Let them push you…
Let them push you, but do not push; Let them crucify you, but do not crucify. Let them insult, but do not insult. Let them slander, but do not slander. Be meek, and do not be zealous in evil.
- St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily, 89
In time of temptation
When you pray to God in time of temptation do not say, ‘Take this or that away from me’, but pray like this: ‘O Jesus Christ, sovereign Master, help me and do not let me sin against Thee…’
- Abba Isaiah the Solitary
Let us charge into the good fight…
Let us charge into the good fight with joy and love without beingafraid of our enemies. Though unseen themselves, they can look atthe face of our soul, and if they see it altered by fear, theytake up arms against us all the more fiercely. For the cunningcreatures have observed that we are scared. So let us take up armsagainst them courageously. No one will fight with a resolutefighter.
- St. John Climacus
Patience, prayer, and hope
Do not try to decide a difficult matter by means of disputing, but that which is enjoined by the spiritual law, namely patience, prayer, and thoughtful hope.
- Our venerable father Mark the Ascetic
Without prayer and hope
Whatever we do without prayer and without hope in God, turns out afterwards to be harmful and defective.
- St. Mark the Ascetic
The bitterness of the temptations
Man cannot taste and value the good, if previously he did not experience the bitterness of the temptations…
- St. Isaac the Syrian
True hope
True hope seeks the one Kingdom of God and is sure that everything necessary for this mortal life will surely be given. The heart cannot have peace until it acquires this hope. This hope pacifies it fully and brings joy to it. The most holy lips of the Saviour spoke about this very hope: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).”
- Saint Seraphim of Sarov
On Hope
Hope is faith in an advanced stage, a power, which gives transparency to time, which penetrates through time, as faith penetrates space and visible nature.
- Fr. Dimitru Staniloae
Today the Eastern Orthodox Church piously remembers Saint Sophia and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Love.
St. Sophia was a widow with three daughters living in Rome in the time of Emperor Hadrian. Her daughters were Faith (age 12), Hope (age 10) & Love (age 9). The four of them were brought before Hadrian and commanded to sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. They stood steadfast with their arms entwined and instead gave glory to Jesus Christ. One by one the pagan officers took Sophia’s daughters and tortured them, beat them, stabbed them, threw them into fire and boiling pitch, finally beheading them. All the while St. Sophia was urging them to hold firm to their faith in hope of the life to come. She then took the bodies of her precious daughter Saints and buried them outside of town. She stayed by their graves and prayed day and night for three days, then gave her soul to God, joining her daughters in the heavenly fellowship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May Saint Sophia and her three Holy daughters intercede to our Lord for all of us! Amen!
Patience, Prayer and Hope
Do not try to decide a difficult matter by means of disputing, but that which is enjoined by the spiritual law, namely patience, prayer, and thoughtful hope.
- Our venerable father Mark the Ascetic
Don’t give up!
Don’t give up! No matter how little you are, no matter how tired, you mustn’t give up. For, I repeat, no misfortune means anything. Nothing is lost as long as faith is established, the soul doesn’t surrender, and you raise your head again! God forbid that you be sad! Don’t be afraid! It’s true, one’s thought should be in hell and in hell only (from Saint Silouan). But hope should be with God without ceasing, thinking that He greatly loves us…. God is more intimate with us than we are! When you think about this, you fill yourself with hope. But, our deeds, no matter how amazingly good, can’t save us. They can’t erase anything. And, no doubt, we’re sinners, but with hope. Hope – this is it!
- Elder Arsenie (Papacioc), “A Final Visit with Elder Cleopa,” Eternity Hidden in the Moment
Faith is the greatest blessing
Unite your soul to God by means of hearty faith and you will be able to accomplish everything. Do powerful, invisible, ever-watchful enemies wage war against you? You will conquer them. Are these enemies visible, outward? You will conquer them also. Do passions rend you? You will overcome them. Are you crushed with sorrows? You will get over them. Have you fallen into despondency? You will obtain courage. With faith you will be able to conquer everything, and even the Kingdom of Heaven will be yours. Faith is the greatest blessing of the earthly life; it unites the man to God, and makes him strong and victorious through Him. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit.”
- Saint John of Kronstadt, “My life in Christ”
The voice of the Gospel
The Lord greatly loves the repenting sinner and mercifully presses him to His bosom: “Where were you, My child? I was waiting a long time for you.” The Lord calls all to Himself with the voice of the Gospel, and his voice is heard in all the world: “Come to me, my sheep. I created you, and I love you. My love for you brought Me to earth, and I suffered all things for the sake of your salvation, and I want you all to know my love, and to say, like the apostles on Tabor: Lord, it is good for us to be with You.”
- St. Silouan the Athonite
To recall past sins
To recall past sins in detail inflicts injury on the man who hopes in God. For when such recollection brings remorse it deprives him of hope; but if he pictures the sins to himself without remorse, they pollute him again with the old defilement.
-St. Kosmas
Prayer for others
Prayer for others is very beneficial to the man himself who prays; it purifies the heart, strengthens faith and hope in God, and arouses love for God and our neighbor.
- Saint John of Kronstadt
