Quotes

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

Anger

He who has put a stop to anger has also destroyed remembrance of wrongs; because childbirth continues only while the father is alive.

St. John Climacus

Guardian Angels

Do not be surprised that you fall every day, do not give up, but stand your ground 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.

St. John Climacus

Mind

Mind is not soul, but a gift from God which saves the soul. A mind pleasing to God flows ahead of the soul and counsels it to scorn the temporal, material and corruptible, and to love blessings that are eternal, incorruptible and immaterial, so that, while living in the body, man should, with his mind, apprehend and contemplate the heavenly and the divine. In this way a God-loving mind is a benefactor and savior of the human soul.

St. Anthony the Great

Blasphemy

No one in the face of blasphemous thoughts need think that the guilt lies within him, for the Lord is the Knower of hearts, and He is aware that such words and thoughts do not come from us but from our foes.

St. John Climacus

Possessions

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

Fear of God

As a ray of sun, passing through a crack, lights everything in the house and shows up even the finest dust, so the fear of the Lord, entering a man's heart, reveals to him all his sins.

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

Sleep

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

St. John Climacus

Meekness

Meekness consists in praying calmly and sincerely for a neighbor when he causes many turmoils.

St. John Climacus

Sleep

Let us observe and we shall find that the spiritual trumpet serves as an outward signal for the gathering of the brethren, but it is also the unseen signal for the assembly of our foes. So some of them stand by our bed, and when we get up urge us to lie down again: 'Wait,' they say, 'till the preliminary hymns are finished; then you can go to church.' Others plunge those standing at prayer into sleep. Some produce severe, unusual pains in the stomach. Others urge us on to make conversation in church. Some entice the mind to shameful thoughts. Others make us lean against the wall as though from fatigue. Sometimes they involve us in fits of yawning. Some of them bring on waves of laughter during prayer, thereby desiring to stir up the anger of God against us. Some force us to hurry the reading or chanting merely from laziness; others suggest that we should chant more slowly for the pleasure of it; and sometimes they sit at our mouths and shut them, so that we can scarcely open them. He who reckons with feeling of heart that he stands before God in prayer shall be an unshakeable pillar, and none of the aforesaid demons will make sport of him.

St. John Climacus

Abstinence

Stint your stomach and you will certainly lock your mouth, because the tongue is strengthened by an abundance of food. Struggle with all your might against the stomach and restrain it with all sobriety. If you labor a little, the Lord will also soon work with you.

St. John Climacus

Mourning

I consider those fallen mourners more blessed than those who have not fallen and are not mourning over themselves; because as a result of their fall, they have risen by a sure resurrection.

St. John Climacus

Suffering

O, you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the Lord.

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

Tears

Greater than baptism itself is the fountain of tears after baptism, even though it is somewhat audacious to say so. For baptism is the washing away of evils that were in us before, but sins committed after baptism are washed away by tears. As baptism is received in infancy, we have all defiled it, but we cleanse it anew with tears. And if God in His love for mankind had not given us tears, those being saved would be few indeed and hard to find.

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

Chastity

Offer to the Lord the weakness of your nature, fully acknowledging your own powerlessness, and imperceptibly you will receive the gift of chastity.

St. John Climacus

Indignity

Most of us call ourselves sinners, and perhaps really think it; but it is indignity that tests the heart.

St. John Climacus

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He who has put a stop to anger has also destroyed remembrance of wrongs; because childbirth continues only while the father is alive.

No one in the face of blasphemous thoughts need think that the guilt lies within him, for the Lord is the Knower of hearts, and He is aware that such words and thoughts do not come from us but from our foes.

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

As a ray of sun, passing through a crack, lights everything in the house and shows up even the finest dust, so the fear of the Lord, entering a man's heart, reveals to him all his sins.

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

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

Meekness consists in praying calmly and sincerely for a neighbor when he causes many turmoils.

Stint your stomach and you will certainly lock your mouth, because the tongue is strengthened by an abundance of food. Struggle with all your might against the stomach and restrain it with all sobriety. If you labor a little, the Lord will also soon work with you.

I consider those fallen mourners more blessed than those who have not fallen and are not mourning over themselves; because as a result of their fall, they have risen by a sure resurrection.

O, you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the Lord.

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

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

Offer to the Lord the weakness of your nature, fully acknowledging your own powerlessness, and imperceptibly you will receive the gift of chastity.

Most of us call ourselves sinners, and perhaps really think it; but it is indignity that tests the heart.

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

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