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

Nothing is better for rendering the heart penitent and the soul humble than wise solitude and complete silence.

Every man that loves God loves a quiet life.

The arrows of the enemy cannot touch one who loves quietness; but he who moves about in a crowd will often be wounded.

Obedience with abstinence gives men control over wild beasts.

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

Once when a hippopotamus was ravaging the neighboring countryside the fathers called on Abba Bes to help them. He stood at the place and waited and when he saw the beast, which was of enormous size, he commanded it not to ravage the countryside any more, saying, 'In the name of Jesus Christ, I order you not to ravage this countryside anymore.' The hippopotamus vanished completely from that district as if driven away by an angel.

Solitude offers us an excellent opportunity for calming our passions and giving our reason time to remove them thoroughly from our soul. For just as wild animals can be soothed by being stroked, so all our anger, fear and stress, which poison and disrupt our soul, can be soothed by an atmosphere of peace where the freedom from constant disturbance ensures that our soul can be brought more easily under the power of reason.

A dog is better than I am, for he has love and he does not judge.

If you give gladly, even if you give only a little, it is a big gift. If you give unwillingly, even if you give a big gift, you turn it into a small one.

Abba Theon ate vegetables, but only those that did not need to be cooked. They say that he used to go out of his cell at night and stay in the company of the wild animals, giving them drink from the water he had. Certainly one could see the tracks of antelopes and wild asses and gazelles and other animals near his hermitage. These creatures always gave him pleasure.

Nothing so fills the heart with contrition and humbles the soul as solitude embraced with self-awareness, and utter silence.

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

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