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“Repentance is the abandoning of all false paths that have been trodden by men’s feet, and men’s thoughts and desires, and a return to the new path: Christ’s path. But how can a sinful man repent unless he, in his heart, meets with the Lord and knows his own shame? Before little Zacchaeus saw the Lord with his eyes, he met Him in his heart and was ashamed of all his ways.”
“Notice the way in which Zacchaeus confessed his sin. He did not say: “Lord, I am a sinful man!”, or “Avarice is my sickness!” No; but, showing the fruits of repentance, he thus confessed his sin and his sickness: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.” is not this a clear confession that riches are his passion? “And if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Is not this a clear confession that his riches were acquired in a sinful manner? He did not, before this, say to the Lord: “I am a sinner, and I repent.” He confessed this silently to the Lord in his heart, and the Lord silently received his confession and repentance. It is of more importance to the Lord that a man acknowledge and confess his sickness and cry for help in his heart than with this tongue, for the tongue is capable of deception, but the heart is not.”
“If your heart has been softened either by repentance before God or by learning the boundless love of God towards you, do not be proud with those whose hearts are still hard. Remember how long your heart was hard and incorrigible.”
“No sin, no matter how many times repeated, is greater then God’s Mercy.”
“Until the mind is cleansed, man cannot be cleansed. But we have the mind of Christ, says the Apostle. Hence brethren, all Orthodox teaching on Asceticism concentrates on one main point: on the mind of man; on the cleansing and correcting of the mind. O Lord Jesus Christ, Purity and Eternal Source of purity, help us to reject our foolishness; help us to reason according to Thy mind.”
“Falsehood separates us from God, and only falsehood…. False thoughts, false words, false feelings, false desires-behold the assemblage of falsities that lead to nonexistence, illusions, and the repudiation of God.”
“A Priest is walking down a lonely road on a hot day when suddenly out of the bushes jumps a wild looking man with a gun. The man says to the priest, “I have killed 99 men, and you will be the 100th.” The Priest says to the him, I am ready to die; but please before you shoot me, give me a little water to drink. I am so thirsty. The murderer is confused for a moment, and then directs the Priest at gun point to his hovel in the bushes where he gives the Priest a cup of water to drink. As the Priest is drinking the water, the murderer dies of a heart attack. The Angels from Heaven come to escort the Soul of this murderer to Heaven, but the demons contest with them. “This man murdered 99 men and committed many other smaller sins. His Soul belongs to us.” But the Angels answer the demons,” But he also did two great deeds for the Gospel of Christ which outweigh all his sins. First he confessed his 99 murders to a Priest and second he gave water to the thirsty. No sin, no matter how many times repeated, is greater than the Mercy of God.”
“When you trust other people, you are weak, but when you trust in God you are strong. Cleave to God and all His strength will be with you. Confess your weakness before Him and He will send you His all-powerful Grace.”
“Contemplate the miraculous withering of the unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21: 19)… How my life too, which has many leaves- bodily cares, desires and thoughts – but is without Spiritual fruit.”
“Repentance is the abandoning of all false paths, and a return to the new path: Christ’s path.”
“To the superficial and the guilty it is more comfortable to bathe in the shallow pool of human thought than in the dangerous depths of Christ.”
“And when he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. So the love of God is limitless and perplexing! What his patience was to the sinner until now, so are His forgiveness and His joy. As soon as the sinner repents and enters the path leading to God, God is already in a hurry to meet him, receives him, falls on his neck, kisses him. Great is the joy of the mother, who sees the correction of the son; great is the joy of the shepherd who has found the missing sheep; great is the joy of the woman who has found the lost drachma; but all this cannot be compared with the joy of God, when the sinner repents and returns to God. As soon as repentance begins in our hearts, although we are still far away from God, God already sees us and, more quickly than the sunshine rushing into the dark Earth, goes to meet us. In meeting the new man, which through repentance is conceived in us! The Heavenly Father hurries to our aid, stretches out His hands and supports us so that we do not fall back again into the pit of a demon on the pork field, into the country of famine. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you, says the apostle James (James 4: 8). Oh, help is speedy! O blessed hands! If we have not yet extinguished the last spark of conscience and reason, we should be ashamed before such a love of God, we must as soon as possible repent and hurry with our lowered eyes and ascended hearts into the arms of our offended Parent.”