On the 7th Sunday after Pascha, the Holy Church honors the memory of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council—courageous defenders of the Orthodox faith, those who stood firmly in the truth and bore witness to the unity of the Church of Christ.

After the reading of the Gospel, Archimandrite Constantine (Marchenko) delivered a sermon in which he called upon Christians to inner joy. He emphasized that even in a time of war a person must find time to restore his inner resource, for without inner joy it is impossible to attain true success.

The father called for the cultivation of inner strength and spiritual success through sincere prayer and thanksgiving to God. Recalling the words of John Chrysostom—“There is no stronger person in the world than the one who knows how to give thanks to God”—he emphasized that gratitude gives birth to joy and spiritual steadfastness in the heart.

In the sermon it was said that a person who does not give thanks begins to waver inwardly and to lose peace. By contrast, humble people who know how to give thanks are spiritually strong. People grow accustomed to becoming embittered, to noticing only the faults around them, and bitterness gives rise to coarseness. Gratitude, however, nourishes the Christian and helps him preserve peace of soul.

We must stop constantly complaining about life, and learn instead to thank God for everything we have. For the habit of complaining destroys a person from within, and so it must be fought, learning to restrain oneself and to say “no” to oneself.

In conclusion of the sermon, the archimandrite emphasized that a person ought to strive to live a full life, and the one who has learned to give thanks sincerely no longer needs to ask for much.