Introducing Father Gabriel’s first Orthodox Christian comic strip! In addition to Father Gabriel’s animated series, I’ve been thinking about doing either a comic book or a comic strip of Father Gabriel for a while now. Like his animated series, the comic will follow Father Gabriel’s adventures as he spreads his love of prayer to all he encounters.
After thinking and about praying about this, I decided that creating comic strips would be the best decision, since creating a comic book can take months, and I wanted my Father Gabriel animated series to be my main focus and not the comic book. In addition, I decided that my first comic strip I will draw digitally using my Samsung Galaxy Note 3. I had done drawings on my phone before, and typically they turned out very well, so I thought it would be the best decision since I can draw whenever I have free time.
Before I did any drawings, I had already decided in my head what my first comic strip would be about and what quote from the Holy Fathers of the Church I wanted to use.
The time immediately following sleep should, first of all, be spent in prayer. Each morning brings us the pious joy of glorifying God for the Creator’s having allowed us yet again to see His world, so beautifully designed for us. In beginning the day we are beginning a new life, and in life there are so many grounds for temptation and sin that a weak person absolutely cannot do without the help of God, which is acquired only through prayer. And secondly, time should be spent in reading the word of God: it is the book of life, it contains everything we need to know, to do, to hope for. In the words of St. John Chrysostom, it is God’s letter or epistle to mankind. Whoever does not nourish his soul with this celestial gift – starves his soul. Afterwards comes the time for activity, time for work. Everyone has his own duties, his own affairs, his own job, his own diverse needs. But whatever they may be, there is one cardinal rule for all of them: “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is,” i.e. at the beginning of each deed ask your-self whether or not it conforms to the will of God. – Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
Beautiful prayer, and I really wish I could’ve used all of it, but unfortunately I had only four panels and limited space for text, so I had to choose lines from the quote that best fit the drawings that I had in my head. After I had finished some quick sketches and got a few tips from my wife, I went ahead and started drawing on my phone. I drew at various times, whether it was during my break at work, or at home waiting for my wife to finish making dinner. But when I was finally finished, I was very happy with the result.