The most important weapons of our salvation are the Holy Mysteries, the Holy Gospel, the Holy Cross. We have everything to fight for our hearts, for our souls, but the times are very difficult, and we’re afraid when so many terrible events are happening all around.
The fathers of Holy Mount Athos say that the most important means of salvation now is inner work—they’re talking about inner prayer. Previously, if an enemy attacked our lands, Christians would kneel in prayer before the icons and entreat the intercession of God. And the Lord would send help. And the Mother of God was an intercessor, and the saints were protectors. But now we try to read the news online and we think we can protect ourselves by wielding information…
It's very important to return to our traditions and remember inner work, and that we can receive answers to all our questions through prayer. When St. Silouan the Athonite was told he should read newspapers to be aware of what was happening in the world, the saint responded that without reading newspapers, he knew that there are sorrows and wars in the world, that the human soul suffers, and that he prays for the entire world.
May God grant us to learn prayer, to learn to shield ourselves from the temptations of information and to allocate our time such that the most important moments are given to God, not to reading the news; that we might stand before our icons, not television and computer screens; that we might try to free our minds from outside thoughts and might seek for God with our hearts. This will help us save our souls, our families, and our children.
