“If you desire freedom, then try first to free yourself from yourself.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovic
+
“My whole life is a battle between me and me – between me as I am and me as God wants me to be.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivorich
+
“Man, as long as he lives, must always struggle. And his first fight is to defeat himself.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“It is not an external enemy we dread. Our foe is shut up within ourselves. An internal warfare is daily waged by us.”
Saint John Cassian
+
“If a man’s deeds are not in harmony with his Prayer, he labours in vain. The brother said, ‘What is this harmony between practice and Prayer?’ The old man said, ‘We should no longer do those things against which we Pray. For when a man gives up his own will, then God is reconciled with him and accepts his Prayers.’ The brother asked, ‘In all the affliction which the Monk gives himself, what helps him?’ The old man said, ‘It is written, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’” (Ps.46.1)
Saint Moses Ethiopian
+
“Every day I lay a foundation for building my repentance, and again with my own hands I demolish it.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
+
“Thus I remained to myself an unhappy lodging where I could neither stay nor leave. For where could my heart fly from my heart? Where could I fly from my own self?”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
+
“Christ said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. But, who is it that does not know what he is doing? A madman. You understand?”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
+
“Man, as long as he lives, must always struggle. And his first fight is to conquer himself. It is the man who is unto himself treacherous. This is because he does not listen to the other, but hears what his reasoning tells him. While we have so many Holy Fathers to imitate them by reading their writings, however the ego takes over many times. When man defeats himself, he is the greatest martyr and triumphant and victorious before God.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“Lord Jesus, don’t let me lie when I say that I love You… and protect me, for today I could betray You.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
+
“A man in this world must solve a problem: to be with Christ, or to be against Him. And every man decides this, whether he wants to or not. He will either be a lover of Christ or a fighter of Christ. There is no third option.”
Saint Justin Popovich
+
“If you wish, you can be a slave of passions, and if you wish, you can remain free and not submit to their yoke; for God has created you with that power.”
Saint Anthony the Great
+
“The Lord sees your need and your efforts, and will give you a helping hand. He will support and establish you as a soldier, fully armed and ready to go into battle. No support can be better than His. The greatest danger lies in the Soul thinking that it can find this help within itself; then it will lose everything. Evil will dominate it again, eclipsing the light that as yet flickers but weakly in the Soul, and it will extinguish the small flame which is still scarcely burning. The Soul should realize how powerless it is alone; therefore, expecting nothing of itself, let it fall down in humility before God, and in its own heart recognize itself to be nothing. Then Grace – which is all powerful – will, out of this nothing, create in it everything. He who in total humility puts himself in the hand of the Merciful God, attracts the Lord to himself, and becomes strong in His strength.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
+
“Yet you are not the sole author of the evil, but there is also another most wicked prompter, the devil. He indeed suggests, but does not get the mastery by force over those who do not consent.”
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
+
“If someone wants to sin, he sins; if he does not, he doesn’t.”
Elder Cleopa of Romania
+
“The Grace of God comes when we raise our hand. It is Faith that draws God’s Grace to us. God is ‘pouring down’ His Grace, but where is the hand reaching out to receive it? Instead, we are wearing hats or carrying umbrellas…”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
+
“This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
+