The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to It Go to church willingly, as to the House of God, your own home; go there without being contemptuous or bored. Go to church not just to be at the service, but in order to pray from your heart. Pray with sincere warmth, with an outpouring before God, with feelings of contrition, humility, and with diligent petitions for your spiritual needs. Having come to church, you must “force” yourself to it. Do not consider attendance at the service to be useless; during the course of the service enable your heart to be warmed and therefrom call out warmly to God. That is the main thing… Usually the thoughts do stray. However, you may deal with straying thoughts in this way: As soon as you notice your thoughts have left church, turn them back and do not allow yourself consciously to daydream or to stray.

Announcements Birthdays: Fr. Andreas (18th); Joshua P. (19th); Paul B. (19th); Silas Ku. (21st); Elena S. (22nd); Michael Sh. (22nd) Anniversary: Wingate Namesday: John, Silouan, Thekla Newly-illumined Ksenia! Many Years! Services This Week

It is impossible to occupy oneself with spiritual things all the time; you need to have some sort of enjoyable handicraft…. It is meant for occupying time, which otherwise would be spent in idleness.

Div. Liturgy: Weds. 5a.m. Vespers: Weds. - 6p.m. - followed by Adult ed./catechism -

Everything is simple. Begin gradually and you will be able to do everything. Even if you are not able to do everything as you would like, do what you are able to do. The Lord is not strict about minor details. He values diligence and purpose. He will accept your effort to reexamine and remake yourself entirely as a finished deed. Just do not give up the effort, but keep going until you reach the end. This is the most important thing: that the Lord be kindled, strengthened, and established within you.

Div. Liturgy: Saturday - 8a.m. St. Silouan the Athonite

In preparing for spiritual battle, do not think that you will always be victorious. Often there will be only hardship that will bring affliction. Know ahead of them that this is the way things are. You will encounter them, but do not be afraid. You are seeing all of this now beforehand… Provide yourself with only one thing, strong courage; no matter what happens, stay with what you have begun in the spiritual life. - St. Theophan the Recluse -

Youth Meets Saturdays, after Gr. Vespers. Contact Eric Jewett: [email protected]

Moms: Tuesdays, 9:30a.m. Contact Margaret Combs for more information: [email protected] Ladies Study - Thursdays, 9a.m. Men’s Study Group - Fridays, 6:30a.m. -

Thunderbolt of Ever-Living Fire This is a minor virtue and one of the greatest: not to hurt others. Instead of saying, “I think, therefore I am,” I believe we could say “I forgive, therefore I am.” Neither our self nor our salvation is separated from the other, who is our brother. If we can avoid separating ourselves from grace and from true life, then the trials and dangers of all kinds and all levels which threaten us within and without will be changed into blessings, into creative forces. We shall be grateful to our enemies, to anyone who has roused us to vigilance and sobriety and pushed us into developing - for ourselves and for the whole world - the inexhaustible deposits of spiritual energy hidden in the subsoil of our tradition. How everything functions as a whole! How nothing is irrelevant, nothing is wasted! How the blessings go deeper than we hoped! How the afflictions, pains, and perplexities of life till the field of our souls like a deep-cutting plough-share! How they teach us humility; how they school us in love; how they reconcile us with others! They strengthen us, invigorate us, and at the same time make us weaker, without any prickles or sharp corners which could wound others! The devil is extremely clever and extremely stupid, extremely large and extremely small; that is why the Fathers call him an “ant-lion.” If we feed him, we make him into a lion; if we have the grace of God, he becomes an ant and ridiculous. If I am sluggish, it does not mean that I am humble; if I am irritable, it does not mean that I have the zeal of the prophet Elijah - it means that I’m just irritable. When you ask that His will be done, when your whole being is one bleeding petition, His will “happens.” But this “happening” is not something you can determine in advance. It may happen by happening or by “not” happening. It may be that before your petition is even finished, the answer comes. Or you may wait years and wear yourself out, and be disappointed, and reach utter exhaustion, and be destroyed. And then, when you are no longer expecting anything He will come to raise you up, to take you with Him on a new journey.

Holy Theophany Orthodox Church + 2770 N. Chestnut St. Colo. Springs, CO 80907 (719) 473-9238 Fr. Anthony Karbo Fr. Lawrence Gaudreau Fr. Moses McPherson Dn. Panayiotis Tekosis [email protected] +

St. Eumenes of Gortyna September 18th, 2016 I Cor. 16:13-24 Matt. 21:33-42 “Don’t fear anything. Embed into yourself the thought that in the whole world not even the slightest movement occurs without the knowledge and permission of God.” - Abbot Nikon -