Christ is the vine and we are the sprouts
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8
The mysteries of God
Saint Ignatius the Teophorus Epistles, (Ignatius – to Ephesians, cap. XVIII, in Church Fathers and Writers (1979), vol. 1, p. 196
The ruler of this world (John 14, 30) didn`t know the virginity of Mary (Luke 1, 24, 37), the Birth of Christ from her and the death of the Lord, three resounding mysteries which were accomplished in the silence of God.
Saint Makarios the Egyptian, The fifty spiritual homilies, Homily XV, 14-15, in Church Fathers and Writers (1992), vol. 34, p. 157
Many times the simple man comes to prayer and bends his knees and his mind reaches an indescribable peace. The more the mind deepens and searches the mysteries of God the more the wall of evilness which is before him is destroyed. In the end he comes to see and perceive the things beyond nature and reaches where the strong ones, the wise and the orators can`t reach, he comes to understand the sublimity of his mind, and this because he is preoccupied by the divine mysteries. And this one who has no experience doesn`t know how to examine the pearls or appreciate them. That is why the Christians despise the things glorified on earth and consider them as trash when they compare them with those of the divine majesty which works within us.
Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Comments at Leviticus, The first book of comments at Leviticus, in Church Fathers and Writers (1992), vol. 39, p. 381
„(…) The most suitable place for the holy activities is the Church of God and in it is imperatively accomplished the mystery of Christ.
Source: http://ziarullumina.ro
