Quotes

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

Scriptures

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.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Scriptures

Ignorance of the scriptures is a precipice and a deep abyss.

St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis

Constant Prayer

Constant prayer is the strength, and the armor, and the wall of the soul.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria

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

Scriptures

The Holy Fathers teach us how to become familiar with the Gospel, how to read it and how to understand it, what helps and what opposes its understanding. Therefore, at first you must devote more time to reading the Holy Fathers...

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Scriptures

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.

St. John Chrysostom

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

If however any one thinks that he is not being burned when sinning, to him the Scripture saith, Shall a man wrap up fire in his bosom, and not burn his clothes? For sin burns the sinews of the soul, and breaks the spiritual bones of the mind, and darkens the light of the heart.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Sinners

The flow of history confirms the reality of the Gospel: the Church is filled to overflowing with sinners. Does their presence in the Church reduce, violate, or destroy her sanctity? Not in the least! For her Head—the Lord Christ, and her Soul—the Holy Spirit, and her divine teaching, her mysteries, and her virtues, are indissolubly and immutably holy. The Church tolerates sinners, shelters them, and instructs them, that they may be awakened and roused to repentance and spiritual recovery and transfiguration; but they do not hinder the Church from being holy. Only unrepentant sinners, persistent in evil and godless malice, are cut off from the Church either by the visible action of the theanthropic authority of the Church or by the invisible action of divine judgment, so that thus also the holiness of the Church may be preserved.

Fr. Justin Popovich

Scriptures

If you love the Sender, then also love the letter which is sent from Him to you. For the word of God is given by God to me, to you, and to everyone, so that everyone who desires to be saved may receive salvation through it.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Sin

Do not hate the sinner. Become a proclaimer of God's grace, seeing that God provides for you even though you are unworthy.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Sin

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

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Sin

Sin disfigures a man, while grace brings beauty.

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Sinners

Love sinners, but hate their works; and do not despise them for their faults, lest you be tempted by the same trespasses.

St. Isaac the Syrian

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

Constant Prayer

Unceasing prayer means to have the mind always turned to God with great love, holding alive our hope in Him, having confidence in Him whatever we are doing and whatever happens to us. That is the attitude that the Apostle had when he wrote: ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril? Neither death nor life nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.’ [cf. Rom. 8:35-38]

St. Maximus the Confessor

Sin

If you feel no pang in committing minor offences you will through them fall into major transgressions.

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

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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.

Ignorance of the scriptures is a precipice and a deep abyss.

Constant prayer is the strength, and the armor, and the wall of the soul.

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

The Holy Fathers teach us how to become familiar with the Gospel, how to read it and how to understand it, what helps and what opposes its understanding. Therefore, at first you must devote more time to reading the Holy Fathers...

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.

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

If however any one thinks that he is not being burned when sinning, to him the Scripture saith, Shall a man wrap up fire in his bosom, and not burn his clothes? For sin burns the sinews of the soul, and breaks the spiritual bones of the mind, and darkens the light of the heart.

If you love the Sender, then also love the letter which is sent from Him to you. For the word of God is given by God to me, to you, and to everyone, so that everyone who desires to be saved may receive salvation through it.

Do not hate the sinner. Become a proclaimer of God's grace, seeing that God provides for you even though you are unworthy.

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

Sin disfigures a man, while grace brings beauty.

Love sinners, but hate their works; and do not despise them for their faults, lest you be tempted by the same trespasses.

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

If you feel no pang in committing minor offences you will through them fall into major transgressions.

"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

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