“Elder Aimilianos never told anyone what to do. Never gave orders. He told us many times when the community was all together: “I can’t really tell you what to do, all I can do is strive to be an example.” He used to say, “In the Christian life, there is no ‘must’. If you tell people they ‘must do this and must do that’, something in their spirit rebels. It’s unnatural for us to be enslaved in that way, to have orders and commands imposed upon us. …
… When a certain novice arrived at Simonopetra, the cells were under construction so he was put in a guest room. It all looked normal: shelf, books, bed. He was working in the library, and one of the monks got up and said, “Ooh my back, my back: it’s killing me. I have back troubles.” “Is your bed too soft?” the novice asked. “You sleep in a bed?” “Yeah: don’t you?” “No, nobody here sleeps in a bed,” and laughed with the other monks saying, “Hey, come here. He sleeps in a bed!” When the novice was with the Abbot a couple days later, the Abbot asked, “You have a bed in your room? At some point, we’ll have to get that out of there.” The novice was terrified: he had a long history of chronic lower back problems. He had the idea: “If they take my bed away, I’ll be a cripple the rest of my life!” Every time he heard a knock on the door, he feared they were coming for it. Yet no one ever came for the bed. One day the Novice saw the cell of the Abbot. The Abbot didn’t have a bed! “This man carries the weight of the whole monastery on his shoulders, works so hard for everybody here, deals with all our nonsense, our infantile behaviour prays for us, and he doesn’t sleep in a bed. And I’m going to have a bed? I can’t do that.” He went back to his room and got rid of the bed. Had they taken it, and he had back problems, he would have cursed them forever! The Abbot taught by example.”
Source: A priest of the Orthodox Church
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Exactly like Fr Synesios at the monastery of St Arsenios. He is always most eager to help everybody in everything, is tireless in his ministry and never judges anybody. Indeed, even when things go really wrong, he always protects the “culprit” and prefers solutions to problems. Just a few hours together with him are life-changing. He teaches everybody by example.
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE 
I received some oil from the Holy Myrrh streaming Iveron Icon of the Theotokos in Hawaii. It has healed people. I don’t know what to do with it.
I received two tiny baggies with a bit of cotton and oil in each and two icon cards that have been blessed & anointed. Suggestions are welcome. God grant you many years!
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God is glorified in His Saints! Well, we are still in a praying “process” for St Demetrius myron, so let us see what the Saints will reveal. We could always “exchange” holy myrrh tiny baggies, St Demetrius and the Iveron Theotokos, after the Christmas holidays. I could then share it with the faithful here, or even better abroad, like the Holy Cross parish and the Saint Etheldreda sisterhood there. Let us pray to see what the Saints will reveal. Εν Χρ
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I too received an abundance of Holy Myron from St Demetrios,Thessaloniki and the scent fills the houses of the faithful with whom I have shared it. When we share the blessings of the Saints of God with others, we in turn are blessed! Even the smallest fragment is infused with the grace of God.
My thanks and poor prayers
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