15 February 2022
Since prayer is an association of the mind with God, then in what state
must the mind possibly be, in order to be able, without turning elsewhere, to
approach its Lord and converse with Him without the mediation of something
else? If Moses in his attempt to
approach the burning bush was hindered until he had removed the sandals from
his feet, then shouldn’t you who desires to see God and converse with Him,
remove and cast out of you every sinful thought?
Saint Nilus of Sinai (d.
430)
God
14 February 2022
To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.
Saint Augustine
To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.
Saint Augustine
The Church
13 February 2022
The Church, through the temple and Divine service, acts
upon the entire man, educates him wholly; acts upon his sight, hearing,
smelling, feeling, taste, imagination, mind, and will, by the splendour of the
icons and of the whole temple, by the ringing of bells, by the singing of the
choir, by the fragrance of the incense, the kissing of the Gospel, of the cross
and the holy icons, by the prosphoras, the singing, and sweet sound of the
readings of the Scriptures.”
St. John of
Kronstadt
Heart to Heart
12 February 2022
Recall yourself sometimes to the interior solitude of your heart, and there, removed from all creatures, treat of the affairs of your salvation and your perfection with God, as a friend would speak heart to heart with another.
Saint Francis de Sales
Recall yourself sometimes to the interior solitude of your heart, and there, removed from all creatures, treat of the affairs of your salvation and your perfection with God, as a friend would speak heart to heart with another.
Saint Francis de Sales
On Devotion
11 February 2022
It is, however, necessary to put our whole trust in God, laying aside all other cares, and even some particular forms of devotion, though very good in themselves, yet such as one often engages in unreasonably: because those devotions are only means to attain to the end; so when by this exercise of the presence of God we are with Him who is our end, it is then useless to return to the means; but we may continue with Him our commerce of love, persevering in His holy presence: one while by an act of praise, of adoration, or of desire; one while by an act of resignation, or thanksgiving; and in all the manner which our spirit can invent.
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
It is, however, necessary to put our whole trust in God, laying aside all other cares, and even some particular forms of devotion, though very good in themselves, yet such as one often engages in unreasonably: because those devotions are only means to attain to the end; so when by this exercise of the presence of God we are with Him who is our end, it is then useless to return to the means; but we may continue with Him our commerce of love, persevering in His holy presence: one while by an act of praise, of adoration, or of desire; one while by an act of resignation, or thanksgiving; and in all the manner which our spirit can invent.
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
On Prayer
9 February 2022
God does not disregard the prayers of the faithful. Yet He sometimes
does not fulfill their desires, only in order to better arrange everything
according to His Divine purpose.
Saint Leo of Optina
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