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

Offer to the Lord the weakness of your nature, fully acknowledging your own powerlessness, and imperceptibly you will receive the gift of chastity.

Along with an evil thought, a hostile power enters into us, and then the soul is clouded, and evil thoughts harass her.

When God, using our conscience, calls us to righteousness and yet our self-will opposes Him, He respects our freedom and lets our own will be done; but then, alas, our minds grow dull, our will slack, and we commit iniquities without number. On the other hand, the fruits of the spirit are soon granted to them who follow the commandments of Christ our Lord.

Go and have pity on all, for through pity, one finds freedom of speech before God.

There is nothing more burdensome and grievous then when conscience accuses us in anything, and there is nothing dearer then calmness and approval of the conscience.

Love reveals itself in works of mercy.

Evil is not an actual substance, but absence of good; just as darkness is nothing but absence of light.

He who fears God will pay careful attention to his soul and will free himself from communion with evil.

The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.

Ever let mercy outweigh all else in you. Let our compassion be a mirror where we may see in ourselves that likeness and that true image which belong to the Divine nature and Divine essence. A heart hard and unmerciful will never be pure.

The zeal which wishes to destroy great evil without appropriate preparation is a great evil in itself.

Every man who loves purity and chastity becomes the temple of God.

An unmerciful ascetic is a barren tree.

Do not disregard your conscience, which always counsels you of the best. It puts before you divine and angelic advice; it frees you from the hidden stains of your heart, and will make you the gift of free speech with God at the time of your departure.

Keep your conscience keen and bright, and refrain from hankering after, or expecting, consolation. Leave that to God. He knows when, where, and how to give it to you.

Just as the most bitter medicine drives out poisonous things, so prayer joined to fasting drives evil thoughts away.

As a general rule, decide whether a thing is permissible by the effect it produces within. Permit yourself what is constructive, but never what is destructive.

Not he is chaste in whom shameful thoughts stop in time of struggle, work and endeavor, but he who by the trueness of his heart makes chaste the vision of his mind not letting it stretch out towards unseemly thoughts.

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)