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

It seems to me that, in all cases when indignity is offered to us, we should be silent; for it is our moment of profit.

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

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

People of high spirit bear offence nobly and gladly, but only the holy and righteous can pass through praise without harm.

Meekness is an immovable state of soul which remains unaffected, whether in evil report or in good report, in dishonor or in praise.

Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your around courageously. And assuredly the angel who guards you will honor your patience, while a wound is still fresh and warm it is easy to heal, but old, neglected and festering ones are hard to cure, and require for their care much treatment, cutting, plastering and cauterization. Many from long neglect become incurable. But with God all things are possible...

Repentance raises the fallen, mourning knocks at the gate of Heaven, and holy humility opens it.

If a person swallows too much food, he is inviting impure thoughts. If he mortifies the stomach, he is creating pure thoughts. Often a lion if it is caressed becomes domesticated, whereas the more you coddle the body, the more it goes wild.

Love and humility form a holy pair; what the first builds, the second binds, thus preventing the building from falling asunder.

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

Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive by any earthly thing.

A vigilant eye makes the mind pure; but much sleep hardens the soul.

A vigilant monk is a foe to fornication, but a sleepy one is its mate.

He who has obtained the fear of the Lord has forsaken lying, having within himself an incorruptible judge – his own conscience.

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

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.

I think that for those living in community obedience is a greater virtue than chastity, however perfect. Chastity carries within it the danger of pride, but obedience has within it the promise of humility.

It seems to me that, in all cases when indignity is offered to us, we should be silent; for it is our moment of profit.

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)