Unexpected Joy ...

This post is so simple and probably known to many readers but for me a memory I wish to capture at this point in my life, a valuable lesson. This story sounds very similar to the miraculous icon of Panagia Paramythea of Mount Athos:


"In the writings of St. Dimitri of Rostov there is an instructive narrative about a certain sinner who unexpectedly experienced the joy of repentance before an icon of the Mother of God. This event became so beloved of the Russian people that an icon was drawn depicting it, which came to be known as “The Unexpected Joy.” The icon shows a sinner standing on his knees, praying before an icon of the Theotokos and cleansing his soul through penitence.

This sinner had the habit of praying each day to the Blessed Virgin, often repeating the Archangel’s greeting: “Rejoice, O Virgin full of grace!” Once, before routinely going out to sin, he turned to the holy image and fearfully saw the Holy Virgin standing live with Her Divine Son in Her arms. The Infant had wounds on His hands and feet, and blood was flowing from a wound in His side, just as it had been on the cross. The sinner fell to his knees and cried out: “O Mistress! Who did this?”

“You and other sinners. Over and over again you crucify My Son by your sins, just as the Jews had done,” – the Theotokos answered softly.

“Have mercy upon me,” – tearfully cried out the sinner.

“You call Me the Mother of mercy, yet you offend Me and bring Me sorrow by your deeds.”


The Unexpected Joy" “No, Mistress,” – the sinner cried out in fear. – May my malice not overcome Thy indescribable kindness and mercy! Thou alone art the hope and safe haven of all sinners! Have mercy upon me, O benevolent Mother! Entreat Thy Son and my Creator on my behalf.”

Seeing a soul being purified by repentance, the most blessed Mother began to entreat Her Son:
“My benevolent Son! For the sake of My love have mercy upon this sinner.” But the Son replied to Her: “Do not be angry, My Mother, if I do not obey Thee. I, too, entreated My Father to have this cup of suffering pass Me by.”

Over and over the Mother of God entreated Her Son, reminding Him how She had nurtured Him at Her breast, how She had suffered at His cross. But the Lord would not bend down to mercy. Then the Mother of God arose, put Her Son down, and was ready to fall at His feet. “What dost Thou wish to do, Mother?!” – cried out the Son. “I shall remain, – She replied, – lying at Thy feet together with this sinner until Thou forgivest him his sins.” Then the Son said: “The law requires a son to venerate his mother, while justice demands that the giver of the law be himself obedient to the law. I am Thy Son, Thou art My Mother; I am obliged to do Thee homage by fulfilling Thy request. Let it be as Thou wishest! His sins are now forgiven for Thy sake! And as a token of forgiveness, let him press his lips to My wounds.”

The sinner arose, with trembling and joy kissed the most holy wounds of the Infant, and came to himself. When the vision ended, he felt within his heart both awe and joy. His soul exulted, streams of tears ran down his face. He kissed the icon, filled with gratitude for having found repentance and forgiveness, and prayed that he be granted the gift to always see his sins and repent of them. His life changed completely and remained God-pleasing to the end of his days."

Icon of the Mother of Unexpected Joy

Symbol of Faith - part 2

… The Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of everything visible and invisible.

With fear and trembling let us peer through the slightly parted curtain of eternity. The feeble hand of man has not parted this curtain. It has been parted by Him - the One, Living, and True God. Who else could have parted it, if not He? All the minds of men together with all the powers under heaven could not have budged this curtain even a hair's breadth.

He had mercy on men and moved the curtain. And three shafts of light flashed on the people who bear His image in themselves. And the chosen people beheld this and trembled with holy joy. He revealed Himself as the Incomparable One - comparable only to Himself. The One, Living, and True God revealed Himself as the Father, the Almighty, the Maker.

A restless thought pops into your mind with the questions: "Whose Father?" and, "At what point in time did He become the Father?" He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He has been the Father from eternity. Before the creation of the world He was the Father. Before time and temporal beings, before the angels and all the heavenly powers, before the sun and the moon, before the dawn and moonlight, the Father begot His Only-begotten Son. When speaking about the Eternal One, do we dare utter the word "when"? From the time when God is God, from that time God is the Father. But in Him there is no "when", because in Him there is no cycle of time.

The most High revealed Himself first as the Father and then as the Almighty and the Maker. This is clear to you who are chosen. His fatherhood is in relation to the created world, visible and invisible. Therefore, He is first the Father, and then the Almighty and the Maker. In eternity no one has been able to call God "Father" except His Only-begotten Son.

And in time? Not even in time, across ages of ages no one. Listen to the ancient history of the human race and take it to heart. It fills your mind with light, and your soul with joy. After the world was created, and after Adam was driven out of Paradise on account of mortal sin, the repulsive sin of disobedience to his own Creator, all the way to the time when the Son of God descended to earth, no mortal dared to call God his father. His most splendid chosen ones used to address Him with very great names. They called Him "the Almighty", "the Judge", "the Most High", "the King", and "the Lord of hosts", but they never used the sweet name of "Father".

The best people in the human race could feel like the creatures of an almighty Creator, like the pottery of a divine Potter, but never like children of a heavenly Father. This right was given to men through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not a right given to all people, but only to those who have received Him. "To all who received Him,... He gave power to become children of God" (John 1:12): that is, to be adopted and dare to address God with the words: "Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:5-6, Rom. 8:14-16)!

Christ himself revealed this adoption - a gift of God's mercy - and offered it to men at the very beginning of His ministry in the world. He revealed to men that from that moment they could call God their Father when He said: "Pray then like this: Our Father, who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). And from that time until today many millions of children and adults on earth's sphere murmur day after day: "Our Father!"

The evil spirits have no right to call God their Father. And unrepentant sinners are not permitted to utter that sweet word: "Father!" Only to the righteous and the penitent has this right been given, so that in their prayers they can cry out to God from their whole heart and soul: "Our Father!" Therefore, those who wage war against God and God's law, whether by thoughts, words, or deeds, are in no way permitted to address God by that comforting and sweet name:

"Father!"

The three hundred and eighteen Holy Fathers of Nicaea, who composed the Creed of all you who bear the image of God in yourselves, who are chosen, first called God "Father", and then "Almighty" and "Maker". They did this enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God. They did this first, because the Most High is the Father of Christ the Lord before time and the creation of the world; and second, because the incarnate Son of God brought as the first gift to men - to His fol lowers - adoption, that is, the right to be able to call His Father their Father. Our Father! What joy beneath the sun and the stars could cheer your hearts more greatly, 0 chosen people, who bear the image of God within yourselves? And not only has the Lord, the Son of God, permitted you to call the Most High, One, Living, and True God your Father, but He has even commanded you: "And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9). Oh your joy - joy ineffable! True fatherhood lies in heaven, beyond the sun and the stars. Fatherhood on earth is just a shadow and a symbol.

Your joy also lies in the fact that your heavenly Father is also the Almighty and the Maker. The Holy Fathers of Nicaea, enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God, called the Most High first the Almighty and then the Maker. "Does it not seem more natural," you will say, "to create something first and then rule over it mightily; and that one should therefore first call the Most High the Maker and then the Almighty?" It only appears so, but do not judge by appearance when you contemplate the True One. Look, God is indeed the Almighty first. Before He created heaven and earth, God the Almighty carried within Himself the master plan of creation, from the greatest to the smallest detail, and all forces, all laws, all systems of order. Without this wise almightiness, how would creation have been possible and feasible?

And so, after the magnificent Creator created both worlds, visible and invisible, He continued to be the Almighty and in His irresistible might He continued to exercise absolute control over all the forces, laws, and systems of order in both worlds. "Not a single sparrow will fall to the ground without your Father's will," confirmed the Son of God (Matt. 10:29)."And not a hair on your head will perish" (Lk. 21:18), again without the will of God the Almighty. With His mighty arm, God even commands adverse and God-fighting forces. All their efforts against His laws and against the faithful He diverts and uses for good, in accordance with His indescribable wisdom and power. And He brings everything into harmony with His plans. Not a single tear of the righteous, even if it should drop into the sea, is forgotten. Not a single good or bad word spoken in the world, remains without an answer from God, either open or secret.

The Father, the Almighty, the Maker. This is your God-the One, Living, and True God. As the Maker, God created heaven and earth and all creatures visible and invisible. "Our God has made whatsoever He pleased in heaven and on earth" (Ps 115:3). By the phrase ''in heaven'' the sacred interpreters always understood the kingdom of the angels and all the other mighty heavenly powers, visible to God, but invisible to us. By the phrase "on earth" they understood all material things and creatures on earth, in the earth, around the earth, and apart from the earth accessible to our sensory knowledge.

Everything visible and invisible that was created, was created by God. No other Maker exists, in heaven or on earth except the Most High. Nor does anything created exist, from the largest to the tiniest, which someone else created outside of the Most High. He is the only Maker in the full and true sense of the word. In the full and true sense of the term, the Maker is the one who made both the building material and the building, both matter and the form of matter; and one who instills into everything some mystical power of creation, of reciprocal relation, attraction and reflection, motion and life.

Therefore, when you hear the statement that the Creator created everything that is created, understand it as though it were said that the Creator created not only the form of created things from ready material, but the very material itself. In this the fullness of God's creative power is manifested that He created both the one and the other. Whether matter consisted of four great elements - earth, water, fire, and air - as the ancients thought, or whether these four, together with all the rest, consist of one proto-matter of an electrical nature, as modern scientists think, shall we embroil ourselves in that subject now? One thing is certain: that the warp and weave of the general fabric of the universe are the invention and creation of God, the great Creator.

Can any human thought ever conceive of all the mystery and majesty of that fabric, O chosen people? Can any eye encompass it? Can any ear capture it with the sense of hearing? Can any tongue express it? Shapes and colors, numbers and proportions, music and song, joy and pain, worlds in water, worlds in soil, worlds in air, flaming constellations of stars-does all this not drive you, O chosen people, more towards prayerful silence than to speech?

Know, however, that all this miraculous and lofty splendor of the visible universe is scarcely like a flamboyant guard before the entrance of a royal palace, before the gates of the invisible world, of the spiritual, angelic kingdom. And there, beyond the gates lies the true miracle, the miracle of all miracles, the lofty highness of all highnesses. There where the most High King of kings shines in place of the sun (Rev. 22:5)! Here no thought, nor eye, nor ear, nor tongue is of any use. The great apostle was taken up in spirit "to the third heaven. . . caught up into Paradise. . . and he heard things that cannot be told, which man is not permitted to utter" (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Thus in the heavens, in the spiritual kingdom of the Creator King, everything surpasses our present power of conception and expression.

And this visible world in relation to that invisible one is like a shadow compared to reality, like a symbol compared to a spirit, like print compared to an idea, like a letter about the homeland of exiles. But the same Maker created both the visible and the invisible worlds. He alone holds both worlds in His tireless and almighty hand - the Creator alone. He alone leads them along mysterious paths towards mysterious destinations, which He has predestined for them - He, the gentle Father of Christ the Lord and of all His chosen children.

This is the faith of the tear-stained, who cry for justice, truth, and life. This is not the faith of the servants of injustice, falsehood, and death, of the friends of the laughter which ends in despair. This is the faith of the tear-stained who weep over their own feebleness and the feebleness of all mankind. They seek the Source of justice, truth, and life. And this Source is given to them. Then their tears of sorrow are transformed into tears of joy. For they have found the most precious treasure there is - the Father, the Almighty, the Maker. What remains for them to seek, when they have received everything through Him? For them there only remain tears of repentance, with which they wash away any injustice and falsehood, and ward off eternal death. Washed with penitent tears they become meek and merciful of heart towards their brother penitents, their fellow wayfarers on the path leading to the eternal homeland. And they help them to know the justice of God, the Source of justice, truth, and life.

This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your forefathers, who never regretted toil or tears, while they drew near to the Lord and received consolation. Let this also be the faith of your children, from generation to generation, all the way to the end of time. This is the salvation-bearing Faith, which has never been put to shame. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. At the Judgment of God it shall not be difficult for them. They shall be called blessed.

The Father - The Almighty - the Maker.

 * Source

No struggle - no deification

All who stand for good must wage a constant battle with the forces of evil. For the demons still have power in the world until Christ comes again in glory.

"Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication for all the saints - and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." ~ Ephesians 6:14-20.

This is clearly acknowledged in the prayers at the conclusion of our Orthodox baptism.

Christians fight back with God's arms, that is, His uncreated divine energy, given to us (1:19-23; 3:16-21) and actively by us. The Christian has "put on" (4:24) at baptism all the qualities listed as armor in these verses. These qualities must be exercised in the conflict of growth:

No struggle ... no deification.

O honeycombs chosen by God ...

“Who is going to speak about your struggle, blessed Fathers; 
Who is going to praise worthily the deeds of your asceticism? 
Who is going to praise the temperance of your mind? 
your unceasing prayer 
your sufferings to gain virtue, 
the wearing out of the body,
the struggle against passions, 
the all–night assemblies for prayer, 
the unceasing tears, 
the humility of spirit, 
the victories against demons, 
and all the other gifts? 


O multitude of holy men 
sanctified and desired by God. 


O honeycombs chosen by God, 
who made wax cells, 
full of the sweetest honey 
of quietness in the holes and caves of the earth 
in the Holy Mountain. 


Delight of the Holy Trinity! 
Delight of the Holy Mother of God! 


Pride of Athos, 
source of pride for the world. 


Pray to the Lord that our souls find mercy”. 


Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, by the intercessions of Thy Saints, have mercy on me a sinner. 


Most Holy Mother of God, save me

Follow the path of the martyrs

“Come young athlete of God, keep close to me, keep full of zeal,
bend low your neck in complete obedience,
humble yourself, dead to your own will,
telling all the thoughts of heart and mind
you are already in the arena,
have no fear of desert, have no fear of the pillar,
nor of any other order in the race that is before us, the race to know God
you are the first according to Holy Scripture; you follow the path of the first martyrs”

The blessing of St Symeon ...

To the "lovers" of God:

"Blessed are those who are clothed in light,
for they are wearing the wedding garment.
Their hands and feet shall not be bound,
nor shall they be thrown into everlasting fire. Blessed are those who have kindled the light
in their hearts, who keep it unquenched,
for as they joyfully depart from this life,
they will meet the bridegroom, torch in hand,
as he leads them into the bridal chamber.
Blessed are those who have approached the divine light,
who have entered it and been absorbed by it,
mingled in its brightness, sin has no more power,
they will weep bitter tears no more.
Blessed is the monk, offering his prayers to God,
who sees Him, and is seen near Him,
who feels himself out of time and space,
for he is in God alone, knowing not
if he is in or out of the body;
he hears inneffable words, not to be spoken;
he sees what no eye has seen or ear heard,
nor has it entered the heart of man.
Blessed is he who has seen the Light of the world
formed in himself, for he has conceived Christ
within himself; he will be counted as his mother,
as Christ, in Whom there is no lie, has said". 

Symbol of Faith - part 1

What do you believe?

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. - (Genesis 1:28).

Who sows good seed on a field that has not been cleared? A logical man does not do it. A logical man will act in accordance with the Word of God. He will first clear the field of weeds, and then will sow good seed.

The field is the human soul, the weeds-polytheism, the good seed - belief in one God.

Today it seems altogether natural and obvious to you to believe in one, single God, and absurd and foolish to believe in more gods. But it was not always so. There was a time when only a few people in the entire world believed in one God, and then came another time, when an entire nation believed in one God. And all the others, who were polytheists, looked upon these monotheists with the scorn of a rich man because those who had only one God supposedly had far too few. But the monotheists in turn looked upon the polytheists with wonder and sorrow because they, having many gods, really had none at all.

Belief in one God had to be received first from a reliable witness, and then it could be sown over the souls of men like fields. The most reliable witness to bear witness to the one God and against a multitude of gods was the Living and True God himself. He himself bore witness to Himself when He said through His worthy servants: "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods besides Me" (Ex. 20:2-3).

The One, Living, and True God revealed Himself gradually. In the midst of the weeds of polytheism He found a few tiny fields, cleared and cleansed, and sowed the good seed of faith over them. These were the souls of a few righteous men. These souls were moreover like prepared candles which He lit, and they shone in the darkness of polytheism. "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5). Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Joseph, Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel were candles of God-lit individually!

In this way the One, Living, and True God revealed Himself to the whole nation of Jacob or Israel. In His mercy, He revealed Himself to them-first in the land of Egypt, a foreign land, and then in the wilderness, no man's land, and then in Canaan, their land. And for a period of time the whole nation said: "I believe in one God."

But the people of God began to waver in their faith; and this wavering continued over the centuries. And a danger was threatening to extinguish the light in the darkness and reduce the kindled fire to ashes.

Seeing this danger, the One, Living, True, Compas­sionate, and most Merciful God sent among men His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ:

- to dispel the darkness of polytheism;
- to strengthen human hearts on their upward journey;
- to sow the good seed of faith in one God, the Only, Living, and True God.

The diligent bees of Christ, the holy apostles, disseminated this faith, this pollen of God, all over the world.

Truly, like honey-bearing bees of God, the apostles dispersed from Jerusalem in all four directions, through­out nations and tribes, in order to sweeten the souls of men with the glad tidings about the One, Living, and True God, as with honey.

The holy apostles were clearing lands of the weeds of idols and clearing the souls of men of belief in a multitude of gods. On the fields they cleared they would sow the holy faith in the One, Living, and True God.

Oh what a painstaking and dangerous task that was! It was the greatest clash ever known which, believe me, cost those missionaries of monotheism sweat and tears and wounds and blood.

It was extremely difficult for men to part with their imaginary divinities, and difficult for them to accept the belief in one God. Confused by the multitude of creatures and contrary forces in the universe, they considered it more believable that a multitude of gods existed rather than just one God. Captivated by the illusion of inexperienced children, that strength lay in numbers, they maintained that it was more believable, that a multitude of gods had greater power than one God. They maintained that more gods could help more than a single God.

Against the apostles there rose up two sorts of men-and there were two sorts of all of them in the world-those who nourished their souls with the poison of idolatry, and others who nourished their bodies by making statues for idols. And these latter were no less of a hindrance than the former. Take the apostle Paul and the silversmith Demetrius, for example. "A man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, 'Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger . . . that this trade of ours may come into disrepute"' (Acts 19:24-27).

Therefore, some regarded the new faith as a threat to their soul, while others considered it to be a threat to their belly.

Thus all the people and peoples on earth, with very few exceptions, considered themselves threatened. And these exceptions were condemned to cruel deaths, like Socrates in Athens.

Culture did not help in the least. The more cultured peoples just made idols from more precious materials and in a more refined shape than primitive peoples, but idols remained idols, and the enslavement of the human soul existed as much here as there. When St. Paul the Apostle was in cultured Athens, "his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols" (Acts 17:16). And the same thing happened with Andrew in Sarmatia, Matthew in Egypt, and Bar­tholomew in India. Idols in the marketplace, idols in front of courthouses and military barracks, idols before threshholds, idols in homes, idols in every room, idols everywhere. No list could have listed all the gods which people and peoples used to worship.

All these idolatrous thorns scratched the holy apostles and drew blood. But they boldly pruned them, cleared and cleansed them, and in their place they sowed the good seed of faith in one God - the Only, Living, and True God. The apostles accomplished this titanic task with words, miracles, love and sacrifice. Where they failed by one means, they succeeded by another. Where they could not succeed by any other means, they succeeded by their own blood and-death. The blood of their martyrdom burned the idols like living fire.

The One, Living, and True God blessed the message of His apostles and their labors, tears, sighs, and their sacrifices. Thus their seed brought forth good fruit. And that fruit consists of this-that today it seems altogether natural and obvious to people to believe in one God, and absurd and foolish to believe in many gods.

"I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods besides Me." This was the first testimony of God concerning Himself, the first revelation to men on earth concerning God from God, and the first command­ment of God. "You shall have no other gods besides Me," commands God; for if you will have other gods, you will bring two disasters upon yourself. First: you will be believing in false, non-existent, imaginary, illusory gods. Second: you will be sharing reverent fear and love, which entirely belongs to Me, the One, Living, and True God, with these false gods.

In this way you will darken your faith in Me, and weaken your reverent fear and love for Me. And I shall withdraw far from you, offended and insulted. And you will be an atheist, no matter how much you imagine you are rich in piety on account of your belief in many gods. For in the final analysis a polytheist and an atheist are the same thing. Both the one and the other are without one God, without the One, Living, and True God.

Belief in one God, the One, Living, and True God, is the faith of the humble and the wise. This is not the faith of the proud, whom pride makes unwise. For they either deify themselves or some creature of the Creator, but not the Creator.

The more humble a man is, the wiser he is; the more arrogant he is, the more foolish he is. God gives understanding to the humble, so that they may know and understand, but He opposes the proud. The more the humble are at peace with the Lord, the more the Lord endows them with understanding. And understanding is light that leads to the One, Living, and True God. Blessed are they who have understanding, to see the transitoriness of this world and the nothingness of man. Blessed are they who feel small and insignificant, for God will elevate them to the highest knowledge, to the knowledge of the existence and majesty of the Most High God.

This is your faith, Christ-bearers, and the faith of your most humble and most wise forefathers. Let this also be the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time. This is the salvation-bearing Orthodox Faith, which has never been put to shame. By this faith your fathers were saved. Truly, this is the faith of the chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. At the Fearful Judgment they shall not be put to shame before the faces of the angels and the righteous. Instead they shall receive glory, and shall be called blessed.                                                              

The One, Living and True God. * Source

The Scriptural Foundations of "the Creed"

I believe in (Romans 10: 8-10; 1 John 4: 15)
One God (Deuteronomy 6: 4, Ephesians 4: 6)
Father (Matthew 6: 9)
Almighty, (Exodus 6: 3)
Creator of heaven and earth, (Genesis 1: 1)
and of all things visible and invisible; (Colossians 1: 15-16)
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, (Acts 11: 17)
Son of God (Matthew 14: 33; 16: 16)
begotten (John 1: 18; 3: 16)
begotten of the Father before all ages; (John 1: 2)
Light of Light (Psalm 27: I; John 8: 12; Matthew 17: 2,5)
true God of true God, (John 17: 1-5)
of one essence with the Father, (John 10: 30)
through Whom all things were made; (Hebrews 1: 1-2)
Who for us and for our salvation (I Timothy 2: 4-5)
came down from the heavens (John 6: 33,35)
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, (Luke 1: 35)
and became man. (John 1: 14)
Crucified for us (Mark 15: 25; I Corinthians 15: 3)
under Pontius Pilate, (John 1: 14)
He suffered, (Mark 8: 31)
and was buried; (Luke 23: 53; I Corinthians 15: 4)
Rising on the third day according to the Scriptures, (Luke 24: 1; 1 Cor. 15: 4)
And ascending into the heavens, (Luke 24: 51; Acts 1: 10)
He is seated at the right hand of the Father; (Mark 16: 19; Acts 7: 55)
And is coming again in glory (Matthew 24: 27)
to judge the living and dead, (Acts 10: 42; 2 I Timothy 4: 1)
His kingdom shall have no end; (2 Peter 1: 11)
And in the holy Spirit, (John 14: 26)
Lord (Acts 5: 3-4)
the Giver of life, (Genesis 1: 2)
Who proceeds from the Father, (John 15: 26)
Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, (Matthew 3: 16-17)
Who spoke through the prophets; (I Samuel 19: 20; Ezekiel 11: 5, 13)
In one, (Matthew 16: 18)
holy, (I Peter 2: 5, 9)
universal (Mark 16: 15)
and apostolic Church; (Acts 2: 42; Ephesians 2: 19-22)
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; (Ephesians 4: 5)
I expect the resurrection of the dead; (John 11: 24; I Cor. 15: 12-49)
And the life of the age to come. (Mark 10: 29-30)
Amen. (Psalm 106:48)