Quotes

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

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

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

Prayer

Pray firstly to be purified of passions, secondly to be freed from ignorance and forgetfulness, and thirdly to be delivered from all temptation and forsaking.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

Do you wish God to hear your prayer immediately, brother? When you lift your hands up to heaven, pray first of all, with your heart, for your enemies and God will grant you speedily whatever else you request.

Abba Zenon

Prayer

Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

The evil spirit tries to scatter prayer as if it were a sand heap, tries to turn the words into dry sand, without coherency or moisture - that is to say, without fervor of heart. Thus prayer may become either a house built on sand or a house built on a rock. Those build on sand who pray without faith, absently, coldly: such prayer is scattered of itself, and does not bring any profit to him who prays; those build on a rock who, during the whole time of their prayer, have their eyes fixed upon God, and pray to Him as to a living person, conversing face to face with them.

St. John of Kronstadt

Prayer

Whether you pray with brethren or alone, try to pray not simply as a routine, but with conscious awareness of your prayer. Conscious awareness of prayer is concentration accompanied by reverence, compunction and distress of soul as it confesses its sin with inward sorrow.

St. Evagrius the Solitary

Prayer

Stand at prayer before the invisible God as if you saw Him, and with the conviction that He sees you and is looking at you attentively.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Prayer

A great effort and much toil are needed in prayer before we can reach a state in which our mind is no longer troubled, and so attain the inward heaven of the heart where Christ dwells. As St. Paul says, 'Do you not realize that Christ dwells within you, unless you are worthless?' (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).

St. John of Karpathos

Prayer

The joint prayer of husband and wife is a great force.

St. Macarius of Optina

Prayer

When said with pain, the prayer gives birth to mourning. Mourning brings tears. Tears in turn give birth to purer prayer. For tears like a fragrant myrrh wash away the filth, and thus the inbreathing of God is cleansed, which like a dove is confined within four walls, as if made of the four elements.... And then, as soon as the walls break down and collapse, the dove immediately flies to the Father whence it came.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Prayer

Only the benumbed soul doesn’t pray. Preserve in yourselves the feeling of need, and you will always have stimulation for prayer.

St. Theophan the Recluse

Prayer

When praying, endeavor by every means to feel in your heart the truth and the power of the words of the prayer; feed yourself upon them as upon an imperishable food; water your heart with them as with a dew; and warm yourself by them as by means of a beneficial fire.

St. John of Kronstadt

Prayer

Prayer... by its action it is the reconciliation of man with God, the mother and daughter of tears, a bridge for crossing temptations, a wall of protection from afflictions, a crushing of conflicts, boundless activity, the spring of virtues, the source of spiritual gifts, invisible progress, food of the soul, the enlightening of the mind, an axe for despair, a demonstration of hope, the release from sorrow.

Abba Agathon

Prayer

The best form of prayer is one that implants the clearest idea of God in the soul and thus makes space for the presence of God within us.

St. Basil the Great

Prayer

Prayer demands that the mind should be pure of all thought and should admit nothing not belonging to prayer, even if it were good in itself. As if inspired by God the mind should withdraw from all things and hold its converse with Him alone.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

Bear in mind that prayer alone, unaccompanied by moral improvement, is useless.

St. Macarius of Optina

Prayer

Prayer attunes us for converse with God and, through long practice, leads us to friendship with Him.

St. Nilus of Sinai

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

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

Pray firstly to be purified of passions, secondly to be freed from ignorance and forgetfulness, and thirdly to be delivered from all temptation and forsaking.

Do you wish God to hear your prayer immediately, brother? When you lift your hands up to heaven, pray first of all, with your heart, for your enemies and God will grant you speedily whatever else you request.

Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.

Whether you pray with brethren or alone, try to pray not simply as a routine, but with conscious awareness of your prayer. Conscious awareness of prayer is concentration accompanied by reverence, compunction and distress of soul as it confesses its sin with inward sorrow.

Stand at prayer before the invisible God as if you saw Him, and with the conviction that He sees you and is looking at you attentively.

A great effort and much toil are needed in prayer before we can reach a state in which our mind is no longer troubled, and so attain the inward heaven of the heart where Christ dwells. As St. Paul says, 'Do you not realize that Christ dwells within you, unless you are worthless?' (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).

The joint prayer of husband and wife is a great force.

Only the benumbed soul doesn’t pray. Preserve in yourselves the feeling of need, and you will always have stimulation for prayer.

When praying, endeavor by every means to feel in your heart the truth and the power of the words of the prayer; feed yourself upon them as upon an imperishable food; water your heart with them as with a dew; and warm yourself by them as by means of a beneficial fire.

The best form of prayer is one that implants the clearest idea of God in the soul and thus makes space for the presence of God within us.

Prayer demands that the mind should be pure of all thought and should admit nothing not belonging to prayer, even if it were good in itself. As if inspired by God the mind should withdraw from all things and hold its converse with Him alone.

Bear in mind that prayer alone, unaccompanied by moral improvement, is useless.

Prayer attunes us for converse with God and, through long practice, leads us to friendship with Him.

"How destructive to the heart is even momentary attachment for anything earthly."

St. John of Kronstadt

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