“Christian life is zeal, and the strength to remain in communion with God by means of an active fulfillment of His Holy Will, according to our Faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Grace of God, to the Glory of His Most Holy Name.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“I am a Christian. He who answers thus has declared everything at once – his country, profession, family; the believer belongs to no city on Earth but to the Heavenly Jerusalem.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“I do not Worship matter; I Worship the Creator of matter Who became matter for my sake.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in You.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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A brother asked Abba Poemen, ‘How should a man behave?’ The old man said to him, ‘Look at Daniel: no-one found anything in him to complain about except for his Prayers to the Lord his God.’
Saint Poemen the Great
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“When someone opens your heart, I’d like him to find nothing there but Christ.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“The Lord says to us, I will look at you and I will see if there is Me in you, and you will look upon Me as in a mirror and you will see what kind of person you are.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovic
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“If you are risen with Christ, then seek the things that are above, where He is sitting at the right hand of God the Father.”
Saint Basil the Great
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“Life without Christ is not life. That’s just the way it is… If you don’t see Christ in everything you do, you are without Christ.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“A Christian is not one who has learned much about Christ, but one who has suffered much for Christ.”
Saint Gregory Palamas
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“If you are Risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the Right Hand of God.”
Saint Basil the Great
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“My dear Jesus, my Saviour, is so deeply written in my heart, that I feel confident, that if my heart were to be cut open and chopped to pieces, the Name of Jesus would be found written on every piece.”
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
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“For what am I to myself without You, but a guide to my own downfall?”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“Orthodoxy is life, one must not talk about it, one must live it.”
Saint Nektary of Optina
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“True perfection consists in having but one fear: the fear of losing God’s friendship!”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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“The whole Earth is but a waiting room for Eternity. Are we doing what we should at every moment of our life? Do we love according to the Commandments of God? Do we follow the example of Christ?… We must think always, ‘How would I behave if Christ were here, visible, near us, everywhere and at all times?’ This should be the way of our life.”
Mother Gavrilia
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“When you look upon the Icon of the Mother of God, with her Eternal Infant, marvel how most truly the Godhead was united with human nature, glorify the goodness and omnipotence of God, and, recognising your own dignity as man, live worthily of the high calling to which you are called in Christ – that is, the calling of a child of God and an heir to eternal bliss.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Labor is for the body; humility for the Soul. And both of them together; labor and humility, for the whole person.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“Believe in the Light, that you may be the sons of Light. The Christian worldview is based on a bright outlook on life. Christianity is a life-affirming religion that calls people to light and perfection.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“If you are a friend of Christ you should have as friends persons who are of benefit to you and contribute to your way of life. Let your friends be men of peace, Spiritual brethren, Holy Fathers. It is of such that our Lord was speaking when He said: ‘My mother and brethren are those who do the Will of My Father Who is in Heaven.’ (Matthew 12:49-50).
Saint Theodoros the Great Ascetic
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“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“The fruits of the Earth are not brought to perfection immediately, but by time, rain and care; similarly, the fruits of men ripen through ascetic practice, study, time, perseverance, self-control and patience.”
Saint Anthony the Great
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“I am the disciple of Him Who has nailed my sin to the Cross, and has trodden the Devil and his devices underfoot.”
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
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“When anyone asked him, ‘Do you live all alone in the desert?’ the Elder would reply: ‘No, I live with the Angels and Archangels, with all the Saints, with the Mother of God and with Christ.’”
Saint Tikhon of Mount Athos
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“He that loveth God disdaineth things corruptible and prefereth the Knowledge of Him.”
Saint Sabas the Sanctified
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“The fear of God makes a person wise. What is the fear of God? Not that one should be afraid of God, but to be afraid to sadden someone, to harm someone, to do them no wrong, and to not make accusations. This is wisdom. After all this, God will illumine you as to what to do in your life.”
Saint Sophia Kleisoura the Eldress
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“Different men have different names, which they owe to their parents or to themselves, that is, to their own pursuits and achievements. But our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians.”
Saint Gregory Nazianzus
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“Let us take off our life’s complex covering of rapacity and greed, since it is ugly in God’s sight and condemned, and let us put on, as the elect of God, compassion, humility, modesty and meekness.”
Saint Gregory Palamas
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“Make a new start every day, with new resolution, with enthusiasm and love, Prayer and silence – not with anxiety so that you get a pain in the chest.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Perform everything attentively, as if it is being done before the face of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything.”
Saint Nikon of Optina
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“It is up to us to add labours in order to ‘go from strength to strength’ (Psalm 83:7), and to come ‘to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13), so that the words of the Lord may be fulfilled in us: ‘But they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall grow wings like eagles; and they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). Only then will our present joy (which now visits us little and briefly) appear in all its fullness; and no one will take it from us, for we shall be filled to overflowing with inexplicable Heavenly delights.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“In making the Sign of the Cross, believe and constantly remember that your sins are nailed to the Cross.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“He who loves God lives the Angelic life on Earth, fasting and keeping Vigils, Praying and singing Psalms and always thinking good of every man.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“Christianity is an entirely new way of being human.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“He who has not tasted something, says Basil the Great, does not know what he is missing; but once he has tasted it, he is filled with longing. Thus he who has tasted the sweetness of the Commandments, and realizes that they lead him gradually towards the imitation of Christ, longs to acquire them all, with the result that he often disdains even death for their sake. Glimpsing the Mysteries of God hidden in the Holy Scriptures, he thirsts to grasp them fully; and the more knowledge he gains, the more he thirsts, burning as though drinking flames. And because the Divine cannot be grasped fully by anyone, he continues to thirst for ever.”
Saint Peter of Damascus
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“Keep your Faith, which is Eternal and beyond any doubt.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“Christ is the Eternal King of Israel and Christians are the true Israelite Race.”
Saint Justin the Philosopher
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“If we are asked, you or I or anybody, where we come from, we will say in reply, not Athenians, Constantinopolitans, whatever… but citizens of Heaven! Even if we have’t yet ever been up there.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“He who loves can only do beautiful things.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Do not do anything without signing yourself with the sign of the Cross! When you depart on a journey, when you begin your work, when you go to study, when you are alone, and when you are with other people, seal yourself with the Holy Cross on your forehead, your body, your chest, your heart, your lips, your eyes, your ears. All of you should be sealed with the Sign of Christ’s victory over hell. Then you will no longer be afraid of charms, evil spirits, or sorcery, because these are dissolved by the power of the Cross like wax before fire and like dust before the wind.”
Elder Cleopas of Romania
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“Someone who is elated with wine speaks the truth on all subjects, even without meaning to. In the same way, anyone who is inebriated with the spirit of penitence will never be able to tell lies.”
Saint John Climacus
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“When you celebrate your Name Day, celebrate with the intention of attaining mercy from God through the intercession of your Saint.”
Saint Symeon the New Theologian
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“I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“These three things God requires of all the Baptized: right Faith in the heart, truth on the tongue, temperance in the body.”
Saint Gregory of Nazianzus
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