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

Patience is an unbroken labor of the soul which is never shaken by deserved or undeserved blows.

The Lord often humbles the vainglorious by causing some dishonor to befall them. And indeed the first step in overcoming vainglory is to remain silent and to accept dishonor gladly. The middle stage is to check every act of vainglory while it is still in thought. The end—insofar as one may talk of an end to an abyss—is to be able to accept humiliation before others without actually feeling it.

Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you will honor your patience.

As writing is washed out by water, so sins can be washed out by tears.

Where a fall has overtaken us, there pride has already pitched its tent; because a fall is an indication of pride.

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.

The angels know how to speak about love, and even they can only do this according to the degree of their enlightenment.

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

The man who pets a lion may tame it, but the man who coddles the body makes it ravenous.

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

He who has tasted the things on high easily despises what is below. But he who has not tasted the things above finds joy in possessions.

In the presence of an invisible spirit, the body becomes afraid; but in the presence of an angel, the soul of the humble is filled with joy. Therefore, when we recognize the presence from the effect, let us quickly hasten to prayer, for our good guardian has come to pray with us.

A fish swiftly escapes a hook and a sensual soul shuns solitude.

As a ray of sun, passing through a crack, lights everything in the house and shows up even the finest dust, so the fear of the Lord, entering a man's heart, reveals to him all his sins.

He who has become aware of his sins has controlled his tongue, but a talkative person has not yet come to know himself as he should.

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.

When you are praying, don’t rack your brains to find words. On many occasions the simple, monotonous stammering of children has satisfied their Father who is in heaven. Don’t bother to be loquacious lest the mind is bewildered in the search for words. The tax-collector gained the Lord’s forgiveness with a single sentence, and a single word charged with faith was the salvation of the robber. Loquacity in prayer often fills the head with foolish fancies and provokes distractions. Brevity on the other hand - sometimes only one word is enough - in general favors recollection.

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

Filters
Search By Keyword
Filter By
See more See less
Topics (Love, Anger, Confession, etc.)
Parish

Mailing Address

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

Email, Phone, and Fax

[email protected]
440-526-5192 (Phone)