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

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

Through anger wisdom is lost, so that we no longer know what we are to do, or in what manner we should do it.

Through anger the brightness of the Holy Spirit is shut out from the soul.

Your faith in the holy sacrament of confession will save you; the grace of God present in the sacrament of confession will heal you.

He who is not indifferent to fame and pleasure, as well as to love of riches that exists because of them and increases them, cannot cut off occasions for anger. And he who does not cut these off cannot attain perfect love.

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

During the time of one’s confession not only the person who makes his confession is judged, but the confessor as well. In the past, confessors were practical. They did not judge on the basis of the seriousness of a transgression, but rather on the intent. They did not concentrate so much on the sins being confessed as on thinking of how to treat the repentant person’s soul.

Do not befoul your intellect by clinging to thoughts filled with anger and sensual desire. Otherwise you will lose your capacity for pure prayer and fall victim to the demon of listlessness.

How then shall we escape the disasters that anger brings? By training the force of our feelings not to rush ahead of the power of reason.

Confess your sins not to the priest, but to the Lord Himself, only without hiding anything, from your whole heart. The priest is the mediator between you and God, and so the benefit of Confession depends on your open-heartedness.

Do not go into detail in confessing carnal acts, lest you become a traitor to yourself.

Empty your mind of these two things: the belief that you are deserving of great things, or the thought that any man is beneath you. If you do this anger will never be permitted to rise up within you.

If you wish to make a blameless confession to God do not go over your failings in detail, but firmly resist their renewed attacks.

The proof of authenticity of the spiritual condition of a father confessor is, that while he is very strict with himself, he is very lenient with others and does not use the canons of the Church like cannons against them.

The deadly wound consists of every sin that is not repented and confessed, and of falling into despair. This depends on our choice and will. If we do not yield ourselves to the pit of carelessness and despair the devils cannot prevail over us. Even when we have been wounded, if we so wish we may through fervent penitence become more courageous and skillful fighters.

Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.

My children, desire to purify your hearts from envy and from anger with each other, lest death should overcome you, and you will be counted among the murderers. For whosoever hates his brother, kills a soul.

You are, I am sure, aware that for you penitence is now no longer limited to disclosing your sins to your confessor, but that you must now bear your sins in mind always, until your heart nearly breaks with their ugly load; and would break, were it not for your firm faith in the mercy of our Lord.

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5025 E. Mill Rd
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

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