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Quotes

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

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.

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

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.

A thick rope is composed of thin strands of hemp. One thin strand cannot hold you bound nor strangle you, for you will easily, with the lightest touch, break it and free yourself. But if a thick rope binds you, you will stay bound, and it will strangle you. You cannot easily break it and free yourself of it. As a thick rope is made from thin, weak strands, so men's passions are made up of smaller initial sins. The small, initial sins a man can still break and free himself of. But sin on sin, repeated, the weave becomes thicker and thicker until it becomes a passion, which masters a man as only it can do. You can neither cut it out easily nor cast it away from you nor be divorced from it. Oh, when will men guard themselves from these first sins? Then they would not have so much difficulty in freeing themselves from the passions.

Sin disfigures a man, while grace brings beauty.

A human being who does not endure courageously the unpleasant burdens of temptations, will never produce fruit worthy of the divine wine-press and eternal harvest, not even if one possesses all other virtues. For one is only perfected through zealously enduring both all the voluntary and involuntary afflictions.

If you lay down rules for yourself, do not disobey yourself; for he who cheats himself is self-deluded.

I thank Thee, O Keeper of faithful souls, that Thou hast shown us with Thine Own life an example of endurance in bearing all kinds of crosses. Give me the strength to follow the path of patience and humility in Thy footsteps, Christ my Lord. No matter what sorrow I will come across on this journey, I firmly trust that with Thy help, O Lord, I will overcome all obstacles. I understand now that no one can be freed from sorrows by avoiding them, but rather one should take care to endure them so as to conquer them...

When one meets with obstacles on the way of salvation, one must humble oneself and ask God's help.

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.

Let us not put off from day to day, without observing how sin is injuring us.

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.

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

Control your stomach, sleep, anger, and tongue, and you will not 'dash your foot against a stone.'

Do not stir up a memory that will cover your prayer with mud, do not root around in the soil of your old sins.

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.

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

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

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

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[email protected]
440-526-5192 (Phone)