Seeds of Transformation and Victory

"Our thoughts must be turned over to God, such that their effects will be positive. Yes, we need to encourage ourselves in our inner monologue, but most importantly, we need to bring God into our thinking and hearts by prayer. Then our thoughts will become seeds of transformation and victory in our lives, aiding and abetting us to fulfill God’s purposes."

- Hieromonk Calinic (Berger)

Turning Towards the Son

"The sun is in the middle, and all of our planets go around it, all are drawn in toward it, and all turn some side of themselves towards it. What the sun is in the material world, God is in the spiritual world - the rational sun. Bring your thoughts to heaven, and what will you see there? Angels, who, according to the word of the Lord, ever see the face of their heavenly Father. All bodiless spirits and all saints in heaven and turned towards God, all direct their mental eyes toward Him, and do not wish to turn away from Him, because of the ineffable blessedness which flows from this vision of the face of God. But what the Angels and saints do in the heavens, we should learn to do on earth: get used to the angelic, unceasing standing before God in our hearts."

- Saint Theophan the Recluse

If Christ were to walk in this world today...

"If Christ were to walk in this world today, do you know what would happen to Him?  He would be placed in a mental institution and given psychotherapy, just as would His saints.  The world would crucify Him today just as it did two thousand years ago, for the world has not learned a thing, except more devious forms of hypocrisy.”

- Father Seraphim Rose

Lying in the Grave

"...unless a man imagines to himself that he has been lying for three years in the grave and under the earth, he will never die to himself." 

- Abba Moses

Christ...the Only Exit

“Christ is the only exit from this world; all other exits-sexual rapture, political utopia, economic independence-are but blind alleys in which rot the corpses of the many that have tried them.”

- Father Seraphim Rose

Bathing in the Shallow Pool of Human Thought

"To the superficial and the guilty it is more comfortable to bathe in the shallow pool of human thought than in the dangerous depths of Christ."

- Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

Music and Prayer Releases One from the World

"...See how music can release one from the world?...And if music so releases one from the world, then so much more does prayer."

- Saint Barsanuphius of Optina

The Worst of All People

"If you have compassion for all creatures and love your enemies, and if, at the same time, you judge yourself the worst of all people, this shows that the great grace of the Lord is in you."
- Saint Silouan the Athonite

The Flow of Our Life

"As each river flows into its own sea, so the flow of each of our lives comes, at last, to a place according to its nature."

- Saint Theophan the Recluse

Angel's Around Us

“So if we detect an angel by the effect he is producing, let us hasten to pray since our heavenly guardian has come to join us.” 

- Saint John Climacus

Joy...

"Joy is an enticement to the soul, joy which is the outcome of hope blossoming in the heart, and meditation upon its hope is the well-being of the heart.” 

- Saint Isaac the Syrian from The Way of the Pilgrim

Hold Firmly to the Known Truth

"Try only to understand this in a real way; hold firmly to the known truth of Christ, & let the others say what the may."

- Saint Theophan the Recluse

Guided by the Word

"Those who, guided by the Word of God, conduct warfare against sin and resist it, will eventually conquer sinfulness completely."

- Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

Twofold Warfare

"A Christian man has a twofold warfare set before him, an inward and an outward, the latter, in withdrawing from earthly distractions ; the former, in the heart, against the suggestions of the spirits of wickedness..."

- Saint Macarius the Egyptian

"...repentance is more than turning away from sin. It is turning to God, and allowing Him to renew and transform our very consciousness."

- Metropolitan Jonah

Reference: http://preachersinstitute.com/2011/06/21/metropolitan-jonah-asceticism-and-the-consumer-society

The Nature of Thoughts

"When a man has an exact knowledge about the nature of thoughts, he recognizes those which are about to enter and defile him, troubling the intellect with distractions and making it lazy. Those who recognize these evil thoughts for what they are remain undisturbed and continue in prayer to God."

- Saint Isaiah the Solitary

The Soul Filled with Holy Feelings

"In the same way that water flows out of a bowl that is overfilled, so the soul which is filled with holy feelings by prayer begins by itself to spill out its prayer to God."

- Saint Theophan the Recluse

Thoughts from God, or from the devil?

"How do we know if thoughts come to us from God, or from the devil? What should we do if thoughts of our failings and sins are presented to us? The Fathers give a simple rule: if the thought of a past failing discourages us to the point of depression, draining all our energy and zeal, tempting us to quit every struggle for virtue, or to remain complacent, it is from the devil. If, however, the sorrow such a thought brings gives us a desire to change, energy to repent, fast, pray, forgive, etc., it is from God. St Paul himself talks about these two sorrows: one which is worldly, and brings death; one which is godly, and brings zeal and energy to change (2 Cor 7:10)."

- Hieromonk Calinic (Berger)

Reference: http://www.pravmir.com/guarding-the-thoughts-guarding-the-heart/

Stability of Place

"Stability can be for us the vehicle by which we are able to confront the habits, sins, and vices that inhibit God from transforming our lives and making us whole. Constant movement allows us to hide from ourselves."

- Abbot Tryphon of Vashon Island

Reference: http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/morningoffering/stability_of_place_and_personal_growth

Our Fallenness

"In our fallenness, turning from God to created things as ends in themselves, we lost the intuitive knowledge of God and our essential attitude of thankfulness to Him."

- Metropolitan Jonah

Reference: http://preachersinstitute.com/2011/06/21/metropolitan-jonah-asceticism-and-the-consumer-society

When the Soul Begins to Speak

"We must strive to reach the point where our soul by itself begins speaking, so to speak, in a prayerful conversation with God and by itself ascends to Him and opens itself to Him and confesses what is in it and what it desires."

- Saint Theophan the Recluse

Deliverance from Indwelling Sin

"Christians who desire to make progress and to grow ought to force themselves to every good thing, so as to deliver themselves from indwelling sin, and to be filled with the Holy Ghost."

- Saint Macarius the Egyptian