Quotes

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

Possessions

How destructive to the heart is even momentary attachment for anything earthly.

St. John of Kronstadt

Commandments

Keep the commandments, and you will find peace; love God, and you will attain spiritual knowledge.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Possessions

The wealth is not a possession, it is not property, it is a loan for use.

St. John Chrysostom

Possessions

We must resist and avoid like deadly poison the desire to possess earthly goods.

St. Nilus of Sora

Possessions

As earth thrown over it extinguishes a fire burning in a stove, so worldly cares and every kind of attachment to something, however small and insignificant, destroys the warmth of the heart which was there at first.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Possessions

The more you love money, the more securely you close the Kingdom of God.

St. Basil the Great

Possessions

Go, sell all that belongs to you and give it to the poor and taking up the cross, deny yourself; in this way you will be able to pray without distraction.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Commandments

Struggle until death to fulfill the commandments: purified through them, you will enter into life.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Commandments

Unless a man keeps the commandments of God, he cannot progress, even in a single virtue.

Abba Agathon

Possessions

The desire for possessions is dangerous and terrible, knowing no satiety; it drives the soul which it controls to the heights of evil. Therefore, let us drive it away vigorously from the beginning. For once it has become master it cannot be overcome.

St. Isidore of Pelusium

Possessions

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

Possessions

He who has tasted the things on high easily despises what is below. But he who has not tasted the things above finds joy in possessions.

St. John Climacus

Self-Rightousness

But if you are fearful of becoming self-righteous from working for your own salvation, or afraid of being overcome by spiritual pride, examine yourself and observe that the person who is afraid of becoming self-righteous suffers from blindness. For he does not see how self-righteous he is.

Tito Colliander

Possessions

Do not the angels differ from us in this respect, that they do not want so many things as we do? Therefore the less we need, the more we are on our way to them; the more we need, the more we sink down to this perishable life.

St. John Chrysostom

Possessions

It is impossible for the soul to be liberated from turbulent thoughts without the virtue of non-possessiveness. And without peace of the bodily senses it is impossible for the soul to have a peaceful intellect. And if it does not come into temptations it will not acquire wisdom of the Holy Spirit. And without laborious and persistence in reading, it will not come to the discernment of thoughts. And without the stillness of thoughts, the intellect cannot move to seek the hidden mysteries of God.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Possessions

A lover of riches is never satisfied, no matter how many possessions he accumulates, but the more he acquires daily, the more his appetite increases; and a person forcibly pulled away from a stream of pure water before he has quenched his thirst feels even more thirsty. In a similar way, once one has experienced the taste of God, one can never be satisfied or have enough of it, but however much one is enriched by this wealth one still feels oneself to be poor. Christians do not set great store by their own lives, but regard themselves rather as rightly set at nought by God and as everyone’s servants.

St. Macarius the Great

Depression

When despondency seizes us, let us not give in to it. Rather, fortified and protected by the light of faith, let us with great courage say to the spirit of evil: 'What are you to us, you who are cut off from God, a fugitive for Heaven, and a slave of evil? You dare not do anything to us: Christ, the Son of God, has dominion over us and over all. Leave us, you thing of bane. We are made steadfast by the uprightness of His Cross. Serpent, we trample on your head.'

St. Seraphim of Sarov

Possessions

The fathers say that a man who sets store by the gold and silver he can amass does not believe that there is a God who provides for him.

St. Nilus of Sora

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How destructive to the heart is even momentary attachment for anything earthly.

Keep the commandments, and you will find peace; love God, and you will attain spiritual knowledge.

The wealth is not a possession, it is not property, it is a loan for use.

We must resist and avoid like deadly poison the desire to possess earthly goods.

As earth thrown over it extinguishes a fire burning in a stove, so worldly cares and every kind of attachment to something, however small and insignificant, destroys the warmth of the heart which was there at first.

The more you love money, the more securely you close the Kingdom of God.

Go, sell all that belongs to you and give it to the poor and taking up the cross, deny yourself; in this way you will be able to pray without distraction.

Struggle until death to fulfill the commandments: purified through them, you will enter into life.

Unless a man keeps the commandments of God, he cannot progress, even in a single virtue.

The desire for possessions is dangerous and terrible, knowing no satiety; it drives the soul which it controls to the heights of evil. Therefore, let us drive it away vigorously from the beginning. For once it has become master it cannot be overcome.

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

He who has tasted the things on high easily despises what is below. But he who has not tasted the things above finds joy in possessions.

But if you are fearful of becoming self-righteous from working for your own salvation, or afraid of being overcome by spiritual pride, examine yourself and observe that the person who is afraid of becoming self-righteous suffers from blindness. For he does not see how self-righteous he is.

Do not the angels differ from us in this respect, that they do not want so many things as we do? Therefore the less we need, the more we are on our way to them; the more we need, the more we sink down to this perishable life.

The fathers say that a man who sets store by the gold and silver he can amass does not believe that there is a God who provides for him.

"I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, 'What can get through from such snares?' Then I heard a voice saying to me, 'Humility.'"

St. Anthony the Great

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