God speaks with us when we read the Holy Scripture, for what does it contain, if not the Word of God itself? In it is His truth, His teaching, His commandments. But do we listen when He speaks, or as we read? Regardless of when these words were written, one and the same God speaks to us. “If we read the Sacred Scriptures with faith,” says St. Basil the Great, “we will feel that we see and hear Christ Himself. What is it we need, an actual voice or the One Who speaks to us through the Scriptures? It is all the same. In Sacred Scripture, God speaks with us just as truly as when we speak with Him through prayer.” For this reason, prayer and the reading of sacred books must be our continuous occupation. Pray or read continually if you want to be with God at all times.
St. Platon, Archbishop of Kostroma
