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"Addendum" – St. Sharbel’s Words |
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Addendum –
St. Sharbel’s
Words |
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By
celebrating the Holy Liturgy, conducting prayers,
holding conferences, printing tens of books, and
by putting on formal and popular festivals and
feasts, the Lebanese Maronite Order on the 10th of
November 1994 - together with its counterpart the
Mariamite Order - launched religious and
civil celebrations marking the 300th Jubilee of
its foundation. On that very night, as he was
praying in the cold, open air, near Saint
Sharbel’s hermitage, a young, married man had an
experience, new to him, of God’s love, fatherhood
and care (the purpose for which Orders are
formed). That man was Raymond Nader, and here is
his story:
…“I was
praying, as was my custom of many years, and this
time in front of St. Sharbel’s hermitage in Annaya
... I found myself in another world… everything
had stopped: I could see neither the candles
(which I had lit), nor the trees, nor the ground
anymore... I could hear no sound at all… I could
not feel my body. I started seeing - but not with
my eyes - things I had never seen in my life. I
stopped hearing with my ears, but started hearing
things I had never heard before. And I started
feeling in my heart what I had never felt before,
as if my heart was no longer made of flesh and
blood. I saw a strange and amazing light, unlike
any light I had ever seen: it was a sea of light
that extended from one end of the universe to the
other. The sun would look like a small candle
compared to that light... But it was not a natural
light; despite all its strength, it neither
dazzled nor burned… A soft and smooth light;
gentle, yet strong and powerful at the same time.
It had a crystalline color, and an extremely clear
and pure light. I felt as if I were a tiny drop,
swimming in a very great sea of wonderful crystal
light… I felt very safe, like a tiny baby swimming
trustfully in the water of his mother’s womb… I
felt an indescribable joy and great
amazement!
“I felt as if
I were perhaps standing, sitting or swimming, or
something else that I do not know. I was either
present before a great being, or in the heart of a
very powerful and marvelous being: the perfection
of power, of knowledge, and of compassion and
love....
“I felt as if
I were in contact with someone: in a strange way,
as if I was in contact with all the creatures of
the universe - together and at the same time. It
seemed the whole universe had become one, and I
was a drop of it - as if the universe melted in
this light and so did I... Then, in a strange way,
I entered into a dialog with that light. He would
talk to me without words, without voice, without
language, but in a way clearer than any words, and
more eloquent than any language. That light was
talking directly to my soul, and addressing my
mind and my heart directly - without passing
through my ears or my eyes or any of my senses, of
which I was no more aware …
“I said to myself:
‘I must be dreaming.’ He answered me in His way
and in His language which is devoid of words,
sounds or languages. He made me understand -
in a very clear way that can neither be
misinterpreted, misunderstood, or wrongly
explained - that I was not dreaming, as if
He were telling me: ‘No, you are not dreaming.'
Yet, I repeated to myself: ‘I am certainly not
conscious…’ In the same marvelous and clear way He
explained to me that I was at the pinnacle of
consciousness, and that I had never in my life
reached a level of awareness of my existence
and of my being as I had at that moment. It was as
if He were telling me: “You are now more conscious
than you have ever been in your life. You are at
the most conscious moment of your
life…”
“Then I
started wondering: where am I? What is this light?
Who is this talking to me?’ At that moment I felt
the most awesome sensation a person can ever feel:
a very great peace, an indescribable joy, an
intense and absolute happiness… a complete and
wonderful clarity… a pure and strong love that
exceeds by millions of times the love that exists
in the hearts of all human beings together… a
great and tremendous love, yet unlike that of
humans, a different one… a great divine love which
only that light can grant… As I was overwhelmed by
that wonderful feeling, and completely melted in
it, I ‘heard’ Him telling me: “This is me,” as if
I had known Him for a very long time: since my
birth, or even perhaps before I was
born....
“I felt as if
He knew me perfectly, since I had been formed in
my mother’s womb, and even before that... As if He
knew each and every atom of my body; and knew each
and every cell of my brain; and as if he knew the
thoughts of my soul, and my feelings far better
than I did… I felt completely naked in front of
Him and I felt that the light went through my body
from one side to the other… This light does not
cast shadows; He passes through everything… I felt
that He entered every corner of my
heart…
“I said to myself,
and thought, that I wanted that light to stay
permanently, and that I remain in Him always, and
that if He wanted to go away, that He might take
me with Him. But He answered me in His way, as if
He was saying to me: ‘I am always here and
everywhere; I do not go anywhere… I am always in
time, and out of it; in space and out of it…
(Raymond Nader’s diary, pp. 69-73)”. So far, this
experience has been repeated 22 times; each time,
Mr. Raymond Nader receives a message. Here we are
now publishing most of them. According to Raymond,
six messages are not yet published. Here are their
contents |
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1-Christ
is the Truth of Love Incarnate
“Before the
beginning, was love. Everything came to be through
love, and without love, nothing of what has
existed since the beginning, or is now, or will be
forever, would have come to be. In the very
beginning was love; the basis of the universe -
its law and regulations - is love. When all ends,
only love will remain; all that is outside love
will pass.
“God is love.
God is truth. God is the true love. The world of
God is the world of love; it is the world of
truth, and there is no truth outside love. Man is
not fulfilled except through love, and he does not
reach the truth except in the world of God. Man
belongs to God; he is the child of love, the child
of God, and his real home is the world of
God.
“There is a
way to God’s world, and that way is Christ. Christ
is the truth of love incarnate. He is the
proclamation of the truth of life, and He is the
way to God’s world. Every man, during his journey
through this world to the other, is called to
follow this way. And, as in every journey in this
world, a man must take along provisions and
weapons in his journey to the other world. The
only provision for this journey is love, and the
only weapon is love. This love can only be
encompassing of all human beings, can expect
nothing in return, can know no boundaries, and be
only unconditional. That is how God loves you, so
love each other with the same love, with God’s
love.
“One cannot
give this love from oneself, but can get it from
God, through Jesus Christ, to be filled with it,
in spirit. This is achieved through prayer. Only
through prayer can love be obtained from God the
Father, the source of love, through God the Son,
Jesus Christ - love incarnate - and
this love is the Spirit of God in man. Pray to
obtain this love, to love all human beings without
recompense, without boundaries, without
conditions, as God loves, and then you will become
Children of God. Man came from the heart of God,
and will return to God's heart.” (St. Sharbel’s
Words) |
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2-
And you will achieve the Objective for which God
Created You
“Why are
people going downward, whereas the road to God is
upward”?!
“People are carrying many loads and burdens
that are causing their backs to bend; their
foreheads are touching the ground, and they are no
longer able to stand upright and raise their heads
to see the face of their Lord. They are trying to
free themselves and each other of these burdens;
they throw them on each other and make each other
carry them, making their loads heavier.
“Only Jesus Christ is able to free all human
beings of all their loads, burdens and weights,
for a slave cannot set another slave free. Man is
born bound with ropes and chains, and shackled in
bonds within which he is reared and lives, and
very many are those who die in them.”
“People are getting used to these bonds which
are becoming part of them, thus making it
difficult to save them from them. The glittering
of their bonds is dazzling them so that they can
no longer see the face of the Lord, and the
rattling of their chains is deafening them so that
they can no longer hear the voice of the Lord.
They boast of the glitter of their bonds, which
hobble them, and delight in the tinkling of the
chains which bind them; shackles remain shackles
no matter how they shine, and the chain that binds
you remains a chain of bondage even if it is of
gold. Instead of polishing your shackles, shatter
them, and instead of composing music from the
tinkling of your chains, untie and break free of
all of them.”
“The Lord is in pain seeing as shackled
slaves looking for happiness in places in which
they will not find it, the people for whom He
became man to set free, and for whom he died and
rose from the dead to give life and eternal
happiness.”
- Your happiness in this world is not from
this world. If you were from this world, you would
stay in it.
- Your happiness is not in stones. Stones do
not give happiness: Why does man seek after gold?
Is it to give value to himself? Man is far dearer
than gold, man is the child of God; his value is
intrinsic. Gold does not set man free of his
shackles, but only makes them shine more.
- Your happiness is not found in other humans
either, for they cannot offer happiness as they do
not own it, and no one can give something one does
not own.
“Only Jesus Christ can give you true happiness.
People, however, have become arrogant, living
amidst asphalt and cement, their minds have become
asphalt and their hearts cement. Their minds
produce only dark and gloomy thoughts, and their
hearts are hardened, cruel and devoid of love.
People have become matter that moves without
spirit, and some of them are mobile rocks
spreading the stench of sin. People have become
arrogant and they insist on finding happiness in
sin. Sin only gives them anxiety, sadness, misery
and emptiness. People have become arrogant; they
boast to themselves, they boast to others and they
boast to God. Are they not aware that God can turn
them back into dust at the speed of lightning?
But the love of our Lord is great. Our
Lord loves humans greatly because they are His
children, and He has made of them a light to the
world.
“Every person is a torch of light; our
Lord created him to illumine the world.
Every person is a lamp made by our Lord to shine
and give light. Whoever gets a lamp, receives it
to illuminate the darkness. The lamp was made to
illumine the darkness. But these lamps are
preoccupied with their outer frame: they are
coloring their lampshades, painting them,
decorating them and embellishing them. These
shades that our Lord had made thin and transparent
to protect the light, have become thick and hard,
and they are blocking the light, and so the world
has become immersed in darkness. These lamps that
our Lord had made to carry the light, and illumine
the world, have become works of art that are
decorated, embellished and colored but unable to
give light. What is the use of a lamp that cannot
light the dark? A lamp cannot be seen in darkness
unless it lights up. No matter how beautiful a
lamp is, its light is more beautiful than it. The
world is drowning in darkness and this while you
are the light of the world. Your glass should
regain its thinness and transparency so that you
may light up the world, and achieve the
objective for which God has created you.
“God made every creature to fulfill the
purpose of its existence. Observe the creatures of
this earth; each one is performing its duty with
utmost precision and integrity, and no creature is
miserable. The most miserable creature on the face
of the earth is happier than the sinner. At the
day of reckoning, the sinner will not so much
worry about the harsh reckoning as much as he will
feel ashamed before the greatness of God’s love,
that love which created the universe and gave
life.
“Love is the only treasure that you amass in
this world, and which remains with you through to
the next world.
“All your treasures, money, glories and
achievements that you think you have owned in this
world and believe are yours, will remain in this
world; even your own bones are not yours. Only
love will go with you to the next world, and
whoever gets to stand before the Lord devoid of
love will die of shame, and that will be the
moment of his real death, not when he departed
from this world.
“Man dies if he does not turn into love, for
God is love, and only love is eternal. Let love
reign over your hearts, and humility guide your
minds. Pray and repent. Pray to Jesus Christ and
He will hear you; open your hearts to Him, He will
enter them and peace will come into them. But pray
with all your heart. Do not mumble words that come
from your lips while your hearts are with another
lord. Our Lord knows what is in your hearts and He
wants your hearts.
“Do not tire yourselves looking for the
truth outside of Christ. There is no truth outside
of Christ. Christ is the truth, and when you know
Christ you will know the truth and become free;
and Christ wants you free. Be not afraid, be
strong and be sure and confident that Christ has
defeated the world!” (St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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3- Your Work
in this World
“Christ is the way; remain firm in
Christ and follow the way, and do not let anything
move you away from Him.
“Stop by every brother of yours even for
a very brief moment, point the way out to him,
point the light out to him: should he choose to
walk by your side, then let him go before you, and
should he ask you to hold his hand, then hold both
his hands; should he try to move you away from the
way, or push you back, then let go of him, for the
road is long and the work is plentiful: your work
is to sow the earth with prayer and incense. Sow
the earth with love. Sow in the rock because crops
will grow in every rock that has a grain of earth.
Crush the rock that needs crushing. Keep striking
at the rock and never weary, for if it does not
break after the first and second strikes, it will
after a hundred strikes. Do not weary and fall
behind because if you do, someone else will crush
the rock, plow and sow. One sows in season and
reaps in season.
“Strike at the rock and do not be afraid
because the arm is yours but neither the land is
yours nor the sledgehammer is yours. Do not nag,
grumble, fidget and complain: the wheat spikes
undergoing threshing to separate hay from them do
not grumble under the weight of the thresher, and
because of the harshness of the threshing floor,
for they are being prepared to become bread and
nourishment. And the grapes do not fidget while
being pressed, squeezed and crushed on the rocks
of the press, for they become wine and joy.
Without the cross there is neither bread nor wine.
Whoever wants to become bread and wine must carry
the cross. Carry the cross and go toward the
light.
“In this world, man is moving from the
shore of darkness and nonexistence to the shore of
eternal light, and he passes through the seas of
this world in a ship, and the ships of this world
are many:
- Some ships are very beautiful, very
luxurious, and also very comfortable, because
their sails incline to the wind, and their
rudders sway with the waves. They face up
neither to the winds nor to the waves. They have
neither direction, nor destination to reach.
Most people rush to embark upon these ships
because they see nothing in this world except
the journey, and all they want is their trip to
be pleasant and their travel to be comfortable.
But no journey in this sea lasts forever; the
trip ends and the passengers of these ships end
up at the bottom of the sea, near the shore from
whence they had departed.
- Another type of ships has thin sails and
weak wood; these ships are wrecked as soon as
they are on the high seas, where waves rise high
and storms gain strength, and the passengers of
these ships end up somewhere at the bottom of
the deep sea.
- A third type includes ships that have strong
wood, solid sails, and that look nice and
inviting. But its captain is an impostor who
takes the passengers from one shore of death to
another. And so the passengers of these ships
end up on some death shore from whence the
return is impossible.
- And there is the Lord’s ship which has
strong wood and solid sails, and whose captain
is full of wisdom, courage and love. This ship
sails across the deep seas, faces up strong
storms and winds, and plows the high waves in
the open sea: The journey in this ship is rough,
but its arrival is sure.
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“Hang on to the Lord’s ship; do not be
afraid of the storms and high waves. Do not let
the luxurious and comfortable ships lure you into
boarding them because they do not arrive. Be
concerned more with than about the journey. Do not
let the depths of the sea fascinate you and draw
you to dive into them. The sea of this world is
for you to sail upon rather than to dive into. And
you cannot be at the same time on board the ship,
and deep in the sea water, or in two ships at the
same time.
“Hang on to the Lord’s ship and help
your brothers hang on with you: At every port you
reach, invite people to join you in your journey
so you may share the arrival with them; tell them
about your ship and Captain and about the shore of
light. But, rest assured that it is not what you
say that will make people embark on the Lord’s
ship, but rather it is your love for each other
and your love for the Captain and your trust and
your belief in Him, and the joy on your faces.
“Rest assured also that the journey on
this ship will only end on the shore of light in
order to continue with the light, because man is a
cosmic creature whose limits are the light and not
an earthly creature whose limits are earth and
water. Man is dust and light: Whoever lives in the
dust returns to the dust and dies in the dust, and
whoever lives in light, returns to light and lives
in light. Do not let earth confine you, because
the boundaries of your homeland in this world are
the end of the sea and the beginning of heaven. Do
not let earth enslave you; be free; freedom can
only be in freedom from sin: If you are free from
sin, then you are free and nobody can enslave you.
But if you are a slave to sin, then you are a
slave even if you hold the king’s scepter in your
hand.
“Keep the grace of love and the mark of
humility. Be true witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Confront evil with love, but do not use love as an
excuse to avoid confronting evil; a farmer does
not use rubble as an excuse to stop plowing. And
do not be afraid, evil will destroy itself.
“Fully commit yourselves to the Church and all
her teachings, and unwearily persevere in prayer.
Honor our mother the Virgin Mary, and arm
yourselves with the Rosary, because the name of
the Virgin Mary drives away darkness and crushes
evil. Be monks in the heart of this world, even if
without the habit. Sow the earth with prayer and
incense. Be saints and sanctify the earth. The
road of sanctity is long, but be sure that when
the thoughts of God are in your minds and the love
of God is in your hearts, then the strength of God
will be in your arms and you will arrive. Rest
assured also that whenever you are praying, I will
be praying with you so that you may be sanctified
and the name of the Lord be glorified. (St.
Sharbel’s words) |
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4- Your
Weakness is there for you to
overcome
“Every padlock has a key. And every
door has a lock that can be opened only by its
key. Death has closed Heaven’s door and sin has
locked it. The Cross is the key that undoes the
padlock of sin, trips the lock of death and opens
Heaven’s door. The Cross is the key to Heaven’s
door; there is no other key.
“Heaven’s door is where Heaven and earth meet,
at the summit of Golgotha. This door is
clear, tangible and visible, and every man with
eyes can see it. Some think that it has no lock
and opens to whoever pushes it. But when you
approach the door, you will realize that it has a
lock and it can only be opened with its proper
key.
The true key cannot be recognized unless you
put it into the padlock. There is only one true
key: the Cross of Christ. Do not weary yourselves
searching for keys aside from this Cross that open
the door of Heaven, and do not in vain make
another key. Many are the people who waste their
lives in designing their own keys; they cast and
strike keys reflecting their own designs,
believing that these keys will open the door for
them. And many are the people who mock the Cross
of Christ. But at Heaven’s door, the truth will be
revealed and all other keys will fail.
“All the journey of your life is a trip
toward this door; at the end of this trip, you
either have the key and you will open, or you will
stand there holding keys on which you have wasted
your life, and which now have failed and
disappointed you. Take up the Cross of Christ, and
you will hold the key of Heaven‘s door.
“Take up the Cross of Christ with joy,
determination, and courage, do not heed the
mockers, do not stop and cry with the wailing, and
do not lament when you fall along with the
lamenting. Neither weeping and lamenting make the
history of salvation, nor does beating on the
chest and wailing open Heaven’s door. The history
of salvation is made through tears of true
repentance. One tear of repentance opens the door
of Heaven. The tear of repentance will roll down
only on the cheek of the courageous faithful.
“Take up the Cross of Christ and walk in
His footsteps, then the Blessed Virgin will be by
your as she was by His side. And every time you
are wounded, say: with the wounds of Christ! And
every time you suffer pain, say: with Your
passion, O Jesus!. And every time you are
persecuted, contemned and insulted, say: for Your
glory, O Lord!
“Your Weakness is there for you to overcome and
not to use as an excuse. When you take up the
Cross of Christ, neither pain will bend you, nor
will fatigue crush you, and you will walk with
firmness, patience and silence. When you arrive at
the door, the joy of your crossing over its
threshold will exceed by far your pain and the
exhaustion of your trip, and the happiness of your
arrival will exceed by far the suffering of your
journey.
“Your way to Golgotha is very long in
this point of the world, and the Cross of Christ
in the East is upon your shoulders; you have many
enemies because they are the enemies of the Cross.
Do not make them your enemies. Speak to them
always in the language of the Cross, even though
they are your enemies because of it. The coming
months and years will be very difficult, hard,
bitter, and as heavy as the Cross. Endure them
with deep prayer from faith, with patience from
hope, and with love from the Cross. Violence will
fill the earth, the planet will be wounded by the
knives of ignorance and hatred; all the peoples
around you will stagger under the pain, fear will
be over the whole Earth like a wind, and sadness
in the hearts of all people. Ignorant and
hate-filled people will control the destiny of
their peoples and lead them to misery and death
through blind hatred which they will call justice,
and through dark ignorance which they will call
faith. Hatred and ignorance will prevail
throughout the world. But you, remain firm in
faith and love.
“The face of the earth will be changed; you,
retain the face of Christ. Borders, communities
and human systems will be wiped out and written
anew, and peoples will falter under fire and
steel. Let your love be without boundaries, your
community be the Church and your rule the Gospel.
Be the anchor that guides the ships straying in
the raging seas, and let your hearts be harbors of
peace for those lost, homeless, and seeking help.
Through your prayers you will invoke mercy, and
shower love on earth. Pray that hardened hearts
will be softened, dark minds will open, and
calamities and horrors will be reduced. Do not be
afraid, in the end the light of Christ will rise,
the sign of the Cross will shine, and the Church
will radiate light. Remain firm in your faith in
Christ and be not afraid, and trust in the God of
the resurrection and life; His glory is ever
coming.” (St. Sharbel’s words) |
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5-
Axis of the Universe
“The whole universe revolves around the
mystery of the Cross. Every man thinks that the
universe revolves around him and that he is the
axis of the universe. The Cross is the axis of the
universe, and whoever wants to be on the axis of
the universe, will have to be with the crucified
on the Cross. He who does not live the
mystery of the Cross cannot comprehend the mystery
of the universe:
“Everyone has a form and entity in time
and place, like a piece of ice, and people, in
order to preserve their entity, are afraid to draw
near fire so they will not melt: What is the use
of ice if it keeps its form and entity? If it does
not melt and become water it will neither permeate
the earth nor water the trees or quench the thirst
of people? Do not be afraid to draw near the fire
that melts you because it will turn you into
life-giving water to irrigate the earth. Let your
love be like a fluid permeating all places; do not
keep it frozen and give it a form and design it
because then it will not pass anywhere.
“The salt that does not dissolve will not make
salty. Spoiled salt muddies the water that it is
supposed to salt, and spoils the food. And good
salt that dissolves, disappears in water and does
not show in food any form, color or entity, but
provides the taste. You are the salt of the earth;
if you make your life your own property, it will
then be very cheap. The more you give your life,
the more its value will increase, and when it
reaches its full value it becomes the property of
all. The loaf of bread is the same, be it on the
table of the rich or that of the poor. A tasty
loaf does not ask who is going to eat it when it
comes out of the oven; a loaf is meant to be
eaten; a good person is a good loaf. The history
of mankind is empty without the Cross, because it
is a passing history, while the Cross is steady,
unchangeable. And your own history will be empty
without the Cross, because you are passing and
only the crucified gives you life and confirms you
in eternal life. It is the Cross that will
sanctify you in time.
“The beginning of creation, the present time
and the end of the world are all occurring, for
God, at the present moment. Sanctify through love
the present moment of your life; thus you will
come to realize the mystery of eternal life in the
presence of God. A man is immortal through love
with God. Sanctify time, sanctify your life,
sanctify every moment of your life. Do not get
distracted by the ticking of the clock: you cannot
stop the ticking of the clock, but you can be
ready when the clock strikes. Whoever removes God
from his life, mind and heart, will be crushed by
time and will drown in death; this does not mean
that God no longer exists, but rather that he
exists no more.
As light reveals the existent to the eyes,
Christ too reveals existence to the mind and the
heart.
“Without light the human eye is blind to the
existent, and without Christ man is blind to
existence. God created matter and set order, He
also created the mind and instilled the spirit and
gave life; just as through logic and analysis, the
mind comprehends order and understands matter, so
too through faith, prayer and true worship, the
spirit realizes the love of God and the mystery of
the universe, and gives life.
“Some flowers are picked in spring for
decoration, other flowers grow old and are left
till autumn for seed, while other flowers let
their leaves be scattered by the wind to deliver
their scent far into the distance and fill the
earth with their fragrance. God has wisdom in
every movement; pray to understand God’s wisdom
and live His will, and not to change His will. You
Father’s will is always your good.
“Keep wearing the fragrance of oak and
thyme, and do not take on the colors of this world
and be filled with its odors. The touches of God’s
fingers upon you are more important than anything
the world would dress you up and decorate you.
Walk firmly on the road of sanctity, and let
Christ live in you. Then you will live in the
heart of the mystery of the universe, in the
source of light” (St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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6-
Your Journey in this World is the trip of your
Sanctity
“All people
were given ears to hear, but those who do hear are
few. And of those who hear, those who understand
are few, and very few from among those who hear
and understand are living what they heard and
understood. Those who are heading towards the
Kingdom are few and the door is narrow.
“Listen, understand and be witnesses. Listen to
the voice of the Lord, understand the truth, and
witness to the truth that you have perceived and
live in it. Be silent so you may hear, and listen
to the voice of the Lord. But be careful not to
hear the resounding of the echo of your thoughts
and listen to yourself: transcend your own
thoughts, and let the word of God purify them,
erasing what it erases and writing what it needs
to write again.
“Man is a part of the whole; the part must
listen to the whole. Just as the drop of water is
to the river: a drop of water cannot be a river,
even if it contained from everything that’s in the
river, but the river is all drops of water on the
same course. A drop of water in the river is a
river, but the drop of water that is outside the
river's stream, is drop of water. Listen to the
course of the universe, for you are part of it.
The whole universe is on a pilgrimage journey
towards the heart of the Father, like the journey
of the rivers towards the sea. Do not accept being
out of this journey. The drop of water outside of
the river can never reach the sea.
“Listen, understand the truth and let it
permeate your spirit. Break all outer layers and
break up all accumulations in which the world has
wrapped you and which have covered you and blocked
off God’s face from you. Humble yourself and
relinquish the thoughts that blocked off God’s
voice from you, even if some of them have formed
you and made you. Listen with humility and let
your heart be soft and your mind free. Listening
without humility and repentance is like an echo
lost in the valleys: no matter how strong the echo
is, the mountain remains a mountain, the valley a
valley, and the rock a rock. Listen with humility,
understand the truth deeply, and bear witness with
courage.
“Listen so you may understand and know, and
live in accordance with the truth that you have
known: it is not enough for you to know the way to
arrive, you must walk it.
God will shed light for you on the pages, but
it is you who must read; God will light your way,
but it is you who must do the walking. Whoever
goes up goes up using his feet, and whoever goes
down goes down using his feet.
Wherever you arrive, it is your own feet that
got you there. Be always in a state of listening
and permanent examination of conscience. Redo your
calculations every day, change your life and renew
it. If you listen with humility you will hear and
understand the truth and the truth will set you
free. Free yourself from the ropes that bind you:
your own thoughts, your personal beliefs and your
passions tie you up like the ropes that tie the
boat to the shore. A boat on the shore in a port
is held by its ropes which provide it safety but
prevent it from sailing. Let the word of God untie
your ropes and cut that which needs to be cut,
rope after rope, even if you suffer. Do not live
inside your own passions and thoughts even if they
give you rest and security. Security is illusion
without the peace of Christ, and rest is a
deception if it is not in the heart of God. Do not
fear to free yourselves from the shore and to
depart from the port. Let God set you free, His
word guide you and the Spirit fill your sails.
Then you will reach the shore of light. A boat is
meant to sail across the sea and not to remain in
the port. In order for a boat to sail and reach to
the far deep seas, it must untie all its ropes,
and if even one rope keeps it tied, then the boat
will remain in the port.
Keep only the ropes that tie your sails and
guide you, along with the ropes of love and
partnership that bind you to your brother in
humanity. Your journey in this world is the trip
of your holiness. Holiness is a state of constant
transformation from matter into light.
“Pray to listen, pray to understand, and pray
to live your faith, apply and bear witness. Pray
to be transformed into light. Listen with prayer,
understand the truth with prayer, live and bear
witness with prayer. Let all your life be prayer
and service: if you pray without serving, then you
turn the Cross of Christ into a piece of wood in
your life, and if you serve without praying, then
you will be serving yourself only. Pray in your
bedroom. Pray with your family. And pray in your
Church community. Pray in your bedroom in intimacy
with the Lord; then you will preserve your soul
and open your mind to the mystery of God. Pray
with your family; then you will protect your
family and place it in the heart of the Holy
Trinity. Pray with the Church community: then you
will protect your church and bring the kingdom
closer. Your personal prayer alone with the Lord
will put you in the heart of God, your prayer in
the bosom of the family will place you in the
bosom of the Trinity, and your community prayer in
the heart of the church confirms you in the body
of Christ. Pray. A person who prays lives the
mystery of existence, while the person who does
not pray barely exists.
“Become experienced with silence; the kind of
silence that is attentive, alive, and far from the
silence of nothingness. Become experienced with
silence, forge yourself in love, mature in
sanctity. Listen to hear, humble yourself to
understand, believe and have courage to bear
witness, and love so you may be sanctified.
(St. Sharbel’s words) |
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|
7-
Christ is the Foundation of God’s
Building
“When the lamp dims
into pitch-darkness, it is filled with oil. Now
the lamp is dimming, its light is fading and
darkness is pitch-black. Fill your lamp with
oil before it goes out and darkness engulfs
you.
Attend to the oil of the lamp by whose light
you remain awake. Attend to the oil of the lamp
that lights up your nights. The lamp that watches
over you, watch over it. Your lamp is
dimming and the light of your home has become
darker. You are absorbed, looking in front
of you, ignoring the light that lights up your
darkness.
“Light up your darkness with your lamp as it is
night; do not sleep in darkness awaiting the light
of day to shine. When the light of day shines,
another work starts and you will be asked about
the night's work. If the light of your lamp dims
due to lack of oil, fill it up with oil, do not
stay up under your brother’s light and leave your
lamp to go out; you will be asked about your lamp
under the light of which you should stay up, and
that went out. Let the light shine in every lamp
until the day shines. A lamp is filled with oil;
it is neither filled with intentions and wishes
nor with water for humiliation; take care of your
lamp’s light before your work and your
production.
“Reexamine your priorities. Your ladder is
upside down. The small rung is at the bottom and
the big rung is at the top.
“See how the wise builder’s building rises: the
biggest stone at the bottom and the smallest stone
at the top. Many people nowadays are building
their walls in reverse: they no longer know the
large from the small, the first from the last, and
the important from the most important. And the
wall whose smallest stone is at the bottom, and
whose biggest stone is at the top, will crumble
and the building will collapse. Many are the walls
that are collapsing, and the bonds that are
breaking due to the ignorance of the workers and
the pride of the builders.
“You, raise your building with wisdom: build on
the foundation of Christ, the essential stone for
all your building that supports all your bonds.
Place your large stones at the foundation and the
smaller ones at the top. And if in one of the
walls of your building you see a big stone in the
high course and a small stone in the foundation,
then take down all of your wall and build it anew:
no matter how big and high your building is, you
had better rebuild it from the beginning than to
let it tumble down, collapse and fall down on your
head, or on the heads of your brothers or your
children.
“Rest assured that if Christ is not the
foundation or every building, it will collapse and
fall down. Do not be dazzled by the tall building
based on man, for it will collapse no matter how
high it rises, and time will erase it. If you have
already built your building and have discovered of
late that it is not built on Christ, then take it
down and build it again. A course built on Christ
is better than a high tower that tumbles down
under the wind. Christ is the foundation of the
Lord’s building, you are its living stones and the
Holy Spirit is the keystone. Christ bears up the
whole building, and the Spirit gathers together
all the stones of the vault and supports the
walls. The Spirit is the spirit of love. Love is
the keystone. If you remove the Spirit, you remove
the keystone: the vault breaks up, the stones come
apart and the whole building collapses. The Holy
Spirit, the spirit of love, the keystone that
keeps the covenant. Every stone in the building
has its place; every stone in a course is
supported by stones from beneath, supported on its
side by stones which it also supports. Above it
are stones that it supports. Every stone is cut to
fill its place. The stone missing from a building
leaves an empty space in its place, but leaves
place for rain, air, dust and wind as well. The
stone missing from a place lets in the elements.
Do not leave a space between one stone and
another, or else the building will end up weak.
And also do not leave sand between one stone and
another, for the rain will intensify and snow will
accumulate causing the sand to slip and the
building to fall apart. It is the power of the
Spirit that holds the stones of the building
together and not the sand which glues them
together.
“Remain firm in the building of the Lord.
Persevere in building up the Kingdom, and be
living stones in the Lord’s temple: the stone that
is not in the Lord’s temple remains a stone in a
pile of other stones; it has volume but no shape,
or place or role, just a stone thrown in a pile of
stones.
“Surrender yourself into the hands of
Lord, the wise builder, let Him smooth and carve
you, let Him remove excess from you and complete
in you what you lack, let the Lord give you the
shape, the size and place. Whether you were a
large stone or a small stone, you have your place
to which size you were carved.
“Let the Lord build you and then you will take
your place in the course. Do not put yourself in
the place that attracts you: if you take a place
bigger than your place, you will remain protruding
and you will disjoint the whole wall, and if you
take a place smaller than the place prepared for
you, there will be an empty space around you. Fill
your place, support what is above you, support
those around you, and lean on the one carrying
you. Christ bears all and the Spirit brings you
together and leads you.” (St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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|
8-
Sanctity is Your Goal
“Sanctity is your
goal, and perfection in love is your ultimate end.
Do not stop at the means of sanctification,
worshiping them. Do not make the means an end, nor
the end a means. Do not turn the means into an
end, nor the end into a means. Do not make the
means of sanctification your goal and end, and do
not let sanctity be your means to other ends.
Prayer is there to sanctify you; do not sanctify
prayer. Fasting is there to strengthen you; do not
deify fasting. Mortification is there to purify
you, do not worship mortification. Your hymns are
there to glorify God; do not glorify your hymns.
Do not replace Christ with talking about him, for
then you would be worshiping your words, and do
not replace the truth with expressions that
express it, for then these expressions of yours
will become “the truth”. A word is never more
important than the idea it expresses, and the idea
is never more important than the truth it is
thinking. A safe is never more important than the
treasure it holds, and a chalice is never more
important than the wine. The tabernacle is never
more important than the bread, and the monstrance
is never more important than the host.
“Christianity is neither a religion nor a
temple, it is not a book or a place of worship;
Christianity is the person of Jesus Christ
Himself. The mirror that reflects light is not the
light. Distinguish between the light and the
mirrors that reflect it. Do not focus your
attention on the mirror, but keep your heart in
the light. Do not escape from your selves to go to
God, and do not go to God so you may escape from
your selves. God wants you to present your selves
to Him as they are so that He might elevate and
sanctify them. Do not let the world push you
toward God, rather let God pull you toward Him. Do
not blacken through your writings the white pages
that your holy fathers had written. The truth is
always the same. In order for you to speak about
God, you must be in the heart of God; you cannot
speak about God if you are outside of Him. And the
Word was made flesh is not a sound flying through
the air. Carve in your mind every word you want to
say, sculpt it in your spirit, and smooth it in
your heart, bring it down from your mouth just as
you set a stone in its proper place in the course.
And do without the word that does not build. Do
not speak except when your words are deeper and
more eloquent than your silence.
“Do not let your words about what is beyond the
seas distract you from sailing. Go towards the
essence, and distinguish between the essential and
the superficial in your life, and between the
fundamental and the marginal, between the core and
the shell. In this world, you do not fill a basket
with water, or a pitcher with grapes, or a jar
with figs: just as you use the things of this
earth for your service, learn how to use the
things of heaven with wisdom from God for your
salvation, and for the glory of God.
“Every land has its own soil and climate, it
has its proper tools which you use to plough and
plant it, and it has its plants which blossom
there and yield fruit. You can neither crush rocks
with a garden fork, nor plough the earth with a
sledgehammer, nor chop wood with a pick-axe. And
neither do cedar and oak grow in the sand of the
coast, nor do bananas and oranges grow in the
rocks of the mountains. With the tools in your
hand do your work, and where the Lord has planted
you, blossom and bring forth fruits. If you do not
take roots you cannot tower.
“Accommodate your mind to existence, do not
seek to accommodate existence to your mind;
existence precedes you and will remain after you.
The Spirit alone suffices you and brings you into
harmony with God. You will understand the depth of
the mystery of existence through the light of the
eternal Spirit that is in you. Do not seek to
comprehend the truth through your senses, for then
you will be limited by the limits of these
senses.
Know that your senses exist so that you
may love through them, and not so that you may
love them. When you love your sight, you start
worshiping the creatures you see and forget the
Creator Who is beyond the limits of your eyes. And
when you love your hearing you start loving the
melodies and sounds of the world, and forget to
hear the voice of God in the silence that does not
reach your ears. And when you love your nose, you
start to give yourself over to the perfumes of the
world and forget the flowers of the prairies (the
source of perfume) that God has formed for man
with His love. And when you love your taste, you
become enslaved to food and drink and forget
nourishment. And when you love your [sense of]
touch you become enslaved to the outer and forget
the inner. Transcend your senses and do not drown
in them; reach through them to the truth as the
ray of light reaches through crystal.
“If you harden your senses they will thicken,
and the rays will bounce back from them like a
mirror, and they will reflect to you images of the
world. Do not sink into your senses, for then
their joy will start deceiving you; True joy is
not the joy of the senses, true joy is the one
that transcends your senses, and goes past them to
the heart of the light where you would drown in
the heart of God, see His light and melt in His
love. Go beyond your senses and go past them, go
beyond yourself and then you will touch the edge
of the light. Whenever you want to look to the
outside, close your eyes and look to the inside,
then start seeing the outside more clearly. And
whenever you want to hear, cover your ears and
listen to the inner voice; then you will start
hearing better. Guide your senses in order to
glorify God, and do not let your senses lead you
to glorify His creatures.
“Love to the point of self-sacrifice: love is
the only ink with which love is written, and
everything else is ink on paper. In Christ, every
man is a word in the mouth of God so that all
humanity becomes a song of love. And glory be
always to God.” (St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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9-
Your Future is the First Day in the Next
World
“Observe the birds of the sky how they
carefully build their nests, gently lay their
eggs, tenderly watch over their nestlings until
they grow feathers and fly, and safeguard the
trees of the Lord. You are building your nests,
laying your eggs and hatching your young in trees
the roots of which are struck by decay,
mites are eating into their trunks and gypsy moths
are feeding on its branches. If the tree falls,
your nests will scatter, your chicks will
disperse, and you will be left only with bare
branches to lay your wings on. You are toiling and
overworking to build strong and warm nests where
your young will grow, grow feathers and fly, and
nest - they too.
“Look after the tree just as you look after the
nests. And just as you were entrusted with your
nests, so are you entrusted with your trees. Look
after the roots, look after the trunk, look after
the branches and look after the leaves, and a few
straws and a few grains of soil will be enough for
you to build your nests; the branches of the tree
will protect you and its leaves will shade you. Do
not sink into your nests and raise their edges
high so they give you security; work with the
trust of the Lord, and the Lord will give you
security.
“As you race to ensure your future and that of
your children, always remember that your future is
not the last of your days in this world, but it is
the first day in the next world. You ensure your
children’s future when you ensure heaven for them.
Your children are for you to give them life, and
there is no life except in Christ. Give Christ to
your children, but if Christ is not in you, it is
difficult for you to give Him to your
children.
“If you do not sanctify yourselves, how would
you sanctify your children?! If Christ were not in
you, how would you give Him to your children?! If
you do not give them Christ, everything else you
offer them is useless and ephemeral, vanishes and
will cease to exist with them. It is not with tall
buildings and the guarantees of this world that
you give your children security and a future. Give
them your sanctity and prayers, and you will
ensure their safety in this world and their future
in the next world. You are seeking your success
and your children’s success in life, while success
in life is to stand before God without shame.
“Go down to the roots, look after them and be
disinterested. Working on the roots is hidden,
does not show and requires effort and self-denial.
People see the tree, they neither see the roots
nor see your work, but God Who is in heaven, sees
and blesses. Look after the roots, guard the
trunk, preserve the branches, take care of the
leaves, and maintain the tree; God will keep your
works. Look after the tree - which is enfolding,
shading and housing you - from its roots to the
tips of its branches, even if this is at the
expense of the size of your nests.
“The same time passes for the good and the bad,
and if the good do not fill up time with good,
then the bad will fill it with evil, and time will
be empty. Every moment of your life is a basket
placed before you so you would fill it from your
harvest, your reaping and your crops; it stays
before you for an instant, then it disappears and
passes behind you and you can never bring it back.
If you stop and look back and observe your empty
buckets, only the tears of your repentance by the
mercy of God, from the grace of God, fill them up,
and the grace of God is sufficient for you. And
every second is a drop of eternity if you fill it
up with God. Do not let the world seize the
baskets of your life, then your baskets will
remain empty, and you will pile up behind you
sheaves of hay that time will burn and nothing of
them will be left.
“Do not enter into a dialogue with the Devil;
end your conversation with him before its first
word, and keep your dialogue always with God. Tamp
your roof after each round of rain and before it
leaks, for if you slacken, heavy downpours,
floods, and snow will come, and water will leak to
the beams, and then the ceiling will collapse on
your head and your family’s.
“No matter how tempting the temptation is, it
does not justify sin.
“Fill your life from the love of God and
sanctify the time you are in, then your harvest
will be worthwhile and your provisions lasting.
Only the master of time can fill the time. Only
the lord of harvest and crops can fill your
baskets. Offer your baskets to Him, and your crops
will abound.” (St Sharbel’s
words) |
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10-
Do Good Untiringly
“The journey of the universe is the
construction site of the kingdom of God. It looks
like the construction site of a great temple,
whose stones are from the rocks of this world’s
quarries, and people are the workers by the power
of God and they are the builders according to His
will. They extract stones from the rocks of
the quarries in this world, they build them one by
one, and one course after another, God gives them
life and they become living stones in the temple
building.
“A large number of people build their own
temples with stones that they extract from rocks
and they claim they own them, they build them one
by one, and one course after another, but they
cannot give them life and they remain dead,
because only God gives life. These passing people
leave the stones, the rocks and the quarries and
depart from this world, and their small temples
built from dead stones wear away and vanish with
time. Ephemeral, they do not persist, and neither
do their temples. Only the temple of the Lord is
eternal and permanent because it is alive. Build
the eternal temple of the Lord and be living
stones in it, do not build your temporary little
temples from dead stones that time will wipe out.
Work with perseverance, joy, solidarity, and love,
work with patience, humility and obedience to the
Lord of the Temple. Because you are working with
His power, build according to His will.
“Do good untiringly. Do not seek after rest-
rest is a great danger for you. If you see a
worker not doing his work, do not criticize or
judge or curse him, [but rather] take your
pick-axe or your sickle and continue your work;
your work will cause him to work. The building is
yours and his, the harvest is yours and his, and
all of it is for the Lord of the temple and the
God of the harvest. Look at your brother in the
same way you look at yourself. You have in
yourself from everything you see in your brother,
because every man is you with a few differences.
And instead of talking about your brother, go talk
to him or keep loving silence. Do not ever condemn
and do not judge based upon what your eyes see. Do
not judge the water you see in the pot, for you
cannot know with your eyes whether it’s sweet or
salty, fresh or stale, and wine casks look alike
on the outside, even if the wine inside them
differs. Look with your eyes at the outside and
look with your heart to the inside. The heart does
not condemn.
“Do not claim to have absolute knowledge and
build temples the size of your knowledge, for they
will collapse on your heads and kill you.
Knowledge needs love in order to become
discernment. No matter how much you know, if you
don’t love you will not understand even if you
know much. Love is greater than intelligence. The
logic of love is more exalted than the logic of
intelligence. Knowledge devoid of love is devoid
of the spirit and destructive to man. Earth is a
holy planet, where the feet of the God of the
universe trod, which the lights of the Spirit lit
and upon which the heart of God is.
“Human beings, through their knowledge void of
love, have made the Earth ill: their food has
become their poison and their drink their thirst,
their medicine their illness. Their air is choking
them, their rest is fatigue, and their peace,
anxiety; their joy is sadness and their happiness
suffering; their truth is illusion, and their
illusion, truth; and their light has become
darkness.
“Man has acquired more knowledge and less
wisdom. Theories in peoples' minds have become
like fog on the mountain and in the valleys, it
does not allow them to see anything as it is:
their theories are veiling their sight. Their
buildings are rising, their morals are declining.
Their possessions are increasing, their values are
decreasing. Their words are increasing and their
prayer, decreasing. Their interests are deep,
their relationships are shallow. Their window
displays are full, their inside is empty. Their
roads are broadening, while their vision is
becoming narrower. Their roads are numerous, but
don’t lead them to one another. Their means of
communication are many, but not bringing them to
each other. Their beds are big, strong and
comfortable, and their families are small,
disunited and worn out. They know how to hurry but
they don’t know how to wait. They hurry to acquire
their livelihood, but forget to ensure their
living and their lives. They rush quickly to the
outside and neglect the inside.
“Prisoners, boasting of the luxury of their
prisons; lost, bragging of the distances
they have crossed; dead, priding themselves on the
splendor of their graves; they are dying of hunger
while sitting on bread bowls, poor while sitting
on treasures they themselves buried. Why do you go
down under the table to eat the fallen crumbs,
while the table is all laid for you? People are
sowing the earth with thorns which now are soft
and tickling their feet, but when they grow and
harden, they will tear and wound the feet of the
coming generations.
“You chop wood, stack, burn, kindle, throw
yourselves into the fire you set, and you wonder
why you get burned?! Humanity is lost, man is ill,
and the world is burning.
“God is love, He is the goal and guide for lost
humanity; Christ is the medicine for the sick man,
and the water of the Baptism in fire is what puts
out the blaze of the world. Build every knowledge
on Christ; every knowledge that is built outside
the foundation of Christ will destroy you.
Knowledge without spirit is ignorance. The more
the building built on man rises, the more it will
crush the human being.
“Man will keep living in grief and worry, and
will not be content or quench his thirst until he
is united with himself in the heart of God. Reach
out to each other, look at each other, listen to
each other, greet each other, console each other
with words of love and encouragement, get out of
yourselves [and go] to one another, and embrace
one another in the love of Christ. Work in the
field of the Lord untiringly and without wearying,
let the sounds of your pick-axes fill the valleys
and overcome the noise of the world, and let the
sounds of your sickles remind people of the
harvest season. Let your prayers to the Lord
cleave the deaf rocks, and cause the dumb springs
to gush out. Rocks do hear prayer and springs do
speak, and they all pray and give glory to God.”
(St Sharbel’s
words) |
| |
11-
. Walk the Path of Sanctity in the Joy of the
Resurrectio
“You are walking on
the paths of your life carrying many loads,
burdens and concerns, carrying jars and jars, some
of which are needed and others that are useless,
and you have distributed your treasures amongst
your jars, mixing your treasures with your
trifles, and you no longer know where your
treasure is or in which jar. Some jars fall
and break and treasures are lost, and you do not
see or know because of the noise of your jars. And
some people waste their treasures on the paths of
their lives and arrive laden with pottery.
“Every jar that you carry which does not
contain your treasure will be filled with
distraction and excess weight that will hinder
your journey and tire you out.
“Lay down the jars of drudgery to which
the world subjects you, even if you have
carried them [for] a long journey, exhausted
yourselves for them, suffered for them, and
perhaps have gotten used to them. Know where your
treasure is and put your whole heart in it. Put
your whole treasure in one jar and carry it well.
Thus you will safeguard your treasure and arrive
full.
"Carry one jar: the jar of Christ, and He will
pile it up with love and carry it with you. No
matter how full it gets it will still hold. And no
matter how heavy it gets, it will remain light.
And all the remaining jars are all clay, and even
if they were empty, they are heavy and bend your
back. Choose for yourself your ways in this world,
do not let the paths of the world choose you, and
do not carry the jars of this world, which burden
you to distract you and tire you out.
“The more you increase your jars, the more you
distance yourself from your neighbor. Every jar
requires space, and the more your jars increase,
the more space increases around you, and you start
moving away from your brother to keep the jars
from bumping against each other and break. The
jars become more important than your brother. In
order for you to safeguard your jars, you lose
your brother and neighbor. Know that your treasure
is very precious, but you carry it in pottery.
And every brother of yours has a very
precious treasure, which he also carries in an
earthenware jar.
“You make your jar with your hands and fold
yourself inside it, you sit inside the jar and say
that the world is clay; whoever sits inside a jar
will see the whole world as clay. Get out of your
jar and see the world as it is and not as you have
fashioned it inside your jar.
“Let every one fill his jar from the treasure
of Christ, because He alone is the true treasure.
In order for you to understand your brother, do
not go toward him with an intellectual system
created by your mind, but rather go toward him
with love from the Spirit of the Creator which He
has placed in your heart.
“Be full grains of wheat on the threshing floor
of the Lord, when the winnower works on you and
throws you up in the air in order to purify you,
you would be heavy and would fall on the threshing
floor to be gathered into the barns of life, do
not be light, empty grains like hay straws,
carried away by the wind which will disperse them
outside the threshing floor and scatter them. Rest
assured that nothing will fill you up and give you
weight except Christ.
“Fill yourselves up with Christ and you will
remain on the threshing floor and come be gathered
up. And as long as you are on the threshing floor,
the winnowing fork will keep winnowing you, and
hay and chaff will fly away. On the threshing
floor every grain of wheat remains alone even if
it was gathered, measure and bagged with the other
grains, its sisters.
“The millstone, water and fire turn the grains
of wheat into one grind and one loaf. From the
field to the loaf the journey is long: pray for
the sickle that reaps you, for the thresher that
threshes you, for the threshing floor that gathers
you, for the winnowing fork that refines you, for
the millstone that grinds you, for the water that
kneads you, and for the fire that bakes you.
“The way of sanctity is from the field to
the loaf, from the earth to the light, from the
manger to the Cross and resurrection: walk it in
the joy of the Resurrection.” (St Sharbel’s
words) |
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12-
Sanctity is not Chance, Sanctity is a
Choice
“People seek for
miracles so they may believe and see, and for
messages so they may hear and know, and for a road
so they may walk and reach salvation and
happiness. The miracle is the Eucharist, the sign
is the Cross, the message is the Gospel and
salvation is through the Church.
1- The most important,
greatest and holiest sign is the sign of the
Cross. The Cross is the sign of God’s love for
you; let it also be the sign of your love for God.
The sign of the Cross is a sign of love not a sign
of challenge. And the light of this sign will
shine throughout the whole world.
2- The salvation of
humanity is through the Church, the Church is the
one who is carrying on the project of salvation
which Christ had begun two thousand years ago and
which will not end before the end of the world.
All the waves of evil will break on the rock of
the Church. Commit yourselves fully to the Church
and all her teachings, and do not select from
among them.
3- The most important
and greatest message is the message of the Gospel,
which bears the teaching of Christ, and not one
jot of His words shall pass away before the world
passes away. Whoever does not know the Gospel
remains ignorant and living in darkness, even if
he had all the knowledge of the world. And whoever
does not live the Gospel, is not living; do not
misinterpret to justify. The truth of the Gospel
remains always as it is.
4- The most
important and greatest miracle is the Holy
Eucharist, the body of Christ, the Paschal Lamb
who takes away the sins of the world, the living
God risen from the dead.
“In vain you would search for signs more
important than the sign of the cross. Do not ask
for messages that you believe are more important
than the message of the Gospel. Do not search for
your salvation outside the Church of Christ. Do
not be distracted, running after miracles that
dazzle your eyes, greater than the miracle of the
Holy Eucharist. Keep away from deceptive magic
because it will lead you to emptiness.
“Avoid the sign that does not direct you to the
sign of the Cross. Ignore the message that does
not stem from the Gospel. Reject the miracle that
does not lead you to the Eucharist. And through
the Church you can discern them all.
“Through the Cross, the Church, the Gospel and
the Eucharist, you will be sanctified. God created
you so you might be sanctified and not so that you
might die.
“Sanctity is not chance, sanctity is a choice.
Do not wait for it to descend on you from without;
you must live and attain it from the inside. The
Kingdom of God is in your heart.
“Sanctity is grace and will; the grace is
from God and the will is from you. You are a
potential saint; strive to be an actual saint.”
(St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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13-
Love is a Light that Shine
“Love is not
attachment, because love is freedom and attachment
is bondage. God is freedom.
“Love is not a human emotion, love is a
divine power of creation and a heavenly power of
resurrection.
“Love is not an instinct stemming from the
physical senses, it is a power of life flowing
from the spirit.
“Love is not a dead habit that binds and
attaches us, it is a power of perpetual renewal
and it renews us and sets us free.
“Love is not a feeling directed in a specific
direction, love is a light that shines in all
directions.
“God is not a feeling, God is not a sentiment,
God is not a habit, and God is not an affection,
God is not an idea. “God is truth, God is life,
God is the creator and giver of life.
“Love does not ask for a price or compensation
for giving itself. “Love always goes to the
end.
“Love that springs from a human being has for
its purpose a return to the human being from which
it stems. When a man loves from his self, he loves
for his self, whatever be the type of his love or
its strength. Love that originates from God, and
which a man gets from Him, has the other for its
purpose.
“If your love is from God, then it is for your
brother, and if your love is from you then it is
for you.
“The man whose love comes from his self,
loves his self in others, and thinks that he loves
them.
“Never confuse love and desire, love and
sentiment, love and habit, or love and attachment”
(St. Sharbel’s words) |
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14- Confess your
Sins and you will Kill the Evil that’s in
you
“When Christ
ascended, the devil fell. Those people clinging to
him are going with him, and whoever is standing in
his way is subject to falling. Do not hold on to
him and do not stand in his way.
“His entire
concern is to falsify the image of God in your
mind and heart, and falsify your own image in your
sight. He wants you to know God incorrectly and
see yourself wrongly. He falsifies, distorts and
deludes: he tries to magnify you when you should
diminish, and diminish you when you should be
honored. He tries to stop you when you should
walk, and make you walk when you should stop, to
make you speak when you should be silent, and to
silence you when you should speak. He tries to
persuade you to hurry when you should slow down,
and to walk slowly when you should hasten. In
every case, he wants to mislead you. The devil is
the biggest deceiver, the greatest forger, a
vicious crook; the Lord and teacher described him
as liar and the father of lies.
“The devil never
comes in his real image, never does he come under
an ugly image; he knows what humans like and are
attracted to: he tells you about things you like
to hear, shows you things you like to see, gives
you things you like to touch, and feeds you things
you like to taste.
“When crooks forge
gold, they forge it with something that resembles
it: yellow and shining. And so too in order for
the devil to fake the image of God – who is
Love in your life - he uses the things
that people call love and mixes them up with God,
who is Love. The feelings arising from instinct,
passion, the bonds of affection, and the enslaving
habits, are all used by the devil to confuse man
about the truth of God, the life-giving
love.
“The devil’s sole
concern is to impede those walking up toward the
Lord. On your way toward the Lord, the devil
wants:
-
Either to push
you off the road: he will create a goal for you
that would attract you and toward which you
would head, so that you might go astray and be
lost.
-
Or he will cause
you to fall so you would stop: he will set you a
trap in which you would fall.
-
Or he will push
you back: he will weary you and discourage you
so you would retreat and go back. The important
thing to him is that you do not make
it. |
“Everything that
gathers and unites around good is from God, and
everything that divides and scatters is from the
devil. The devil prevails over people through the
things of this world; the more man rids himself of
them the more he is shielded against the evil one,
and the more he clings to them, the more he would
be under the influence of evil. The Devil is the
master of this world. The more you are submerged
in the world, the more you come under his power,
and the more you detach yourself from the world,
the more you free yourself from him. Do not forget
that you are not of this world! Do not immerse
yourselves in it! Sail through it, rise above it,
and raise it to the Lord by the power of Christ
elevated on the Cross.
“In the beginning
the Devil makes a man laugh, in order to make him
cry in the end. And he always takes a man to hell
while he is laughing, but there, there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. The man who is now
laughing with the Devil will surely weep in the
end.
“God might make
you weep in the beginning, but with God you will
always laugh in the end. God always makes you weep
in order to discipline you, while the devil comes
to make you laugh and lead away you from Him, and
when God makes you laugh, and the devil comes to
make you weep, do not let him fool you.
“The devil hates
the image of God, he hates the man who is taking
on the image of God, and wants to distort this
image that is in him. The only way Satan can
deform the image of God in a person is for him to
stop the work of God’s Spirit in him. Then,
the only image that remains in this person is the
image of the animal. The devil’s desire is to give
to the human being the image of an
animal.
“The first and
essential weapon against the devil is
truthfulness; Every word of truth you say is an
arrow you shoot into the heart of the evil one.
And every honest confession of sin is a spear with
which you pierce his heart.
“And the next
essential weapon is humility. Sincerity and
humility mean confession. Confess your sins and
you will kill the evil in you.
“The Devil’s only
concern is to distract you from God. Beware!
He tries to distract you from God even in the
matters of God: he distracts you from the meaning
of the word that you are praying with the word
itself, and he distracts you from praising the
Lord, with the melody of the hymn with which you
are praising Him. He distracts you from God with
the prayer that you are praying to Him.
“Remember well
that you cannot stand in the face of the Devil if
you cannot kneel before God. The Devil does not
come through the windows and apertures that you
keep watch over and close well. The devil comes
through the door that you open.” (St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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15-
Motion and Life
“There is a big
difference between motion and life. A person
can be in motion without having life in him. And
he can also have life in him but not
movement. Man is motion and life. The
universe with its many galaxies, stars and
creatures is full of movement but not all of them
have life. Life is only in God the creator. God is
life.
“Every movement in
the universe is doomed to die, but life is
eternal. Every motion has an end no matter how
great it is, but life has no end. Life is eternal
because life is God, and God is eternal. Motion
will pass away but life will not. Man has in him
motion and life; motion is limited by space and
time, but life is neither limited by time nor by
space. Human movement is doomed to die and has an
end no matter how long it lasts, but the life that
is in him is eternal.
“Christ has come
to give us life, and to sanctify the movement that
is in us. Christ gives eternal life because He is
the Son of God and life is from God. Without
Christ, our motion is doomed to an inevitable
death. And with Christ we have eternal life. And
there is no option in between: either death, or
life.
“Sanctify the
motion that is in you through life from Jesus
Christ. Do not seek immortality in this world, in
the time of this universe, by extending your
motion in time forever, because even time is
destined to die and has an end. Immortality is
only in eternal life in Jesus Christ, and there is
no immortal and eternal life in time because all
of time is not eternal.” (St. Sharbel’s
words) |
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16-
Every Family
is a Holy Family
“The human family
on earth is the image of the Holy Family in
heaven. The family passes on the plan of God from
one generation to another. It transmits the love
and word of God through the generations. The
collapse of the family means the collapse of God’s
plan in humanity. It means the breakup of the
message of salvation and sanctity to humanity.
Every family is a holy family because it is the
image of God the Trinity. The corruption of the
family means a corruption of the image of God. The
family carries the torch of light and passes it
from one generation to another so the world may
remain lit by the light of the Lord.
“The family is the
rope that binds humanity together through time,
binds generations through history, so that
humanity may grow and increase. And if this rope
which binds humanity together were broken, and
humanity gets separated from its history, it would
be no more than lost generations which have
neither history nor identity. The family is what
gives people their human identity and impresses
the image of God in them. The family is what
preserves the memory of humanity; humanity without
family is a humanity without memory. A person
without memory keeps turning in place, and a
humanity without memory will stop in history and
die.
“The family is the
basis of the Lord’s plan. And all forces of evil
are focusing all their evil on destroying the
family because they know that by destroying the
family, the foundations of the plan of God will be
shaken. The war of the Evil One against the Lord
is his war against the family, and the war of the
Evil One against the family is the core of his war
against the Lord. Because the family is the image
of God, from the beginning of the creation of this
universe, The Evil one is focusing on destroying
the family, the foundation of God’s
plan.
“The family
is the place where a man communicates with God and
with his brothers in humanity. Without the family,
this communication is broken and nothing can ever
make up for it, and if man attempts to reconnect
the broken contact using his human means, it will
become fragile, weak and twisted, and humanity
will become ill and warped - moving towards a slow
death.
“Guard your
families and keep them from the schemes of the
evil one through the presence of God in them.
Protect and keep them through prayer and dialog,
through mutual understanding and forgiveness,
through honesty and faithfulness, and most
importantly, through listening. Listen to one
another with your ears, eyes, hearts, mouths and
the palms of your hands, and keep the roaring of
the noise of the world away from your homes
because it’s like raging storms and violent waves:
once it enters the home, it will sweep away
everything and disperse everyone. Preserve the
warmth of the family, because the warmth of the
whole world cannot make up for it. ” (St.
Sharbel’s
words) |
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Lebanese order Maronite |
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Constitutions of Ordre Libanais Maronite
stipulate: “- Ordre Libanais Maronite is one of the ways of the authentic monastic
life. Guided by the monastic tradition, it s' inspire by the spirit of
Church Maronite Syriaque d' Antioche… Our Order is based on the
Community life, the life of prayer, silence,
quietude and ascetic practices. It also engages
in apostolic activities, by taking the convent
like point of reference, in accordance with its
history and with the needs for Church” (Art.
1.3).
Ordre Libanais Maronite was
rested by young Maronites d' Alep. They carried monastic dress by the
blessing of the Patriarch Stephan Al Douwayhi with the monastery of
Notre Dame Kannoubine, on November 10, 1695. Since, one commemorates in
this day the foundation of Lebanese order Maronite. |
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The founders
lived initially the monastery “Mart Moura” close to Ehden after having
restored it. But they were not long in beginning work of widening and
accepted the convent of Elisee Saint in Becharre in 1696. From the
XVIIIème century, Order extended everywhere in Lebanon; the following
monasteries were then founded: Saint Jean Rechmaya in Chouf in 1706,
Notre Dame de Louaizé in Keserouan in 1706, Holy Antoine Sir close to
Rechmaya in the 1707 then Holy convent Antoine Kozhaya close to Ehden in
1708 and others. |
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In 1732, the Holy See ratified the Constitutions of Order which became
at the origin of the Constitutions of several Kinds.
In 1770, Ordre Libanais Maronite was divided into two branches: Order Maronite of Alep (Marist) and Lebanese order Maronite.
From
1737, Order started to widen beyond the borders of the Lebanese
mountain; one then founded missions in Cyprus, Akka, in Rome, in Sidon
and Tripoli. |
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With the XIXème century, Order s' occupied in particular
of the formation of its members, education and of progress. But this
n' its spiritual and ascetic role did not cancel. In fact, several of
its members were d' eminent figures of holiness, like Saint Charbel,
Holy Rafqa and Happy Neemtallah. With the increase in the emigration in
Lebanese to the XXème century, Order founded several missions: in
Senegal, in Argentina, in Brazil, in Ivory Coast, in Mali, in Mexico, in
Australia, in Canada, in England, in France and in Venezuela. Moreover,
Order reinforced the missions in Cyprus, Jaffa, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. |
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Order contributed to the development of the cultural and
university sector especially through the University Saint Spirit of Kaslik. In addition, it endeavoured to return to its human vocation
pionnière; it founded then the Hospital Notre Dame de Secours and the
establishment of Beit Chabab for handicap.
Order, while accompanying
emigrate them, deep-rooted the people in his ground; he was at his sides
during the world wars, regional and local. He endured what the people
endured; he was expatriate, persecuted, its institutions were destroyed
and certain its monks were martyred... |
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When the hour of the return
sounded, Order was among the first to return and build what was
demolished, as it believed that the ground symbolizes the gift and the
mission and that which gives up it its personality will lose and will
give up its history.
Ordre Libanais Maronite works today through the
heat of its 450 members in its two branches male and female and that in
80 convents and institutions in Lebanon and outside.
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Holy monastery Maron-Annaya - Tomb of Saint
Sharbel |
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