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

Holy Scripture is presented to the mind’s eye like a mirror in which the appearance of our inner being can be seen.

Nothing is better for rendering the heart penitent and the soul humble than wise solitude and complete silence.

The ignorance of Scripture is a great cliff and a deep abyss; to know nothing of the divine laws is a great betrayal of salvation.

We have become so inattentive to the work of our salvation that we misinterpret many other words in Holy Scripture as well, all because we do not seek the grace of God and in the pride of our minds do not allow it to dwell in our souls. That is why we are without true enlightenment from the Lord, which He sends into the hearts of men who hunger and thirst wholeheartedly for God’s righteousness or holiness.

Such tears should be preserved... because they have great power and action in destroying and uprooting sins and passions.

God is visiting you when tears come during prayer.

When you shed floods of tears during prayer, do not exalt yourself for this, as though you were above many others. It is that your prayer has received help from above, so that, having zealously confessed your sins, you may incline the almighty to mercy by your tears.

Satiety of the stomach dries the tear sprints, but the stomach when dried produces these waters.

What rain is for seeds tears are for those who are afflicted.

Whoever is experienced in the spiritual interpretation of Scripture knows that the simplest passage is of a significance equal to that of the most abstruse passage, and that both are directed to the salvation of man.

Only the tears of repentance are able to cleanse the soul.

One should nourish the soul with the word of God: for the word of God, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, is angelic bread, by which are nourished souls who hunger for God. Most of all, one should occupy oneself with reading the New Testament and the Psalter, which one should do standing up. From this there occurs an enlightenment in the mind, which is in the mind, which is changed by a Divine change.

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.

The arrows of the enemy cannot touch one who loves quietness; but he who moves about in a crowd will often be wounded.

As writing is washed out by water, so sins can be washed out by tears.

Many times, weeping conquers God, if one can say that; and He is truly overcome. For gladly is the Merciful One constrained by tears -- But tears of the spirit And not those caused by afflictions of the body. Indeed, we weep for the dead, and we cry out over blows, For the flesh is clay and is subject to never-ending flow of tears. Let us, then, lament from our hearts In the way in which the Ninevites in their contrition opened Heaven And were heeded by the Savior. Indeed, He received their repentance.

A humble and spiritually active man, when he reads the Holy Scripture, will refer everything to himself and not to another.

Do not approach the words of the mysteries contained in the divine Scriptures without prayer and beseeching God for help, but say: 'Lord, grant me to perceive the power in them!' Reckon prayer to be the key to the true understanding of the divine Scriptures.

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5025 E. Mill Rd
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

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