The Unguarded Heart

"I entreat you not to leave your heart unguarded, so long as you are in the body. Just as a farmer cannot feel confident about the crop growing in his fields, because he does not know what will happen to it before it is stored away in his granary, so a man should not leave his heart unguarded so long as he still has breath in his nostrils. Up to his last breath he cannot know what passion will attack him; so long as he breathes, therefore, he must not leave his heart unguarded, but should at every moment pray to God for His help and mercy."  

- St Isaiah the Solitary 

Reference: The Philokalia: the complete text By Saint Nicodemus (the Hagiorite), Saint Makarios (Metropolitan of Corinth), Gerald Eustace Howell Palmer

That Good End

"People make their choice according to faith, and through hope they are firm in their choice; while through patience they attain that good end."


- Saint Theophan the Recluse

Examine Yourself Daily...

"Examine yourself daily in the sight of God, and discover which of the passions is in your heart. Cast it out, and so escape His judgment."

- Saint Isaiah the Solitary 

Reference: The Philokalia: the complete text By Saint Nicodemus (the Hagiorite), Saint Makarios (Metropolitan of Corinth), Gerald Eustace Howell Palmer

First Forgive...

"Before you pray, first forgive all those who have offended you. Then you may pray. Only in this way will your prayer rise up into the presence of God. If you do not forgive, it will simply remain on the earth." 

- Aphrahat the Persian

Resentment

"Abba Dorotheus, a Desert Father of the sixth century, says that we can be healed of the sickness of resentment "by prayer right from the heart for the one who has annoyed us. We can pray such words as, 'O God, help my brother, and me through his prayers.'" "In this," says Abba Dorotheus, "we are interceding for our brother, which is a sure sign of sympathy and love, and we are humiliating ourselves by asking help through our brother's prayers." 

 - Hieromonk Damascene

Reference: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/resentforgive.aspx

At the Time of Prayer...

"At the time of prayer, we should expel from our heart the provocation of each evil thought, rebutting it in a spirit of devotion so that we do not prove to be speaking to God with our lips, while pondering wicked thoughts in our heart."

- Saint Isaiah the Solitary

Reference: The Philokalia: the complete text By Saint Nicodemus (the Hagiorite), Saint Makarios (Metropolitan of Corinth), Gerald Eustace Howell Palmer

"Watch; for ye know not, what hour your Lord doth come."

"Watch; for ye know not, what hour your Lord doth come. If only this were remembered, there would be no sinners. But it is not remembered, although everyone knows that it is unquestionably true. Even the strictest ascetics were not strong enough to easily keep this in mind, and made efforts to fix it in their consciousness so that it would not leave—one kept a coffin in his cell, another begged his co-ascetics to ask about his coffin and grave, another kept pictures of death and judgment, another in other ways. If death does not touch a soul, the soul does not remember it. But in no way can what immediately follows death not touch a soul; a soul cannot but be concerned about this, since it is the judgment of its fate for eternal ages. Why does a soul not remember this? It deceives itself that death will come not soon, and that perhaps somehow things won’t go badly for us. How bitter! It goes without saying that a soul which abides in such thoughts is careless and self-indulgent. So, how can it think that judgment will go favorably for it? No, one must behave like a student who is facing an exam: no matter what he does, the exam does not leave his head; such remembrance does not allow him to waste even a minute in vain, and he uses all his time to prepare for the exam. When will we acquire a mindset like this!"

- Saint Theophan the Recluse

Reference: http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20110813.htm