Only the foolish think that suffering is evil. A sensible man knows that suffering is not evil but only the manifestation of evil and healing from evil. Only sin in a man is a real evil, and there is no evil outside sin.
God was the reason of true faith and good behavior and of the knowledge of technology among people. While people continually felt…
In the [Muslim] Saracen encampment they asked Saint Cyril [Enlightener of the Slavs]: “How can Christians wage war and at the same time keep Christ’s commandment to pray to God for their enemies?’ To this, Saint Cyril replied:
What does it mean to take up your cross? It means the acceptance of every means of healing, bitter though it may be, that is offered. Do great catastrophes fall on you?…
All those who are glorified in this world are lost with it. But those who are glorified by Christ are glorified through Him. The glory of the world is death, whereas the glory of Christ is…
The Lord said: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me”. ( Matthew 25:40) A certain man in Constantinople was unusually merciful. Walking along the streets of the city, he would…
Pride is a wide-open window out of which all the virtues and good works are blown. Nothing makes us so empty towards people and so unworthy before God as pride. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
People should train themselves to recognize immediately, through the feeling in their heart, whether good or evil is coming towards them, in the same way as we identify savory and unsalted things, or sweet and bitter with the tongue. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
You can hide yourself more easily from the wind than from the sight of God. All the secrets of humanity – the good and the bad – are revealed before God. He uncovers numberless such mysteries, in accordance with His providence, all over the world. People who are able to understand this truth, guard the depths of their hearts from bad thoughts and, in particular, bad actions “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
God will behave towards us in the same way as we behave to our brothers and sisters. We’ll be measured by the same standard we use to measure others. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
The spirit which hasn’t been darkened by sin looks up high into the heavens, it doesn’t look down at the tomb. But the spirit that’s been darkened by sin looks into the grave and doesn’t see the heavens at all. Sin and virtue govern our spiritual vision, depending on the aims of each, and each reveals its own world. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
Even if you can’t become a first class saint. like Saint Anthony, don’t just shrug your shoulders and say ‘There’s nothing I can do about it’. Try even harder and double the talent that God gave you. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
God allows proud people to be humbled and brought low because they think that their power is assured for ever. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
When you trust other people, you’re weak, but when you trust in God you’re 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. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
Punishment and reward. Both of these are in the hands of God. But just as life on earth is no more than a shadow of that in heaven, by the same token, punishment and reward are merely a shadow of the real punishment and reward of eternity. “Saint Nicholas Velimirovich”
Through prayers and acts of charity for the departed, Christians demonstrate the relationship between this world and the world to come. The Church in this world and the Church in the next is one and the same – one body, one being- just as the roots of a tree, below ground, constitute a single organism with the trunk and the branches above ground. From this it’s obvious that we who make up the earthly Church can be given help by the saints and the righteous in the heavenly Church, in the same way as departed sinners in the next world […]
God didn’t send us to earth so that we could live comfortably but for us to prepare for the eternal life that awaits us.
Absolutely nothing will help us if we are not lenient toward the weaknesses of men and forgive them. For how can we…
If a person wants to understand a certain place in nature, he must either trust those who have been in immediate proximity to that place, or he must go there himself. There is not a third option. In the same way a person gets an impression of God: He must either trust those who have stood and stand in immediate proximity to God, or he must…
