All the sons of the Church rejoice, and all the people, when they see the Body setting forth from the midst of the alter; and even as the apostles rejoiced in our Lord after His resurrection, so do all the faithful rejoice when they see Him.
-St. Narsai Harp of the Spirit
“The Doctor of our souls has placed the remedy in the hidden regions of the soul.”
+ St. John Cassian, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 1), “On the Eight Vices: On the Demon of Unchasity and the Desire of the Flesh”
The thief who received the kingdom of heaven, though not as the reward of virtue, is a true witness to the fact that salvation is ours through the grace and mercy of God.
All of our holy fathers knew this and all with one accord teach that perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility.
Humility, in its turn, can be achieved only through faith, fear of God, gentleness and the shedding of all possessions.
It is by means of these that we attain perfect love, through the grace and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory through all the ages. Amen.
+ St. John Cassian, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 1), “On the Eight Vices: On Pride”
“If you believe what you like in the Gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
— St. Augustine of Hippo
To lovers of the truth, nothing can be put before God and hope in Him.”
St. Basil The Great
“The truly intelligent man pursues one sole objective: to obey and conform to the God of all. With this single aim in view, he disciplines his soul, and whatever he may encounter in the course of his life, he gives thanks to God for the compass and depth of His providential ordering of all things.
For it is absurd to be grateful to doctors who give us bitter and unpleasant medicines to cure our bodies, and yet to be ungrateful to God for what appears to us to be harsh, not grasping that all we encounter is for our benefit and in accordance with His providence. For knowledge of God and faith in Him is the salvation and perfection of the soul.”
— St. Anthony the Great
Let us take refuge from this world. You can do this in spirit, even if you are kept here in the body. You can at the same time be here and present to the Lord. Your soul must hold fast to him, you must follow after him in your thoughts, you must tread his ways by faith, not in outward show.
-Saint Ambrose of Milan
“By the death of martyrs religion has been defended, faith increased, the Church strengthened; the dead have conquered, the persecutors have been overcome. And so we celebrate the death of those of whose lives we are ignorant. So, too, David rejoiced in prophecy at the departure of his own soul, saying: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.’ He esteemed death better than life. The death itself of the martyrs is the prize of their life. And again, by the death of those at variance hatred is put an end to.”
+ St. Ambrose of Milan, On Belief in the Resurrection
The Son, whose birth is beyond investigation, underwent another birth which can be investigated.
In one fell swoop, St. Ephrem eviscerates both empiricism (everything must be investigated scientifically) and fideism (faith in God means we don’t need reason)
— St. Ephraim the Syrian
When, then, you make the sign of the cross on the forehead, arm yourself with a saintly boldness, and reinstall your soul in its old liberty; for you are not ignorant that the cross is a prize beyond all price.
Consider what is the price given for your ransom, and you will never more be slave to any man on earth. This reward and ransom is the cross. You should not then, carelessly make the sign on the forehead, but you should impress it on your heart with the love of a fervent faith. Nothing impure will dare to molest you on seeing the weapon, which overcometh all things.
+ St. John Chrysostom
