He stood in the place of judgment and bore insult, as Man; and He declared that He is about to come in glory, as
God. He bore His cross upon His shoulder, as a Man; and He revealed and announced the destruction of Zion, as God.
-St. Narsai Harp of the Spirit
When death has been brought upon a saint, we ought not to think that an evil has happened to him but a thing indifferent; which is an evil to a wicked man, while to the good it is rest and freedom from evils. ‘For death is rest to a man whose way is hidden’ (Job 3:23 LXX). And so a good man does not suffer any loss from it.”
— John Cassian
“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
“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
