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

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

Strive to love every man equally, and you will simultaneously expel all the passions.

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

Accordingly, a man will neither be puffed up through pride, nor cast down by despair, if he uses the good things divinely bestowed on him, to the glory of the Giver; withholding his desires from the things which he knows will hurt him. And so he that would preserve himself from the wickedness of envy, from the corruption of sensuality, from the unrest of anger, from the desire of revenge, will be purified by the sanctifying power of true abstinence, and will taste the joy of imperishable delights, so that by making spiritual use of them, he will learn to change earthly possessions into heavenly, not by storing what he has received, but by multiplying more and more that which he has been given.

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

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

Apostolic teaching, Beloved, exhorts us that we put off the old man with his deeds (Eph. iv. 22; Col. iii. 9), and renew ourselves from day to day by a holy manner of life. For if we are the temple of God, and if the Holy Spirit is a Dweller in our souls, as the Apostle says: You are the temple of the living God (II Cor. vi. 16); we must then strive with all vigilance that the dwelling of our heart be not unworthy of so great a Guest.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Let no one be ashamed of the Cross of Christ, through which He redeemed the world.

Go and have pity on all, for through pity, one finds freedom of speech before God.

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

You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures.

For not only are spiritual riches and heavenly gifts received from God, but earthly and material possessions also proceed from His bounty, that He may be justified in requiring an account of those things which He has not so much put in our possession, as committed to our stewardship. God’s gifts, therefore, we must use properly and wisely, lest the material for good work should become an occasion for sin.

Parish

Mailing Address

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

Email, Phone, and Fax

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440-526-5192 (Phone)