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

The self-indulgent are distressed by criticism and hardship; those who love God by praise and luxury.

The grace of the Spirit is one and unchanging, but energizes in each one of us as He wills. When rain falls upon the earth, it gives life to the quality inherent in each plant: sweetness in the sweet, astringency in the astringent; similarly, when grace falls upon the hearts of the faithful, it gives to each the energies appropriate to the different virtues without itself changing.

No one is as good and kind as the Lord is; but He does not forgive one who does not repent.

If we want to do something but cannot, then before God, Who knows our hearts, it is as if we have done it. This is true whether the intended action is good or bad.

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

Bring before your eyes the blessings, whether physical or spiritual, conferred on you from the beginning of your life down to the present, and call them repeatedly to mind in accordance with the words: 'Forget not all His benefits' (Ps. 102:2). Then your heart will readily be moved to the fear and love of God, so that you repay Him, as far as you can. by your strict life, virtuous conduct, devout conscience, wise speech, true faith and humility - in short, by dedicating your whole self to God. When you are moved by the recollection of all these blessings which you have received through God's loving goodness, your heart will be spontaneously wounded with longing and love through this recollection or, rather, with the help of divine grace.

He who wishes to avoid future troubles should endure his present troubles gladly.

If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.

If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy's city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh; if a man goes about fasting and hungry the enemies of his soul grow weak.

Deeper spiritual knowledge helps the hard hearted man: for unless he has fear, he refuses to accept the labor of repentance.

Reveal yourself to the Lord in your mind. 'For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart' (l Sam. 16:7)

A humble and spiritually active man, when he reads the Holy Scripture, will refer everything to himself and not to another.

He who repents rightly does not imagine that it is his own effort which cancels his former sins, but through this effort he makes his peace with God.

The sign of sincere love is to forgive wrongs done to us. It was with such love that the Lord loved the world.

If a man has some spiritual gift and feels compassion for those who do not have it, he preserves the gift because of his compassion. But a boastful man will lose it through succumbing to the temptations of boastfulness.

Every tribulation reveals the state of our will, whether it inclines to the right or to the left. An unexpected tribulation is called temptation, because it subjects a man to a test of his secret dispositions.

He who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant and self-controlled. If he impetuously embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross.

It is by warfare that the soul makes progress.

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)