Trials and temptations subject to our volition are chiefly caused by health, wealth and reputation, and those beyond our control by sickness, material losses and slander. Some people are helped by these things, others are destroyed by them.
—Ilias the Presbyter
Category: PRIDE
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“God Himself heals the proud. This means that inner sorrows (by which pride is healed) are sent to us by God, for the proud man will not suffer anything from others. But the humble person will endure everything, and will always say, ‘I deserve this.’”
—St. Ambrose of Optina -
The illness of the body reminds us of the illness of our entire fallen nature. The loss of health appears as the symbol and perceptible sign of the loss of paradisiacal life. By confining the soul within the limits of the body, sickness and suffering destroy any illusions of fullness and self-sufficiency a person may previous have had, illusions fueled by a state of health he took for granted. They teach a person the extent of their poverty, even their ontological nakedness (Gen 3:7), and remind him that he is dust (3:19). The person can no longer consider himself as absolute, since his fundamental pride is broken.
—Jean-Claude Larchet, The Theology of Illness -
She also said, ‘As long as we are in the monastery, obedience is preferable to asceticism. The one teaches pride, the other humility.’
Sayings of Amma Syncletica -
I can assure you I have not the slightest suspicion that you are seeking to hide any detail of your life from me; nor have I ever thought you double-faced. But I cannot fail to see how subtly you contradict yourself, how you misunderstand and misinterpret yourself. Remember always that the whole of our human misery is the consequence of pride.
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Does God rule over me, or does the world rule over me? Does God rule over me, or does fear rule over me? Am I always afraid? Do I always the slightest thing brings me terror in my heart. Does God rule over me or does anxiety rule over me? I’m always anxious. Once more thing happens and I start crying, and that’s the end of the world. I’m anxious about my family, I’m anxious about my health, I’m anxious about my finances. I’m anxious about my children and their and their careers and their academic and their schooling and so forth. I’m anxious. I’m anxious. I’m anxious. What rules over me, that or anxiety, or, God, what rules over me? Pride. And pride is a funny thing, because pride has many, many faces. Sometimes pride can be arrogance, where you look at somebody and say, yeah, they are a prideful person. And believe it or not, pride can be something as simple as gossiping. Why do I gossip? Why do I talk about other people? Because something about them bothers me, something about them that maybe they have I wish I had, or they think they’re all nice because of a fancy car, or that’s gossiping. And gossiping comes from envy. And where does envy come from? Pride? Pride has money. Pride can even manifest as, forgive me, insecurity; insecurity in yourself, insecurity in your personality, low self-esteem. Why? Because you think that you should be better than the other person, and because you’re not, you feel bad about yourself. So pride can have many, many faces. So does pride rule over me? Does lust and pornography rule over me? Am I in that kingdom where that rules over my time and my thoughts and my actions and everything? What else rules over me? Could it be an anger? Does anger rule over me? The slightest thing makes me angry and resentful, and I don’t want to talk to that person. and I give them the cold shoulder.
—Fr. Benjamin Girgis
SO GOOD QUOTES 