A collection of scriptural meditations from Saints and Fathers of the Church.

Self-love -- that is, friendship for the body -- is the source of evil in the soul.

The Lord commands all men to repent (Matt. 4:17), so that even the spiritual and those making progress should not neglect this injunction and fail to give attention to the smallest and most subtle errors.

Just as desire and rage multiply our sins, so self-control and humility erase them.

It is an insult to the intelligence to be subject to what lacks intelligence and to concern itself with shameful desires.

If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.

Strive to love every man equally, and you will simultaneously expel all the passions.

The person who listens to Christ fills himself with light; and if he imitates Christ, he reclaims himself.

The person who is unaffected by the things of this world loves stillness; and he who loves no human thing loves all men.

Fear of the Lord conquers desire, and distress that accords with God's will repulses sensual pleasure.

Love and self-control purify the soul.

Concern for one's soul means hardship and humility, for through these God forgives us all our sins.

Control your stomach, sleep, anger, and tongue, and you will not 'dash your foot against a stone.'

He who wishes to avoid future troubles should endure his present troubles gladly.

Every tribulation reveals the state of our will, whether it inclines to the right or to the left. An unexpected tribulation is called temptation, because it subjects a man to a test of his secret dispositions.

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

Patient endurance is the soul's struggle for virtue; where there is struggle for virtue, self-indulgence is banished.

Spiritual freedom is release from the passions; without Christ’s mercy you cannot attain it.

The greatest weapons of someone striving to lead a life of inward stillness are self-control, love, prayer, and spiritual reading.

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Archangel Michael Orthodox Church
5025 E. Mill Rd
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

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440-526-5192 (Phone)