• Kyrillos on one occasion casually approached the lions. Both he and the lions gently accepted the presence of the other. “Why be astonished?” the emperor is remembered as commenting to shocked onlookers, “He is a holy man.”

    A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI (1902 -1971), Life and Legacy
    Fr. Daniel Fanous

  • There is no objection to having old friends if you can attract them to repentance with you. If you cannot, then let your relationship with them be superficial. If they are dangerous to you, then you should prefer your relationship to God over your relationship to them. Even if you encounter difficulty, bear it for the sake of the Lord. Remember what Abram the father of fathers did when the Lord called him. He left his family, kindred, and country to walk behind God (Genesis 12.1). Likewise, in order to preserve your repentance for the sake of God, you leave all who hinder you.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • If remembrance, however, brings sin back to us, we should refrain from it. Remember what we say in the Divine Liturgy, “The remembrance of evil entailing death.” According to the teachings of the fathers, it is better for us to avoid the remembrance of lustful and provocative sins, because this remembrance brings back the wars of sin.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • In his heart, he knows those of whom it was said that they were “light.” The righteous person is light, of whom the Lord said: “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5.14). If such a person is in any place, darkness disappears because of his light. It is as if a lamp were placed in a dark place, so that darkness is dispersed and the place becomes luminous. The same thing happens with the presence of the righteous in any place they stay; light spread and darkness disappears.

    Similarly, with the saints, because of their spiritual reverence, darkness can find no opportunity for itself in their presence. Sinners are embarrassed to be around them on account of their dignity and holiness. No one dares in their presence to act in a degrading way, or say a bad word, but rather he is ashamed of himself and his conduct. The people present feel that a spiritual atmosphere has prevailed in that place as a result of the presence of one of these righteous people. If there was a sinful talk before their entrance, it stops, and everyone is quiet and the darkness disappears when they enter. No one can sin in their presence.

    Are you the same? Have you become light after your repentance? Have you become even a small candle, giving dim light but in any case dispersing darkness? If you have not become such a light, then be very cautious of darkness. Remember at all times the saying of the Lord: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning” (Luke 12.35).

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • Each of us, then, should be cautious. If you have repented, then listen to this advice: It is not enough to come out of Sodom, if you do not continue to Zoar. Lot’s wife came out of Sodom, with her hand in the hand of the angel. She was not burned with the burning city. She did not, however, continue walking with God, but looked back (Genesis 19.16). She perished by one look. How terrifying!

    Be cautious, then, about looking behind you. Think no longer about the world you left for the sake of the Lord. Do not try to remember the pleasures of sin from which you repented. Do not in any way look back, but rather “stretch forward.” Try to grow in your repentance without returning to sin.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • Man’s feelings of alienation from the world causes him to avoid pressing himself into worldly matters, incidents, news, conversations, and upheavals. If any of these things reaches him, he does not interact with it or respond to it, but says to himself, “I am a stranger. What have I to do with this matter?”

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • Many times, however, we forget ourselves and our spirituality. We hear a specific story, for example, or read about a certain incident, or enter into a discussion, and forget that both our heart and mind are for the Lord. We continue talking, commentating, discussing, giving opinions, and zealously reply to those who oppose us. The matter is not worthy of any of this attention. However, despite this it reigns not only on our tongues and in our thoughts, but also our nerves and affections. Here, the waters have entered into our souls. We then become concerned and distressed over many matters. However, we are not occupied with the person who is needed, but we think “when we have a convenient time we will call for him” (Acts 24.25). We return to our homes, the matter being still in our minds, and we pour it into the minds of others and occupy them with it as well.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • Whoever repents, bearing his disgrace, accepts two types of punishment. The first type is the punishment he inflicts on himself, whether by bitter reprimand or by forbidding himself from things he loves, so that he renounces this world he previously loved. The second type is all of the punishments that come to him from the outside, whether from God or from other people. He accepts all of these punishments with satisfaction, without grumbling or complaining. He is convicted by them and feels that they are less than what he deserves.

    Even those punishments which afflict him unjustly he also accepts with satisfaction, like what happened to Saint Ephraim the Syrian. He was imprisoned once unjustly, so he accepted this and said that he deserved it for an old sin which had no relation to this matter.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity

  • If a man and a woman marry to satisfy their sexual appetites, or to further the material aims of themselves or their families, then the union is unlikely to bring blessings. But if a man and a woman marry in order to be companions on the journey from earth to heaven, then their union will bring great joy to themselves and to others.

    —St. John Chrysostom

  • If the Christian married couple lived a spiritual life, the clause of divorce could be abolished completely from the personal statute. There would be no need for it, as the great love that joins the married couple together would never allow divorce. On the contrary, instead of separation, the relationship between them will deepen day after day.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III