“Shine in our hearts, O Master Who loves mankind, the Pure Light of Your Divine Knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind that we may comprehend the proclamations of Your Gospels. Instill in us also reverence for Your Blessed Commandments so that, having trampled down all carnal desires, we may lead a Spiritual life, both thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to You. For You, Christ our God, are the illumination of our Souls and bodies, and to You we offer up glory, together with Your Father, Who is without beginning, and Your All-Holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.”
The Prayer of the Holy Gospel, by Saint John Chrysostom
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“When I study the Holy Scripture and patristic books, I leave the Earth and go to Heaven.”
Elder Epiphanios of Athens
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“God requires not the doing of the Commandments for their own sake, but the correction of the Soul, for whose sake He established the Commandments.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“I have what He has written; that is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbour. Let the world be in upheaval. I hold to His promise and read His message; that is my protecting wall and garrison. What message? ‘Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!'”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“Understand the words of Holy Scripture by putting them into practice…”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Scripture brought me to the Gate of Paradise, and the mind stood in wonder as it entered.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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“If we haven’t got control of our mind during the hour of spiritual study we are not benefited at all. We simply yawn and tire ourselves without a goal, for we cannot remember anything. In the same way, when the printer doesn’t have his mind on his work and forgets to put ink in, the printing presses work without printing anything.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“The reading of the Word of God should be performed in solitude, in order that the whole mind of the reader might be plunged into the truths of the Holy Scripture, and that from this he might receive warmth, which in solitude produces tears; from these a man is wholly warmed and is filled with Spiritual Gifts, which rejoice the mind and heart more than any word.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“The Bible is a scented garden, delightful, beautiful, it enchants our ears with birdsong in a sweet, divine, and spiritual harmony, it touches our heart, comforts us in sorrow, soothes us in a moment of anger, and fills us with Eternal joy.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“The Bible was composed in such a way that as beginners mature, its meaning grows with them.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“Do not be content with a mere fruitless reading of the Gospel; strive to fulfil its Commandments, and read it with your deeds. This is the Book of Life, and it must be read by life.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“If you believe what you like in the Gospel and reject what you do not like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“It is very useful to spend time reading the Word of God in solitude and to read the whole Bible with understanding. In return for this exercise alone, without the addition of any other virtuous deeds, the Lord grants man His Mercy and fills him with the gift of understanding. When a man provides his Soul with the Word of God, the he is granted the understanding of what is good and what is evil.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“When reading the Holy Scriptures, he who is humble and engaged in Spiritual work will apply everything to himself, and not to someone else.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Continual study of the Holy Scriptures is the light of the Soul and it protects us from the passions.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“One should nourish the Soul with the Word of God: for the Word of God, as Saint Gregory the Theologian says, is Angelic bread, by which are nourished Souls who hunger for God. Most of all, one should occupy oneself with reading the New Testament and the Psalter, which one should do standing up. From this there occurs an enlightenment in the mind, which is changed by a Divine change.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Just as at sea those who are carried away from the direction of the harbour bring themselves back on course by a clear sign, on seeing a tall beacon light or some mountain peak coming into view, so Scripture may guide those adrift on the sea of the life back into the harbour of the Divine Will.”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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“The words of God are like roses in your heart.”
Saint Sophia Kleisoura the Eldress
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“As in Paradise, God walks in the Holy Scriptures, seeking man.”
Saint Ambrose Bishop of Milan
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“The nature of water is soft, and the nature of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung above the stone, allowing the water to fall down drop by drop, it wears away the stone. So it is with the Word of God: it is soft and our heart is hard, but the man who hears the Word of God often opens his heart to the fear of God.”
Saint Poemen the Great
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“It is essential to read the Gospel, that incomparable Book. Then our life will be built up on the basis of the Word of God. And we will begin to think and make decisions in the spirit of the Divine Commandments. How beautiful, when one begins to think like the Creator of this world!”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“When you read the Gospels, do not seek enjoyment, do not search for exalted feelings, do not try to find brilliant thoughts. Seek instead to perfectly see Holy Truth. Do not content yourself with unproductive reading of the Gospels. Strive to fulfill its commandments, read it with deeds. This is the Book of Life, and one must read it with one’s life. Read the Gospels with the utmost reverence and attention. Do not consider anything in it unimportant, or unworthy of study. Every iota gleams with the rays of life… While reading about the lepers, the paralyzed, the lame and the possessed that the Lord healed, remember that your Soul – which is covered in the sores of sin, and is in bondage to the demons – is like these sick men. Learn from the Gospel to believe that the Lord Who healed them will heal you as well, if you will continually beg Him for this healing.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“The Gospel Beatitudes are a Spiritual state that is revealed in the Christian from his fulfillment of the Gospel commandments; Beatitudes are revealed one after the other, one giving birth to another…”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“By reading the Bible you are adding yeast to the dough of your Soul and body, which gradually expands and fills the Soul until it has thoroughly permeated it and makes it rise with the truth and righteousness of the Gospel.”
Saint Justin Popovich of Serbia
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“During Prayer, and when reading God’s Word, we must reverence every thought, every Word, as the Spirit of God Himself, the Spirit of Truth.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“I exhort you, and I will not cease to exhort you to pay heed not only to what is said here, but when you are home also you should occupy yourselves attentively with the reading of Holy Scripture. Let no one say to me such cold words – worthy of judgment – as these: ‘I am occupied with a trial, I have obligations in the city, I have a wife, I have to feed my children, and it is not my duty to read the Scripture but the duty of those who have renounced everything.’ What are you saying?! It is not your duty to read Scripture because you are distracted by innumerable cares? On the contrary, it is your duty more than those others, more than the Monks; they do not have such need of help as do you who live in the midst of such cares. You need treatment all the more, because you are constantly under such blows and are wounded so often. The reading of Scripture is a great defense against sin. Ignorance of the Scripture is a great misfortune, a great abyss. Not to know anything from the word of God is a disaster. This is what has given rise to heresies, to immorality; it has turned everything upside down.”
Saint John Chrysostom