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

Keep the commandments, and you will find peace; love God, and you will attain spiritual knowledge.

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.

The greatest weapons of someone striving to lead a life of inward stillness are self-control, love, prayer, and spiritual reading.

Do not neglect the practice of the virtues; if you do, your spiritual knowledge will decrease, and when famine occurs you will go down into Egypt (Genesis 41:57, 46:6).

A mind that dwells on everyday matters of life and vain things disperses the soul. One should turn inwardly, looking at the soul’s uncultivated vineyard, weeding it of all evil thorns and planting virtues there instead. But be wary, for this type of work is not easy at all. It requires perseverance and much patience. One will be confronted with a multitude of difficulties. Various writings of the Fathers are very helpful, and in our days are available by the dozens. In them one can find anything his heart desires, and anything it needs. The Fathers will lead you on the right spiritual path, if only you read them with humility and prayer.

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

Love and self-control purify the soul.

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

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

An elderly monk said, 'Always, when you are tempted to criticize, you should put a question mark on the whole situation and not judge. For we do not know what is really going on.'

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

Self-love -- that is, friendship for the body -- is the source of evil in the soul.

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

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

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

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

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

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)