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

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

And among all the works of God, before which the mind grows faint with awe, which so rejoices yet overwhelms the soul as the Passion of our Savior? For as often as we dwell, as best we can, upon His Omnipotence, which He shares with the Father in one and the same nature, more wondrous does His lowliness seem to us than His power; and with more difficulty do we grasp His emptying Himself of the divine Majesty, than His sublime uplifting of the form of a servant.

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

He who fears God will pay careful attention to his soul and will free himself from communion with evil.

There is nothing more efficacious against the wiles of the devil, dearly beloved, than the kindness of forgiveness, and the bountifulness in charity, by means of which sin is either avoided or overcome.

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

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

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

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

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

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

For by prayer we obtain the divine favor, by fasting we extinguish the concupiscences of the flesh, by almsgiving sins are redeemed (Dan. iv. 24); and by all three together, the image of God is renewed in us, provided that we are ever ready in His praise, eager without ceasing for our own purification, and disposed at all times to assist our neighbor.

Self-control and strenuous effort curb desire; stillness and intense longing for God wither it.

If you abandon God and are a slave to the passions, you cannot reap God's mercy.

The soul's health consists in dispassion and spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.

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

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

The feeding of the needy is the purchase money of the heavenly kingdom and the free dispenser of things temporal is made the heir of things eternal.

Parish

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)