“If you worship Christ in your heart, you can save your kinsfolk as well as yourself; if your heart worships father and mother, son and daughter, you will certainly lose both yourself and them.” St. Nicholai of Zica

The means to confirm and strengthen Christian hope are prayer, especially frequent and sincere prayer, confession of our sins, frequent reading of the Word of God, and, above all, frequent communion of the holy and life-giving sacraments of the Body and Blood of Christ. St. John of Kronstadt

” ‘Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy’ (Matt. 5:7). The merciful person is he who gives to others what he has himself received from God, whether it be money, or food, or strength, a helpful word, a prayer, or anything else that he has through which he can express his compassion for […]

“Do not be irritated either with those who sin or those who offend; do not have a passion for noticing every sin in your neighbour, and for judging him, as we are in the habit of doing. Everyone shall give an answer to God for himself. Everyone has a conscience; everyone hears God’s Word, and […]

In the Scriptures we read that St. Paul identifies himself as the foremost of sinners. We also see the Wise Thief on the cross confessing his own sins before asking Christ’s mercy. Here is a quote regarding looking at the sins of others, and considering one’s own sins. “If you see, moreover, a man who […]

One must not harbor anger or hatred towards a person that is hostile toward us. On the contrary, one must love him and do as much good as possible towards him, following the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” (Mt. 5:44). If then we will […]

Always pray with a fervent heart; and to attain to this, never eat and drink excessively. Remember with Whom you are conversing. Men very often forget with Whom they are conversing during prayer, Who are the witnesses of their prayer. They forget that they are conversing with the Vigilant and the All-seeing God; that all […]

Fr. Thomas Hopko’s “55 Maxims” – 55 things that a believer, very simply, would do if they were really a believer and were really obedient to God and wanted to live the way God would have us live. 1. Be always with Christ. Trust God in everything. Never forget God. 2. Pray as you can, […]

“Christ is our hope, our cleansing and sanctification, our resurrection, life, and repose. He alone is what we all need, and therefore, the Church constantly pronounces these words aloud so that we may hear them during the Holy Services of the Church, and be constantly renewed.” St. John of Kronstadt

We ought to do everything we can for the acquisition of virtue and moral wisdom for the prize is beautiful and the hope great. The path of virtue is a path of effort and toil: “Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;” whereas […]