Yesterday, the orthodox calendar commemorated among so many other saints, St. Euphrosinos The Cook (see my old post from 2014)- who is so dear to my heart! To me St. Euphrosinos is such an amazing example of a soul who was indeed "poor in the spirit" and found the reaches of Heaven, while living. He was not smart, knowledgeable or achieved as we all think in the modern terms, but he was a true citizen of Heaven on Earth.
St. Euphrosinos please pray for us, the prideful souls living today.
The Venerable Euphrosynus the Cook of Alexandria was a monk of the ninth century at one of the monasteries in Palestine who had been translated to Paradise while fulfilling his obedience as a cook. His feast day is September 11.
And since I started with the first Beatitude, what do the Holy Fathers say about the above bible verse?
https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-beatitudes/poverty-in-spirit
more info here:
The Beatitudes
Fr. Josiah
"The Beatitudes, or the blessings, pronounced by our Lord Jesus Christ upon His faithful followers constitute the opening salvo in our Savior’s most famous teaching: The Sermon on the Mount. In these eight lectures each beatitude, one by one, is unveiled revealing the universal character of an authentic Christian. Those who inculcate these sacred dispositions manifest the face of Jesus Christ to the world. By incarnating the qualities of Jesus Christ our Savior, that is, poverty of spirit, mourning, gentleness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, and the joyful acceptance of persecution - believers become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We hope you will be greatly challenged and inspired by these lessons on authentic Christian character, the kind of character that manifests the presence of the Kingdom of God on the earth."
http://patristicnectar.org/free.html
and again:
“The Beatitudes” with Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain
