• “When you are weary of praying and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him.”

    —St. John Chrysostom

  • There are two realities to which you must cling. First, God has promised that you will receive the love you have been searching for. And second, God is faithful to that promise.

    So stop wandering around. Instead, come home and trust that God will bring you what you need. Your whole life you have been running about, seeking the love you desire. Now it is time to end that search. Trust that God will give you that all-fulfilling love and will give it in a human way.

    The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom
    Henri Nouwen

  • It seems that the sins that are not struggles for me are the very sins that I find most offensive in others. The commandments that are least difficult for me to understand and strive to keep are the very ones that cause the most offense in me when others do not seem to keep them.

    —Fr. Michael Gillis

  • One need not be a monk to be modest in words, actions and dress.  Modesty is not drawing attention to yourself, to your wisdom, your charm, your humour or your physical beauty.  Modesty is acting in public in ways that do not draw attention to yourself. If you want to begin to live in exile from the world, St. John recommends that you start with modesty. Dress, speak and act in ways that don’t draw attention to yourself. Those who see themselves as exiles do not seek to stand out.

    —Fr. Michael Gillis

  • It is equally difficult to preserve one’s soul from despair in hard times, and to prevent it from becoming arrogant in prosperous circumstances.

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • When you sin, blame your thought, not your action. For had your intellect not run ahead, your body would not have followed.

    —St. Mark the Ascetic

  • Do whatever falls to your hands, in your circle and in your situation– and believe that this is and will be your true work; nothing more from you is expected.

    …
    It is a great error to think that you must undertake important and great labours, whether for heaven, or, as the progressives think, in order to make one’s contribution to humanity.

    …
    That is not necessary at all. It is necessary only to do everything in accordance with the Lord’s commandments.

    …
    Just exactly what is to be done? Nothing in particular, just that which presents itself to each one according to the circumstances of his life, and which is demanded by the individual events with which each of us meets.

    —St. Theophan the Recluse, The Spiritual Life

  • Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted effort.

    —St. Mark the Ascetic

  • Take the trouble to spend only one single day according to God’s commandments, and you will see yourself, you will feel by your own heart, how good it is to fulfill God’s will.

    —St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ

  • When you see that you’re making no progress in your spiritual life, don’t despair. But neither should you be content with whatever progress you may have already made.

    —Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra, Mount Athos