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

Just as the most bitter medicine drives out poisonous things, so prayer joined to fasting drives evil thoughts away.

The Scriptures were not given merely that we might have them in books, but that we might engrave them on our hearts.

We should zealously cultivate watchfulness, my brethren; and when, our mind purified in Christ Jesus, we are exalted by the vision it confers, we should review our sins and our former life, so that shattered and humbled at the thought of them we may never lose the help of Jesus Christ our God in the invisible battle.

Your enemy, the evil one, the father of lies, does not slumber; and endeavors, by every means open to him, to harden your heart --- to make it false and crafty, to drive out from it faith and hope in God - together with love for Him and love and sympathy for your neighbor - and to occupy you with worldly, temporal interests. Watch yourself, watch the thoughts of your heart, and do not bind yourself in the chains of worldly desires and pleasures. Let your happiness be in the one God and the human soul.

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

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

He who fears God will pay careful attention to his soul and will free himself from communion with evil.

If the saints, who had attained passionlessless, had to be vigilant over themselves so as not to fall from their state of grace - then all the more is daily attentiveness and concern over our eternal salvation necessary for us sinners. The fact that we are still alive means that the Lord patiently endures our sins and awaits our amendment, and if someone lawfully labors for his salvation, the Lord takes him at a time when he becomes worthy of God’s mercy.

Continually take careful note of your inner intention: watch carefully which way it inclines, and discover whether it is for God and the sake of goodness itself and the benefit of your soul...

Evil is not an actual substance, but absence of good; just as darkness is nothing but absence of light.

God asks only this of us, that our heart be purified through watchfulness.

Reading the Scriptures is a great means of security against sinning.

When someone is beginning the spiritual life, he should not study a lot, but instead watch himself and guard his thoughts. A strong person is the one who chews well, not the one who eats a lot.

Reading the scriptures is a great safeguard against sin.

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...

One should nourish the soul with the word of God: for the word of God, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, is angelic bread, by which are nourished souls who hunger for God. Most of all, one should occupy oneself with reading the New Testament and the Psalter, which one should do standing up. From this there occurs an enlightenment in the mind, which is in the mind, which is changed by a Divine change.

Let us go forward with the heart completely attentive and the soul fully conscious. For if attentiveness and prayer are daily joined together, they become like Elias' fire-bearing chariot, raising us to heaven. What do I mean? A spiritual heaven, with sun, moon and stars, is formed in the blessed heart of one who has reach a state of watchfulness, or who strives to attain it.

He who fears God will pay careful attention to his soul and will free himself from communion with evil.

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Archangel Michael Orthodox Church
5025 E. Mill Rd
Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147

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440-526-5192 (Phone)