Survivors of spiritual persecution
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
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The video 'Survivors of spiritual persecution' was recorded by Fr Seraphim (Aldea) at Iona Monastery (The Orthodox Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints of Iona), on the Isle of Iona.
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May God bless us all!
Been binging this channel. Need and love the wisdom
Often I have seen Jewish people say, "May their memory be a blessing" about their dear departed. It looks like these elders certainly are. Thank you, Father.
That is such a beautiful saying, dear one. Thank you for sharing. They were indeed a blessing and much more for me -they gave me a foundation for the rest of my life.
Pray for me father Seraphim. I am just coming to the church and in to knowing how bad my life was before I found orthodoxy. I do not think I’m even officially a cacumen. Pray for me. God bless you. By the way I’m 17 just to let you know, if that matters
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I love it when you say hello my dear ones so much love nd humility. I would love to travel nd stay at your beloved monastery sometime in the future. God bless you pray for me.
May God bless it, dear one. It would be our joy to welcome you. Please remember us in your prayers.
Eternal be their memories Father Seraphim
Amen, my dear one. I have just learnt from someone who commented here a beautiful saying: May their memory be a blessing. May Christ bless both.
Blessed be God forever
Amen, my dear one.
This is absolutely not boring! Thank you, thank you. Your love for these elders shines through so that I can feel nothing except love for these dear men. Never having met them, I feel that I know them. I pray that someday I can love everyone as much as I love these simple holy men. My love to you, and your brothers and sisters.
Thanks for sharing that dear Father Tyrannosaurus Rex.😂
The way that you speak about your Elder's is so experiential and like real family, it is wonderful to hear their perseverance and willingness to suffer for Christ no matter the situation. Something that might seem impossibly difficult to us today, though they prove it is possible. May their Souls rest forever in peace with our Lord and Saviour.
They never spoke about those times as if to lecture us. They told us stories, the way grandparents share stories with their grandchildren in the evening to put them to bed. There was no sense of pride, no sense of 'hear this and learn'. It was simply an old heart opening to a young one, in the awareness that the life ahead of us is long and it might come with painful temptations. They shared themselves because that was all they had to give us for this life ahead of us - more than their stories, it was the love hidden behind the desire to share them that gave me life.
@@mullmonastery God bless you always, that is absolutely heartwarming to the soul to hear, I hope to know and learn from such Elders one day!!
Thank you for sharing these stories. I am in awe of your elders, whose holiness shines through even in photographs. It is so inspiring, such spiritual food, to hear of holy souls whose lives of prayer in silence and darkness sings the loudest and shines the brightest to tell us of the glory of God. May these most holy men smile upon us from Heaven, and pray for the sanctification of our souls.
Without their quiet help and humble guidance (almost always by the example or their own life, almost never by words) I doubt I would have found my way out of the darkness and temptations of my first years as a monk, my dear one. I owe them everything - and I know with certainty that they still watch over my life and the lives of our community on Mull and Iona. I was blessed beyond reason by having them to shape my vision of monastic life for the rest of my life.
Old in your 40s???
Father, when you get to your 60s like me, you'll begin to understand what BEGINNING to get old feels like. 😄
Life begins at 60, and you have already explained by the stories of your Elders how true that is.
God bless you.
☦
Many years, Father! I must chuckle, as you call yourself a dinosaur. I used to work in a high school, and I would tell the students that I was so old I remember when we invented MUD. I told them it was very easy to make, just mix earth with water. I said it with a very straight face. So fun, those memories. By the way - I remember my 40's...they were rough, but somehow, the 50's get easier!!!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories, and the important warning to never follow a person or group that wants to eliminate "others".
Thank you, father
Glory be to God, dear one. Please remember us in your prayers.
I hear the joy in your voice as you speak of these Elders. Likely another young Monk will recount tales of you some day, providing there is a some day. Thank you for these memories you have shared. May Christ continue to Bless you and your communities and may you continue to shine for Him.
Love is sent to you dear Father. Thank you for your kind words. From California with respect.
God grant you many, many years!
It's been a while Father Seraphim, but you assure us that God gave you a wonderful sense of humor 🙏
And from us, your disciples in Christ, much love and gratitude, dear Father
Thank you, father Seraphim, for sharing these stories. Reminded me to be grateful for the "peaceful" time we are living in. And happy birthday, may the heaven swallow you, may Christ bless you and keep you, amen.
father this has to be one of the most impassioned and beautiful videos. Speaking of the life in communion with God brings a burning desire to taste it. Bless us father.
I love you with all my hearth Fr. Seraphim! Thank you and Δόξα τω θεώ!
Glory be to God, my dear one, for the love He gives us. Please keep us in your prayers before Christ.
I feel like ive just been put on trial and found guilty.
Tough guy. Hard heart. Judge everything. I go to church because i realized i cant do it myself anymore. There has to be something more. Im no communist, but the opposite, an individual.. but i see now an individual in the worst way. And still try to carry all the weight by myself anyway..
Ill go put my face back in the Gospels and look for my answer.
I didnt mean to write a letter here. Ill just say thank you and get back to work
I know what you mean, dear one. I could see myself grow that way too, but I had the blessing of receiving the gentle, unspoken correction of the life examples of these Elders. God knew I needed them to survive the beginning of my monastic life and so that I would not be deformed by my anger, my pride or my self-will (all of which I have in abundance). Bring your repentance before Christ and have patience, have a lot of patience with yourself - slowly, you will see the hardness of your heart melt under His Love. May Christ give you the joy of the tears of a repenting, broken heart before Him
@@mullmonastery thank you.
Patience... Yes. That's something I need too.
But a little at a time, right?
I am so guilty of everything there is to be guilty of.. at least I've made a start.
You know, I've noticed something. Since I have started in this way, things have gotten a bit harder. But I'm not so unhappy about that. I think it's a challenge, or maybe a test or something. I don't know.
I have a lot to learn.
Thanks again from here in Topeka Kansas. US.
Christ love and blessings.
To all of us, my dear one.
You are a beautiful soul, Father. Thank you for sharing with us. Bless you.
Only God knows our hearts, my dear one. I am sharing these stories because I know what a blessing these Elders have been for me. It feels selfish not to pass along - at least in part - the joy and wisdom they so lovingly shared with us, the young monks in our monastery.
Thank you for these grace-filled words, dear Father Seraphim! God grant you good strength for the journey and beautiful Paradise! Pray for us, as we remember you always with joy and gratitude! Priest Sava
God bless you and keep you fr seraphim. May the peace of Christ be with you.
May God bless us all, my dear one. Thank you for your prayers - we all need the spiritual support of our brothers and sisters.
There is such a love in your telling of this story, Father❤ We had a similar experience with communism here in Czech republic, but unfortunately our Orthodox church was not so strong as Romanian church. I hope I will visit the monasteries in Bukovina one day. Thank you for your willingness to work for our God, Father...
You made me laugh😂 fully old, and fully dead😂 you're funny. God bless you, please keep me and my family in your prayers. We're going to become cathecumens soon. You're in our prayers too!
Thank you Father, very helpful, Pax Christi.
✝️ ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ ☀️
❤💪🙏✝ БОГ ДАЕТ НАМ СИЛУ ✝🙏⛪️🕊
Thank you for sharing contemporary lives of saints you knew - it was a blessing, encouragement, and rebuke all in one, in the best possible way. Many years to you as well, from Canada! 🌿
God bless you father
Thank you for sharing with us the story of these lovely people
There’s almost nothing quite impactful in one’s spiritual life as much as meeting and being close by someone who is a loving gospel 🙏🥰✝️
That is absolutely true, my dear one. I have met some of the best academic theologians of our time in my years at various universities, but ALL I have learnt that has meaning and the ability to shape me has come from meeting these simple, humble old monks. Some may even struggle to read, but they could speak to Christ face to face in their prayer.
Hello Father, thank you for sharing these stories with us.
I was truly touched by the story of Elder Daniel, sharing the same name as him and having recently recognized in myself my own lack of obedience and discipline. It brought a tear to my eye to hear his story, and how devoted one could be. Having prayed for guidance with respect to obedience and discipline, hearing his story has brought me courage.
Thankyou... You are a real Godly blessing to us with your engaging talks....may GOD bless you and your brothers in Christ there in the monastery with abundance.....😊
To get that Call and experience inner peace is truly a gift to us...in that Clarity we perceive the world for what it truly is...
Please remember us in your prayers, dear one. We depend on each other, and your prayer can support our monastic life and our obedience to Christ here, in these islands. May we all be blessed.
@mullmonastery I will bless you all in my prayers brother
Watching your joy in christ has been a beautiful ending to my day , thankyou father for taking us into your cell and letting us rest with , may God bless you
Thank you, Father.
I am inspired and convicted by the life of prayer your Abbot experienced in the mines. I need renewal in prayer at work so I will also set aside the time to pray a psalm.
Thank you for sharing your love for your spiritual family with us.
Such a funny beginning, Father Seraphim. Thank you so much for all this.
These Elders have given me everything. Most probably, I would not have survived my first monastic years and the spiritual struggles I faced back then without them. The least I can do is keep their memory alive.
@@mullmonastery May they pray for you, the community, and all of us, to find our inner freedom, our way to salvation and remain within Christ forever!
Thank You so,so much,Dear Fr.!!This is amazing!I m speechless!Much Love,much Light to You,Fr.!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Dear father! ❤ So happy to see you again ! GOD BLESS!!❤❤
Happy Birthday if it is !! God bless you
Happy Birthday! We share the same birth. May God grant you your wish to remain in this cell! I have the same hope to remain where I am never to move again. Love your sharing at the end of this video about the forces trying to shut us down and eliminate us. My country is facing a fascist movement and may we stand up to this tyranny so we can be able to pray and be at peace. Hugs! Love! Prayers! For all!
Thank you that was a great story about the elder who pretended to be deaf
Oh father Seraphim
I am just crying because you reached my heart, together with your beautiful Elders. There is so much hate and condemnation in the world and to be frank,sometimes I make the same mistake due to fear for the future. There is so much chaos!
I hope many people will hear your lovely stories and start loving instead of condemning each other.
May God bless you and the monastery forever 💒🙏🙏🙏❤️
These elders are so beautiful.Thank You for sharing them with us.
Hello, this is the first video that I see from you . I am thankful that you bring this message to the light. Because I could not exactly explain to people why communism was bad until you put the right words for it because I have done the mistake on being one of those yonosabokids, basically the kids from immigrants that came to the USA and we only know what we been taught by the US education system deems good in books and also anything that passes censorship in certain states.
I was born in New York City Area and was raised Christian but I always felt like I did not understand why God asked us to do these things. I then ended up becoming lost in the world and became a communist. I had a breaking up with Jesus because the church that I was in failed to protect me and instead blamed me being that church until that point had been all my life. I felt betrayed by God. I ended up some how reading about communism from someone's dating profile not the most ideal place to find out about a philosophy and I talked to them of course they were going to gloss at what they did to Christians to me because many of them wanted to date me and I did not look up what they did to Orthodox Christians I just looked at how Communism could be used in the US and Modern World ignoring completely the history until this year I became an Orthodox Christian after being persecuted for my religion because I was Christian and a male witch abandoned me in the woods after gaslighting me and trying to get me to deny God. I would not stop praying to God and I laughed when I figured out why he had isolated me because he had been trying to get me to try to spiritually attack me. After I would not deny my religion I heard a voice calling onto me telling me it was time and I walked past the woods through an orchard and mountains 54 miles in one day 2 packs of coyotes followed me one after the other I yelled at them I walked with Jesus and they yelped. This year I was told by a witch to come to my mother's house that my ancestors were telling me I had to I told her that unless God closed all my paths I wouldn't and I was sent someone that tried hurting me again spiritually the same way but this time just humiliation and trying to force me into these low emotions that I had enough with people I felt it was God telling me it was time to break up with the world. I left him when in a weird demonic type voice he asks me why I do not want to have improper discourse with him around children and I knew then that was not a regular person. I had been praying to Jesus mind you around him but when he asked me before his religion I said I believed in Jesus he hissed and got all mad and I told him we can agree to disagree but then when I wished a girl from my culture who was getting blessed on her 15 yr old day he got so mad I wished her God to bless her and he made some horrible disgusting remarks and I felt the energy change around him even more he felt the same as the guy from last year. I then ran away to my mother's house and broke up with social media, I stopped using my cellphone all together, I started to read books I found an Orthodox church started to read The Bible again, I felt called to monastic life.
I feel that is where I will find peace with Jesus. I saw what communism did and I cried for hours feeling guilty for even giving that horrible ideology space in my head. God have mercy on people who had gotten lost in believing in Satan's lies.
Fr Seraphim... this was a beautiful testimony of those Fathers who shaped your monastic journey. I look forward to watching your video every Friday at the end of the working week.
I had the opportunity to visit Iona a few weeks ago for a day trip and saw your monastery and a young monk cutting the grass at the front, I was hoping to see you and to thank you in person but i believed you were, from your videos, in Romania at the time. Iona has stolen my heart and i am thinking of going there next year for a couple of weeks so hopefully we can meet in person then.
May God bless you in everything that you are doing and may that blessing fall upon everyone who watches your videos.
Damian
My dear Damian, please stop and ask them where I am. I am very rarely outside, because everything in my life keeps me inside (my obediences, my prayer, even my migraines) and when I do go out, I try to go to the more remote places of the island. Please ask and maybe we shall have the joy to meet in person, even just to exchange a hug.
@@mullmonastery I most certainly will. Please be reassured of my thoughts and prayers, the work you are doing online is so vital - and the visible presence of your community on Iona was a blessing to see, even before the boat arrived it was clear to see one of your monks out cutting the grass and that brought the monastic aspect of Iona alive for me. I was only there for two hours but please God I will get back to experience it at a more tranquil and spirit filled pace.
Holy Elders, pray for us.....
First time I heard someone say "Oh my God" without blashpheming!
You call it a "hairband" Father Seraphim! 🙂Thank you for sharing your passion to a sinner here in Norway. I remember visiting Poland to see the death-camps of the Nazi's right after the fall of Communism and this combined curse of Nazi and Communism seemed to have made the whole country depressed. It was an eerie feeling of sorrow everywhere in that land.
I always feel a bit better watching these little sermons from you. Maybe some that read this can pray for me to help me so I don't have to drink so much? Addiction is a horrible devil.
God bless you all. Autumn is coming. I came to think about that in the seasons God have laid down a wisdom, that now that everything dies, or go into hibernation, there's also a promise about spring coming. New life.
Every time I hear you it brings me joy, and draws me closer to Christ.
Wishing you to get well and lot of health!!
Such beautiful stories you share. Thank you 🙏
I wish I could be a monk living in a place like Iona.
I read now about st Paisios. He is so interesting person. So interesting. We have no so many such interesting saints in the catholic church. Maybe st Francis of Assisi, who I like very much.
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Thank you father for all your love and effort❤
Thank you for sharing these treasures. God bless you and grant you many years. I hope and pray I may receive the grace of your elders as I age. Not sure if you felt older in particular this week or if it’s your birthday, but thank you for this gift 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️
i too became older on 9/21...you are a great blessing to my life, a gift from Hashem...thank you for the videos, i look forward to them every friday...be blessed my dear one, Amen, Amen, Amen...
Your Elders were truly devoted, thank you Father for sharing some details of their life, very inspiring
Now I understand why many say that I should read the life of the Orthodox Saints but especially that lived closer to our times
unfortunately I can't afford it
Lovely stories Father! Thank you for sharing. ❤❤❤
❤....sigh....❤ Heartwarming. To say the least.
God bless your dinosaur soul, Fr. Seraphim. Thank you!
Dear holy Father 👍🏽I can’t find the words to express the depth of feeling,appreciation,joy and pure bliss that danced in my heart and beingness, as I watched and listened - I wept in the joy and the passion and love, that emanated from within you, as you shared such primordial realness - your REALness and OPEN grace exuding - you painted the shared story with the most vivid and vibrant colours and enthused joy - that wove a tapestry of pure prayer - over many years I have watched yr clips - and you have kindled profound shifts within the soul of me - I love 🙏🏽Thanku - you commune in a love beyond the emotion - you express love that has no words - I am living in a 78 year body now - and have felt the reflections of earlier years when heart and actions were so person inspired and ego driven - age is indeed humbling - but the joys of being so close with God , in realisation of one’s faults and actions is a gift - THANKU THANKU THANKU - - amen 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Χρονιά πολλά, Πατέρας ☦
This is so beautiful and inspiring, Fr - I love this video. Thanks for sharing 😊✌️
Dear father Seraphim, all your videos have such wisdom. Thank you for sharing your journey, experiences and wisdom with everyone watching from around the world. May we, all of his children, be forgiven and deemed worthy of going home to him in his eternal prescence in heaven someday. Amen.
Please tell us more about your holy elders!
My dear Celeste, one day, by the grace of God... I need to sit down and collect my thoughts, so I may put on paper all I remember about them. I also need to be in touch with my monastic brother in Moldavia and ask for his help. These Elders have given usSO much, the very least I can do is try to share with you all the blessings they gave us.
I recently read Journey To Simplicity @ Archimandrite Roman Braga and his years in the communist prison.
What a beautiful idea Father. I hope you do write it all down with your monastic brothers. That way they would still be helping others through your shared memories ❤️.
🙏✝️🌹
☦️📿☦️📿☦️
Hello father Serpahim, I have been studying Joseph Stalin to understand Evil and communism in individuals, I have also developed faith during this year, and your speech in the end and the video as a whole touched me, thank you and God bless you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂❤
Doamne ajuta
La Mulți Ani, Părinte! I have seen the love in a monk's eyes that you are talking about when meeting the Moldavian priest Sevastie Bastovoi. It's a love which feels beyond description... I remember the Comunist România myself since I too am getting closer to the fiftieth and I recollect the fear of speaking freely. Now I live next to a concentration camp and I fear the history repeats itself when we choose to forget what happened less than 100 years ago. As long as there are people like you and Maica Siluana mediating for us in front of God, there is still hope though... May you live long enough to teach us what we need! Many healthy returns of the day!!🎉
This was so delightful! Thank you so much. Was it very hard to leave?
Communist Romania was especially harsh
I wonder if the Way Of The Pilgrim was the inspiration for your elder to be a forest ranger. I am reading it and the writer spent time living in a forest hut with a ranger.
Doamne ajuta Parinte Serafim! Sarut mana!
Eu sunt Luminita, fiica duhovniceasca a Parintelui Iulian Nistea de la Cathédrale Mitropoliteana Sfintii Arhangheli Mihail, Gavriil si Rafail din Paris.
Va urmaresc cu multa bucurie si cu drag.
Va multumesc pentru tôt ce am invatat de la Sfintia voastra si simt ça sunteti un om sincer si ça atunci cand ne vorbiti pune-ti in cuvinte si viata din viata si simtirea Sfintiei voastre.
Va rog frumos sa raspunde-ti la intrbarea mea, daca este posibil:
Aveti un vidéo in care ne vorbiti despre bucurie, difuzat acum un an.
La un moment dat niste fiinte intunecate apar in fundal si incep sa sara.
Ce sunt acestea?
Multumesc si Doamne ajuta Parinte Serafim
Fr. Seraphim Aldea-saurus. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
:) I do call myself a monkosaurus, so you are not mistaken, my dear one
What does it mean? 🙂
Blm father.
Why is the room referred to as a "cell"?
Because the life of a monk is a life of repentance, my dear one. A monastic is someone who lives his entire life 'imprisoned' by his repentance for his sins and the sins of the world.
@@mullmonastery Thank you.
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