Sorrow

There never was and there never will be a place on earthfree from sorrows. The only sorrowless place possible is the heart, when the Lord is present there.

Saint Nicon of Optina,
Living Without Hypocrisy,
Spiritual Counsels of the Holy Elders of Optina,
page 109

Humility

An angel fell from Heaven without any other passion except pride,and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven byhumility alone, without any other of the virtues.


St. John Climacus

"The Ladder of Divine Ascent" (Step 23)

The Chosen Flock

Christians are members of the Church, and the Church is the Body of Christ, with the Head being Christ Himself, and the Enlightener, the Holy Spirit. "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for It, ... that He might present It to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that It should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. v. 2 '-27). You are the holy and chosen flock, you are members of the holy catholic and apostolic Church. What indeed is demanded of you! What holiness, what truth! What attention to yourselves! What spiritual contemplation and activity in secret! What morals, virtues, what faith, what hope, what love! What abstinence, compassion, care for one another, what urging of one another to virtue!




St. John of Kronstadt

Discernment

...And so our life here is a time of ceaseless bodily and spiritual labors, and the future life of recompense according to our works. But we must find out for certain what kind of works will yield a blessed eternity and what kind will yield a bitter one, so as to shun the one and always hold to the other.




Elder Moses of Optina

On Receiving Communion

To receive communion even daily and partake of the sacred Body and Blood of Christ is good and beneficial, for He said clearly: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (John 6:54). Who would doubt that partaking regularly of life is anything else but living continually?




St. Basil the Great

Saints of Wales

Personal Martyrdom

Enduring unpleasant things cheerfully, you approach a little to the martyrs. But if you complain, you will not only lose your share with the martyrs, but will be responsible for complaining besides. Therefore, be cheerful!




St. Theophan the Recluse

Love for God

The whole of life, in all its manifestations, must be permeated by prayer. But its secret is love for the Lord. As the bride, loving the bridegroom, is not separated from him in remembrance and feeling, so the soul, united with God in love, remains in constancy with Him, directing warm appeals to Him from the heart. 'He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit' (1 Cor. vi. 17).


St. Theophan the Recluse

Knowledge and Action

Strong is the man who has combined knowledge with action, for by the latter he withers lust and tames excitation, and by the former gives wings to his mind and goes forth to live with God.



St. Maximus the Confessor

Acknowledging Love

In the relationship of a pastor with his flock, it is not sufficient for the pastor to express his love for them; he must acknowledge their love for him. There is a kind of pride in the pastor who shows great warmth and generosity to those in his charge, and yet is blind to the warmth and generosity which they show in return. It is as if he is claiming a monopoly of love. But when a pastor expresses gratitude for the love which they have showered upon him, he is affirming their virtue, and thus encouraging them in their Christian journey. The same is true in all personal relationships. The person who just expresses love for his friends but fails to acknowledge their love for him is not a true friend. Loving friendship requires both parties to love each other, and each party to affirm the other's love. Jesus, as both a pastor and a friend, not only poured out love but also made Himself dependent on others. He possessed nothing, so for His very survival He had to rely on the kindness of His friends and disciples. And in His gratitude for all He received, He affirmed them as true friends and true disciples.



St. John Chrysostom
"On Living Simply"

One Thing Needful

St. Basil the Great says: One cannot approach the knowledge of the truth with a disturbed heart. Therefore we must try to avoid everything that disturbs our heart, that causes forgetfulness, excitement or passion, or that awakens unrest. We must free ourselves as much as possible from all fuss and flutter and ado over vain things. Yes, when we serve the Lord we shall not be troubled about many things, but always keep in mind that one thing is needful (Luke 10:41).




Tito Colliander
"Way of the Ascetics"

On the Divine Liturgy

Why are the beatitudes read or sung at the Small Entrance at the beginning of Liturgy? Because the Liturgy is the recollection of the earthly life of Jesus Christ from His swaddling clothes to the grave, from His Resurrection to His Ascension into heaven. The alter signifies the kingdom of heaven, or paradise; the royal doors - the gates of paradise; the opening and closing of these doors during the service - the opening and closing of the kingdom of heaven. The beginning of the liturgy represents the beginning of our Lord's Jesus Christ's redemptive service to humankind, and the Small Entrance with the Gospel represents both His going forth to preach the Gospel and His first sermon on the Mount, in which He beatifies those who fulfill His commandments and promises various rewards in heaven for those who struggle in this world for His sake. When we look at the opened Royal Doors as if they were the gates of the kingdom of heaven, and when we gaze with the eyes of our heart at the Lord, Who comes mystically in the Small Entrance to us, who are earthly wanderers and outcasts from heaven, it becomes natural for us to implore the Lord like the wise thief, Remember us, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.




St. John of Kronstadt
"Ten Homilies on the Beatitudes" (2nd Homily)

All Struggle

...Do not think that even here any of us constantly enjoys consolation. No: here, as everywhere, flesh and mind are at war; here as everywhere, there is falling into pride and purification through humbling: here, as everywhere, we long for consolations but must learn to carry a weighty cross. This cross tests our love. Can we, do we love God even under the weight of the most bitter adversities?



Staretz Macarius of Optina

Overcoming the Passions

The Elder placed great emphasis on the need of becoming aware of your "passions" and proceeding to struggle to overcome them, to free yourself from them to attain passionlessness, which means purity. This high spiritual state can only be attained, he stresses, by persistent struggle and Divine grace.

"Passion" (pathos) in Orthodox Patristic writings, is a term used in two senses: (a) to denote bad thoughts charged with emotion, and (b) vices (kakiai), that is, such thoughts become habits, settled dispositions of the soul, bad traits of character. All the "passions" are viewed by Father Joseph as diseases of the soul in need of therapy. Removing them from the soul is a process he calls - as do the Holy Fathers of the past - purification. This restores the soul to a state of health and peace. "The more you are purified from the passions, the more peace you have, the wiser you are, the more you understand God" (Letter 65).



Dr. Constantine Cavarnos
"Prolegomena" to Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Holy Baptism

Baptism gives us what nothing else on earth can give us: It unites and combines with our natural Divine grace. Thus, a person comes away from the baptismal font like an article from some workshop. As an example, take a bell in which silver has been added to copper. A similar copper bell without silver may outwardly resemble the bell with silver, but their composition is different, their sound is different, and they are regarded differently with respect to quality and value. That is the difference between a person who has been baptized, and one who has not. The difference is that the grace of the Holy Spirit combines with the baptism, since the person receiving baptism is being baptized with water and, along with it, the Holy Spirit. By appearance, he is the same person as the unbaptized person, but in actual fact, in their composition, they are quite different.

Thus, during Holy Baptism, some new element, a supernatural one, is added to our composition, and it will remain inside us hidden and secretly acting. We receive baptism as children, and although we do not know what is happening within us, the grace nonetheless combines with us and then begins to act with us apart from our consciousness, according to the singular goodness of God, and for the sake of the faith of godparents and parents.



St. Theophan the Recluse
"The Spiritual Life"

Love thy Enemy

Show the fullness of your mercy by the good with which you repay those who have done you injustice.



St. Isaac the Syrian
"Ascetical Homilies' (Homily 6)

Orthodox Struggles

When an Orthodox Christian ponders something, he does so prayerfully, with fear and trembling, since he knows that the choir of angels and the entire church participate mystically with him in his struggle. The Orthodox Christian does not belong only to himself, but to all the saints and, through them, to the holy Lord Jesus. When he examines his own spirit, the Orthodox Christian reflects: my spirit is nothing unless it is filled and perfected by the Holy Spirit.



Archimandrite Justin Popovich
"Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ"

St Maximos of Constantinople

If everything that exists was made by God and for God, and God is superior to the things made by Him, he who abandons what is superior and devotes Himself to what is inferior shows that he values things made by God more than God Himself.

St. Maximos the Confessor
The Philokalia Vol. 2; Faber and Faber pg. 53

The Wise Thief

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The Greatest Battle

As warriors are awarded medals and crosses for repeatedly proving their readiness to sacrifice their lives, so we - soldiers of the spirit - can only reap our reward after fighting valiantly and long. The greatest fight of all is the fight against pride, with all its symptoms of anger, vainglory, rage, hatred. When we have overcome this, we receive our best reward: the beautiful peace of the soul.



Staretz Macarius of Optina