Quotes

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

Commandments

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

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Self-Knowledge

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

St. John Climacus

Gluttony

One should not ponder divine matters on a full stomach, say the ascetics. For the well-fed, even the most superficial secrets of the Trinity lie hidden.

Tito Colliander

Commandments

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

Abba Agathon

Sleep

Just as over-drinking is a matter of habit, so too from habit comes over-sleeping. Therefore we must struggle with the question of sleep, especially in the early days of obedience, because a long-standing habit is difficult to cure.

St. John Climacus

Sleep

Let us observe and we shall find that the spiritual trumpet serves as an outward signal for the gathering of the brethren, but it is also the unseen signal for the assembly of our foes. So some of them stand by our bed, and when we get up urge us to lie down again: 'Wait,' they say, 'till the preliminary hymns are finished; then you can go to church.' Others plunge those standing at prayer into sleep. Some produce severe, unusual pains in the stomach. Others urge us on to make conversation in church. Some entice the mind to shameful thoughts. Others make us lean against the wall as though from fatigue. Sometimes they involve us in fits of yawning. Some of them bring on waves of laughter during prayer, thereby desiring to stir up the anger of God against us. Some force us to hurry the reading or chanting merely from laziness; others suggest that we should chant more slowly for the pleasure of it; and sometimes they sit at our mouths and shut them, so that we can scarcely open them. He who reckons with feeling of heart that he stands before God in prayer shall be an unshakeable pillar, and none of the aforesaid demons will make sport of him.

St. John Climacus

Self-Knowledge

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

St. Peter of Damascus

Gluttony

Understand what I say: there can be no knowledge of the mysteries of God on a full stomach.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Sleep

Just as over-drinking is a matter of habit, so too from habit comes over-sleeping. Therefore we must struggle with the question of sleep, especially in the early days of obedience, because a long-standing habit is difficult to cure.

St. John Climacus

Sleep

The night was not made to be spent entirely in sleep. Why did Jesus Christ pass so many nights amid the mountains, if not to instruct us by His example? It is during the night that all the plants respire, and it is then also that the soul of man is more penetrated with the dews falling from Heaven; and everything that has been scorched and burned during the day by the sun's fierce heat is refreshed and renewed during the night; and the tears we shed at night extinguish the fires of passion and quieten our guilty desires. Night heals the wounds of our soul and calms our griefs.

St. John Chrysostom

Sleep

A vigilant eye makes the mind pure; but much sleep hardens the soul.

St. John Climacus

Commandments

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

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Sleep

Sleep is a particular state of nature, an image of death, inactivity of the senses. Sleep is one, but, like desire, its sources and occasions are many; that is to say, it comes from nature, from food, from demons, or perhaps, sometimes, from extreme and prolonged fasting, through which the flesh is weakened and at last longs for the consolation of sleep.

St. John Climacus

Commandments

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

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Gluttony

It is not food that is evil but gluttony; not childbearing but fornication; not money but cupidity; not glory but vainglory. If this be so there is no evil in anything that is, except wrong use, which results from our mind neglecting to cultivate our nature (the powers of the soul, and their right direction).

St. Maximus the Confessor

Self-Knowledge

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

St. Isaac the Syrian

Gluttony

If a person swallows too much food, he is inviting impure thoughts. If he mortifies the stomach, he is creating pure thoughts. Often a lion if it is caressed becomes domesticated, whereas the more you coddle the body, the more it goes wild.

St. John Climacus

Commandments

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.

St. Maximus the Confessor

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

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

One should not ponder divine matters on a full stomach, say the ascetics. For the well-fed, even the most superficial secrets of the Trinity lie hidden.

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

Just as over-drinking is a matter of habit, so too from habit comes over-sleeping. Therefore we must struggle with the question of sleep, especially in the early days of obedience, because a long-standing habit is difficult to cure.

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

Understand what I say: there can be no knowledge of the mysteries of God on a full stomach.

Just as over-drinking is a matter of habit, so too from habit comes over-sleeping. Therefore we must struggle with the question of sleep, especially in the early days of obedience, because a long-standing habit is difficult to cure.

A vigilant eye makes the mind pure; but much sleep hardens the soul.

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

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

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

If a person swallows too much food, he is inviting impure thoughts. If he mortifies the stomach, he is creating pure thoughts. Often a lion if it is caressed becomes domesticated, whereas the more you coddle the body, the more it goes wild.

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.

"Faith is an eye that enlightens every conscience, and imparts understanding; for the Prophet saith, And if ye believe not, ye shall not understand (Is. vii, 9)."

St. Cyril of Alexandria

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