“Pray and rejoice. God will arrange everything.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Let God intervene between you and your purpose, instead of letting your purpose intervene between you and God.”
Mother Gavrilia
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“Neither should wealth impress you, nor honour, but always walk justly. Eat your bread with your honourable sweat and not through unjust means. The things you gain honourably, do not squander aimlessly. Live honourably and humbly, and as much as possible extend your hands in almsgiving.”
Saint George Karslides
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“We should follow the example of the birds. They’re always joyful whereas we’re always bothered by something.”
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
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“Drink Holy Water as often as possible. It’s the best and most effective medicine. I say this not as a Bishop, but as a doctor, from my experience in medicine.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“Take Communion regularly, Pray warmly, be patient and you will see a strong Hand holding you.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“When we worry too much about worldly matters, we cannot become aware of God’s love. God gives but we do not sense it. Be careful not to waste your precious energy on redundant worries and vanities, which will turn to dust one day.”
Saint Paisios
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“If you become rich, consider whether or not you could worthily bear poverty. If you are happy, imagine how you could worthily meet unhappiness. When people praise you, think how you might worthily bear insult. And, all your life, think how you might worthily meet death.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“We should lead the Spiritual life, be obedient to our Spiritual Father, confess, take Communion regularly, and, most important of all, avoid criticising other people. We should read Spiritual books and Scripture, the Psalter, and take part in beneficial Spiritual discussions… We need to persist in Prayer and obedience. We have to struggle.”
Saint Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia
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“Love Christ and put nothing before His Love. Christ is everything. He is Joy, He is Life, He is Light. He is the True Light Who makes man joyful, makes him soar with happiness… Everything beautiful is in Christ.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Take hold of your life before your light grows dark and you seek help and do not find it. This life has been given to you for repentance, do not waste it in vain pursuits.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Humility and love, there you have it. This is everything.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Heaven and hell begin on Earth.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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Someone asked Abba Anthony, “What must one do in order to please God?” The old man replied, “Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes, whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”
Saint Anthony the Great
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“Every one of us is the painter of his own life. Our Soul is like the canvas, and the Virtues are the paint. Jesus Christ is the Image we should copy.”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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“Some people resemble the honeybee and some resemble the fly. Those who resemble the fly seek to find evil in every circumstance and are preoccupied with it; they see no good anywhere. But those who resemble the honeybee only see the good in everything they see.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Care most of all for your Soul, brother, it is your only treasure. Everything else you own, doesn’t really belong to you.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovic
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“A man who keeps death before his eyes will at all times overcome his cowardice.”
Saint Moses the Ethiopian
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“People want others to change, but they do not want to change themselves. If each person changed, the whole world would change.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”
Saint Basil the Great
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“Live as simply as you can. Do not make your own lives difficult. Too many conveniences turn people into slaves.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“If we do not have boldness when the Lord calls us, we are lost.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Our actions disclose what goes on within us, just as its fruit makes known a tree otherwise unknown to us.”
Saint Thalassios the Libyan
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“Always forwards. Even at a tortoise pace.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“If thou lovest peace, be peaceful.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Let God intervene between you and your purpose, instead of letting your purpose intervene between you and God.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Every morning, on the new page we open, we sign the blank. Whatever God wills, let Him write.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“If you do not get rid of “No” and “Tomorrow” from your life, you will never get to where the Lord wants you, Who grants you everything. He will give you the bodily strength when you answer “Yes” and “Now”. The Prophets, the Angels and the Saints all said, “Behold here I am… Let it be according to Your word.””
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Each one has a particular way of life that is unlike any other. All, however, lead to God and end with Him, just as the spokes of a wheel are connected with the hub.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Why did the Lord give me life? So that I would turn with my whole heart to God, for my purification and correction. Remember this and correct yourself.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“The chief end of our life is to live in communion with God. To this end the Son of God became Incarnate, in order to return us to this Divine communion, which was lost by the fall into sin. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we enter into communion with the Father and thus attain our purpose.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Do everything for the Glory of God, and in no thing – either outwardly nor inwardly – intend anything other than this Glory. It should be the measuring stick of every endeavour and place its seal on each one.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Nothing, either Spiritual or material, belongs to us but to God. It becomes ours when we offer it to God. Through the Prayer that we say before the meal, we offer up the material good things to God, and then they become ours, because God gives them back to us so that we can live.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Do not ask God for things that can be done by people. Humble yourselves before others and ask for their help.”
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos
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“If the Lord has left us ignorant of the ordering of many things in this world, then it means it is not necessary for us to know: we cannot compass all creation with our minds. But the Creator Himself of Heaven and Earth and every created thing gives us to know Him in the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“When God, Who is absolute fullness, brought creatures into existence, it was not done to fulfill any need but so that His creatures should be happy to share His likeness, and so that He Himself might rejoice in the joy of His creatures as they draw inexhaustibly upon the Inexhaustible.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“Grant me to know Your Truth before I depart this life. Maintain my life in this world until I may offer You true repentance.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“The man who remains with Jesus is rich even if he is poor with regard to material things.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“Even a whisper of the Divine is Glory beyond compare to all the content of a life lived apart from God.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Nothing is more precious than peace, by which all war, both in Heaven and Earth, is brought to an end.”
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
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“He Who gives you the day also gives you the things necessary for the day.”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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“But when we start to love God, all fears vanish.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“What does our Christ instruct us to do? Meditate on our sins, on death, on hell, on Paradise, and on our Soul, which is more precious than the entire world. We are to eat and drink moderately, similarly, to clothe ourselves moderately, and to use the remaining time for our Soul – to make it a Bride for Our Christ. And then we can call ourselves human beings and Earthly Angels. But if we concern ourselves with what we shall eat and what we shall drink, how we shall commit sin, how to dress up this stinking body which tomorrow will be eaten by worms, and do not concern ourselves about our Soul which is Eternal, then we can’t be called human beings, but animals. So make your body a servant of the Soul, and then you can call yourselves human beings.”
Saint Cosmas of Aitolia
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“There are phenomena which science will never be able to explain, because it doesn’t use the right methods.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“What has happened has happened – it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God.”
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
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“The things that hinder us from understanding and grasping the meaning of Spiritual teachings are our own indifference and the fact that we cling with all our might to the fleeting concerns of this life.”
Saint Gregory Palamas
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“One blade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind in beholding the art with which it has been made.”
Saint Basil the Great
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“There is a new wonder in Heaven and on Earth: God is on Earth and man is in Heaven.”
Saint Thalassios the Libyan
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“The Saints are like the Lord, but so are all people who keep the Commandments of Christ; but those who live according to their own passions and do not repent are like the devil. I think that if this mystery were revealed to the world, then they would stop serving the devil, and every one would strive to serve the Lord with all his strength, and to be like Him.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“When we have love in our hearts the Angels become ‘our best colleagues’.”
Mother Gavrilia
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“When the man of pure heart looks at the world of nature, that is, at the sky, the earth, and the sea and at all things in them, and observes the systems constituting them, the infinite multitude of stars of Heaven, the innumerable multitudes of birds and quadrupeds and every kind of animal of the Earth, the variety of plants on it, the abundance of fish in the sea, he is immediately amazed and exclaims with the Prophet David: ‘How great are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom Thou made them all.’”
Saint Nektarios of Ageina
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“While we are living improperly, we fear all kinds of things. When we recognise God, there occurs a fear of His judgement. But when we start to love God, all fears vanish.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“The only valuables on Earth are good works done for Christ: These win us the Grace of the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“I wish you many years – but not for them to be too happy, because happiness in the world isn’t really so healthy. When a man is too happy in this world, he forgets God and forgets death.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“To believe in God is good but it is more blessed to know God.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Heaven and hell begin on Earth.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Let us sing a new song, not with our lips but with our lives.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“I know five languages. The first is the smile; the second is tears. The third is to touch. The fourth is Prayer, and the fifth is love. With these five languages I go all around the world.”
Mother Gavrilia
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“What we say remains in Eternity.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Saint Gerasim was a great Elder, and he had a lion. We are lesser, so we have cats”.
Saint Nektary of Optina
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“Christ! This Name has become the synthesis of all the highest ideals of mankind.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“The Virtues are linked one to the other, and follow as it were a Sacred sequence, one depending on the other. For instance, Prayer is linked to love, love to joy, joy to gentleness, gentleness to humility, humility to service, service to hope, hope to faith, faith to obedience, and obedience to simplicity.”
Saint Makarios of Egypt
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“Our actions disclose what goes on within us, just as its fruit makes known a tree otherwise unknown to us”
Saint Thalassios the Libyan
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“The chief end of our life is to live in communion with God. To this end the Son of God became incarnate, in order to return us to this divine communion, which was lost by the fall into sin. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we enter into communion with the Father and thus attain our purpose.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Life is blessedness! These words might seem strange. How can one call life blessedness when at every step one encounters failures, disappointments and grief? How much sorrow do people endure? Life, people say, is labor, and often thankless labor – what kind of blessedness is there in this? And all the same I repeat: life is blessedness. Life becomes blessedness for us when we learn to fulfill Christ’s Commandments and to love Christ. Then it will be a joy to live, a joy to endure the afflictions that come upon us, while before us will glow the Ineffable Light of the Sun of Righteousness – the Lord. All the Gospel Commandments begin with the word, “blessed”: blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers … From this it follows, as a truth, that the fulfilling of the Commandment offers people the highest happiness”.
Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
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“There are people who, when they encounter inability to understand, do not ask the Lord. But one must immediately say, “Lord, I am a sinful man and I don’t understand as I should. But give me understanding, Merciful One, as to how I must proceed.” And the Merciful Lord then inspires them as to what to do and what not to do.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“If you run away from God, He will not chase you, but He will be waiting for you.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovic
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“People hate the truth for the sake of whatever it is they love more than the truth. They love truth when it shines warmly on them, and hate it when it rebukes them.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“If laymen do not murmur they will receive the same reward from God as Ascetic Monks.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“[Christ] brought down all the Divine perfections from Heaven to Earth. And He did not just bring them down, but also taught them to us and gave us Grace-filled power to have them transform our lives, our thoughts, our feelings, our deeds. Hence, our calling is to incarnate them in ourselves and in the world around us.”
Saint Justin Popovich of Serbia
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“Do not let your troubles distress you too much. For the less we grieve over things, the less grievous they are.”
Saint Gregory the Theologian
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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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“How can someone have the freedom to choose and the power to act freely, unless he were able to be evil, should he so wish?”
Saint Gregory Palamas
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“We find happiness and peace only by living according to God’s Commandments.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Peace to all – in this way the spirit is at rest, the heart loves, the soul becomes calm, the world of the Earth becomes a paradise. The Kingdom of God inside us, and we inside His Kingdom.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“God asks little, but He gives much.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking about Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking about Christ.”
Saint Ambrose Bishop of Milan