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

Spiritual reading and prayer purify the intellect, while love and self-control purify the soul's passionate aspect.

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

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

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

We are sons of God or of Satan according to whether we conform to goodness or to evil.

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

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

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

Four monks of Scetis, clothed in skins, came one day to see the great Pambo. Each one revealed the virtue of his neighbor. The first fasted a great deal; the second was poor; the third had acquired great charity; and they said of the fourth that he had lived for twenty-two years in obedience to an old man. Abba Pambo said to them, 'I tell you, the virtue of this last one is the greatest. Each of the others has obtained the virtue he wished to acquire; but the last one, restraining his own will, does the will of another. Now it is of such men that the martyrs are made, if they persevere to the end.'

Listlessness is an apathy of soul; and a soul becomes apathetic when sick with self-indulgence.

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

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

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

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

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

Praise God continually with spiritual hymns and always remain in meditation and in this way you will be able to bear the burden of the temptations that come upon you. A traveler who is carrying a heavy load pauses from time to time and draws in deep breaths; it makes the journey easier and the burden lighter.

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

Struggle until death to fulfill the commandments: purified through them, you will enter into life.

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

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