Quotes

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

Repentance

Those who have sinned must not despair. Let that never be. For we are condemned not for the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent...

St. Mark the Ascetic

Repentance

He who repents rightly does not imagine that it is his own effort which cancels his former sins, but through this effort he makes his peace with God.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Cross

Do not seek the perfection of the law in human virtues, for it is not found perfect in them. Its perfection is hidden in the Cross of Christ.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Thanksgiving

Bring before your eyes the blessings, whether physical or spiritual, conferred on you from the beginning of your life down to the present, and call them repeatedly to mind in accordance with the words: 'Forget not all His benefits' (Ps. 102:2). Then your heart will readily be moved to the fear and love of God, so that you repay Him, as far as you can. by your strict life, virtuous conduct, devout conscience, wise speech, true faith and humility - in short, by dedicating your whole self to God. When you are moved by the recollection of all these blessings which you have received through God's loving goodness, your heart will be spontaneously wounded with longing and love through this recollection or, rather, with the help of divine grace.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Tribulations

Every tribulation reveals the state of our will, whether it inclines to the right or to the left. An unexpected tribulation is called temptation, because it subjects a man to a test of his secret dispositions.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Monaticism

Monastic life is called the art of arts and the science of sciences; for it does not bring perishable blessings akin to the things of this world, which drive the mind from what is best and engulf it; but monk hood promises us wonderful and unspeakable treasures which the ' Eye that not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man' (1 Cor. ii. 9). Hence, ' we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world' (Ephes. vi. 12). If therefore present existence is but darkness, let us flee from it, let us flee by returning our mind and our heart. Let us have nothing in common with the enemy of God, for 'whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God' ( James iv. 4). And who can help the enemy of God ? Therefore let us imitate our fathers and, like them, let us seek the treasure existing within our hearts and, having found it, let us hold fast to it in doing and guarding - for which task we were destined from the beginning.

Nicephorus the Solitary

Repentance

The Lord commands all men to repent (Matt. 4:17), so that even the spiritual and those making progress should not neglect this injunction and fail to give attention to the smallest and most subtle errors.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Tests

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Conscience

The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Tribulations

He who wishes to avoid future troubles should endure his present troubles gladly.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Mind

Reveal yourself to the Lord in your mind. 'For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart' (l Sam. 16:7)

St. Mark the Ascetic

Ascetical Efforts

He who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant and self-controlled. If he impetuously embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Temptations

If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Prayer

If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Self-Indulgence

The self-indulgent are distressed by criticism and hardship; those who love God by praise and luxury.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Ascetical Efforts

If you wish to be saved and 'to come unto the knowledge of the truth' (I Tim. 2:4), endeavor always to transcend sensible things, and through hope alone to cleave to God. Then you will find principalities and powers fighting against you (Eph. 6:12), deflecting you against your will and provoking you to sin. But if you prevail over them through prayer and maintain your hope, you will receive God's grace, and this will deliver you...

St. Mark the Ascetic

Ascetical Efforts

The self-indulgent are distressed by criticism and hardship; those who love God by praise and luxury.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Scriptures

A humble and spiritually active man, when he reads the Holy Scripture, will refer everything to himself and not to another.

St. Mark the Ascetic

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Those who have sinned must not despair. Let that never be. For we are condemned not for the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent...

He who repents rightly does not imagine that it is his own effort which cancels his former sins, but through this effort he makes his peace with God.

Do not seek the perfection of the law in human virtues, for it is not found perfect in them. Its perfection is hidden in the Cross of Christ.

Every tribulation reveals the state of our will, whether it inclines to the right or to the left. An unexpected tribulation is called temptation, because it subjects a man to a test of his secret dispositions.

The Lord commands all men to repent (Matt. 4:17), so that even the spiritual and those making progress should not neglect this injunction and fail to give attention to the smallest and most subtle errors.

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.

He who wishes to avoid future troubles should endure his present troubles gladly.

Reveal yourself to the Lord in your mind. 'For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart' (l Sam. 16:7)

He who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant and self-controlled. If he impetuously embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross.

If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.

If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.

The self-indulgent are distressed by criticism and hardship; those who love God by praise and luxury.

The self-indulgent are distressed by criticism and hardship; those who love God by praise and luxury.

A humble and spiritually active man, when he reads the Holy Scripture, will refer everything to himself and not to another.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of our salvation, and its constant guardian. This it is which secures both the beginning of conversion, and the purging away of vices, and the safe retention of virtues..."

St. John Cassian, Selected Writings

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