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

And so the holy apostle Paul was not angry when the world called him a ‘fool for Christ’, but, in defiance of the world, accepted the name. It is of no concern, either, to us, how the world regards and calls us. It is, though, of the greatest concern to us how the angels in heaven will regard us and call us when we meet with them after death. That is of fateful importance, and all else is meaningless.

There is no venom more poisonous than that of the asp or cobra, and there is no evil greater than that of self-love. The winged children of self-love are self-praise, self-satisfaction, gluttony, unchastity, self-esteem, jealousy and the crown of all these, pride. Pride can drag down not men alone, but even angels from heaven, and surround them with darkness instead of light.

We are either fools to the world because of Christ or fools to Christ because of the world.

He who loves himself cannot love God. But he who, for love of God, does not love himself, loves God.

A holy man told us one day, that the source of all heresies and schisms in the church was, loving God too little, and ourselves too much.

Self-love precedes all passions, and the scorn of ease precedes all the virtues.

Since self-love is the origin and mother of evil, when this is eradicated all the things which derive from it are eradicated as well. For when self-love is absent, not the slightest trace or form of evil can exist in any way at all.

The greatest obstacle that obstructs God's grace is self-love. When God finds one's heart emptied of all desires, He fills it with His grace.

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