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

If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection.

A vigilant monk is a foe to fornication, but a sleepy one is its mate.

As galloping horses race one another, so a good community excites mutual fervor.

No one in the face of blasphemous thoughts need think that the guilt lies within him, for the Lord is the Knower of hearts, and He is aware that such words and thoughts do not come from us but from our foes.

During the divine services, and at the very moment when the Mysteries (e.g., Holy Communion) are being accomplished, this vile enemy often blasphemes the Lord and the holy Sacrifice that is being consecrated. Wherefore, we clearly learn that it is not our soul that pronounces these unspeakable, godless and unthinkable words within us, but the God-hating fiend who fled from Heaven for uttering blasphemies against the Lord there too, as it would seem. For if these shameless and disgraceful words are my own, how could I worship after receiving the Gift? How can I praise and revile at one and the same time?

A sign of deliverance from our falls is the continual reckoning of ourselves as debtors.

Before all else, let us list sincere thanksgiving first on the scroll of our prayer. On the second line, we should put confession and heartfelt contrition of soul. Then let us present our petition to the King of all. This is the best way of prayer, as it was shown to one of the brethren by an angel of the Lord.

A servant of the Lord is he who in body stands before men, but in mind knocks at Heaven with prayer.

A man who has embraced poverty offers up prayer that is pure, while a man who loves possessions prays to material images.

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

As too many sticks often choke a fire and put it out, while making a lot of smoke, so excessive sorrow often makes the soul smoky and dark, and dries the stream of tears.

Offer to the Lord the weakness of your nature, fully acknowledging your own powerlessness, and imperceptibly you will receive the gift of chastity.

Satiety of the stomach dries the tear sprints, but the stomach when dried produces these waters.

Do not trust that because of abstinence you will not fall. One who had never eaten was cast from Heaven.

Do not seek to find the cause of temptations or whence they come; only pray to suffer them with gratitude.

Lying is wiped out by the tortures of superiors; but it is finally destroyed by an abundance of tears.

He who has put a stop to anger has also destroyed remembrance of wrongs; because childbirth continues only while the father is alive.

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.

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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)