St. Dorotheus of Gaza says there are two kinds of fear: one is the kind of fear that a beginner has and the other the kind of fear that a Saint has. The first person [the beginner] fears God because he is afraid of hell, he is afraid of punishment, he is afraid that at the end of days, he’ll be cast into darkness.
The other Saint fears God because he seeks to please God because he loves Him. The fear is not of somebody being afraid of some kind of punishment, but because somebody has tasted the sweetness of God, the sweetness of being with God, and because of that, fears losing his relationship with God. St. Dorotheus of Gaza calls this the perfect fear: not a fear of punishment—not a fear of hell, but a fear of upsetting the one he loves.
—Fr. Daniel Fanous
Fear God, but don’t be afraid
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“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”
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There is no need to ask anyone whether we ought to spread or propagate the Glory of God, either by writing, or by word, or by good works. This we are obliged to do according to our power and possibility. We must make use of our talents. If you think much about such a simple matter, then, perhaps, the Devil may suggest to you such foolishness as that you need only be inwardly active.
—St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ
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What vanities, what foolish fancies often occupy most of us, even in sight of the highest, the most important objects of faith, in sight of the greatest holiness. For instance, when a man stands before the icons of the Lord, of the Mother of God, of an Angel, of an Archangel, of one or a whole assembly of Saints, at home or in the temple, and, sometimes, instead of prayer, instead of laying aside, at this time, in this place, all worldly cares, he casts up his accounts and reckonings, goes over his expenses and receipts, rejoices at the gain, and grieves at the loss of profits, or the failure of some undertaking (without, of course, a single thought of spiritual profit or loss), or else he thinks evil of his neighbour, exaggerating his weakness, his passions, suspecting him, envying him, judging him, or if it is in church, he looks at the faces of those, standing near him, also how they are dressed, who is nice looking, and who not, or making plans what he shall do, in what pleasure or vanity he will spend the day, and so on. And this often happens at the time when the greatest, the most heavenly Sacrament of the Eucharist, that is, of the most-pure Body and Blood of our Lord, is being celebrated; when we ought to be wholly in God, wholly occupied in meditations on the mystery accomplished for our sakes, of the redemption from sin, from the eternal curse and death; and on the mystery of our being made godly in the Lord Jesus Christ. How low we have fallen, how earthly-minded we have become, and from what does it all proceed? From inattention, and the neglect of our salvation, from attachment to temporal things, from weakness of faith, or unbelief in eternity.
—St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ -
“The simple person is transparent. He doesn’t know how to be two different people.”
Simplicity in relationship to my neighbor means that I am towards others as I am towards God. I don’t have two faces, or three faces, or four faces, but what you see is what you get. Exactly how I am in my room alone with God is exactly how I am in public. I don’t know how to be different. I don’t know how to wear a mask. I don’t know how to pretend to be this for that person and this for that person and this for God. The simple person is transparent. He doesn’t know how to be two different people.
—Fr Kyrillos Ibrahim
He who is precise is not only meticulous when he is among people but even more so when he is alone in his private room. Precision is relatively easy in the presence of people because by nature we do not like to be criticized by others and fear exposing our faults and weaknesses before them. That is why the true criterion of our precision is made manifest when we are alone, seen by no one. If we are precise when we are alone, then it is a true precision without hypocrisy.—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Characteristics of the Spiritual Path
Whoever gives importance to decency within his own room will no doubt act decently outside. He who, in his own private room, is too embarrassed to act indecently on account of the spirits of the angels and the saints, will no doubt proceed with decency in front of other people. Decency becomes one of his characteristics. On the other hand, whoever does not care to sit modestly in his private room will not mind sitting the same way in front of other people.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, The Life of Repentance and Purity
We must reconcile our way of life within the Church and our way of life outside it, so that they proceed along the same line without any contradictions.
It is not good for a person to have two personalities: one for the House of God and another for the world.
The righteous person is always the same, he does not wear a different face for each different occasion.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Experiences in Life
“Act, in whatever you do, as you would act if anyone at all were looking on; because solitude prompts us to all kinds of evil.”
—Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
“For as I am outside, so I am within.”
—Abba John Colobos -
Respect the opinion of the person with whom you speak, no matter how much you disagree.
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You are angry with your neighbour, your brother, and say of him: “He is such and such—a miser, malicious, proud,” or that he has done this and that, and so on. What is that to you? He sins against God, and not against you. God is his Judge, not you: unto God he shall answer for himself, not to you. Know yourself, how sinful you are yourself, what a beam you have in your own eye; how difficult it is for you to master and get the better of your own sins; how afflicted you yourself are by them; how they have ensnared you—how you wish for indulgence from others towards your own infirmities. And your brother is a man like you; therefore you must be indulgent to him as to a sinful man, similar in everything to yourself, as infirm as you; love him, then, as yourself, listening to the Lord saying: “These things I command you, that ye love one another”. [John 15.17]
—St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ
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“No one has ever properly understood me, I have never fully understood anyone; and no one understands anyone else.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -
If your mood and motivation are low, are telling you not to act, that’s all the more reason to act. Yes, feeling good can lead to action, but action can also lead to feeling good.
—Brad Stulberg, Mood Follows Action
SO GOOD QUOTES 