Category: DISCERNMENT

  • But the moments of silence lead infallibly to profound decisions, wordless decisions, a gift of my inmost “self”. Conversions take place silently and not in spectacular gestures. Returning to God, burying oneself in him, this total gift, these moments of intimacy with God are always mysterious and secret.

    +Cardinal Sarah

  • Never be afraid of the sword if your conscience does not accuse you; never be afraid in war if your conscience is clear.

    Saint John Chrysostom
    HOMILY TWO, After Eutropios, having been found outside the church, was taken captive
    On the Vanity of Riches

  • And should the whole world insult you, yet if you dost not insult yourself you are not insulted.

    The only real betrayal is the betrayal of the conscience: betray not your own conscience, and no one can betray you.

    Saint John Chrysostom
    HOMILY TWO, After Eutropios, having been found outside the church, was taken captive
    On the Vanity of Riches

  • Psychological illnesses can be passed from one person to
    another just like contagious physical illnesses…

    Having too much to do with skeptics may make one start to
    doubt. And listening to the words of the fearful may bring
    on fear. The same goes for worry, anxiety and suspicions,
    jealousy and lust, which can all be passed on through being in close contact and association with others and exchanging facts and communicating with them.

    Therefore it is necessary for a person to choose his friends.
    And it is not only psychological illnesses which can be
    spread by contagion, but spiritual illnesses too!

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Experiences in Life

  • Perhaps you look too much inwards on self, instead of outwards on the Lord Jesus.—The healthiest people do not think about their health; the weak induce disease by morbid introspection. If you begin to count your heartbeats, you will disturb the rhythmic action of the heart. If you continually imagine a pain anywhere, you will produce it. And there are some true children of God who induce their own darkness by morbid self-scrutiny. They are always going back on themselves, analyzing their motives, re-considering past acts of consecration, or comparing themselves with themselves. In one form or another self is the pivot of their life, albeit that it is undoubtedly a religious life. What but darkness can result from such a course? There are certainly times in our lives when we must look within, and judge ourselves, that we may not be judged. But this is only done that we may turn with fuller purpose of heart to the Lord. And when once done, it needs not to be repeated. “Leaving the things behind” is the only safe motto. The question is, not whether we did as well as we might, but whether we did as well as we could at the time.

    We must not spend all our lives in cleaning our windows, or in considering whether they are clean, but in sunning ourselves in God’s blessed light. That light will soon show us what still needs to be cleansed away, and will enable us to cleanse it with unerring accuracy.

    The Gift of Suffering
    by F.B. Meyer

  • “How many seek Jesus for no other object but that He may bestow on them a temporal benefit?! One has a business on hand, he seeks the intercession of the clergy; another is oppressed by one more powerful than himself, he flies to the church. Another desires intervention on his behalf with one with whom he has little influence. One in this way, one in that, the church is daily filled with such people. Jesus is scarcely sought after for Jesus’ sake.” 

    —St. Augustine, Sermon 88 (on John 10:14), NPNF

  • A wandering mind is made stable by reading, vigil and prayer. Flaming lust is extinguished by hunger, labor, and solitude. Stirrings of anger are calmed by psalmody, magnanimity, and mercifulness. All this has its effect when used at its proper time and in due measure. Everything untimely or without proper measure is short-lived; and short-lived things are more harmful than useful.

    —Abba Evagrius the Monk


  • I do not avoid movies that have ugliness or wickedness portrayed in them, I avoid movies that stir up my ugly and wicked passions. This distinction is essential. And it may be that a movie or novel that one person finds insightful and beautiful, another will have to avoid because some aspects of it stir up particular passions he or she may struggle with. Each person is different. I myself have found that I cannot at all listen to secular music without it causing terrible problems in my inner life, but I can watch a movie that some might consider inappropriate and it provide fodder for prayerful thought and contemplation for many days.Praying In The Rain,

    More Thoughts on Movies, Holiness, and Brownies
    Fr. Michael Gillis

  • Remember that in life you ought to behave as at a banquet. Suppose that something is carried round and is opposite to you. Stretch out your hand and take a portion with decency. Suppose that it passes by you. Do not detain it. Suppose that it is not yet come to you. Do not send your desire forward to it, but wait till it is opposite to you. Do so with respect to children, so with respect to a wife, so with respect to magisterial offices, so with respect to wealth, and you will be some time a worthy partner of the banquets of the gods. But if you take none of the things which are set before you, and even despise them, then you will be not only a fellow-banqueter with the gods, but also a partner with them in power.

    —Epictetus, Enchiridion

  • “People will accuse us of being afraid or weak or stupid—which is strange, because having the power to say no is usually a sign of courage and strength and wisdom. Or people will ask what our reasons are. That’s strange too. If you say yes when they want you to do something, they never ask what your reasons are. It’s only when you say no.”

    —Dee Pennock, Who is God? Who Am I? Who Are You?