• Vespers: Saturdays 5PM
  • Divine Liturgy: Sundays 9:30AM
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Quotes

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

For what is denying oneself? He who truly denies himself does not ask, Am I happy? or, Shall I be satisfied?

Long-suffering and readiness to forgive curb anger; love and compassion wither it.

A person standing at an open window hears the sounds from outside; it is impossible not to do so. But he can give the voices his attention or not, as he himself wishes. The praying person is continually beset by a stream of inappropriate thoughts, feelings and mental impressions. To stop this tiresome stream is as impracticable as to stop the air from circulating in an open room. But one can notice them or not. This, say the saints, one learns only through practice.

Break the bonds of your friendship for the body and give it only what is absolutely necessary.

The study of divine principles teaches knowledge of God to the person who lives in truth, longing and reverence.

Do not stir up a memory that will cover your prayer with mud, do not root around in the soil of your old sins.

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

But, say the saints, now that you recognize the darkness in your own heart and the weakness of your flesh, you lose all desire to pass judgment on your neighbor. Out of your own darkness you see the heavenly light that shines in all created things reflected the clearer: you cannot detect the sins of others while your own are so great. For it is in your eager striving for perfection that you first perceive your own imperfection. And only when you have seen your imperfection, can you be perfected. Thus perfection proceeds out of weakness.

All sin is due to sensual pleasure, all forgiveness to hardship and distress.

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

A wise man is one who pays attention to himself and is quick to separate himself from all defilement.

A prayer offered while one has any cause to reproach a fellow man is an impure prayer. There is only one whom the praying person may and must reproach, and that is himself. Without self-reproach, your prayer is as worthless as it is while you are reproaching someone else in your heart. Perhaps you ask: How can one learn this? The answer is: One learns it through prayer.

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

Worldly virtues promote human glory, spiritual virtues the glory of God.

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

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

The intellect becomes a stranger to the things of this world when its attachment to the senses has been completely sundered.

The Holy Fathers recommend 'moderate' fasting; one ought not to allow the body to be weakened too much, for then the soul, too, is harmed. Nor ought one to undertake fasting too suddenly; everything demands practice, and each one should look to his own nature and occupation. To choose among different kinds of food is to be condemned; all food is God-given, but it is advisable to avoid such kinds as add to the body's weight and appetite; strong spices, meat, spirituous drinks and such foods as are solely for the palate's enjoyment. For the rest, one may eat what is cheap and most easily available, they say. But by 'moderate' they mean one meal a day, and that one light enough not to fill the stomach to satiety.

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)