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

The Church is the personhood of the God-human Christ, a God-human organism and not a human organization. The Church is indivisible, as is the person of the God-human, as is the body of the God-human. For this reason it is a fundamental error to have the God-human organism of the Church divided into little national organizations. In the course of their procession down through history many local Churches have limited themselves to nationalism, to national methods and aspirations, ours being among them. The Church has adapted herself to the people when it should properly be just the reverse: the people adapting themselves to the Church. This mistake has many a time been made by our Church here. But we very well know that these were the 'tares' of our Church life, tares which the Lord will not uproot, leaving them rather to grow with the wheat until the time of harvest (Matth. 13, 29-30). We also well know (the Lord so taught us) that these tares have their origin in our primeval enemy and enemy of Christ: the devil (Matth. 13, 25-28). But we wield this knowledge in vain if it is not transformed into prayer, the prayer that in time to come Christ will safeguard us from becoming the sowers and cultivators of such tares ourselves.

Ascetic exertion, at the personal, family, and parish level, particularly of prayer and fasting, is the characteristic of Orthodoxy.

Spiritual freedom is release from the passions; without Christ’s mercy you cannot attain it.

If you have a heart, you can be saved.

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

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

If you are not willing to repent through freely choosing to suffer, unsought sufferings will providentially be imposed on you.

The more one reads and studies the Bible, the more he finds reasons to study it as often and as frequently as he can. According to St. John Chrysostom, it is like an aromatic root, which produces more and more aroma the more it is rubbed.

In Christianity truth is not a philosophical concept nor is it a theory, a teaching, or a system, but rather, it is the living theanthropic hypostasis - the historical Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Before Christ men could only conjecture about the Truth since they did not possess it. With Christ as the incarnate divine Logos the eternally complete divine Truth enters into the world. For this reason the Gospel says: 'Truth came by Jesus Christ' (John 1:17).

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

Concern for one's soul means hardship and humility, for through these God forgives us all our sins.

If you lay down rules for yourself, do not disobey yourself; for he who cheats himself is self-deluded.

Long-suffering and readiness to forgive curb anger; love and compassion wither it.

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

Struggle until death to fulfill the commandments: purified through them, you will enter into life.

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

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

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).

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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)