth, to understand the Truth. Remember the words of our Saviour: For many are invited, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).
We are called by His grace to have eternal life; so let us seek to be not only among the invited but also among the chosen.
Reflect upon this diligently and frequently, and you will grow to despise the world with its affections and lusts.

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St. Xenia of Petersburg

Commemoration
January 24/February 6

Blessed Xenia (Xenia Grigoryevna Petrova) was born between 1719 and 1731 in St. Petersburg into a noble family. She married Colonel Andrei Fyodorovich Petrov, a singer in the court choir, and lived happily until the age of 26.
The sudden death of her husband without repentance or communion deeply shook the young widow.
Xenia gave away all her possessions to the poor, donned her late husband's clothes, and began to wander the city.
Thus began her 45-year feat of holy foolishness for Christ's sake – a voluntary "madness" for the salvation of her husband's soul and to help people.

Having come to know the inconstancy of earthly happiness through the death of her beloved husband, Xenia strove toward God with all her heart, and sought protection and comfort only in Him. Earthly, transitory goods ceased to have any value for her. Xenia had a house; but gave it over to an acquaintance under the condition that it be used to shelter paupers. But Xenia herself, not having a refuge, would wander among the paupers of Petersburg. At night she would go out to a field, where she spent the time in ardent prayer.
When they began to build a church in the Smolensk Cemetery, Xenia, after the onset of darkness, would secretly carry bricks to the top of the construction.
Some of Xenia's relatives wanted to take her in and provide her with all necessities, but the blessed one replied to them: "I do not need anything."
Sensing the greatness of Blessed Xenia's soul, the inhabitants of Petersburg loved her, because she despised the earthly for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed Xenia died at the end of the eighteenth century, but tradition has not preserved either the year or day of her decease. She was buried in the Smolensk Cemetery, where she had helped build the church.

TROPARION, TONE 4
Having renounced the vanity of the earthly world, / Thou didst take up the cross of a homeless life of wandering; / Thou didst not fear grief, privation, nor the mockery of men, / And didst know the love of Christ. / Now taking sweet delight of this love in heaven, / O Xenia, the blessed and divinely wise, // Pray for the salvation of our souls.

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Patriarch Tikhon

Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin
(31 January 1865 –
7 April  1925), a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. On 5 November 1917  he was selected the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

On October 9, 1989, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Patriarch Tikhon, the Confessor, as a saint. Through his life and his holy deeds, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon followed the ideals he preached to the end.

The Word of God is a hammer, breaking and softening our stony hearts; it is a fire, consuming the impurity of sin and warming our cold hearts.

Make it a rule for yourself to read the Word of God daily, and read it with reverent attention, and then what seemed long known to you in it will suddenly acquire a new great meaning and significance for you.

We implore you not to depart from the only saving disposition of a Christian, not to stray from the path of the cross, sent to us by God, onto the path of worldly power or vengeance...

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