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

If you feel sweetness or compunction at some word of your prayer, dwell on it; for then our guardian angel is praying with us.

Let no one on seeing or hearing something supernatural in the monastic way of life fall into unbelief out of ignorance; for where the supernatural God dwells, much that is supernatural happens.

Control your appetites before they control you.

Be concentrated without self-display, withdrawn into your heart. For the demons fear concentration as thieves fear dogs.

In the hearts of the meek the Lord finds rest, but a turbulent soul is a seat of the devil.

Just as over-drinking is a matter of habit, so too from habit comes over-sleeping. Therefore we must struggle with the question of sleep, especially in the early days of obedience, because a long-standing habit is difficult to cure.

The angels know how to speak about love, and even they can only do this according to the degree of their enlightenment.

Blessed is he who, though maligned and disparaged every day for the Lord's sake, constrains himself to be patient. He will join the chorus of the martyrs, and boldly converse with the angels.

If a person swallows too much food, he is inviting impure thoughts. If he mortifies the stomach, he is creating pure thoughts. Often a lion if it is caressed becomes domesticated, whereas the more you coddle the body, the more it goes wild.

The demons, murderers as they are, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this, they get us to pass judgment on those who are sinning, so that they may defile us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning in another.

Repentance raises the fallen, mourning knocks at the gate of Heaven, and holy humility opens it.

Self-knowledge is a true idea of one's spiritual growth, and an unbroken remembrance of one's slightest sins.

A holy man told us one day, that the source of all heresies and schisms in the church was, loving God too little, and ourselves too much.

Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a contract with God for a second life. A penitent is a buyer of humility. Repentance is constant distrust of bodily comfort. Repentance is self-condemning reflection, and carefree self-care. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair.

Meekness is an immovable state of soul which remains unaffected, whether in evil report or in good report, in dishonor or in praise.

Meekness consists in praying calmly and sincerely for a neighbor when he causes many turmoils.

Stint your stomach and you will certainly lock your mouth, because the tongue is strengthened by an abundance of food. Struggle with all your might against the stomach and restrain it with all sobriety. If you labor a little, the Lord will also soon work with you.

Love and humility form a holy pair; what the first builds, the second binds, thus preventing the building from falling asunder.

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

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[email protected]
440-526-5192 (Phone)