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

The vain desires of this world separate us from our homeland; love of them and habit clothe our soul as if in a hideous garment. We, traveling on the journey of this life and calling on God to help us, ought to be divesting ourselves of this hideous garment and clothing ourselves in new desires, in a new love of the age to come, and thereby to receive knowledge of how near or how far we are from our heavenly homeland.

Control your appetites before they control you.

Self-control and strenuous effort curb desire; stillness and intense longing for God wither it.

Knowing the exact nature of everything, God permits each person to be tested according to his strength. As St. Paul puts it: 'God is to be trusted not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial He will provide a way out, so that you are able to bear it' (1 Cor. 10:13).

Fear of the Lord conquers desire, and distress that accords with God's will repulses sensual pleasure.

When despondency seizes us, let us not give in to it. Rather, fortified and protected by the light of faith, let us with great courage say to the spirit of evil: 'What are you to us, you who are cut off from God, a fugitive for Heaven, and a slave of evil? You dare not do anything to us: Christ, the Son of God, has dominion over us and over all. Leave us, you thing of bane. We are made steadfast by the uprightness of His Cross. Serpent, we trample on your head.'

Grace always precedes temptation, as if to notify you saying, 'Prepare yourself and lock your doors.'

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

Just as a moth devours clothing and a worm devours wood, so dejection devours a man’s soul.

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

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5025 E. Mill Rd
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

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