St. John of Kronstadt St. Dorotheos of Gaza
St. Isaac the Syrian St. Paisius Velichkovsky.
St. Gregory the Great Evagrius of Pontus.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem. St. Peter of Damaskos.
St. Raphael St. Antony the Great.
St. Gregory of Nyssa St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk St. Simeon the New Theologian
"Do not be irritated either with those who sin or those who offend; do not
have a passion for noticing every sin in your neighbor, and for judging him,
as we are in the habit of doing. Everyone shall give an answer to God for
himself. everyone has a conscience, everyone hears God's Word, and knows
God's Will, either from books, or from conversation with other people.
Especially do not look with evil intention upon the sins of your elders,
which do not regard you; 'to his own master he stands or falls.' Correct your
own sins, amend your own life."
St. John of Kronstadt.
"Enter eagerly into the treasure house that lies within you, and so you will
see the treasure house of heaven: for the two are the same, and there is but
one single entry to them both. The ladder that leads to the Kingdom is hidden
within you, and is found in your own soul. Dive into yourself and in your
soul you will discover the rungs by which to ascend."
also
"Be free, though you are bound in a body, and for Christ's sake show forth
obedience in your freedom. But also be prudent in your simplicity, lest you
be plundered. Love humility in all your activities, that you be delivered
from the imperceptible snares that
are always found outside the pathways of humble men. Do not reject
afflictions, for through them you will enter into the knowledge of the truth;
and do not fear temptations, because therein you will find precious things.
Pray that you enter not into the temptations of the soul, but with all your
strength prepare yourself for those of the body. Without these you cannot
draw nigh to God, because divine rest is laid up within them."
St. Isaac the Syrian.
Before a man give way to his passions, even if his thoughts mount an assault
against him, he is always a free man in his own city and he has God as an
ally. If, therefore, he humbles himself before God and bears the yoke of his
trial and affliction with thanksgiving, and puts up a little fight, the help
of God will deliver him. But if he flees labor and goes after bodily
pleasures, then he is necessarily led into the land of the Egyptians and
without wishing it becomes their slave."
St. Dorotheos of Gaza.
Every evening we must test ourselves as to how the day passed with us, and
every morning we again should test ourselves as to how the night passed. And
not only at some definite time but at every time and in every place and
concerning everything we must give account of ourselves, and reflect
concerning the virtues and the passions, in what condition of life we are: in
the beginning, at the middle, or at the end; whether we are laboring worthy
of the rewards and performing virtues, or only laboring without receiving
rewards."
St. Paisius Velichkovsky.
"Examine yourself and strive to adorn it with love, humility, compassion and
hope. Seek the regeneration of your soul, enlightened by the voice of the
Gospel and helped by God. With fear and love for the Heavenly Father, proceed
to sow the seeds of God's word on good soil. Cultivate the talent given by
Christ for the salvation of your soul."
St. Raphael.
St. Simeon the New Theologian.
"Faith, the fear of God, and the observance of His commandments, bring us a
reward in proportion to our purity. For as we are purified, so we rise from
fearing God to loving Him. It is like making progress and passing out of fear
into God's love. It is then that we hear: 'He who accepts My commandments and
keeps them is the one who loves Me.' So then, let us redouble our efforts to
prove our love by our works. For when we have done this, He Himself loves us
just as He promised and His Father loves us in the same way, and the Holy
Spirit, of course, comes before Him to prepare a dwelling place. So it is
that by the indwelling unity of the hypostasis, we become the home of the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit."
St. Simeon the New Theologian.
"Almighty God has allowed His chosen to succumb to certain sins. This is so
that He may restore hope of forgiveness to others, who are under sin's
domination, if they will only rise up to Him wholeheartedly: for then God can
open up for them the way to heaven through sorrow and repentance. Let us them
embrace sorrow, let is rid ourselves of our sins by tears and 'fruits worthy
of repentance.' We must not squander the time that has been granted us. We
see so many freshly washed clean of the wrongs they have done: what else so
we have in them except a pledge of the compassion from on high!"
St. Gregory the Great.
"Allow the Spirit of God to dwell within you; then in His love He will come
and make a habitation with you; He will reside in you and live in you. If
your heart is pure you will see Him and He will sow in you the good seed of
reflection upon His actions and wonder at His majesty. This will happen if
you take the trouble to weed out from your soul the undergrowth of desires,
along with the thorns and tares of bad habits."
Evagrius of Pontus.
If then one should withdraw from those who seduce him to evil and by the use
of his reason turn to the better, putting evil behind him, it is as if he
places his own soul, like a mirror, face to face with the hope of good
things, with the result that the images and impressions of virtue, as it is
shown to him by God, and imprinted in
the purity of his soul. Then his brother brings him assistance and joins him,
for the angel, who in a way is a brother to the rational and intellectual
part of man's soul, appears, as I have said, and stands by us whenever we
approach the Pharaoh."
St. Gregory of Nyssa.
" 'And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.' For we have many
sins. For we offend both in word and in thought, and very many things we do
worthy of condemnation; and 'if we say that we have no sin (1 John 1:8), we
lie, as John says.... The offenses committed against us are slight and
trivial, and easily settled; but those which we have committed against God
are great, and need such mercy as His only is. Take heed, therefore, lest for
the slight and trivial sins against you, you shut out for yourself
forgiveness from God for your very grievous sins."
St. Cyril of Jerusalem.
St.
Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem
hat then? Someone will say: 'We have been beguiled and are lost. Is there
then no salvation left? We have become crippled: Can we never walk upright?
In a word, we are dead: May we not rise again?' He that woke Lazarus who was
four days dead and already stank, shall He not, O man, much more easily raise
thee who art alive? He who shed His precious blood for us, shall Himself
deliver us from sin. Let us not
despair of ourselves, brethren; let us not abandon ourselves to a hopeless
condition. For it is a fearful thing not to believe in a hope of repentance."
St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem
It is always possible to make a new start by means of repentance. 'For a
righteous man may fall seven times And rise again' (Prov. 24:16). And if you
fall again, then rise again, without despairing at all of your salvation, no
matter what happens. So long as you do not surrender yourself willingly to
the enemy, your patient endurance, combined with self-reproach, will suffice
for your salvation. 'For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient,'
says St. Paul, '...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us' (Tit. 3:3,5)."
St. Peter of Damaskos.
"Now, therefore, know that the saints and the righteous, clothed in the
Spirit, pray for us always that we may be humbled before God, and put on
again the garment that we had put off, in our intellectual substance. For
often also has that voice come from God the Father to all who are clothed in
the Spirit, saying to them, 'Comfort, yes, comfort My people!, Says your God:
Speak comfort to Jerusalem.' (Isa. 40:1-2). For God always visits His
creatures, and bestows His goodness upon them."
St. Antony the Great.
Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His
mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we
treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of
your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction,
depend on you yourself, man. For without
forgiveness of sins there is no salvation. You can see for yourself how
terrible it is."
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.