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Everything we do. . .

Everything we do, our every objective, must be undertaken for the sake of… purity of heart… we must practice the reading of the Scripture, together with all the other virtuous activities… to hold our hearts free of the harm of every dangerous passion and in order to rise step by step to the high point of love.”

— John Cassian

The power to bear Mysteries, which. . .

The power to bear Mysteries, which the humble man has received, which makes him perfect in every virtue without toil, this is the very power which the blessed apostles received in the form of fire. For its sake the Saviour commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until they should receive power from on high, that is to say, the Paraclete, which, being interpreted, is the Spirit of consolation. And this is the Spirit of divine visions. Concerning this it is said in divine Scripture: ‘Mysteries are revealed to the humble’ [Ecclus 3:19]. The humble are accounted worthy of receiving in themselves this Spirit of revelations Who teaches mysteries.”

+ St. Isaac of Nineveh, Ascetical Homily 77

For I confess to your Charity that I. . .

“For I confess to your Charity that I have learned to yield this respect and honour only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error. And if in these writings I am perplexed by anything which appears to me opposed to truth, I do not hesitate to suppose that either the manuscript is faulty, or the translator has not caught the meaning of what was said, or I myself have failed to understand it.”

— St. Augustine of Hippo, Letter to St. Jerome, 1:3

I know the laws of. . .

I know the laws of allegory, though less by myself than from the works of others. There are those truly, who do not admit the common sense of the Scriptures, for whom water is not water, but some other nature, who see in a plant, in a fish, what their fancy wishes, who change the nature of reptiles and of wild beasts to suit their allegories, like the interpreters of dreams who explain visions in sleep to make them serve their own ends. For me grass is grass; plant, fish, wild beast, domestic animal, I take all in the literal sense. ‘For I am not ashamed of the Gospel’ [Romans 1:16]

 

-St Anthony the Great

Scripture brought me to. . .

“Scripture brought me to the Gate of Paradise, and the mind stood in wonder as it entered.”

— Ephrem the Syrian

Let books be your dining table, and. . .

“Let books be your dining table, and you shall be full of delights. Let them be your mattress, and you shall sleep restful nights”

St. Ephraim the Syrian

St. John Chrysostom: Perhaps one who loves to speak . . .

“Perhaps one who loves to speak from his own wisdom here also will not allow that the rivers are actually rivers, nor that the waters are precisely waters, but will instill in those who allow themselves to listen to them, that they (under the names of rivers and waters) represented something else. But I entreat you, let us not pay heed to these people, let us stop up our hearing against them, and let us believe the Divine Scripture, and following what is written in it, let us strive to preserve in our souls sound dogmas.”

–St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis, XIII, 4

 

St. John Chrysostom: The Holy Scriptures lead us to God . .

“The Holy Scriptures lead us to God and open the path to the knowledge of God.”

— St. John Chrysostom, Conversations on the Gospel of John, 59:2