• “A bad word makes even good people bad, but a good word turns even bad people into good.”

    +Saint Macarius of Egypt

  • A hermit said, “This is the monastic life: not to live with the wicked, not to see evil, not to be inquisitive, not to be curious, not to listen to gossip, not to use the hands for taking, but for giving; not to be proud in heart or bad in thought, not to fill the belly, in everything to judge wisely.  That is the life of the true monk.”

    The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
    Benedicta Ward

  • “For I have often seen people who had offended God and were not in the least perturbed about it. And I have seen how those same people provoked their friends in some trifling matter and then employed every artifice, every device, every sacrifice, every apology, both personally and through friends and relatives, not sparing gifts, in order to regain their former love.”

    — St. John Climacus

  • “How do we know if thoughts come to us
    from God, or from the devil? What should
    we do if thoughts of our failings and sins
    are presented to us? The Fathers give a
    simple rule: if the thought of a past failing
    discourages us to the point of depression,
    draining all our energy and zeal, tempting
    us to quit every struggle for virtue, or to
    remain complacent, it is from the devil. If,
    however, the sorrow such a thought brings
    gives us a desire to change, energy to
    repent, fast, pray, forgive, etc., it is from
    God. St Paul himself talks about these two
    sorrows: one which is worldly, and brings
    death; one which is godly, and brings zeal
    and energy to change (2 Cor 7:10).”

    — Hieromonk Calinic (Berger)

  • “Sometimes what serves as a medicine for one is poison for another; and sometimes something given to one and the same person at a suitable time serves as a medicine, but at the wrong time it is a poison.”

    —St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent

  • “You should know that you have been greatly benefited when you have suffered deeply because of some insult or indignity; for by means of the indignity self-esteem has been driven out of you.”

    — St. Maximos the Confessor

  • “We have very little faith in the Lord, very little trust. If we trusted the Lord as much as we trust a friend when we ask him to do something for us, neither we as individuals nor our whole country would suffer so much.”

    — Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

  • “When you observe some thought suggesting that you seek human fame, you can be sure it will bring you disgrace.”

    —St. Mark the Ascetic

  • … the same saint may say one thing about a certain matter today, and another tomorrow; and yet there is no contradiction, provided the hearer has knowledge and experience of the matter under discussion. Again, one saint may say one thing and another something different about the same passage of the Holy Scriptures, since divine grace often gives varying interpretations suited to the particular person or moment in question. The only thing required is that everything said or done should be said or done in accordance with God’s intention, and that it should be attested by the words of Scripture. For should anyone preach anything contrary to God’s intention or contrary to the nature of things, then even if he is an angel St. Paul’s words, ‘Let him be accursed’ (Gal. 1:8), will apply to him.

    —St. Peter of Damaskos (The Philokalia Vol. 3; Faber and Faber pg. 207)

  • So when you feel a cooling for spiritual things and occupations and generally for all divine things, enter deeply into yourself and examine carefully why it has happened; and, if it is your fault, hasten to eliminate and efface it, not so much because you are anxious for the return of spiritual delights, but rather because you want to destroy in yourself all that is unfitting and not pleasing to God. If you find nothing of this kind, submit to God’s will, saying to yourself: ‘God has so decided: let Thy will be done on me, O Lord, weak and unworthy as I am.’ Then be patient and wait, never allowing yourself to deviate from the habitual order of your spiritual life and spiritual works and exercises. Overcome the lack of taste for them, which has assailed you, by forcibly making yourself practice them, paying no attention to thoughts which try to distract you from your efforts by suggesting that this occupation is useless; drink willingly your cup of bitterness, saying to the Lord: ‘See my humility and my efforts, O Lord, and deprive me not of Thy mercy,’ and let your efforts be inspired by the faith that this cup comes from God’s love for you, because He desires you to attain a greater spiritual perfection.

    —Lorenzo Scupoli, Unseen Warfare