Orthodox Spirituality

Make this your rule: Do not voluntarily praise either passionate thought, feeling or desire, and immediately chase them away with complete hatred as soon as you detect them. You will always be innocent before God and before your own conscience. There will be within you the impurity of the passions, but also innocence. You will carry out the act of purification (cleansing), laboring diligently at the purifying of your soul. May the Lord Bless you! +St. Theophan the Recluse

If you wish to attain to true knowledge of the Scriptures, hasten to acquire first an unshakeable humility of heart. That alone will lead you, not to the knowledge that puffs up, but to that which enlightens, by the perfecting of love. +St. John Cassian

In the beginning He made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing right, so that all men are without excuse before God; for they have been born rational and contemplative. And if any one disbelieves that God cares for these things, he will thereby either insinuate that God does not exist, or he will assert that though He exists He delights in vice, or exists like a stone, and that neither virtue nor vice are anything, but only in the opinion of men these things are reckoned good or evil. And this is the greatest profanity and wickedness. +St. Justin Martyr

And first we may know there is nothing so useful as to be loved, nothing so useless as not to be loved; for to be hated in my opinion is simply fatal and altogether deadly. We speak of this, then, in order that we may take care to give cause for a good estimate and opinion to be formed of us, and may try to get a place in others' affections through our calmness of mind and kindness of soul. For goodness is agreeable and pleasing to all, and there is nothing that so easily reaches human feelings. And if that is assisted by gentleness of character and willingness, as well as by moderation in giving orders and courtesy of speech, by honor in word, by a ready interchange of conversation and by the grace of modesty, it is incredible how much all this tends to an increase of love. +St. Ambrose of Milan

The goal of our veneration of the saints is to entreat them, as those worthier than we are, to pray to God for us and for our salvation. + Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

It is obvious from this that the goal of our veneration of the saints is to entreat them, as those worthier than we are, to pray to God for us and for our salvation. + Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

He who is silent is fearful to demons, because they do not see the secrets of the heart among those who are perfect when they do not speak with the lips. But he who loves much talking will not escape sin. If one were to place on one side of the scale all the works of sinful life and on the other side silence, we will find that silence outweighs them. + St. Paisius Velichkovsky

We are enrolled in heaven: our citizenship is there! Let us not, after the manner of little children, despise things that are great, and admire those which are little! Not our city’s greatness, but virtue of soul is our ornament and defense. + St John Chrysostom