Call Upon God

“Call upon God to open the eyes of your heart, so that you may see the value of prayer and of spiritual reading when understood and applied.”

- Saint Mark the Ascetic

Christ Leaves the Soul...

“When the sun sets, night comes; when Christ leaves the soul, the darkness of the passions envelops it and incorporeal predators tear it asunder. When the visible sun rises, animals retreat into their lairs; when Christ rises in the heaven of the praying mind, worldly preoccupations and proclivities abscond, and the intellect goes forth to its labor - that is, to meditate on the divine - until the evening (cf. Ps. 104:19-23). Not that the intellect limits its fulfillment of the spiritual law to any period of time or performs it according to some measure; on the contrary, it continues to fulfill until it reaches the term of this present life and the soul departs from the body. That is what is meant in the Psalms when it is said, 'How I have loved Thy law, O Lord; it is my meditation all the day long' (Ps. 119:97) - where 'day' means the whole course of one's present life.”

- Theoliptos

Call Upon God

“Call upon God to open the eyes of your heart, so that you may see the value of prayer and of spiritual reading when understood and applied.”

- Saint Mark the Ascetic

Bearing Great Misfortunes...

If it falls to you to have to bear great misfortunes, sorrows, and sicknesses, do not grow faint-hearted or despondent; do not murmur; do not desire death for yourself; and do not speak audaciously before the all-seeing God--as, for instance: "O, what a cruel affliction! " "O, what an unbearable misfortune; let me rather die!" or "I would rather kill myself!" God save you from such faint-heartedness, murmuring, and audacity! But endure all this courageously, as having been sent to you from God for your sins; repeat with the wise malefactor, " We receive the due reward of our deeds," (Luke 23:41) and contemplate with your mental eyes the Saviour suffering on the cross.

- Saint John of Kronstadt

Praying

“Whether you pray with brethren or alone, try to pray not simply as a routine, but with conscious awareness of your prayer.”

- Evagrios the Solitary

The Numberless Trials

“For by contemplating the numberless trials that the saints joyfully accepted and the many sufferings that the Lord endured on our behalf, we become aware of our own feebleness.”

- Saint Peter of Damaskos

Comprehending the Works of God

“Without collectedness, without attentiveness and without self-searching it is impossible to notice or comprehend the works of God.”

- Saint Theophan the Recluse