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

Imitate the Publican and you will not be condemned with the Pharisee. Choose the meekness of Moses and you will find your heart which is a rock changed into a spring of water.

In the beginning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God and afterwards, ineffable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire; at first they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek -- as it is said, 'Our God is a consuming fire' -- so we also must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work.

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

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

We are sons of God or of Satan according to whether we conform to goodness or to evil.

The soul's health consists in dispassion and spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.

Four monks of Scetis, clothed in skins, came one day to see the great Pambo. Each one revealed the virtue of his neighbor. The first fasted a great deal; the second was poor; the third had acquired great charity; and they said of the fourth that he had lived for twenty-two years in obedience to an old man. Abba Pambo said to them, 'I tell you, the virtue of this last one is the greatest. Each of the others has obtained the virtue he wished to acquire; but the last one, restraining his own will, does the will of another. Now it is of such men that the martyrs are made, if they persevere to the end.'

Blessed stillness gives birth to blessed children: self-control, love and pure prayer.

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

It is an insult to the intelligence to be subject to what lacks intelligence and to concern itself with shameful desires.

Whenever we enter the church and draw near to the heavenly mysteries, we ought to approach with all humility and fear, both because of the presence of the angelic powers and out of the reverence due to the sacred oblation; for as the Angels are said to have stood by the Lord's body when it lay in the tomb, so we must believe that they are present in the celebration of the Mysteries of His most sacred Body at the time of consecration.

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

The person who is unaffected by the things of this world loves stillness; and he who loves no human thing loves all men.

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

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

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

Break the bonds of your friendship for the body and give it only what is absolutely necessary.

Fear of the Lord conquers desire, and distress that accords with God's will repulses sensual pleasure.

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Mailing Address

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

Email, Phone, and Fax

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