“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have Everlasting Life.”
Jesus Christ
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“The whole Earth is a living Icon of the Face of God.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“The Lord’s love is greater than a mother’s love.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Man sentenced God to death; by His Resurrection, He sentenced man to immortality. In return for a beating, He gives an embrace; for abuse, a blessing; for death, immortality. Man never showed so much hate for God as when he Crucified Him; and God never showed more love for man than when He arose. Man even wanted to reduce God to a mortal, but God by His Resurrection made man immortal. The Crucified God is Risen and has killed death. Death is no more. Immortality has surrounded man and all the world.”
Saint Justin Popovich of Serbia
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“The Love of Christ is offered and always passes through other people.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“All who truly believe in Christ and cleave to Him with all their Soul, are changed into His Image by the Power of His Resurrection.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Think… how great is your dignity since God has moved with His own army of Angels and spirits to enter into battle with the adversary in order to redeem you from death. God, therefore, came for your sake.”
Saint Makarios the Great of Egypt
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“Christ is the artist, tenderly wiping away all the grime of sin that disfigures the human face and restoring God’s Image to its full beauty.”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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“The Love of Christ… transfigures life.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Do not grow faint. God will not forget your labour, as He did not forget that of others who laboured for the Glory of His Name.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“You may be certain that as long as someone is in hell, Christ will remain there with him.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“When God became Man, then Divine Life became human life, Divine power became human power, Divine Truth became human truth, and Divine righteousness became human righteousness: everything which is God’s became man’s.
Saint Justin Popovich
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“Oh, if only man so revered God, as God reveres him!”
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
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“Christ invites the sinful Soul.
Why did you abandon Me, man?
Why did you turn away from the One Who loved you?
Why did you join my enemy?
Remember that I came down from the Heavens for you.
Remember that I became flesh.
Remember that I was born from the Holy Virgin Mary.
Remember that I became an infant for you.
Remember that I was humbled for you.
Remember that I became poor for you.
Remember that I lived on Earth for you.
Remember that I endured persecution for you.
Remember that for you, I accepted aspersions, hubris, disgraces, wounds.
Remember that for you ‘I was numbered with the transgressors’.
Remember that for you I suffered a dishonouring death.
Remember that for you I was buried.
I came down from the Heavens to lift you to the Heavens.
I was humbled to lift you.
I became poor to make you rich.
I was dishonoured to glorify you.
I was hurt to give you life.
You sinned and I took that sin on me.
You were to blame and I was executed.
You are the debtor, and I paid your debt.
You were sentenced to death and I died for you.
My Love incited me to do it, and my compassion.
I could not bear your suffering and you being in such sorrow.
And you scorn My Love?
Instead of love, you return hate.
Instead of loving Me, you love the sin.
Instead of obeying Me, you obey your passions.
But what is it that you find in Me and try to escape it?
Why do you not want to come to Me?
Are you looking for the good for yourself?
I have all goods.
Are you looking for beatitude?
I have all beatitude.
Are you looking for beauty?
What is there that is more beautiful than Me?
Are you looking for kindness?
Who is kinder than the Son of God and the Virgin?
Are you looking for the high?
What is higher than the King of the Heavens?
Are you looking for glory?
Who is more Glorious than Me?
Are you looking for riches?
All the riches are with Me.
Are you looking for wisdom?
I am the Wisdom of God.
Are you looking for friendship?
Who is more friendly than Me that gave My Soul for everyone?
Are you looking for help?
Who can help you if not Me?
Are you looking for a doctor?
Who can cure you if not me?
Are you looking for gladness?
Who will give it to you if not Me?
Are you looking for consolation in your sorrows?
Who will console you if not Me?
Are you looking for quietness?
You will find the quietness for your Soul in Me.
Are you looking for peace?
I am the Peace of the Soul.
Are you looking for life?
I am the Source of Life.
Are you looking for the light?
I am the Light of the world.
Are you looking for the truth?
I am the Truth.
Are you looking for the way?
I am the Way.
Are you looking for the guide to Heaven?
I am the Faithful Guide.
So, why do you not want to come to Me?
You do not dare approach Me?
Who is, really, more approachable than me?
Are you afraid of begging Me?
When did I, really, refuse to do something when they begged me with faith?
Your sins won’t allow you?
But I died for the sinners.
Are you sad for the number of your sins?
My compassion is larger.
‘Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'”
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
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“What shall I render unto Thee, O Lord? Thou, O Merciful One, didst raise my Soul from sin, and gavest me to know Thy Mercy toward me, and my heart fell captive to Thee, and reaches unceasing toward Thee, my Light. What shall I render unto Thee, O Lord? Thou didst raise my Soul to love Thee and to love my neighbour, and Thou gavest me tears to Pray for the whole world. Blessed is the Soul that knows her Creator, and has grown to love Him, for she has found perfect rest in Him. The Lord is Merciful beyond bounds. My Soul knows His mercy toward me, and I write of it in hope that even one Soul may come to love the Lord, and be turned to Him by the fire of repentance.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“What He was, He laid aside; what He was not, He assumed. He takes upon Himself the poverty of my flesh so that I may receive the riches of His Divinity.”
Saint Gregory Nazianzus
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“Wake up, oh human being! For it was for you that God was made man. Rise up and realise it was all for you.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“Blessed is God Who cares for the Salvation of men and their Souls.”
Saint Mary of Egypt
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“God shows us His love for man not only in those instances when we do good, but also when we affront Him with our sins and anger Him.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“God loves us very much; He has us in mind in each and every moment and He protects us. We should know this and not be afraid of anything.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“A certain Monk told me that when he was very sick, his mother said to his father, “How our little boy is suffering. I would gladly give myself to be cut up into pieces if that would ease his suffering.” Such is the love of God for people. He pitied people so much that he wanted to suffer for them, like their own mother, and even more. But no one can understand this great love without the Grace of the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Do you want to see a Miracle every day? Every day reflect on the Incarnation and suffering of Christ.”
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
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“Do not say, ‘This happened by chance, while this came to be of itself.’ In all that exists there is nothing disorderly, nothing indefinite, nothing without purpose, nothing by chance… How many hairs are on your head? God will not forget one of them. Do you see how nothing, even the smallest thing, escapes the gaze of God?”
Saint Basil the Great
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“Our deeds, dear sister, will not save us; God’s infinite Mercy will.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“The long-suffering of God is unchangeable and His Mercy is kind… How many criminals are there who go out to kill and rob that He conceals in order that they may not be captured and placed under tortures? Pirates sail the sea and God does not order the sea to drown them. How many falsely swear by Holy Communion and He tolerates not repaying them for that with evil? Robbers steal on the road and He does not give them over to the beasts to tear them to pieces… Libertines go off with prostitutes and He tolerates them. Why all of this? Because He waits for repentance and conversion. Truly, God does not want the destruction of a sinner… That is why, brethren, let us be ashamed before the most lenient Lord God.”
Saint John the Merciful
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“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“Do not fear God because of the greatness of His Majesty, but fear Him because of the greatness of His love.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Each person is the very icon of God Incarnate in this world.”
Saint Maria Skobtsova of Paris
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“God loves your enemies as much as He loves you.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“You may be certain that as long as someone is in hell, Christ will remain there with him.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Woe is me, for it was given to me to know the Lord in the Holy Spirit, but I lose Him and cannot enter into His fulness, even though I perceive God’s Mercy towards me.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“In how many ways does not God rejoice us, His creatures, even by flowers? Like a tender mother, in His eternal power and wisdom, He every summer creates for us, out of nothing, these most beautiful plants. Let us enjoy them, not forgetting to Glorify the goodness of the Creator, Our Heavenly Father; let us on our part, too, reply to His love by loving hearts.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“He heals with individual treatment each of those who are trying to make progress.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“If you examine your life well, you will find many instances when God showed His unmistakable Mercy to you.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“It is not that we keep His Commandments first and that then He loves but that He loves us and then we keep His Commandments. This is that Grace which is revealed to the humble but hidden from the proud.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“What would happen if the sun stopped shining on the Earth? Life on Earth would stop. Thus even in Spiritual darkness man cannot remain, and the Lord frees us from the great darkness, sending to the world His Saints, who shine in Spiritual darkness.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“My God, Your Love cannot be endured, for it is great, and cannot be fit within my small heart.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Miracles are not impossible from a logical standpoint, and right reason does not deny them… Miracles are a consequence of the Creator’s love for His creatures.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“When Grace falls upon the hearts of the faithful, it gives to each the energies appropriate to the different virtues without itself changing.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Never say that God is just. If He were just you would be in hell. Rely on His injustice which is mercy, love and forgiveness.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Lack of love says: Lord, Lord why do I deserve Your chastisement and love says: Lord, Lord why do I deserve Your Mercy?”
Saint John Maximovitch
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“And when the Lord enlightens you, your Soul will feel the Lord, will feel that the Lord has forgiven you and loves you. And this you will come to know of experience, and the Grace of the Holy Spirit will bear witness in your Soul to your Salvation, and you will want to cry aloud to the whole world, ‘How greatly the Lord loveth us!’”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Concern yourself only that you have God for a friend and do not be afraid of anything. Behold, He is your only friend Who loves you without change.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“Although a mother, out of her great love and sorrow, always has tears to shed, she takes her remaining tears with her when she herself goes down into the grave. The Lord Jesus, though, shed all His tears for His children, to the last drop – and all His blood to the last drop. Never, O sinner, will more precious tears be shed for you, neither living nor dead. Never will a mother, or wife, or children, or homeland, pay more for you than Christ the Saviour paid.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“The size of His gift, be it great or small, depends on your love, whether it is great or small.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“The Lord loves us more dearly than we can love ourselves; but the Soul in her distress supposes that the Lord has forgotten her, even has no wish to look upon her, and she suffers and pines. But it is not so, brethren. The Lord loves us without end, and gives us the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and comforts us. It is not the Lord’s desire that the Soul should be despondent and in doubt concerning her Salvation. Believe, and be sure that we continue in suffering only until we have humbled ourselves; but so soon as we humble ourselves there is an end to affliction, for the Divine Spirit discloses to the Soul, because of her humility, that she is saved. Great Glory be to the Lord that He loveth us so dearly, and this love is made known in the Holy Spirit! My Soul yearns after the Lord, and I seek Him in tears. How could I not seek Him? He revealed Himself to me in the Holy Spirit, and my heart loved Him. He drew my Soul to Himself, and she yearns for Him.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by Mercy that we shall be saved.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“When the Grace of God comes to us, then we already here live in the dimension of Eternity.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Miracles do not compel belief, but prepare the Soul for it.”
Saint John Chrysostom