Quotes

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

Praise

A true monk does no reproach and does not praise.

St. Ambrose of Optina

Sin

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

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Praise

A treasure that is known is quickly spent: and even so any virtue that is commented on and made a public show of is destroyed. Even as wax is melted before the face of fire, so is the soul enfeebled by praise, and loses the toughness of its virtue.

St. Syncletica

Sin

God seeks nothing else from us men except that we do not sin; this alone. But this is not a work of law; it is rather a careful guarding of the image and dignity from above. In these things, affirmed in our nature and bearing the radiant garment of the Spirit, we shall abide in God and He in us. We shall be called good, and sons of God by adoption, marked in the light of our knowledge of God.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Sin

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

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Compunction

The way to attain compunction is an attentive life. ‘The beginning of repentance comes from the fear of God and attention,’ as the holy martyr Boniface says.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Mind

Undistracted prayer is the highest doing of the mind.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Sin

'And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.' For we have many sins. For we offend both in word and in thought, and very many things we do worthy of condemnation; and 'if we say that we have no sin' (I Jn. 1:8), we lie, as John says...The offenses committed against us are slight and trivial, and easily settled; but those which we have committed against God are great, and need such mercy as His only is. Take heed, therefore, lest for the slight and trivial sins against you, you shut out for yourself forgiveness from God for your very grievous sins.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Sin

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

St. Gregory Palamas

Sin

It is vain that some unenlightened people seek the greatest evil for man somewhere else, rather than in sin. Some consider disease to be the greatest evil, others - poverty, and others - death. But neither disease, nor poverty, nor death, nor any other earthly disaster can be such a great evil for us as sin is. These earthly misfortunes do not separate us from God if we are seeking Him sincerely, but, on the contrary, they bring us closer to Him.

Archimandrite Seraphim Aleksiev

Mind

When a man gives God his secret things, that is, his mind and thoughts, not occupying himself elsewhere, nor wandering away, but putting constraint upon himself, then the Lord deems him worthy of mysteries, in greater sanctity and purity, and gives him heavenly food and spiritual drink

St. Macarius the Great

Sin

He who does not consciously choose to distance himself from a cause for sin, will be drawn to sin, even against his will.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Sin

Those who have sinned must not despair. Let that never be. For we are condemned not for the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent...

St. Mark the Ascetic

Sin

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

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Sin

Believe me, brethren, the more we are now in earnest to keep ourselves free from sin, the more confident shall we then be in His Presence.

St. Gregory the Great

Compunction

Compunction comes when you consider how much you have grieved God Who is so good, so sweet, so merciful, so kind, and entirely full of love; Who was crucified and suffered everything for us. When you meditate on these things and other things the Lord has suffered, they bring compunction.

St. Joseph the Hesychast

Mind

Mind is not soul, but a gift from God which saves the soul. A mind pleasing to God flows ahead of the soul and counsels it to scorn the temporal, material and corruptible, and to love blessings that are eternal, incorruptible and immaterial, so that, while living in the body, man should, with his mind, apprehend and contemplate the heavenly and the divine. In this way a God-loving mind is a benefactor and savior of the human soul.

St. Anthony the Great

Sin

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

St. Thalassios the Libyan

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A true monk does no reproach and does not praise.

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

A treasure that is known is quickly spent: and even so any virtue that is commented on and made a public show of is destroyed. Even as wax is melted before the face of fire, so is the soul enfeebled by praise, and loses the toughness of its virtue.

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

The way to attain compunction is an attentive life. ‘The beginning of repentance comes from the fear of God and attention,’ as the holy martyr Boniface says.

Undistracted prayer is the highest doing of the mind.

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

When a man gives God his secret things, that is, his mind and thoughts, not occupying himself elsewhere, nor wandering away, but putting constraint upon himself, then the Lord deems him worthy of mysteries, in greater sanctity and purity, and gives him heavenly food and spiritual drink

He who does not consciously choose to distance himself from a cause for sin, will be drawn to sin, even against his will.

Those who have sinned must not despair. Let that never be. For we are condemned not for the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent...

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

Believe me, brethren, the more we are now in earnest to keep ourselves free from sin, the more confident shall we then be in His Presence.

Compunction comes when you consider how much you have grieved God Who is so good, so sweet, so merciful, so kind, and entirely full of love; Who was crucified and suffered everything for us. When you meditate on these things and other things the Lord has suffered, they bring compunction.

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

"The right practice of abstinence is needful not only to the mortification of the flesh but also to the purification of the mind. For the mind then only keeps holy and spiritual fast when it rejects the food of error and the poison of falsehood."

St. Leo the Great

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