Orthodox Saint Quotes
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Updated August 22, 2015
"After the fall into sin, Adam's soul darkened: his thoughts and desires became muddled, and his imagination and memory began to cloud. Instead of peace and joy he met sorrow, agitation, ruination, misery, and woe. He experienced hard labor, poverty, hunger, and thirst. And after years of unsurpassed sorrows, sickly old age began to oppress him, and death neared...No man, even the most talented and powerful, nor all of mankind in unison, could ever restore what Adam lost when he sinned in Eden. What would have happened to us and to all of mankind if Jesus Christ in His mercy had not come to redeem us?"
(St. Innocent of Alaska in 'The Indication of the Way') [Sin; Evil; Salvation]
"Try it on your children. Ask them how many cartoon characters they could name. Then ask how many saints could they name. Two? Eight? A dozen if you’re lucky. And we can blame no one but ourselves for this. We expect our children to stay in the church and understand our traditions and always do the right thing, and, and, and, but how can we expect all of this if we’re not teaching them?"
(Sylvia Leontaristis, Orthodox mother and author) [Tradition; Family; Catechism]
"If we want to fare well in this life and to go to Paradise, and to call our God love and father, we must have two loves: the love for God and the love for our neighbor. It is natural for us to have these two loves, and contrary to nature not have them. Just as a swallow needs two wings in order to fly in the air, so we need these two loves, because without them we cannot be saved."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos) [Love; Salvation] http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03391/Photogenic_View-do_3391292k.jpg?
"...neither does God wish to cut down a man on account of his evil thoughts, lest the wheat be destroyed along with them. If, for example, Matthew had been cut down while he was a tare, the wheat of the word which was later to spring up from him would have been cut down with him."
(St. Theophyact) [Love of God; Patience]
"We say that our dead have “fallen asleep” or “passed away.” What does this mean? This means that for the true Christian there is no death. Death was conquered by Christ on the cross. But there is a translation, i.e, a rearrangement of his condition, i.e. his soul is in another place, in another age, in another world beyond the grave, eternal, without end, that is what is meant by “falling asleep”."
(St. John of Kronstadt) [Death; Salvation; Judgement]
"O Lord, show Your mercy to me and gladden my heart. I am like the man on the way to Jericho who was overtaken by robbers, wounded and left for dead. O Good Samaritan, come to my aid. I am like the sheep that went astray. O Good Shepherd, seek me out and bring me home in accord with Your will. Let me dwell in Your house all the days of my life and praise You for ever and ever with those who are there. Amen."
(St. Jerome) [Prayer; Repentance; Hope]
"Whoever wishes to be saved must turn to the Lord with a pure heart, and must cleanse oneself with repentance and tears, and in such a manner unite with Christ, the True Vine. For without Christ there is no salvation."
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) [Salvation]
"Bless, Lord, this new fruit of vine which reached ripeness because Thou kindly provided good weather, drops of rain and stillness. Let eating this fruit of vine make us joyful. And give us the honor of offering this fruit to Thee, as the gift of purging of sins, altogether with the Holy Body of Thy Christ.”
(Transfiguration Blessing of Grapes) [Tradition]
"Suffer and pray to God for your children. By your long-suffering you will hopefully bring them little by little to feel some shame and with your prayer you will receive help from the Almighty in clearing. up your children's hearts. But first you must repent before him for not teaching your children. His law before anything else."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich ~Missionary Letters Vol. 3) [Intercession; Witness]
"All is dust under the feet of the Eternal..From this dust will survive only the small portion of God's spirit that dwells in this dust. All our thoughts and feelings, and deeds and strivings, and struggles and passions, which are directed towards dust will die together with our bodily dust. Only that portion of our being which is directed towards God will survive, will continue to live in the presence of God, will see God. For God only can see God."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in ''Serbia in Light and Darkness') [Salvation; Purpose of Life]
"The martyrs shed their blood for the Truth, and are you concerned about such a little distance [to the church]? They sacrificed their lives for Christ, and you don't want to toil even a little? The Lord died for your sake, and are you too bored to come to church, preferring to stay at your house? Nevertheless, you must come, to see the devil being defeated, the saint winning, God being glorified and the Church triumphing."
(St. John Chrysostom on church attendance) [Worship; Love of God]
"Impurity is also twofold: physical and mental. By mental are impure thoughts, impure looks, rancor, deceit and the like, and the bodily filth are: adultery, fornication.... He wants us to be clean and from that and from other impurities. Come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves, that is, live separately, and be clean, and then I will take you."
(St. Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians) [Sanctification; Separation]
"Life is a great experimental science. Nothing is more difficult than to pass through this science, this narrow way, and these narrow gates. And those who have not learned, either through their mother's teaching or at school, to have faith in God and the fear of God, and to lead a pious life—those will find it especially difficult to study in the school of life."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Purpose of Life; Wisdom]
"Always remember that you were born into this world so that you may do good to all insofar as possible on every occasion. Love not only those close to you and your benefactors, but even your enemies, so that you might thereby pacify them, correct them, and make them good people. "
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Short Christian Moral Guide”) [Love; Witness]
"The doer of human righteousness is filled with self-opinion, high-mindedness, and self-deception … he repays with hatred and revenge anyone who dares to open his mouth to pronounce the most well-founded and good-intentioned contradiction of his righteousness. He considers himself worthy, most worthy of both earthly and heavenly rewards."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov) [Pride; Self-Centeredness]
"I give thanks to him who strengthened me in all things, so that I should not be hindered in my setting out and also in my work which I was taught by Christ my Lord; but more, from that state of affairs I felt, within me, no little courage, and vindicated my faith before God and man."
(St. Patrick of Ireland, 'Confessions') [Will of God; Divine Providence]
"The Church Fathers regard Sacred Tradition as the safe guide in the interpretation of Holy Scripture and absolutely necessary for understanding the truths contained in the Holy Scripture. TheChurch received many traditions from the Apostles... The constitution of the church services, especially of the Divine Liturgy, the holy Mysteries themselves and the manner of performing them, certain prayers and other institutions of the Church go back to the Sacred Tradition of the Apostles."
(St. Nectarios of Aegina) [True Church; Tradition]
"Help the beggar. He is not a beggar because God cannot feed all His children, but because He placed him as a beggar on the street to test your heart... Every penny that you give to a beggar, God counts double as His debt to you."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 'Serbian Wisdom')
"The Lord is my being; the Lord is my deliverance from everlasting death; the Lord is my eternal life; the Lord is my cleansing and deliverance from a multitude of iniquities, and my sanctification. The Lord is strength in my weakness...peace in my disturbance; the Lord is the intercessor in my temptations; He is my thinking, my desire, my activity; The Lord is everything to me. My soul, love and thank the Lord constantly!"
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Love of God; Faith]
"On Sundays and feast days come to church, and falling down with reverence before God, be mindful of all the mercies you may ever have received from Him. Thank Him for them with all your heart, and as a sign of your thankfulness, promise to live as He has commanded you. This is a sacrifice most pleasing to God."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Short Christian Moral Guide”)
"All of us who walked towards the kingdom of light and eternal life are obliged to keep watch daily and see what sort of garments are soul is clothed in. Let us look at those men and women who daily dress up, change clothes, decorate themselves, groom themselves and adorned themselves in order to physically look as nicely as they can. We ought to apply that much care and even more than that on the clothing of our soul. They look at themselves in the Mirror. Our Mirror is Jesus Christ."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in "Missionary Letters #2") [Sanctification; Repentance]
“You see very clearly that it is extremely difficult, and without God’s grace and your own fervent prayer and abstinence, it is impossible for you to change for the better. You feel within yourself the action of a multitude of passions...and yet you remain in them, are often bound by them, whilst the long-suffering Lord bears with you, awaiting your return and amendment..."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Repentance; Sanctification; Prayer]
"It is hard to pray at night. But try in the morning. If you can't manage to pray at home than at least as you ride to your place of employment to attempt with a clear head the "Our Father" and let the words of this short prayer resound in your heart. And at night commend yourself with complete sincerity into the hands of the Heavenly Father. This indeed is very easy."
(St. John of San Francisco) [Prayer; Devotions]
"He who admits his sinfulness, who through experience knows the weakness of human nature and its inclination toward evil, will forgive his neighbor the more swiftly, dismissing transgressions and refraining from a haughty judgment of others' sins. Let us remember that even the scribes and Pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery to Christ were forced to depart, when their conscience spoke out, accusing them of their own sins."
(St. Tikhon of Moscow, Homily) [Forgiveness; Humility]
"A sure sign of the deadening of the soul is evading church services. A person who has grown cold towards God first of all begins to avoid going to church—in the beginning he tries to arrive at the service a little late, and then he completely stops visiting God’s church."
(St. Baranuphius of Optina) [Love of the World]
"Men were triply separated from God; by nature, by sin and by death - yet the Savior made them to attain to Him perfectly and to be immediately united to Him by successively removing all obstacles. The first barrier He removed by partaking of manhood, the second by being put to death on the cross. As for the final barrier, the tyranny of death, He eliminated it completely from our nature by rising again."
(St. Nicholas Cabasilas, 14th Century Byzantine commentator) [Salvation; Love; Sacrifice]
"If good deeds done according to feelings of the heart brought salvation, then Christ’s coming would have been superfluous... ...Such is the natural quality of all bodily podvigs/struggles and visible good deeds. If we think that doing them is our sacrifice to God, and not just reparation for our immeasurable debt, then our good deeds and podvigs become the parents in us of soul-destroying pride."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov)
"No matter what the many fates of humans are on earth, no matter what schemes and obstacles Satan and the godless prepare and no matter how great the apostasy will be in the last times from the love of Christ, the kingdom of Christ will be filled unconditionally. Or did He who told us to calculate whether we can finish a tower before we start building it, did He not calculate how He would fulfill his kingdom?"
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in 'Missionary Letters #2') [Divine Providence; Will of God]
"In the first centuries it was not only the pastors who were tortured, but lay persons as well – men, women, and even children. And it was lay people likewise who enlightened the heathen and fought heresies. And now in the same way, the spreading of the Faith should be a matter that is personal, heartfelt, and dear to each one of us. Every member of the Church must take an active part in it – some by personal struggle spreading the Good News, some by material donations and service to “the needs of the holy persons,” and some by profuse prayer to the Lord that He “keep His Church firm and multiply it...”
(St. Tikhon of Moscow, 20th Century Russian patriarch and martyr) [Witness; Evangelization]
QUOTE OF THE DAY... "It is incomprehensible how Jesus Christ is united with the sign of the Cross, and gives it the wonderful power of driving away passions, demons, and to calm the troubled soul. It is likewise incomprehensible how the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ is united with the bread and wine, transforming them into His own Flesh and Blood, and manifestly cleansing our soul from sins, bringing into it heavenly peace and tranquillity and making it good, gentle, humble, and full of hearty faith and hope."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ')
" I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners. And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son."
(St. Patrick of Ireland, 'Confessions') [Divine Providence; Love of God]
"Pray to the saint whose name you bear, and he [or she] will help you. Turn to him in times of sorrow and sickness; in difficult circumstances and in moments of joy...He brings our prayer before God and intercedes for us. At the end of life, when we depart for the other world, our patron saint will be standing next to us. If we venerated him and prayed to him, he will stand next to our guardian angel to protect us from satan’s accusations."
(Fr. George Calciu +, 21st Century Romanian Confessor) [Saints; Prayer]
"The world is a house. The Builder and the Master of this house is the Creator, and the Father of the Christian people living in it is God. The Mother in this house is the most holy Mother of the Lord. Always walk in the presence of your Father, in love and obedience to Him; likewise in the presence of our common Mother, the most holy Mother of the Lord, in holy love, reverence, and obedience to Her."
(St John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ)
"The Church is a hospital not a court. It bestows forgiveness; it does not demand accountability for the sin. Say to God: “Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee” (Ps. 50:6), and He will forgive you. Show Him that you repent, and He will have mercy on you. If we do our part, God will do His part."
(St John Chrysostom) [Repentance; Prayer]
"If there are some of us who are still seeking Christ among the dead, let them desist from this soul-destroying effort. This is the vain effort of the Jews, pagans and non-Christians. We know that the Lord and Giver of Life is not in the tomb but on the Throne of Glory in the heavens. The spirit not darkened by sin looks up into heaven and does not see the tomb; while the spirit darkened by sin looks into the tomb and does not see heaven."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in 'The Prologue')
"On Sunday and on holidays when you go to God's house bring your children. You should have noticed by now yourself that often they speak only...cursing and using evil words - and they do not even know how to pray. They have no inkling about God or faith and the father and mother are to be blamed for that. Teach them to love God, the Faith, the Church... and especially to pray!"
(St. Alexis Toth, 20th Century Evangelizer of America) [Witness; Family]
"A mother had an only son, a student in school the mother was mad at her son and it anger she said be senseless words, "If I were to never see you again I'd be happy!" The child was so distraught by these words that he took a gun and shot himself. Beside himself he left a student's writing board of which he wrote, "your mother, I remove myself forever from before your face just to make you happy!" Over the miserable happiness of the mother! After that happened the mother said by the fireplace every night putting out the fire with her tears until she was eventually found dead one morning, wasted, but he put out fireplace. Do you see what a senseless word does?"
St.Nikolai Velimirovich in 'Missionary Letters #1'
"Jacob's well is Scripture. The water is the spiritual knowledge found in Scripture. The depth of the well is the meaning, only to be attained with great difficulty, of the obscure sayings in Scripture. The bucket is learning gained from the written text of the word of God which...can only grasp a very small amount of knowledge and leaves behind all that it cannot lay hold of..."
(St. Maximus the Confessor on the 'Woman at the Well' In John 4)
"We run eagerly to dances and amusements. We listen with pleasure to the foolishness of singers. We enjoy the foul words of actors for hours without getting bored. And yet when God speaks we yawn, we scratch ourselves and feel dizzy. Most people would run rabidly to the horse track, although there is no roof there to protect the audience from rain...Nothing keeps them in their homes. When they are about to go to church, however, then the soft rain becomes an obstacle to them."
(St. John Chrysostom 'On Church Attendance')
"I should give thanks unceasingly to God, who frequently forgave my folly and my negligence, in more than one instance so as not to be violently angry with me, who am placed as his helper, and I did not easily assent to what had been revealed to me, as the Spirit was urging; and the Lord took pity on me thousands upon thousands of times, because he saw within me that I was prepared, but that I was ignorant of what to do in view of my situation..."
(St. Patrick of Ireland) [Guidance; Will of God]
"Many do not pray because it seems to them that they did not receive any gift from God when they prayed before, or because they consider praying unnecessary; they say that God knows everything without our asking, and forget that it is said "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Hope; Faith]
"Emotional peace is obtained from perfect devotion to the will of God, without which nothing exists. And if your husband really is not good, ask yourself in all good conscience before God: “Do I, a sinner, really deserve a good and kind husband?” And your conscience without fail will say that you do not deserve a perfectly good husband; and then in humility of heart, in submission to God’s will, you will love him with all your heart and will find much that is good, which up until then you didn’t see."
(Elder St. Anthony of Optina) [Will of God; Long-suffering; Peace]
"The Holy Spirit illumined firstly the holy Prophets, and they wrote the Divine Scripture; secondly, He illumined the holy Apostles; and thirdly, He has illumined the holy Fathers, and they have explained the books of our Church, in order that we may know how to conduct ourselves. Our Faith has been made secure by wise and learned Saints, who both explained the Holy Scriptures precisely and have enlightened us through their divinely inspired discourses."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos) [Scripture; Revelation]
"Go as often as possible to Liturgy, and as it is celebrated stand in firm and bright faith in the sacrifice that is being made to God. The Sacrament of the Body and Blood is Divine Food for the Christian and a sacrifice. Not everyone receives Communion at every Liturgy, but the sacrifice is brought from all and for all...Concentration alone on this Mystery powerfully enlivens and awakens the spirit. Faith and contrition always bring cleansing from sins..."
(St. Theophan the Recluse 'Path of Salvation')
"For beyond any doubt on that day we shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as children of the living God and co-heirs of Christ, made in his image; for we shall reign through him and for him and in him."
(St. Patrick) [Salvation; Faith]
"The object of our worship is the one God who created the whole massive structure with all its apparatus of elements, bodies, and spirits: who fashioned it out of nothing through his word, by which he gave the command; through his design, by which he arranged the whole; by his power, by which he could effect his plan, to make it the adornment of his own majesty. Hence the Greeks call the universe the Cosmos (which means Ornament’)."
(Tertullian, 3rd Century Christian apologist [not a saint]) [Creation]
“It is our obligation to share our spiritual treasures, our truth, our light and our joy with those who do not have these gifts. And this duty lies not only on pastors and missionaries, but also on lay people, for the Church of Christ, in the wise comparison of St. Paul is a body, and in the life of the body every member must take part.”
(Patriarch St Tikhon of Moscow) [Witness; Evangelization]
Updated 04/04/2015
"What’s happening now is like having a watering can and try to water a whole field with it. But time will come when God will rain on his field and it will be irrigated."
(Elder Paisios on Modern Missions) [Missions; Evangelism]
"Those who give bread or money to the hungry regretfully, with an evil eye and dissatisfied heart, act in the same manner as if they were putting poison into their bread or their alms, though this poison is a spiritual, invisible one. We must give lovingly, with a respect for the person of our neighbor, willingly, gladly ; for it is natural that love should rejoice when affording help to the beloved." (St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ')
"Say then to yourself, that the dog through hope of future pleasure, despises that which is present: while you do not choose for hope of future good things to despise those which are present. But he indeed knows, that, if he tastes of that food [prey in a hunt] at the wrong time and against his master’s will, he will both be deprived of that, and not get even that which was apportioned to him, but receive blows instead of food: whereas you cannot even perceive this, and that which he has learned by way of custom, you do not succeed in acquiring even from reason. Let us imitate the dogs."
(St. John Chrysostom using a dog as an example) [Patience;Obedience]
QUOTE OF THE DAY... "In summary, these are the means of receiving the Holy Spirit: purity of heart, chastity, humility, listening to the voice of God, prayer accompanied by fasting and charity, reading Holy Scripture, meditation, and partaking of Holy Communion. Of course, each of these individually is effective for receiving the Holy Spirit, but it is best to resort to all of them for our salvation."
(St. Innocent of Alaska 'Indication of the Way into the Kingdom')
"For the sun we see rises each day for us at [His] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ's will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever."
(St. Patrick of Ireland, Confessions) [True Church; Revelation]
"We have sinned, transgressed, done wrong before You. We have not watched or done as You hast commanded us but do not give us up utterly, O God of our fathers. Have mercy on us, O God, have mercy on us."
(St. Andrew of Crete, 'Great Canon' Ode 7)
"Always say this prayer both with your mouth and with your mind, day and night, wherever you may be, whether eating, walking, working, or sitting. Always meditate on it, as it benefits you a great deal., frees you here from every evil, delivers you there from eternal Hell, and renders you worthy of going to Paradise, our heavenly country."
(Saint Cosmas Of Aitolos on the 'Jesus Prayer')
"The living Church always admired men of suffering and not men of pleasure. It was not the self-sufficient prelates who promoted the Christian cause, with their books and notes and discussions, but the sufferers, hungry and thirsty for the Kingdom of God. Christ was victorious over Nero in the Coliseum, but oftentimes afterwards Nero was victorious over Christ in the Church. But Nero must go, and Christ come."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in 'Religious Spirit of the Slavs')
"There is no sin, which alms cannot cleanse, none, which alms cannot quench: all sin is beneath this. Alms are a medicine adapted for every wound...But alms may be done not only by money, but by acts. For example: one may kindly stand by a person to comfort and defend him, one may reach to him a helping hand: the service rendered by acts has often done more good even than money. Let us set to work all the different kinds of almsgiving." (St. John Chrysostom; Homily) [Alms; Works of Mercy]
"We who are pious Christians must fast always, but especially on Wednesday, because the Lord was sold on that day, and on Friday, because He was crucified on that day. Similarly, it is our duty to fast during the Lent seasons, as the Holy Spirit illumined the holy Fathers of the Church to decree, in order to mortify the passions and humble the body. Moreover, if we limit the food we eat, life becomes easier for us. Fast according to your ability, pray according to your ability, give alms according to your ability, and always hold death before the eyes of your mind.
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos)
QUOTE OF THE DAY... "We do not need great men at all, we need good and saintly men. We ought not to seek after greatness, but after goodness and saintliness. Greatness is no real virtue, but goodness and saintliness are virtues. Greatness is only an illusion, but goodness and saintliness are realities. Christianity came to impress these realities on the human conscience and to sweep illusions away."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 'Religious Spirit of the Slavs')
"The Holy Orthodox Church has never perceptibly changed from Apostolic times, and, therefore, no one can go astray in finding out what she teaches. Like her Lord and Master, though at times surrounded with human malaria — which He in mercy pardons — she is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 8:8) … the mother and safe deposit of “the truth as it is in Jesus” (Eph.4:21)."
(St. Raphael of Brooklyn, 20th Century American hierarch) [Tradition; True Church]
“Be assured that God does not send us temptations beyond measure, except perhaps for pride, for conceit, and for complaining, by which we ourselves aggravate our sorrows. Beware of complaining and being faint-hearted. Magnanimity and patient endurance lighten sorrows, but faint-heartedness and grumbling increase them and make them more burdensome.”
(Elder Macarius Ivanov of 19th Century Optina)
"Above all keep from blaming and judging your close ones. We do have something to worry about: our sinful sores stink—we have to busy ourselves about them. You will not have to answer for others, only for yourself… Keeping the Lord’s commandments revives the soul; it brings peace to your body, and abundant comfort."
(St Lev Nagolkin, 19th Century Optina elder) [Repentance; Humility; Obedience]
“Do not say : "It is better for me to die," but say rather, "How can I prepare for death in a Christian manner?" By means of faith, by means of good works, and by bravely bearing the miseries and sorrows that happen to you, so as to be able to meet death fearlessly, peacefully, and without shame, not as a rigorous law of nature, but as a fatherly call of the eternal, heavenly, holy, and blessed Father unto the everlasting Kingdom.”
(St. John of Kronstadt in ‘My Life in Christ’)
"Therefore, Christian, do not shun your lifelong cross, but, on the contrary, thank Jesus Christ that He honored you to follow and imitate Him. If Christ had not suffered and died, then none of us, no matter how much we suffered and struggled, would enter the Kingdom of Heaven, for then we would have had to suffer as slaves, and slaves deserve no rewards. Now, however, we suffer as sons for our own salvation."
(St. Innocent of Alaska,, 'Indication of the Way')
"Then let us not endure to see our soul wronged because of the body, but let us make the soul herself more clear-sighted, let us make her wing light, her bonds looser: let us feed her with discourse, with frugality, feeding the body only so much that it may be healthy, that it may be vigorous, that it may rejoice and not be in pain: that having in this way well ordered our concerns, we may be enabled to lay hold upon the highest virtue, and to attain unto the eternal good things by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
(St. John Chrysostom on fasting)
"Some believe that their whole welfare and their exactitude before God consists in the reading of all the appointed prayers, without paying attention to the preparedness of their hearts for prayer to God, nor to their inward amendment. Many, for instance, thus read the prayers appointed before Holy Communion ; whilst at this time we should, above all, look to the amendment and preparedness of the heart to receive the Holy Sacrament. If your heart is right in your bosom...it is well with you, even although you have not succeeded in reading all the appointed prayers."
(St. John of Kronstadt in ‘My Life in Christ’) [Prayers; Practices]
“Because of this like relationship, voluntary submission to one good thought leads to the natural submission to another good thought; acquisition of one virtue leads another virtue into the soul which is like unto and inseparable from the first. The reverse is also true: voluntary submission to one sinful thought brings involuntarily submission to another; acquisition of one sinful passion leads another passion related to it into the soul; the voluntary committing of one sin leads to the involuntary fall into another sin born of the first. Evil, as the fathers say, cannot bear to dwell unmarried in the heart”
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian theologian) [Sanctification; Temptation]
"Obedience to our mother, the Church, in everything is right; and if it is possible for one "to receive" prolonged prayer, let him pray long...If long prayer is not compatible with fervor of spirit, then it is better to say a short but fervent prayer. Remember that the one word of the publican, said from a fervent heart, justified him. God does not look at the multitude of words, but upon the disposition of the heart. The chief thing is lively faith and fervent repentance for sins."
(St. John of Kronstadt in ‘My Life in Christ’)
"I was born a Christian, and I want to die a Christian. I will not deny my faith for any reason, even if you torture me, because this faith is good and true. I pray that you also believe in it, that you may not be damned."
(Martyr Auxentios of Bellas +1720)
Updated 01/16/15
"Since then the father [St. Paul] is not present to us, come – let us cleave to his teaching, relying on his prayers. For even Moses, not being present in the body with the combatants, contributed to that battle, not less than those fighting, but more by far even, urging on the actions of his men by the outstretching of his hands, and making them dreadful to their opponents. For just as the power of love is not separated by a division of place, so neither is the efficacy of prayer, but just as the former binds those removed from one another, so also the latter is able to greatly benefit those far off."
(St. John Chrysostom homily on the Kalends of January)
"Seek God daily. But seek Him in your heart, not outside it. And when you find Him, stand with fear and trembling, like the Cherubim and the Seraphim, for your heart has become a throne of God. But in order to find God, become humble as dust before the Lord, for the Lord abhors the proud, whereas He visits those that are humble in heart, wherefore He says: "To whom will I look, but to him that is meek and humble in heart?""
(St. Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Prayer of the Heart; Humility]
"According to the extent of our humility he rewards us and comforts us, while according to the extent of our pride he humbles us. What is here is brief and transitory, but eternity is never-ending; by sorrows here the Lord leads us to eternal blessedness, even if we go unwillingly. We have to take care about arranging our lives and about our soul. We are full of passions, but we have high dreams; we always read and talk about humility, but when it comes down to reality, we can’t bear either a word or a glance.”
(Elder Makarius of Optina) [Pride; Humility]
"When the Spirit of Rebellion [apostasia] unjustly held sway over us, and, though we were by nature the property of God omnipotent, unnaturally alienated us from God, and made us his own disciples; than the all-powerful Word of God, who never fails in justice, acted justly even in dealing with the Spirit of Rebellion. For it was by persuasion, not by force, that he redeemed his own property ... for thus it behoved God to achieve his purpose: with the result that justice was not infringed, and God's original handiwork was saved from perishing."
(St. Irenaeus, 3rd Century Church Father) [Free Will; Truth]
"“Thus saith the Lord,” and still none attends… But what is the common excuse? “It is always the same things over again.” This it is most of all, that ruins you. Suppose you knew the things, even so you certainly ought not to turn away...How dare you talk about “the same things,” you who know not so much as the names of the Prophets? Are you not ashamed to say, that this is why you do not listen, because it is “the same things over again,” while you do not know the names of those who are read, and this, though always hearing the same things?"
(St. John Chrysostom on why people don't listen attentively to Bible readings)
"The Divine Liturgy is the way we know God and the way God becomes known to us...Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany. The Body of Christ appears. Every member of the Church is an icon of the Kingdom of God. After the Divine Liturgy we must continue to iconify the Kingdom of God, keeping His commandments. The glory of Christ is for Him to bear His fruit in every member."
(Elder Sophrony of Essex, 20th Century staretz) [Icons; Witness]
"What, then, O, brethren, is required of us in order that we might avail ourselves of all the grace brought unto us from on high by the coming to earth of the Son of God? What is necessary, first of all, is faith in the Son of God, in the Gospel as the salvation-bestowing heavenly teaching; a true repentance of sins and the correction of life and of heart; communion in prayer and in the mysteries [sacraments]; the knowledge and fulfillment of Christ’s commandments. Also necessary are the virtues: Christian humility, alms-giving, continence, purity and chastity, simplicity and goodness of heart."
(St. John of Kronstadt, Nativity Homily) [Sanctification; Worship; Repentance]
"The Christian needs two wings in order to soar upward and attain Paradise: humility and love. When the first order of angels fell from angelic glory and became demons, the other nine orders humbled themselves and worshiped the All-Holy Trinity, and remained in their place and rejoice forever. We, too, my brethren, must reflect what an evil thing pride is - that it cast down the devil from angelic glory and he will always burn in Hades - and that humility kept the angels in Heaven, and they rejoice perpetually in the glory of the Holy Trinity."
(St. Cosmas Of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Pride; Humility]
"Every one of us, even he who is supposed to live as a private person, exercises the office of shepherd, if, keeping together a multitude of good actions and pure thoughts, he strives to rule them with due moderation, to feed them with the food of the Scriptures, and to preserve them against the snares of the devil."
(Venerable Bede, 8th Century English priest and author) [Temperance; Prudence; Sanctification]
"Humility and the repentance which comes from it are the only conditions under which Christ is received! Humility and repentance are the only price by which the knowledge of Christ is purchased! Humility and repentance make up the only moral condition from which one can approach Christ, to be taken in by Him! Humility and repentance are the only sacrifice which requites, and which God accepts from fallen man (cf. Ps 50:18–19). The Lord rejects those who are infected with pride, with a mistaken opinion of themselves, who consider repentance to be superfluous for them, who exclude themselves from the list of sinners. They cannot be Christians."
(St Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Humility; Repentance]
"Whoever has an evil heart should not despair, because with God’s help a person can correct his heart. One only needs to watch oneself attentively and not miss an opportunity to be helpful to one’s neighbors, to confide often in one’s elder, and to give alms according to one’s means. Of course, one cannot do this all at once, but the Lord will wait patiently. He only cuts short a person’s life when He sees that he is ready to cross over to eternal life, or else when He sees no hope of the person’s correction."
(St. Ambrose of Optima, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Repentance; Sanctification]
"I greet all of you gathered here with the New Year. I congratulate you with the joys that I hope the Lord might send you in the coming year. I congratulate you also with the sorrows that will inevitably visit you this year: perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, or in the near future. Incidentally, do not be confused by sorrows or fear them. Sorrows and joys are closely bound up with each other...Day turns to night, and night turns to day, bad weather turns to good; so also does sorrow turn into joy, and joy into sorrow."
(St. Barsanuphius of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Hope; Patience]
"“There is a big difference between giving to poor laypeople or using this sum to build a monastery in which many will be saved before the coming of Christ. There is a great difference between a one-time good and a good that is permanently profitable, as the Lord Himself declares in the Holy Gospel these different degrees of thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”
(Elder Ambrose of Optina) [Alms; Generosity]
"...two large brass trees which stood on both sides of the Beautiful Gate of the sanctuary. On the leaves of the trees there was a place for lights to flicker. Each tree had one hundred and eighty lamps and fifty silver chains from top to bottom. On these hung small objects of gold, silver or copper, as well as red eggs, kraters, animals, birds, crosses, wreaths, bells, carved grape bunches, discs..."
(Quote from British Museum Manuscript from 512AD reference in Mystagogy showing the 'Christmas Tree' has Orthodox origins) [Traditions]
"He did not say do not cease to oppress us, but comforts us in times of hardship, for if He allows oppression so that we through patience find reward, and when we see we are made weak, that comforts us always. So do not say that he once comforted us, but always and not in one or the other of sorrow, but in all."
(St. Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians) [Mercy; Longsuffering]
"...we make, keep in our houses, and venerate, pictures of the Most Pure Mother of God, of the Angels and saints, because they are living images and likenesses of God, and, looking upon them, we remember more vividly their great deeds, virtues, their benefactions to us, their ardent love to God, and we ourselves thus become inspired to imitate them in their constant vigilance over themselves, in cleansing ourselves from every impurity of body and spirit, and we glorify their exploits, thus making them our intercessors and protectors before God, for God deigns to accept the intercession of His friends and faithful servants on behalf of those for whom they intercede before Him."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ')
"I however, feel that I am the most sinful person in the world. Of course, whatever I remembered I confessed, and I know God has forgiven me. But now I have the feeling that my spiritual sins are very many and I ask all those who have known me to pray for me...I always made the effort to pray, to read the hymns of the Church, the Holy Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints. May you do the same."
(St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Devotions; Intercession; Meekness]
Updated 11/30/14
"What is fasting and why is it necessary? Fasting is a voluntary self-restriction in food, drink, and pleasure. The purpose of fasting is to quiet or calm and lighten the body and to make it obedient to the soul. Overfilled flesh demands comfort and rest, disposing us to laziness, which hinders prayer and meditation. In the manner of an unbridled servant, the well-fed body rises up against its master, the soul, and wants to rule over it. While fasting, you should limit not only the type of food (dairy and meat products) but also its amount, restricting yourself to the minimal needs of the body. Then your fasting will become useful."
(St. Innocent of Alaska in 'The Into the Kingdom')
"Churches resemble ports in the ocean, which God has placed in cities, spiritual ports, wherein whoever of us takes refuge finds indescribable calmness of soul, made dizzy from worldly business. And precisely as a calm and waveless port offers safety to the boats docked there, so also the Church saves from the storm of earthly cares whoever hastens to it, and grants the believers to stand securely and listen to the word of God with great calmness."
(St. John Chrysostom)
"Christ is with those of humble mind, not with those who exalt themselves over his flock. The sceptre of the majesty of God, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, did not come with the pride of pretension and arrogance — though he had the power — but in humility of mind, just as the Holy Spirit said of him: ‘Lord, who has believed our report?' You see, beloved brothers, what is the pattern given to us; for if the Lord was thus humble in mind, how are we to behave, when we through him have come under the yoke of grace?"
(St. Clement of Rome, 1st Century Church Fahter) [Humility; Meekness]
"Without winter there would be no spring, and without spring there would be no summer. So it is also in the spiritual life: a little consolation, and then a little grief—and thus little by little we work out our salvation. Let us accept everything from the hand of God. If He comforts us, let us thank Him. And if He doesn’t comfort us—let us thank Him."
(St. Anatoly Zertsalov, 19th Century Optina Elder) [Patience; Peace]
"Believe as undoubtingly that God sees you, as you believe that your father, or anyone else standing face to face with you, sees you, only with this difference, that the Heavenly Father sees everything that is in you, entirely what you are, and all creatures, the angels, the saints, us sinners, the animals—sees everything at once in the same way as the sun lights everything at once, besides which " The eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun."1 A lively sense of God's presence is a source of peace and joy for the soul. Doubt in His presence produces distress, affliction, and oppression. Heartfelt prayer is the source of peace of heart, whilst insincere, superficial, inattentive prayer wounds the heart. God is nearer to us than any man at every time. He is nearer to me than my raiment, nearer than the air or light..."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life In Christ')
"There is not a person on earth for whom the Son of the Most Pure Virgin did not give His precious Blood. If one disdains the Blood by which he was bought, he will answer for his own demise; but may none of you be the cause of anyone’s demise. And if you have contempt for a person you have contempt for the blood Christ spilled for his salvation. Strive to bring the sinner to reason and confirm him in the faith, and if you are able to do so, you will obtain a brother and co-heir of Christ’s Kingdom. Praise the righteous, correct the sinner, encourage those who repent."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, homily) [Love; Salvation; Evangelism]
"It seems as though every tree endeavours each year to advance by the strength that God has given it; therefore, say to yourself, " I, too, must each day, each year, absolutely grow higher and higher morally, better and better, more and more perfect; must advance on the road to the Kingdom of Heaven, or to the Father which is in Heaven, through the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit dwelling and working within me. As the field is adorned by a multitude of flowers, so should the field of my own soul be adorned by all the flowers of virtue..."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Sanctification]
"In general, we may say that Christians are in the world what the soul is in the body. The soul is dispersed throughout the parts of the body, Christians throughout the cities of the world. The soul inhabits the body, but does not belong to the body: Christians inhabit the world, but ‘do not belong to the world.’ The soul is invisible and is kept in custody in the visible body; Christians are observed, since they arc in the world, but their religion remains unseen."
(Epistle to Diognetus, 2nd Century Apocryphal Writing) [Witness; Evangelism]
"In what does the true wealth of a man consist? In his image and likeness to God, and not in lands, nor money; neither in various earthly sciences and arts, nor in property of various kinds, nor in many servants, nor in many clothes, nor, in general, in a multitude of earthly blessings, for all these are corruptible and temporal; whilst the soul—the image of God—is eternal, and its riches are—virtue, holiness, humility, gentleness, temperance in all things, faith, hope, and love.”
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Virtue; Sanctification]
"No matter how insignificant it may seem to you, do everything well, as in the presence of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything."
(St. Nikon of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Work; Witness]
"Could the leaves exist without the tree, and could the tree itself exist without earth, air, water, and warmth? Likewise no soul can exist without God, without His Son, without His Spirit. God is my being, my breath, my light, my strength, my drink, my food. He carries me as a mother carries her infant in her arms. More than this. Carrying me, my soul and body, He dwells in me, and is united to me."
St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ'
" Do not separate yourselves from Christ and from the Church. Do you hear the priest ringing the bells? Rise at once, wash yourselves, and go to church. Attend the Orthros (Matins) attentively and likewise the Divine Liturgy. We should not work or do business on Sunday. The profit that you gain on Sunday is curse... Keep Sunday as a day dedicated to God."
(St. Cosmas Of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Sabbath; Rest; Worship]
"I do not see my sin because I still labor for sin. Whoever delights in sin and allows himself to taste of it, even if only in his thoughts and sympathy of heart, cannot see his own sin. He can only see his own sin who renounces all friendship with sin; who has gone out to the gates of his house to guard them with bared sword—the word of God; who with this sword deflects and cuts off sin, in whatever form it might approach. God will grant a great gift to those who perform this great task of establishing enmity with sin; who violently tear mind, heart, and body away from it. This gift is the vision of one’s own sins."
(St Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian theologian) [Discernment; Humility' Meekness]
"I want you to hunger and thirst for your salvation. I want you to thirst for righteousness, to be pleased with sorrows, to rejoice with punishments and sufferings. When did we, my sisters, suffer? Where are the sharp nails that pierced us? Where is the spear? Where is the crown of thorns? When did they flagellate us or spit on us or did anything to us that they did to Christ? For this reason, because we have learned nothing from all these things, we must with all of our strength try to emulate our Teacher, because if we are not like Him, we also will not sit at the right hand of God, as He sat."
(Saint Anthimos of Chios, 20th Century staretz) [Salvation; Sorrows; Persecution]
"For this would be the greatest miracle, that without any miracles the whole world should have eagerly come to be taken in the nets of twelve poor and illiterate men. For not by wealth of money, not by wisdom of words, not by anything else of this kind did the fishermen prevail. So that objectors must even against their will acknowledge that there was in these men a divine power, for no human strength could ever possibly effect such great results."
(St. John Chrysostom writing on the Apostles) [Evangelism; Faith; Witness]
"...Communion does not distinguish at all between a priest and a lay person; for you, priest, are a servant of the Mystery and do not have a license to frequently commune while a lay person does not. Concerning this I have many proofs from the saints, that it has been agreed that the Communion of the Immaculate Mysteries should be received frequently by all, without distinction, whether they be hierarchs, priests or individuals, both men and women, except those who have been married three times..."
(St. Pachomios of Chios, 20th Century Elder) [Frequent communion; Grace]
"I do not see my sin because I still labor for sin. Whoever delights in sin and allows himself to taste of it, even if only in his thoughts and sympathy of heart, cannot see his own sin. He can only see his own sin who renounces all friendship with sin; who has gone out to the gates of his house to guard them with bared sword—the word of God; who with this sword deflects and cuts off sin, in whatever form it might approach. God will grant a great gift to those who perform this great task of establishing enmity with sin; who violently tear mind, heart, and body away from it. This gift is the vision of one’s own sins."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russia staretz) [Repentance; Love of the World]
"Following Jesus Christ means accepting with faith and submitting to all that Christ taught without question and with simplicity of heart. He who accepts Jesus Christ's words becomes His disciple, but he who fulfills His commandments with complete devotion becomes His true and devoted follower." (St. Innocent of Alaska in 'Indication of the Way') [Holy Life; Sanctification; Obedience]
"It is necessary to acquire obedience, humility, and love, or else all of our great ascetic feats and vigils will prove to be in vain. A certain Elder saw this vision: A person was pouring water into a basin with a perforated bottom. The man went to great efforts, but the water continuously ran out, and the basin remained empty. In a like manner, we live ascetically, but neglecting a certain virtue, the soul remains empty."
(St. Silouan the Athonite, 20th Century startetz) [Repentance; Sanctification]
“Faith does not only consist of believing that God exists, but also believing in His all-wise Providence, directing His creatures and arranging everything to the good: the times and the seasons are put in His own power (cf. Acts 1:7), and He determined the bounds of each of our lives before we came into existence. And we believe that without His will not a bird will fall, nor a hair of our head will perish (cf. Luke 12:6, 21:18).”
(Elder Macarius of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Divine Providence; Omnipotence]
"...even though they [priests and Pharisees] plotted and employed these measures, they involuntarily became witnesses of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. They verified that He died when they confessed: “we remember what that deceiver said while He was still alive.” They confirmed His burial when they requested that “the tomb be made secure.” By asserting that He could not possibly be stolen if He was guarded, they themselves inadvertently admit that Christ rose from the dead."
(St. Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Truth; Miracles]
“Do not restrict the benefit of fasting to abstinence from food alone. True fasting is abstinence from evil. Let go of every unjust tie. Do not sadden your brother. Forgive others their debts. Do not argue and fight when you fast. You do not eat meat, but you bite your brother. You stay away from wine, but you do not refrain from cursing others...Fasting is speaking in moderation; refraining from anger; separation from [evil] desires, criticism, lies, and oaths. Deprivation of these things is true fasting. ”
(St. Basil the Great, 5th Century Church Father) [Fasting; Temperance; Virtue]
"He who does not know himself continually sins against God and continually moves farther away from Him. He who does not know the nature of things and what they truly are in themselves is powerless to evaluate them according to their worth and to discriminate between the mean and the precious, the worthless and the valuable. Wherefore, such a person wears himself out in the pursuit of vain and trivial things, and is unconcerned about and indifferent to the things that are eternal and most precious."
(St Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century hierarch) [Wisdom]
"Sin entangles a soul by its many nets, or hides itself from the soul by its many coverings; because sin is ugly in and of itself, and one glance finds it repulsive. The covering that is deepest and closest to the heart is comprised of self-deception, insensitivity and carelessness... It prevents the person from seeing the danger of his condition and undercuts his desire to change."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russia staretz) [Sin; Temptation; Love of the World]
"Often unexpected misfortune befalls us, and in vain we ask “why?” The Church of Christ alone knows how to explain the cause of every misfortune. The Church basically classifies misfortunes into two groups. Some misfortunes befall the sinner because of old, unrepented sins. Other misfortunes assault the righteous and serve, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom, “as a means of receiving a wreath, as was the case with Lazarus and Job.”
(Saint Nikolai Velimirovich from the Prologue)
"Are you a sinner? Do not despair. Come to church with repentance. Have you sinned? Say to God: “I have sinned.” You find it so difficult to confess your sin? But if you do not accuse yourself first, the devil will eventually accuse you.... Waiting for us are the Kingdom of Heaven, Paradise, and goods that no human eye has seen, that no human ear has heard, and which no human mind can conceive. Shouldn’t we do whatever we can in order not to lose these things?"
(St. John Chrysostom, 5th Century theologian and hierarch) [Confession; Repentance]
"For the Holy Ghost taught the Holy Fathers, like simple-hearted and gentle children, how to pray; to thank and praise God by means of those prayers which the Church puts into our mouths. Remember that all of us are the children of the Heavenly Father, and in the simplicity of your soul look upon all as upon the children of the Eternal Father, holy, most good, omnipresent, omniscient, Almighty, most wise, righteous, unchangeable, providing for all and protecting all under the wings of His goodness; and live in love with all, conquering every evil in men by good."
(St. John of Kronstadt from 'My Life in Christ')
Updated 08/23/14
“We should not be proud of our health, or beauty, or any other of God’s gifts… Everything earthly is liable to change: both beauty and health. We should thank the Lord, thank Him with humility, acknowledging our unworthiness, and not get conceited about something.”
(St. Nikon of Optina, 19th Century staretz) [Pride; Humility]
“God’s mercy is hidden in sorrows! If sorrows surround you—rejoice, for then you are walking by the true way. And whoever does not run from sorrows and bears them as they are able will receive the Eternal Kingdom. If there are, perhaps, few sorrows—then there will also be few gains and little training..."
(St. Anatoly Zertsalov, 19th Century Elder at Optina) [Trials; Perseverance]
"Beloved Christians! Let us inscribe eternity in our memory, and without fail, ceaselessly, in true repentance, contrition of heart, and prayer, let us not be enticed by any vanity of this world, and let us shun every sin as a venomous serpent. All that seems beautiful, pleasant, and dear to the sons of this age is loathsome to us. Let us truly be content with a morsel of bread and a little shack and ragged clothing. Remembrance and consideration of eternity will work this contentment in us."
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th Century Russian saint and author) [Simplicity; Peace]
"Christian religion is not a certain philosophic system, about which learned men, trained in metaphysical studies, argue and then either espouse or reject, according to the opinion each one has formed. It is faith, established in the souls of men, which ought to be spread to the many and be maintained in their consciousness."
(St. Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek hierarch) [Revelation; Faith]
"Brethren! what is the purpose of our earthly life? It is, that, after our trial by earthly affliction and misfortunes, and after our gradual advancement in virtue, by means of the divine gifts, given to us in the sacraments, we may rest, after our death, in the Lord, the peace of our souls. That is why we sing of the dead: "Grant rest, O Lord, to the soul of Thy departed servant." We wish him to rest in peace, as the limit of all wishes, and pray to God for this. Is it not, then, unwise to grieve much for the departed. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," says the Lord. Thus our departed ones, who have fallen asleep in a Christian death, come to this voice of God and obtain rest. What is there, then, to grieve for?"
St. John of Kronstadt
"The Christian faith is based on God's word: there is only one God who opens to men the way to true bliss. And the Savior saith that He is the door to the Father, that He is the way, the truth and the life ... there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ crucified. And without faith in His Name as the true God, who appeared in the flesh, no one can be cleansed from sin, enlightened and enter the kingdom of heaven ... "
(St Macarius Altai, 19th Century Russian evangelist) [Salvation; True Church]
"When he was asked one day, in what does a perishing sinner differ from a righteous man who is saving his soul, a saint, St. Seraphim answered: Only in his resolve… Our salvation is in our will, in our firmness, in the steadfastness of our resolve to be godly to the end. The Lord does not give His Spirit by measure, nor does He give His grace by measure; He gives everything, and He gives Himself. But we receive grace and make use of God’s gifts to the measure of our readiness to receive what He gives—and that means what He gives, and not what we want—and bring forth the fruit that He expects from us."
(Met. Anthony of Sourozh on St. Seraphim of Sarov) [Faith; Will; Salvation]
"The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the depths of the heart, will subdue the serpent holding sway over the pastures of the heart, and will save our soul and bring it to life. Thus, abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. But this work is not done in one or two days; it needs many years and a long time. For great and prolonged labor is needed to cast out the foe so that Christ dwells in us."
(St John Chrysostom , 5th Century saint and theologian) [Jesus Prayer; Sanctification]
“No, I am not alone. God is there as He is everywhere. Holy angels are there. Then how can I feel dull? With whom is it better and pleasanter to converse, with men or with angels?”
(St. Herman, 19th Century evangelizer of Alaska; on life as a hermit)
"O, how carefully do the Devil and the world sow their tares in Christ's cornfield, which is the Church of God. Instead of the Word of God, the word of the world, the word of vanity, is sown. Instead of the temple of God, the world has invented Its own temples—the temples of the world's vanities—theatres, circuses, assemblies. Instead of holy icons, which worldly people do not accept, in the world there are painted and photographic portraits, illustrations, and various other pictures. Instead of God and the Saints, the world honours unto adoration its own celebrities—writers, actors, singers, painters, who command general confidence and respect up to reverence. Poor Christians! they have completely fallen away from Christ! Instead of spiritual raiment, eveiy attention is paid in the world to perishable clothing, to fashionable dresses, and various exquisite ornaments, both splendid and costly."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Love of the World; Materialism; Humanism]
“Virtue is sown in our nature by God who is the beginning of every good thing. Therefore, if we in what is according to our nature, we will be in virtue and if we deviate from what is according to our nature– that is, from virtue– we are reduced to what is contrary to our nature and come to be in vice.”
(St.John of Damascus, 8th Century Church Father) [Image of God; Sin]
"Reflect then how great an evil it is for us, who ought to live so purely as not even to need written words, but to yield up our hearts, as books, to the Spirit; now that we have lost that honor, and are come to have need of these, to fail again in duly employing even this second remedy. For if it be a blame to stand in need of written words, and not to have brought down on ourselves the grace of the Spirit; consider how heavy the charge of not choosing to profit even after this assistance, but rather treating what is written with neglect, as if it were cast forth without purpose, and at random, and so bringing down upon ourselves our punishment with increase."
(St. John Chrysostom, 5th Century Church Father) [Bible; Distraction]
"Blessed are you, my brothers; truly I envy you. The first speaks of the river of fire, the second of hell and the third of darkness. Now if your spirit is filled with such remembrances, it is impossible for you to sin. What shall I do, then? I who am hard of heart and to whom it has not been granted so much as to know whether there is a punishment for men; no doubt it is because of this that I am sinning all the time...For my part, I do not keep in mind the remembrance of any of these things, for God is compassionate and I hope that he will show me his mercy."
(St. Sisoes of Egypt, 5th Century staretz) [Judgement; Eternal Life; Repentance]
"Whoever wishes to be saved must turn to the Lord with a pure heart, and must cleanse oneself with repentance and tears, and in such a manner unite with Christ, the True Vine. For without Christ there is no salvation. Christ is Life and Light. He who has departed from Life and Light must then be in death and darkness. Consider this, O Christian, and with tears and repentance wash away your sins, that you may once again be united with Christ - your very life."
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, 19th Century Russian hierarch) [Repentance; Salvation]
"Through their prayers and almsgiving for the deceased, Christians show forth the relationship between this world and the world to come. The Church in this world and the Church in the other world are one and the same— one body, one being— as the root of a tree beneath the earth comprises one organism with the trunk and the branches of the tree above the earth. It is clear from this how we, who comprise the Church on earth, can receive help from the saints and the righteous ones in the Heavenly Church, just as the deceased sinners in the other world can receive help from us on earth."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 'The Prologue') [Prayer for the Departed; Intercession]
"We need to thank God always for all that he gave, and if they took it, then maybe, if all things are accepted without murmurings, it will be even brighter. You always have to hope the Lord is so great, and you just have to pray, ask Him tirelessly to save dear homeland...we must understand that God is above all and that He wants through our suffering to bring us to Himself. Love Him more and stronger than everyone and everything"
(St. Alexandra, 20th Century convert, martyr and wife of Tsar Nicholas II) [Faith; Prayer; Hope]
"Since the nature of friendship with God is such that if anyone loves this world he is an enemy of God, it follows that if someone wants to be a friend of God and dwell in God’s love, he must turn away from love of the world and the things which are in the world."
(Didymus the Blind, 4th Century Bible commentator) [Love of the World]
"This thought directly contradicts the widespread belief that so-called “good deeds” are always good and aid us in our salvation, regardless of what motivates a person to do them. In reality, righteousness and virtue of the old and new man are not mutually supplementary, but rather mutually exclusive. The reason for this is sufficiently obvious. Good works are not an end, but a means for fulfilling the supreme commandment of love. But they can also be done calculatingly, hypocritically, and out of ambition and pride. (When a person sees the needy but instead gilds domes on churches, or builds a church where there no real need of one, it is clear that he is not serving God, but his own vanity.) Deeds that are not done for the fulfillment of the commandments blind a person by their significance, puff him up, make him great in his own eyes, exalt his ego, and thereby separate him from Christ. But the fulfillment of the commandments of love for neighbor reveals a person’s passions to himself, such as: man-pleasing, self-opinion, hypocrisy, and so on. It reveals to him that he cannot do any good deed without sin. This humbles a person and leads him to Christ. Saint John the Prophet said, “True labor cannot be without humility, for labor in and of itself is vain and accounted as nothing.”
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian theologian) [Good Works; Salvation]
"...lifelong crosses are not the lot of Christians alone. Everyone carries their own cross, both Christians and non-Christians, believers and pagans. The difference is that for some, their crosses serve as a means of attaining the Kingdom of Heaven, while for the others they bring no such value. For the Christian, the cross gradually becomes lighter and more joyful, while for the nonbeliever it becomes heavier and more burdensome. Why is this so? Because where the one carries their cross with faith and devotion to God, the other carries it with grumbling and anger."
(St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century primate and evangelist) [Trials; Sacrifice; Illness] "My life is vanishing like a dream on waking. Therefore, like Hezekiah, I cry upon my bed, asking that years may be added to my life. But what Isaiah will help me, except the God of all? I fall down before You, O Lord, offering my words as if they were tears, for no less than the prostitute have I sinned; I have transgressed as no one else on earth. But take pity on Your creature and restore to me Your mercy. I have distorted Your image, O Saviour, and broken Your commands. The beauty of my soul has been spoiled and its light extinguished by my sins. But have pity on me and in David's words, "Give me again the joy that comes from Your salvation". Return! Repent! "
(St. Andrew of Crete, 7th Century Primate and author of 'The Great Canon') [Repentance; Sin]
"'They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.' When a man prays outwardly aloud, then he cannot always follow all the movements of his heart, which are so rapid that he is necessarily obliged to pay attention to the pronunciation of the words, and to their outward form. Thus the prayers of many of the clergy [or laity] who read rapidly become quite untrue: with their lips they seem to pray; in appearance they are pious, but their hearts are asleep, and do not know what their lips say. This proceeds from the fact that they hurry, and do not meditate in their hearts upon what they are saying. "
(St. John of Kronstadt) [Prayer; Attention]
"The Christians are distinguished from other men, neither by country nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor do they employ a particular form of speech, nor yet lead a way of life marked out by any singular worldly attribute...Every foreign land is to them as their native country and every land of their birth a land of strangers. They are in the flesh but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men though they are persecuted by all..."
(Epistle to Diognetus, 5th Century document) [Humility; Witness]
-And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believed not shall be damned...Matthew 16:15-
"A band of twelve men went forth from Jerusalem, and they were common men, not trained in speaking, but by the power of God they testified to every race of mankind."
(Justin Martyr, 2nd Century Christian apologist) [Witness; Evangelism]
"Sanctifying the Lord in one’s heart is the soul and spirit of the hidden man of the heart...As in the beginning, God created the body of man out of particles of dust, breathed into him the breath of life (cf. Gen. 2:7), and man became as he ought to be, so the hidden man of the heart, created on the inside from the indicated virtues, is only a real spiritual man when his heart sanctifies the Lord God. Thus, we read in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” If this does not occur, then the man, who was modeled from the aforementioned virtues, will end up a stillborn child, without the spirit of life."
(St. Theophane the Recluse, 'Thoughts for Each Day') [Love of God]
"After the long feast of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary to purify our thoughts and render us worthy to receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit ... Therefore, the salutary custom was established of fasting after the joyful days during which we celebrated the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, and the coming of the Holy Spirit." (St. Leo the Great, 5th Century Church Father on the Apostles Fast) [Tradition; Fasting]
"Man builds himself a house, and lives in it; the animal a lair, and lives in it; the bird a nest, and hatches its young ones; the bee a hive with honeycomb, and lives in it, preparing honey for itself; the spider weaves a web, and, living in it, catches food for itself by means of it. Was it not, therefore, fitting that the Creator should build Himself a house not made with hands— His Body—as He built it in the womb of the Virgin Mother, as He even now creates temples for His Body in the life-giving mysteries—the Creator, Who has built and continues to build bodily houses for all sentient or sentiently-spiritual creatures?"
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Image of God]
"Sin takes possession of a person and entices his attention, all his longing and all his strength. Acting under the influence of sin, the person permeates himself with it, and all parts of his existence, all his powers become accustomed to acting according to its suggestion...And, having overwhelmed the natural functioning of our own powers, it has counterfeited for them its own unnatural functioning, meanwhile fixing us in the belief that it is natural."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Sin; Love of the World]
Updated 06/15/14
"God created woman equal with man, not inferior. My Christian, you must love your wife as your companion, not consider her as your slave, for she is a creature of God, just as you are. God was crucified for her as much as for you. You call God Father, she calls Him Father, too. Both of you have the same Faith, the same Baptism, the same Book of the Gospels, the same Holy Communion, the same Paradise to enjoy. God does not regard her as inferior to you. "
(Saint Cosmas Of Aitolos, 19th Century Greek Evangelist) [Family; Marriage]
"Whenever we enter the church and draw near to the heavenly mysteries, we ought to approach with all humility and fear, both because of the presence of the angelic powers and because of the reverence due to the sacred offering; for as the angels are said to have stood by the Lord’s body when it lay in the tomb, so we must believe that they are present in the celebration of the mysteries of His most sacred body at the time of consecration."
(St. Bede, 8th Century English monk and writer) [Eucharist; Reverence]
"Christ came to correct man and, therefore, man’s logic. He is our Logos and our Logic. That is why we must direct our reason toward Him and not Him toward our reason. He is the One Who corrects our reason. The sun is not regulated according to our clock, but our clock is regulated according to the sun."
(St.Nikolai Velimirovich, 'The Prologue') [Omnipotence; Will of God]
"The Galilean Peter or Andrew spoke Persian or Median. John and the other apostles spoke all the tongues of various nations, for the thronging of multitudes of strangers from all parts is not something new in Jerusalem, but this was true in apostolic times. What teacher can be found so proficient as to teach people in a moment what they have not learned? So many years are required through grammar and other arts merely to speak Greek well; and all do not speak it equally well. The rhetorician may succeed in speaking it well, the grammarian sometimes less well; and one who is skilled in grammar is ignorant of philosophical studies. But the Spirit taught them at once many languages, which they do not know in a whole lifetime. This is truly lofty wisdom. This is divine power. What a contrast between their long ignorance in the past and this sudden, comprehensive, varied and unaccustomed use of languages. The multitude of those listening was confounded; it was a second confusion, in contrast to the first evil confusion at Babylon. In that former confusion of tongues there was a division of purpose, for the intention was impious. Here there was a restoration and union of minds, since the object of their zeal was righteous. Through what occasioned the fall came the recovery."
(St. Cyril of Jerusalem; 4th Century Church Father, on Pentecost) [Tongues; Gifts of the Spirit; Evangelism]
"If you want cure your soul, you need four things. The first is to forgive your enemies. The second is to confess thoroughly. The third is to blame yourself. The fourth is to resolve to sin no more. If we wish to be saved, we must always blame ourselves and not attribute our wrong acts to others. And God, Who is most compassionate, will forgive us...There is no better teacher than death. Have death before your minds: the time when you will leave this unreal world and will go to the other one, which is eternal."
(Saint Cosmas of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangeilst) [Death; Salvation; Confession]
"Some who bore Christ ill-will called Him a sinner and lawbreaker; others called Him a carpenter's son and a shallow person; still others said He was a friend of drunkards and sinners. On several occasions Christ's enemies attempted to stone Him or toss Him from a mountaintop. Jewish scribes called His divine teachings deceitful; and when He healed the sick, raised the dead, or exorcised demons, they explained away these miracles as the deeds of an evil spirit. Some even openly called Him possessed. The Lord Jesus, being Almighty God, could have destroyed them all with one word. Instead, He pitied them as spiritually blind and prayed for their welfare and for their salvation."
(St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century evangelizer of America, 'Indication') [Forgiveness; Love]
"This is certainly the Will of the Supreme God, who is the Author of this world and its Father,
(through whose goodness we enjoy life, look up to heaven, and rejoice in the society of our fellow-men), that the whole human race should agree together and be joined in a certain affectionate union by, as it were, a mutual embrace... Let us...my Brothers, follow after the things that are ours, let us walk in the way of the Commandments, let us by good actions keep the Divine Precepts, let us free our life from errors and with the help of the mercy of God, let us direct it along the right path."
(St. Constantine, 4th Century Emperor of Rome and convert) [Commandments; Unity]
"Every Christian can engage in inner prayer. But this prayer is mostly practiced by Orthodox monastics who cry out in their heart, 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner' . These few words are the ones that apostle Paul writes about. With that simple but perfect prayer, one can fulfill the commandment – pray without ceasing. How blessed the fruits of this prayer are can be best known by those who practice it, then by those who have company with monks and nuns who practice it, [and then by those who have read the… [lives]
of countless other holy fathers and mothers throughout the history of our church."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century theologian, Missionary Letters #3) [Jesus Prayer; Devotions; Prayer]
"...they do not know, or do not wish to know, that a man most frequently falls away from God through intemperance, as was the case with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with Noah's contemporaries—for intemperance is the cause of every sin in men ; those who reject fasting take away from themselves and from others the arms against their flesh, with its manifold passions, and against the Devil, both of which are especially powerful against us through our intemperance; therefore they are not soldiers of Christ, for they throw down their arms and give themselves up willingly as prisoners to their sensual and sin-loving flesh ; lastly, they are blind and do not see the connection between the causes and the consequences of acts."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Fasting; Temperance]
"Fortunate is the man who has these two loves in his heart, that for God and that for his brethren. He surely has God; and whoever has God has every blessing and does not bear to commit sin. Again, wretched is the man who does not have these two loves. Surely he has the devil and evil, and always sins. God, my brethren, asks us to have these two loves. As He Himself says in His Holy Gospel: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets." Through these two loves all the Saints of our Church, men and women, attained sainthood and won Paradise. Whoever has blessed love, firstly for God and secondly for his fellow Christian, becomes worthy of receiving the Holy Trinity in his heart."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Love; Love of Neighbor]
" only Christians can know what the meaning of life is. Period. And the purpose is – the kingdom of heaven. The first words of Christ or the proclamation of this purpose, quote repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." His last words were, quote go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature". Are his stories not all about the kingdom of heaven? Is his ascension into the world and his revelation from it not only a testimony of the kingdom of heaven? One could freely say that the entire gospel of Christ from the beginning to the end speaks and testifies of the kingdom of heaven as the purpose of human life."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, Missionary Letters #3) [Purpose of Life; Will of God]
http://www.popphoto.com/files/imagecache/beg_olgallery_full/YBSApril2014/craig_bill_eventh.jpg "How did the Lord Christ conquer this world? How did Christianity conquer this world? You know that in the beginning of Christianity the great and powerful Roman Empire persecuted Christians everywhere for 330 years. They did not defend themselves with guns and airplanes. No! They defended themselves through prayer and God’s help. And for 330 years they turned wolves into sheep. Recall the Savior’s words to His disciples: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves"
(Matthew 10:16). A great miracle took place, brethren: the wolves were turned into sheep, and the wolves did not devour the sheep, did not tear up and destroy them."
(St. Justin Popovich, 20th Century Serbian theologian) [Omnipotence; Persecution; Obedience]
"Those who begin in the middle are the novices who have read the instructions … given by the hesychastic fathers … and accept this instruction as a guide in their activity, without thinking it through. They begin in the middle who, without any sort of preparation, try to force their minds into the temple of the heart and send up prayers from there...One should begin at the beginning; that is, pray with attention and reverence, with the purpose of repentance, taking care only that these three qualities be continually present with the prayer.… In particular, most scrupulous care should be taken to establish morals in accordance with the teachings of the Gospels.…"
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian hierarch and theologian, on the Jesus Prayer) [Jesus Prayer; Prayer of the Heart; Theoria]
"I lived through very difficult days. But regardless of the difficult situation and privations, I did not rescind from my temporary thorny road. The Lord gave me strength to overcome the difficulties of being scorned and disdained as a slave of my past connections. All this trouble with its many uncalled for offenses against me, I was able with the help of God to overcome."
(St. Alexis Toth, 20th Century American evangelist, on his trials in the 1890's after converting) [Persecution; Trials; Patience]
"The studying of the faith should conform to your aptitudes and knowledge. For instance, for the serious student, in addition to studying the Scriptures, it is also useful to become familiar with the works of the Church Fathers and with the historical and theological books written by other Orthodox authors. These books will help you to comprehend your faith more deeply, which in turn will give you an opportunity to strengthen others in the Orthodox faith, to whom these books are unavailable."
(St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century evangelist and hierarch, exc. 'Indication into the Way') [Bible; Study; Knowledge; Tradition]
"Where you despair, there God helps. Difficulties, temptations and despair...know my child that when the evil one cannot defeat us internally, then he makes these external attacks with various events, allowed by God, in order to frighten us. Despair does not exist in the Church, no matter what you have done, no matter what you have suffered...You may have sadness, but not despair. God, through confession, helps you to overcome those things that can lead you to the utmost limits of despair. There is a God. When you are in despair, He will send you something you don't expect. It is enough that you believe in Him and love Him."
(St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Hope; Faith; Trials]
"For the soul of the pious, God-fearing man there is an invisible spiritual intercourse with God. Like a father or a stern teacher, the Lord at one time approves, at another condemns our thoughts, desires and intentions; at one time He says that this is good, and that bad. He rewards us for the good and punishes us for the evil; and all this is at once evident to the soul. Begin to fulfill the commandments relating to small things, and you will come to fulfill the commandments relating to great things: small things everywhere lead to great ones."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Obedience; Prayer]
"Concerning honoring and invoking the saints in prayer...What is it founded upon? They are in God; they are rich in spiritual gifts; they are in the land of the living, and in the land of abundance; whilst we are in the land of death and of spiritual hunger. God has taken them unto Himself to preserve our life. " God did send me before you to preserve life," said Joseph to his brethren. Abraham - Noah: the rich man in hell begged Abraham to send Lazarus. Noah, the deliverer from the deluge. " Blessed is he whose race is in Sion, and who hath kinsmen in Jerusalem."
(St. John of Kronstadt, from 'My Life in Christ') [Saints; Prayer]
Updated 04/09/14
"The general gifts consist of four elements and all which result from them, as all the wonderful and awesome works of God outlined in Holy Scripture. The particular gifts are those gifts which God bestows upon every man individually whether it be riches for the sake of charity or poverty for the sake of patience with humility; whether it be authority for the sake of justice and the strengthening of virtues or subjugation and slavery for the sake of the expeditious salvation of the soul; be it health for the sake of helping the infirm or illness for the sake of the wreath of patience; be it understanding and skill in gain for the sake of virtue or weakness and lack of skill for the sake of submissive humility. All of this, even though it appears contrary to one another, nevertheless, it is by its purpose very good."
(St. Peter Damascene, 6th Century hieromonk) [Providence; Peace; Humility]
"Be true to God always and in everything. If you say the prayer "Our Father . . ." pronounce each word sincerely, with reverence, fixing your mind and heart upon God alone, not paying attention to anything or anybody around you. If you say any other prayer, say it also with all your soul, not with your heart divided, not paying undue attention to anything or anybody. The enemy of our salvation especially strives to draw our heart and mind away from God when we are about to serve Him, and endeavors to adulterously attach our heart to something irrelevant. Be always, every moment, with God, especially when you pray to Him. At this time be especially true and constant to Him. If you are inconstant, you will fall away from life, and will cast yourself into sorrow and straightness."
(St. John of Kronstadt) "'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God'
(Psalm 14:1). . Even if someone merely thinks, “There is no God,” the thought immediately manifests itself in his deeds. Evil thoughts come first and evil deeds inevitably follow...The godless cannot distinguish good from evil, for only in the light of God’s law can one determine precisely what is good and what is evil."
(St Nikolai Velimirovic, 20th Century hierarch and theologian, 'The Prologue') [Atheism; Blindness; Evil]
“...prayer is the sign of the great dignity with which the Creator has honored me. But at the same time it reminds me of my nothingness
(I am of nothing, and have nothing of my own; therefore, I ask God for everything) and of my most high dignity
(I am an image of God; I am made godly; I may be called the friend of God, like Abraham, the father of believers, if only I believe undoubtingly in the existence, mercy, and omnipotence of my God, and strive to become like unto Him during this life by works of love and mercy).”
(St. John of Kronstadt from 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Faith]
“The Christian is one who imitates Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as is possible for human beings, believing rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity. In all your undertakings and in every way of life, whether you are living in obedience, or are not submitting your work to anyone, whether in outward or in spiritual matters, let it be your rule and practice to ask yourself: Am I really doing this in accordance with God’s will?”
(St. John Climacus, 7th Century hermit and staretz) [Will of God; Faith;]
"I ask you to believe me that I will not come to agreement or make concessions which could lead to the loss of the purity and strength of Orthodoxy. Devote all your energy to preaching the word of God and the truth of Christ, especially today, when unbelief and atheism are audaciously attacking the Church of Christ. May the God of peace and love be with all of you!"
(St.Tikhon of Moscow, 20th Century Patriarch of Russia, comments regarding Bolshevik pressure on the Church) [Courage; Witness]
"Believe me, I have not seen a human face ever since I crossed the Jordan, except yours today. I have not seen a beast or a living being ever since I came into the desert. I never learned from books. I have never even heard anyone who sang and read from them. But the word of God which is alive and active, by itself teaches a man knowledge. And so this is the end of my tale. But, as I asked you in the beginning, so even now I implore you for the sake of the Incarnate word of God, to pray to the Lord for me who am such a sinner."
(St. Mary of Egypt, 6th Century penitent, from her 'Life') [Repentance; Providence]
"But when it is difficult for our corrupt nature to acknowledge the Will of God over us, that Will of God without which nothing happens, and to humbly submit to it, then is the very time for us to humbly submit to this Will, and to offer to the Lord our most precious sacrifice— that is, heartfelt devotion to Him, not only in the time of ease and happiness, but also in suffering and misfortune ; it is then that we must submit our vain erring wisdom to the perfect Wisdom of God, for our thoughts are as far from the thoughts of God "as the heavens are higher than the earth." Let every man bring in sacrifice to God his Isaac, his only begotten, his beloved, his promised one
(to whom peace and blessedness, not sufferings, are promised), and let him show God his faith and his obedience, so as to be worthy of God's gifts, which he already enjoys, or which he expects to enjoy."
(St. John of Kronstadt) "We who are pious Christians must henceforth not weep for the dead like the impious and the unbelievers, who do not hope in the resurrection. This world, my brethren, is like a prison. When must man rejoice? When he enters the prison or when he is being liberated from the prison? It seems to me, when enters the prison he must weep and be sad, and when he comes out of the prison he must rejoice. Therefore, my brethren, do not grieve for the dead, but if you love them do what you can for their souls; offer liturgies, memorial services, fasts, prayers, alms."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Death; Prayer for the Departed; Salvation]
"Think for a moment, and ask yourself if the business of the world could be carried on with-out the figure of the cross. The sea cannot be crossed unless this sign of victory — the mast — re-mains unharmed. Without it there is no ploughing: neither diggers nor mechanics can do their work without tools of this shape. The human figure is distinguished from that of brute beasts solely by having an upright posture and the ability to extend the arms; and also by the nose through which the creature gets his breath, which is set at right angles to the brow, and displays just the shape of the cross. It was said through the prophet, ‘The breath before our face is the Lord Christ.’ And the standards in use among you display the power of this figure
(I mean the legionary ensigns and trophy-poles which accompany your processions everywhere as symbols of power and dominion), though you are unconscious of the fact: and you set up the images of deceased emperors on such a figure,4 and call them ‘gods’ in the inscriptions."
(Justin Martyr, 2nd Century Church Father) [Cross; Symbols]
"But since God remained silent and did not foretell to her anything that was going to happen, He clearly showed that He did not know anything more beautiful or greater than that which He perceived in the Virgin; from this fact it is evident that He did not choose for His Mother the best of all those in existence, but her who was absolutely the best; nor did He choose her who was more suitable for Him than anyone else in the human race, but her who so totally suited Him, that it was fitting that she become His Mother. Indeed, it was absolutely necessary for human nature at some time to make itself fit for the task for which it was created at the beginning, that is, to bring forth someone capable of worthily serving the purpose of the Creator."
(St. Nicholas Cabasilas, 14th Century Greek commentator, homily on the Annunciation) [Theotokos; Will of God; Sanctification]
"During the time of St. Constantine’s son, Emperor Constantius, and Patriarch Cyril of Jerusalem, the Honorable Cross appeared about 9: 00 a.m.
(May 7, Pentecost), stretching from Golgotha to above the Mount of Olives. This Cross was brighter than the sun and more beautiful than the most beautiful rainbow . All the people, both believing and unbelieving, left their work and observed this heavenly sign in fear and amazement. Many unbelievers converted to the Christian Faith, and many Arian heretics abandoned their evil heresy and returned to Orthodoxy."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century hierarch, 'The Prologue') [Signs; Cross; Miracles; True Church]
"It is not food or good conditions in life that secure good health. It is a saintly life, the life of Christ. I know hermits who fasted with the greatest austerity and were never ill. You’re not in danger of coming to any harm by fasting...To do this, however, you need to have faith. Otherwise you will feel empty and nauseous and have a craving for food. Fasting is also a matter of faith...When you have love for things divine, you can fast with pleasure and everything is easy; otherwise everything would seem impossibly difficult."
(St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, 20th Century staretz) [Fasting; Sanctification]
"Prayer changes from entreaty to thanksgiving, and meditation on the divine truths of faith fills the heart with a sense of jubilation and unimpeachable hope. This hope is a foretaste of future blessings, of which the soul even now receives direct experience, and so it comes to know in part the surpassing richness of God’s bounty, in accordance with the Psalmist’s words, ‘Taste and know that the Lord is bountiful’
(Ps. 34:8). For He is the jubilation of the righteous, the joy of the upright, the gladness of the humble, and the solace of those who grieve because of Him.”
(St. Gregory Palamas, 14th Century theologian, Philokalia) [Prayer; Jesus Prayer; Theoria]
"The Lord wants unity of the Church. The dissenters, the schismatics, who find errors in the teaching of the Church, are removed from it and believe they will find salvation in their heretical organizations...You will say that there are many new heresies and schisms today. Yes, you are right. But we should know that the new heresies are not saying anything new but repeating what the old heretics have already said. All of these heresies were anathematized by the Seventh Ecumenical Council. So the decisions of seven Ecumenical Councils are enough for us..."
(St. Luke, 20th Century Archbishop of Crimea, homily on 1st Sunday of Lent) [Truth; True Church; Heresy]
"Pilate was a disciple of worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom does not offer strength but instills fear. Worldly wisdom sustains not the soul but the body. Worldly wisdom does not instill fear for the soul but fear for the body and all that is physical. Here, in Pilate, we see an obvious and pathetic example of what type of men worldly wisdom produces and educates— disregarding God and opposing Christ. Pilate’s weak character and wavering soul is a picture, not only of pagans, but also of weak Christians."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovic, 20h Century hierarch and theologian, 'The Prologue') [Love of the World; Fear of God]
"...the clock, a wonderful device, was not invented merely to tell us the time of day or night, but also to remind us of death— this is its spiritual significance. When the small hand completes its rounds of seconds and minutes, then the large hand arrives at the ordered hour, and the clock strikes. So will the clock of our lives strike, numbering the days, months and years of our lives."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovic, 20th Century Serbian hierarch, 'The Prologue') [Death; Eternity; Repentance]
"O Lord and Master of my life, a spirit of idleness, despondency, ambition, and idle talking give me not. But rather a spirit of chastity, humble-mindedness, patience, and love bestow upon me Thy servant. . Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my failings and not condemn my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.
(Ephrem the Syrian, 4th Century Church Father, Lenten Prayer) [Repentance; Lent]
"Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of greed. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful. Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip. Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism. For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?"
(St John Chrysostom) "Unfortunately, brethren, we do not like to acknowledge our transgressions. It would seem natural and easy for a person to know his own self, his own soul and his shortcomings. This, however, is actually not so. We are ready to attend to anything but a deeper understanding of ourselves, an investigation of our sins. We examine various things with curiosity, we attentively study friends and strangers, but when faced with solitude without extraneous preoccupation even for a short while, we immediately become bored and attempt to seek amusement. For example, do we spend much time examining our own conscience even before confession? Perhaps a few minutes, and once a year at that. Casting a cursory glance at our soul, correcting some of its more glaring faults, we immediately cover it over with the veil of oblivion until next year, until our next uncomfortable exercise in boredom. Yet we love to observe the sins of others."
(St. Tikhon of Moscow; 20th Century Russia patriarch, sermon) [Forgiveness; Repentance]
"Let us not forget the words of Scripture that say, 'God's power is made perfect in weakness!'
(2 Cor. 12:9). And let us not forget that whenever insurmountable hardships are overcome; whenever turmoil is replaced by tranquility; whenever persistent doubts are put to rest; whenever something comes to be out of nothing at all -- there we can clearly discern the indiscernible Right Hand of God, we witness firsthand the unmistakable Will of God!"
(St. Raphael of Brooklyn, 20th Century American hierarch) [Faith; Perseverance; Providence]
"What is holiness ? Freedom from every sin and the fulness of every virtue. This freedom from sin and this virtuous life are only attained by a few zealous persons, and that not suddenly, but gradually, by prolonged and manifold sorrows, sicknesses, and labors, by fasting, vigilance, prayer, and that not by their own strength, but by the grace of Christ. Only Our Lady, the Mother of God, was sanctified from Her early childhood, from Her mother's womb, and afterwards the Lord sanctified Her in the Holy of Holies with the most perfect sanctification through Her unceasing prayer, the reading of the Word of God and meditations upon it, through the teaching of the pure, heavenly and bodiless powers, and especially through Her own inward illumination. Holiness corresponds in nature to the light of the sun and to the whiteness of snow, whilst sin to darkness, want of light, and filth or rust."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian Staretz) [Sanctification; Detachment]
"Wonderful Solomon, who was full of the grace of wisdom, at one time did evil in God's sight and fell away from Him. And you, my soul, have resembled him by your accursed life. Carried away by the pleasure of his passions, he defiled himself. Alas, the lover of wisdom is a lover of loose women and estranged from God! And you, my soul, have in mind imitated him by your shameful pleasures."
(St. Andrew of Crete, 8th Century hierach, from The Great Canon) [Love of the World; Pleasure; Temptation]
"“Day by day, things on your job are becoming more complex and are making your situation more difficult. What can you do? Right now there is disorder throughout the entire world, due to intellectual rebelliousness inordinate egotism. Don’t even talk about enthusiastic people—we see that even among the most well-intentioned people it is rare to find two of like mind who get along with one another. Each one thinks in his own way, sees things in his own way, and persistently acts in his own way—when he can, openly, but more often through cunning, like a shrewd politician. In such circumstances, may one who does not yet have complete authority constantly bring to mind the advice given by the Lord Himself: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves…
(Mt. 10:16)."
(St Ambrose of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Society; Justice]
"Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland. According to the word of the Apostles, our homeland is in heaven; and about the warrior he says: "our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of wickedness under heaven"
(Ephesians 6:12)."
(St. Herman of Alaska, 19th Century Russian monk and evangelist in Alaska) [Temptation; Forgiveness]
"The Last Judgement knows of no witnesses or written protocols! Everything is inscribed in the souls of men and these records, these “books,” are opened at the Judgement. Everything becomes clear to all and to oneself...When “the books are opened,” it will become clear that the roots of all vices lie in the human soul. Here is a drunkard or a lecher: when the body has died, some may think that sin is dead too. No! There was an inclination to sin in the soul, and that sin was sweet to the soul, and if the soul has not repented and has not freed itself of the sin, it will come to the Last Judgement with the same desire for sin. It will never satisfy that desire and in that soul there will be the suffering of hatred. It will accuse everyone and everything in its tortured condition; it will hate everyone and everything. “There will be gnashing of teeth” of powerless malice and the unquenchable fire of hatred."
(St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian hierarch, homily) [Judgement; Sin; Hell]
"The beginning of conversion to Christ consists in coming to know one’s own sinfulness and fallenness. Through this view of himself, a person recognizes his need for a Redeemer, and approaches Christ through humility, faith, and repentance. He who does not recognize his sinfulness, fallenness, and peril cannot accept Christ or believe in Christ; he cannot be a Christian. Of what need is Christ to the person who himself is wise and virtuous, who is pleased with himself, and considers himself worthy of all earthly and heavenly rewards? Within these words the thought involuntarily draws attention to itself that the awareness of one’s own sinfulness and the repentance proceeding from it are the first conditions for receiving Christ—that is, the belief that Christ came, suffered, and was resurrected is the beginning of conversion to Christ, for the devils also believe, and tremble
(Jas 2:19), and from the knowledge of one’s sinfulness comes true faith in Him. "
(St. Ignatius Brianchoninov, 19th Century Russian hierarch and theologian) [Salvation; Humility; Repentance]
"St. Caesarius
(† 369), the brother of Gregory the Theologian, was also a theological writer. Among other things he attempted to answer the question: How long a time did Adam and Eve spend in Paradise before their expulsion? Some have determined the time to be six hours; others, twenty-four hours; and still others, three days. St. Caesarius was of the mind that the length of time was forty days. “Because,” he says, “our Lord fasted forty days in the wilderness and during that time He was tempted by the devil. Since the old Adam could not resist the temptation of the devil in the abundance of Paradise, the new Adam resisted the devil valiantly in the hungry and thirsty wilderness.”
(St. Nikolai Velimirovic, 20th Century theologian, from the Prologue) [Sin; Tradition]
Updated 02/08/14
"Light does not fail because men have blinded themselves; it remains, with its own properties, while the blinded are plunged in darkness through their own fault. The light does not force itself on any man against his will; nor does God constrain a man, if he refuses to accept God's working [i.e. by which God brings man to perfection]. Therefore all who revolt from the Father's light, and who transgress the law of liberty, have removed themselves through their own fault, since they were created free and self-deterrnining. God, with his perfect foreknowledge, has prepared for each class a fitting habitation; to those who seek the light of immortality and hasten towards it he graciously grants the light for which they long: for the others who spurn the light. . . and, as it were, blind themselves, he has prepared darkness. . . . Submission to God is eternal rest. . . those who flee from it have a habitation which their flight deserves. Now since all good things are with God, those who of their own decision flee from God defraud themselves of every good . . . and incur a just judgement." (St. Irenaeus, 3rd Century Church Father) [Apostacy; Faith]
"The superstitious fear where no fear should exist and are troubled where peace should be found. They always imagine that God is pursuing after them and seek salvation in necklaces, which they hang around their neck. They believe in delusions and accept as truth pure nonsense. Everywhere they see and discern the victory of dark powers and ascribe greater power to them than God." (St Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek hierarch) [Faith; Deception]
"Encompass us beneath the precious veil of your protection; deliver us from every form of evil by entreating Christ, your Son and our God that He may save our souls." (Troparion of the Protection of the Theotokos excerpt) [Theotokos; Intercession]
"St. Clement of Rome tells us that Zacchaeus, as a result, became a companion of the holy Apostle Peter, and, together with the holy First¬-Among the Apostles, preached in Rome, where during Nero's reign he accepted a martyr's death for Christ. In a Christian manner, with the greatest good he repaid the Romans for the greatest evil perpetrated upon him by them. To the proud capital of the Romans that had once tempted and subjugated him, forcing him to deny all that was holy to his soul, he came, liberated and reborn by the grace of our Lord Who loveth mankind; and brought Rome not curses, but the good news, giving his very life for it." (St. John Maximovich, 20th Century hierarch and wonderworker, homily on Zaccheus) [Repentance; Conversion]
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." How are we to seek first the kingdom of God ? In the following manner: let us suppose that you wish to walk, or drive, or else go in a boat somewhere on any worldly, temporal business; before doing so, first pray to the Lord that He may correct the ways of your heart, and then also your present bodily way, or that He may direct the way of your life in accordance with His commandments; desire this with all your heart, and often renew your prayer concerning this. The Lord, seeing your sincere desire and endeavor to walk in accordance with His commandments, will, by degrees, correct all your ways. Further, for instance, if you wish to get pure air into your room, or if you go for a walk in the fresh air, think of the pure and of the unclean heart. Many of us like to have pure air in the rooms (and this is an excellent habit), or are fond of walking in the fresh air, but they do not even think of the necessity of the purity of the spirit or heart (of, so to say, spiritual air, the breath of life); and, living in the fresh air, they allow themselves to indulge in impure thoughts, impure movements of the heart, and even impurity of language, and most impure carnal actions. Again, when seeking material light, remember the spiritual light which is indispensable for the soul, and without which it remains in the darkness of the passions, in the darkness of spiritual death. "I am come a light into the world," says the Lord, "that whosoever believeth on Me, should not abide in darkness." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, My Life in Christ) [Sanctification]
"...it is the duty of all Christians, small and great, always to practice the mental prayer Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, so that their mind and heart may acquire the habit of always uttering those holy words. Let this convince you how pleasing this is to God and what great good derives from it, since He, out of His infinite love for men, sent a heavenly Angel to tell us this, so that no one should have any doubt about it. (St. Gregory Palamas, 14th Century hierarch and theologian) [Jesus Prayer; Intercession]
"And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Thus it is possible even for one who is on a lower level to shine. For what did this man have, I ask, that was less than the apostles? He did not lack for miracles, and great was the boldness he showed. “They saw,” it says, “that his face was like the face of an angel.” This was his grace. This was the glory of Moses. Gracious did God make him, now that he was about to speak, so that immediately by his very look he might strike them with amazement. For indeed there are faces full of spiritual grace, lovely to behold for those who desire them and commanding respect from enemies who hate them." (St. John Chrysostom, 4th Century Church Father, homily on Acts) [Witness; Faith]
"To more strongly impress the truth that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1) and that if their prayer is not soon heard, that they should continue to pray, the Lord told a parable about the judge who did not fear God and neither regarded man. The judge complied at last with the widow’s petition, not because he feared God and regarded man, but only because that widow would not give him peace. So, if such a callous man could not withstand the persistence of this woman’s petition, will not God, who loves mankind and is filled with mercy, fulfill a petition raised up to Him persistently, with tears and contrition?! Here is the answer to why our prayers are often not heard: Because we do not send up our petitions to God zealously, but as though in passing; furthermore, we pray once today, then expect our prayer to be answered by tomorrow, not thinking to sweat and trouble ourselves any more in prayer. That is why our prayer is neither heard nor answered. We ourselves do not fulfil as we ought the law laid down for prayer—the law of hope-filled and zealous persistence." (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian hierarch, 'Thoughts for Each Day') “If he who sins against you repents and acknowledges his fault, you shall forgive him not only once, but very many times.” We … must rather imitate those whose business it is to heal our bodily diseases and who do not care for a sick person once only or twice, but just as often as he happens to become ill. Let us remember that we also are liable to infirmities and overpowered by our passions. This being the case, we pray that those who have the duty to rebuke us and who have the authority to punish us may show themselves forgiving and kind to us. It is our duty, having a common feeling for our mutual infirmities, to bear one another’s burdens, so we will fulfill the law of Christ. Observe also that in the Gospel according to Matthew, Peter makes the inquiry, “How often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” The Lord then tells the apostles, “Although he sins seven times in the day,” that is, frequently, “and will acknowledge his fault, you shall forgive him.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria, 5th Century Church Father) [Forgiveness; Love]
"...when our Redeemer was born, an angel appeared to the shepherds in Judea, but a star and not an angel guided the magi from the east to worship him. This was the reason: It was a reasoning being, an angel, who preached to the Jews as persons capable of using their reason. But a sign and not a voice guided the Gentiles, who were not prepared to make full use of reason to know the Lord. Hence Paul says that “prophecy has been given for believers not for unbelievers, but signs have been given for unbelievers and not for believers.” (St Gregory the Great; 5th Century Church Father; on Nativity) [Revelation; Salvation]
"If illness strikes us, let us not be distressed as though physical exhaustion could prevent us from singing God's praises; for all these things are for our good and for the purification of our desires. Fasting and ascesis are enjoined on us only because of our appetites; so if illness has blunted their edge, there is no longer any need for ascetic labors. To endure illness patiently and to send up thanksgiving to God is the greatest ascesis of all." (St Syncletike, 4th Century Egyptian monstic) [Trials; Suffering; Sanctification]
"However prayer, fasting, vigil and all the other Christian practices may be, they do not constitute the aim of our Christian life. Although it is true that they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end, the true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ's sake, are the only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. Mark my words, only good deeds done for Christ's sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ's sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this life. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ said: "He who does not gather with Me scatters" (Luke 11:23). Not that a good deed can be called anything but gathering, even though a deed is not done for Christ's sake, it is still considered good. The Scriptures say: "In every nation he who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him" (Acts 10:35)...For example, if prayer and watching gives you more of God's grace, watch and pray; if fasting gives you much of the spirit of God, fast; if almsgiving gives you more, give alms. Weigh every virtue done for Christ's sake in this manner." (St Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian Staretz) [Sanctification; God's Will; Salvation]
"The important thing is for us to enter into the Church—to unite ourselves with our fellow men, with the joys and sorrows of each and everyone, to feel that they are our own, to pray for everyone, to have care for their salvation, to forget about ourselves, to do everything for them just as Christ did for us. In the Church we become one unfortunate, suffering and sinful soul. No one should wish to be saved alone without all others being save. It is a mistake for someone to pray for himself, that he himself may be saved. We must love others and pray that no soul be lost, that all may enter into the Church. That is what counts." (St. Porphyrios, newly canonized Greek Orthodox staretz) [Intercession; Church; Salvation]
"Therefore there is one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets and announced by the Gospel; and His Son, who was of the fruit of David's body, that is, of the virgin of [the house of]
David, and Emmanuel; whose star also Balaam thus prophesied: “There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a leader shall rise in Israel.” Numbers 24:17 But Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed “For we have seen His star in the east, and have come to worship Him;” Matthew 2:2 and that, having been led by the star into the house of Jacob to Emmanuel, they showed, by these gifts which they offered, who it was that was worshipped; myrrh, because it was He who should die and be buried for the mortal human race; gold, because He was a King, “of whose kingdom is no end;” Luke 1:33 and frankincense, because He was God, who also “was made known in Judea,” and was “declared to those who sought Him not.” (St. Ireneaus, 3rd Century Church Father, 'Against the Heresies') [Church Tradition]
The name of “rich” (Luke 18) he here gives to one who covets temporal things, and boasts himself in them. To such rich men are opposed the poor in spirit, of whom is the kingdom of heaven. Now mystically it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of this world, than for the lovers of this world to be converted to Christ. For by the name of a camel He would represent Himself: for He voluntarily humbled Himself to bear the burdens of our infirmity. By the needle He signifies sharp piercings, and thereby the pangs received in His Passion, but by the form of the needle He describes the straitening of the Passion. (St. Augustine, 6th Century Church Father) [Rich; Greed; Love of the World]
“Lord ! I am—a miracle of Thy goodness, wisdom, and omnipotence, inasmuch as I was brought by Thee from non-existence into existence ; inasmuch as I am preserved until now by Thee in this existence; inasmuch as by the mercy, bounties, and love to mankind of Thine Only begotten Son, I shall inherit eternal life, provided I am faithful unto Thee ; inasmuch as by the mysterious act of Thine, offering Thyself through Thy Son as a sacrifice, I am restored from the terrible fall, I am redeemed from eternal destruction, I glorify Thy goodness, Thine infinite power, Thy wisdom! But complete the miracle of Thy goodness, omnipotence, and wisdom upon me, a miserable sinner, and by ways known to Thee, save me, Thine unworthy servant, and lead me into Thine eternal kingdom, make me worthy of the life that never grows old, of the day that has no evening.” (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, ‘My Life in Christ’) [Prayer; Salvation]
"All Scripture, then, is given by inspiration of God and is also assuredly profitable.Wherefore to search the Scriptures is a work most fair and most profitable for souls. For just as the tree planted by the channels of waters, so also the soul watered by the divine Scripture is enriched and gives fruit in its season , viz. orthodox belief, and is adorned with evergreen leafage, I mean, actions pleasing to God. For through the Holy Scriptures we are trained to action that is pleasing to God, and untroubled contemplation. For in these we find both exhortation to every virtue and dissuasion from every vice...For thus it will be opened to us. If we read once or twice and do not understand what we read, let us not grow weary, but let us persist, let us talk much, let us enquire. For ask your Father, he says, and He will show you: your elders and they will tell you." (St. John Damascene, 8th Century Church Father, from 'Exposition') [Scripture; Catechism; Devotions]
Updated 11/14/13
"...in regard to the Mother of. God, the angels, and the saints. Fix upon your heart their images as they are, with all their power and sanctity; let your heart receive enlightenment from them with all possible fullness and power, and become inflamed by the abundance of their love as by the action of fire—their holiness, purity, goodness, and strength will be communicated to your heart; it will itself be cleansed, itself be strengthened in faith and love; and the more resolutely, the more constantly, your heart is turned towards God and His saints the more it will be enlightened, purified, and vivified. If you invoke any saint doubting that he is near you and hears you, and your heart is oppressed and contracted, conquer yourself, or, rather, overcome, with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, the calumniator (the Devil) nestling in your heart; call upon the saint with the hearty assurance that he is near you in the Holy Ghost and hears your prayer, and you will at once feel relieved. Oppression and weariness of heart during prayer proceed from want of sincerity, from the deceitfulness and craftiness of our heart, in the same manner as when, during ordinary conversation with other people, we feel inwardly ill at ease if we do not speak to them from the heart, but untruthfully, insincerely. " It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."1 Be true in heart always and everywhere, and you will always and everywhere have peace, but especially be true in your converse with God and the saints, "because the spirit is truth." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, from 'My Life in Christ') [Saints; Prayer; Faith]
“The Mother of God delivered from misfortune and woe not only the righteous, but also sinners, but which sinners? Those who turn themselves to the Heavenly Father like the Prodigal Son, make lamentation by beating their bosom, like the Publican, weep at the feet of Christ like the Sinful Woman washing His feet with her tears, and offer forth confession of Him, like the Thief upon the Cross. It is such sinners whom the All-Pure Mother of God heeds and hastens to aid, delivering them from great misfortunes and woe.” (St. Dimitri of Rostov, 14th Century Russian staretz on the Kazan Icon) [Theotokos; Intercession]
"It was easy for him to say, I will open my barn, I will call together the needy, but he has no thought of want, only of amassing; for it follows, And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns. Thou doest well, for the storehouses of iniquity are worthy of destruction. Pull down thy barns, from which no one receives comfort. He adds, I will build greater. But thou shalt complete these, wilt thou again destroy them? What more foolish than labouring on for ever. Thy barns, if thou wilt, are the home of the poor. But thou wilt say, Whom do I wrong by keeping what is my own? For it follows also, And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Tell me what is thine, from whence didst thou get it and bring it into life? As he who anticipates the public games, injures those who are coming by appropriating to himself what is appointed for the common use, so likewise the rich who regard as their own the common things which they have forestalled. For if every one receiving what is sufficient for his own necessity would leave what remains to the needy, there would be no rich or poor." (St Basil the Great, 5th Century Church Father) [Love of the World; Greed; Generosity]
"In children the power of thinking is quickly manifested. It comes at the same time as speech and grows together with the development of the latter. Therefore, the formation of the mind must be begun together with words. The chief thing to be kept in mind is that there should be sound concepts and judgments, in accordance with Christian principles, about everything the child en-counters or that comes to his attention: what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. This is very easy to do by means of ordinary conversations and questions. Parents often speak among themselves; children overhear and almost always assimilate not only the ideas, but even turns of speech and gestures. Therefore, let parents, when they talk, call things always by their proper names. For example: What is the meaning of the present life, and how does it end? Where does everything come from? What are pleasures? What value do certain customs have? etc. Let parents talk with their children and explain to them either directly or, best of all, by means of stories. Is it good, for example, to dress well? Is it pleasurable when one receives praise? etc. Or let them ask the children what they think of one thing or another, and then correct their mistakes. In a short time, by this simple means, one may communicate sound principles for judging things, and these principles will not be erased for a long time, and may remain for life. In this way worldly thinking and evil, insatiable curiosity are suppressed in their very root. Truth binds the mind to what satisfies it, but worldly thinking does not satisfy and thereby ignites curiosity." (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path to Salvation') [Children; Family; Values]
"The day of the Last Judgement! That day no one knows — only God the Father knows — but its signs are given in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. Revelation speaks of the events at the end of the world and of the Last Judgement primarily in images and in a veiled manner. However, the Holy Fathers have explained these images, and there is an authentic Church tradition that speaks clearly concerning the signs of the approach of the end, and concerning the Last Judgement. Before the end of life on earth there will be agita-tion, wars, civil war, hunger, earthquakes... Men will suffer from fear, will die from expectation of calamity. There will be no life, no joy of life but a tormented state of falling away from life. Nevertheless there will be a falling away not only from life, but from faith also, and "when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (St. Luke 18:8). Men will become proud, ungrateful, rejecting Divine law. Together with the falling away from life will be a weakening of moral life. There will be an exhaustion of good and an increase of evil." (St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian American hierarch, homily on the Last Judgement) [Prophecy; Judgement]
"Hence they have no power or strength against any one except what God in His dispensation has conceded to them, as for instance, against Job and those swine that are mentioned in the Gospels...But while the liberty to attack man has been granted to them, they have not the strength to over-master any one: for we have it in our power to receive or not to receive the attack. (St John Damascene, 8th Century Antiochian theologian) [Satan; Evil; Temptations]
"Scattering and dispersing the dark and gloomy tempest of sin, Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shone forth, gleaming not in the hearts and souls of the Apostles only, but in those of all who draw near to Him with faith, salvation seeking. “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” Christ sayeth; “blessed are those who have perceived Me not with bodily eyes, but with the eyes of the heart.” It was with his spiritual eyes that Archdeacon Stephan, the Proto-martyr, saw the heavens opened and the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God the Father. It was with eyes of faith that the risen Lord was beheld by Great-martyr George the Trophy-bearer and by all the other martyrs who laid down their earthly lives for Christ, in order that they might receive from Him life eternal. It was upon Him that podvizhniki [“athletes”-of-the-spirit]
did fix their spiritual gaze; despising earthly pleasures, they were crowned in the heavens with glory unfading. But neither the scribes nor the pharisees, His enemies, saw the resurrected Christ. Nor did the tormentors of the martyrs see Him, strengthening the martyrs. Neither did, nor do, all those whose spiritual gaze is dimmed by unbelief, whose heart is befouled with sins and vices, whose will is directed only toward the earthly, ever see the light of the glory of the risen Christ." (St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian American hierarch, homily) [Faith]
"They suggested to my brother to change his faith. Showing to him his slain father they told him to 'sit down so we can make you a Turk'. The child then did his cross and responded: 'Where my father has gone I am going also.' They said to him again: 'Become a Turk'. The child however did his cross again. By his blood he became a cross..." (Brother of the 11 Year Old New Martyr John of Tourkoleka who was killed by the Moslem Turks in 1816) [Witness; Courage]
Why does a man sometimes suddenly get into such a frenzy that he becomes violently angered, speaks quickly, abruptly and incoherently, wrings his hands, tears his hair, or in his passion strikes others, foolishly breaks everything that falls into his hands, and behaves like a madman, or like one infuriated ? Evidently because in his heart the subcelestial spirits of evil are working, instigating men to every wickedness, and breathing evil and destruction upon all and everything. Why are there both suicides of all kinds, as well as murderers of others? From the working of the immemorial suicide and murderer—the Devil—in the hearts of suicides and murderers. This is why Christ, the Saviour, and the Christian religion command everyone to have that meekness and humility which do not allow the spirits of evil and pride, seeking the death of all and each one, to work in the hearts of true Christians. The Lord says: "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart."2 The wrath of man is a terrible unnatural phenomenon in a man; it is often aroused in the heart by the most unimportant causes —mostly through the self-love or pride concealed in our heart. We must remember that "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." (St. John of Kronstadt) [Meekness; Anger; Patience; Peace]
“The chief thing in prayer for which we must care above all is—lively, clear-sighted faith in the Lord : represent Him vividly before yourself and within you—then ask of Jesus Christ in the Holy Ghost whatever you desire and you will obtain it. Ask simply, without the slightest doubt—then your God will be everything to you, accomplishing in an instant great and wonderful acts, as the sign of cross, accomplishes great wonders. Ask for both spiritual and material blessings not only for yourself, but for all believers, for the whole body of the Church, not separating yourself from other believers, but in spiritual union with them, as a member of the one great body of the Church of Christ, and loving all, as your brethren or children in Christ, as the case may be. The heavenly Father will fill you with the great peace and boldness.” (St. John of Kronstadt, 19the Century Russian staretz from My Life in Christ) [Prayer; Intercession]
"Orthodox people must care for the dissemination of the Orthodox faith among the heterodox. Christ the Savior said that men lighting a lamp do not put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all the house (Matthew 5:15). It is our obligation to share our spiritual treasures, our truth, our light and our joy with those who do not have these gifts. And this duty lies not only on pastors and missionaries, but also on lay people, for the Church of Christ, in the wise comparison of St. Paul, is a body, and in the life of the body every member takes part." (St Tikhon, 20th Century Patriarch of Russia and American missionary bishop, final comments upon leaving America) [Witness; Evangelism]
"I am often called to deal with the dying and the deceased. It is interesting to see how often people try to avoid staying with the deceased! This has to do with their being afraid of thinking about death. In fact, they are taking an entirely incorrect approach. A normal Christian should strive to often follow King Solomon's advice that “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting...” (Ecclesiastes7: 2). This is why it is very useful to visit the cemetery. Our seminarians used to like to visit morgues. I remember that I used to go. It is a very sobering experience; you come to your senses very quickly. In their cells, some of the saints used to keep skulls, coffins, and other reminders of death. Many would dig graves for themselves. (Fr. Daniel Sysoyev, 21st Century Russian martyr, 'Instructions to Immortals') [Death} "Christians are being persecuted from the UK to Norway. People are being fired for wearing a crucifix. One can be "overtly gay", but not a Christian...tolerance is gradually turning into a moral dictatorship." (Alexei Pushkov, 21st Century Russian Orthodox layman and Duma official, 11/15 comments) [Society; Traditional Values]
"Whilst reading or listening to sacred works, honor heartily in those who wrote them the image of God the Word, or God the Word Himself, speaking through them. Remember always, whilst reading books of spiritual or worldly contents, that man is God's image and that this image of God is in the thought, word, and spirit through which he speaks. Accustom yourself always to look upon every man with deep respect, as upon the image of God, but especially when he speaks, and above all when he speaks of God. Oh, how divine he is then! From being accustomed to men, from being acquainted with them, with their everyday life, from being accustomed to the gift of speech in ourselves and in others, we set little value upon this gift, we even sometimes despise it in others; and thus the devil, through our self-love and inattention, blasphemes the image of God in men. We must by every means humble our hearts and subdue our proud intellect, lest we should be like the contemporaries of the prophets, who looked on them only as sweet-voiced singers, and nothing more; they did not wish to fulfill their commands, they even despised, persecuted, beat, and killed them; lest we should be like those, by whom " no prophet is accepted in his own country." However insignificant and unimportant the man may be, honor in him the image of God, especially when he speaks with love, and, above all, when he speaks of and does the works of love." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Saints; Faith]
Destruction of the Eight Passions... Gluttony ~ self-control; Lust/unchastity ~ the desire for God and longing for the blessings held in store; Greed/avarice ~ compassion for the poor; Anger ~ goodwill and love for all men; Depression/worldly dejection spiritual joy; Sloth/listlessness ~ patience, perseverance, and offering thanks to God; Egoism/Self-esteem ~ doing good in secret and by praying with a contrite heart; Pride ~ by not judging or despising anyone... and by considering oneself the least of all men; (St. John of Damascus, 7th Century Middle Eastern theologian) [Virtue; Sanctification]
"I am a Christian, and if you want to kill me for this, I do not object to it." (Final words of an unnamed Christian Martyr to the Islamists in Syria, September, 2013) [Sacrifice; Witness]
Updated 09/14/13
"Let no one think that sin is something unimportant—no, sin is a terrible evil, that destroys the soul, both now and in the future life. The sinner in the future life will be bound hand and foot (meaning the soul) and cast into outer darkness. As the Saviour said: " Bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness;"2 that is, he entirely loses the freedom of his spiritual powers, which, being created for free activity, suflfer through this a kind of overwhelming inactivity for every good work: in his soul the sinner recognises his powers and at the same time he feels that these powers are bound by unbreakable chains—" he shall be holden with the cords of his sin." l To this must be added the terrible torment arising from the very sins themselves, from the consciousness of our own foolishness during the earthly life, and from the image of the angry Creator. Even in this present life sin binds and destroys the soul. What God-fearing man does not know what sorrow and oppression strike his soul, what torturing, burning fire rages in his breast when he has sinned 1 But besides binding and destroying the soul as it does temporarily, sin also destroys it eternally if we do not repent here of our sins and our iniquities from our whole heart. Here is also a proof by experience that sin destroys the soul temporarily and eternally. If it happens to any God-fearing person to go to sleep without having repented of the sin, or the sins, he has committed during the day, and which have tormented his soul, these torments will accompany him the whole night, until he has heartily repented of his sin, and washed his heart with tears (this is also from experience). The torments of sin will wake him up from sweet sleep, because his soul will be oppressed, bound a prisoner by sin. Now, suppose that the man who has gone to sleep in any sin and is tormented by it, is overtaken during the night by death : is it not clear that his soul will go into the other life in torment, and that as after death there is no place for repentance, he will be tormented there according to the measure of his sins 1 The Holy Scriptures also testify to this."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Repentance; Prayer]
"If you will pray for your enemies, peace will come to you; but when you can love your enemies - know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation. Whereas if you revile your enemies, it means there is an evil spirit living in you and bringing evil thoughts into your heart, for, in the words of the Lord, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts - or good thoughts."
(Silouan the Athonite, 20th Century staretz on Mt. Athos) [Forgiveness; Love]
"Those forces that are preparing the appearance of Antichrist will have a leading significance in public life. Antichrist will be a man and not the devil incarnate. “Ann” is a word meaning “old,” or it means “in place of” or “against.” That man wants to be in place of Christ, to occupy His place and possess that which Christ ought to possess. He wants to possess the same attraction and authority over the whole world. And he will receive that authority before his own destruction and that of the whole world. He will have a helper, a Magus, who, by the power of false miracles, will fulfill his will and kill those that do not recognize the authority of Antichrist. Before the destruction of Antichrist, two righteous men will appear who will denounce him. The Magus will kill them and their bodies will lie unburied for three days, and Antichrist and all his servants will rejoice exceedingly. Then suddenly, those righteous men will resurrect, and the whole army of Antichrist will be in confusion and horror, and the Antichrist himself will suddenly fall dead, slain by the power of the Spirit. But what is known about this man, Antichrist? His precise ancestry is unknown. His fa-ther is completely unknown, while his mother is a defiled, pretended virgin. He will be a Jew from the tribe of Dan. There is an indication of this, in that Jacob, when dying, said that [Dan]
, in his posterity, would be a serpent by the way.. .biting the heel of the horse
(and the rider shall fall backward) [Gen. 49:17]
. This is a figurative indication that he will act with craftiness and evil."
(St. John of Shanghai, 20th Century Russian Orthodox hierarch, sermon excerpt) [Satan; End Times]
"As in a sea, lake, or river every particle of water is united to other particles and is surrounded by them, or as in the air every particle of it is surrounded by other particles and is united to them, so all of us earth-born creatures are surrounded by God on all sides, whilst those of us who are pure, or being purified, are united to Him and are everywhere with Him. All of us earth-born creatures—like water, like air, like a tree with many branches—form one whole, though often broken, by the envy of the enemy, by selfishness, irritability, animosity, disputes, pride, heresy and dissent, envy, avarice, unsociability, and other passions. On the other side, the Devil and his angels also form amongst themselves another whole, like dark, malignant, poisonous water or fiery, suffocating, deadly air. They surround us and endeavour to break into our souls when we are off our guard, or under the domination of various passions, in order to darken, disturb, oppress, inflame, and in every way torment us. Thus, for instance, you may sometimes chance to be walking in the pure sweet-scented air, when suddenly a foul odour from a cesspool strikes your sense of smell in an unpleasant manner, and you wish to pass quickly by this place, so as to breathe the wholesome air again : the stink of the Devil is like unto this. The Lord Himself likens the dark devilish hordes to air and water. He says : " The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house"
(that is, upon the man, upon the human soul) ; " and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Creator; God's Providence]
"When you are threatened with temptation to sin, then represent to yourself vividly that sin is exceedingly displeasing to God, Who hates iniquity. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." And in order to understand this better, imagine a father, righteous and severe, who loves his family, and is trying by every means to make his children well-principled and upright, in order to reward them afterwards for their good behaviour by the great riches he has laboriously laid up for them, and, who nevertheless sees, to his grief, that the children, disregarding their father's love, do not love him, do not pay attention to the inheritance so lovingly prepared for them by their father, but live disorderly, and rush impetuously to destruction. Mark, that " sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,"1 because it kills the soul, because it makes us the slaves of the Devil—the destroyer of men; and the more we work for sin, the more difficult will be our return, and the more sure will be our ruin. Dread, therefore, every sin with the whole heart. When your heart inclines to evil, and the evil one begins to undermine your heart, so that it is completely removed from the rock of faith, then say to yourself inwardly " I know of my spiritual poverty, my own nothingness without faith. I am so weak, that it is only by Christ's name that I live and obtain peace, that I rejoice and my heart expands, whilst without Him I am spiritually dead, I am troubled, and my heart is oppressed; without the Lord's Cross I should have been long since the victim of the most cruel distress and despair. Only Christ keeps me alive: and the Cross is my peace and my consolation."
(St.John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Temptation; Faith]
"The Cross then will save from eternal perdition all who conquered temptations by the Cross, who crucified their flesh with its passions and lusts, and took up their cross and followed their Christ. But those who hated the Cross of the Lord and did not engrave the Cross in their soul will perish forever."
(St. John of San Franicisco, 20th Century Russian Orthodox hierarch, homily on the Cross) [Cross; Faith]
"The path of virtue is a path of effort and toil: "Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;" whereas the gate of vice is wide and the way spacious, but lead to perdition. We ought to do everything we can for the acquisition of virtue and moral wisdom
(phronesis), for the prize is beautiful and the hope great."
(St. Nectarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek staretz on Mt. Athos) [Sanctification]
"‘And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years, and cannot say that I perfectly love Him. If we love someone we always remember him and try to please him; day and night our heart is occupied with that object. Is that how you, gentlemen, love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always remember Him, do you always pray to Him and fulfill His holy commandments? ‘For our good, for our happiness at least let us make a vow that from this day, from this hour, from this minute we shall strive to love God above all else and to fulfill His holy will."
(St. Herman of Alaska, 19th Century American saint, 'Life of St. Herman') [Sanctification; Love of God]
"Take the trouble to spend only one single day according to God's commandments, and you will see yourself, you will feel by your own heart, how good it is to fulfil lGod's will
(and God's will in relation to us is our life, our eternal blessedness). Love God with all your heart at least as much as you love your father, your mother, and your benefactors; value with all your strength His love and His benefits to you
(go over them mentally in your heart, think how He gave you existence and with it all good tillings, how endlessly long He bears with your sins, how endlessly He forgives you them; for the sake of your hearty repentance, by virtue of the suffering and death upon the Cross of His only-begotten Son, what blessedness He has promised you in eternity, if you are faithful to Him); enumerate besides His mercies, which are endlessly great and manifold. Furthermore, love every man as yourself—that is, do not wish him anything mat you would not wish for yourself ; think, feel for him just as you would think and feel for your own self; do not wish to see in him anything that you do not wish to see in yourself; do not let your memory keep in it any evil caused to you by others, in the same way as you would wish that the evil done by yourself should be forgotten by others; do not intentionally imagine either in yourself or in another anything guilty or impure ; believe others to be as well-intentioned as yourself, in general, if you do not see clearly that they are evilly disposed ; do unto them as you would to yourself, or even do not do unto them as you would not do unto yourself, and then you will see what you will obtain in your heart-—what peace, what blessedness! You will be in paradise before reaching it—that is, before the paradise in heaven you will be in the paradise on earth. " The kingdom of God is within you," says, the Lord. " He that dwelleth in love," teaches the Apostle, " dwelleth in God and God in him."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Love; Obedience]
"'I am come to send fire on the earth, the Saviour said, and what will I, if it be already kindled! '
(Lk. 12:49). He is speaking here of Christian life, and He says this because the visible witness of it is the zeal for the pleasing of God which is in the heart by the Spirit of God. This is like fire because, just as fire devours the material which it takes hold of, so also does zeal for the life in Christ devour the soul which receives it. And just as during the time of a fire the flame takes hold of the whole building, so also the fire of zeal, once it is received, embraces and fills the whole being of a man. In another place the Lord says, For every one shall be salted with fire
(Mk. 9:49). This also is an indication of the fire of the spirit which in its zeal penetrates our whole being. Just as salt, penetrating decomposable matter, preserves it from decomposition, so also the spirit of zeal, penetrating our whole being, banishes the sin which corrupts our nature both in soul and body; it banishes it even from the least of the places where it has settled in us, and thus it saves us from moral vice and corruption."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path of Salvation') [Sanctification]
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."—St. John xvii. 3. "THOU, 0 God, hast opened wide to me Thy truth and I Thy verity. By instructing me in the sciences, Thou hast opened to me all the riches of faith, of nature, and of human understanding; I have learned Thy word— —the Word of God—"piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." I have studied the laws regulating the mind of man, its love of wisdom, the formation and the beauty of speech; I have penetrated in part into the mysteries of Nature, into her laws, into the abyss of the creation of worlds and their revolution; I know the population of the terrestrial globe; I have acquainted myself with its different peoples, with the celebrated persons, and their works, who have passed in turn through this world ; I have in part studied the great science of self-knowledge and of how to draw nigh to Thee; in a word, I have become cognisant of many, many things—"for more things are shewed unto thee than men understand,"2 and hereafter I shall yet learn much. I have many books of very varied contents; I have read and re-read them, but still I am not yet satisfied. My spirit still thirsts for further knowledge and my heart is unsatisfied ; it hungers, and from all the knowledge thus acquired by the intellect, it cannot gain full happiness. When will it be satisfied 1 It will be satisfied, when " I will behold Thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Until then I shall hunger. " Whosoever drinketh of this water
(of worldly wisdom) shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,"4 said the Lord."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Spiritual verses physical; Sanctification; Love of God]
Updated 07/22/13
"And so, let the child be surrounded by sacred forms, objects of all kinds, and let everything that can corrupt in examples, depictions, and things, be put away. Later, and for all the time that follows, one must keep the same order. It is well known how powerfully corrupt images act upon the soul, no matter in what form they might touch it! How unfortunate is the child who, closing his eyes, or being left alone and going within himself, is stifled by a multitude of improper images — vain, tempting, breathing of the passions. This is the same thing for the soul as smoke is for the head." (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path of Salvation') [Sanctification; Purity; Family]
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. '*2 This silent but evident declaration of the heavens of their creation by the Almighty has reached even us, and there is no language or dialect in which this declaration is not understood. And now, since the time of the Incarnation of the Son of God, all the glory of God, the glory of His love towards mankind, as well as the glory of creation, is declared unto us by the Gospel and the Holy Church ; by the voices of the preachers of the Gospel; by those who celebrate the Sacraments and prayers; that is, the priests, readers, and singers ; by the sound of bells, not excluding also the preaching of the heavens with their luminaries." (St John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Evangelism]
"The higher a person's position in society the more he should help others without ever reminding them of his position." (Tsar Nicholas II, 21st Century Russian Martyr, advice to his children) [Family; Society]
"The Apostle Peter says that the first world was created out of water and perished by water. “Out of water” is also an image of the chaos of the physical mass, while “perished by water” is [an image]
of the Rood. And now the world is reserved unto fire.....The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Peter 3:7-10). All the elements will melt. This present world will perish in a single instant. In an instant everything will change. And the sign of the Son of God will appear, that is, the sign of the Cross. The whole world, having willingly submitted to Antichrist, “will break out in lamentation,” Everything is finished. Antichrist is slain. The end of his kingdom, the end of the war with Christ. The end, and accountability for one's whole life, an account to the True God." (St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian hierarch) [Prophecy]
"Let thy mind fast from vain thoughts; let thy memory fast from remembering evil; let thy will fast from evil desire; let thine eyes fast from bad sights: turn away thine eyes that thou mayest not see vanity; let thine ears fast from vile songs and slanderous whispers; let thy tongue fast from slander, condemnation, blasphemy, falsehood, deception, foul language and every idle and rotten word; let thy hands fast from killing and from stealing another's goods; let thy legs fast from going to evil deeds: Turn away from evil, and do good." (St Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th Century Russian hierarch) [Fasting; Sanctification]
"The Pharisees both prayed and fasted more than we do, but without humility all their labor was nothing; so apply yourself the most to obtaining the Publican’s humility, which usually is born of obedience, and that will be sufficient for you."
(St. Anthony of Optina) [Fasting; Humility]
"When you ask anything of the Lord, immediately contemplate His merciful and generous Right Hand, bestowing upon you His gifts, for it is His Right Hand that has given, and still gives, from God's abundance, everything to all, and consider as foolishness any doubt whether you will or will not obtain that which you ask for—a foolishness similar to that of which the Psalmist said, " The fool hath said in his heart : there is no God." Thus, in asking any good and generous man for help, we represent to ourselves beforehand his outstretched hand; for earthly benefactors, after the example of their All-merciful Father, are merciful and generous, and give us that which we ask them for immediately after our request, as it is said: " What man is there of you, whom if his son shall ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent 1 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, Which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?" (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Witness; Prayer; Reverence]
"Whoever enters on the true path of pleasing God, or who begins with the aid of grace to strive toward God on the path of Christ's law, will inevitably be threatened by the danger of losing his way at the crossroads, of going astray and perishing, imagining himself saved. These crossroads are unavoidable because of the sinful inclinations and disorder of one's faculties which are capable of presenting things in a false light — to deceive and destroy a man. To this is joined the flattery of satan, who is reluctant to be separated from his victims and, when someone from his domain goes to the light of Christ, pursues him and sets every manner of net in order to catch him again — and quite often he indeed catches him." (St. Theophane the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path of Salvation') [Temptation]
"The inner man, amidst worldly vanity, amidst the darkness of his flesh, is not so bound by the temptations of the evil one, and looks out more freely early in the morning, just after waking up, like a fish, which sometimes throws itself up playfully on the surface of the water. All the remaining time he is enveloped in almost impenetrable darkness, his eyes are covered by a bandage, which conceals from him the true state of things spiritual and physical. Take advantage of these morning hours, which are the hours of a new life, or of a life renewed by temporary sleep. They show us in part that state in which we shall be when we shall rise up renewed on that great and universal morning of the nightless day of resurrection, or when we shall rid ourselves of this mortal body." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer]
"For belief only within one's soul does not suffice; He desires also the belief confessed with the tongue. He did not say, "Whosoever shall confess Me," but "in me", that is, in My strength. For he who confesses does so aided by the grace which is from above." (St. Theophylact, 12th Century Bishop of Bulgaria) [Faith; Witness]
"Believe that the prayer even of one friend of God, especially a priest of God, who lives a holy life, can work wonders upon a considerable part of nature, as the prayers of the prophets Moses, Elijah, and others. Therefore, live in a manner pleasing to God, especially you who are priests of God; be holy, pure, meek, humble, merciful, temperate, laborious, patient, and your prayer shall always penetrate the heavens, and shall be heard and fulfilled. Always pray with your whole heart, and, above all, with a pure heart." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Intercession]
"From the life of elder Paisius we see that wild birds would approach him and feed from him...Someone visited Saint Paul of Obnaras who lived in a remote area of the Russian forests. When he saw him he became witness to the following: "A great number of birds surrounded the Saint. The smaller ones even climbed in his shoulders and head and he would feed them with his hands. Close to him was a bear that waited to be fed. Foxes, hares and other animals would mingle without any aggression between them. It was a wonderful picture of the first created innocent Adam in the garden of Eden." (Soterios Lysikatos, 21st Century write on 'Saints and Animals') [Peace]
"When one rubs two sticks together, they warm up and catch fire. Similarly, when the soul is rubbed in the work of prayer, it eventually leads to prayerful fire. The work of prayer consists of a proper completion of the two types of prayer of which I have already spoken, namely - pious, attentive, and feeling completion of our usual prayers, and then training of the soul to frequently ascend to God through divine contemplation, turning of all things to the glory of God, and frequent crying to God from the heart. We pray in the morning and the evening: there is a great distance between them. If we only turn to God at these times, then even if we pray whole-heartedly, during the day or night, everything will fall apart, and when it is time again to pray, the soul will feel cold and empty, as before. One can pray again whole-heartedly, but if you become cold and fall apart again, what use is it? This is just building and destroying, building and destroying; it is only labor. If now we resolve not only to pray with attention and feeling in the morning and the evening, but also to spend every day in contemplation of God, doing all things to the glory of God, and frequently calling to God from our hearts with short words of prayer, then this long period between morning and evening prayers and from evening to morning prayers will be filled with frequent turnings to God and pure prayerful actions. Although this prayer is not yet unceasing, it is still prayer repeated very frequently, and the more often it is repeated, the closer it comes to being constant. All of this work is towards this final and necessary goal. For if we resolve to do this work every day, without fail, without hesitation, look, what will become of our souls?" (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, homily) [Prayer; Intercession]
"Faith in God's existence is closely connected with faith in the existence of our own souls, as a part of the spiritual world. God's existence is as evident to the pious mind as its own being, because every thought, good or bad, every desire, every intention, word or act of such a mind is followed by a corresponding change in the state of the heart, peace or trouble, joy or grief, and this is the result of the action upon it of the God of spirits and bodies, Who is reflected in the pious mind as the sun is reflected in a drop of water ; the purer the drop is, the better, the clearer will be the reflection; the more turbid the drop, the dimmer will be the reflection; so that in the soul's state of extreme impurity or darkness, the reflection entirely ceases and the soul is left in a state of spiritual darkness, in a state of insensibility." (St John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian Staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Faith; Prayer]
Updated 05/19/13
"No one in this world is happy unless he has opened wide the gates of his spiritual Jerusalem—his soul—and received God into himself. A godless man feels lonely to despair. The society of others does not make his loneliness go away, but only increases it. However he who has taken God into his soul will never feel lonely even in a desert. No one dies an eternal death other than one in whom God has died."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century Serbian hierarch and author) [Repentance; Sanctification; Judgment]
"We are like those following a long and cruel path, who become tired, see a beautiful tree with many leaves, sit in its shadow and rest for a while and then, as if rejuvenated, continue their journey; likewise today, in the time of fasting and difficult journey and effort, the Life-Giving Cross was planted in our midst by the holy fathers to give us rest and refreshment, to make us light and courageous for the remaining task...."
(Synaxarion of the Holy Cross) "People usually consider thought to be something of little importance, and therefore they are very undiscerning in their acceptance of thoughts. However, everything good comes from the acceptance of correct thoughts, while everything evil comes from the acceptance of deceitful thoughts. Thought is like the helm of a ship. A small wheel and an insignificant board dragging behind a great vessel decide its direction and, more often than not, its fate.”
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian prelate and author, expt. from The Arena) [Prudence; Wisdom; Temptation]
"He says: I was dead, and behold, I am alive for, evermore, amen; and you also will be alive forever. This is the meaning of the words of Him Who arose: I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth and was dead for you, for your redemption from death, and I; that is: I conquered your death by My innocent death for your sake, and behold, I am also forever and will sit with My Father on His throne; I was not separated from Him, even though I was on earth accomplishing My great work for you who are subject to sin and death. Therefore, do you also, My followers, work and struggle against sin and do righteous deeds, and where I am, there shall My servant be also--that is, in the eternal Kingdom."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 20th Century Russian priest, Homily on Pascha) [Judgment; Salvation]
"I have not seen a beast or a living being ever since I came into the desert. I never learned from books. I have never even heard anyone who sang and read from them. But the word of God which is alive and active, by itself teaches a man knowledge."
(St. Mary of Egypt to St. Zosimas, 5th Century) [Repentance; Wisdom]
"We wanted to show that Orthodox are not sad people, enclosed, dark. Not just grandmothers with scarves, but also a joyful and energetic youth. We are alive and open to share with ordinary people,"
(Veronique Kravets, 21st Century Orthodox organizer of a Sevastopol 'flash mob' which sang the Easter Troparion in a mall in May) "No one in this world is happy unless he has opened wide the gates of his spiritual Jerusalem—his soul—and received God into himself. A godless man feels lonely to despair. The society of others does not make his loneliness go away, but only increases it. However he who has taken God into his soul will never feel lonely even in a desert. No one dies an eternal death other than one in whom God has died."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century Serbian hierarch and author) [Repentance; Sanctification; Judgment]
"Taking up the Cross and following the footsteps of Christ is not merely a formal compliance with a set of external religious or charitable acts...These acts, however, cannot be some sort of mechanical or self-affirming performance. Rather they must proceed from the depths of the heart, a heart turned completely toward Christ. Our Lord wants His followers hot, not lukewarm ,as hot as the flames that burn before icons of His saints..."
(Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South, 21st Century American hierarch, 2013 comments) [Works; Love]
"No single sin passes God by. Everything that we perform in our personal, social, and governmental life is recorded in the Divine book of life. The Lord, in His mercy, not desiring our eternal torment, leads us through these times of tribulation, which we should regard as a gift of Divine justice and love – not murmuring, but calling upon God’s name, bowing our heads before God in repentance and faith."
(Patriarch Kirill, 21st Century Primate of Russia, St George homily 2013) [Judgment]
"The Fathers have said that a man acquires the fear of God if he has the remembrance of death and the remembrance of tortures; if every evening he tests himself on how he spent the day, and every morning on how he spent the night; if he will not be audacious in his contacts with others, and finally, if he will be in close contact with a man who fears God."
(Abba Dorotheos,6th Century saint, writings) [Sanctification]
Updated 04/05/13
“Emulating Samson’s slothfulness, O my soul, thou hast been shorn of the glory of thy works, and through love of pleasure thou hast betrayed thy life to the alien Philistines, surrendering thy chastity and blessedness.”
(St. Andrew of Crete, 8th Century author of the Great Canon read in Lent) [Love of the World; Recreation]
"There is no Orthodoxy in human teachings and philosophies; false reason reigns in them—the fruit of the fall. Orthodoxy is the teaching of the Holy Spirit given by God to man for his salvation. Where there is no Orthodoxy, there is no salvation."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian hierarch and theologian) [Salvation]
"When the light of faith or God's truth dwells in your heart, only then is it tranquil, firm, strong, and living; but when this is cut off, then your heart becomes uneasy, weak as a reed shaken by the wind, and lifeless. Do not pay any attention to this darkness of Satan. Drive it away from your heart by making the sign of the life-giving Cross!"
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian priest, from 'My Life in Christ') [Sanctification; Faith]
"It is a great goodness to submit to the will of God. Then your soul is filled with the Lord only, and it has no other thought, it prays to God with a special purity, and feels the love of God, even though the body may suffer. When the soul has submitted wholly to the will of God, then the Lord Himself begins to lead it..."
(St. Silouan the Athonite; 20th Century Greek staretz) [Obedience; Will of God]
"It is not inscription in the baptismal records which makes one a member of the Church, but the spirit and content of one's opinions. Whether your teaching and your name are pronounced as being under anathema or not, you already fall under it when your opinions are opposed to those of the Church, and when you persist in them. Fearful is the anathema. Leave off your evil opinions."
(Theophane the Recluse; 19th Century Russian saint and theologian, on 'Anathema') [Faith; Heresy]
"The men who wrong us, do not so by themselves, but by the extent of the allowance of God, because they are an instrument of God."
(St. Macarius of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Temptation; Providence]
"A Helper and a Protector has become salvation to me. This is my God, Whom I will glorify. God of my fathers I will exalt Him for in glory was He glorified. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me."
(Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, excerpt)
Updated 03/13/13
"When you look at the candles and lamps burning in church, rise in thought from the material fire to the immaterial fire of the Holy Ghost, " for our God is a consuming fire." When you see and smell the fragrant incense, rise in thought to the spiritual fragrance of the Holy Ghost, " for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 20th Century Russian priest, 'My Life in Christ' ex.) [Worship; Traditions]
"When the mind and heart are united in prayer and the soul's thoughts are not dispersed, the heart is warmed by spiritual warmth in which the light of Christ shines, making the whole inner man peaceful and joyous."
(St. Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian monk) [Prayer]
“Believe in Jesus Christ, be baptized and you will be saved, and from this time forward the glory of your empire will be ensured as well as the triumph of your armory.”
(St. Valentine, 3rd Century Martyr) [Faith; Witness]
"Holy Relics are the earthly remains of those who have been taught by none other than Christ Himself to love their enemies even unto death, the death of the Cross, which is His glory, and which by grace becomes their glory too. Love for enemies is not a moral injunction, it is the fundamental criterion for the Christian way of life. This is Salvation."
(St. Silouan the Athonite, 20th Century staretz on Mt. Athos) [Forgiveness; Love]
“The Fathers of the Church taught that there are guardian angels of nations, countries, churches, as well as of individuals (Rev. 2). Yea, even of elements, stars and planets. St. John of the "Ladder" testifies of his personal guardian angel: "Whenever I was longing for a greater advancement in spiritual life, the angel appeared in such a case and enlightened me."
(St. Nicholai Velimirovich, 20th Century Serbian theologian, in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’) [Angels; Providence]
"I was slow in turning to the Lord. My life in Thee I kept on putting off from one day to the next, but I did not put off the death that daily I was dying in myself. I was in love with the idea of the happy life, but I feared to find it in its true place, and I sought for it by running away from it. I thought that I should be unbearably unhappy..." (Blessed Augustine, 5th Century Theologian, in "Confessions") [Love of the World]
“The focus of today’s Gospel is the merciful love. While commenting upon this text of the Frightening Judgement Saint John Chrysostom says, speaking in the name of Christ: I do not judge the sin, but those who have not repented for their sins, I judge lack of good human feelings, of sensitiveness towards the sufferance of the people around. This is the thing I judge because it is the root all evil things”, (Beatitude Daniel, 21st Century Patriarch of Romania)
"The Scripture is nothing other than instruction on how to receive Heavenly Grace. But if we simply read a set of instructions and do not try to, let us say, put a bookcase together or use a computer program, the set of instructions will remain unmastered and will be soon forgotten...And vice versa, those who attend the Sunday Divine Liturgy and then read the Scripture at home will comprehend meaning in it that they would never have comprehended otherwise"
(Priest-Martyr Daniel Sysoyev, 21st Century Russian martyr) [Liturgy; Scripture]
"The reason for Zacchaeus’s sinful life consists in what is also the reason for the sinful lives of many today: following generally accepted behavior, and either ignorance or merely superficial knowledge of God’s Law...He [Christ] came to seek and to save every person drawn to destruction by sin, if only that person would not reject God, Who seeks and wishes to save him."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian prelate and theologian, on Zaccheus) [Repentance; Love of the World]
“The soul whose ears are open, hears and listens to God speaking and does what God commands. Truly, such a soul cannot but hear God and obey His commandments if it has its ears open. Men listen and carry out the commands of earthly kings and lesser authorities, and will not a soul listen to God speaking if it has its ears open? Of course!”
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th Century Russian Hiearch, gen. quotes) [Prayer]
Updated 01/27/13
“In order to pray in this way, we must bear in mind the method of prayer, how it is possible to pray without ceasing, i.e. to pray with the mind. We can always do this, it only we desire it. While we are occupied with handiwork, while we walk, while we eat or drink--we can always pray with the mind, or perform mental prayer pleasing to God, true prayer. With our body let us work, but with our soul let us pray.”
(St. Gregory Palamas , 14th Century Theologian, ex. on mental prayer) [Jesus Prayer]
"Acquire a peaceful spirit and then thousands of others around you will be saved. "
(St. Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian Saint) [Peace; Witness]
"Adam sinned through pride. He wanted to be exalted, to become like God. But Christ came to fulfill the righteousness of God and to expiate Adam’s pride by His humility. Adam wanted to exalt himself before God, but God humbled Himself before man. Christ descended into the waters, receiving baptism from His servant. John, trembling, placed his hand on His Master and God, while Christ humbly bowed His head before him. Christ’s humility unlocked the heavens."
(St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian Orthodox hierarch) [Humility]
"Wherefore, beloved brethren, against all the devil's deceiving snares or open threatenings, the mind ought to stand arrayed and armed, ever as ready to repel as the foe is ever ready to attack. And since those darts of his which creep on us in concealment are more frequent, and his more hidden and secret hurling of them is the more severely and frequently effectual to our wounding, in proportion as it is the less perceived, let us also be watchful to understand and repel these, among which is the evil of jealousy and envy."
(St. Cyprian of Carthage, 4th Century Church Father) [Devil; Temptations]
"Because baptism is not just the recognition of God, but also a promise to turn back to Him and to do works that please Him, that is why Christ’s Forerunner and Baptist did not merely guide people towards acknowledging Christ, but also preached repentance and sought fruits worthy of repentance: righteousness, almsgiving, moderation, love and truth. And to make it clear that a promise to God is useless without deeds, and condemns a man, he held out the threat of an axe and drew attention to the unquenchable fire..."
(St Gregory Palamas, 14th Century Theologian, on Theophany) [Baptism; Repentance]
Updated 01/06/13
"Thou didst love Christ from thy youth, O blessed one, and longing to work for Him alone thou didst struggle in the wilderness with constant prayer and labor. With penitent heart and great love for Christ thou wast favored by the Mother of God. Wherefore we cry to thee: Save us by thy prayers, O Seraphim our righteous Father."
(Troparion of St. Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian Saint)
"Bless also now this tree which is a symbol of Thy cross and the Tree of Life in paradise, and which reminds us of Thy holy birth and of the logs which the shepherds of Bethlehem kindled to warm themselves when they came to worship Thee, the divine infant, and thereby prefigured Thy salvation-bearing cross."
(Serbian Orthodox Blessing of the Yule Log (Badnjak)) [Traditions]
“When I gaze in meditation and with faith upon the holy icons in church, and upon all its appurtenances, then I am lost in wonderful contemplation; the whole temple appears to me to be sacred history in action, a wonderful scripture of the works of God, accomplished in the human race. Here I see the history in action of our fall and of our restoration by God's wonderful ordering...”
(St. John of Kronstadt, 20th Century priest and wonderworker, from ‘My Life in Christ’) [Icons]
"The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house..."
(St. Paul, 1st Corinthians 16:19)
Sergieff, Archpriest John Iliytch; St John of Kronstadt (2010-05-26). My Life in Christ, or Moments of Spiritual Serenity and Contemplation, of Reverent Feeling, of Earnest Self-Amendment, and of Peace in God (Kindle Locations 5657-5659). . Kindle Edition.
“Sometimes during a lengthy prayer only a few minutes are really pleasing to God, and constitute true prayer, true service to Him. The chief thing in prayer is the nearness of the heart to God.”
(St, John of Kronstadt, 20th Century Russian Orthodox Priest, from My Life in Christ) [Prayer]
Updated 12/16/12
"For, though the voices of the prophets were silent, the world itself, by its well-ordered changes and movements, and by the fair appearance of all visible things, bears a testimony of its own, both that it has been created, and also that it could not have been created save by God, whose greatness and beauty are unutterable and invisible."
(St. Augustine, 5th Century Church Father, from “The City of God”) [Creation]
“You write how things are difficult for the world, and yet the world knows not why. If the world does not know, the Church of God does. Things are difficult in the world because people are not brethren. Kinship between individuals and nations as been forgotten and people act towards their neighbors as towards strangers in a foreign land… Christ said, All ye are brethren (Matt. 23:8)...because you have one Father who is in Heaven, and you will remain brethren as long as you confess your one Father…”
(St. Nikolai Velimirvich, 20th Century Serbian hierarch) [Love; Neighbor]
“In Her manner She showed that She was not so much presented into the Temple, but that She Herself entered into the service of God of her own accord, as if she had wings, striving towards this sacred and divine love. She considered it desirable and fitting that she should enter into the Temple and dwell in the Holy of Holies.”
(St. Gregory Palamas, 14th Century Hierarch and Theologian) [Theotokos]
“When God created man, He planted something divine into him — a certain conception — a spark that has both light and warmth. The conception that enlightens the mind and indicates what is right and what is wrong is called conscience. Conscience is a natural law. Living in times before any written law, patriarchs and saints pleased God by following the voice of their conscience.”
(Abba Dorothius, 6th Century Teacher of Monks) [Conscience; Man]
“Moreover, as I said before, concerning the sacrifices which you [the Jewish nation] at that time offered, God speaks through Malachias, one of the twelve, as follows: 'I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord; and I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands; for from the rising of the sun until its setting, my name has been glorified among the gentiles; and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a clean offering: for great is my name among the gentiles, says the Lord; but you profane it.' It is of the sacrifices offered to Him in every place by us, the gentiles, that is, of the Bread of the Eucharist and likewise of the cup of the Eucharist, that He speaks at that time; and He says that we glorify His name, while you profane it."
(Justin Martyr, 2nd Century Martyr debating with Trypho the Jew) [Eucharist; Sacrifice]
“Let us praise the two priests of God who enlightened us, And poured upon us the fount of the knowledge of God by translating the Holy Scripture. O Cyril and Methodius, as abundant learning has been drawn from this work, We exalt you who now stand before the Most High, Interceding with fervor for the salvation of our souls.”
(Kontakion to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, 9th Century Apostles to the Slavs) [Christophobia; Secularism]
“What I have said may be established from the Divine Scriptures in the following way. He who prays must lift up holy hands, forgiving everyone who has wronged him, with the passion of anger banished from his soul and in wrath with none. And again, to prevent his mind from being made turbid by irrelevant thoughts, he must while at prayer forget for the time everything outside prayer...”
(Origen, 3rd Century Theologian [non-saint]) [Prayer] Last update 11/22/12
“It is this war of attention and prayer on which both life and death of the soul depend. By attention that we keep our prayer safe and therefore we progress: if we do not have attention to keep it clear and we leave it unguarded, then it is inflected by evil thoughts and we become wicked and hopeless.” (Symeon the New Theologian, 11th century Greece) [Prayer]
“...the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death and the quickening of the flesh: that by the putting away of the enmity towards God, which is unrighteousness, we should obtain peace with Him, doing that which is pleasing to Him.” (St. Irenaeus, 2nd century Church Father) [Doctrine]
"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Grant me and us, unworthy, the dew of Thy grace and reveal thy tender mercies." (Akathist excerpt to Our Lady of the Sporitelnitsa Bread in Optina Monastery)[Liturgical Prayer]
"You have a steadfast example in Job and also in the Apostles, who scorned the terrors of this world for God’s sake, and so gained the blessings of eternity. Let us then follow them, and in all that happens to us rejoice and give thanks to the benevolent God. So shall we pass this present life in contentment and gain the blessings to come, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ." (St. John Chrysostom, 5th century Church Father) [Thanksgiving; Peace]
"...without trust and faith implicit in God Almighty's great wisdom and ineffable love, one could not bear the heavy crosses sent one". (Royal Martyr Tsarina Alexandra, 20th century Russia, letter about her son's receiving communion, 1913) [Suffering]
“And if there is among them a man that is poor or needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.” (Aristides, 2nd century Christian Greek philosopher, ‘Apology to Hadrian) [Alms Giving]
"We were created to live on earth unlike animals who die and disappear with time, but with the high purpose to live with God not for a hundred years or so but for eternity". (St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century Russia, from 'The Way...') [Immortality]
"The only means by which you can spend the day in perfect holiness, peace, and without sin, is the most sincere, fervent prayer as soon as you rise from sleep in the morning. It will bring Christ into your heart, with the Father and the Holy Ghost..."
(St John of Kronstadt, 19th century Russian saint; ‘My Life In Christ’)[Morning Prayer]
"If we want, Christian, to have our heart filled with divine love we must first empty them of the love of this world, its frivilous and sinful customs and then turn our hearts to the one God, our only good and happiness and eternal beatitude."
(Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th century Russia, taken from "True Christianity") [Personal Sanctification]
"The souls of the departed can indeed benefit to their 'advancement,' and even the damned to a relative 'relief' of their lot, thanks to the prayers of the Church and through the infinite mercy of God; but the notion of a punishment prior to the Last Judgment and of a purification through a material fire is altogether foreign to the tradition of the Church"
(St. Mark of Ephesus, 15th century Byzantium) [Prayers for the Departed]
"Acquiring the Spirit of God is the true aim of our Christian life, while prayer, fasting, almsgiving and other good works done for Christ's sake are merely means for acquiring the Spirit of God."
(St Seraphim of Sarov, 19th century Russia) [Purpose of Life]
These are listed in order of posting on Facebook/Google+. To find similar quotes of a topic (i.e. prayer) or by a specific person, use the page search function in your browser (usually in the 'edit' column at the top of the screen). The newest posts are at the top. After the update below combined quotes are found at this page.
Updated August 22, 2015
"After the fall into sin, Adam's soul darkened: his thoughts and desires became muddled, and his imagination and memory began to cloud. Instead of peace and joy he met sorrow, agitation, ruination, misery, and woe. He experienced hard labor, poverty, hunger, and thirst. And after years of unsurpassed sorrows, sickly old age began to oppress him, and death neared...No man, even the most talented and powerful, nor all of mankind in unison, could ever restore what Adam lost when he sinned in Eden. What would have happened to us and to all of mankind if Jesus Christ in His mercy had not come to redeem us?"
(St. Innocent of Alaska in 'The Indication of the Way') [Sin; Evil; Salvation]
"Try it on your children. Ask them how many cartoon characters they could name. Then ask how many saints could they name. Two? Eight? A dozen if you’re lucky. And we can blame no one but ourselves for this. We expect our children to stay in the church and understand our traditions and always do the right thing, and, and, and, but how can we expect all of this if we’re not teaching them?"
(Sylvia Leontaristis, Orthodox mother and author) [Tradition; Family; Catechism]
"If we want to fare well in this life and to go to Paradise, and to call our God love and father, we must have two loves: the love for God and the love for our neighbor. It is natural for us to have these two loves, and contrary to nature not have them. Just as a swallow needs two wings in order to fly in the air, so we need these two loves, because without them we cannot be saved."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos) [Love; Salvation] http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03391/Photogenic_View-do_3391292k.jpg?
"...neither does God wish to cut down a man on account of his evil thoughts, lest the wheat be destroyed along with them. If, for example, Matthew had been cut down while he was a tare, the wheat of the word which was later to spring up from him would have been cut down with him."
(St. Theophyact) [Love of God; Patience]
"We say that our dead have “fallen asleep” or “passed away.” What does this mean? This means that for the true Christian there is no death. Death was conquered by Christ on the cross. But there is a translation, i.e, a rearrangement of his condition, i.e. his soul is in another place, in another age, in another world beyond the grave, eternal, without end, that is what is meant by “falling asleep”."
(St. John of Kronstadt) [Death; Salvation; Judgement]
"O Lord, show Your mercy to me and gladden my heart. I am like the man on the way to Jericho who was overtaken by robbers, wounded and left for dead. O Good Samaritan, come to my aid. I am like the sheep that went astray. O Good Shepherd, seek me out and bring me home in accord with Your will. Let me dwell in Your house all the days of my life and praise You for ever and ever with those who are there. Amen."
(St. Jerome) [Prayer; Repentance; Hope]
"Whoever wishes to be saved must turn to the Lord with a pure heart, and must cleanse oneself with repentance and tears, and in such a manner unite with Christ, the True Vine. For without Christ there is no salvation."
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) [Salvation]
"Bless, Lord, this new fruit of vine which reached ripeness because Thou kindly provided good weather, drops of rain and stillness. Let eating this fruit of vine make us joyful. And give us the honor of offering this fruit to Thee, as the gift of purging of sins, altogether with the Holy Body of Thy Christ.”
(Transfiguration Blessing of Grapes) [Tradition]
"Suffer and pray to God for your children. By your long-suffering you will hopefully bring them little by little to feel some shame and with your prayer you will receive help from the Almighty in clearing. up your children's hearts. But first you must repent before him for not teaching your children. His law before anything else."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich ~Missionary Letters Vol. 3) [Intercession; Witness]
"All is dust under the feet of the Eternal..From this dust will survive only the small portion of God's spirit that dwells in this dust. All our thoughts and feelings, and deeds and strivings, and struggles and passions, which are directed towards dust will die together with our bodily dust. Only that portion of our being which is directed towards God will survive, will continue to live in the presence of God, will see God. For God only can see God."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in ''Serbia in Light and Darkness') [Salvation; Purpose of Life]
"The martyrs shed their blood for the Truth, and are you concerned about such a little distance [to the church]? They sacrificed their lives for Christ, and you don't want to toil even a little? The Lord died for your sake, and are you too bored to come to church, preferring to stay at your house? Nevertheless, you must come, to see the devil being defeated, the saint winning, God being glorified and the Church triumphing."
(St. John Chrysostom on church attendance) [Worship; Love of God]
"Impurity is also twofold: physical and mental. By mental are impure thoughts, impure looks, rancor, deceit and the like, and the bodily filth are: adultery, fornication.... He wants us to be clean and from that and from other impurities. Come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves, that is, live separately, and be clean, and then I will take you."
(St. Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians) [Sanctification; Separation]
"Life is a great experimental science. Nothing is more difficult than to pass through this science, this narrow way, and these narrow gates. And those who have not learned, either through their mother's teaching or at school, to have faith in God and the fear of God, and to lead a pious life—those will find it especially difficult to study in the school of life."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Purpose of Life; Wisdom]
"Always remember that you were born into this world so that you may do good to all insofar as possible on every occasion. Love not only those close to you and your benefactors, but even your enemies, so that you might thereby pacify them, correct them, and make them good people. "
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Short Christian Moral Guide”) [Love; Witness]
"The doer of human righteousness is filled with self-opinion, high-mindedness, and self-deception … he repays with hatred and revenge anyone who dares to open his mouth to pronounce the most well-founded and good-intentioned contradiction of his righteousness. He considers himself worthy, most worthy of both earthly and heavenly rewards."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov) [Pride; Self-Centeredness]
"I give thanks to him who strengthened me in all things, so that I should not be hindered in my setting out and also in my work which I was taught by Christ my Lord; but more, from that state of affairs I felt, within me, no little courage, and vindicated my faith before God and man."
(St. Patrick of Ireland, 'Confessions') [Will of God; Divine Providence]
"The Church Fathers regard Sacred Tradition as the safe guide in the interpretation of Holy Scripture and absolutely necessary for understanding the truths contained in the Holy Scripture. TheChurch received many traditions from the Apostles... The constitution of the church services, especially of the Divine Liturgy, the holy Mysteries themselves and the manner of performing them, certain prayers and other institutions of the Church go back to the Sacred Tradition of the Apostles."
(St. Nectarios of Aegina) [True Church; Tradition]
"Help the beggar. He is not a beggar because God cannot feed all His children, but because He placed him as a beggar on the street to test your heart... Every penny that you give to a beggar, God counts double as His debt to you."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 'Serbian Wisdom')
"The Lord is my being; the Lord is my deliverance from everlasting death; the Lord is my eternal life; the Lord is my cleansing and deliverance from a multitude of iniquities, and my sanctification. The Lord is strength in my weakness...peace in my disturbance; the Lord is the intercessor in my temptations; He is my thinking, my desire, my activity; The Lord is everything to me. My soul, love and thank the Lord constantly!"
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Love of God; Faith]
"On Sundays and feast days come to church, and falling down with reverence before God, be mindful of all the mercies you may ever have received from Him. Thank Him for them with all your heart, and as a sign of your thankfulness, promise to live as He has commanded you. This is a sacrifice most pleasing to God."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Short Christian Moral Guide”)
"All of us who walked towards the kingdom of light and eternal life are obliged to keep watch daily and see what sort of garments are soul is clothed in. Let us look at those men and women who daily dress up, change clothes, decorate themselves, groom themselves and adorned themselves in order to physically look as nicely as they can. We ought to apply that much care and even more than that on the clothing of our soul. They look at themselves in the Mirror. Our Mirror is Jesus Christ."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in "Missionary Letters #2") [Sanctification; Repentance]
“You see very clearly that it is extremely difficult, and without God’s grace and your own fervent prayer and abstinence, it is impossible for you to change for the better. You feel within yourself the action of a multitude of passions...and yet you remain in them, are often bound by them, whilst the long-suffering Lord bears with you, awaiting your return and amendment..."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Repentance; Sanctification; Prayer]
"It is hard to pray at night. But try in the morning. If you can't manage to pray at home than at least as you ride to your place of employment to attempt with a clear head the "Our Father" and let the words of this short prayer resound in your heart. And at night commend yourself with complete sincerity into the hands of the Heavenly Father. This indeed is very easy."
(St. John of San Francisco) [Prayer; Devotions]
"He who admits his sinfulness, who through experience knows the weakness of human nature and its inclination toward evil, will forgive his neighbor the more swiftly, dismissing transgressions and refraining from a haughty judgment of others' sins. Let us remember that even the scribes and Pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery to Christ were forced to depart, when their conscience spoke out, accusing them of their own sins."
(St. Tikhon of Moscow, Homily) [Forgiveness; Humility]
"A sure sign of the deadening of the soul is evading church services. A person who has grown cold towards God first of all begins to avoid going to church—in the beginning he tries to arrive at the service a little late, and then he completely stops visiting God’s church."
(St. Baranuphius of Optina) [Love of the World]
"Men were triply separated from God; by nature, by sin and by death - yet the Savior made them to attain to Him perfectly and to be immediately united to Him by successively removing all obstacles. The first barrier He removed by partaking of manhood, the second by being put to death on the cross. As for the final barrier, the tyranny of death, He eliminated it completely from our nature by rising again."
(St. Nicholas Cabasilas, 14th Century Byzantine commentator) [Salvation; Love; Sacrifice]
"If good deeds done according to feelings of the heart brought salvation, then Christ’s coming would have been superfluous... ...Such is the natural quality of all bodily podvigs/struggles and visible good deeds. If we think that doing them is our sacrifice to God, and not just reparation for our immeasurable debt, then our good deeds and podvigs become the parents in us of soul-destroying pride."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov)
"No matter what the many fates of humans are on earth, no matter what schemes and obstacles Satan and the godless prepare and no matter how great the apostasy will be in the last times from the love of Christ, the kingdom of Christ will be filled unconditionally. Or did He who told us to calculate whether we can finish a tower before we start building it, did He not calculate how He would fulfill his kingdom?"
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in 'Missionary Letters #2') [Divine Providence; Will of God]
"In the first centuries it was not only the pastors who were tortured, but lay persons as well – men, women, and even children. And it was lay people likewise who enlightened the heathen and fought heresies. And now in the same way, the spreading of the Faith should be a matter that is personal, heartfelt, and dear to each one of us. Every member of the Church must take an active part in it – some by personal struggle spreading the Good News, some by material donations and service to “the needs of the holy persons,” and some by profuse prayer to the Lord that He “keep His Church firm and multiply it...”
(St. Tikhon of Moscow, 20th Century Russian patriarch and martyr) [Witness; Evangelization]
QUOTE OF THE DAY... "It is incomprehensible how Jesus Christ is united with the sign of the Cross, and gives it the wonderful power of driving away passions, demons, and to calm the troubled soul. It is likewise incomprehensible how the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ is united with the bread and wine, transforming them into His own Flesh and Blood, and manifestly cleansing our soul from sins, bringing into it heavenly peace and tranquillity and making it good, gentle, humble, and full of hearty faith and hope."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ')
" I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners. And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son."
(St. Patrick of Ireland, 'Confessions') [Divine Providence; Love of God]
"Pray to the saint whose name you bear, and he [or she] will help you. Turn to him in times of sorrow and sickness; in difficult circumstances and in moments of joy...He brings our prayer before God and intercedes for us. At the end of life, when we depart for the other world, our patron saint will be standing next to us. If we venerated him and prayed to him, he will stand next to our guardian angel to protect us from satan’s accusations."
(Fr. George Calciu +, 21st Century Romanian Confessor) [Saints; Prayer]
"The world is a house. The Builder and the Master of this house is the Creator, and the Father of the Christian people living in it is God. The Mother in this house is the most holy Mother of the Lord. Always walk in the presence of your Father, in love and obedience to Him; likewise in the presence of our common Mother, the most holy Mother of the Lord, in holy love, reverence, and obedience to Her."
(St John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ)
"The Church is a hospital not a court. It bestows forgiveness; it does not demand accountability for the sin. Say to God: “Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee” (Ps. 50:6), and He will forgive you. Show Him that you repent, and He will have mercy on you. If we do our part, God will do His part."
(St John Chrysostom) [Repentance; Prayer]
"If there are some of us who are still seeking Christ among the dead, let them desist from this soul-destroying effort. This is the vain effort of the Jews, pagans and non-Christians. We know that the Lord and Giver of Life is not in the tomb but on the Throne of Glory in the heavens. The spirit not darkened by sin looks up into heaven and does not see the tomb; while the spirit darkened by sin looks into the tomb and does not see heaven."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in 'The Prologue')
"On Sunday and on holidays when you go to God's house bring your children. You should have noticed by now yourself that often they speak only...cursing and using evil words - and they do not even know how to pray. They have no inkling about God or faith and the father and mother are to be blamed for that. Teach them to love God, the Faith, the Church... and especially to pray!"
(St. Alexis Toth, 20th Century Evangelizer of America) [Witness; Family]
"A mother had an only son, a student in school the mother was mad at her son and it anger she said be senseless words, "If I were to never see you again I'd be happy!" The child was so distraught by these words that he took a gun and shot himself. Beside himself he left a student's writing board of which he wrote, "your mother, I remove myself forever from before your face just to make you happy!" Over the miserable happiness of the mother! After that happened the mother said by the fireplace every night putting out the fire with her tears until she was eventually found dead one morning, wasted, but he put out fireplace. Do you see what a senseless word does?"
St.Nikolai Velimirovich in 'Missionary Letters #1'
"Jacob's well is Scripture. The water is the spiritual knowledge found in Scripture. The depth of the well is the meaning, only to be attained with great difficulty, of the obscure sayings in Scripture. The bucket is learning gained from the written text of the word of God which...can only grasp a very small amount of knowledge and leaves behind all that it cannot lay hold of..."
(St. Maximus the Confessor on the 'Woman at the Well' In John 4)
"We run eagerly to dances and amusements. We listen with pleasure to the foolishness of singers. We enjoy the foul words of actors for hours without getting bored. And yet when God speaks we yawn, we scratch ourselves and feel dizzy. Most people would run rabidly to the horse track, although there is no roof there to protect the audience from rain...Nothing keeps them in their homes. When they are about to go to church, however, then the soft rain becomes an obstacle to them."
(St. John Chrysostom 'On Church Attendance')
"I should give thanks unceasingly to God, who frequently forgave my folly and my negligence, in more than one instance so as not to be violently angry with me, who am placed as his helper, and I did not easily assent to what had been revealed to me, as the Spirit was urging; and the Lord took pity on me thousands upon thousands of times, because he saw within me that I was prepared, but that I was ignorant of what to do in view of my situation..."
(St. Patrick of Ireland) [Guidance; Will of God]
"Many do not pray because it seems to them that they did not receive any gift from God when they prayed before, or because they consider praying unnecessary; they say that God knows everything without our asking, and forget that it is said "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Hope; Faith]
"Emotional peace is obtained from perfect devotion to the will of God, without which nothing exists. And if your husband really is not good, ask yourself in all good conscience before God: “Do I, a sinner, really deserve a good and kind husband?” And your conscience without fail will say that you do not deserve a perfectly good husband; and then in humility of heart, in submission to God’s will, you will love him with all your heart and will find much that is good, which up until then you didn’t see."
(Elder St. Anthony of Optina) [Will of God; Long-suffering; Peace]
"The Holy Spirit illumined firstly the holy Prophets, and they wrote the Divine Scripture; secondly, He illumined the holy Apostles; and thirdly, He has illumined the holy Fathers, and they have explained the books of our Church, in order that we may know how to conduct ourselves. Our Faith has been made secure by wise and learned Saints, who both explained the Holy Scriptures precisely and have enlightened us through their divinely inspired discourses."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos) [Scripture; Revelation]
"Go as often as possible to Liturgy, and as it is celebrated stand in firm and bright faith in the sacrifice that is being made to God. The Sacrament of the Body and Blood is Divine Food for the Christian and a sacrifice. Not everyone receives Communion at every Liturgy, but the sacrifice is brought from all and for all...Concentration alone on this Mystery powerfully enlivens and awakens the spirit. Faith and contrition always bring cleansing from sins..."
(St. Theophan the Recluse 'Path of Salvation')
"For beyond any doubt on that day we shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as children of the living God and co-heirs of Christ, made in his image; for we shall reign through him and for him and in him."
(St. Patrick) [Salvation; Faith]
"The object of our worship is the one God who created the whole massive structure with all its apparatus of elements, bodies, and spirits: who fashioned it out of nothing through his word, by which he gave the command; through his design, by which he arranged the whole; by his power, by which he could effect his plan, to make it the adornment of his own majesty. Hence the Greeks call the universe the Cosmos (which means Ornament’)."
(Tertullian, 3rd Century Christian apologist [not a saint]) [Creation]
“It is our obligation to share our spiritual treasures, our truth, our light and our joy with those who do not have these gifts. And this duty lies not only on pastors and missionaries, but also on lay people, for the Church of Christ, in the wise comparison of St. Paul is a body, and in the life of the body every member must take part.”
(Patriarch St Tikhon of Moscow) [Witness; Evangelization]
Updated 04/04/2015
"What’s happening now is like having a watering can and try to water a whole field with it. But time will come when God will rain on his field and it will be irrigated."
(Elder Paisios on Modern Missions) [Missions; Evangelism]
"Those who give bread or money to the hungry regretfully, with an evil eye and dissatisfied heart, act in the same manner as if they were putting poison into their bread or their alms, though this poison is a spiritual, invisible one. We must give lovingly, with a respect for the person of our neighbor, willingly, gladly ; for it is natural that love should rejoice when affording help to the beloved." (St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ')
"Say then to yourself, that the dog through hope of future pleasure, despises that which is present: while you do not choose for hope of future good things to despise those which are present. But he indeed knows, that, if he tastes of that food [prey in a hunt] at the wrong time and against his master’s will, he will both be deprived of that, and not get even that which was apportioned to him, but receive blows instead of food: whereas you cannot even perceive this, and that which he has learned by way of custom, you do not succeed in acquiring even from reason. Let us imitate the dogs."
(St. John Chrysostom using a dog as an example) [Patience;Obedience]
QUOTE OF THE DAY... "In summary, these are the means of receiving the Holy Spirit: purity of heart, chastity, humility, listening to the voice of God, prayer accompanied by fasting and charity, reading Holy Scripture, meditation, and partaking of Holy Communion. Of course, each of these individually is effective for receiving the Holy Spirit, but it is best to resort to all of them for our salvation."
(St. Innocent of Alaska 'Indication of the Way into the Kingdom')
"For the sun we see rises each day for us at [His] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ's will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever."
(St. Patrick of Ireland, Confessions) [True Church; Revelation]
"We have sinned, transgressed, done wrong before You. We have not watched or done as You hast commanded us but do not give us up utterly, O God of our fathers. Have mercy on us, O God, have mercy on us."
(St. Andrew of Crete, 'Great Canon' Ode 7)
"Always say this prayer both with your mouth and with your mind, day and night, wherever you may be, whether eating, walking, working, or sitting. Always meditate on it, as it benefits you a great deal., frees you here from every evil, delivers you there from eternal Hell, and renders you worthy of going to Paradise, our heavenly country."
(Saint Cosmas Of Aitolos on the 'Jesus Prayer')
"The living Church always admired men of suffering and not men of pleasure. It was not the self-sufficient prelates who promoted the Christian cause, with their books and notes and discussions, but the sufferers, hungry and thirsty for the Kingdom of God. Christ was victorious over Nero in the Coliseum, but oftentimes afterwards Nero was victorious over Christ in the Church. But Nero must go, and Christ come."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich in 'Religious Spirit of the Slavs')
"There is no sin, which alms cannot cleanse, none, which alms cannot quench: all sin is beneath this. Alms are a medicine adapted for every wound...But alms may be done not only by money, but by acts. For example: one may kindly stand by a person to comfort and defend him, one may reach to him a helping hand: the service rendered by acts has often done more good even than money. Let us set to work all the different kinds of almsgiving." (St. John Chrysostom; Homily) [Alms; Works of Mercy]
"We who are pious Christians must fast always, but especially on Wednesday, because the Lord was sold on that day, and on Friday, because He was crucified on that day. Similarly, it is our duty to fast during the Lent seasons, as the Holy Spirit illumined the holy Fathers of the Church to decree, in order to mortify the passions and humble the body. Moreover, if we limit the food we eat, life becomes easier for us. Fast according to your ability, pray according to your ability, give alms according to your ability, and always hold death before the eyes of your mind.
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos)
QUOTE OF THE DAY... "We do not need great men at all, we need good and saintly men. We ought not to seek after greatness, but after goodness and saintliness. Greatness is no real virtue, but goodness and saintliness are virtues. Greatness is only an illusion, but goodness and saintliness are realities. Christianity came to impress these realities on the human conscience and to sweep illusions away."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 'Religious Spirit of the Slavs')
"The Holy Orthodox Church has never perceptibly changed from Apostolic times, and, therefore, no one can go astray in finding out what she teaches. Like her Lord and Master, though at times surrounded with human malaria — which He in mercy pardons — she is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 8:8) … the mother and safe deposit of “the truth as it is in Jesus” (Eph.4:21)."
(St. Raphael of Brooklyn, 20th Century American hierarch) [Tradition; True Church]
“Be assured that God does not send us temptations beyond measure, except perhaps for pride, for conceit, and for complaining, by which we ourselves aggravate our sorrows. Beware of complaining and being faint-hearted. Magnanimity and patient endurance lighten sorrows, but faint-heartedness and grumbling increase them and make them more burdensome.”
(Elder Macarius Ivanov of 19th Century Optina)
"Above all keep from blaming and judging your close ones. We do have something to worry about: our sinful sores stink—we have to busy ourselves about them. You will not have to answer for others, only for yourself… Keeping the Lord’s commandments revives the soul; it brings peace to your body, and abundant comfort."
(St Lev Nagolkin, 19th Century Optina elder) [Repentance; Humility; Obedience]
“Do not say : "It is better for me to die," but say rather, "How can I prepare for death in a Christian manner?" By means of faith, by means of good works, and by bravely bearing the miseries and sorrows that happen to you, so as to be able to meet death fearlessly, peacefully, and without shame, not as a rigorous law of nature, but as a fatherly call of the eternal, heavenly, holy, and blessed Father unto the everlasting Kingdom.”
(St. John of Kronstadt in ‘My Life in Christ’)
"Therefore, Christian, do not shun your lifelong cross, but, on the contrary, thank Jesus Christ that He honored you to follow and imitate Him. If Christ had not suffered and died, then none of us, no matter how much we suffered and struggled, would enter the Kingdom of Heaven, for then we would have had to suffer as slaves, and slaves deserve no rewards. Now, however, we suffer as sons for our own salvation."
(St. Innocent of Alaska,, 'Indication of the Way')
"Then let us not endure to see our soul wronged because of the body, but let us make the soul herself more clear-sighted, let us make her wing light, her bonds looser: let us feed her with discourse, with frugality, feeding the body only so much that it may be healthy, that it may be vigorous, that it may rejoice and not be in pain: that having in this way well ordered our concerns, we may be enabled to lay hold upon the highest virtue, and to attain unto the eternal good things by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
(St. John Chrysostom on fasting)
"Some believe that their whole welfare and their exactitude before God consists in the reading of all the appointed prayers, without paying attention to the preparedness of their hearts for prayer to God, nor to their inward amendment. Many, for instance, thus read the prayers appointed before Holy Communion ; whilst at this time we should, above all, look to the amendment and preparedness of the heart to receive the Holy Sacrament. If your heart is right in your bosom...it is well with you, even although you have not succeeded in reading all the appointed prayers."
(St. John of Kronstadt in ‘My Life in Christ’) [Prayers; Practices]
“Because of this like relationship, voluntary submission to one good thought leads to the natural submission to another good thought; acquisition of one virtue leads another virtue into the soul which is like unto and inseparable from the first. The reverse is also true: voluntary submission to one sinful thought brings involuntarily submission to another; acquisition of one sinful passion leads another passion related to it into the soul; the voluntary committing of one sin leads to the involuntary fall into another sin born of the first. Evil, as the fathers say, cannot bear to dwell unmarried in the heart”
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian theologian) [Sanctification; Temptation]
"Obedience to our mother, the Church, in everything is right; and if it is possible for one "to receive" prolonged prayer, let him pray long...If long prayer is not compatible with fervor of spirit, then it is better to say a short but fervent prayer. Remember that the one word of the publican, said from a fervent heart, justified him. God does not look at the multitude of words, but upon the disposition of the heart. The chief thing is lively faith and fervent repentance for sins."
(St. John of Kronstadt in ‘My Life in Christ’)
"I was born a Christian, and I want to die a Christian. I will not deny my faith for any reason, even if you torture me, because this faith is good and true. I pray that you also believe in it, that you may not be damned."
(Martyr Auxentios of Bellas +1720)
Updated 01/16/15
"Since then the father [St. Paul] is not present to us, come – let us cleave to his teaching, relying on his prayers. For even Moses, not being present in the body with the combatants, contributed to that battle, not less than those fighting, but more by far even, urging on the actions of his men by the outstretching of his hands, and making them dreadful to their opponents. For just as the power of love is not separated by a division of place, so neither is the efficacy of prayer, but just as the former binds those removed from one another, so also the latter is able to greatly benefit those far off."
(St. John Chrysostom homily on the Kalends of January)
"Seek God daily. But seek Him in your heart, not outside it. And when you find Him, stand with fear and trembling, like the Cherubim and the Seraphim, for your heart has become a throne of God. But in order to find God, become humble as dust before the Lord, for the Lord abhors the proud, whereas He visits those that are humble in heart, wherefore He says: "To whom will I look, but to him that is meek and humble in heart?""
(St. Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Prayer of the Heart; Humility]
"According to the extent of our humility he rewards us and comforts us, while according to the extent of our pride he humbles us. What is here is brief and transitory, but eternity is never-ending; by sorrows here the Lord leads us to eternal blessedness, even if we go unwillingly. We have to take care about arranging our lives and about our soul. We are full of passions, but we have high dreams; we always read and talk about humility, but when it comes down to reality, we can’t bear either a word or a glance.”
(Elder Makarius of Optina) [Pride; Humility]
"When the Spirit of Rebellion [apostasia] unjustly held sway over us, and, though we were by nature the property of God omnipotent, unnaturally alienated us from God, and made us his own disciples; than the all-powerful Word of God, who never fails in justice, acted justly even in dealing with the Spirit of Rebellion. For it was by persuasion, not by force, that he redeemed his own property ... for thus it behoved God to achieve his purpose: with the result that justice was not infringed, and God's original handiwork was saved from perishing."
(St. Irenaeus, 3rd Century Church Father) [Free Will; Truth]
"“Thus saith the Lord,” and still none attends… But what is the common excuse? “It is always the same things over again.” This it is most of all, that ruins you. Suppose you knew the things, even so you certainly ought not to turn away...How dare you talk about “the same things,” you who know not so much as the names of the Prophets? Are you not ashamed to say, that this is why you do not listen, because it is “the same things over again,” while you do not know the names of those who are read, and this, though always hearing the same things?"
(St. John Chrysostom on why people don't listen attentively to Bible readings)
"The Divine Liturgy is the way we know God and the way God becomes known to us...Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany. The Body of Christ appears. Every member of the Church is an icon of the Kingdom of God. After the Divine Liturgy we must continue to iconify the Kingdom of God, keeping His commandments. The glory of Christ is for Him to bear His fruit in every member."
(Elder Sophrony of Essex, 20th Century staretz) [Icons; Witness]
"What, then, O, brethren, is required of us in order that we might avail ourselves of all the grace brought unto us from on high by the coming to earth of the Son of God? What is necessary, first of all, is faith in the Son of God, in the Gospel as the salvation-bestowing heavenly teaching; a true repentance of sins and the correction of life and of heart; communion in prayer and in the mysteries [sacraments]; the knowledge and fulfillment of Christ’s commandments. Also necessary are the virtues: Christian humility, alms-giving, continence, purity and chastity, simplicity and goodness of heart."
(St. John of Kronstadt, Nativity Homily) [Sanctification; Worship; Repentance]
"The Christian needs two wings in order to soar upward and attain Paradise: humility and love. When the first order of angels fell from angelic glory and became demons, the other nine orders humbled themselves and worshiped the All-Holy Trinity, and remained in their place and rejoice forever. We, too, my brethren, must reflect what an evil thing pride is - that it cast down the devil from angelic glory and he will always burn in Hades - and that humility kept the angels in Heaven, and they rejoice perpetually in the glory of the Holy Trinity."
(St. Cosmas Of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Pride; Humility]
"Every one of us, even he who is supposed to live as a private person, exercises the office of shepherd, if, keeping together a multitude of good actions and pure thoughts, he strives to rule them with due moderation, to feed them with the food of the Scriptures, and to preserve them against the snares of the devil."
(Venerable Bede, 8th Century English priest and author) [Temperance; Prudence; Sanctification]
"Humility and the repentance which comes from it are the only conditions under which Christ is received! Humility and repentance are the only price by which the knowledge of Christ is purchased! Humility and repentance make up the only moral condition from which one can approach Christ, to be taken in by Him! Humility and repentance are the only sacrifice which requites, and which God accepts from fallen man (cf. Ps 50:18–19). The Lord rejects those who are infected with pride, with a mistaken opinion of themselves, who consider repentance to be superfluous for them, who exclude themselves from the list of sinners. They cannot be Christians."
(St Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Humility; Repentance]
"Whoever has an evil heart should not despair, because with God’s help a person can correct his heart. One only needs to watch oneself attentively and not miss an opportunity to be helpful to one’s neighbors, to confide often in one’s elder, and to give alms according to one’s means. Of course, one cannot do this all at once, but the Lord will wait patiently. He only cuts short a person’s life when He sees that he is ready to cross over to eternal life, or else when He sees no hope of the person’s correction."
(St. Ambrose of Optima, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Repentance; Sanctification]
"I greet all of you gathered here with the New Year. I congratulate you with the joys that I hope the Lord might send you in the coming year. I congratulate you also with the sorrows that will inevitably visit you this year: perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, or in the near future. Incidentally, do not be confused by sorrows or fear them. Sorrows and joys are closely bound up with each other...Day turns to night, and night turns to day, bad weather turns to good; so also does sorrow turn into joy, and joy into sorrow."
(St. Barsanuphius of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Hope; Patience]
"“There is a big difference between giving to poor laypeople or using this sum to build a monastery in which many will be saved before the coming of Christ. There is a great difference between a one-time good and a good that is permanently profitable, as the Lord Himself declares in the Holy Gospel these different degrees of thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”
(Elder Ambrose of Optina) [Alms; Generosity]
"...two large brass trees which stood on both sides of the Beautiful Gate of the sanctuary. On the leaves of the trees there was a place for lights to flicker. Each tree had one hundred and eighty lamps and fifty silver chains from top to bottom. On these hung small objects of gold, silver or copper, as well as red eggs, kraters, animals, birds, crosses, wreaths, bells, carved grape bunches, discs..."
(Quote from British Museum Manuscript from 512AD reference in Mystagogy showing the 'Christmas Tree' has Orthodox origins) [Traditions]
"He did not say do not cease to oppress us, but comforts us in times of hardship, for if He allows oppression so that we through patience find reward, and when we see we are made weak, that comforts us always. So do not say that he once comforted us, but always and not in one or the other of sorrow, but in all."
(St. Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians) [Mercy; Longsuffering]
"...we make, keep in our houses, and venerate, pictures of the Most Pure Mother of God, of the Angels and saints, because they are living images and likenesses of God, and, looking upon them, we remember more vividly their great deeds, virtues, their benefactions to us, their ardent love to God, and we ourselves thus become inspired to imitate them in their constant vigilance over themselves, in cleansing ourselves from every impurity of body and spirit, and we glorify their exploits, thus making them our intercessors and protectors before God, for God deigns to accept the intercession of His friends and faithful servants on behalf of those for whom they intercede before Him."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ')
"I however, feel that I am the most sinful person in the world. Of course, whatever I remembered I confessed, and I know God has forgiven me. But now I have the feeling that my spiritual sins are very many and I ask all those who have known me to pray for me...I always made the effort to pray, to read the hymns of the Church, the Holy Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints. May you do the same."
(St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Devotions; Intercession; Meekness]
Updated 11/30/14
"What is fasting and why is it necessary? Fasting is a voluntary self-restriction in food, drink, and pleasure. The purpose of fasting is to quiet or calm and lighten the body and to make it obedient to the soul. Overfilled flesh demands comfort and rest, disposing us to laziness, which hinders prayer and meditation. In the manner of an unbridled servant, the well-fed body rises up against its master, the soul, and wants to rule over it. While fasting, you should limit not only the type of food (dairy and meat products) but also its amount, restricting yourself to the minimal needs of the body. Then your fasting will become useful."
(St. Innocent of Alaska in 'The Into the Kingdom')
"Churches resemble ports in the ocean, which God has placed in cities, spiritual ports, wherein whoever of us takes refuge finds indescribable calmness of soul, made dizzy from worldly business. And precisely as a calm and waveless port offers safety to the boats docked there, so also the Church saves from the storm of earthly cares whoever hastens to it, and grants the believers to stand securely and listen to the word of God with great calmness."
(St. John Chrysostom)
"Christ is with those of humble mind, not with those who exalt themselves over his flock. The sceptre of the majesty of God, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, did not come with the pride of pretension and arrogance — though he had the power — but in humility of mind, just as the Holy Spirit said of him: ‘Lord, who has believed our report?' You see, beloved brothers, what is the pattern given to us; for if the Lord was thus humble in mind, how are we to behave, when we through him have come under the yoke of grace?"
(St. Clement of Rome, 1st Century Church Fahter) [Humility; Meekness]
"Without winter there would be no spring, and without spring there would be no summer. So it is also in the spiritual life: a little consolation, and then a little grief—and thus little by little we work out our salvation. Let us accept everything from the hand of God. If He comforts us, let us thank Him. And if He doesn’t comfort us—let us thank Him."
(St. Anatoly Zertsalov, 19th Century Optina Elder) [Patience; Peace]
"Believe as undoubtingly that God sees you, as you believe that your father, or anyone else standing face to face with you, sees you, only with this difference, that the Heavenly Father sees everything that is in you, entirely what you are, and all creatures, the angels, the saints, us sinners, the animals—sees everything at once in the same way as the sun lights everything at once, besides which " The eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun."1 A lively sense of God's presence is a source of peace and joy for the soul. Doubt in His presence produces distress, affliction, and oppression. Heartfelt prayer is the source of peace of heart, whilst insincere, superficial, inattentive prayer wounds the heart. God is nearer to us than any man at every time. He is nearer to me than my raiment, nearer than the air or light..."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life In Christ')
"There is not a person on earth for whom the Son of the Most Pure Virgin did not give His precious Blood. If one disdains the Blood by which he was bought, he will answer for his own demise; but may none of you be the cause of anyone’s demise. And if you have contempt for a person you have contempt for the blood Christ spilled for his salvation. Strive to bring the sinner to reason and confirm him in the faith, and if you are able to do so, you will obtain a brother and co-heir of Christ’s Kingdom. Praise the righteous, correct the sinner, encourage those who repent."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, homily) [Love; Salvation; Evangelism]
"It seems as though every tree endeavours each year to advance by the strength that God has given it; therefore, say to yourself, " I, too, must each day, each year, absolutely grow higher and higher morally, better and better, more and more perfect; must advance on the road to the Kingdom of Heaven, or to the Father which is in Heaven, through the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit dwelling and working within me. As the field is adorned by a multitude of flowers, so should the field of my own soul be adorned by all the flowers of virtue..."
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Sanctification]
"In general, we may say that Christians are in the world what the soul is in the body. The soul is dispersed throughout the parts of the body, Christians throughout the cities of the world. The soul inhabits the body, but does not belong to the body: Christians inhabit the world, but ‘do not belong to the world.’ The soul is invisible and is kept in custody in the visible body; Christians are observed, since they arc in the world, but their religion remains unseen."
(Epistle to Diognetus, 2nd Century Apocryphal Writing) [Witness; Evangelism]
"In what does the true wealth of a man consist? In his image and likeness to God, and not in lands, nor money; neither in various earthly sciences and arts, nor in property of various kinds, nor in many servants, nor in many clothes, nor, in general, in a multitude of earthly blessings, for all these are corruptible and temporal; whilst the soul—the image of God—is eternal, and its riches are—virtue, holiness, humility, gentleness, temperance in all things, faith, hope, and love.”
(St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ') [Virtue; Sanctification]
"No matter how insignificant it may seem to you, do everything well, as in the presence of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything."
(St. Nikon of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Work; Witness]
"Could the leaves exist without the tree, and could the tree itself exist without earth, air, water, and warmth? Likewise no soul can exist without God, without His Son, without His Spirit. God is my being, my breath, my light, my strength, my drink, my food. He carries me as a mother carries her infant in her arms. More than this. Carrying me, my soul and body, He dwells in me, and is united to me."
St. John of Kronstadt in 'My Life in Christ'
" Do not separate yourselves from Christ and from the Church. Do you hear the priest ringing the bells? Rise at once, wash yourselves, and go to church. Attend the Orthros (Matins) attentively and likewise the Divine Liturgy. We should not work or do business on Sunday. The profit that you gain on Sunday is curse... Keep Sunday as a day dedicated to God."
(St. Cosmas Of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Sabbath; Rest; Worship]
"I do not see my sin because I still labor for sin. Whoever delights in sin and allows himself to taste of it, even if only in his thoughts and sympathy of heart, cannot see his own sin. He can only see his own sin who renounces all friendship with sin; who has gone out to the gates of his house to guard them with bared sword—the word of God; who with this sword deflects and cuts off sin, in whatever form it might approach. God will grant a great gift to those who perform this great task of establishing enmity with sin; who violently tear mind, heart, and body away from it. This gift is the vision of one’s own sins."
(St Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian theologian) [Discernment; Humility' Meekness]
"I want you to hunger and thirst for your salvation. I want you to thirst for righteousness, to be pleased with sorrows, to rejoice with punishments and sufferings. When did we, my sisters, suffer? Where are the sharp nails that pierced us? Where is the spear? Where is the crown of thorns? When did they flagellate us or spit on us or did anything to us that they did to Christ? For this reason, because we have learned nothing from all these things, we must with all of our strength try to emulate our Teacher, because if we are not like Him, we also will not sit at the right hand of God, as He sat."
(Saint Anthimos of Chios, 20th Century staretz) [Salvation; Sorrows; Persecution]
"For this would be the greatest miracle, that without any miracles the whole world should have eagerly come to be taken in the nets of twelve poor and illiterate men. For not by wealth of money, not by wisdom of words, not by anything else of this kind did the fishermen prevail. So that objectors must even against their will acknowledge that there was in these men a divine power, for no human strength could ever possibly effect such great results."
(St. John Chrysostom writing on the Apostles) [Evangelism; Faith; Witness]
"...Communion does not distinguish at all between a priest and a lay person; for you, priest, are a servant of the Mystery and do not have a license to frequently commune while a lay person does not. Concerning this I have many proofs from the saints, that it has been agreed that the Communion of the Immaculate Mysteries should be received frequently by all, without distinction, whether they be hierarchs, priests or individuals, both men and women, except those who have been married three times..."
(St. Pachomios of Chios, 20th Century Elder) [Frequent communion; Grace]
"I do not see my sin because I still labor for sin. Whoever delights in sin and allows himself to taste of it, even if only in his thoughts and sympathy of heart, cannot see his own sin. He can only see his own sin who renounces all friendship with sin; who has gone out to the gates of his house to guard them with bared sword—the word of God; who with this sword deflects and cuts off sin, in whatever form it might approach. God will grant a great gift to those who perform this great task of establishing enmity with sin; who violently tear mind, heart, and body away from it. This gift is the vision of one’s own sins."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russia staretz) [Repentance; Love of the World]
"Following Jesus Christ means accepting with faith and submitting to all that Christ taught without question and with simplicity of heart. He who accepts Jesus Christ's words becomes His disciple, but he who fulfills His commandments with complete devotion becomes His true and devoted follower." (St. Innocent of Alaska in 'Indication of the Way') [Holy Life; Sanctification; Obedience]
"It is necessary to acquire obedience, humility, and love, or else all of our great ascetic feats and vigils will prove to be in vain. A certain Elder saw this vision: A person was pouring water into a basin with a perforated bottom. The man went to great efforts, but the water continuously ran out, and the basin remained empty. In a like manner, we live ascetically, but neglecting a certain virtue, the soul remains empty."
(St. Silouan the Athonite, 20th Century startetz) [Repentance; Sanctification]
“Faith does not only consist of believing that God exists, but also believing in His all-wise Providence, directing His creatures and arranging everything to the good: the times and the seasons are put in His own power (cf. Acts 1:7), and He determined the bounds of each of our lives before we came into existence. And we believe that without His will not a bird will fall, nor a hair of our head will perish (cf. Luke 12:6, 21:18).”
(Elder Macarius of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Divine Providence; Omnipotence]
"...even though they [priests and Pharisees] plotted and employed these measures, they involuntarily became witnesses of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. They verified that He died when they confessed: “we remember what that deceiver said while He was still alive.” They confirmed His burial when they requested that “the tomb be made secure.” By asserting that He could not possibly be stolen if He was guarded, they themselves inadvertently admit that Christ rose from the dead."
(St. Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Truth; Miracles]
“Do not restrict the benefit of fasting to abstinence from food alone. True fasting is abstinence from evil. Let go of every unjust tie. Do not sadden your brother. Forgive others their debts. Do not argue and fight when you fast. You do not eat meat, but you bite your brother. You stay away from wine, but you do not refrain from cursing others...Fasting is speaking in moderation; refraining from anger; separation from [evil] desires, criticism, lies, and oaths. Deprivation of these things is true fasting. ”
(St. Basil the Great, 5th Century Church Father) [Fasting; Temperance; Virtue]
"He who does not know himself continually sins against God and continually moves farther away from Him. He who does not know the nature of things and what they truly are in themselves is powerless to evaluate them according to their worth and to discriminate between the mean and the precious, the worthless and the valuable. Wherefore, such a person wears himself out in the pursuit of vain and trivial things, and is unconcerned about and indifferent to the things that are eternal and most precious."
(St Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century hierarch) [Wisdom]
"Sin entangles a soul by its many nets, or hides itself from the soul by its many coverings; because sin is ugly in and of itself, and one glance finds it repulsive. The covering that is deepest and closest to the heart is comprised of self-deception, insensitivity and carelessness... It prevents the person from seeing the danger of his condition and undercuts his desire to change."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russia staretz) [Sin; Temptation; Love of the World]
"Often unexpected misfortune befalls us, and in vain we ask “why?” The Church of Christ alone knows how to explain the cause of every misfortune. The Church basically classifies misfortunes into two groups. Some misfortunes befall the sinner because of old, unrepented sins. Other misfortunes assault the righteous and serve, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom, “as a means of receiving a wreath, as was the case with Lazarus and Job.”
(Saint Nikolai Velimirovich from the Prologue)
"Are you a sinner? Do not despair. Come to church with repentance. Have you sinned? Say to God: “I have sinned.” You find it so difficult to confess your sin? But if you do not accuse yourself first, the devil will eventually accuse you.... Waiting for us are the Kingdom of Heaven, Paradise, and goods that no human eye has seen, that no human ear has heard, and which no human mind can conceive. Shouldn’t we do whatever we can in order not to lose these things?"
(St. John Chrysostom, 5th Century theologian and hierarch) [Confession; Repentance]
"For the Holy Ghost taught the Holy Fathers, like simple-hearted and gentle children, how to pray; to thank and praise God by means of those prayers which the Church puts into our mouths. Remember that all of us are the children of the Heavenly Father, and in the simplicity of your soul look upon all as upon the children of the Eternal Father, holy, most good, omnipresent, omniscient, Almighty, most wise, righteous, unchangeable, providing for all and protecting all under the wings of His goodness; and live in love with all, conquering every evil in men by good."
(St. John of Kronstadt from 'My Life in Christ')
Updated 08/23/14
“We should not be proud of our health, or beauty, or any other of God’s gifts… Everything earthly is liable to change: both beauty and health. We should thank the Lord, thank Him with humility, acknowledging our unworthiness, and not get conceited about something.”
(St. Nikon of Optina, 19th Century staretz) [Pride; Humility]
“God’s mercy is hidden in sorrows! If sorrows surround you—rejoice, for then you are walking by the true way. And whoever does not run from sorrows and bears them as they are able will receive the Eternal Kingdom. If there are, perhaps, few sorrows—then there will also be few gains and little training..."
(St. Anatoly Zertsalov, 19th Century Elder at Optina) [Trials; Perseverance]
"Beloved Christians! Let us inscribe eternity in our memory, and without fail, ceaselessly, in true repentance, contrition of heart, and prayer, let us not be enticed by any vanity of this world, and let us shun every sin as a venomous serpent. All that seems beautiful, pleasant, and dear to the sons of this age is loathsome to us. Let us truly be content with a morsel of bread and a little shack and ragged clothing. Remembrance and consideration of eternity will work this contentment in us."
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th Century Russian saint and author) [Simplicity; Peace]
"Christian religion is not a certain philosophic system, about which learned men, trained in metaphysical studies, argue and then either espouse or reject, according to the opinion each one has formed. It is faith, established in the souls of men, which ought to be spread to the many and be maintained in their consciousness."
(St. Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek hierarch) [Revelation; Faith]
"Brethren! what is the purpose of our earthly life? It is, that, after our trial by earthly affliction and misfortunes, and after our gradual advancement in virtue, by means of the divine gifts, given to us in the sacraments, we may rest, after our death, in the Lord, the peace of our souls. That is why we sing of the dead: "Grant rest, O Lord, to the soul of Thy departed servant." We wish him to rest in peace, as the limit of all wishes, and pray to God for this. Is it not, then, unwise to grieve much for the departed. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," says the Lord. Thus our departed ones, who have fallen asleep in a Christian death, come to this voice of God and obtain rest. What is there, then, to grieve for?"
St. John of Kronstadt
"The Christian faith is based on God's word: there is only one God who opens to men the way to true bliss. And the Savior saith that He is the door to the Father, that He is the way, the truth and the life ... there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ crucified. And without faith in His Name as the true God, who appeared in the flesh, no one can be cleansed from sin, enlightened and enter the kingdom of heaven ... "
(St Macarius Altai, 19th Century Russian evangelist) [Salvation; True Church]
"When he was asked one day, in what does a perishing sinner differ from a righteous man who is saving his soul, a saint, St. Seraphim answered: Only in his resolve… Our salvation is in our will, in our firmness, in the steadfastness of our resolve to be godly to the end. The Lord does not give His Spirit by measure, nor does He give His grace by measure; He gives everything, and He gives Himself. But we receive grace and make use of God’s gifts to the measure of our readiness to receive what He gives—and that means what He gives, and not what we want—and bring forth the fruit that He expects from us."
(Met. Anthony of Sourozh on St. Seraphim of Sarov) [Faith; Will; Salvation]
"The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the depths of the heart, will subdue the serpent holding sway over the pastures of the heart, and will save our soul and bring it to life. Thus, abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. But this work is not done in one or two days; it needs many years and a long time. For great and prolonged labor is needed to cast out the foe so that Christ dwells in us."
(St John Chrysostom , 5th Century saint and theologian) [Jesus Prayer; Sanctification]
“No, I am not alone. God is there as He is everywhere. Holy angels are there. Then how can I feel dull? With whom is it better and pleasanter to converse, with men or with angels?”
(St. Herman, 19th Century evangelizer of Alaska; on life as a hermit)
"O, how carefully do the Devil and the world sow their tares in Christ's cornfield, which is the Church of God. Instead of the Word of God, the word of the world, the word of vanity, is sown. Instead of the temple of God, the world has invented Its own temples—the temples of the world's vanities—theatres, circuses, assemblies. Instead of holy icons, which worldly people do not accept, in the world there are painted and photographic portraits, illustrations, and various other pictures. Instead of God and the Saints, the world honours unto adoration its own celebrities—writers, actors, singers, painters, who command general confidence and respect up to reverence. Poor Christians! they have completely fallen away from Christ! Instead of spiritual raiment, eveiy attention is paid in the world to perishable clothing, to fashionable dresses, and various exquisite ornaments, both splendid and costly."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Love of the World; Materialism; Humanism]
“Virtue is sown in our nature by God who is the beginning of every good thing. Therefore, if we in what is according to our nature, we will be in virtue and if we deviate from what is according to our nature– that is, from virtue– we are reduced to what is contrary to our nature and come to be in vice.”
(St.John of Damascus, 8th Century Church Father) [Image of God; Sin]
"Reflect then how great an evil it is for us, who ought to live so purely as not even to need written words, but to yield up our hearts, as books, to the Spirit; now that we have lost that honor, and are come to have need of these, to fail again in duly employing even this second remedy. For if it be a blame to stand in need of written words, and not to have brought down on ourselves the grace of the Spirit; consider how heavy the charge of not choosing to profit even after this assistance, but rather treating what is written with neglect, as if it were cast forth without purpose, and at random, and so bringing down upon ourselves our punishment with increase."
(St. John Chrysostom, 5th Century Church Father) [Bible; Distraction]
"Blessed are you, my brothers; truly I envy you. The first speaks of the river of fire, the second of hell and the third of darkness. Now if your spirit is filled with such remembrances, it is impossible for you to sin. What shall I do, then? I who am hard of heart and to whom it has not been granted so much as to know whether there is a punishment for men; no doubt it is because of this that I am sinning all the time...For my part, I do not keep in mind the remembrance of any of these things, for God is compassionate and I hope that he will show me his mercy."
(St. Sisoes of Egypt, 5th Century staretz) [Judgement; Eternal Life; Repentance]
"Whoever wishes to be saved must turn to the Lord with a pure heart, and must cleanse oneself with repentance and tears, and in such a manner unite with Christ, the True Vine. For without Christ there is no salvation. Christ is Life and Light. He who has departed from Life and Light must then be in death and darkness. Consider this, O Christian, and with tears and repentance wash away your sins, that you may once again be united with Christ - your very life."
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, 19th Century Russian hierarch) [Repentance; Salvation]
"Through their prayers and almsgiving for the deceased, Christians show forth the relationship between this world and the world to come. The Church in this world and the Church in the other world are one and the same— one body, one being— as the root of a tree beneath the earth comprises one organism with the trunk and the branches of the tree above the earth. It is clear from this how we, who comprise the Church on earth, can receive help from the saints and the righteous ones in the Heavenly Church, just as the deceased sinners in the other world can receive help from us on earth."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 'The Prologue') [Prayer for the Departed; Intercession]
"We need to thank God always for all that he gave, and if they took it, then maybe, if all things are accepted without murmurings, it will be even brighter. You always have to hope the Lord is so great, and you just have to pray, ask Him tirelessly to save dear homeland...we must understand that God is above all and that He wants through our suffering to bring us to Himself. Love Him more and stronger than everyone and everything"
(St. Alexandra, 20th Century convert, martyr and wife of Tsar Nicholas II) [Faith; Prayer; Hope]
"Since the nature of friendship with God is such that if anyone loves this world he is an enemy of God, it follows that if someone wants to be a friend of God and dwell in God’s love, he must turn away from love of the world and the things which are in the world."
(Didymus the Blind, 4th Century Bible commentator) [Love of the World]
"This thought directly contradicts the widespread belief that so-called “good deeds” are always good and aid us in our salvation, regardless of what motivates a person to do them. In reality, righteousness and virtue of the old and new man are not mutually supplementary, but rather mutually exclusive. The reason for this is sufficiently obvious. Good works are not an end, but a means for fulfilling the supreme commandment of love. But they can also be done calculatingly, hypocritically, and out of ambition and pride. (When a person sees the needy but instead gilds domes on churches, or builds a church where there no real need of one, it is clear that he is not serving God, but his own vanity.) Deeds that are not done for the fulfillment of the commandments blind a person by their significance, puff him up, make him great in his own eyes, exalt his ego, and thereby separate him from Christ. But the fulfillment of the commandments of love for neighbor reveals a person’s passions to himself, such as: man-pleasing, self-opinion, hypocrisy, and so on. It reveals to him that he cannot do any good deed without sin. This humbles a person and leads him to Christ. Saint John the Prophet said, “True labor cannot be without humility, for labor in and of itself is vain and accounted as nothing.”
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian theologian) [Good Works; Salvation]
"...lifelong crosses are not the lot of Christians alone. Everyone carries their own cross, both Christians and non-Christians, believers and pagans. The difference is that for some, their crosses serve as a means of attaining the Kingdom of Heaven, while for the others they bring no such value. For the Christian, the cross gradually becomes lighter and more joyful, while for the nonbeliever it becomes heavier and more burdensome. Why is this so? Because where the one carries their cross with faith and devotion to God, the other carries it with grumbling and anger."
(St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century primate and evangelist) [Trials; Sacrifice; Illness] "My life is vanishing like a dream on waking. Therefore, like Hezekiah, I cry upon my bed, asking that years may be added to my life. But what Isaiah will help me, except the God of all? I fall down before You, O Lord, offering my words as if they were tears, for no less than the prostitute have I sinned; I have transgressed as no one else on earth. But take pity on Your creature and restore to me Your mercy. I have distorted Your image, O Saviour, and broken Your commands. The beauty of my soul has been spoiled and its light extinguished by my sins. But have pity on me and in David's words, "Give me again the joy that comes from Your salvation". Return! Repent! "
(St. Andrew of Crete, 7th Century Primate and author of 'The Great Canon') [Repentance; Sin]
"'They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.' When a man prays outwardly aloud, then he cannot always follow all the movements of his heart, which are so rapid that he is necessarily obliged to pay attention to the pronunciation of the words, and to their outward form. Thus the prayers of many of the clergy [or laity] who read rapidly become quite untrue: with their lips they seem to pray; in appearance they are pious, but their hearts are asleep, and do not know what their lips say. This proceeds from the fact that they hurry, and do not meditate in their hearts upon what they are saying. "
(St. John of Kronstadt) [Prayer; Attention]
"The Christians are distinguished from other men, neither by country nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor do they employ a particular form of speech, nor yet lead a way of life marked out by any singular worldly attribute...Every foreign land is to them as their native country and every land of their birth a land of strangers. They are in the flesh but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men though they are persecuted by all..."
(Epistle to Diognetus, 5th Century document) [Humility; Witness]
-And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believed not shall be damned...Matthew 16:15-
"A band of twelve men went forth from Jerusalem, and they were common men, not trained in speaking, but by the power of God they testified to every race of mankind."
(Justin Martyr, 2nd Century Christian apologist) [Witness; Evangelism]
"Sanctifying the Lord in one’s heart is the soul and spirit of the hidden man of the heart...As in the beginning, God created the body of man out of particles of dust, breathed into him the breath of life (cf. Gen. 2:7), and man became as he ought to be, so the hidden man of the heart, created on the inside from the indicated virtues, is only a real spiritual man when his heart sanctifies the Lord God. Thus, we read in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” If this does not occur, then the man, who was modeled from the aforementioned virtues, will end up a stillborn child, without the spirit of life."
(St. Theophane the Recluse, 'Thoughts for Each Day') [Love of God]
"After the long feast of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary to purify our thoughts and render us worthy to receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit ... Therefore, the salutary custom was established of fasting after the joyful days during which we celebrated the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, and the coming of the Holy Spirit." (St. Leo the Great, 5th Century Church Father on the Apostles Fast) [Tradition; Fasting]
"Man builds himself a house, and lives in it; the animal a lair, and lives in it; the bird a nest, and hatches its young ones; the bee a hive with honeycomb, and lives in it, preparing honey for itself; the spider weaves a web, and, living in it, catches food for itself by means of it. Was it not, therefore, fitting that the Creator should build Himself a house not made with hands— His Body—as He built it in the womb of the Virgin Mother, as He even now creates temples for His Body in the life-giving mysteries—the Creator, Who has built and continues to build bodily houses for all sentient or sentiently-spiritual creatures?"
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Image of God]
"Sin takes possession of a person and entices his attention, all his longing and all his strength. Acting under the influence of sin, the person permeates himself with it, and all parts of his existence, all his powers become accustomed to acting according to its suggestion...And, having overwhelmed the natural functioning of our own powers, it has counterfeited for them its own unnatural functioning, meanwhile fixing us in the belief that it is natural."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Sin; Love of the World]
Updated 06/15/14
"God created woman equal with man, not inferior. My Christian, you must love your wife as your companion, not consider her as your slave, for she is a creature of God, just as you are. God was crucified for her as much as for you. You call God Father, she calls Him Father, too. Both of you have the same Faith, the same Baptism, the same Book of the Gospels, the same Holy Communion, the same Paradise to enjoy. God does not regard her as inferior to you. "
(Saint Cosmas Of Aitolos, 19th Century Greek Evangelist) [Family; Marriage]
"Whenever we enter the church and draw near to the heavenly mysteries, we ought to approach with all humility and fear, both because of the presence of the angelic powers and because of the reverence due to the sacred offering; for as the angels are said to have stood by the Lord’s body when it lay in the tomb, so we must believe that they are present in the celebration of the mysteries of His most sacred body at the time of consecration."
(St. Bede, 8th Century English monk and writer) [Eucharist; Reverence]
"Christ came to correct man and, therefore, man’s logic. He is our Logos and our Logic. That is why we must direct our reason toward Him and not Him toward our reason. He is the One Who corrects our reason. The sun is not regulated according to our clock, but our clock is regulated according to the sun."
(St.Nikolai Velimirovich, 'The Prologue') [Omnipotence; Will of God]
"The Galilean Peter or Andrew spoke Persian or Median. John and the other apostles spoke all the tongues of various nations, for the thronging of multitudes of strangers from all parts is not something new in Jerusalem, but this was true in apostolic times. What teacher can be found so proficient as to teach people in a moment what they have not learned? So many years are required through grammar and other arts merely to speak Greek well; and all do not speak it equally well. The rhetorician may succeed in speaking it well, the grammarian sometimes less well; and one who is skilled in grammar is ignorant of philosophical studies. But the Spirit taught them at once many languages, which they do not know in a whole lifetime. This is truly lofty wisdom. This is divine power. What a contrast between their long ignorance in the past and this sudden, comprehensive, varied and unaccustomed use of languages. The multitude of those listening was confounded; it was a second confusion, in contrast to the first evil confusion at Babylon. In that former confusion of tongues there was a division of purpose, for the intention was impious. Here there was a restoration and union of minds, since the object of their zeal was righteous. Through what occasioned the fall came the recovery."
(St. Cyril of Jerusalem; 4th Century Church Father, on Pentecost) [Tongues; Gifts of the Spirit; Evangelism]
"If you want cure your soul, you need four things. The first is to forgive your enemies. The second is to confess thoroughly. The third is to blame yourself. The fourth is to resolve to sin no more. If we wish to be saved, we must always blame ourselves and not attribute our wrong acts to others. And God, Who is most compassionate, will forgive us...There is no better teacher than death. Have death before your minds: the time when you will leave this unreal world and will go to the other one, which is eternal."
(Saint Cosmas of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangeilst) [Death; Salvation; Confession]
"Some who bore Christ ill-will called Him a sinner and lawbreaker; others called Him a carpenter's son and a shallow person; still others said He was a friend of drunkards and sinners. On several occasions Christ's enemies attempted to stone Him or toss Him from a mountaintop. Jewish scribes called His divine teachings deceitful; and when He healed the sick, raised the dead, or exorcised demons, they explained away these miracles as the deeds of an evil spirit. Some even openly called Him possessed. The Lord Jesus, being Almighty God, could have destroyed them all with one word. Instead, He pitied them as spiritually blind and prayed for their welfare and for their salvation."
(St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century evangelizer of America, 'Indication') [Forgiveness; Love]
"This is certainly the Will of the Supreme God, who is the Author of this world and its Father,
(through whose goodness we enjoy life, look up to heaven, and rejoice in the society of our fellow-men), that the whole human race should agree together and be joined in a certain affectionate union by, as it were, a mutual embrace... Let us...my Brothers, follow after the things that are ours, let us walk in the way of the Commandments, let us by good actions keep the Divine Precepts, let us free our life from errors and with the help of the mercy of God, let us direct it along the right path."
(St. Constantine, 4th Century Emperor of Rome and convert) [Commandments; Unity]
"Every Christian can engage in inner prayer. But this prayer is mostly practiced by Orthodox monastics who cry out in their heart, 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner' . These few words are the ones that apostle Paul writes about. With that simple but perfect prayer, one can fulfill the commandment – pray without ceasing. How blessed the fruits of this prayer are can be best known by those who practice it, then by those who have company with monks and nuns who practice it, [and then by those who have read the… [lives]
of countless other holy fathers and mothers throughout the history of our church."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century theologian, Missionary Letters #3) [Jesus Prayer; Devotions; Prayer]
"...they do not know, or do not wish to know, that a man most frequently falls away from God through intemperance, as was the case with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with Noah's contemporaries—for intemperance is the cause of every sin in men ; those who reject fasting take away from themselves and from others the arms against their flesh, with its manifold passions, and against the Devil, both of which are especially powerful against us through our intemperance; therefore they are not soldiers of Christ, for they throw down their arms and give themselves up willingly as prisoners to their sensual and sin-loving flesh ; lastly, they are blind and do not see the connection between the causes and the consequences of acts."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Fasting; Temperance]
"Fortunate is the man who has these two loves in his heart, that for God and that for his brethren. He surely has God; and whoever has God has every blessing and does not bear to commit sin. Again, wretched is the man who does not have these two loves. Surely he has the devil and evil, and always sins. God, my brethren, asks us to have these two loves. As He Himself says in His Holy Gospel: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets." Through these two loves all the Saints of our Church, men and women, attained sainthood and won Paradise. Whoever has blessed love, firstly for God and secondly for his fellow Christian, becomes worthy of receiving the Holy Trinity in his heart."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Love; Love of Neighbor]
" only Christians can know what the meaning of life is. Period. And the purpose is – the kingdom of heaven. The first words of Christ or the proclamation of this purpose, quote repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." His last words were, quote go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature". Are his stories not all about the kingdom of heaven? Is his ascension into the world and his revelation from it not only a testimony of the kingdom of heaven? One could freely say that the entire gospel of Christ from the beginning to the end speaks and testifies of the kingdom of heaven as the purpose of human life."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, Missionary Letters #3) [Purpose of Life; Will of God]
http://www.popphoto.com/files/imagecache/beg_olgallery_full/YBSApril2014/craig_bill_eventh.jpg "How did the Lord Christ conquer this world? How did Christianity conquer this world? You know that in the beginning of Christianity the great and powerful Roman Empire persecuted Christians everywhere for 330 years. They did not defend themselves with guns and airplanes. No! They defended themselves through prayer and God’s help. And for 330 years they turned wolves into sheep. Recall the Savior’s words to His disciples: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves"
(Matthew 10:16). A great miracle took place, brethren: the wolves were turned into sheep, and the wolves did not devour the sheep, did not tear up and destroy them."
(St. Justin Popovich, 20th Century Serbian theologian) [Omnipotence; Persecution; Obedience]
"Those who begin in the middle are the novices who have read the instructions … given by the hesychastic fathers … and accept this instruction as a guide in their activity, without thinking it through. They begin in the middle who, without any sort of preparation, try to force their minds into the temple of the heart and send up prayers from there...One should begin at the beginning; that is, pray with attention and reverence, with the purpose of repentance, taking care only that these three qualities be continually present with the prayer.… In particular, most scrupulous care should be taken to establish morals in accordance with the teachings of the Gospels.…"
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian hierarch and theologian, on the Jesus Prayer) [Jesus Prayer; Prayer of the Heart; Theoria]
"I lived through very difficult days. But regardless of the difficult situation and privations, I did not rescind from my temporary thorny road. The Lord gave me strength to overcome the difficulties of being scorned and disdained as a slave of my past connections. All this trouble with its many uncalled for offenses against me, I was able with the help of God to overcome."
(St. Alexis Toth, 20th Century American evangelist, on his trials in the 1890's after converting) [Persecution; Trials; Patience]
"The studying of the faith should conform to your aptitudes and knowledge. For instance, for the serious student, in addition to studying the Scriptures, it is also useful to become familiar with the works of the Church Fathers and with the historical and theological books written by other Orthodox authors. These books will help you to comprehend your faith more deeply, which in turn will give you an opportunity to strengthen others in the Orthodox faith, to whom these books are unavailable."
(St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century evangelist and hierarch, exc. 'Indication into the Way') [Bible; Study; Knowledge; Tradition]
"Where you despair, there God helps. Difficulties, temptations and despair...know my child that when the evil one cannot defeat us internally, then he makes these external attacks with various events, allowed by God, in order to frighten us. Despair does not exist in the Church, no matter what you have done, no matter what you have suffered...You may have sadness, but not despair. God, through confession, helps you to overcome those things that can lead you to the utmost limits of despair. There is a God. When you are in despair, He will send you something you don't expect. It is enough that you believe in Him and love Him."
(St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, 20th Century Greek staretz) [Hope; Faith; Trials]
"For the soul of the pious, God-fearing man there is an invisible spiritual intercourse with God. Like a father or a stern teacher, the Lord at one time approves, at another condemns our thoughts, desires and intentions; at one time He says that this is good, and that bad. He rewards us for the good and punishes us for the evil; and all this is at once evident to the soul. Begin to fulfill the commandments relating to small things, and you will come to fulfill the commandments relating to great things: small things everywhere lead to great ones."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Obedience; Prayer]
"Concerning honoring and invoking the saints in prayer...What is it founded upon? They are in God; they are rich in spiritual gifts; they are in the land of the living, and in the land of abundance; whilst we are in the land of death and of spiritual hunger. God has taken them unto Himself to preserve our life. " God did send me before you to preserve life," said Joseph to his brethren. Abraham - Noah: the rich man in hell begged Abraham to send Lazarus. Noah, the deliverer from the deluge. " Blessed is he whose race is in Sion, and who hath kinsmen in Jerusalem."
(St. John of Kronstadt, from 'My Life in Christ') [Saints; Prayer]
Updated 04/09/14
"The general gifts consist of four elements and all which result from them, as all the wonderful and awesome works of God outlined in Holy Scripture. The particular gifts are those gifts which God bestows upon every man individually whether it be riches for the sake of charity or poverty for the sake of patience with humility; whether it be authority for the sake of justice and the strengthening of virtues or subjugation and slavery for the sake of the expeditious salvation of the soul; be it health for the sake of helping the infirm or illness for the sake of the wreath of patience; be it understanding and skill in gain for the sake of virtue or weakness and lack of skill for the sake of submissive humility. All of this, even though it appears contrary to one another, nevertheless, it is by its purpose very good."
(St. Peter Damascene, 6th Century hieromonk) [Providence; Peace; Humility]
"Be true to God always and in everything. If you say the prayer "Our Father . . ." pronounce each word sincerely, with reverence, fixing your mind and heart upon God alone, not paying attention to anything or anybody around you. If you say any other prayer, say it also with all your soul, not with your heart divided, not paying undue attention to anything or anybody. The enemy of our salvation especially strives to draw our heart and mind away from God when we are about to serve Him, and endeavors to adulterously attach our heart to something irrelevant. Be always, every moment, with God, especially when you pray to Him. At this time be especially true and constant to Him. If you are inconstant, you will fall away from life, and will cast yourself into sorrow and straightness."
(St. John of Kronstadt) "'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God'
(Psalm 14:1). . Even if someone merely thinks, “There is no God,” the thought immediately manifests itself in his deeds. Evil thoughts come first and evil deeds inevitably follow...The godless cannot distinguish good from evil, for only in the light of God’s law can one determine precisely what is good and what is evil."
(St Nikolai Velimirovic, 20th Century hierarch and theologian, 'The Prologue') [Atheism; Blindness; Evil]
“...prayer is the sign of the great dignity with which the Creator has honored me. But at the same time it reminds me of my nothingness
(I am of nothing, and have nothing of my own; therefore, I ask God for everything) and of my most high dignity
(I am an image of God; I am made godly; I may be called the friend of God, like Abraham, the father of believers, if only I believe undoubtingly in the existence, mercy, and omnipotence of my God, and strive to become like unto Him during this life by works of love and mercy).”
(St. John of Kronstadt from 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Faith]
“The Christian is one who imitates Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as is possible for human beings, believing rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity. In all your undertakings and in every way of life, whether you are living in obedience, or are not submitting your work to anyone, whether in outward or in spiritual matters, let it be your rule and practice to ask yourself: Am I really doing this in accordance with God’s will?”
(St. John Climacus, 7th Century hermit and staretz) [Will of God; Faith;]
"I ask you to believe me that I will not come to agreement or make concessions which could lead to the loss of the purity and strength of Orthodoxy. Devote all your energy to preaching the word of God and the truth of Christ, especially today, when unbelief and atheism are audaciously attacking the Church of Christ. May the God of peace and love be with all of you!"
(St.Tikhon of Moscow, 20th Century Patriarch of Russia, comments regarding Bolshevik pressure on the Church) [Courage; Witness]
"Believe me, I have not seen a human face ever since I crossed the Jordan, except yours today. I have not seen a beast or a living being ever since I came into the desert. I never learned from books. I have never even heard anyone who sang and read from them. But the word of God which is alive and active, by itself teaches a man knowledge. And so this is the end of my tale. But, as I asked you in the beginning, so even now I implore you for the sake of the Incarnate word of God, to pray to the Lord for me who am such a sinner."
(St. Mary of Egypt, 6th Century penitent, from her 'Life') [Repentance; Providence]
"But when it is difficult for our corrupt nature to acknowledge the Will of God over us, that Will of God without which nothing happens, and to humbly submit to it, then is the very time for us to humbly submit to this Will, and to offer to the Lord our most precious sacrifice— that is, heartfelt devotion to Him, not only in the time of ease and happiness, but also in suffering and misfortune ; it is then that we must submit our vain erring wisdom to the perfect Wisdom of God, for our thoughts are as far from the thoughts of God "as the heavens are higher than the earth." Let every man bring in sacrifice to God his Isaac, his only begotten, his beloved, his promised one
(to whom peace and blessedness, not sufferings, are promised), and let him show God his faith and his obedience, so as to be worthy of God's gifts, which he already enjoys, or which he expects to enjoy."
(St. John of Kronstadt) "We who are pious Christians must henceforth not weep for the dead like the impious and the unbelievers, who do not hope in the resurrection. This world, my brethren, is like a prison. When must man rejoice? When he enters the prison or when he is being liberated from the prison? It seems to me, when enters the prison he must weep and be sad, and when he comes out of the prison he must rejoice. Therefore, my brethren, do not grieve for the dead, but if you love them do what you can for their souls; offer liturgies, memorial services, fasts, prayers, alms."
(St. Cosmas of Aitolos, 18th Century Greek evangelist) [Death; Prayer for the Departed; Salvation]
"Think for a moment, and ask yourself if the business of the world could be carried on with-out the figure of the cross. The sea cannot be crossed unless this sign of victory — the mast — re-mains unharmed. Without it there is no ploughing: neither diggers nor mechanics can do their work without tools of this shape. The human figure is distinguished from that of brute beasts solely by having an upright posture and the ability to extend the arms; and also by the nose through which the creature gets his breath, which is set at right angles to the brow, and displays just the shape of the cross. It was said through the prophet, ‘The breath before our face is the Lord Christ.’ And the standards in use among you display the power of this figure
(I mean the legionary ensigns and trophy-poles which accompany your processions everywhere as symbols of power and dominion), though you are unconscious of the fact: and you set up the images of deceased emperors on such a figure,4 and call them ‘gods’ in the inscriptions."
(Justin Martyr, 2nd Century Church Father) [Cross; Symbols]
"But since God remained silent and did not foretell to her anything that was going to happen, He clearly showed that He did not know anything more beautiful or greater than that which He perceived in the Virgin; from this fact it is evident that He did not choose for His Mother the best of all those in existence, but her who was absolutely the best; nor did He choose her who was more suitable for Him than anyone else in the human race, but her who so totally suited Him, that it was fitting that she become His Mother. Indeed, it was absolutely necessary for human nature at some time to make itself fit for the task for which it was created at the beginning, that is, to bring forth someone capable of worthily serving the purpose of the Creator."
(St. Nicholas Cabasilas, 14th Century Greek commentator, homily on the Annunciation) [Theotokos; Will of God; Sanctification]
"During the time of St. Constantine’s son, Emperor Constantius, and Patriarch Cyril of Jerusalem, the Honorable Cross appeared about 9: 00 a.m.
(May 7, Pentecost), stretching from Golgotha to above the Mount of Olives. This Cross was brighter than the sun and more beautiful than the most beautiful rainbow . All the people, both believing and unbelieving, left their work and observed this heavenly sign in fear and amazement. Many unbelievers converted to the Christian Faith, and many Arian heretics abandoned their evil heresy and returned to Orthodoxy."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century hierarch, 'The Prologue') [Signs; Cross; Miracles; True Church]
"It is not food or good conditions in life that secure good health. It is a saintly life, the life of Christ. I know hermits who fasted with the greatest austerity and were never ill. You’re not in danger of coming to any harm by fasting...To do this, however, you need to have faith. Otherwise you will feel empty and nauseous and have a craving for food. Fasting is also a matter of faith...When you have love for things divine, you can fast with pleasure and everything is easy; otherwise everything would seem impossibly difficult."
(St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, 20th Century staretz) [Fasting; Sanctification]
"Prayer changes from entreaty to thanksgiving, and meditation on the divine truths of faith fills the heart with a sense of jubilation and unimpeachable hope. This hope is a foretaste of future blessings, of which the soul even now receives direct experience, and so it comes to know in part the surpassing richness of God’s bounty, in accordance with the Psalmist’s words, ‘Taste and know that the Lord is bountiful’
(Ps. 34:8). For He is the jubilation of the righteous, the joy of the upright, the gladness of the humble, and the solace of those who grieve because of Him.”
(St. Gregory Palamas, 14th Century theologian, Philokalia) [Prayer; Jesus Prayer; Theoria]
"The Lord wants unity of the Church. The dissenters, the schismatics, who find errors in the teaching of the Church, are removed from it and believe they will find salvation in their heretical organizations...You will say that there are many new heresies and schisms today. Yes, you are right. But we should know that the new heresies are not saying anything new but repeating what the old heretics have already said. All of these heresies were anathematized by the Seventh Ecumenical Council. So the decisions of seven Ecumenical Councils are enough for us..."
(St. Luke, 20th Century Archbishop of Crimea, homily on 1st Sunday of Lent) [Truth; True Church; Heresy]
"Pilate was a disciple of worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom does not offer strength but instills fear. Worldly wisdom sustains not the soul but the body. Worldly wisdom does not instill fear for the soul but fear for the body and all that is physical. Here, in Pilate, we see an obvious and pathetic example of what type of men worldly wisdom produces and educates— disregarding God and opposing Christ. Pilate’s weak character and wavering soul is a picture, not only of pagans, but also of weak Christians."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovic, 20h Century hierarch and theologian, 'The Prologue') [Love of the World; Fear of God]
"...the clock, a wonderful device, was not invented merely to tell us the time of day or night, but also to remind us of death— this is its spiritual significance. When the small hand completes its rounds of seconds and minutes, then the large hand arrives at the ordered hour, and the clock strikes. So will the clock of our lives strike, numbering the days, months and years of our lives."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovic, 20th Century Serbian hierarch, 'The Prologue') [Death; Eternity; Repentance]
"O Lord and Master of my life, a spirit of idleness, despondency, ambition, and idle talking give me not. But rather a spirit of chastity, humble-mindedness, patience, and love bestow upon me Thy servant. . Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my failings and not condemn my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.
(Ephrem the Syrian, 4th Century Church Father, Lenten Prayer) [Repentance; Lent]
"Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of greed. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful. Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip. Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism. For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?"
(St John Chrysostom) "Unfortunately, brethren, we do not like to acknowledge our transgressions. It would seem natural and easy for a person to know his own self, his own soul and his shortcomings. This, however, is actually not so. We are ready to attend to anything but a deeper understanding of ourselves, an investigation of our sins. We examine various things with curiosity, we attentively study friends and strangers, but when faced with solitude without extraneous preoccupation even for a short while, we immediately become bored and attempt to seek amusement. For example, do we spend much time examining our own conscience even before confession? Perhaps a few minutes, and once a year at that. Casting a cursory glance at our soul, correcting some of its more glaring faults, we immediately cover it over with the veil of oblivion until next year, until our next uncomfortable exercise in boredom. Yet we love to observe the sins of others."
(St. Tikhon of Moscow; 20th Century Russia patriarch, sermon) [Forgiveness; Repentance]
"Let us not forget the words of Scripture that say, 'God's power is made perfect in weakness!'
(2 Cor. 12:9). And let us not forget that whenever insurmountable hardships are overcome; whenever turmoil is replaced by tranquility; whenever persistent doubts are put to rest; whenever something comes to be out of nothing at all -- there we can clearly discern the indiscernible Right Hand of God, we witness firsthand the unmistakable Will of God!"
(St. Raphael of Brooklyn, 20th Century American hierarch) [Faith; Perseverance; Providence]
"What is holiness ? Freedom from every sin and the fulness of every virtue. This freedom from sin and this virtuous life are only attained by a few zealous persons, and that not suddenly, but gradually, by prolonged and manifold sorrows, sicknesses, and labors, by fasting, vigilance, prayer, and that not by their own strength, but by the grace of Christ. Only Our Lady, the Mother of God, was sanctified from Her early childhood, from Her mother's womb, and afterwards the Lord sanctified Her in the Holy of Holies with the most perfect sanctification through Her unceasing prayer, the reading of the Word of God and meditations upon it, through the teaching of the pure, heavenly and bodiless powers, and especially through Her own inward illumination. Holiness corresponds in nature to the light of the sun and to the whiteness of snow, whilst sin to darkness, want of light, and filth or rust."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian Staretz) [Sanctification; Detachment]
"Wonderful Solomon, who was full of the grace of wisdom, at one time did evil in God's sight and fell away from Him. And you, my soul, have resembled him by your accursed life. Carried away by the pleasure of his passions, he defiled himself. Alas, the lover of wisdom is a lover of loose women and estranged from God! And you, my soul, have in mind imitated him by your shameful pleasures."
(St. Andrew of Crete, 8th Century hierach, from The Great Canon) [Love of the World; Pleasure; Temptation]
"“Day by day, things on your job are becoming more complex and are making your situation more difficult. What can you do? Right now there is disorder throughout the entire world, due to intellectual rebelliousness inordinate egotism. Don’t even talk about enthusiastic people—we see that even among the most well-intentioned people it is rare to find two of like mind who get along with one another. Each one thinks in his own way, sees things in his own way, and persistently acts in his own way—when he can, openly, but more often through cunning, like a shrewd politician. In such circumstances, may one who does not yet have complete authority constantly bring to mind the advice given by the Lord Himself: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves…
(Mt. 10:16)."
(St Ambrose of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Society; Justice]
"Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland. According to the word of the Apostles, our homeland is in heaven; and about the warrior he says: "our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of wickedness under heaven"
(Ephesians 6:12)."
(St. Herman of Alaska, 19th Century Russian monk and evangelist in Alaska) [Temptation; Forgiveness]
"The Last Judgement knows of no witnesses or written protocols! Everything is inscribed in the souls of men and these records, these “books,” are opened at the Judgement. Everything becomes clear to all and to oneself...When “the books are opened,” it will become clear that the roots of all vices lie in the human soul. Here is a drunkard or a lecher: when the body has died, some may think that sin is dead too. No! There was an inclination to sin in the soul, and that sin was sweet to the soul, and if the soul has not repented and has not freed itself of the sin, it will come to the Last Judgement with the same desire for sin. It will never satisfy that desire and in that soul there will be the suffering of hatred. It will accuse everyone and everything in its tortured condition; it will hate everyone and everything. “There will be gnashing of teeth” of powerless malice and the unquenchable fire of hatred."
(St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian hierarch, homily) [Judgement; Sin; Hell]
"The beginning of conversion to Christ consists in coming to know one’s own sinfulness and fallenness. Through this view of himself, a person recognizes his need for a Redeemer, and approaches Christ through humility, faith, and repentance. He who does not recognize his sinfulness, fallenness, and peril cannot accept Christ or believe in Christ; he cannot be a Christian. Of what need is Christ to the person who himself is wise and virtuous, who is pleased with himself, and considers himself worthy of all earthly and heavenly rewards? Within these words the thought involuntarily draws attention to itself that the awareness of one’s own sinfulness and the repentance proceeding from it are the first conditions for receiving Christ—that is, the belief that Christ came, suffered, and was resurrected is the beginning of conversion to Christ, for the devils also believe, and tremble
(Jas 2:19), and from the knowledge of one’s sinfulness comes true faith in Him. "
(St. Ignatius Brianchoninov, 19th Century Russian hierarch and theologian) [Salvation; Humility; Repentance]
"St. Caesarius
(† 369), the brother of Gregory the Theologian, was also a theological writer. Among other things he attempted to answer the question: How long a time did Adam and Eve spend in Paradise before their expulsion? Some have determined the time to be six hours; others, twenty-four hours; and still others, three days. St. Caesarius was of the mind that the length of time was forty days. “Because,” he says, “our Lord fasted forty days in the wilderness and during that time He was tempted by the devil. Since the old Adam could not resist the temptation of the devil in the abundance of Paradise, the new Adam resisted the devil valiantly in the hungry and thirsty wilderness.”
(St. Nikolai Velimirovic, 20th Century theologian, from the Prologue) [Sin; Tradition]
Updated 02/08/14
"Light does not fail because men have blinded themselves; it remains, with its own properties, while the blinded are plunged in darkness through their own fault. The light does not force itself on any man against his will; nor does God constrain a man, if he refuses to accept God's working [i.e. by which God brings man to perfection]. Therefore all who revolt from the Father's light, and who transgress the law of liberty, have removed themselves through their own fault, since they were created free and self-deterrnining. God, with his perfect foreknowledge, has prepared for each class a fitting habitation; to those who seek the light of immortality and hasten towards it he graciously grants the light for which they long: for the others who spurn the light. . . and, as it were, blind themselves, he has prepared darkness. . . . Submission to God is eternal rest. . . those who flee from it have a habitation which their flight deserves. Now since all good things are with God, those who of their own decision flee from God defraud themselves of every good . . . and incur a just judgement." (St. Irenaeus, 3rd Century Church Father) [Apostacy; Faith]
"The superstitious fear where no fear should exist and are troubled where peace should be found. They always imagine that God is pursuing after them and seek salvation in necklaces, which they hang around their neck. They believe in delusions and accept as truth pure nonsense. Everywhere they see and discern the victory of dark powers and ascribe greater power to them than God." (St Nektarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek hierarch) [Faith; Deception]
"Encompass us beneath the precious veil of your protection; deliver us from every form of evil by entreating Christ, your Son and our God that He may save our souls." (Troparion of the Protection of the Theotokos excerpt) [Theotokos; Intercession]
"St. Clement of Rome tells us that Zacchaeus, as a result, became a companion of the holy Apostle Peter, and, together with the holy First¬-Among the Apostles, preached in Rome, where during Nero's reign he accepted a martyr's death for Christ. In a Christian manner, with the greatest good he repaid the Romans for the greatest evil perpetrated upon him by them. To the proud capital of the Romans that had once tempted and subjugated him, forcing him to deny all that was holy to his soul, he came, liberated and reborn by the grace of our Lord Who loveth mankind; and brought Rome not curses, but the good news, giving his very life for it." (St. John Maximovich, 20th Century hierarch and wonderworker, homily on Zaccheus) [Repentance; Conversion]
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." How are we to seek first the kingdom of God ? In the following manner: let us suppose that you wish to walk, or drive, or else go in a boat somewhere on any worldly, temporal business; before doing so, first pray to the Lord that He may correct the ways of your heart, and then also your present bodily way, or that He may direct the way of your life in accordance with His commandments; desire this with all your heart, and often renew your prayer concerning this. The Lord, seeing your sincere desire and endeavor to walk in accordance with His commandments, will, by degrees, correct all your ways. Further, for instance, if you wish to get pure air into your room, or if you go for a walk in the fresh air, think of the pure and of the unclean heart. Many of us like to have pure air in the rooms (and this is an excellent habit), or are fond of walking in the fresh air, but they do not even think of the necessity of the purity of the spirit or heart (of, so to say, spiritual air, the breath of life); and, living in the fresh air, they allow themselves to indulge in impure thoughts, impure movements of the heart, and even impurity of language, and most impure carnal actions. Again, when seeking material light, remember the spiritual light which is indispensable for the soul, and without which it remains in the darkness of the passions, in the darkness of spiritual death. "I am come a light into the world," says the Lord, "that whosoever believeth on Me, should not abide in darkness." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, My Life in Christ) [Sanctification]
"...it is the duty of all Christians, small and great, always to practice the mental prayer Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, so that their mind and heart may acquire the habit of always uttering those holy words. Let this convince you how pleasing this is to God and what great good derives from it, since He, out of His infinite love for men, sent a heavenly Angel to tell us this, so that no one should have any doubt about it. (St. Gregory Palamas, 14th Century hierarch and theologian) [Jesus Prayer; Intercession]
"And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Thus it is possible even for one who is on a lower level to shine. For what did this man have, I ask, that was less than the apostles? He did not lack for miracles, and great was the boldness he showed. “They saw,” it says, “that his face was like the face of an angel.” This was his grace. This was the glory of Moses. Gracious did God make him, now that he was about to speak, so that immediately by his very look he might strike them with amazement. For indeed there are faces full of spiritual grace, lovely to behold for those who desire them and commanding respect from enemies who hate them." (St. John Chrysostom, 4th Century Church Father, homily on Acts) [Witness; Faith]
"To more strongly impress the truth that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1) and that if their prayer is not soon heard, that they should continue to pray, the Lord told a parable about the judge who did not fear God and neither regarded man. The judge complied at last with the widow’s petition, not because he feared God and regarded man, but only because that widow would not give him peace. So, if such a callous man could not withstand the persistence of this woman’s petition, will not God, who loves mankind and is filled with mercy, fulfill a petition raised up to Him persistently, with tears and contrition?! Here is the answer to why our prayers are often not heard: Because we do not send up our petitions to God zealously, but as though in passing; furthermore, we pray once today, then expect our prayer to be answered by tomorrow, not thinking to sweat and trouble ourselves any more in prayer. That is why our prayer is neither heard nor answered. We ourselves do not fulfil as we ought the law laid down for prayer—the law of hope-filled and zealous persistence." (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian hierarch, 'Thoughts for Each Day') “If he who sins against you repents and acknowledges his fault, you shall forgive him not only once, but very many times.” We … must rather imitate those whose business it is to heal our bodily diseases and who do not care for a sick person once only or twice, but just as often as he happens to become ill. Let us remember that we also are liable to infirmities and overpowered by our passions. This being the case, we pray that those who have the duty to rebuke us and who have the authority to punish us may show themselves forgiving and kind to us. It is our duty, having a common feeling for our mutual infirmities, to bear one another’s burdens, so we will fulfill the law of Christ. Observe also that in the Gospel according to Matthew, Peter makes the inquiry, “How often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” The Lord then tells the apostles, “Although he sins seven times in the day,” that is, frequently, “and will acknowledge his fault, you shall forgive him.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria, 5th Century Church Father) [Forgiveness; Love]
"...when our Redeemer was born, an angel appeared to the shepherds in Judea, but a star and not an angel guided the magi from the east to worship him. This was the reason: It was a reasoning being, an angel, who preached to the Jews as persons capable of using their reason. But a sign and not a voice guided the Gentiles, who were not prepared to make full use of reason to know the Lord. Hence Paul says that “prophecy has been given for believers not for unbelievers, but signs have been given for unbelievers and not for believers.” (St Gregory the Great; 5th Century Church Father; on Nativity) [Revelation; Salvation]
"If illness strikes us, let us not be distressed as though physical exhaustion could prevent us from singing God's praises; for all these things are for our good and for the purification of our desires. Fasting and ascesis are enjoined on us only because of our appetites; so if illness has blunted their edge, there is no longer any need for ascetic labors. To endure illness patiently and to send up thanksgiving to God is the greatest ascesis of all." (St Syncletike, 4th Century Egyptian monstic) [Trials; Suffering; Sanctification]
"However prayer, fasting, vigil and all the other Christian practices may be, they do not constitute the aim of our Christian life. Although it is true that they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end, the true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ's sake, are the only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. Mark my words, only good deeds done for Christ's sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ's sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this life. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ said: "He who does not gather with Me scatters" (Luke 11:23). Not that a good deed can be called anything but gathering, even though a deed is not done for Christ's sake, it is still considered good. The Scriptures say: "In every nation he who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him" (Acts 10:35)...For example, if prayer and watching gives you more of God's grace, watch and pray; if fasting gives you much of the spirit of God, fast; if almsgiving gives you more, give alms. Weigh every virtue done for Christ's sake in this manner." (St Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian Staretz) [Sanctification; God's Will; Salvation]
"The important thing is for us to enter into the Church—to unite ourselves with our fellow men, with the joys and sorrows of each and everyone, to feel that they are our own, to pray for everyone, to have care for their salvation, to forget about ourselves, to do everything for them just as Christ did for us. In the Church we become one unfortunate, suffering and sinful soul. No one should wish to be saved alone without all others being save. It is a mistake for someone to pray for himself, that he himself may be saved. We must love others and pray that no soul be lost, that all may enter into the Church. That is what counts." (St. Porphyrios, newly canonized Greek Orthodox staretz) [Intercession; Church; Salvation]
"Therefore there is one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets and announced by the Gospel; and His Son, who was of the fruit of David's body, that is, of the virgin of [the house of]
David, and Emmanuel; whose star also Balaam thus prophesied: “There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a leader shall rise in Israel.” Numbers 24:17 But Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed “For we have seen His star in the east, and have come to worship Him;” Matthew 2:2 and that, having been led by the star into the house of Jacob to Emmanuel, they showed, by these gifts which they offered, who it was that was worshipped; myrrh, because it was He who should die and be buried for the mortal human race; gold, because He was a King, “of whose kingdom is no end;” Luke 1:33 and frankincense, because He was God, who also “was made known in Judea,” and was “declared to those who sought Him not.” (St. Ireneaus, 3rd Century Church Father, 'Against the Heresies') [Church Tradition]
The name of “rich” (Luke 18) he here gives to one who covets temporal things, and boasts himself in them. To such rich men are opposed the poor in spirit, of whom is the kingdom of heaven. Now mystically it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of this world, than for the lovers of this world to be converted to Christ. For by the name of a camel He would represent Himself: for He voluntarily humbled Himself to bear the burdens of our infirmity. By the needle He signifies sharp piercings, and thereby the pangs received in His Passion, but by the form of the needle He describes the straitening of the Passion. (St. Augustine, 6th Century Church Father) [Rich; Greed; Love of the World]
“Lord ! I am—a miracle of Thy goodness, wisdom, and omnipotence, inasmuch as I was brought by Thee from non-existence into existence ; inasmuch as I am preserved until now by Thee in this existence; inasmuch as by the mercy, bounties, and love to mankind of Thine Only begotten Son, I shall inherit eternal life, provided I am faithful unto Thee ; inasmuch as by the mysterious act of Thine, offering Thyself through Thy Son as a sacrifice, I am restored from the terrible fall, I am redeemed from eternal destruction, I glorify Thy goodness, Thine infinite power, Thy wisdom! But complete the miracle of Thy goodness, omnipotence, and wisdom upon me, a miserable sinner, and by ways known to Thee, save me, Thine unworthy servant, and lead me into Thine eternal kingdom, make me worthy of the life that never grows old, of the day that has no evening.” (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, ‘My Life in Christ’) [Prayer; Salvation]
"All Scripture, then, is given by inspiration of God and is also assuredly profitable.Wherefore to search the Scriptures is a work most fair and most profitable for souls. For just as the tree planted by the channels of waters, so also the soul watered by the divine Scripture is enriched and gives fruit in its season , viz. orthodox belief, and is adorned with evergreen leafage, I mean, actions pleasing to God. For through the Holy Scriptures we are trained to action that is pleasing to God, and untroubled contemplation. For in these we find both exhortation to every virtue and dissuasion from every vice...For thus it will be opened to us. If we read once or twice and do not understand what we read, let us not grow weary, but let us persist, let us talk much, let us enquire. For ask your Father, he says, and He will show you: your elders and they will tell you." (St. John Damascene, 8th Century Church Father, from 'Exposition') [Scripture; Catechism; Devotions]
Updated 11/14/13
"...in regard to the Mother of. God, the angels, and the saints. Fix upon your heart their images as they are, with all their power and sanctity; let your heart receive enlightenment from them with all possible fullness and power, and become inflamed by the abundance of their love as by the action of fire—their holiness, purity, goodness, and strength will be communicated to your heart; it will itself be cleansed, itself be strengthened in faith and love; and the more resolutely, the more constantly, your heart is turned towards God and His saints the more it will be enlightened, purified, and vivified. If you invoke any saint doubting that he is near you and hears you, and your heart is oppressed and contracted, conquer yourself, or, rather, overcome, with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, the calumniator (the Devil) nestling in your heart; call upon the saint with the hearty assurance that he is near you in the Holy Ghost and hears your prayer, and you will at once feel relieved. Oppression and weariness of heart during prayer proceed from want of sincerity, from the deceitfulness and craftiness of our heart, in the same manner as when, during ordinary conversation with other people, we feel inwardly ill at ease if we do not speak to them from the heart, but untruthfully, insincerely. " It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."1 Be true in heart always and everywhere, and you will always and everywhere have peace, but especially be true in your converse with God and the saints, "because the spirit is truth." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, from 'My Life in Christ') [Saints; Prayer; Faith]
“The Mother of God delivered from misfortune and woe not only the righteous, but also sinners, but which sinners? Those who turn themselves to the Heavenly Father like the Prodigal Son, make lamentation by beating their bosom, like the Publican, weep at the feet of Christ like the Sinful Woman washing His feet with her tears, and offer forth confession of Him, like the Thief upon the Cross. It is such sinners whom the All-Pure Mother of God heeds and hastens to aid, delivering them from great misfortunes and woe.” (St. Dimitri of Rostov, 14th Century Russian staretz on the Kazan Icon) [Theotokos; Intercession]
"It was easy for him to say, I will open my barn, I will call together the needy, but he has no thought of want, only of amassing; for it follows, And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns. Thou doest well, for the storehouses of iniquity are worthy of destruction. Pull down thy barns, from which no one receives comfort. He adds, I will build greater. But thou shalt complete these, wilt thou again destroy them? What more foolish than labouring on for ever. Thy barns, if thou wilt, are the home of the poor. But thou wilt say, Whom do I wrong by keeping what is my own? For it follows also, And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Tell me what is thine, from whence didst thou get it and bring it into life? As he who anticipates the public games, injures those who are coming by appropriating to himself what is appointed for the common use, so likewise the rich who regard as their own the common things which they have forestalled. For if every one receiving what is sufficient for his own necessity would leave what remains to the needy, there would be no rich or poor." (St Basil the Great, 5th Century Church Father) [Love of the World; Greed; Generosity]
"In children the power of thinking is quickly manifested. It comes at the same time as speech and grows together with the development of the latter. Therefore, the formation of the mind must be begun together with words. The chief thing to be kept in mind is that there should be sound concepts and judgments, in accordance with Christian principles, about everything the child en-counters or that comes to his attention: what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. This is very easy to do by means of ordinary conversations and questions. Parents often speak among themselves; children overhear and almost always assimilate not only the ideas, but even turns of speech and gestures. Therefore, let parents, when they talk, call things always by their proper names. For example: What is the meaning of the present life, and how does it end? Where does everything come from? What are pleasures? What value do certain customs have? etc. Let parents talk with their children and explain to them either directly or, best of all, by means of stories. Is it good, for example, to dress well? Is it pleasurable when one receives praise? etc. Or let them ask the children what they think of one thing or another, and then correct their mistakes. In a short time, by this simple means, one may communicate sound principles for judging things, and these principles will not be erased for a long time, and may remain for life. In this way worldly thinking and evil, insatiable curiosity are suppressed in their very root. Truth binds the mind to what satisfies it, but worldly thinking does not satisfy and thereby ignites curiosity." (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path to Salvation') [Children; Family; Values]
"The day of the Last Judgement! That day no one knows — only God the Father knows — but its signs are given in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. Revelation speaks of the events at the end of the world and of the Last Judgement primarily in images and in a veiled manner. However, the Holy Fathers have explained these images, and there is an authentic Church tradition that speaks clearly concerning the signs of the approach of the end, and concerning the Last Judgement. Before the end of life on earth there will be agita-tion, wars, civil war, hunger, earthquakes... Men will suffer from fear, will die from expectation of calamity. There will be no life, no joy of life but a tormented state of falling away from life. Nevertheless there will be a falling away not only from life, but from faith also, and "when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (St. Luke 18:8). Men will become proud, ungrateful, rejecting Divine law. Together with the falling away from life will be a weakening of moral life. There will be an exhaustion of good and an increase of evil." (St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian American hierarch, homily on the Last Judgement) [Prophecy; Judgement]
"Hence they have no power or strength against any one except what God in His dispensation has conceded to them, as for instance, against Job and those swine that are mentioned in the Gospels...But while the liberty to attack man has been granted to them, they have not the strength to over-master any one: for we have it in our power to receive or not to receive the attack. (St John Damascene, 8th Century Antiochian theologian) [Satan; Evil; Temptations]
"Scattering and dispersing the dark and gloomy tempest of sin, Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shone forth, gleaming not in the hearts and souls of the Apostles only, but in those of all who draw near to Him with faith, salvation seeking. “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” Christ sayeth; “blessed are those who have perceived Me not with bodily eyes, but with the eyes of the heart.” It was with his spiritual eyes that Archdeacon Stephan, the Proto-martyr, saw the heavens opened and the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God the Father. It was with eyes of faith that the risen Lord was beheld by Great-martyr George the Trophy-bearer and by all the other martyrs who laid down their earthly lives for Christ, in order that they might receive from Him life eternal. It was upon Him that podvizhniki [“athletes”-of-the-spirit]
did fix their spiritual gaze; despising earthly pleasures, they were crowned in the heavens with glory unfading. But neither the scribes nor the pharisees, His enemies, saw the resurrected Christ. Nor did the tormentors of the martyrs see Him, strengthening the martyrs. Neither did, nor do, all those whose spiritual gaze is dimmed by unbelief, whose heart is befouled with sins and vices, whose will is directed only toward the earthly, ever see the light of the glory of the risen Christ." (St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian American hierarch, homily) [Faith]
"They suggested to my brother to change his faith. Showing to him his slain father they told him to 'sit down so we can make you a Turk'. The child then did his cross and responded: 'Where my father has gone I am going also.' They said to him again: 'Become a Turk'. The child however did his cross again. By his blood he became a cross..." (Brother of the 11 Year Old New Martyr John of Tourkoleka who was killed by the Moslem Turks in 1816) [Witness; Courage]
Why does a man sometimes suddenly get into such a frenzy that he becomes violently angered, speaks quickly, abruptly and incoherently, wrings his hands, tears his hair, or in his passion strikes others, foolishly breaks everything that falls into his hands, and behaves like a madman, or like one infuriated ? Evidently because in his heart the subcelestial spirits of evil are working, instigating men to every wickedness, and breathing evil and destruction upon all and everything. Why are there both suicides of all kinds, as well as murderers of others? From the working of the immemorial suicide and murderer—the Devil—in the hearts of suicides and murderers. This is why Christ, the Saviour, and the Christian religion command everyone to have that meekness and humility which do not allow the spirits of evil and pride, seeking the death of all and each one, to work in the hearts of true Christians. The Lord says: "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart."2 The wrath of man is a terrible unnatural phenomenon in a man; it is often aroused in the heart by the most unimportant causes —mostly through the self-love or pride concealed in our heart. We must remember that "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." (St. John of Kronstadt) [Meekness; Anger; Patience; Peace]
“The chief thing in prayer for which we must care above all is—lively, clear-sighted faith in the Lord : represent Him vividly before yourself and within you—then ask of Jesus Christ in the Holy Ghost whatever you desire and you will obtain it. Ask simply, without the slightest doubt—then your God will be everything to you, accomplishing in an instant great and wonderful acts, as the sign of cross, accomplishes great wonders. Ask for both spiritual and material blessings not only for yourself, but for all believers, for the whole body of the Church, not separating yourself from other believers, but in spiritual union with them, as a member of the one great body of the Church of Christ, and loving all, as your brethren or children in Christ, as the case may be. The heavenly Father will fill you with the great peace and boldness.” (St. John of Kronstadt, 19the Century Russian staretz from My Life in Christ) [Prayer; Intercession]
"Orthodox people must care for the dissemination of the Orthodox faith among the heterodox. Christ the Savior said that men lighting a lamp do not put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all the house (Matthew 5:15). It is our obligation to share our spiritual treasures, our truth, our light and our joy with those who do not have these gifts. And this duty lies not only on pastors and missionaries, but also on lay people, for the Church of Christ, in the wise comparison of St. Paul, is a body, and in the life of the body every member takes part." (St Tikhon, 20th Century Patriarch of Russia and American missionary bishop, final comments upon leaving America) [Witness; Evangelism]
"I am often called to deal with the dying and the deceased. It is interesting to see how often people try to avoid staying with the deceased! This has to do with their being afraid of thinking about death. In fact, they are taking an entirely incorrect approach. A normal Christian should strive to often follow King Solomon's advice that “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting...” (Ecclesiastes7: 2). This is why it is very useful to visit the cemetery. Our seminarians used to like to visit morgues. I remember that I used to go. It is a very sobering experience; you come to your senses very quickly. In their cells, some of the saints used to keep skulls, coffins, and other reminders of death. Many would dig graves for themselves. (Fr. Daniel Sysoyev, 21st Century Russian martyr, 'Instructions to Immortals') [Death} "Christians are being persecuted from the UK to Norway. People are being fired for wearing a crucifix. One can be "overtly gay", but not a Christian...tolerance is gradually turning into a moral dictatorship." (Alexei Pushkov, 21st Century Russian Orthodox layman and Duma official, 11/15 comments) [Society; Traditional Values]
"Whilst reading or listening to sacred works, honor heartily in those who wrote them the image of God the Word, or God the Word Himself, speaking through them. Remember always, whilst reading books of spiritual or worldly contents, that man is God's image and that this image of God is in the thought, word, and spirit through which he speaks. Accustom yourself always to look upon every man with deep respect, as upon the image of God, but especially when he speaks, and above all when he speaks of God. Oh, how divine he is then! From being accustomed to men, from being acquainted with them, with their everyday life, from being accustomed to the gift of speech in ourselves and in others, we set little value upon this gift, we even sometimes despise it in others; and thus the devil, through our self-love and inattention, blasphemes the image of God in men. We must by every means humble our hearts and subdue our proud intellect, lest we should be like the contemporaries of the prophets, who looked on them only as sweet-voiced singers, and nothing more; they did not wish to fulfill their commands, they even despised, persecuted, beat, and killed them; lest we should be like those, by whom " no prophet is accepted in his own country." However insignificant and unimportant the man may be, honor in him the image of God, especially when he speaks with love, and, above all, when he speaks of and does the works of love." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Saints; Faith]
Destruction of the Eight Passions... Gluttony ~ self-control; Lust/unchastity ~ the desire for God and longing for the blessings held in store; Greed/avarice ~ compassion for the poor; Anger ~ goodwill and love for all men; Depression/worldly dejection spiritual joy; Sloth/listlessness ~ patience, perseverance, and offering thanks to God; Egoism/Self-esteem ~ doing good in secret and by praying with a contrite heart; Pride ~ by not judging or despising anyone... and by considering oneself the least of all men; (St. John of Damascus, 7th Century Middle Eastern theologian) [Virtue; Sanctification]
"I am a Christian, and if you want to kill me for this, I do not object to it." (Final words of an unnamed Christian Martyr to the Islamists in Syria, September, 2013) [Sacrifice; Witness]
Updated 09/14/13
"Let no one think that sin is something unimportant—no, sin is a terrible evil, that destroys the soul, both now and in the future life. The sinner in the future life will be bound hand and foot (meaning the soul) and cast into outer darkness. As the Saviour said: " Bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness;"2 that is, he entirely loses the freedom of his spiritual powers, which, being created for free activity, suflfer through this a kind of overwhelming inactivity for every good work: in his soul the sinner recognises his powers and at the same time he feels that these powers are bound by unbreakable chains—" he shall be holden with the cords of his sin." l To this must be added the terrible torment arising from the very sins themselves, from the consciousness of our own foolishness during the earthly life, and from the image of the angry Creator. Even in this present life sin binds and destroys the soul. What God-fearing man does not know what sorrow and oppression strike his soul, what torturing, burning fire rages in his breast when he has sinned 1 But besides binding and destroying the soul as it does temporarily, sin also destroys it eternally if we do not repent here of our sins and our iniquities from our whole heart. Here is also a proof by experience that sin destroys the soul temporarily and eternally. If it happens to any God-fearing person to go to sleep without having repented of the sin, or the sins, he has committed during the day, and which have tormented his soul, these torments will accompany him the whole night, until he has heartily repented of his sin, and washed his heart with tears (this is also from experience). The torments of sin will wake him up from sweet sleep, because his soul will be oppressed, bound a prisoner by sin. Now, suppose that the man who has gone to sleep in any sin and is tormented by it, is overtaken during the night by death : is it not clear that his soul will go into the other life in torment, and that as after death there is no place for repentance, he will be tormented there according to the measure of his sins 1 The Holy Scriptures also testify to this."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Repentance; Prayer]
"If you will pray for your enemies, peace will come to you; but when you can love your enemies - know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation. Whereas if you revile your enemies, it means there is an evil spirit living in you and bringing evil thoughts into your heart, for, in the words of the Lord, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts - or good thoughts."
(Silouan the Athonite, 20th Century staretz on Mt. Athos) [Forgiveness; Love]
"Those forces that are preparing the appearance of Antichrist will have a leading significance in public life. Antichrist will be a man and not the devil incarnate. “Ann” is a word meaning “old,” or it means “in place of” or “against.” That man wants to be in place of Christ, to occupy His place and possess that which Christ ought to possess. He wants to possess the same attraction and authority over the whole world. And he will receive that authority before his own destruction and that of the whole world. He will have a helper, a Magus, who, by the power of false miracles, will fulfill his will and kill those that do not recognize the authority of Antichrist. Before the destruction of Antichrist, two righteous men will appear who will denounce him. The Magus will kill them and their bodies will lie unburied for three days, and Antichrist and all his servants will rejoice exceedingly. Then suddenly, those righteous men will resurrect, and the whole army of Antichrist will be in confusion and horror, and the Antichrist himself will suddenly fall dead, slain by the power of the Spirit. But what is known about this man, Antichrist? His precise ancestry is unknown. His fa-ther is completely unknown, while his mother is a defiled, pretended virgin. He will be a Jew from the tribe of Dan. There is an indication of this, in that Jacob, when dying, said that [Dan]
, in his posterity, would be a serpent by the way.. .biting the heel of the horse
(and the rider shall fall backward) [Gen. 49:17]
. This is a figurative indication that he will act with craftiness and evil."
(St. John of Shanghai, 20th Century Russian Orthodox hierarch, sermon excerpt) [Satan; End Times]
"As in a sea, lake, or river every particle of water is united to other particles and is surrounded by them, or as in the air every particle of it is surrounded by other particles and is united to them, so all of us earth-born creatures are surrounded by God on all sides, whilst those of us who are pure, or being purified, are united to Him and are everywhere with Him. All of us earth-born creatures—like water, like air, like a tree with many branches—form one whole, though often broken, by the envy of the enemy, by selfishness, irritability, animosity, disputes, pride, heresy and dissent, envy, avarice, unsociability, and other passions. On the other side, the Devil and his angels also form amongst themselves another whole, like dark, malignant, poisonous water or fiery, suffocating, deadly air. They surround us and endeavour to break into our souls when we are off our guard, or under the domination of various passions, in order to darken, disturb, oppress, inflame, and in every way torment us. Thus, for instance, you may sometimes chance to be walking in the pure sweet-scented air, when suddenly a foul odour from a cesspool strikes your sense of smell in an unpleasant manner, and you wish to pass quickly by this place, so as to breathe the wholesome air again : the stink of the Devil is like unto this. The Lord Himself likens the dark devilish hordes to air and water. He says : " The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house"
(that is, upon the man, upon the human soul) ; " and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Creator; God's Providence]
"When you are threatened with temptation to sin, then represent to yourself vividly that sin is exceedingly displeasing to God, Who hates iniquity. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." And in order to understand this better, imagine a father, righteous and severe, who loves his family, and is trying by every means to make his children well-principled and upright, in order to reward them afterwards for their good behaviour by the great riches he has laboriously laid up for them, and, who nevertheless sees, to his grief, that the children, disregarding their father's love, do not love him, do not pay attention to the inheritance so lovingly prepared for them by their father, but live disorderly, and rush impetuously to destruction. Mark, that " sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,"1 because it kills the soul, because it makes us the slaves of the Devil—the destroyer of men; and the more we work for sin, the more difficult will be our return, and the more sure will be our ruin. Dread, therefore, every sin with the whole heart. When your heart inclines to evil, and the evil one begins to undermine your heart, so that it is completely removed from the rock of faith, then say to yourself inwardly " I know of my spiritual poverty, my own nothingness without faith. I am so weak, that it is only by Christ's name that I live and obtain peace, that I rejoice and my heart expands, whilst without Him I am spiritually dead, I am troubled, and my heart is oppressed; without the Lord's Cross I should have been long since the victim of the most cruel distress and despair. Only Christ keeps me alive: and the Cross is my peace and my consolation."
(St.John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Temptation; Faith]
"The Cross then will save from eternal perdition all who conquered temptations by the Cross, who crucified their flesh with its passions and lusts, and took up their cross and followed their Christ. But those who hated the Cross of the Lord and did not engrave the Cross in their soul will perish forever."
(St. John of San Franicisco, 20th Century Russian Orthodox hierarch, homily on the Cross) [Cross; Faith]
"The path of virtue is a path of effort and toil: "Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;" whereas the gate of vice is wide and the way spacious, but lead to perdition. We ought to do everything we can for the acquisition of virtue and moral wisdom
(phronesis), for the prize is beautiful and the hope great."
(St. Nectarios of Aegina, 20th Century Greek staretz on Mt. Athos) [Sanctification]
"‘And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years, and cannot say that I perfectly love Him. If we love someone we always remember him and try to please him; day and night our heart is occupied with that object. Is that how you, gentlemen, love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always remember Him, do you always pray to Him and fulfill His holy commandments? ‘For our good, for our happiness at least let us make a vow that from this day, from this hour, from this minute we shall strive to love God above all else and to fulfill His holy will."
(St. Herman of Alaska, 19th Century American saint, 'Life of St. Herman') [Sanctification; Love of God]
"Take the trouble to spend only one single day according to God's commandments, and you will see yourself, you will feel by your own heart, how good it is to fulfil lGod's will
(and God's will in relation to us is our life, our eternal blessedness). Love God with all your heart at least as much as you love your father, your mother, and your benefactors; value with all your strength His love and His benefits to you
(go over them mentally in your heart, think how He gave you existence and with it all good tillings, how endlessly long He bears with your sins, how endlessly He forgives you them; for the sake of your hearty repentance, by virtue of the suffering and death upon the Cross of His only-begotten Son, what blessedness He has promised you in eternity, if you are faithful to Him); enumerate besides His mercies, which are endlessly great and manifold. Furthermore, love every man as yourself—that is, do not wish him anything mat you would not wish for yourself ; think, feel for him just as you would think and feel for your own self; do not wish to see in him anything that you do not wish to see in yourself; do not let your memory keep in it any evil caused to you by others, in the same way as you would wish that the evil done by yourself should be forgotten by others; do not intentionally imagine either in yourself or in another anything guilty or impure ; believe others to be as well-intentioned as yourself, in general, if you do not see clearly that they are evilly disposed ; do unto them as you would to yourself, or even do not do unto them as you would not do unto yourself, and then you will see what you will obtain in your heart-—what peace, what blessedness! You will be in paradise before reaching it—that is, before the paradise in heaven you will be in the paradise on earth. " The kingdom of God is within you," says, the Lord. " He that dwelleth in love," teaches the Apostle, " dwelleth in God and God in him."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 'My Life in Christ') [Love; Obedience]
"'I am come to send fire on the earth, the Saviour said, and what will I, if it be already kindled! '
(Lk. 12:49). He is speaking here of Christian life, and He says this because the visible witness of it is the zeal for the pleasing of God which is in the heart by the Spirit of God. This is like fire because, just as fire devours the material which it takes hold of, so also does zeal for the life in Christ devour the soul which receives it. And just as during the time of a fire the flame takes hold of the whole building, so also the fire of zeal, once it is received, embraces and fills the whole being of a man. In another place the Lord says, For every one shall be salted with fire
(Mk. 9:49). This also is an indication of the fire of the spirit which in its zeal penetrates our whole being. Just as salt, penetrating decomposable matter, preserves it from decomposition, so also the spirit of zeal, penetrating our whole being, banishes the sin which corrupts our nature both in soul and body; it banishes it even from the least of the places where it has settled in us, and thus it saves us from moral vice and corruption."
(St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path of Salvation') [Sanctification]
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."—St. John xvii. 3. "THOU, 0 God, hast opened wide to me Thy truth and I Thy verity. By instructing me in the sciences, Thou hast opened to me all the riches of faith, of nature, and of human understanding; I have learned Thy word— —the Word of God—"piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." I have studied the laws regulating the mind of man, its love of wisdom, the formation and the beauty of speech; I have penetrated in part into the mysteries of Nature, into her laws, into the abyss of the creation of worlds and their revolution; I know the population of the terrestrial globe; I have acquainted myself with its different peoples, with the celebrated persons, and their works, who have passed in turn through this world ; I have in part studied the great science of self-knowledge and of how to draw nigh to Thee; in a word, I have become cognisant of many, many things—"for more things are shewed unto thee than men understand,"2 and hereafter I shall yet learn much. I have many books of very varied contents; I have read and re-read them, but still I am not yet satisfied. My spirit still thirsts for further knowledge and my heart is unsatisfied ; it hungers, and from all the knowledge thus acquired by the intellect, it cannot gain full happiness. When will it be satisfied 1 It will be satisfied, when " I will behold Thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Until then I shall hunger. " Whosoever drinketh of this water
(of worldly wisdom) shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,"4 said the Lord."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Spiritual verses physical; Sanctification; Love of God]
Updated 07/22/13
"And so, let the child be surrounded by sacred forms, objects of all kinds, and let everything that can corrupt in examples, depictions, and things, be put away. Later, and for all the time that follows, one must keep the same order. It is well known how powerfully corrupt images act upon the soul, no matter in what form they might touch it! How unfortunate is the child who, closing his eyes, or being left alone and going within himself, is stifled by a multitude of improper images — vain, tempting, breathing of the passions. This is the same thing for the soul as smoke is for the head." (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path of Salvation') [Sanctification; Purity; Family]
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. '*2 This silent but evident declaration of the heavens of their creation by the Almighty has reached even us, and there is no language or dialect in which this declaration is not understood. And now, since the time of the Incarnation of the Son of God, all the glory of God, the glory of His love towards mankind, as well as the glory of creation, is declared unto us by the Gospel and the Holy Church ; by the voices of the preachers of the Gospel; by those who celebrate the Sacraments and prayers; that is, the priests, readers, and singers ; by the sound of bells, not excluding also the preaching of the heavens with their luminaries." (St John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Evangelism]
"The higher a person's position in society the more he should help others without ever reminding them of his position." (Tsar Nicholas II, 21st Century Russian Martyr, advice to his children) [Family; Society]
"The Apostle Peter says that the first world was created out of water and perished by water. “Out of water” is also an image of the chaos of the physical mass, while “perished by water” is [an image]
of the Rood. And now the world is reserved unto fire.....The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Peter 3:7-10). All the elements will melt. This present world will perish in a single instant. In an instant everything will change. And the sign of the Son of God will appear, that is, the sign of the Cross. The whole world, having willingly submitted to Antichrist, “will break out in lamentation,” Everything is finished. Antichrist is slain. The end of his kingdom, the end of the war with Christ. The end, and accountability for one's whole life, an account to the True God." (St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian hierarch) [Prophecy]
"Let thy mind fast from vain thoughts; let thy memory fast from remembering evil; let thy will fast from evil desire; let thine eyes fast from bad sights: turn away thine eyes that thou mayest not see vanity; let thine ears fast from vile songs and slanderous whispers; let thy tongue fast from slander, condemnation, blasphemy, falsehood, deception, foul language and every idle and rotten word; let thy hands fast from killing and from stealing another's goods; let thy legs fast from going to evil deeds: Turn away from evil, and do good." (St Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th Century Russian hierarch) [Fasting; Sanctification]
"The Pharisees both prayed and fasted more than we do, but without humility all their labor was nothing; so apply yourself the most to obtaining the Publican’s humility, which usually is born of obedience, and that will be sufficient for you."
(St. Anthony of Optina) [Fasting; Humility]
"When you ask anything of the Lord, immediately contemplate His merciful and generous Right Hand, bestowing upon you His gifts, for it is His Right Hand that has given, and still gives, from God's abundance, everything to all, and consider as foolishness any doubt whether you will or will not obtain that which you ask for—a foolishness similar to that of which the Psalmist said, " The fool hath said in his heart : there is no God." Thus, in asking any good and generous man for help, we represent to ourselves beforehand his outstretched hand; for earthly benefactors, after the example of their All-merciful Father, are merciful and generous, and give us that which we ask them for immediately after our request, as it is said: " What man is there of you, whom if his son shall ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent 1 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, Which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?" (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Witness; Prayer; Reverence]
"Whoever enters on the true path of pleasing God, or who begins with the aid of grace to strive toward God on the path of Christ's law, will inevitably be threatened by the danger of losing his way at the crossroads, of going astray and perishing, imagining himself saved. These crossroads are unavoidable because of the sinful inclinations and disorder of one's faculties which are capable of presenting things in a false light — to deceive and destroy a man. To this is joined the flattery of satan, who is reluctant to be separated from his victims and, when someone from his domain goes to the light of Christ, pursues him and sets every manner of net in order to catch him again — and quite often he indeed catches him." (St. Theophane the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'Path of Salvation') [Temptation]
"The inner man, amidst worldly vanity, amidst the darkness of his flesh, is not so bound by the temptations of the evil one, and looks out more freely early in the morning, just after waking up, like a fish, which sometimes throws itself up playfully on the surface of the water. All the remaining time he is enveloped in almost impenetrable darkness, his eyes are covered by a bandage, which conceals from him the true state of things spiritual and physical. Take advantage of these morning hours, which are the hours of a new life, or of a life renewed by temporary sleep. They show us in part that state in which we shall be when we shall rise up renewed on that great and universal morning of the nightless day of resurrection, or when we shall rid ourselves of this mortal body." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer]
"For belief only within one's soul does not suffice; He desires also the belief confessed with the tongue. He did not say, "Whosoever shall confess Me," but "in me", that is, in My strength. For he who confesses does so aided by the grace which is from above." (St. Theophylact, 12th Century Bishop of Bulgaria) [Faith; Witness]
"Believe that the prayer even of one friend of God, especially a priest of God, who lives a holy life, can work wonders upon a considerable part of nature, as the prayers of the prophets Moses, Elijah, and others. Therefore, live in a manner pleasing to God, especially you who are priests of God; be holy, pure, meek, humble, merciful, temperate, laborious, patient, and your prayer shall always penetrate the heavens, and shall be heard and fulfilled. Always pray with your whole heart, and, above all, with a pure heart." (St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Prayer; Intercession]
"From the life of elder Paisius we see that wild birds would approach him and feed from him...Someone visited Saint Paul of Obnaras who lived in a remote area of the Russian forests. When he saw him he became witness to the following: "A great number of birds surrounded the Saint. The smaller ones even climbed in his shoulders and head and he would feed them with his hands. Close to him was a bear that waited to be fed. Foxes, hares and other animals would mingle without any aggression between them. It was a wonderful picture of the first created innocent Adam in the garden of Eden." (Soterios Lysikatos, 21st Century write on 'Saints and Animals') [Peace]
"When one rubs two sticks together, they warm up and catch fire. Similarly, when the soul is rubbed in the work of prayer, it eventually leads to prayerful fire. The work of prayer consists of a proper completion of the two types of prayer of which I have already spoken, namely - pious, attentive, and feeling completion of our usual prayers, and then training of the soul to frequently ascend to God through divine contemplation, turning of all things to the glory of God, and frequent crying to God from the heart. We pray in the morning and the evening: there is a great distance between them. If we only turn to God at these times, then even if we pray whole-heartedly, during the day or night, everything will fall apart, and when it is time again to pray, the soul will feel cold and empty, as before. One can pray again whole-heartedly, but if you become cold and fall apart again, what use is it? This is just building and destroying, building and destroying; it is only labor. If now we resolve not only to pray with attention and feeling in the morning and the evening, but also to spend every day in contemplation of God, doing all things to the glory of God, and frequently calling to God from our hearts with short words of prayer, then this long period between morning and evening prayers and from evening to morning prayers will be filled with frequent turnings to God and pure prayerful actions. Although this prayer is not yet unceasing, it is still prayer repeated very frequently, and the more often it is repeated, the closer it comes to being constant. All of this work is towards this final and necessary goal. For if we resolve to do this work every day, without fail, without hesitation, look, what will become of our souls?" (St. Theophan the Recluse, 19th Century Russian staretz, homily) [Prayer; Intercession]
"Faith in God's existence is closely connected with faith in the existence of our own souls, as a part of the spiritual world. God's existence is as evident to the pious mind as its own being, because every thought, good or bad, every desire, every intention, word or act of such a mind is followed by a corresponding change in the state of the heart, peace or trouble, joy or grief, and this is the result of the action upon it of the God of spirits and bodies, Who is reflected in the pious mind as the sun is reflected in a drop of water ; the purer the drop is, the better, the clearer will be the reflection; the more turbid the drop, the dimmer will be the reflection; so that in the soul's state of extreme impurity or darkness, the reflection entirely ceases and the soul is left in a state of spiritual darkness, in a state of insensibility." (St John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian Staretz, 'My Life in Christ') [Faith; Prayer]
Updated 05/19/13
"No one in this world is happy unless he has opened wide the gates of his spiritual Jerusalem—his soul—and received God into himself. A godless man feels lonely to despair. The society of others does not make his loneliness go away, but only increases it. However he who has taken God into his soul will never feel lonely even in a desert. No one dies an eternal death other than one in whom God has died."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century Serbian hierarch and author) [Repentance; Sanctification; Judgment]
"We are like those following a long and cruel path, who become tired, see a beautiful tree with many leaves, sit in its shadow and rest for a while and then, as if rejuvenated, continue their journey; likewise today, in the time of fasting and difficult journey and effort, the Life-Giving Cross was planted in our midst by the holy fathers to give us rest and refreshment, to make us light and courageous for the remaining task...."
(Synaxarion of the Holy Cross) "People usually consider thought to be something of little importance, and therefore they are very undiscerning in their acceptance of thoughts. However, everything good comes from the acceptance of correct thoughts, while everything evil comes from the acceptance of deceitful thoughts. Thought is like the helm of a ship. A small wheel and an insignificant board dragging behind a great vessel decide its direction and, more often than not, its fate.”
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian prelate and author, expt. from The Arena) [Prudence; Wisdom; Temptation]
"He says: I was dead, and behold, I am alive for, evermore, amen; and you also will be alive forever. This is the meaning of the words of Him Who arose: I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth and was dead for you, for your redemption from death, and I; that is: I conquered your death by My innocent death for your sake, and behold, I am also forever and will sit with My Father on His throne; I was not separated from Him, even though I was on earth accomplishing My great work for you who are subject to sin and death. Therefore, do you also, My followers, work and struggle against sin and do righteous deeds, and where I am, there shall My servant be also--that is, in the eternal Kingdom."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 20th Century Russian priest, Homily on Pascha) [Judgment; Salvation]
"I have not seen a beast or a living being ever since I came into the desert. I never learned from books. I have never even heard anyone who sang and read from them. But the word of God which is alive and active, by itself teaches a man knowledge."
(St. Mary of Egypt to St. Zosimas, 5th Century) [Repentance; Wisdom]
"We wanted to show that Orthodox are not sad people, enclosed, dark. Not just grandmothers with scarves, but also a joyful and energetic youth. We are alive and open to share with ordinary people,"
(Veronique Kravets, 21st Century Orthodox organizer of a Sevastopol 'flash mob' which sang the Easter Troparion in a mall in May) "No one in this world is happy unless he has opened wide the gates of his spiritual Jerusalem—his soul—and received God into himself. A godless man feels lonely to despair. The society of others does not make his loneliness go away, but only increases it. However he who has taken God into his soul will never feel lonely even in a desert. No one dies an eternal death other than one in whom God has died."
(St. Nikolai Velimirovich, 20th Century Serbian hierarch and author) [Repentance; Sanctification; Judgment]
"Taking up the Cross and following the footsteps of Christ is not merely a formal compliance with a set of external religious or charitable acts...These acts, however, cannot be some sort of mechanical or self-affirming performance. Rather they must proceed from the depths of the heart, a heart turned completely toward Christ. Our Lord wants His followers hot, not lukewarm ,as hot as the flames that burn before icons of His saints..."
(Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South, 21st Century American hierarch, 2013 comments) [Works; Love]
"No single sin passes God by. Everything that we perform in our personal, social, and governmental life is recorded in the Divine book of life. The Lord, in His mercy, not desiring our eternal torment, leads us through these times of tribulation, which we should regard as a gift of Divine justice and love – not murmuring, but calling upon God’s name, bowing our heads before God in repentance and faith."
(Patriarch Kirill, 21st Century Primate of Russia, St George homily 2013) [Judgment]
"The Fathers have said that a man acquires the fear of God if he has the remembrance of death and the remembrance of tortures; if every evening he tests himself on how he spent the day, and every morning on how he spent the night; if he will not be audacious in his contacts with others, and finally, if he will be in close contact with a man who fears God."
(Abba Dorotheos,6th Century saint, writings) [Sanctification]
Updated 04/05/13
“Emulating Samson’s slothfulness, O my soul, thou hast been shorn of the glory of thy works, and through love of pleasure thou hast betrayed thy life to the alien Philistines, surrendering thy chastity and blessedness.”
(St. Andrew of Crete, 8th Century author of the Great Canon read in Lent) [Love of the World; Recreation]
"There is no Orthodoxy in human teachings and philosophies; false reason reigns in them—the fruit of the fall. Orthodoxy is the teaching of the Holy Spirit given by God to man for his salvation. Where there is no Orthodoxy, there is no salvation."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian hierarch and theologian) [Salvation]
"When the light of faith or God's truth dwells in your heart, only then is it tranquil, firm, strong, and living; but when this is cut off, then your heart becomes uneasy, weak as a reed shaken by the wind, and lifeless. Do not pay any attention to this darkness of Satan. Drive it away from your heart by making the sign of the life-giving Cross!"
(St. John of Kronstadt, 19th Century Russian priest, from 'My Life in Christ') [Sanctification; Faith]
"It is a great goodness to submit to the will of God. Then your soul is filled with the Lord only, and it has no other thought, it prays to God with a special purity, and feels the love of God, even though the body may suffer. When the soul has submitted wholly to the will of God, then the Lord Himself begins to lead it..."
(St. Silouan the Athonite; 20th Century Greek staretz) [Obedience; Will of God]
"It is not inscription in the baptismal records which makes one a member of the Church, but the spirit and content of one's opinions. Whether your teaching and your name are pronounced as being under anathema or not, you already fall under it when your opinions are opposed to those of the Church, and when you persist in them. Fearful is the anathema. Leave off your evil opinions."
(Theophane the Recluse; 19th Century Russian saint and theologian, on 'Anathema') [Faith; Heresy]
"The men who wrong us, do not so by themselves, but by the extent of the allowance of God, because they are an instrument of God."
(St. Macarius of Optina, 19th Century Russian staretz) [Temptation; Providence]
"A Helper and a Protector has become salvation to me. This is my God, Whom I will glorify. God of my fathers I will exalt Him for in glory was He glorified. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me."
(Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, excerpt)
Updated 03/13/13
"When you look at the candles and lamps burning in church, rise in thought from the material fire to the immaterial fire of the Holy Ghost, " for our God is a consuming fire." When you see and smell the fragrant incense, rise in thought to the spiritual fragrance of the Holy Ghost, " for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ."
(St. John of Kronstadt, 20th Century Russian priest, 'My Life in Christ' ex.) [Worship; Traditions]
"When the mind and heart are united in prayer and the soul's thoughts are not dispersed, the heart is warmed by spiritual warmth in which the light of Christ shines, making the whole inner man peaceful and joyous."
(St. Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian monk) [Prayer]
“Believe in Jesus Christ, be baptized and you will be saved, and from this time forward the glory of your empire will be ensured as well as the triumph of your armory.”
(St. Valentine, 3rd Century Martyr) [Faith; Witness]
"Holy Relics are the earthly remains of those who have been taught by none other than Christ Himself to love their enemies even unto death, the death of the Cross, which is His glory, and which by grace becomes their glory too. Love for enemies is not a moral injunction, it is the fundamental criterion for the Christian way of life. This is Salvation."
(St. Silouan the Athonite, 20th Century staretz on Mt. Athos) [Forgiveness; Love]
“The Fathers of the Church taught that there are guardian angels of nations, countries, churches, as well as of individuals (Rev. 2). Yea, even of elements, stars and planets. St. John of the "Ladder" testifies of his personal guardian angel: "Whenever I was longing for a greater advancement in spiritual life, the angel appeared in such a case and enlightened me."
(St. Nicholai Velimirovich, 20th Century Serbian theologian, in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’) [Angels; Providence]
"I was slow in turning to the Lord. My life in Thee I kept on putting off from one day to the next, but I did not put off the death that daily I was dying in myself. I was in love with the idea of the happy life, but I feared to find it in its true place, and I sought for it by running away from it. I thought that I should be unbearably unhappy..." (Blessed Augustine, 5th Century Theologian, in "Confessions") [Love of the World]
“The focus of today’s Gospel is the merciful love. While commenting upon this text of the Frightening Judgement Saint John Chrysostom says, speaking in the name of Christ: I do not judge the sin, but those who have not repented for their sins, I judge lack of good human feelings, of sensitiveness towards the sufferance of the people around. This is the thing I judge because it is the root all evil things”, (Beatitude Daniel, 21st Century Patriarch of Romania)
"The Scripture is nothing other than instruction on how to receive Heavenly Grace. But if we simply read a set of instructions and do not try to, let us say, put a bookcase together or use a computer program, the set of instructions will remain unmastered and will be soon forgotten...And vice versa, those who attend the Sunday Divine Liturgy and then read the Scripture at home will comprehend meaning in it that they would never have comprehended otherwise"
(Priest-Martyr Daniel Sysoyev, 21st Century Russian martyr) [Liturgy; Scripture]
"The reason for Zacchaeus’s sinful life consists in what is also the reason for the sinful lives of many today: following generally accepted behavior, and either ignorance or merely superficial knowledge of God’s Law...He [Christ] came to seek and to save every person drawn to destruction by sin, if only that person would not reject God, Who seeks and wishes to save him."
(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, 19th Century Russian prelate and theologian, on Zaccheus) [Repentance; Love of the World]
“The soul whose ears are open, hears and listens to God speaking and does what God commands. Truly, such a soul cannot but hear God and obey His commandments if it has its ears open. Men listen and carry out the commands of earthly kings and lesser authorities, and will not a soul listen to God speaking if it has its ears open? Of course!”
(St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th Century Russian Hiearch, gen. quotes) [Prayer]
Updated 01/27/13
“In order to pray in this way, we must bear in mind the method of prayer, how it is possible to pray without ceasing, i.e. to pray with the mind. We can always do this, it only we desire it. While we are occupied with handiwork, while we walk, while we eat or drink--we can always pray with the mind, or perform mental prayer pleasing to God, true prayer. With our body let us work, but with our soul let us pray.”
(St. Gregory Palamas , 14th Century Theologian, ex. on mental prayer) [Jesus Prayer]
"Acquire a peaceful spirit and then thousands of others around you will be saved. "
(St. Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian Saint) [Peace; Witness]
"Adam sinned through pride. He wanted to be exalted, to become like God. But Christ came to fulfill the righteousness of God and to expiate Adam’s pride by His humility. Adam wanted to exalt himself before God, but God humbled Himself before man. Christ descended into the waters, receiving baptism from His servant. John, trembling, placed his hand on His Master and God, while Christ humbly bowed His head before him. Christ’s humility unlocked the heavens."
(St. John of San Francisco, 20th Century Russian Orthodox hierarch) [Humility]
"Wherefore, beloved brethren, against all the devil's deceiving snares or open threatenings, the mind ought to stand arrayed and armed, ever as ready to repel as the foe is ever ready to attack. And since those darts of his which creep on us in concealment are more frequent, and his more hidden and secret hurling of them is the more severely and frequently effectual to our wounding, in proportion as it is the less perceived, let us also be watchful to understand and repel these, among which is the evil of jealousy and envy."
(St. Cyprian of Carthage, 4th Century Church Father) [Devil; Temptations]
"Because baptism is not just the recognition of God, but also a promise to turn back to Him and to do works that please Him, that is why Christ’s Forerunner and Baptist did not merely guide people towards acknowledging Christ, but also preached repentance and sought fruits worthy of repentance: righteousness, almsgiving, moderation, love and truth. And to make it clear that a promise to God is useless without deeds, and condemns a man, he held out the threat of an axe and drew attention to the unquenchable fire..."
(St Gregory Palamas, 14th Century Theologian, on Theophany) [Baptism; Repentance]
Updated 01/06/13
"Thou didst love Christ from thy youth, O blessed one, and longing to work for Him alone thou didst struggle in the wilderness with constant prayer and labor. With penitent heart and great love for Christ thou wast favored by the Mother of God. Wherefore we cry to thee: Save us by thy prayers, O Seraphim our righteous Father."
(Troparion of St. Seraphim of Sarov, 19th Century Russian Saint)
"Bless also now this tree which is a symbol of Thy cross and the Tree of Life in paradise, and which reminds us of Thy holy birth and of the logs which the shepherds of Bethlehem kindled to warm themselves when they came to worship Thee, the divine infant, and thereby prefigured Thy salvation-bearing cross."
(Serbian Orthodox Blessing of the Yule Log (Badnjak)) [Traditions]
“When I gaze in meditation and with faith upon the holy icons in church, and upon all its appurtenances, then I am lost in wonderful contemplation; the whole temple appears to me to be sacred history in action, a wonderful scripture of the works of God, accomplished in the human race. Here I see the history in action of our fall and of our restoration by God's wonderful ordering...”
(St. John of Kronstadt, 20th Century priest and wonderworker, from ‘My Life in Christ’) [Icons]
"The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house..."
(St. Paul, 1st Corinthians 16:19)
Sergieff, Archpriest John Iliytch; St John of Kronstadt (2010-05-26). My Life in Christ, or Moments of Spiritual Serenity and Contemplation, of Reverent Feeling, of Earnest Self-Amendment, and of Peace in God (Kindle Locations 5657-5659). . Kindle Edition.
“Sometimes during a lengthy prayer only a few minutes are really pleasing to God, and constitute true prayer, true service to Him. The chief thing in prayer is the nearness of the heart to God.”
(St, John of Kronstadt, 20th Century Russian Orthodox Priest, from My Life in Christ) [Prayer]
Updated 12/16/12
"For, though the voices of the prophets were silent, the world itself, by its well-ordered changes and movements, and by the fair appearance of all visible things, bears a testimony of its own, both that it has been created, and also that it could not have been created save by God, whose greatness and beauty are unutterable and invisible."
(St. Augustine, 5th Century Church Father, from “The City of God”) [Creation]
“You write how things are difficult for the world, and yet the world knows not why. If the world does not know, the Church of God does. Things are difficult in the world because people are not brethren. Kinship between individuals and nations as been forgotten and people act towards their neighbors as towards strangers in a foreign land… Christ said, All ye are brethren (Matt. 23:8)...because you have one Father who is in Heaven, and you will remain brethren as long as you confess your one Father…”
(St. Nikolai Velimirvich, 20th Century Serbian hierarch) [Love; Neighbor]
“In Her manner She showed that She was not so much presented into the Temple, but that She Herself entered into the service of God of her own accord, as if she had wings, striving towards this sacred and divine love. She considered it desirable and fitting that she should enter into the Temple and dwell in the Holy of Holies.”
(St. Gregory Palamas, 14th Century Hierarch and Theologian) [Theotokos]
“When God created man, He planted something divine into him — a certain conception — a spark that has both light and warmth. The conception that enlightens the mind and indicates what is right and what is wrong is called conscience. Conscience is a natural law. Living in times before any written law, patriarchs and saints pleased God by following the voice of their conscience.”
(Abba Dorothius, 6th Century Teacher of Monks) [Conscience; Man]
“Moreover, as I said before, concerning the sacrifices which you [the Jewish nation] at that time offered, God speaks through Malachias, one of the twelve, as follows: 'I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord; and I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands; for from the rising of the sun until its setting, my name has been glorified among the gentiles; and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a clean offering: for great is my name among the gentiles, says the Lord; but you profane it.' It is of the sacrifices offered to Him in every place by us, the gentiles, that is, of the Bread of the Eucharist and likewise of the cup of the Eucharist, that He speaks at that time; and He says that we glorify His name, while you profane it."
(Justin Martyr, 2nd Century Martyr debating with Trypho the Jew) [Eucharist; Sacrifice]
“Let us praise the two priests of God who enlightened us, And poured upon us the fount of the knowledge of God by translating the Holy Scripture. O Cyril and Methodius, as abundant learning has been drawn from this work, We exalt you who now stand before the Most High, Interceding with fervor for the salvation of our souls.”
(Kontakion to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, 9th Century Apostles to the Slavs) [Christophobia; Secularism]
“What I have said may be established from the Divine Scriptures in the following way. He who prays must lift up holy hands, forgiving everyone who has wronged him, with the passion of anger banished from his soul and in wrath with none. And again, to prevent his mind from being made turbid by irrelevant thoughts, he must while at prayer forget for the time everything outside prayer...”
(Origen, 3rd Century Theologian [non-saint]) [Prayer] Last update 11/22/12
“It is this war of attention and prayer on which both life and death of the soul depend. By attention that we keep our prayer safe and therefore we progress: if we do not have attention to keep it clear and we leave it unguarded, then it is inflected by evil thoughts and we become wicked and hopeless.” (Symeon the New Theologian, 11th century Greece) [Prayer]
“...the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death and the quickening of the flesh: that by the putting away of the enmity towards God, which is unrighteousness, we should obtain peace with Him, doing that which is pleasing to Him.” (St. Irenaeus, 2nd century Church Father) [Doctrine]
"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Grant me and us, unworthy, the dew of Thy grace and reveal thy tender mercies." (Akathist excerpt to Our Lady of the Sporitelnitsa Bread in Optina Monastery)[Liturgical Prayer]
"You have a steadfast example in Job and also in the Apostles, who scorned the terrors of this world for God’s sake, and so gained the blessings of eternity. Let us then follow them, and in all that happens to us rejoice and give thanks to the benevolent God. So shall we pass this present life in contentment and gain the blessings to come, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ." (St. John Chrysostom, 5th century Church Father) [Thanksgiving; Peace]
"...without trust and faith implicit in God Almighty's great wisdom and ineffable love, one could not bear the heavy crosses sent one". (Royal Martyr Tsarina Alexandra, 20th century Russia, letter about her son's receiving communion, 1913) [Suffering]
“And if there is among them a man that is poor or needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.” (Aristides, 2nd century Christian Greek philosopher, ‘Apology to Hadrian) [Alms Giving]
"We were created to live on earth unlike animals who die and disappear with time, but with the high purpose to live with God not for a hundred years or so but for eternity". (St. Innocent of Alaska, 19th Century Russia, from 'The Way...') [Immortality]
"The only means by which you can spend the day in perfect holiness, peace, and without sin, is the most sincere, fervent prayer as soon as you rise from sleep in the morning. It will bring Christ into your heart, with the Father and the Holy Ghost..."
(St John of Kronstadt, 19th century Russian saint; ‘My Life In Christ’)[Morning Prayer]
"If we want, Christian, to have our heart filled with divine love we must first empty them of the love of this world, its frivilous and sinful customs and then turn our hearts to the one God, our only good and happiness and eternal beatitude."
(Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, 18th century Russia, taken from "True Christianity") [Personal Sanctification]
"The souls of the departed can indeed benefit to their 'advancement,' and even the damned to a relative 'relief' of their lot, thanks to the prayers of the Church and through the infinite mercy of God; but the notion of a punishment prior to the Last Judgment and of a purification through a material fire is altogether foreign to the tradition of the Church"
(St. Mark of Ephesus, 15th century Byzantium) [Prayers for the Departed]
"Acquiring the Spirit of God is the true aim of our Christian life, while prayer, fasting, almsgiving and other good works done for Christ's sake are merely means for acquiring the Spirit of God."
(St Seraphim of Sarov, 19th century Russia) [Purpose of Life]
