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

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

And the opinion, extremely popular in our times, that 'it's all the same which church you go to; after all, God is one' is in agreement with this tendency. Yes! God is one, but, you know, He also gave us one faith; He created one Church for us, not many different faiths and 'churches.' This is confirmed by the holy Apostle Paul when he says, 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,' and so we Christians should form 'one body and one spirit,' as we are called to 'in one hope of our calling' (Eph. 4:4-6). If there is only one true faith and only one true Church, then as a consequence all other faiths and 'churches' are false, not true. How then can anyone say that all faiths and 'churches' are of equal value and that 'it is all the same which church you go to.' Therefore one can and must speak not of the ecumenical unification of everyone for the creation of some new Church, but only of the restoration of union between all who have fallen away and the one true Church of Christ to which Christ the Savior Himself gave the great and sure promise that 'the gates of hell will not prevail against it' (Matt. 16:18).

Make the body serve the commandments, keeping it so far as possible free from sickness and sensual pleasure.

If you lay down rules for yourself, do not disobey yourself; for he who cheats himself is self-deluded.

Love and self-control purify the soul.

Do not neglect the practice of the virtues; if you do, your spiritual knowledge will decrease, and when famine occurs you will go down into Egypt (Genesis 41:57, 46:6).

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

Blessed stillness gives birth to blessed children: self-control, love and pure prayer.

A dog is better than I am, for he has love and he does not judge.

In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.

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

God is one, but, you know, He also gave us one faith; He created one Church for us, not many different faiths and 'churches.' This is confirmed by the holy Apostle Paul when he says, 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,' and so we Christians should form 'one body and one spirit,' as we are called to 'in one hope of our calling' (Eph. 4:4-6).

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

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

A haughty person is not aware of his faults, or a humble person of his good qualities. An evil ignorance blinds the first, an ignorance pleasing to God blinds the second.

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

According to the degree to which the intellect is stripped of the passions, the Holy Spirit initiates the intellect into the mysteries of the age to be.

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

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)