Quotes

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

Poor

I had wasted much of my time and devoted almost all of my youth in acquiring knowledge which now appears as just foolishness before God. Then one day I awoke suddenly, as if from some deep sleep, and saw the intense light of divine truth, and realized the absolute worthlessness of all the wisdom taught by the leaders of this world. I wept many tears for the wretchedness of my life and prayed for some guidance to lead my life to faith. The first thing I did to reform my previous way of life was to mix with the poor...

St. Basil the Great

Body

It is an insult to the intelligence to be subject to what lacks intelligence and to concern itself with shameful desires.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Body

Let work humble the body, and when the body is humbled the soul will be humble with it, so that it is truly said that bodily labors lead to humility.

St. Dorotheus of Gaza

Poor

Love the poor, and through them you will find mercy.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Tests

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

St. Mark the Ascetic

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

Body

Having guarded ourselves against distractions and worries, let us turn our attention to our body on which mental vigilance is completely dependent. Human bodies differ widely from one another in strength and health. Some by their strength are like copper and iron; others are frail like grass. For this reason everyone should rule his body with great prudence, after exploring his physical powers. For a strong and healthy body, special fasts and vigils are suitable; they make it lighter, and give the mind a special wakefulness. A weak body should be strengthened by food and sleep according to one's physical needs, but on no account to satiety. Satiety is extremely harmful even for a weak body; it weakens it, and makes it susceptible to disease. Wise temperance of the stomach is a door to all the virtues. Restrain the stomach, and you will enter Paradise. But if you please and pamper your stomach, you will hurl yourself over the precipice of bodily impurity, into the fire of wrath and fury, you will coarsen and darken your mind, and in this way you will ruin your powers of attention and self-control, your sobriety and vigilance…

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Body

Our flesh is an unfaithful friend.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Poor

The feeding of the needy is the purchase money of the heavenly kingdom and the free dispenser of things temporal is made the heir of things eternal.

St. Leo the Great

Body

Break the bonds of your friendship for the body and give it only what is absolutely necessary.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Body

The man who pets a lion may tame it, but the man who coddles the body makes it ravenous.

St. John Climacus

Tests

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

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Body

Keep the body properly slim so that you reduce the burden of the heart's warfare, with full benefit to yourself.

Elder Ieronymos of Aegina

Body

Charity, temperance, contemplation, and prayer please God; gluttony, licentiousness, and what multiplies them, please the flesh. Therefore they who are in the flesh cannot please God. And they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the passions and concupiscences.

St. Maximus the Confessor

Tests

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.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Body

You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Body

As a man cannot remain unscathed who spares his enemy on the field of battle, so a man engaged in spiritual warfare cannot save his soul if he spares his body.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Body

You are accustomed to look upon your body as upon your own inalienable property, but that is quite wrong, because your body is God's edifice.

St. John of Kronstadt

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It is an insult to the intelligence to be subject to what lacks intelligence and to concern itself with shameful desires.

Let work humble the body, and when the body is humbled the soul will be humble with it, so that it is truly said that bodily labors lead to humility.

Love the poor, and through them you will find mercy.

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

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

Our flesh is an unfaithful friend.

The feeding of the needy is the purchase money of the heavenly kingdom and the free dispenser of things temporal is made the heir of things eternal.

Break the bonds of your friendship for the body and give it only what is absolutely necessary.

The man who pets a lion may tame it, but the man who coddles the body makes it ravenous.

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

Keep the body properly slim so that you reduce the burden of the heart's warfare, with full benefit to yourself.

Charity, temperance, contemplation, and prayer please God; gluttony, licentiousness, and what multiplies them, please the flesh. Therefore they who are in the flesh cannot please God. And they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the passions and concupiscences.

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.

You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures.

As a man cannot remain unscathed who spares his enemy on the field of battle, so a man engaged in spiritual warfare cannot save his soul if he spares his body.

You are accustomed to look upon your body as upon your own inalienable property, but that is quite wrong, because your body is God's edifice.

St. Basil the Great

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