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
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During the confession the penitent should neither justify nor defend himself, nor place the responsibility for his errors on others, nor transform the confession into a complaint. If those things are done, confession loses its meaning as a sign of repentance and one of its components.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
But if you love God, then you will be unable to sin, and the wicked one cannot touch you (1 John 3.9, 5.18).
Then the commandments will not be burdensome. Instead, the sin will be burdensome. The sin will be difficult, for no matter how the enemy tries to pressure your will, you resist and refuse to sin, and you say with all your heart: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39.9). You will find the Lord’s commandments joyful and luminous, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 18.9). Repentance becomes easy for you, and from it you obtain purity of heart.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
Without the love of God within you, you cannot repent. Without the love of God, you would not leave sin because of purity of heart, but merely as the outer proceedings of a formal reconciliation with God, because of fear of His anger and punishment. A person who fears God’s punishment and fears that sin might lead him into hell becomes religious. He calls this piety, that is, the fear of God and His anger. With this fear, he avoids practicing sin, but the sin does not stay away from his heart.
The heart continues swinging to the right and to the left, and will not settle except with love toward God.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
Take example the person who fasts. In his fast he may perhaps abstain from many foods, yet he cannot abstain for one particular food, which he desires. What does such a person gain from his fast so long as he is weak and lacks the power to control himself at the point when he is being attached with the desire of food? Do we not say that if he abstains from this food in particular, he will be successful in his fast and in his spirituality? However, if he falls in this, then he has fallen in all. The Bible reminds us of this, saying: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2.10). What is the meaning of this statement by the apostle? How should we understand it? You will understand by answering the following question: Do you love God, so that nothing can keep you away from Him? If you find anything at al, then this is the problem in your life; it is your point of weakness.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
A lawyer or an accountant might lie and place that under the heading of necessities for the profession, although the profession is respectable and this is not actually part of its necessities. Sin does not like to be called by its true name, because this troubles a person.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
Obedience is rendered first to God, and from His love proceeds all other love. Obedience is rendered first to God, and from this obedience proceeds all other obedience. The Bible said about the obedience of parents: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6.1). It is thus an essential obedience, but “in the Lord.”
Jonathan did not obey his father Saul in his persecution of David but rather rebuked him, saying: “Why then do you sin against innocent blood, to put David to death without cause?” (1 Kingdoms 19.5). King Saul was a cause of stumbling to his son Jonathan, but Jonathan overcame this stumbling. In the same way King Solomon, even though he had a great respect for his mother Bathsheba, did not obey her in her intercession for Adonijah, his brother (3 Kingdoms 2.19-23).
The limit of obedience precludes stumbling. From your association with people and your experiences in life, you can realize the sources of stumbling for you. Benefit, then, from this experience by surrounding yourself with a pure atmosphere as much as you can. Those whom you cannot avoid physically, avoid with respect to your thoughts and direction of life.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
If a stumbling block comes to you from the person dearest to you, the one as dear to you as your eyes, or even if it comes from the person who helps you the most, who is like your right hand, stay away from him.
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The stumbling might come from your dearest relatives and loved ones. The majority of youth who become corrupt do so through the corruption of their very dear friends, who influence them.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity -
Many are the sins which are able to enter through the eye of a needle. The devil, for example, does not ask you not to pray, only to delay it. If he finds that you are accustomed to prayer, then when you wake up he will say to you, “Wait until you have washed your face.” Before you awaken, he has placed in your mind any thoughts to occupy you and make you forget, and many other things to delay you. As for you, do not give him a chance, but continue in your prayers, even while you are going to wash your face. Be very careful, then, and avoid the first step that leads you into negligence and laxity, or causes you to sin.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity
SO GOOD QUOTES 