Quotes

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

Soul

Outward acts show the inner disposition of the man.

St. John Cassian

Possessions

He who has tasted the things on high easily despises what is below. But he who has not tasted the things above finds joy in possessions.

St. John Climacus

Meekness

Meekness is an unchangeable state of mind, which remains the same in honor and dishonor.

St. John Climacus

Prayer

That prayer may be poured forth with that fervor and singleness of heart that it ought to have, these rules must always be observed. In the first place, anxiety concerning the things of the flesh must be altogether be put away; then we must not allow to enter our minds any thought or even memory of worldly cares or business. We must cut off slanderings, vain words or many words, jestings and the like. We must root out the disturbances of anger especially, and despondency, and also tear up the evil roots of carnal lust and avarice. And so with these and similar faults done entirely away with and cut off, - things which can also be discerned by human eyes - and with such a cleansing and purifying as we have mentioned first carried out in the sincerity of simplicity and innocence, we must lay the unshakable foundations of humility strong enough to sustain a tower which shall pierce the heavens.

St. John Cassian

Fasting

If you have promised Christ to go by the strait and narrow way, restrain your stomach, because by pleasing it and enlarging it, you break your contract. Attend and you will hear Him who says: 'Spacious and broad is the way of the belly that leads to the perdition of fornication, and many there are who go in by it; because narrow is the gate and strait is the way of fasting that leads to the life of purity, and few there be that find it.'

St. John Climacus

Pride

How great the evil of pride is, that it deserves to have as its adversary not an angel or other virtues contrary to it but rather God Himself! For it must be noted that it is never said of those who are caught up in the other vices that the Lord resists them, or that the Lord is set against the gluttonous, or fornicators, or the angry, or the avaricious; this is true of the proud alone. For those vices only turn back upon wrongdoers or seem to be committed against those who have a part in them -- that is, against other human beings. This one, however, of its very nature touches God, and therefore it is specially worthy of having God opposed to it.

St. John Cassian

Obedience

The fathers have laid down that psalmody is a weapon, and prayer is a wall, and honest tears are a bath; but blessed obedience in their judgment is confession of faith, without which no one subject to the passions will see the Lord.

St. John Climacus

Dejection

Just as a moth devours clothing and a worm devours wood, so dejection devours a man’s soul.

St. John Cassian

Patience

Bring out the staff of patience, and the dogs will soon stop their insolence. Patience is an unbroken labor of the soul which is never shaken by deserved or undeserved blows. The patient man is a faultless worker, who turns his faults into victories. Patience is the limitation of suffering that is accepted day by day. Patience lays aside all excuses and all attention to herself. The worker needs patience more than his food, because the one brings him a crown, while the other may bring ruin.

St. John Climacus

Virtues

The blacksmith, who pounds a piece of iron, has previously thought about what he wants to make- a sickle, a knife, an axe - and works accordingly. And so let the man of God ponder in advance which virtue he wishes to acquire, in order not to toil aimlessly.

St. Anthony the Great

Tears

As writing is washed out by water, so sins can be washed out by tears.

St. John Climacus

Fear of God

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

St. John Climacus

Spiritual Warfare

It is impossible for the mind to escape disturbing thoughts, but it is possible, for any who take sufficient care, either to admit them or reject them.

St. John Cassian

Demons

The demons, murderers as they are, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this, they get us to pass judgment on those who are sinning, so that they may defile us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning in another.

St. John Climacus

Demons

Be concentrated without self-display, withdrawn into your heart. For the demons fear concentration as thieves fear dogs.

St. John Climacus

Humility

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

St. John Climacus

Talking

He who has become aware of his sins has controlled his tongue, but a talkative person has not yet come to know himself as he should.

St. John Climacus

Gluttony

The belly when filled with all kinds of food gives birth to seeds of wantonness, nor can the mind, when choked with the weight of food, keep the guidance and government of the thoughts. For not only is drunkenness with wine wont to intoxicate the mind, but excess of all kinds of food makes it weak and uncertain, and robs it of all its power of pure and clear contemplation. The cause of the overthrow and wantonness of Sodom was not drunkenness through wine, but fullness of bread. Hear the Lord rebuking Jerusalem through the prophet. 'For how did thy sister Sodom sin, except in that she ate her bread in fullness and abundance?' (Ezek. xvi. 49)

St. John Cassian

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Outward acts show the inner disposition of the man.

He who has tasted the things on high easily despises what is below. But he who has not tasted the things above finds joy in possessions.

Meekness is an unchangeable state of mind, which remains the same in honor and dishonor.

The fathers have laid down that psalmody is a weapon, and prayer is a wall, and honest tears are a bath; but blessed obedience in their judgment is confession of faith, without which no one subject to the passions will see the Lord.

Just as a moth devours clothing and a worm devours wood, so dejection devours a man’s soul.

The blacksmith, who pounds a piece of iron, has previously thought about what he wants to make- a sickle, a knife, an axe - and works accordingly. And so let the man of God ponder in advance which vir­tue he wishes to acquire, in order not to toil aimlessly.

As writing is washed out by water, so sins can be washed out by tears.

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

It is impossible for the mind to escape disturbing thoughts, but it is possible, for any who take sufficient care, either to admit them or reject them.

The demons, murderers as they are, push us into sin. Or if they fail to do this, they get us to pass judgment on those who are sinning, so that they may defile us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning in another.

Be concentrated without self-display, withdrawn into your heart. For the demons fear concentration as thieves fear dogs.

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

He who has become aware of his sins has controlled his tongue, but a talkative person has not yet come to know himself as he should.

"Temptations are permitted so that we may learn what is in our heart."

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

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The blacksmith, who pounds a piece of iron, has previously thought about what he wants to make- a sickle, a knife, an axe - and works accordingly. And so let the man of God ponder in advance which virtue he wishes to acquire, in order not to toil aimlessly.