Quotes

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

Self-Control

St. Paul says: 'The person engaged in spiritual warfare exercises self control in all things' (I Cor. 9:25). Aware of all that is said in divine Scripture, let us lead our life with self-control, especially in regard to food.

St. Philotheus of Sinai

Tests

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

St. Mark the Ascetic

Self-Control

Love and self-control purify the soul.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

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

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

Talking

A single word made the thief pure and holy, despite all his previous crimes, and brought him into paradise (cf. Luke 23:42-43). A single ill-advised word prevented Moses from entering the promised land (cf. Num. 20:12). We should not suppose, then, that garrulity is only a minor disease. Lovers of slander and gossip shut themselves out of the kingdom of heaven.

St. John of Karpathos

Talking

Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart.

Abba Poemen

Self-Control

Lack of self-control is actually an evil both ancient and modern, though it did not precede its antidote, fasting. By means of our Forefathers' self-indulgence in paradise and their contempt for the fast already in existance there, death entered the world. Sin reigned and brought in the condemnation of our nature from Adam until Christ.

St. Gregory Palamas

Talking

A person lighting a fire first has a small piece of tinder. This represents the word of the brother who has upset him. This little fire is very feeble. What significance has the word of your brother? If you put up with it you blow out the small fire, but if you begin to think to yourself, 'Why did he say that to me? I myself can answer him. If he did not want to hurt me, he wouldn't have said that and believe me, I can upset him too.' In this case, you add small pieces of wood to the fire and some other fuel like the person that lights a fire and you produce smoke which is agitation. Agitation is the movement and coming together of thoughts which stimulate the heart and make it audacious. Audacity is the taking of retribution against the person that has upset you, and this becomes insolence as Abba Mark said, 'Evil accepted in thought makes the heart audacious, but when this is revoked through prayer and hope, it makes it contrite.'

St. Dorotheus of Gaza

Tests

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

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Talking

The iniquitous mouth is stopped during prayer, for the condemnation of the conscience deprives a man of his boldness.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Self-Control

If you lay down rules for yourself, do not disobey yourself; for he who cheats himself is self-deluded.

St. Thalassios the Libyan

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

Self-Control

Control your stomach, sleep, anger, and tongue, and you will not 'dash your foot against a stone.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Talking

He who guards his lips preserves his soul; but he who is bold with his lips dishonors himself.

St. Nazarius of Valaam

Self-Control

No virtue makes flesh-bound man so like a spiritual angel as does self-restraint, for it enables those still living on earth to become, as the Apostle says, 'citizens of heaven' (cf. Phil. 3:20).

St. John Cassian

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

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Each Christian, especially a priest, should follow in example the goodness of the Lord, that everyone should be invited to partake of the Lord's food at your table. The miser is an enemy of the Lord.

St. Paul says: 'The person engaged in spiritual warfare exercises self control in all things' (I Cor. 9:25). Aware of all that is said in divine Scripture, let us lead our life with self-control, especially in regard to food.

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

Love and self-control purify the soul.

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.

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.

Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart.

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

The iniquitous mouth is stopped during prayer, for the condemnation of the conscience deprives a man of his boldness.

If you lay down rules for yourself, do not disobey yourself; for he who cheats himself is self-deluded.

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.

Control your stomach, sleep, anger, and tongue, and you will not 'dash your foot against a stone.'

He who guards his lips preserves his soul; but he who is bold with his lips dishonors himself.

No virtue makes flesh-bound man so like a spiritual angel as does self-restraint, for it enables those still living on earth to become, as the Apostle says, 'citizens of heaven' (cf. Phil. 3:20).

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.

"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..."

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

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