Your blessing Father. 36 years ago I entered a cloistered, contemplative monastery but was dismissed after 7 years, long story. when I returned to home parish I was severely depressed but no one in the Church reached out to me. Except the 2 modern type sisters who blackballed me in the Parish and Archdiocese. they revealed the nature of my penitent status and told everyone I was crazy. I fell into alcoholism, the old sin, since I had no support from the Church. Suicide attempts etc. Now 36 years later on the anniversary of my dismissal I found i was written out of parish history which isn't right because a lot of deceased people now donated to cover my dowry and an expensive hearing aide. If they don't name me, they should at least mention the sacrificial offering of the parish to send their first female to take vows and not lie and use one of their old pals who joined 20 years after. long story but I have been abandoned but I have discovered you and this describes me now but I have no one to help. well a young trad. Priest who comes once a month, I am 62 ill. please pray that I don't lose my soul to the pain and darkness.
I was down to my last “two coins” today Father. So sad and empty in my mind and body (yet still rejoicing in our Lord Jesus Christ in my soul) All that I had to offer Christ was - an act of love and service to my family: to quietly clean my home - that’s all I could do, but I asked Christ to accept these “2 coins” as the only offering I had. It seemed like the only way that I could hold on to striving towards Him and staying close to Him. As I lay down for the night now and listen to your video, I feel so loved and strangely connected to you and all the others here who sometimes go through this emptiness, sadness, sorrow, crushing despair. We are holding on for Christ. Amen
Sorry Chris that you are going through difficult times. I too am navigating many new hardships recently. Our focus on God first will get us to a better place. God Bless You
Christina, i just saw this video. Sent it out to everyone i could. Mentioned your post and your two coins .. I just left a comment which now comes before yours. I would have preferred to not dislodge yours, but that is what happened. Thank you. ☦☦
Thank you for this video, I feel dead inside both physically and spiritually. I am constantly reminded of my filthy sin. My body feels like it’s on deaths door. I don’t even know how to pray anymore. I’m constantly in a state of worry. Scared about my salvation.
Perfect message. I feel like I'm the walking dead. My body is still functioning, so I am alive in that regard, but I feel dead. I'm trying to hang on to hope when I feel nothing but hopelessness, but it is hard. Your messages come just when I need them the most. May God bless you & your monastery.
Pahlen Manjela Jacobin III Praying for you. I’ve been there. I read once a strange thing that helped me mature faster than anything. I say strange, because I’d never normally think to do this, but it helped like nothing ever before. It is to thank God in the failures and despair. To sincerely say thank you to God and pour out yourself as an offering, because somewhere in our stubbornness it may just be that we haven’t fully trusted. Sometimes the only way we stay close is to NEED God with all our heart. Once we learn to trust Him and thank him through it all, the burdens get lifted.
After watching this i felt a need to compose a prayer: I'm lying, there is no life within me Death doesn't hold me in her arms, but she is filling me with void Abyss is within me and it consumes me from within I'm bogged down in sin and i can't leave from futility I'm stuck and I last in sorrow and despair feeling nothing I've not given up only because of the holy stubbornness, which is the last hope leading to God It is Him who gives me strength in order not to stop Just as Christ has risen from the dead He is rising from me Amen
Our direction and hope is the truth and the light and the way to salvation which is Christ , and our effort is necessary laziness doesn’t have any use .......
Steven Wright I’ve went through months of agony that sunk me neck deep in sin. I saw no way, but the Lord makes a way when there is no way. He’s there for you brother; just keep reaching for Jesus. Keep on putting your hand to the plow, your breakthrough is near. Pour out your heart and receive His blessings with joy through the suffering. We can do all things through Him. His strength is sufficient in our weakness.
Dear Steven, stay as strong as you can. Rest as much as you need. Eat what you need, sleep as you need, just do not let for of waiting for Christ's Light to reenter your darkness: entrust yourself to your Creator as the child that you are, and He WILL come and embrace you in His Life-Giving Love. Stay safe and healthy, dear one. (I know with painful precision exactly what you mean by not being able to eat because of anxiety; bereavement and loss of people I love have done that to me many times)
I have a lifetime of guilt. It is a blessing. For me it is a constant reminder of what is wrong in the eyes of Christ. I won't ever repeat it. St. Faustina Diary talks about the joy of Our Lords sacred heart being an ocean of mercy... if souls only knew!!! remember there is no sin or even a lifetimes of sin greater than Our Lords mercy and forgiveness. Jesus beat death, by a landslide! Emerse yourself in his mercy. At 3 o'clock, it is believed that the Lord died on the cross.. get an image of the Devine Mercy & a Rosary and pray the Chapelet of Devine Mercy completely and in total trust the lord hears it and loves you..
We are strangers and aliens in this fallen world. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world. You are a man whose eyes are stayed on Christ obviously. God bless you words of honest candor.
I often go through this when I lack desire for God regardless of how good my material circumstances are. It leads to nihilism. Thanks for this video. I love your channel.
Thank you Fr, ive bin lonley and suffering from insomnia for many years i have bin exhausted and times struggle to go on. Thank you for this message❤️💞
Thank you. My soul is in need. The discontent is overwhelming, but I’m glad I am not alone, and that there are many people who have the courage to talk about this in strengthen others in their journey. I do want abundant life in my mind.
Pray with me and pray for me brothers and sisters I am crying for Christ to raise me from so great a dead place and the darkness that consumes me please pray Brothers as I cry
Yes, yes. When you are at the end, exhausted, overwhelmed, can’t even pray, just don’t leave. Just stay. Stay with sacred stubbornness. Hold onto the scaffolding. This is a most fruitful insight for me. ❤
Dear Linda, hold on to the things you know to be true. Even when your heart and mind tell you otherwise, remember the words of the One Who created your heart and your mind. Wait in patience, wait in humility, and Light will come again. Be blessed, dear one.
I’ve described myself as dead the last few weeks much to the shock of this closest to me. Today your words were the living voice of Jesus bellowing in the tomb, the Spirit hovering over the deep, and a light shining in darkness. “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and on those in the tombs bestowing life.”
Even if you feel that inner flame in you dwindle, hold fast because it only takes the smallest ember to reignite a great blaze. Praying for all of you, my brothers and sisters. 🙏🏻☦
Thank you for that reminder, dear one. Holding on to what we know to be true, believing that there is a sun somewhere, even if it's covered by blankets of clouds - that is the difficult part, but it can be survived by the grace of God. Stay safe, dear one
This message really hit home, Father. Many days I am a zombie swirling in the sea of passions, sorrow, and hopelessness. Even to keep my simple prayer rule feels impossible, and I get out a few Kyrie eleison's if I'm lucky. May the mercy of Christ save us all, through the prayers of his Celtic saints that you and I so dearly love. Amen.
Never lose Hope, never. Just look at the size of our universe and you can se a lot of emptiness filled with Gods love for us. Everything is filled with Gods grace, even our "tough" times are pathways to our improvement in Christ. God bless you all from Serbia. Amin
This man of God is such a blessing. So full of the Holy Spirit and with such faith, hope, and love The grace of Christ be with you brother. Thank you so much.
Because a bona fide Christian is saved by the grace of Almighty God, through the worthiness and finished work of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we therefore can stake our lives on this fact, even if nothing else comes with it, or if everything else is taken away (this seems to be the main message of the Old Testament Book Of Job and of the New Testament Book Of Revelation)! And thank you for this sorely needed message!!
Thank you. This is so needed. I feel we are living in the middle of the apocalypse in the US. If lent was incredibly unusual, Advent (with the elections and all the pandemic conspiracy talk) has catalyzed this void and feeling of lostness.
Thank you Father. Yes I also needed this today. Please pray also for my marriage and greater stability in our domestic life. Lord Jesus Christ son of God have mercy on us sinners. Most holy Theotokos save us.
I saw your video yesterday. I felt for months dead inside. I try to give my dead corpse in Jesus. Today, I woke up and I thought your words all day. I asked for a sign and you are the sign that given to me. Sometimes I am afraid when I can't feel inside of me this honey. Thank you very much! Greetings from Greece.
I’ve felt like this for years... I thought I lost my salvation because it came about soon after I said something which I was convicted was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. I feel like a shadow passing through graves in this life if I genuinely smile it is a huge miracle. Thank you
Thank you so much, Father Seraphim! How many times I went through this, being dead inside and just laying like a fetus, staring out of my head... If I may add my experience to your kind, loving and wise words, father, may we, who go through this, keep in mind that this, too, shall pass. There is always point when this dead darkness in us just comes to a standstill and slowly starts to fade away. We just need to keep this in mind. Everything is temporary in this world, and thank God, these dark moments are just the same. Stay well, everyone and stay strong, especially you, Father. We need to go through Hell to be able to appreciate Heaven. God bless you, Father Seraphim and God bless everyone here!
Thank you dear Father for opening your heart to teach us how to stand strong in Christ and not to lose hope. God bless Please keep me and my family in your prayers 🙏
This was perhaps the most deep and beautiful message of hope I have ever heard in all my life. I do not think I have reached this state of being that you speak of; however, I do understand and appreciate it. This time in which we live is an awful and wonderful time. There is fear and death and despair all around us here in America and all around the world. Total change has come about while I was watching. Sadly nothing seems the same. I am waiting for my Savior Jesus Christ to return. I cling to Him and have found the tighter I cling the more He is with me, so literally with me. If everyone in the world could hear and clearly understand your message things would drastically change for the better in the world. God Bless you and keep you every minute of every day.
People are very afraid, friends have changed and they are very angry because fear has taken the best of them. Your words are like a breath of fresh air, they balm the heart and soul in this hard and unpredictable time. Father Seraphim thank you for your wise words and guidance and for showing us how to hold on to Jesus Christ every moment of weakness and fear. Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us and save us Amen.⛪🙏☦💜
I have found that in this time of isolation focusing on increasing my physical health through fasting, diet, and exercise has helped me so much in my spiritual health, when my body is active and healthy I can pray and listen so much more than when I am lazy and tired. Thank you for all the video's Father Seraphim, Good Night God Bless.
We all suffer, dear one. When there is so much pain in the world, even those who are safe from the poverty and pain of this pandemic, they also suffer, as they are also affected by the spirit of sadness and fear which troubles the world. We need to pray for each other, and we need to do our best, each of us, to help our brothers and sisters. Please stay safe and healthy.
Dear Father, thank you for this message. This was what I needed today. I will try to pray a little for everyone who commented that they are struggling too. These last days, it became very dark in NY, Thanksgiving passed without celebration, and we are approaching another round of lock downs. We have not been to church. Thank You, thank you for prayers -- and for your listening. You seem to know what we most need to hear.
I needed this today thank you…struggling as a Greek orthodox monk.. helping my heritage get a dwelling place for me and my priest and a nun that’s with us has been very difficult due to funds… but I must press forwarded.. please keep me in yur prayer ..Monk Nektarios
Thank you for this brother. Its the first I’ve watched your video. The last couple of months have been some of my hardest. Sometimes I feel hopeless, like I’m just failing in my flesh, my mind is crazy, just so much. I feel sometimes not to say anything to Jesus. But then, I feel him still saying, he is there.
Dear Mihael, thank you for your prayers and your blessing. May we all get through this dark period safely, and may we all learn (against all hope) that salvation comes from love and humility, from putting our brother and our sister above ourselves. Stay safe and healthy, dear one.
Father.... What a great source of life/love you are here..... This am I listened to Bishop Sheen/Roman Catholic... who is a great orator & helpful Soul in my journey.. I listened to his talks on death.... a Great Doctor of the Church St. Alphonse Liguori..... I want to continue to learn NOW beforehand..... best to you 💗💗💗🤗👀
I needed to hear that message. Felt like that last week. Total pit of crying despair and couldn’t find the words to pray. I finally was able to get out the prayer to St. Michael and asked my guardian angel to help me. Then I reached out for my small cross and just kept repeating, Jesus, I trust in you” until I finally fell asleep. The most four powerful words I could think of to pray.
I totally relate to your experience. I have found praying the scriptures helps. E.g. read Psalm 34 and turn it into your own prayer, verse by verse. I am not orthodox or Catholic, so do not pray to saints or angels, only to God the Father in the Name of Jesus. We have access to the Father through the shed blood of Jesus. So your prayer to Jesus, in my humble opinion, was what helped. However, I have learned so much from Orthodox believers and would go to an Orthodox Church if there were one near me! What an encouraging message this brother gave to us! I pray the Lord Jesus will meet you in your need. God bless you!
O....DOAMNE AJUTĂ.! PARINTE ,MARE BINECUVANTARE, SĂ ÎMPĂRTĂȘITI CU NOI TOATE ACESTE CUGETĂRI.....PĂCAT CĂ NU SE POT HRĂNI ȘI FRAȚII DE ACASĂ! BINECUVANTAREA DOMNULUI PESTE NOI TOȚI Amin!
Father, I am for ever indebted to you for your beautiful teaching. You reached the depth of my soul. Thank you! I love the blessing of rain. I love the rain!
Thank you father♡ i will have this stubbornness for my miracle ♡ thank yoj♡ this is how i feel alot as if im a corpse waiting to go home ♡ i will not let go of hope♡
Absolute perfect timing. I'd just been reflecting on the crucifixion of Christ, his time suffering on the cross right before his death, and how I could relate with my own intense suffering at this time. Then you come along and upload a video that answers some of my questions! It seems I always come across one of your videos when I need it, God bless
when i went through this phases in my life (and might go again and again), I tried to keep on praying (although i do not know if you would call it a prayer). very often i could not even speak or think properly. one day i said to the Lord. I do not know for what it is good, but i accept it as part of my life, of my experience on my way to You. I trust, that You know about what i go through, and you know why it is good for me, in which way it may serve You, in which way you can use it for salvation of my soul or somebody in the world. if you want me to be like this till the end of my life, i agree, you know what you are doing. just do not leave me....... and it gave me big freedom. joy in the middle of suffering. i cannot explain it....
I've been there many times ... I'm not far from it now. Always, this stubbornness kept me. This certainty, that even in this depression, if I let Him go, it is final death. So I remember the blessings that I have received in abundance in the past, all the times His hand pulled me back to life. Of all those moments when there was in me, this flood of prayer that was not mine ... this unspeakable joy. The memory of all these graces wins over this enormous fatigue and this emptiness. I wait in silence ... I'm waiting for God. And it takes so much guilt away from me telling myself that I can just wait there ... stay there. Only Dray...but still stay. Because the joy is already hidden in the folds of this shroud. Thank you
This advice is spot on! Rarely is this experience acknowledged, even more rarely taught. Excellent. I have been experiencing this for three decades. My only solution is to simplify and to remain habitually in cell.
Father, thank you for sharing this wonderful message. I ponder on how Saint Seraphim carried logs and rocks in order to stay alive and also Saint Anthony the Great lived in the tomb because he had died to the world and later on experienced the death to Christ. And our Lord Jesus Christ had to descend to the hell before the resurrection! The resurrection surpasses all knowledge and understanding! I pray that we all hold on dearly to the resurrection, which surpasses all! Amen!
Thank you and God bless you dear Father. Your sincere love of souls is so beautiful. Thank you for a good shepherd’s loving care. May our Blessed Mother pray for you.
Dear Suzanne, we all thank you for your prayer and your blessing. May we all get through this difficult time safely and in good health, so we may move forward with more love and renewed faith. If we want to, if we allow ourselves to, there is much to learn from this pandemic and our reactions to it. Be blessed, dear one
Father, I grew up in a Hindu household but I do believe in Christ so I was thinking can I still pray? I wish to convert into orthodox one day..I have been experiencing irrational thoughts depression and anxiety lately. That is why I asked.🙏
Absolutely!!! 🥰. Praying is a conversation with God. Having a random conversation with God is praying. For the longest time I didn't understand the concept of praying unceasingly until I learned that. When I'm outside enjoying whatever it is I'm doing or seeing and giving thanks to God, that's a prayer. When I'm in distress and going through my list of grievances, and asking God "Why, what, and how," that's a prayer. Another eye opener for me was when I read from Sr. Faustina that Our Father wants to hear from us about all thing, always, especially what burdens and grieves us. He wants us to completely trust and hand it over to him. Admittedly, that last one is hard for me. It's a work in progress. As instructed by the Angel of Peace at Fatima, "Pray. Pray very much"
Sacred stubbornness! Very well said! That's exactly what keeps me moving in these depressing times. May the Good Lord and His Dear Mother watch you and protect you always!
John 4 18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how much He loves us. He is always with us. There is no more coming in and going out, unless that’s what we want. I just want to keep sitting at the table and waiting in love. Because the more doubt and confusion the enemy brings to destroy the more I despise the lies. And the deeper in love I hold the hand of the one whom saves my soul. My good, good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
We truly cannot even conceive His Love, dear one, for His Love is not like ours - we love as an emotion; God IS Love, His Love is His Being. Stay safe and healthy,
This is very interesting: an instinct of God. Stubborn as a weed. The prayer of the dead. Your faith is immeasurably stronger than mine. Thank you for the scaffolding of faith. Thank you for caring for others.
Thank you Father, this video came just in time! My husband and I and our three children, were baptized earlier this year into the orthodox faith. What a beautiful faith! I really benefit from and appreciate your videos! Please pray for our family Father, as it has not been an easy transition from our former church.
Thank you Father Serafim. I badly needed this I could hardly believe it when I saw the title. I am such an idle wretch of late and there is no life in me, paralysed by uncertainty and I had all but stopped praying for shame. This was everything I needed to hear. God bless you.
Father, you caught me in a state like this. I should say that I could not have hoped for a better gift than this one (it is true that I've prayed to St Fillan today for healing and an answer to be able to go on). Thank you, glory to God in His Saints. Please pray for me. Much love, I ask for your precious blessing
St Fillan is SUCH a wonderful Saint, dear Gabriela. He has given both us beautiful gifts today: to you, he has given the comfort of this video; to us, he has given us the joy to know that we have been of some help. May we all be blessed, dear one.
GOD give you and all yours the blessings of kindness and LOVE of blessings Thank you from my inner strength for the understanding I need to help myself to be strong in Christ
A husband should love his wife as christ loved church. He gave his life. A woman should listen to the husband....(). I think it is important to remember this words of Apostel Paul everyday. Maybe it can help you to change or do something better.
Thank you father this was a great video and so helpful I have been feeling like this for a while not knowing what to do my light feels so dim please pray for me father I can’t thank you enough for this video god bless you
I’ve been starting to fast and every time I fail I feel so convicted. Today this whole day I felt to sad and as I watched this video it was a straight massage from God. He was speaking to me and everyone who heard this directly into our hearts.
"Christ is RISEN from this dead!" "Hold on to a sense of sacred stubbornness". Ephesians Chapter 6 reminds us that after we have done all to stand to stand and put on the whole armour of God to withSTAND the whiles of the devil!
Same here, dear one. There is something about them, especially here, in the Isles - the seagulls are wilder, larger and stronger. They remind me of the wolves I have seen in the woods as a young boy, visiting my grandparents' house in the summertime.
One thing i am totally lacking is forthright strident holding on to the faith. I see too many grey areas, in everything. I admire christians who have a certain inflexibility. I comprise too much.
Father Bless, I know the feeling described well as I think more of my spiritual life has been in that state than any other. I have found that the hymn of the resurrection "Christ is Risen" is a pray which is with me all the time as it has at times been the only thing I have left to give me a tenuous hold on reality. The dark night of the soul however has also been the place where I have learnt most about myself and about my Lord. This video has been a great encouragement too me as I face the real possibility of the treatments I am on ceasing to work before I get the definitive treatment I need.
Thank you Father. You have put into words what I have imperfectly had to do, not knowing any thing but to try and remain faithful and put one foot in front of the other. God never let's go of us. God help us that despair never leads us to let go of Him.
I love hearing your sharing of the word and your messages of hope and guidance. God bless you, and God bless all our brothers and sisters in Christ. All glory be to Abba Father God Almighy 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
and one more: ''Stand on the brink of despair and when you feel that it is beyond your strength, break off and have a cup of tea.'' Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex :-)
Nobody asked for, but everyone needed this video. Thank you Father..
Amen! Absolutely 🙏🏻
Thank you for all your teachings.
Your blessing Father. 36 years ago I entered a cloistered, contemplative monastery but was dismissed after 7 years, long story. when I returned to home parish I was severely depressed but no one in the Church reached out to me. Except the 2 modern type sisters who blackballed me in the Parish and Archdiocese. they revealed the nature of my penitent status and told everyone I was crazy. I fell into alcoholism, the old sin, since I had no support from the Church. Suicide attempts etc. Now 36 years later on the anniversary of my dismissal I found i was written out of parish history which isn't right because a lot of deceased people now donated to cover my dowry and an expensive hearing aide. If they don't name me, they should at least mention the sacrificial offering of the parish to send their first female to take vows and not lie and use one of their old pals who joined 20 years after. long story but I have been abandoned but I have discovered you and this describes me now but I have no one to help. well a young trad. Priest who comes once a month, I am 62 ill. please pray that I don't lose my soul to the pain and darkness.
I was down to my last “two coins” today Father. So sad and empty in my mind and body (yet still rejoicing in our Lord Jesus Christ in my soul) All that I had to offer Christ was - an act of love and service to my family: to quietly clean my home - that’s all I could do, but I asked Christ to accept these “2 coins” as the only offering I had. It seemed like the only way that I could hold on to striving towards Him and staying close to Him. As I lay down for the night now and listen to your video, I feel so loved and strangely connected to you and all the others here who sometimes go through this emptiness, sadness, sorrow, crushing despair. We are holding on for Christ. Amen
Sorry Chris that you are going through difficult times. I too am navigating many new hardships recently. Our focus on God first will get us to a better place. God Bless You
💓🙏
Christina, i just saw this video. Sent it out to everyone i could. Mentioned your post and your two coins .. I just left a comment which now comes before yours. I would have preferred to not dislodge yours, but that is what happened. Thank you. ☦☦
Thank you for this video,
I feel dead inside both physically and spiritually.
I am constantly reminded of my filthy sin.
My body feels like it’s on deaths door.
I don’t even know how to pray anymore.
I’m constantly in a state of worry.
Scared about my salvation.
Perfect message. I feel like I'm the walking dead. My body is still functioning, so I am alive in that regard, but I feel dead. I'm trying to hang on to hope when I feel nothing but hopelessness, but it is hard. Your messages come just when I need them the most. May God bless you & your monastery.
the feeling of never ending cycle of failure and despair, pray for me
Pahlen Manjela Jacobin III Praying for you. I’ve been there. I read once a strange thing that helped me mature faster than anything. I say strange, because I’d never normally think to do this, but it helped like nothing ever before. It is to thank God in the failures and despair. To sincerely say thank you to God and pour out yourself as an offering, because somewhere in our stubbornness it may just be that we haven’t fully trusted. Sometimes the only way we stay close is to NEED God with all our heart. Once we learn to trust Him and thank him through it all, the burdens get lifted.
Yes me to, but we must never give up, God bless you?
After watching this i felt a need to compose a prayer:
I'm lying, there is no life within me
Death doesn't hold me in her arms, but she is filling me with void
Abyss is within me and it consumes me from within
I'm bogged down in sin and i can't leave from futility
I'm stuck and I last in sorrow and despair feeling nothing
I've not given up only because of the holy stubbornness, which is the last hope leading to God
It is Him who gives me strength in order not to stop
Just as Christ has risen from the dead He is rising from me
Amen
Need this right now. I’ve been void of hope and motivation for a long while. Just done. Pray for me, Father. I’ve no direction.
Keep the faith Sbdn! You can do it!
In our weakness, the Lord's strength is made perfect (total reliance on Him)
Our direction and hope is the truth and the light and the way to salvation which is Christ , and our effort is necessary laziness doesn’t have any use .......
Been suffering for two months and almost not eating at all due to anxiety even though I want to. This gave me hope. 🙏🏽❤️☦️
Steven Wright I’ve went through months of agony that sunk me neck deep in sin. I saw no way, but the Lord makes a way when there is no way. He’s there for you brother; just keep reaching for Jesus. Keep on putting your hand to the plow, your breakthrough is near. Pour out your heart and receive His blessings with joy through the suffering. We can do all things through Him. His strength is sufficient in our weakness.
Dear Steven, stay as strong as you can. Rest as much as you need. Eat what you need, sleep as you need, just do not let for of waiting for Christ's Light to reenter your darkness: entrust yourself to your Creator as the child that you are, and He WILL come and embrace you in His Life-Giving Love. Stay safe and healthy, dear one. (I know with painful precision exactly what you mean by not being able to eat because of anxiety; bereavement and loss of people I love have done that to me many times)
I have a lifetime of guilt. It is a blessing. For me it is a constant reminder of what is wrong in the eyes of Christ. I won't ever repeat it. St. Faustina Diary talks about the joy of Our Lords sacred heart being an ocean of mercy... if souls only knew!!! remember there is no sin or even a lifetimes of sin greater than Our Lords mercy and forgiveness. Jesus beat death, by a landslide! Emerse yourself in his mercy. At 3 o'clock, it is believed that the Lord died on the cross.. get an image of the Devine Mercy & a Rosary and pray the Chapelet of Devine Mercy completely and in total trust the lord hears it and loves you..
Feeling your pain, i am in the same place, may my Lord & God & saviour jesus christ lift us out of this darkness!
@@sophiewallace8662 Have you been to confession?
We are strangers and aliens in this fallen world. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world. You are a man whose eyes are stayed on Christ obviously. God bless you words of honest candor.
I often go through this when I lack desire for God regardless of how good my material circumstances are. It leads to nihilism. Thanks for this video. I love your channel.
Thank you Fr, ive bin lonley and suffering from insomnia for many years i have bin exhausted and times struggle to go on. Thank you for this message❤️💞
Thank you. My soul is in need. The discontent is overwhelming, but I’m glad I am not alone, and that there are many people who have the courage to talk about this in strengthen others in their journey. I do want abundant life in my mind.
Pray with me and pray for me brothers and sisters I am crying for Christ to raise me from so great a dead place and the darkness that consumes me please pray Brothers as I cry
Yes, yes. When you are at the end, exhausted, overwhelmed, can’t even pray, just don’t leave. Just stay. Stay with sacred stubbornness. Hold onto the scaffolding. This is a most fruitful insight for me. ❤
Exactly how I'm feeling lately. Thank you. God bless.
Dear Linda, hold on to the things you know to be true. Even when your heart and mind tell you otherwise, remember the words of the One Who created your heart and your mind. Wait in patience, wait in humility, and Light will come again. Be blessed, dear one.
God be with you my sister !
I’ve described myself as dead the last few weeks much to the shock of this closest to me. Today your words were the living voice of Jesus bellowing in the tomb, the Spirit hovering over the deep, and a light shining in darkness. “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and on those in the tombs bestowing life.”
I’ve never heard anything like this before …. Thank you
Even if you feel that inner flame in you dwindle, hold fast because it only takes the smallest ember to reignite a great blaze. Praying for all of you, my brothers and sisters. 🙏🏻☦
Thank you for that reminder, dear one. Holding on to what we know to be true, believing that there is a sun somewhere, even if it's covered by blankets of clouds - that is the difficult part, but it can be survived by the grace of God. Stay safe, dear one
Thank you Father. This is the time of year my little boy died and is difficult. Your message gave me strength. God bless you.
I am so sorry for your loss. God bless you and your angel in heaven🌹❤
God be with you
Sorry for your loss
Your little boy is up above in heaven looking down at you.
Blessings, and may God give you strength.
This message really hit home, Father. Many days I am a zombie swirling in the sea of passions, sorrow, and hopelessness. Even to keep my simple prayer rule feels impossible, and I get out a few Kyrie eleison's if I'm lucky. May the mercy of Christ save us all, through the prayers of his Celtic saints that you and I so dearly love. Amen.
In the name of our Holy God Jesus Amen! Your timing never fails!❤️🙏🏽☦️
Amin!!
Never lose Hope, never. Just look at the size of our universe and you can se a lot of emptiness filled with Gods love for us. Everything is filled with Gods grace, even our "tough" times are pathways to our improvement in Christ. God bless you all from Serbia. Amin
This man preaches what I believe.
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. Thank you, Father. You have such sincerity and kindness. Thank you.
Whoever you are, dear one: may Christ bless you, may he lead you from any darkness into His Light. Please stay safe and healthy
Thank you so much GOD bless u for sharing your wisdom your teaching give strength life hope especially in this difficult time 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Pray for me, Father. My faith is at risk these days. Too much disconnection, too much grief.
This man of God is such a blessing. So full of the Holy Spirit and with such faith, hope, and love
The grace of Christ be with you brother. Thank you so much.
Because a bona fide Christian is saved by the grace of Almighty God, through the worthiness and finished work of
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we therefore can stake our lives on this fact, even if nothing else comes with it,
or if everything else is taken away (this seems to be the main message of the Old Testament Book Of Job and of
the New Testament Book Of Revelation)! And thank you for this sorely needed message!!
Thank you. This is so needed. I feel we are living in the middle of the apocalypse in the US. If lent was incredibly unusual, Advent (with the elections and all the pandemic conspiracy talk) has catalyzed this void and feeling of lostness.
when you feel very bad and have very bad tempation or disasters say > (saint paisios 1994 athos)
many times
I feel the same way Camilla! God bless you and yours!
Father you pulled me out of despondancy this morning, God bless you and thank you.
Thank you Father. Yes I also needed this today. Please pray also for my marriage and greater stability in our domestic life. Lord Jesus Christ son of God have mercy on us sinners. Most holy Theotokos save us.
Thank you, Father This what St. John of the Cross called " the dark night of the soul " and it is terrible.
I saw your video yesterday. I felt for months dead inside. I try to give my dead corpse in Jesus. Today, I woke up and I thought your words all day. I asked for a sign and you are the sign that given to me.
Sometimes I am afraid when I can't feel inside of me this honey.
Thank you very much!
Greetings from Greece.
I love you Father. You bring so much light to my soul. Thank you. Donna
Dear Donna, we all thank you for your kindness and for the joy this comment brought us. May we all be blessed.
I’ve felt like this for years... I thought I lost my salvation because it came about soon after I said something which I was convicted was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. I feel like a shadow passing through graves in this life if I genuinely smile it is a huge miracle. Thank you
Thank you so much, Father Seraphim!
How many times I went through this, being dead inside and just laying like a fetus, staring out of my head... If I may add my experience to your kind, loving and wise words, father, may we, who go through this, keep in mind that this, too, shall pass. There is always point when this dead darkness in us just comes to a standstill and slowly starts to fade away. We just need to keep this in mind. Everything is temporary in this world, and thank God, these dark moments are just the same. Stay well, everyone and stay strong, especially you, Father. We need to go through Hell to be able to appreciate Heaven. God bless you, Father Seraphim and God bless everyone here!
Amin 🙏
You saw inside me. 😢 Thank you for this video. God bless you.
May God bless you, dear Ann Marie. May His Love embrace you, heal you and direct you to His Light. Stay strong, stay safe and healthy, dear one.
@@mullmonastery Thank you. I’m binge watching your videos. ❤️
Thankyou father, i am suffering, but it is self inflicted, please pray for me father, God bless you!
Thank you dear Father for opening your heart to teach us how to stand strong in Christ and not to lose hope. God bless
Please keep me and my family in your prayers 🙏
This is what I'm trying to do for years now, despite my poor mental health. Thank you for your videos. ✟
This was perhaps the most deep and beautiful message of hope I have ever heard in all my life. I do not think I have reached this state of being that you speak of; however, I do understand and appreciate it. This time in which we live is an awful and wonderful time. There is fear and death and despair all around us here in America and all around the world. Total change has come about while I was watching. Sadly nothing seems the same. I am waiting for my Savior Jesus Christ to return. I cling to Him and have found the tighter I cling the more He is with me, so literally with me. If everyone in the world could hear and clearly understand your message things would drastically change for the better in the world. God Bless you and keep you every minute of every day.
People are very afraid, friends have changed and they are very angry because fear has taken the best of them. Your words are like a breath of fresh air, they balm the heart and soul in this hard and unpredictable time. Father Seraphim thank you for your wise words and guidance and for showing us how to hold on to Jesus Christ every moment of weakness and fear. Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us and save us Amen.⛪🙏☦💜
I have found that in this time of isolation focusing on increasing my physical health through fasting, diet, and exercise has helped me so much in my spiritual health, when my body is active and healthy I can pray and listen so much more than when I am lazy and tired. Thank you for all the video's Father Seraphim, Good Night God Bless.
Perfect timing for a perfect message of encouragement when so many of us are suffering. Glory be to God in the Highest.
We all suffer, dear one. When there is so much pain in the world, even those who are safe from the poverty and pain of this pandemic, they also suffer, as they are also affected by the spirit of sadness and fear which troubles the world. We need to pray for each other, and we need to do our best, each of us, to help our brothers and sisters. Please stay safe and healthy.
Dear Father, thank you for this message. This was what I needed today. I will try to pray a little for everyone who commented that they are struggling too. These last days, it became very dark in NY, Thanksgiving passed without celebration, and we are approaching another round of lock downs. We have not been to church. Thank You, thank you for prayers -- and for your listening. You seem to know what we most need to hear.
THANK YOU FATHER FOR THIS VIDEOS....THE WORLD NEED SOME DIRECTIONS...THERE IS SO MUCH DARKNESS UP THERE.
I needed this today thank you…struggling as a Greek orthodox monk.. helping my heritage get a dwelling place for me and my priest and a nun that’s with us has been very difficult due to funds… but I must press forwarded.. please keep me in yur prayer ..Monk Nektarios
Thank you for this brother. Its the first I’ve watched your video. The last couple of months have been some of my hardest. Sometimes I feel hopeless, like I’m just failing in my flesh, my mind is crazy, just so much. I feel sometimes not to say anything to Jesus. But then, I feel him still saying, he is there.
The holy spirit is speaking directly in my soul through your words! Thank you thank you thank you! Blessings in return for this gift🙏🙏
Thank you for your blessings, dear Michael. We all need prayer, we all need support. I pray Christ leads you out of all darkness into His Light.
God bless you brother and repay you a hundredfold! Salut Croatia! ❤️❤️❤️💪💪💪
Dear Mihael, thank you for your prayers and your blessing. May we all get through this dark period safely, and may we all learn (against all hope) that salvation comes from love and humility, from putting our brother and our sister above ourselves. Stay safe and healthy, dear one.
@@mullmonastery God bless you dear brother. Mother of God protected you. Glory to you Christ for our shepherds. ❤️❤️❤️💪💪💪❤️❤️❤️
Father.... What a great source of life/love you are here..... This am I listened to Bishop Sheen/Roman Catholic... who is a great orator & helpful Soul in my journey.. I listened to his talks on death.... a Great Doctor of the Church St. Alphonse Liguori..... I want to continue to learn NOW beforehand..... best to you 💗💗💗🤗👀
I needed to hear that message. Felt like that last week. Total pit of crying despair and couldn’t find the words to pray. I finally was able to get out the prayer to St. Michael and asked my guardian angel to help me. Then I reached out for my small cross and just kept repeating, Jesus, I trust in you” until I finally fell asleep. The most four powerful words I could think of to pray.
I totally relate to your experience. I have found praying the scriptures helps. E.g. read Psalm 34 and turn it into your own prayer, verse by verse. I am not orthodox or Catholic, so do not pray to saints or angels, only to God the Father in the Name of Jesus. We have access to the Father through the shed blood of Jesus. So your prayer to Jesus, in my humble opinion, was what helped. However, I have learned so much from Orthodox believers and would go to an Orthodox Church if there were one near me! What an encouraging message this brother gave to us! I pray the Lord Jesus will meet you in your need. God bless you!
Bless you . I pray for deeper faith and please pray for my son Damien for our Lord to forgive him his sins and draw him closer to our Father amen
Fight to the end brothers and sisters. Fight for His glory. VIVA CRISTO REY!
Thank you so much Father GOD bless for all of us amen amen amen
This brought me to tears. Thank you, Father. I needed this today. God bless you!
Ditto 😢
I cried too🙏
Father,I think I will write down every single word. Thank You.
O....DOAMNE AJUTĂ.!
PARINTE ,MARE BINECUVANTARE,
SĂ ÎMPĂRTĂȘITI CU NOI TOATE ACESTE CUGETĂRI.....PĂCAT CĂ NU SE POT HRĂNI ȘI FRAȚII DE ACASĂ!
BINECUVANTAREA DOMNULUI PESTE NOI TOȚI Amin!
Father, I am for ever indebted to you for your beautiful teaching. You reached the depth of my soul. Thank you! I love the blessing of rain. I love the rain!
Thank you father♡ i will have this stubbornness for my miracle ♡ thank yoj♡ this is how i feel alot as if im a corpse waiting to go home ♡ i will not let go of hope♡
Absolute perfect timing. I'd just been reflecting on the crucifixion of Christ, his time suffering on the cross right before his death, and how I could relate with my own intense suffering at this time. Then you come along and upload a video that answers some of my questions! It seems I always come across one of your videos when I need it, God bless
Wow I thought I was one of the only people who felt this way may the God of hope be with all of us! Thank you Father
when i went through this phases in my life (and might go again and again), I tried to keep on praying (although i do not know if you would call it a prayer). very often i could not even speak or think properly. one day i said to the Lord. I do not know for what it is good, but i accept it as part of my life, of my experience on my way to You. I trust, that You know about what i go through, and you know why it is good for me, in which way it may serve You, in which way you can use it for salvation of my soul or somebody in the world. if you want me to be like this till the end of my life, i agree, you know what you are doing. just do not leave me....... and it gave me big freedom. joy in the middle of suffering. i cannot explain it....
I've been there many times ... I'm not far from it now. Always, this stubbornness kept me. This certainty, that even in this depression, if I let Him go, it is final death. So I remember the blessings that I have received in abundance in the past, all the times His hand pulled me back to life. Of all those moments when there was in me, this flood of prayer that was not mine ... this unspeakable joy. The memory of all these graces wins over this enormous fatigue and this emptiness. I wait in silence ... I'm waiting for God. And it takes so much guilt away from me telling myself that I can just wait there ... stay there. Only Dray...but still stay. Because the joy is already hidden in the folds of this shroud. Thank you
This advice is spot on! Rarely is this experience acknowledged, even more rarely taught. Excellent. I have been experiencing this for three decades. My only solution is to simplify and to remain habitually in cell.
Same here. I am in the depths of hell, I am so empty. All I think about is death and my sense of loneliness.
Father, thank you for sharing this wonderful message. I ponder on how Saint Seraphim carried logs and rocks in order to stay alive and also Saint Anthony the Great lived in the tomb because he had died to the world and later on experienced the death to Christ. And our Lord Jesus Christ had to descend to the hell before the resurrection! The resurrection surpasses all knowledge and understanding! I pray that we all hold on dearly to the resurrection, which surpasses all! Amen!
I really do feel like this Father, please keep me in your prayers. I feel hopeless sometimes and great despair.
Thank you and God bless you dear Father. Your sincere love of souls is so beautiful. Thank you for a good shepherd’s loving care. May our Blessed Mother pray for you.
Dear Suzanne, we all thank you for your prayer and your blessing. May we all get through this difficult time safely and in good health, so we may move forward with more love and renewed faith. If we want to, if we allow ourselves to, there is much to learn from this pandemic and our reactions to it. Be blessed, dear one
Father, I grew up in a Hindu household but I do believe in Christ so I was thinking can I still pray? I wish to convert into orthodox one day..I have been experiencing irrational thoughts depression and anxiety lately. That is why I asked.🙏
Of course you can! And I will pray for you.
Are you from india
Absolutely!!! 🥰. Praying is a conversation with God. Having a random conversation with God is praying. For the longest time I didn't understand the concept of praying unceasingly until I learned that. When I'm outside enjoying whatever it is I'm doing or seeing and giving thanks to God, that's a prayer. When I'm in distress and going through my list of grievances, and asking God "Why, what, and how," that's a prayer. Another eye opener for me was when I read from Sr. Faustina that Our Father wants to hear from us about all thing, always, especially what burdens and grieves us. He wants us to completely trust and hand it over to him. Admittedly, that last one is hard for me. It's a work in progress.
As instructed by the Angel of Peace at Fatima, "Pray. Pray very much"
Prayer is your birthright 🙏
@@ceciliavalladares3385 hi Cecilia, And actually a first generation Indian American. Totally born here, my parents are from India however🙂
Sacred stubbornness! Very well said! That's exactly what keeps me moving in these depressing times. May the Good Lord and His Dear Mother watch you and protect you always!
John 4
18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how much He loves us. He is always with us. There is no more coming in and going out, unless that’s what we want. I just want to keep sitting at the table and waiting in love. Because the more doubt and confusion the enemy brings to destroy the more I despise the lies. And the deeper in love I hold the hand of the one whom saves my soul. My good, good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
We truly cannot even conceive His Love, dear one, for His Love is not like ours - we love as an emotion; God IS Love, His Love is His Being. Stay safe and healthy,
Amen Kressa! ☦️☦️
This is very interesting: an instinct of God. Stubborn as a weed. The prayer of the dead. Your faith is immeasurably stronger than mine. Thank you for the scaffolding of faith. Thank you for caring for others.
Thank you Father, this video came just in time! My husband and I and our three children, were baptized earlier this year into the orthodox faith. What a beautiful faith! I really benefit from and appreciate your videos! Please pray for our family Father, as it has not been an easy transition from our former church.
Thank you Father Serafim. I badly needed this I could hardly believe it when I saw the title. I am such an idle wretch of late and there is no life in me, paralysed by uncertainty and I had all but stopped praying for shame. This was everything I needed to hear. God bless you.
Father, you caught me in a state like this. I should say that I could not have hoped for a better gift than this one (it is true that I've prayed to St Fillan today for healing and an answer to be able to go on). Thank you, glory to God in His Saints. Please pray for me. Much love, I ask for your precious blessing
St Fillan is SUCH a wonderful Saint, dear Gabriela. He has given both us beautiful gifts today: to you, he has given the comfort of this video; to us, he has given us the joy to know that we have been of some help. May we all be blessed, dear one.
@@mullmonastery ... and some tears of hope and joy. Metanie adanca
Bless you Father and Thank you
GOD give you and all yours the blessings of kindness and LOVE of blessings
Thank you from my inner strength for the understanding I need to help myself to be strong in Christ
Exactly how I'm feel this weeks.. Thank you.
Thanks father for this great talk.
Thanks for support us with christ power
Keep showing us and teaching us, how to pray, and for us to grow in spirit with the holy spirit to come into us. Keep speaking the truth.
God bless you from Assembly of God in Brazil
Thank you dear Father...I belive Holy Spirit spoke throu you to us(me)...Thank you my God
Request your prayers for the stability of our marriage
May you be blessed, dear Grace. May Christ bless and heal all that needs to healed in your family. Stay safe and healthy, dear one.
Prayers will be offered
A husband should love his wife as christ loved church. He gave his life. A woman should listen to the husband....(). I think it is important to remember this words of Apostel Paul everyday. Maybe it can help you to change or do something better.
My brother may god bless you a thousand times. For my lord knows , I needed to hear your words of hope. Thank you.
Thank you, father. May your prayer be with us all
Thank you! Pray for me!
Thank you father this was a great video and so helpful I have been feeling like this for a while not knowing what to do my light feels so dim please pray for me father I can’t thank you enough for this video god bless you
Thank you Father Seraphim.
I’ve been starting to fast and every time I fail I feel so convicted. Today this whole day I felt to sad and as I watched this video it was a straight massage from God. He was speaking to me and everyone who heard this directly into our hearts.
"Christ is RISEN from this dead!" "Hold on to a sense of sacred stubbornness". Ephesians Chapter 6 reminds us that after we have done all to stand to stand and put on the whole armour of God to withSTAND the whiles of the devil!
Same here, dear one. There is something about them, especially here, in the Isles - the seagulls are wilder, larger and stronger. They remind me of the wolves I have seen in the woods as a young boy, visiting my grandparents' house in the summertime.
May we all be blessed, dear one. May we all stand together and find our salvation together. Christ has no one to lose.
Church mouse 2 My most cherished childhood memory hosts a flock of seagulls. 🥰
One thing i am totally lacking is forthright strident holding on to the faith. I see too many grey areas, in everything. I admire christians who have a certain inflexibility. I comprise too much.
@@richardbenitez7803 God's Love is for you. Please talk to him about your feelings, and needs, he does answer prayer.
Thank you father I have the sam e filling now!! Thank you!! God bless you! Remember me in your prayers
It's hard to pray when you just have in to temptation. Pray for me, loved ones.
Father Bless,
I know the feeling described well as I think more of my spiritual life has been in that state than any other. I have found that the hymn of the resurrection "Christ is Risen" is a pray which is with me all the time as it has at times been the only thing I have left to give me a tenuous hold on reality. The dark night of the soul however has also been the place where I have learnt most about myself and about my Lord.
This video has been a great encouragement too me as I face the real possibility of the treatments I am on ceasing to work before I get the definitive treatment I need.
‘Hold on’ : this is the advice that I was looking for without knowing/ in my unconsciousness.
Thank you father for this video.
Thank you Father. You have put into words what I have imperfectly had to do, not knowing any thing but to try and remain faithful and put one foot in front of the other. God never let's go of us. God help us that despair never leads us to let go of Him.
Thank you, Fr. Seraphim. I have been feeling so alone and worthless lately. I really needed this video.
I love hearing your sharing of the word and your messages of hope and guidance. God bless you, and God bless all our brothers and sisters in Christ. All glory be to Abba Father God Almighy 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
This video came out just in time to speak to my despondent soul. Thank you, Father Seraphim. God be with you.
Amen Amen Amen Glory to Yesuha
and one more: ''Stand on the brink of despair and when you feel that it is beyond your strength, break off and have a cup of tea.'' Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex :-)
Yes. It is true 😀🌹🙏