Quotes

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

Prayer

Until we have acquired true prayer, we are like those who introduce children to walking. Make the effort to raise up, or rather, to enclose your mind within the words of your prayer; and if, like a child, it gets tired and falters, raise it up again. The mind, after all, is naturally unstable, but the God Who can do everything can also give it firm endurance. Persevere in this, therefore, and do not grow weary...

St. John Climacus

Prayer

Ask the angels and the saints to intercede for you, just as you'd ask people who are alive. Stand face to face with them, in the belief that they are also standing face to face with you.

St. John of Kronstadt

Prayer

We must always pray to the Lord to tell us what to do, and the Lord will not let us go astray. Adam was not wise enough to ask the Lord about the fruit which Eve gave him, and so he lost paradise. David did not ask the Lord whether it would be a good thing if he took Beth-sheba to wife, and so he fell into the sins of murder and adultery. So with all the saints who sinned: they sinned because they had not called upon God to enlighten and help them. St. Seraphim of Sarov said, ‘When I spoke of myself I was often in error.’

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Prayer

Prayer is a remedy against grief and depression.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

Before the war begins, seek out your ally; before you fall ill, seek out your physician; and before grievous things come upon you, pray, and in the time of your tribulations you will find Him, and He will listen to you.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Tests

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

St. Mark the Ascetic

Prayer

What air is for the life of the body, the Holy Spirit is for the life of the soul. By means of prayer, the soul breathes this holy, mysterious air.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Prayer

Do you wish God to hear your prayer immediately, brother? When you lift your hands up to heaven, pray first of all, with your heart, for your enemies and God will grant you speedily whatever else you request.

Abba Zenon

Prayer

If someone should ask: how am I to pray?, the answer is very simple: fear God. Experience of the fear of God arouses attention and consciousness in the heart and forces it to stand with devotion before God.

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

Prayer

The head of every good striving and the pinnacle of all corrections is to persevere in prayer, by which we may ever obtain, through entreaty of God, all the other virtues as well. By prayer those who are worthy partake of the sanctity of God and spiritual activity and the union of the mind with the Lord in unutterable love. He who constantly forces himself to endure in prayer is roused by spiritual love to Divine fervor and flaming desire towards God, and he receives, according to his measure, the grace of spiritual, sanctifying perfection.

St. Macarius the Great

Prayer

Pray simply. Do not expect to find in your heart any remarkable gift of prayer. Consider yourself unworthy of it. Then you will find peace. Use the empty cold dryness of your prayer as food for your humility. Repeat constantly: I am not worthy; Lord, I am not worthy! But say it calmly; without agitation.

St. Macarius of Optina

Prayer

There is yet another reason that may cause our prayer to go unanswered: namely, that though we pray we yet continue in sin.

St. John Chrysostom

Prayer

We must always pray, so that the Lord will tell us what we must do, and the Lord will not leave us in confusion.

St. Silouan of the Holy Mountain

Prayer

Whatever you have endured out of love of wisdom will bear fruit for you at the time of prayer.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

It is natural for the poor man to beg, and it is natural for man made poor by the fall into sin to pray.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Prayer

Prayer attunes us for converse with God and, through long practice, leads us to friendship with Him.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Prayer

As a bird without wings, as a soldier without arms, so is a Christian without prayer.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

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Ask the angels and the saints to intercede for you, just as you'd ask people who are alive. Stand face to face with them, in the belief that they are also standing face to face with you.

Prayer is a remedy against grief and depression.

Before the war begins, seek out your ally; before you fall ill, seek out your physician; and before grievous things come upon you, pray, and in the time of your tribulations you will find Him, and He will listen to you.

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

What air is for the life of the body, the Holy Spirit is for the life of the soul. By means of prayer, the soul breathes this holy, mysterious air.

Do you wish God to hear your prayer immediately, brother? When you lift your hands up to heaven, pray first of all, with your heart, for your enemies and God will grant you speedily whatever else you request.

If someone should ask: how am I to pray?, the answer is very simple: fear God. Experience of the fear of God arouses attention and consciousness in the heart and forces it to stand with devotion before God.

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

There is yet another reason that may cause our prayer to go unanswered: namely, that though we pray we yet continue in sin.

We must always pray, so that the Lord will tell us what we must do, and the Lord will not leave us in confusion.

Whatever you have endured out of love of wisdom will bear fruit for you at the time of prayer.

It is natural for the poor man to beg, and it is natural for man made poor by the fall into sin to pray.

Prayer attunes us for converse with God and, through long practice, leads us to friendship with Him.

As a bird without wings, as a soldier without arms, so is a Christian without prayer.

"Just as breathing is necessary for life, and just as food is necessary for the sustenance of the body, so is frequent Communion necessary for the life of the soul and for the sustenance of its substance, or rather it is incomparably more necessary."

St. Macarius of Corinth

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