Quotes

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

Prayer

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.

St. John Climacus

Judging

Do not allow human respect to get in your way when you hear someone slandering his neighbor. Instead, say to him, 'Brother, stop it! I do worse things every day, so how can I criticize him?' You accomplish two things when you say this. You heal yourself and you heal your neighbor with one bandage.

St. John Climacus

Meekness

Meekness is a rock overlooking the sea of anger, which breaks all the waves that dash against it, yet remains completely unmoved.

St. John Climacus

Demons

The demons, murderers as they are, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this, they get us to pass judgment on those who are sinning, so that they may defile us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning in another.

St. John Climacus

Meekness

In the hearts of the meek the Lord finds rest, but a turbulent soul is a seat of the devil.

St. John Climacus

Prayer

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

St. John Climacus

Mourning

Mourning according to God is sadness of soul and the disposition of a sorrowing heart, which ever madly seeks that for which it thirsts; and when it fails in its quest, it painfully pursues it, and follows in its wake grievously lamenting. Or thus: mourning is a golden spur in a soul which is stripped of all attachment and of all ties, fixed in a soul which is stripped of all attachment and of all ties, fixed by holy sorrow to watch over the heart.

St. John Climacus

Community

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

St. John Climacus

Judging

Do not condemn, even if you see with your eyes, for they are often deceived.

St. John Climacus

Poor

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

St. John Climacus

Abstinence

As long as the flesh is in full health, let us observe abstinence at all times and in every place. When it has been tamed (which I do not suppose is possible this side of the grave), then let us hide our accomplishment.

St. John Climacus

Praise

It is a great work to shake from the soul the praise of men, but to reject the praise of demons is greater.

St. John Climacus

Blasphemy

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?

St. John Climacus

Obedience

The beginning of the mortification both of the soul’s desire and of the bodily members is much hard work. The middle is sometimes laborious and sometimes not laborious. But the end is insensibility and insusceptibility to toil and pain. Only when he sees himself doing his own will does this blessed living corpse feel sorry and sick at heart; and he fears the responsibility of using his own judgment.

St. John Climacus

Ascetical Efforts

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

St. John Climacus

Body

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

St. John Climacus

Self-Criticism

Increasing self-criticism is the sign of increasing humility. Indeed, there is no clearer sign.

St. John Climacus

Meekness

Meekness is an unchangeable state of mind, which remains the same in honor and dishonor.

St. John Climacus

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Do not allow human respect to get in your way when you hear someone slandering his neighbor. Instead, say to him, 'Brother, stop it! I do worse things every day, so how can I criticize him?' You accomplish two things when you say this. You heal yourself and you heal your neighbor with one bandage.

Meekness is a rock overlooking the sea of anger, which breaks all the waves that dash against it, yet remains completely unmoved.

The demons, murderers as they are, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this, they get us to pass judgment on those who are sinning, so that they may defile us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning in another.

In the hearts of the meek the Lord finds rest, but a turbulent soul is a seat of the devil.

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

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

Do not condemn, even if you see with your eyes, for they are often deceived.

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

As long as the flesh is in full health, let us observe abstinence at all times and in every place. When it has been tamed (which I do not suppose is possible this side of the grave), then let us hide our accomplishment.

It is a great work to shake from the soul the praise of men, but to reject the praise of demons is greater.

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

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

Increasing self-criticism is the sign of increasing humility. Indeed, there is no clearer sign.

Meekness is an unchangeable state of mind, which remains the same in honor and dishonor.

"If unlimited eating produces a dense swarm of sins, fasting is the root of all virtues and the foundation of God’s commandments."

St. Gregory Palamas

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