Quotes

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

Possessions

A lover of riches is never satisfied, no matter how many possessions he accumulates, but the more he acquires daily, the more his appetite increases; and a person forcibly pulled away from a stream of pure water before he has quenched his thirst feels even more thirsty. In a similar way, once one has experienced the taste of God, one can never be satisfied or have enough of it, but however much one is enriched by this wealth one still feels oneself to be poor. Christians do not set great store by their own lives, but regard themselves rather as rightly set at nought by God and as everyone’s servants.

St. Macarius the Great

Possessions

All other possessions do not really belong to the one who has them or to the one who has acquired them for they are exchanged back and forth like a game of dice. Only virtue among our possessions cannot be taken away, but remains with us when we live and when we die.

St. Basil the Great

Enemies

I beseech you, put this to the test. When a man affronts you or brings dishonor on your head, or takes what is yours, or persecutes the Church, pray to the Lord, saying: 'O Lord, we are all Thy creatures. Have pity on Thy servants and turn their hearts to repentance,' and you will be aware of grace in your soul. To begin with, constrain your heart to love enemies, and the Lord, seeing your good will, will help you in all things, and experience itself will show you the way. But the man who thinks with malice of his enemies has not God's love within him, and does not know God.

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Scriptures

Reading the scriptures is a great safeguard against sin.

St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis

Scriptures

Holy Scripture is presented to the mind’s eye like a mirror in which the appearance of our inner being can be seen.

St. Gregory the Great

Possessions

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

St. John of Kronstadt

Possessions

A man who has embraced poverty offers up prayer that is pure, while a man who loves possessions prays to material images.

St. John Climacus

Possessions

The wealth is not a possession, it is not property, it is a loan for use.

St. John Chrysostom

Scriptures

Put aside bodily considerations when you stand in prayer, lest the bite of a flea, a gnat or a fly deprive you of the greatest gain afforded by prayer.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Scriptures

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

St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis

Possessions

As earth thrown over it extinguishes a fire burning in a stove, so worldly cares and every kind of attachment to something, however small and insignificant, destroys the warmth of the heart which was there at first.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Enemies

The good man thinks to himself in this wise: Every one who has strayed from the truth brings destruction on himself and is therefore to be pitied. But of course the man who has not learned the love of the Holy Spirit will not pray for his enemies. The man who has learned love from the Holy Spirit sorrows all his life over those who are not saved, and sheds abundant tears for the people, and the grace of God gives him strength to love his enemies.

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Scriptures

Whoever is experienced in the spiritual interpretation of Scripture knows that the simplest passage is of a significance equal to that of the most abstruse passage, and that both are directed to the salvation of man.

St. Peter of Damascus

Enemies

Do good to one who wrongs you, and God will be your friend.

St. Anthony the Great

Possessions

Do not the angels differ from us in this respect, that they do not want so many things as we do? Therefore the less we need, the more we are on our way to them; the more we need, the more we sink down to this perishable life.

St. John Chrysostom

Scriptures

A humble and spiritually active man, when he reads the Holy Scripture, will refer everything to himself and not to another.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Vocation

Strive to walk worthily of the vocation to which you were called.

St. Philotheus of Sinai

Possessions

The desire for possessions is dangerous and terrible, knowing no satiety; it drives the soul which it controls to the heights of evil. Therefore, let us drive it away vigorously from the beginning. For once it has become master it cannot be overcome.

St. Isidore of Pelusium

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All other possessions do not really belong to the one who has them or to the one who has acquired them for they are exchanged back and forth like a game of dice. Only virtue among our possessions cannot be taken away, but remains with us when we live and when we die.

Reading the scriptures is a great safeguard against sin.

Holy Scripture is presented to the mind’s eye like a mirror in which the appearance of our inner being can be seen.

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

A man who has embraced poverty offers up prayer that is pure, while a man who loves possessions prays to material images.

The wealth is not a possession, it is not property, it is a loan for use.

Put aside bodily considerations when you stand in prayer, lest the bite of a flea, a gnat or a fly deprive you of the greatest gain afforded by prayer.

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

As earth thrown over it extinguishes a fire burning in a stove, so worldly cares and every kind of attachment to something, however small and insignificant, destroys the warmth of the heart which was there at first.

Whoever is experienced in the spiritual interpretation of Scripture knows that the simplest passage is of a significance equal to that of the most abstruse passage, and that both are directed to the salvation of man.

Do good to one who wrongs you, and God will be your friend.

Do not the angels differ from us in this respect, that they do not want so many things as we do? Therefore the less we need, the more we are on our way to them; the more we need, the more we sink down to this perishable life.

A humble and spiritually active man, when he reads the Holy Scripture, will refer everything to himself and not to another.

Strive to walk worthily of the vocation to which you were called.

The desire for possessions is dangerous and terrible, knowing no satiety; it drives the soul which it controls to the heights of evil. Therefore, let us drive it away vigorously from the beginning. For once it has become master it cannot be overcome.

St. John Chrysostom

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