Sayings of the Holy Fathers:
As long as we are in this world, let us repent with our whole heart of the evil things which we have done in the flesh, so that we may be saved by the Lord while we still have time for repentance. For after we have departed from the world, we are no longer able there either to confess or to repent anymore.
Second Clement, c. A.D. 100.
It is always possible to make a new start by means of repentance. "You fell," it is written, "now arise"(cf. Prov. 24:16). And if you fall again, then rise again, without despairing at all of your salvation, no matter what happens. So long as you do not surrender yourself willingly to the enemy, your patient endurance, combined with self-reproach, will suffice for your salvation. "For at one time we ourselves went astray in our folly and disobedience," says St. Paul. "... Yet He saved us, not because of any good things we had done, but in His mercy" (Tit. 3:3,5).
St. Peter of Damaskos
Philokalia, Vol. 3
What then? Some one will say: 'We have been beguiled and are lost. Is there then no salvation left? We have fallen: Is it not possible to rise again? We have been blinded: May we not recover our sight? We have become crippled: Can we never walk upright? In a word, we are dead: May we not rise again?' He that woke Lazarus who was four days dead and already stank, shall He not, O man, much more easily raise thee who art alive? He who shed His precious blood for us, shall Himself deliver us from sin. Let us not despair of ourselves, brethren; let us not abandon ourselves to a hopeless condition. For it is a fearful thing not to believe in a hope of repentance.
Second Catechetical Lecture Of Our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop Of Jerusalem
Lecture Ii.- On Repentance And Remission Of Sins, And Concerning The Adversary
But since we say that God is plenteous in mercy, why is it that when amidst temptations we unceasingly knock and pray, we are not heard and He disregards our prayer? This we are clearly taught by the Prophet when he says, `The Lord's hand is not little, that it cannot save; nor is He heavy of hearing, that He cannot hear; but our sins have separated us from Him, and our iniquities have turned His face away, that He doth not hearken.' Remember God at all times, and He will remember your whenever you fall into evils.
St. Isaac the Syrian
Second Clement, c. A.D. 100.
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It is always possible to make a new start by means of repentance. "You fell," it is written, "now arise"(cf. Prov. 24:16). And if you fall again, then rise again, without despairing at all of your salvation, no matter what happens. So long as you do not surrender yourself willingly to the enemy, your patient endurance, combined with self-reproach, will suffice for your salvation. "For at one time we ourselves went astray in our folly and disobedience," says St. Paul. "... Yet He saved us, not because of any good things we had done, but in His mercy" (Tit. 3:3,5).
St. Peter of Damaskos
Philokalia, Vol. 3
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What then? Some one will say: 'We have been beguiled and are lost. Is there then no salvation left? We have fallen: Is it not possible to rise again? We have been blinded: May we not recover our sight? We have become crippled: Can we never walk upright? In a word, we are dead: May we not rise again?' He that woke Lazarus who was four days dead and already stank, shall He not, O man, much more easily raise thee who art alive? He who shed His precious blood for us, shall Himself deliver us from sin. Let us not despair of ourselves, brethren; let us not abandon ourselves to a hopeless condition. For it is a fearful thing not to believe in a hope of repentance.
Second Catechetical Lecture Of Our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop Of Jerusalem
Lecture Ii.- On Repentance And Remission Of Sins, And Concerning The Adversary
+ + +
But since we say that God is plenteous in mercy, why is it that when amidst temptations we unceasingly knock and pray, we are not heard and He disregards our prayer? This we are clearly taught by the Prophet when he says, `The Lord's hand is not little, that it cannot save; nor is He heavy of hearing, that He cannot hear; but our sins have separated us from Him, and our iniquities have turned His face away, that He doth not hearken.' Remember God at all times, and He will remember your whenever you fall into evils.
St. Isaac the Syrian
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