Words from the Saints -- October 20, 2022
Gerald Largent
""Live without cares, judge no-one, vex no-one, and honor everyone." --St. Ambrose of Optina
"Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it. So he who loves God cultivates pure prayer, driving out every passion that keeps him from it." --St. Maximos the Confessor
"One should note that God foreknows all things but that He does not predestine them all. Thus He foreknows the things that depend on us, but He does not predestine them - because neither does He will evil to be done nor does He force virtue. And so, predestination is the result of the divine command made with foreknowledge. Those things which do not depend upon us, however, He predestines in accordance with His foreknowledge. For, through His foreknowledge, He has already decided all things beforehand in accordance with His goodness and justice." --St. John of Damascus
"If you cannot be merciful, at least speak as though you are a sinner. If you are not a peacemaker, at least do not be a troublemaker. If you cannot be assiduous, at least in your thought be like a sluggard. If you are not victorious, do not exalt yourself over the vanquished. If you cannot close the mouth of a man who disparages his companion, at least refrain from joining him in this." --St. Isaac the Syrian
"Where there is simplicity, there are a hundred Angels, but where there is cleverness--there are none." --St. Ambrose of Optina