Quotes

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

Prayer

Your prayer must have four constituent parts, says Basil the Great: adoration, thanksgiving, confession of sin and petition for salvation.

Tito Colliander

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

To bear a grudge and pray, means to sow seed on the sea and expect a harvest.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Pleasure

Almost every sin is committed for the sake of sensual pleasure; and sensual pleasure is overcome by hardship and distress arising either voluntarily from repentance, or else involuntarily as a result of some salutary and providential reversal.

St. Maximus the Confessor

Prayer

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

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

Unless humility and love, simplicity and goodness regulate our prayer, this prayer - or, rather, this pretence of prayer - cannot profit us at all. And this applies not only to prayer, but to every labor and hardship undertaken for the sake of virtue.

St. Macarius the Great

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

Pleasure

The soul's health consists in dispassion and spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Prayer

Pray and sigh, pleading with God Himself to grant you zeal and inclination: for without Him we are good for no task whatsoever.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Prayer

It is natural for the poor man to beg, and it is natural for man made poor by the fall into sin to pray.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Prayer

What air is for the life of the body, the Holy Spirit is for the life of the soul. By means of prayer, the soul breathes this holy, mysterious air.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Prayer

Ask the angels and the saints to intercede for you, just as you'd ask people who are alive. Stand face to face with them, in the belief that they are also standing face to face with you.

St. John of Kronstadt

Prayer

We must always pray, so that the Lord will tell us what we must do, and the Lord will not leave us in confusion.

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

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

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

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

Prayer is a refuge for those who are shaken, an anchor for those tossed by waves, a walking stick for the infirm, a treasure house for the poor, a stronghold for the rich, a destroyer of sicknesses, a preserver of health. Prayer keeps our virtues intact and quickly removes all evil. If temptation overtakes us, it easily drives it away; if we lose some property or something else, which causes our soul grief, it removes it. Prayer banishes every sorrow, causes good humor, facilitates constant well-being. It is the mother of. love of wisdom. He who can sincerely pray is richer than everyone else, even though he is the poorest of all. On the contrary, he who does not have recourse to prayer, even though he sit on a king's throne, is the poorest of all...

St. John Chrysostom

Prayer

Pray simply. Do not expect to find in your heart any remarkable gift of prayer. Consider yourself unworthy of it. Then you will find peace. Use the empty cold dryness of your prayer as food for your humility. Repeat constantly: I am not worthy; Lord, I am not worthy! But say it calmly; without agitation.

St. Macarius of Optina

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Your prayer must have four constituent parts, says Basil the Great: adoration, thanksgiving, confession of sin and petition for salvation.

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.

To bear a grudge and pray, means to sow seed on the sea and expect a harvest.

Almost every sin is committed for the sake of sensual pleasure; and sensual pleasure is overcome by hardship and distress arising either voluntarily from repentance, or else involuntarily as a result of some salutary and providential reversal.

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

Unless humility and love, simplicity and goodness regulate our prayer, this prayer - or, rather, this pretence of prayer - cannot profit us at all. And this applies not only to prayer, but to every labor and hardship undertaken for the sake of virtue.

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.

The soul's health consists in dispassion and spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.

Pray and sigh, pleading with God Himself to grant you zeal and inclination: for without Him we are good for no task whatsoever.

It is natural for the poor man to beg, and it is natural for man made poor by the fall into sin to pray.

What air is for the life of the body, the Holy Spirit is for the life of the soul. By means of prayer, the soul breathes this holy, mysterious air.

Ask the angels and the saints to intercede for you, just as you'd ask people who are alive. Stand face to face with them, in the belief that they are also standing face to face with you.

We must always pray, so that the Lord will tell us what we must do, and the Lord will not leave us in confusion.

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.

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. Macarius the Great

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