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

Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland.

Woe is he who knowingly chooses to sin with the intention to repent when morning comes, for he knows not what the coming day or the night that precedes it will bring.

Just as desire and rage multiply our sins, so self-control and humility erase them.

Our own will is like a wall of brass between us and God, preventing us from coming near to Him or contemplating His mercy.

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

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

Being delivered from bodily sins is not enough, we must also cleanse the inner energy which dwells in our souls.

If however any one thinks that he is not being burned when sinning, to him the Scripture saith, Shall a man wrap up fire in his bosom, and not burn his clothes? For sin burns the sinews of the soul, and breaks the spiritual bones of the mind, and darkens the light of the heart.

Make the body serve the commandments, keeping it so far as possible free from sickness and sensual pleasure.

Do not want things to turn out as you would like, but want whatever happens. That way you will be at peace with everyone.

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

All sin is due to sensual pleasure, all forgiveness to hardship and distress.

The man who has come to loathe sin has mounted the first rung of the heavenly ladder.

Sin disfigures a man, while grace brings beauty.

The only thing God requires of us is that we do not sin. But this is achieved, not by acting according to the law, but by carefully guarding the divine image in us and our supernal dignity. When we thus live in our natural state, wearing the resplendent robe of the Spirit, we dwell in God and God dwells in us. Then we are called gods by adoption and sons of God, sealed by the light of the knowledge of God.

Almsgiving heals the soul's incensive power; fasting withers sensual desire; prayer purifies the intellect and prepares it for contemplation of created beings. For the Lord has given us commandments which correspond to the powers of the soul.

For never is a man forced into sin by another’s fault, unless he have, stowed away in his heart, matter for evil deeds. Nor is a man to be held a victim of sudden deception if at the sight of a woman’s beauty he fall into an abyss of vile lust. Rather is it that diseases of soul, deeply hidden away and lost to view, come then to the surface on the occasion of the sight.

Every man who has committed sin, has stopped up the senses of his soul with the mud of pleasure.

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

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440-526-5192 (Phone)