“The closer a man draws to God, the more he sees himself as a sinner.”
Saint Dorotheos of Gaza
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“The Soul that really loves God and Christ, though it may do ten thousand righteousnesses, esteems itself as having wrought nothing, by reason of its insatiable aspiration after God. Though it should exhaust the body with fastings, with watchings, its attitude towards the Virtues is as if it had not yet even begun to labour for them.”
Saint Makarios the Great
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“We all are sinners, but we fail to see our sinfulness inasmuch we do not draw near to God. You hold a little candle in your hand, but you feel no pain. When the wax burns down to the fingers, then the fire begins to burn the hand. That’s how we are, too: the closer we get to the Lord, the more sinful we reckon ourselves.”
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
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“When a ray of sunlight enters the house through a crack, it lights up everything inside, and even shows up the finest dust in its beam. So it is with the fear of the Lord, when it enters a human heart, it reveals all the fallibility still lurking there.”
Saint John Climacus