A characteristic of those who are still progressing in blessed mourning is temperance and silence of the lips; and of those who have made progress, freedom from
What we can say about deification? Here are we who lie in the deepest pit of ignorance, in the dark passions of this body and in the shadow of death, having the temerity to begin to philosophize about heaven on earth. The firmament has the stars for its beauty, and dispassion has the virtues for its adornments; for by dispassion I mean no other than the interior heaven of the mind, which regards the tricks of the demons as mere toys. And so he is truly dispassionate, and is recognized as dispassionate, who has made his flesh incorruptible, who has […]
There is one spirit on which you should keep a vigilant eye; he is the one who assails you…
Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit and raises man to Heaven. The highest form of prayer is…
Both in creation and in compunction there is that which moves itself and that which is moved by something else. When the soul becomes tearful,…
When we have lived a year or two away from our family, and have acquired some piety or contrition or continence, then vain thoughts begin to rise up in us and urge us to go again to our homeland, ‘for the edification of many’, they say, ‘and as an example, and for the profit of those who saw our former lax life’. And if we possess the gift of eloquence and some shreds of knowledge, the thought occurs to us that we could be saviors of souls and teachers in the world—that we may waste in the sea what we […]
Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me: ‘We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can we lead the solitary life?’ I replied to them:…
Divine Providence is one thing, Divine help is another, Divine protection is another, Divine mercy is another, and Divine consolation is another. Providence is…
A soul attached to the shepherd (his abbot or elder) with love and faith for Christ’s sake will not leave him even if it were at the price of his blood, and especially if he…
The Fathers state that the active life consists in two virtues of the most general kind: in fasting and obedience. And rightly, for the first destroys…
Simplicity is a constant habit of soul that has become immune to evil thinking. So,…
If you hear that your friend or neighbor is laughing at you to your face or behind your back, show them love and praise them. It’s a great thing to expel human praise from your soul. But it’s ever greater to expel the praise of the demons. “Saint John of the Ladder”
The ant waits for the corn to be gathered and vainglory waits for spiritual riches to accrue. The ant hastens to steal; vainglory rejoices at being lavish. The spirit of despair rejoices when it sees wickedness multiplying; the spirit of vainglory rejoices when it sees virtue multiplying. “Saint John of the Ladder”
As with the appearance of light, darkness retreats; so, at the fragrance of humility,…
View of a typical monastic settlement on Mount Athos. It is hidden away in a dense forest, in a peaceful area conducive to prayer and spiritual development. A person must live like an exile from this world in order to…
He who has become aware of his sins has controlled his tongue, but…
I have watched farmers sowing the same type of seed, and yet each one had different ideas of what he was doing. One was planning to…
You will not labour many years, son, in search of blessed inner peace, if in the beginning you…
Those who have come to love the Lord are at first unceasingly and greatly
First of all you cannot stop the wandering of the mind. But you can fight to…