Sensul în viață, lâncezeala - părintele Teologos

and after that he reached a state
of rapture of the mind

that he began to pray in the evening
with the sun behind him,

was raptured in bliss

and woke up in the morning
with the sun in front of him.

An Athonite Cell –
Joys from the Holy Mountain

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, and now and ever

and unto the ages and ages. Amen

Through the prayers of our holy fathers,

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on us! Amen

At one point, long ago, a group of
physicians, university professors,

scientists from Italy or from England
came to the Holy Mountain

– I don't quite remember where from.

They gave us a questionnaire
because they were impressed

– the scientific world is impressed –

by the fact that on the Holy Mountain
we have a very balanced life,

few illnesses and we live a long time,

we are long-lived on the Holy Mountain,
generally speaking, the fathers.

They wanted to find out
what the secret of our longevity is.

They asked us what we eat,
how we eat, how we behave,

our sleep schedule, and so on.

And at the end of the questionnaire
the moment he asked,

he was taking each of us individually
asking us, he asked us:

"Do you still believe
your life has meaning?

Do you still believe
your life makes sense?"

Well, at that moment it was as if
a brick hit me in the head and I said:

"Of course, how could it not!

This thing is obvious."

The man somehow realized
he had made a blunder

and tried to explain to me that,
you know, that in the world,

many have lost their sense of purpose,
they no longer have meaning in life,

they think their life
no longer makes sense and so on.

Yes, why? Because Orthodoxy
provides the meaning of life.

God gives purpose.
Do you understand?

Orthodoxy is medical science
and what Orthodoxy heals is death.

This is the most serious illness,
brethren, death, rupture, isolation

– and Orthodoxy heals us of this.

Because people today
have strayed away from God,

that is why the meaning disappears.

The meaning of man
cannot be anything other

than eternal self-perfection
– every man desires this.