A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.
"Try to strive for God constantly. Having seen your aspiration, the Lord will grant you all that is necessary." + St. Gabriel Urgebadze (+1995)
Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them.
“If someone sins fatally 10,000 times but exerts himself in repentance with all his strength, as long as he hopes, he will never be put to shame.” + Elder Ephraim of Arizona (+2019)
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
"The greatest gift of God is that we may incline ourselves toward Him and become familiar with Him." + St. Gregory the Theologian (+390)
For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
“If you are not able to put up with a small affliction or temptation for the sake of the Lord, then how will you endure a great one? And if you cannot endure an insult, or a slap, or a blow, how will you carry the cross which you promised, right from the beginning, to bear on your shoulders?” + St. Ephraim the Syrian (+373)
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
"Let not one think, my fellow Christian, that only priests and monks need to pray without ceasing and not laymen. No, no; every Christian without exception ought to dwell always in prayer." + St. Gregory Palamas (+1359)
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
"Just as a man whose head is under water cannot inhale pure air, so a man whose thoughts are plunged into the cares of this world cannot absorb the senstion of the world to come." + St. Isaac the Syrian (+700)
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
"Let us glorify God! With the coming of the Son of God in the flesh upon the earth, with His offering Himself up as a sacrifice for the sinful human race, there is given to those who believe the blessing of the Heavenly Father, replacing that curse which had been uttered by God in the beginning; they are adopted and receive the promise of an eternal inheritance of life." + St. John of Kronstadt (+1909)
"This is our present Festival; it is this which we are celebrating today, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go forth, or rather (for this is the more proper expression) that we might go back to God—that putting off the old man, we might put on the New; and that as we died in Adam, so we might live in Christ, 1 Corinth. 15:22 being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rising with Him. Col.2:11 For I must undergo the beautiful conversion, and as the painful succeeded the more blissful, so must the more blissful come out of the painful. For where sin abounded Grace did much more abound; Rom. 5:20 and if a taste condemned us, how much more does the Passion of Christ justify us. Therefore let us keep the Feast, not after the manner of a heathen festival, but after a godly sort; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own but as belonging to Him Who is ours, or rather as our Master's; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation." + St. Gregory The Theologian (+390)
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
"Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips, and the world in your heart." + St. Ignatius of Antioch (+108)
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
"Do not forget prayer — it is the life of the soul." + St. Nikon of Optina (+1931)
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.,
"To reject the present cross is to seek a heavier one. For if we refuse the trials that God allows for our healing, He permits harsher ones for our correction." + St. Mark the Ascetic (+5th Century C.E.)
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
"Repent. Do not wait for tomorrow, for you do not know if you will see the sun rise." + St. Ephrem the Syrian (+373)
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
"If you wish to be truly humble, then consider yourself lower than all, worthy of being trampled on by all; for you yourself daily, hourly, trample upon the law of the Lord, and therefore upon the Lord Himself." + St. John of Kronstadt (+1909)
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
"Someone is tested through the trials of life. It is there that you see if he has real love, a true spirit of sacrifice." + St. Paisios of Mount Athos (+1994)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me,
"The man who cries out against evil men but does not pray for them will never know the grace of God." + St. Silouan the Athonite (+1938)
to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Everything in this life passes away - only God remains, only He is worth struggling towards. We have a choice: to follow the way of this world, of the society that surrounds us, and thereby find ourselves outside of God; or to choose the way of life, to choose God Who calls us and for Whom our heart is searching." + Fr. Seraphim Rose (+1984)
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
"Don't let your eyes look here and there, and don't look on someone else's beauty, so the devil will not conquer you with the help of your eyes." + St. Ephrem the Syrian (+373)
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
"Do not abandon the will of God in order to serve the will of man." + St. Andronicus of Glinsk (+1978)
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
"To say that God turns away from the sinful is like saying that the sun hides from the blind." + St. Anthony the Great (+356)
A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness will utter lies.
"Never lose hope, for God is working even when you may not see or feel Him there." + St. Nektarios of Aegina (+1920)
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
"The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others." + St. John Chrysostom (+407)
Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!"
"Humility is the only thing Satan can't imitate." + St. John Climacus (+649)
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
"What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like." + St. Augustine of Hippo (+430)
As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" + St. John the Baptist (+30)
"The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." '
"You must not be greatly troubled about many things, but you should care for the main thing—preparing yourself for death." + St. Ambrose of Optina (+1891)
Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.
"The Lord does not seek the monk or the layperson, the scholar or the simpleton, the rich man or the pauper, but only the heart that thirsts for God, full of a sincere desire to be true to Him and His commandments." + St. Ephraim the Syrian (+373)
Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
"Fire and water do not mix, neither can you mix judgement of others with the desire to repent." + St. John Climacus (+649)
And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
"If your prayer doesn't end in tears or silence, keep praying." + St. Isaac the Syrian (+700)
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
"Do not say then, 'I am hated, and that is why I do not love.' For this is why you ought to love most." + St. John Chrysostom (+407)
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
"He who struggles for a long time and does not see spiritual progress has pride and egoism. Spiritual progress exists where there is much humility." + St. Paisios of Mount Athos (+1994)
A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.
"If slander has become to you the same as praise, poverty as riches, deprivation as abundance, you will not die. Indeed it is impossible for anyone who firmly believes, who labours with devotion, to fall into the impurity of the passions and be led astray by the demons." + St. Macarius the Great (+391)
As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
"To know God is not the same as to know about God. Knowledge about God has never saved anyone." + St. Sophrony of Essex (+1993)