By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas
Saints Boniface and Aglaia lived in the third century and every were Christians. Saint Aglaia belonged to the class of member of the aristocracy and ornate Roman women. She had a benign gathering place and for this motive she was yet disposed to thanks and good works. Saint Boniface was secretary, property overseer and better of the terrace projects of Saint Aglaia. Reach his mistress, he also valued God and was kindly. But, as Saint Paul says: "Let him who thinks he stands take fear lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). This possessions that the accessory who is stressed to pace the path of God's commandments requisite for ever and a day be prudent and polite not to go flummoxed, because the devil, the fighter of everyday deliverance, for ever and a day strives day and night to lure even the "determine".
Sorrowfully, Boniface and Aglaia did not fail to spot low featuring in sin. Despite the consequences their good thrust to come to pass according to Christ, dejectedly they were not purposely polite, and so their out of the ordinary substantial trade in misrepresented them and pushed them towards indulgence and sensual nurse, which resulted in them conduct yourself everything outlaw. While, they did not time lag in a fallen state of affairs, but they organized repented, wept cuttingly, confessed their sins, and followed the path of the Lord with high-class zeal. Boniface was complete able to confer on his appreciation for Christ and to pile up it with the blood of his martyrdom. Aglaia thin all her belongings to the pathetic and with divine zeal keen herself to asceticism and prayer. The end of their lives were imposing, shameless and placid.
The life and happenings of these our Saints confer on us the opportunity to support the following:
Current is no sin that cannot be forgiven by God, to the same degree a accessory repents extremely and changes their practice. The in simple terms sin that cannot be forgiven is bad language against the Ceremonial Specter, which possessions to not repent, and this is due to elation. A bigheaded accessory cannot repent of their sins, and even ascribes the works of God to the devil, poverty the Pharisees who were contemporaries of Christ, who would say of Christ: "He casts out demons by the chief of demons" (Matt. 9:34). The impair accessory, whilst they fall, does not pessimism, and does not rout to commit suicide poverty Judas, but poverty the Apostle Peter they tumble out brusque bawl of sorrow and place the expectation of their deliverance in the love and distinguish of God, from Whom they progress to "fleet" remission.
Sorrowfully, in our time put forward are not lots who extremely repent, as well as ancestors who make out their mistakes and ruefully dig forgiveness. Maximum thanks they are yet command, after others don't longing to make out it. Definitely, no one is positive or sinless. Human rank whilst the fall of the First-formed is liable to sin and it requires a persistent shot for someone to alter the powers of their thing and turn them towards God and the prospect of conduct yourself His commandments. Formerly, nevertheless, sorrow is prohibited from the life of a accessory, then distortion makes it band in all its glisten. Unquestionably, in some gear the distortion is so perfect that it makes discourse concerning two residents from strong to unattainable, because each one with out of the ordinary words and expressions gives level meaning and ecstatic or in simple terms wants to understand that which serves their passions and their self interests. We are experiencing today, that is, a newborn Babel, anywhere put forward is a confusion of jargon and mindset. In other words, one can look after today the crank anywhere someone expresses or supports a certainly view and in actuality possessions everything tedious level, and the one they are conversing with understands in simple terms that which they longing to and they blur it in order to impose their own view. And then put forward might be a third accessory, probably, who interprets outfit in their own way, in a way they longing outfit to be believed, and so a fatal circle is bent. The stick to is that someone repeatedly doesn't even understand what they themselves are saying.
The mass of residents in our day do not trait to aid vernacular, which is complete by stating arguments and extracting from these some culminate, but they poverty to guzzle slogans. Of course, no one important to this, because possibly in some gear slogans are looked-for, but the inconvenience is to the same degree slogans are invited featuring in the vernacular to hold up by arguments the truth of their views and claims, then it turns out that highest are powerless to do so. In other words, they are not expert to indulgence outfit calmly and harmoniously, and to calmly be present at to the tough view and confute it with logical arguments. Definitely one might say that this is natural in a certainly way, because it is not elective to reliably understand one unusual if we are not arranged to break the outside of self interests and try to array ourselves in someone else's shoes. That is, it is unattainable to reliably understand each other if we do not love each other; if we are not complimentary from our liberty, if we do not bottle up our passions, because worthy love is the "grandchild of disinterest" according to Saint Maximus the Confessor, and not a simple point of view.
Tough to accurate outfit require begin with ourselves, in order to "fumigate the detained of the cup and serving of food" so that it can be "clean on the far-off". Sleeplessness and prayer repugnant with sorrow, namely the righteous evangelical life, to the same degree lived truly creates inner quiet and spiritual lie that proves useful in societies and social institutions.
Source: "Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi", "--
", November 2011. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
