Quotes

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

Obedience

A man who submits to the statutes of the fathers, reaches his goal before he has made a single step.

St. Callistus II of Constantinople, St. Ignatius of Constantinople

Obedience

Truly great is the mystery of obedience. Since our sweet Jesus first marked out this path and became a model for us, aren’t we obliged to follow Him?

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Obedience

As it is not possible to walk without feet or fly without wings, so it is impossible to attain the Kingdom of Heaven without the fulfillment of the commandments.

St. Theophan the Recluse

Obedience

The Lord said, 'When you have done all that is commanded you, say: We are useless servants: we have only done what was our duty' (Luke 17:10). Thus the kingdom of heaven is not a reward for works, but a gift of grace prepared by the Master for His faithful servants.

St. Hesychius the Priest

Obedience

Those who live in obedience are strangers to love of money. For where even the body has been given up, what is left to be one's own? Only in one way can they be harmed, namely by being ready and quick to go from place to place. I have seen material possessions make monks patient to remain in one place. But I praise those who are pilgrims for the Lord.

St. John Climacus

Conscience

The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Obedience

He who wishes to tear up the account of his sins and to be inscribed in the Divine book of the saved, can find for this purpose no better means than obedience.

St. Callistus II of Constantinople, St. Ignatius of Constantinople

Obedience

Willing obedience is an action which shows more courage and strength of spirit than subjugating great kings and ruling over them…

Lorenzo Scupoli

Obedience

He is not yet a faithful servant who bases himself on bare knowledge alone; a faithful servant is he who professes his faith by obedience to Christ, Who gave the commandments.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Obedience

Obedience is the medicine compounded of virtues, giving life to those who drink it, and the knife which, with one cut, cleans festering wounds. A man who, in faith and simplicity, has chosen to wield this knife, at once cuts off all passions, more completely than anyone...

St. Gregory of Sinai

Conscience

Keep your conscience keen and bright, and refrain from hankering after, or expecting, consolation. Leave that to God. He knows when, where, and how to give it to you.

St. Macarius of Optina

Conscience

There is nothing more burdensome and grievous then when conscience accuses us in anything, and there is nothing dearer then calmness and approval of the conscience.

St. Maximus the Confessor

Obedience

Four monks of Scetis, clothed in skins, came one day to see the great Pambo. Each one revealed the virtue of his neighbor. The first fasted a great deal; the second was poor; the third had acquired great charity; and they said of the fourth that he had lived for twenty-two years in obedience to an old man. Abba Pambo said to them, 'I tell you, the virtue of this last one is the greatest. Each of the others has obtained the virtue he wished to acquire; but the last one, restraining his own will, does the will of another. Now it is of such men that the martyrs are made, if they persevere to the end.'

Abba Pambo

Obedience

Therefore silence, prayer, obedience; when you practice these virtues with the help of God, then you will know the light of Christ is within your soul.

Elder Ephraim of Mt. Athos

Obedience

The beginning of the mortification both of the soul’s desire and of the bodily members is much hard work. The middle is sometimes laborious and sometimes not laborious. But the end is insensibility and insusceptibility to toil and pain. Only when he sees himself doing his own will does this blessed living corpse feel sorry and sick at heart; and he fears the responsibility of using his own judgment.

St. John Climacus

Obedience

He who is obedient, is an imitator of Christ, and he who is proud and talks back is an imitator of the devil. So let us be careful, whom we are imitating, Christ or the devil…The so-called Christians must be true, in word and deed and not false, only in name.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

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

Obedience

Obedience responds to obedience. When someone obeys God, then God obeys his request.

Abba Mios of Belos

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A man who submits to the statutes of the fathers, reaches his goal before he has made a single step.

St. Callistus II of Constantinople, St. Ignatius of Constantinople

Truly great is the mystery of obedience. Since our sweet Jesus first marked out this path and became a model for us, aren’t we obliged to follow Him?

As it is not possible to walk without feet or fly without wings, so it is impossible to attain the Kingdom of Heaven without the fulfillment of the commandments.

The Lord said, 'When you have done all that is commanded you, say: We are useless servants: we have only done what was our duty' (Luke 17:10). Thus the kingdom of heaven is not a reward for works, but a gift of grace prepared by the Master for His faithful servants.

The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.

He who wishes to tear up the account of his sins and to be inscribed in the Divine book of the saved, can find for this purpose no better means than obedience.

St. Callistus II of Constantinople, St. Ignatius of Constantinople

Willing obedience is an action which shows more courage and strength of spirit than subjugating great kings and ruling over them…

He is not yet a faithful servant who bases himself on bare knowledge alone; a faithful servant is he who professes his faith by obedience to Christ, Who gave the commandments.

Obedience is the medicine compounded of virtues, giving life to those who drink it, and the knife which, with one cut, cleans festering wounds. A man who, in faith and simplicity, has chosen to wield this knife, at once cuts off all passions, more completely than anyone...

Keep your conscience keen and bright, and refrain from hankering after, or expecting, consolation. Leave that to God. He knows when, where, and how to give it to you.

There is nothing more burdensome and grievous then when conscience accuses us in anything, and there is nothing dearer then calmness and approval of the conscience.

Therefore silence, prayer, obedience; when you practice these virtues with the help of God, then you will know the light of Christ is within your soul.

He who is obedient, is an imitator of Christ, and he who is proud and talks back is an imitator of the devil. So let us be careful, whom we are imitating, Christ or the devil…The so-called Christians must be true, in word and deed and not false, only in name.

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

Obedience responds to obedience. When someone obeys God, then God obeys his request.

St. Basil the Great

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