He looked at me in a reprimanding manner and whispered, “Mariam, do you know the circumstances of every person? I won’t reveal the secrets of this woman, but when you are targeted with a thought about something that does not concern you, tell yourself, ‘This is not my business; I should mind my own business.’”
A Spring in Sinai: Hieromartyr Mina Abood: His Life, Miracles, and Martyrdom in Post-Revolution Egypt
Anthony Marcos
Category: JUDGMENT
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Saint Macarius the Great said: “Judge yourself, my brother, before they judge you.” A father of of monks on the mountain of Nitria said to the saintly Pope Theopilus, “Believe me, my father, there is nothing greater than a person going back and blaming himself for everything.” You must then judge yourself first within your heart.
The Life of Repentance and Purity
H.H. Pope Shenouda III -
Millions of people who are in hell wish for a few moments of life, which you have—just a few moments in which to repent—but cannot find them. They have lost the chance, and the door has been closed. How about you, my brother? You have all of this life, why do you not think about repentance, and grab the chance? As the apostle said: “Walk circumspectly….redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5.16).
Know that the postponement of repentance is one of the works of the devil, who does not want repentance. He knows that keeping you from repentance in a direct way is something your conscience will not accept. Therefore, he will never say to you, “Do not repent,” and yet every time your heart moves toward God, he will say to you, “That’s okay, but not now. We have many chances before us.” He then keeps leading you in a series of never-ending postponements until your life ends.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity
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When we see a person who has committed vicious sins and crimes escaping with impunity, we react with indignation. We want to see that person called to account and punished, and feel angry that this has not happened. But at such moments we should reflect on our own actions; indeed we should turn that sense of indignation inward against ourselves. Each of us should ask: “How many sins have I committed against others, when I have escaped with impunity?” There are, no doubt, many examples in all our cases. Recognizing this fact will cause our anger against others to melt away. More importantly, it will make us turn to God and ask forgiveness of these sins. Yet there is perhaps a difference between our own sins and the sins which we notice in others. Our own sins are probably quite subtle and inconspicuous, whereas the sins of others are obvious and gross. Should we, therefore, regard our own sins as less important or die? On the contrary, we should realize that subtle sins are frequently the most harmful. Obvious sins, such as robber and violence, are easily recognized, and so can often be guarded against by physical means. The more subtle sins, such as lying and slander and power-mongering are frequently hard to spot, and so difficult to prevent.
On Living Simply
St. John Chrysostom -
Time is heavy sometimes; imagine how heavy eternity must be.
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The almsgiver is a harbor for those in necessity: a harbor receives all who have encountered shipwreck, and frees them from danger; whether they are bad or good or whatever they are who are in danger, it escorts them into its own shelter. So you likewise, when you see on earth the man who has encountered the shipwreck of poverty, do not judge him, do not seek an account of his life, but free him from his misfortune. God has excused you from all officiousness and meddlesomeness… A judge is one thing, an almsgiver is another.
On Wealth and Poverty
St. John Chrysostom -
Let us not then make ourselves unworthy of entrance into the bride-chamber, for as long as we are in this world, even if we commit countless sins it is possible to wash them all away by manifesting repentance for our offenses; but when once we have departed to the other world, even if we display the most earnest repentance it will be of no benefit, not even if we gnash our teeth, beat our breasts, and utter innumerable calls for relief, no one with the tip of his finger will apply a drop to our burning bodies, but we shall only hear those words which the rich man heard in the parable: “Between us and you a great gulf has been fixed.” Let us then, I beseech you, recover our senses here and let us recognize our Master as He ought to be recognized.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
ON REPENTANCE & DEFEATING DESPAIR
Letters to Theodore -
And it will be no small affliction to the souls of those who are being punished at that time, to reflect that when they had it in their power in the few days of this life to make all good, they neglected their opportunity and surrendered themselves to everlasting evil. And lest we should suffer this, let us rouse ourselves while it is the accepted time, while it is the day of salvation,’ while the power of repentance is great.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
ON REPENTANCE & DEFEATING DESPAIR
Letters to Theodore -
Fair criticism is innocent and objective. It seeks only the truth, judges things soundly and mentions the good points before other points which he rejects, thus giving everyone his right. He does not search people’s intentions and inner purposes, which God alone knows.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Fruits of the Spirit
