put together by Fr. Paul Jaroslaw from Prophet Elijah Antiochian Orthodox Mission in Ellensburg, WA
If we do commit some sin again, we should without delay ask forgiveness once again, and the Lord will forgive us, for He came not to save the righteous but the sinners, i.e., those who acknowledge their sins. Abbot Nikon Vorobiev
A great obstacle for many is shame. It is human. We won’t remain on this point, except to only mention a saying of St. Cosmas Aiotolos: Be ashamed when you are going to do the sin and not when you are confessing it!
The holy Dominos was indeed worthy of admiration. A friend of St. Cosmas the Zographitan, he led a pure life, laboring in the holy monastery of Esphigmenou (on Mt. Athos). He was under the rule never to stay overnight anywhere else but in his own hut. Once, he found himself near Chilandari, in rain and fog, and not knowing where he was because of the dark and heavy rain, he cried out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus Christ, save me, for I am perishing!” Then an angel of God appeared and snatched him up, and suddenly he found himself safely in front of his own hut. After he reposed in the Lord, the fathers of the monastery smelled a fragrance coming from his tomb for forty days; this fragrance reached the holy monastery even though it was a mile away from the tomb. Athonite Gerontikon ___________________________________________________________________________________
“Do not establish your previously committed sins in your soul by thinking about them so that they not be repeated in you. Be assured that they were forgiven you from the time that you gave yourself to God and to repentance. In that, do not doubt” -– St. Anthony the Great
And conversely: if a man considers himself a believer, and has no misfortunes or illnesses, then this, according to the holy fathers, is a sign that he has not found favor with the Lord. Whoever does not suffer here for Christ’s sake will be tormented by pangs of conscience in the future age—for it was possible to show love for God by the endurance of sorrows, and this was not done. Instead, attempts were made to avoid and escapes these sorrows. Abbot Nikon Vorobiev
St. Anthony said that three kinds of impulse exist in the body: “The first is from nature, the second is from lack of restraint in food and the third is from the demons.” _________________________________________________________________________________Only where Christ dwells is there blessedness. Where Christ blesses there is heavenly repose. Where Christ turns His benevolent gaze there is inexpressible true joy. Christ, with His unceasing love for us and His great humility, loves us and invisibly reproves us and reminds us through His miracles that there is life in the Kingdom of Heaven. St. Raphael _______________________________________________________________________________________________When Domentian struck him in the face, spat upon him and broke his teeth, the holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Ancyra replied, “You are doing me great honor, O Domentian, and you are not torturing me, for the mouth of my Lord Jesus Christ was also beaten and struck in like manner – and behold: I, the unworthy one, have now been made worthy of this!” ______________________________________________________________________________________________“In the beginning, passion and pain were not created together with the body; nor forgetfulness and ignorance together with the soul; nor the ever-changing impressions in the shape of events with the mind. All these things were brought about in man by his disobedience.” -– St. Maximos the Confessor _____________________________________________________________________________________________ It is not good for a monk to move from place to place. A tree frequently transplanted does not bear fruit. – St. Euthymius the Great _____________________________________________________________________________________________“The most important work that a spiritual wrestler can do is to enter within the heart, there to fight Satan; to hate and repel the thoughts that he inspires and to wage war upon him.” -– St. Macarius of Egypt ________________________________________________________________________________________ “If, therefore, we desire to be set free and to enjoy perfect freedom, let us learn to cut off our desires.” St. Dorotheos of Gaza
