Sayings of The Holy Fathers:
"Sometimes those that live in society offend each other. This happens either from the craftiness of the ensnarer, the devil, who hates love among us and incites us to offend our neighbor, or from the weakness of our nature, or from inattention, or often from habit. In that case, reconciliation is absolutely necessary, and so will brotherly love be preserved. Many who have offended their neighbor are careless about it and so go to church and pray. But from this it is evident how dangerous a condition they are in: that whoever sins agains man also sins against God, and whoever offends a man also offends God Himself because God forbade us to sin against a man and offend him."
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.
+ + +
"Allow the Spirit of God to dwell within you; then in His love He will come and make a habitation with you; He will reside in you and live in you. If your heart is pure you will see Him and He will sow in you the good seed of reflection upon His actions and wonder at His majesty. This will happen if you take the trouble to weed out from your soul the undergrowth of desires, along with the thorns and tares of bad habits."
Evagrius of Pontus
[source unknown]
+ + +
"This is the spiritual passion [i.e., the Love of God] with which the apostles and the martyrs were inebriated. With it they first travelled the world over, toiling and being reviled, while the second, although their members were severed, and although they shed their blood like water and suffered the most dreadful torments, yet they did not grow faint-hearted but endured courageously, and bring truly wise, were thought fools. Still others wandered in mountains and caves and dens of the earth, and amid disorder they were most well-ordered."
Saint Isaac the Syrian
[The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian]
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.
+ + +
"Allow the Spirit of God to dwell within you; then in His love He will come and make a habitation with you; He will reside in you and live in you. If your heart is pure you will see Him and He will sow in you the good seed of reflection upon His actions and wonder at His majesty. This will happen if you take the trouble to weed out from your soul the undergrowth of desires, along with the thorns and tares of bad habits."
Evagrius of Pontus
[source unknown]
+ + +
"This is the spiritual passion [i.e., the Love of God] with which the apostles and the martyrs were inebriated. With it they first travelled the world over, toiling and being reviled, while the second, although their members were severed, and although they shed their blood like water and suffered the most dreadful torments, yet they did not grow faint-hearted but endured courageously, and bring truly wise, were thought fools. Still others wandered in mountains and caves and dens of the earth, and amid disorder they were most well-ordered."
Saint Isaac the Syrian
[The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian]
Comments