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

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

Obedience with abstinence gives men control over wild beasts.

The intellect becomes a stranger to the things of this world when its attachment to the senses has been completely sundered.

Nothing is better than to realize one's weakness and ignorance, and nothing is worse than not to be aware of them.

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.

Grace always precedes temptation, as if to notify you saying, 'Prepare yourself and lock your doors.'

Knowing the exact nature of everything, God permits each person to be tested according to his strength. As St. Paul puts it: 'God is to be trusted not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial He will provide a way out, so that you are able to bear it' (1 Cor. 10:13).

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.

Fear God and keep His commandments both in your feelings and in your intellect. If you force yourself to keep them in your intellect, bit by bit you will attain to fulfilling them in your feelings.

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

Self-knowledge is a true idea of one's spiritual growth, and an unbroken remembrance of one's slightest sins.

One who is capable of seeing himself is better than one who has been made worthy to see angels.

According to the degree to which the intellect is stripped of the passions, the Holy Spirit initiates the intellect into the mysteries of the age to be.

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

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Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

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