Quote of the Day: From the Didache

The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God, Who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the nations do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy.

Quote of the Day: St. John of Kronstadt

Leave all human injustices to the Lord, for God is the Judge; but as to yourself, be diligent in loving everyone with a pure heart.

Converts Versus Cradles?

Whenever I'm reading the crazy comments on websites like OCA News about the supposed clash between "cradles" and converts" I as an adult (or almost adult - whatever high school counts as) convert to Orthodoxy find myself wondering what our children will be in all of this. Will they be "craverts"? "Condles"? Will we make them choose which of these silly camps they join when they come of age?

I've seen cradle/convert conflicts at the parish level and was hit most of all by how unnecessary they were. They were not, in fact, about one side being "cradle" Orthodox and the other being "convert" Orthodox. They were about personalities and disobedience. None of the "cradle" Orthodox from the Old World joined in on 'their' side in the conflicts and the conflicts themselves passed relatively quickly as the parish settled into the changes that generally accompany the arrival of a new priest.

It's sad to see us dividing ourselves even more, beyond "Greek" and Russian" to "convert" and "cradle" or "conservative" and "liberal." All of this violates the Tradition and denies our fundamental belonging to the Church. Like it or not, we are together in all of this. It would be appropriate, I think, were we to figure out how to get past our pet peeves and pet causes so that we can love one another. It would certainly save a lot of unnecessary and unhelpful posts online ;-) (much like this one I'm sure!) and might even get us closer to having our own Orthodox Church of the Americas.

St. Valentine of Rome

Joyous feast! There were two (or three?) different martyrs from the West named Valentine, but the one best known today is St. Valentine of Rome, the priest martyred under Emperor Claudius II for marrying young couples despite an edict forbidding it (this was an effort to increase conscription to the imperial army).

I know some Orthodox today resent new style St. Valentine's day as a symbol of misdirected romantic love and hedonism, but I personally have a strong appreciation for the saint. He shed his blood for love and the family - it's hard to be against that! I also feel that he has granted a request I brought to him some time ago, one I felt would not and even could not be granted, and so I am profoundly grateful to him for his prayers.

More on St. Valentine's life can be found here and here. His relics remain at the Church of St. Praxedes in Rome. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Quote of the Day: St. Ignatius of Antioch

The beginning is faith, and the end is love. Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them.

Quote of the Day: Alexander Pushkin

If as I die I love, pray let me die.

Quote of the Day: Fr. Zachariah of Tolleshunt Knights

Prayer is a matter of love.

Quote of the Day: St. John Chrysostom

The grace of love is greater than the grace of resurrecting from the dead.

Quote of the Day: St. John Chrysostom

Every work which does not have love as its beginning and root is nothing.

Quote of the Day: St. Clement of Rome

Prove your love and zeal for wisdom in actual deeds.

Quote of the Day: St. Nectarius of Pentapolis

Love should never be sacrified for the sake of some dogmatic difference.

Quote of the Day: St. John of the Ladder

He who loves the Lord has first loved his brother, because the second is a proof of the first.

Quote of the Day: St. Cosmas of Aetolia

The main name of our God is love...just as we love our God, let us also love our brother.

Quote of the Day: Archbishop Anastasius of Tirana

"Always remember that at the Last Judgement we are judged for loving Him, or failing to love Him, in the least person."