Quotes

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

Passions

So long as the soul is sick with passions, its senses have no perception of the spiritual; and the soul does not even know how to desire it, but desires it only from hearsay and writings. The power of the soul is cured of these diseases by the hidden practice of commandments, with sharing in Christ's passion.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Passions

You cannot destroy the passions on your own, but ask God, and He will destroy them, if this is profitable for you.

St. Anatoly of Optina

Purity

Serving the sick is one of the most powerful weapons for guarding one's purity.

St. Anatoly of Optina

Tests

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Will

The moral character and moral value of man's personality depends most of all on the direction and strength of the will. Of course, everyone understands that for a Christian it is necessary to have first, a strong and decisive will, and second, a will which is firmly directed toward the good of his neighbor, toward the side of good and not evil. How is one to develop a strong will? The answer is simple: above all through the exercise of the will. To do this, as with bodily exercise, it is necessary to begin slowly, little by little. However, having begun to exercise one's will in anything ( e.g., in a constant struggle with one's sinful habits or whims) this work on oneself must never cease. Moreover, a Christian who wishes to strengthen his will, his character, must from the very beginning avoid all dissipation, disorder and inconsistency of behavior. Otherwise, he will be a person without character, unreliable, a reed shaking in the wind, as we read in Holy Scripture.

St. Philaret of New York

Passions

If Nabuzardan, the court cook of the King of the Babylonians, had not gone to Jerusalem, then the Temple would not have burned (cf. 2 Kings 24), That is to say, a person’s mind is not attacked by the flames of carnal pleasures, if a person is not conquered by gluttony.

Abba Poemen

Passions

The holy Fathers' counsel is to begin with small things, for, says Ephraim the Syrian, how can you put out a great fire before you have learned to quench a small one? If you wish to set yourself free from a great suffering, crush the small desires, say the holy Fathers. Do not suppose that the one can be separated from the others: they all hang together like a long chain or a net.

Tito Colliander

Will

Our own will is like a wall of brass between us and God, preventing us from coming near to Him or contemplating His mercy.

Abba Pimen

Tests

Knowing the exact nature of everything, God permits each person to be tested according to his strength. As St. Paul puts it: 'God is to be trusted not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial He will provide a way out, so that you are able to bear it' (1 Cor. 10:13).

St. Macarius the Great

Purity

How can one say that a man has attained purity? - When he sees all men as being good, and when none appears to him to be unclean and defiled - then he is indeed pure in heart.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Tests

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Passions

Even if thy soul should suffer somewhat from an offense, keep the sorrow within thyself. For it is said: 'Within me my heart is troubled' (Psalm 142:4), that is, the passion has not come out, but has been humbled like a wave that has broken up on the shore. Calm thy raging heart. Let thy passions be ashamed at the presence of reason in thee, as playful children are ashamed before a man commanding respect.

St. Basil the Great

Passions

If the main goal of the repentant sinner should be total, light-bearing and blessed communion with God, then the main hindrance to this is the existence of the passions still active and working in him - the virtues being as yet unsealed in him - and the unrighteousness of his powers. Therefore his main work upon conversion and repentance should be the uprooting of the passions and sealing the virtues - in a word, correcting himself.

St. Theophan the Recluse

Tests

Grace always precedes temptation, as if to notify you saying, 'Prepare yourself and lock your doors.'

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Passions

Strive with all your might to bring your interior activity into accord with God, and you will overcome exterior passions.

St. Arsenius the Great

Passions

If you abandon God and are a slave to the passions, you cannot reap God's mercy.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Passions

Spiritual freedom is release from the passions; without Christ’s mercy you cannot attain it.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Passions

When we turn our spirit from the contemplation of God, we become the slaves of carnal passions.

Abba Theonas

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You cannot destroy the passions on your own, but ask God, and He will destroy them, if this is profitable for you.

Serving the sick is one of the most powerful weapons for guarding one's purity.

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

If Nabuzardan, the court cook of the King of the Babylonians, had not gone to Jerusalem, then the Temple would not have burned (cf. 2 Kings 24), That is to say, a person’s mind is not attacked by the flames of carnal pleasures, if a person is not conquered by gluttony.

Our own will is like a wall of brass between us and God, preventing us from coming near to Him or contemplating His mercy.

Knowing the exact nature of everything, God permits each person to be tested according to his strength. As St. Paul puts it: 'God is to be trusted not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial He will provide a way out, so that you are able to bear it' (1 Cor. 10:13).

How can one say that a man has attained purity? - When he sees all men as being good, and when none appears to him to be unclean and defiled - then he is indeed pure in heart.

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

Grace always precedes temptation, as if to notify you saying, 'Prepare yourself and lock your doors.'

Strive with all your might to bring your interior activity into accord with God, and you will overcome exterior passions.

If you abandon God and are a slave to the passions, you cannot reap God's mercy.

Spiritual freedom is release from the passions; without Christ’s mercy you cannot attain it.

When we turn our spirit from the contemplation of God, we become the slaves of carnal passions.

St. Basil the Great

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