Quotes

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

Sin

For never is a man forced into sin by another’s fault, unless he have, stowed away in his heart, matter for evil deeds. Nor is a man to be held a victim of sudden deception if at the sight of a woman’s beauty he fall into an abyss of vile lust. Rather is it that diseases of soul, deeply hidden away and lost to view, come then to the surface on the occasion of the sight.

St. John Cassian

Sin

Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland.

St. Herman of Alaska

Talking

Nothing is more unsettling than talkativeness and more pernicious than an unbridled tongue, disruptive as it is of the soul’s proper state. For the soul’s chatter destroys what we build each day and scatters what we have laboriously gathered together.

St. Philotheus of Sinai

Sin

All sin is due to sensual pleasure, all forgiveness to hardship and distress.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Talking

If Moses, who was a god to Pharaoh, was shut out from the Land of Promise because of one word, how much more will not the evil speech of our tongue, by which we offend and hurt both God and man, shut us out from heaven?

St. Ephraim the Syrian

Sin

Woe is he who knowingly chooses to sin with the intention to repent when morning comes, for he knows not what the coming day or the night that precedes it will bring.

St. Ephraim the Syrian

Talking

The more a man's tongue flees verbosity, the more his intellect is illumined so as to be able to discern deep thoughts; for the rational intellect is befuddled by verbosity.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Sin

Let us not put off from day to day, without observing how sin is injuring us.

St. Macarius the Great

Sin

If however any one thinks that he is not being burned when sinning, to him the Scripture saith, Shall a man wrap up fire in his bosom, and not burn his clothes? For sin burns the sinews of the soul, and breaks the spiritual bones of the mind, and darkens the light of the heart.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Sin

Those who have sinned must not despair. Let that never be. For we are condemned not for the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent...

St. Mark the Ascetic

Sin

Being delivered from bodily sins is not enough, we must also cleanse the inner energy which dwells in our souls.

St. Gregory Palamas

Talking

Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart.

Abba Poemen

Sin

The man who has come to loathe sin has mounted the first rung of the heavenly ladder.

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Sin

Just as desire and rage multiply our sins, so self-control and humility erase them.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Sin

Believe me, brethren, the more we are now in earnest to keep ourselves free from sin, the more confident shall we then be in His Presence.

St. Gregory the Great

Talking

But let us speak that which is good, to the edification of faith. That is, to speak only what will help to build up our neighbor in virtue; nothing more than that.

St. John Chrysostom

Sin

Every man who has committed sin, has stopped up the senses of his soul with the mud of pleasure.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Knowledge

If you have received from God the gift of knowledge, however limited, beware of neglecting charity and temperance. They are virtues which radically purify the soul from passions and so open the way of knowledge continually.

St. Maximus the Confessor

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Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland.

Nothing is more unsettling than talkativeness and more pernicious than an unbridled tongue, disruptive as it is of the soul’s proper state. For the soul’s chatter destroys what we build each day and scatters what we have laboriously gathered together.

All sin is due to sensual pleasure, all forgiveness to hardship and distress.

If Moses, who was a god to Pharaoh, was shut out from the Land of Promise because of one word, how much more will not the evil speech of our tongue, by which we offend and hurt both God and man, shut us out from heaven?

Woe is he who knowingly chooses to sin with the intention to repent when morning comes, for he knows not what the coming day or the night that precedes it will bring.

The more a man's tongue flees verbosity, the more his intellect is illumined so as to be able to discern deep thoughts; for the rational intellect is befuddled by verbosity.

Let us not put off from day to day, without observing how sin is injuring us.

If however any one thinks that he is not being burned when sinning, to him the Scripture saith, Shall a man wrap up fire in his bosom, and not burn his clothes? For sin burns the sinews of the soul, and breaks the spiritual bones of the mind, and darkens the light of the heart.

Those who have sinned must not despair. Let that never be. For we are condemned not for the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent...

Being delivered from bodily sins is not enough, we must also cleanse the inner energy which dwells in our souls.

Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart.

The man who has come to loathe sin has mounted the first rung of the heavenly ladder.

Just as desire and rage multiply our sins, so self-control and humility erase them.

Believe me, brethren, the more we are now in earnest to keep ourselves free from sin, the more confident shall we then be in His Presence.

But let us speak that which is good, to the edification of faith. That is, to speak only what will help to build up our neighbor in virtue; nothing more than that.

Every man who has committed sin, has stopped up the senses of his soul with the mud of pleasure.

If you have received from God the gift of knowledge, however limited, beware of neglecting charity and temperance. They are virtues which radically purify the soul from passions and so open the way of knowledge continually.

"He who has not received within himself the kingdom of God cannot recognize the Antichrist. He is absolutely sure to become in a way incomprehensible to himself his follower."

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

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