“Prayer is a marvellous embrace of the Lord.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“Make your heart a Monastery. There sound the semantron, there call your vigil, cense and whisper ceaseless Prayers. God is next to you!”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“I was making some prostrations once, when the following thought occurred to me: ‘Where you kneel and make prostrations, there the feet of Christ are.’ I instantly fell to the floor and started kissing the ground where Christ had stepped. I literally kissed it. These things come by themselves, you cannot provoke them. This is Grace, my brother.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
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“We Pray not to inform God or to instruct Him but to become intimate with Him.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“When the Soul by the Holy Spirit comes to know the Mother of God; when in the Holy Spirit the Soul becomes kin to the Apostles, the Prophets, and all the Saints and Righteous ones, then she is irresistibly drawn to that world, and cannot remain, but is bothered, and thirsts, and cannot cease from Prayer, and although the body becomes exhausted and wants to lie down on a bed, even while lying in bed the Soul longs for the Lord and the Kingdom of the Saints.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“The greatest Miracle in all the universe: The union of man’s heart with the Spirit of Christ.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“The chief thing in Prayer is the nearness of the heart to God, as proved by the sweetness of God’s presence in the Soul.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Prayer unites one with God, being a Divine conversation and Spiritual Communion with the Being that is most beautiful and highest. Prayer is forgetting Earthly things, an ascent to Heaven. Through Prayer we flee to God.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“What a man thinks and feels as he Prays to God is more important to God than the words his tongue forms.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
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“To describe it with the boldest expression, Prayer is a conversation with God. Even if we speak with a low voice, even if we whisper without opening the lips, even if we call to Him only from the depths of our heart, our unspoken word always reaches God and God always hears. Sometimes, however, besides speaking, we lift our head and lift our arms to Heaven. In this way, we are underlining the desire that the spirit has for the Spiritual world. We are striving with the word to raise the body above the Earth. We are giving wings to the Soul for it to reach the good things on high.”
Saint Clement of Alexandria
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“Talk with God’s Spirit as you would with someone dear to you.”
Mother Gavrilia
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“Bend down, my King, so that I may whisper to You the dearest secret, the most secret Prayer, the most Prayerful wish. You are the subject of all my Prayers, all my search. I ask nothing of You, indeed, only You.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
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“If the face of a loved one clearly and completely changes us, and makes us cheerful, joyful and carefree, what will the Face of the Lord not do when He makes His Presence felt invisibly in a pure Soul?”
Saint John Climacus
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“Do not grow conceited if you shed tears when you Pray. For it is Christ Who has touched your eyes and given you Spiritual sight.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Sometimes we are afraid to look within ourselves, because there we discover helplessness, judgment, pride. But it is precisely there that God awaits us. Let us keep our gaze in the heart and not run away. Frightening is the beginning, but sweet is the fruit: for when a person dares to acknowledge his wound, he can give it to Christ, and Christ fills it with light. And so, little by little, we learn that forgiveness heals, Prayer nourishes, and the Love of God is never taken away from us.”
Mother Siluana Vlad
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“Please put this commandment into practice: Cultivate love towards the Person of Christ to such an extent that, when you pronounce His Name, tears fall from your eyes. Your heart must really be aflame. Then He will become your Teacher. He will be your Guide, your Brother, your Father, and your Geron (Elder).”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“God is visiting you when tears come during Prayer.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“Pray to God to help you. Kneel before your Icon-stand, and tell Him: ‘So many years away from You, I have grieved You; I was living in darkness. Now grant me some of Your Light, and do not abandon me, my Christ. You’re all I’ve got. People love today and tomorrow they leave. I am a sheep of Your rational flock and I take refuge in You, the Good Shepherd; seek me, who am lost, my God, and have mercy on me… Open unto me Your Fatherly arms…’ Chant whenever you can, and Pray to God to bring you near Him and to give you patience. He is Merciful and He will listen to you, only ask Him.”
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
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“Do you know what a great gift it is that God gave us the right to speak to Him every hour and moment, wherever we are? He always listens to us. This is the greatest honour we have. For this reason we must love God.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Turn your mind towards God continually. Learn to love Prayer; converse with the Lord. What counts above all is love, passionate love for the Lord, for Christ the Bridegroom. Become worthy of Christ’s love. In order not to live in darkness, turn on the switch of Prayer so that Divine Light may flood your Soul. Christ will appear in the depths of your being. There, in the deepest and most inward part, is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“As rivers flow into the sea, so the Souls of men into God.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“When the Spirit of God descends upon a man and overshadows him with the fullness of His outpouring, then his Soul overflows with a joy not to be described, for the Holy Spirit turns to joy whatever He touches. The Kingdom of Heaven is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Many philosophers and scholars have arrived at a belief in the existence of God, but they have not come to know God. To believe in a God is one thing, to know God another. Both in Heaven and on Earth the Lord is made known only by the Holy Spirit, and not through ordinary learning. Even children, who have no learning at all, come to know the Lord by the Holy Spirit. Saint John the Baptist felt the presence of the Lord while still in his mother’s womb. Saint Simeon Stylites was a seven-year-old boy when the Lord appeared to him and he knew Him; Saint Seraphim a grown man of twenty-seven when the Lord showed Himself to him during the liturgy; and another Simeon was stricken with years when he received the Lord in his arms in the Temple, and knew Him.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“A Soul that’s been wounded by Divine Love is always glad, it rejoices, it leaps and dances, because it’s as buoyant in the Love of the Lord as if it were riding on calm waters.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“We know when the Holy Spirit visits us. We don’t doubt it at all. It’s not like one of our normal feelings. It is something that comes from above and transforms us completely, making us different people.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“When Holy Peace reigns in my Soul, then surely the King of Peace dwells within me, the Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and then especially I ought to be full of feelings of gratitude to the Lord of Peace, and endeavour with all my strength to preserve this Peace within me by means of fervent Prayer and by abstaining from every sin, both inward and outward.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“My child, may Heavenly love always fill your heart and flood it with only lofty and Divine desires. Then you will relish the Divine whispers of your adored Bridegroom, Who delights in conversation with you, when your heart is His Throne.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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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 of Mount Athos
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“Do all things in order to seek Him and place Him within your heart. Your little heart should soften, my child, from the touch of Grace, every instant when you think how much God loves you and how much He has protected your from Spiritual death, protecting you from the filth that the demons bring to the mind of men.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
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“The greatest marvel of all is that our Father, the God of all wisdom and power, Who presides over the universe, is our Father. Even to me poor Seraphim.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Do not say, after spending a long time in Prayer, that nothing has been gained; for you have already gained something. And what higher good is there than to cling to the Lord and persevere in unceasing union with Him?”
Saint John Climacus
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“When affection comes up in Prayer, then leave the Prayer book and Pray in your own words about what has stirred up the Soul.”
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
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“Prayer is the merger of mind and heart with God, a living conversation with Him, and the reverend presence before the Life-giving Source.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“God’s revelation is not visions, but the advent of Divine Grace, which comes in stages.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“O Holy Spirit, Thou hast revealed to me a Mystery that passeth all understanding. The Holy Spirit invisibly gives the Soul knowledge… He has suffered me to come to know the Lord my Creator. He has suffered me to know how immeasurably the Lord loves us… It is impossible to explain this.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“If a man Prays, then he receives a sweet savor and Grace from God, and his Angel also Prays nearby. A man Prays, and his Angel pleads: ‘O my God, hear his Prayer; do that which he asks.’ And if our Prayer is also accompanied by tears and repentance then our Angel rejoices, because he has more boldness before God because of such a beautiful Soul, such a beautiful person.”
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
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“When a man has found the Lord, he no longer has to use words when he is Praying, for the Spirit Himself will intercede for him with groans that cannot be uttered.”
Saint John Climacus
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“When mind and heart are united in Prayer and the Soul is wholly concentrated in a single desire for God, then the heart grows warm and the Light of Christ begins to shine and fills the inward man with peace and joy. We should thank the Lord for everything and give ourselves up to His Will; we should also offer Him all our thoughts and words, and strive to make everything serve only His good pleasure.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“To Pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever present, all seeing, within you.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“May the living water of the Holy Spirit fill my heart, and may rivers of living water flow from my heart to the Glory of God, and for the Salvation of God’s people.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Lord, grant me the Grace to always have You in me, and not a minute to be without You.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Swim, O my nous, in the sweetest tranquility!”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“When Grace begins to open your eyes so that you perceive the Divine Vision, then you will shed torrents of tears.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“There is nothing more beautiful or sweeter than to love the Lord Jesus.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“Anoint my heart with the oil of Your Mercy, my most Merciful Lord.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“Do you know what the words “To You, Lord” mean? At the end of any ektene, when appealing to the Praying people to completely surrender to the Lord, a Deacon or Priest says, “Let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God!” And the Praying people answer, “To You, Lord!” These words are very important. They can be applied in any life situation. When you are in good health and successful at work, raise up your heart and say, “It is thanks to You, Lord!” When people respect and praise you, say to yourself, do not deserve this, praise is not to me, but to You, Lord!” When you send your children to school, or they go to work, or join the army, then bless them and say “I commend my children to Your care – to You, Lord!” When people envy you or a friend betrays you, do not lose heart or hold any grudges, but say, “I leave all this to Your righteous judgment – to You, Lord!” When you are following the coffin, escorting the dearest person to his final resting place, walk bravely as if you are carrying a gift to your best Friend, and say, “I bring this beloved Soul to You, Lord!” When the dark clouds of demonic temptations, sorrows and sicknesses gather over you, do not despair, but say, “For help and mercy, I turn to You, Lord!” When the Angel of death stands beside your bed, do not be afraid of him, for he is your friend, but say goodbye to this world and say, I commend my repentant Soul into Your hands, Lord!”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“Your Prayer may be silent, but God hears the tears of your heart.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“Do you want to Pray? Prepare yourself to meet the Lord in secret.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“The Soul that has been deemed worthy to partake of the Divine Light is carried into another world, into another age, where there is no sorrow, no groaning, but peace and joy without end.”
Saint Macarius of Egypt
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“Strive for the union of your Soul with God.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your Soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light.”
Saint Ambrose Bishop of Milan
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“When you Pray, try to mentally embrace the feet of Christ, like the sinful woman. Do not abandon Prayer. Fear negligence. If you Pray in the morning with devotion, you will “fly” all day. But if you go without Prayer, the whole day will be off.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina