Words from the Saints -- November 5, 2020

"We who have received baptism offer good works, not by way of repayment, but to preserve the purity given to us." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"The Gospel not only teaches the faith, it is the school of morals, the mirror of conversation." --St. Ambrose of Milan

"When you are about to pray to our Lady the Holy Virgin, be firmly assured, before praying, that you will not depart from her without having received mercy. To think thus and to have confidence in her is meet and right. She is, the All-Merciful Mother of the All-Merciful God, the Word, and her mercies, incalculably great and innumerable, have been declared from all ages by all Christian Churches; she is, indeed, an abyss of mercies and bounties." --St. John of Kronstadt

"Therefore let us give up vain and fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us. Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world." --St. Clement of Rome

"The soul's disease is an evil disposition while its death is sin put into action." --St. Thalassios the Libyan

"A sign of utter meekness is to have a heart peacefully and lovingly disposed toward someone who has been offensive, and a sure proof of a hot temper is that a man, even when he is alone, should with word and gesture continue to rage and fulminate against some absent person who has given offense." --St. John Climacus

"The demons fight against you? They do not fight against us at all as long as we are doing our own will. For our own wills become the demons, and it is these which attack us in order that we may fulfil them. But if you want to see who the demons really fight against, it is against Moses and those who are like him." --St. Poemen