Early Church Fathers

[Sabbas]

Considering that there now is a Modern Church Fathers section I thought I would start an Early Church Fathers section. I think it best to try to restrict the quotes to before the 6th Century.

"Another night -- God knows, I do not, whether within me or beside me ... most words which I heard and could not understand, except at the end of the speech it was represented thus: 'He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks within you.'  Thus I awoke, joyful. 

On a second occasion I saw Him praying within me, and I was as it were, inside my own body, and I heard Him above me-- that is, above my inner self.  He was praying powerfully with sighs.  And in the course of this I was astonished and wondering, and I pondered who it could be who was praying within me.  But at the end of the prayer it was revealed to me that it was the Spirit.  And so I awoke and remembered the Apostle's words: 'Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we know not how to pray as we ought.  But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for utterance.' And again: 'The Lord our advocate intercedes for us.'"
-St.Patrick Confession

[Νεκτάριος]

"It is better to eat meat and drink wine and not eat the flesh of one's brethren through slander."

-Abba Hyperechios

[Asteriktos]

"'For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do according to good will.' (Phil. 2:13) What could well be clearer than the assertion that both our good will and the completion of our work are fully wrought in us by the Lord? And again 'For it is granted to you for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him.' (Phil. 1:29) Here also he declares that the beginning of our conversion and faith, and the endurance of suffering is a gift to us from the Lord." - St. John Cassian, The Conferences, 3: The Conference of Paphnutius, 15

 

[Νεκτάριος]

"Let no one deceive you, monk, with the notion that you can be saved while a slave to sensual pleasure and self-esteem."
-Saint Maximos the confessor

[icxn]

ß++-â+++¦-üß+¦-ä. - ß+¡-â-Ç+¦-ü -äß+¦++ ++ß+¦+++¦-ä-ä+¦++ ß+Ñß+¦+++¦++, ß+É-åß++ ß+à -Ç+¦++-ä+¦ ++ß+¦++ -äß+¦ +¦+++¦-â-äß+¦+++¦-ä+¦ +¦+¦+++¦+¦ß+¦++++-à -â+¦++, ß+Ç-åß++ ß+æ+¦ß+¦-â-ä++-à  +¦ß+¦ -äß+¦ -ç-üß+¦-â+¦+++¦ +++¦+++¦ß+¦++++-à -â+¦+++ç  ++ß+ò-ä-ë +¦+¦ß+û +¦+¦ß++ -ä++ß++-é -Ç+¦+¦+¦+¦ß+++¦-é ß+Ç-ü+¦+¦++++ß+¦++++-à -é, +++++¦+¦++ß+¦-é ++ß+¦++ ß+Ç-Ç+¦ß++-ü-ë-é ß+ö-ç+¦+¦++, -Ç+¦++-ä+¦-çß+¦+++¦++ +¦ß+¦ -äß+¦ -ç-üß+¦-â+¦+++¦ -â-à ++++ß+¦+¦+¦+¦++.
Isocrates: Like we see the bee sit on all the flowers but only take what is useful from each, thus, those who want to learn, should taste of everything and keep what is good.

ß+ê++ß+¦-ç+¦-ü-â+¦-é. - +ħ+ù-ä++-é ß+æ-â-ä+¦+¦+++¦ß++-é -Ç+¦-üß+¦ +úß+¦++-ë+++¦, +¦+¦ß++ +¦+++¦++ß+++++¦++++-é ß+ñ-Ã¥++++, -äß+¦++ ++ß+¦++ ß+Ç-ü+¦-â-ä+¦-üß+¦++ -ç+¦ß+û-ü+¦ -ä++ß+û-é ++++-üß+++++¦-é, -äß+¦++ +¦ß+¦ +¦+¦+++¦ß+¦++ -äß++ -â-äß+¦+++¦-ä+¦ -Ç-ü++-â+¦+¦+¦++ß+¦++++++ ß+ö-ç-ë++. ß+ÿ+¦+¦-ü+¦-ä+¦-â-äß+¦-ü++-à  +¦ß+¦-ü ß+ñ+¦-ä++ -ç+¦+++¦++++ß+ª +¦+¦ß+û-â+++¦+¦ -äß+¦++ +¦++ß+¦-ä-ä+¦++.
Anacharsis - Called to dinner by Solon he fell asleep and was seen having his left hand over his genitals while the right hand over his mouth. He considered the mouth needing a greater restrain.


... oops they are not early church fathers... 

[Sabbas]

Very many wish to be vouchsafed the Kingdom without labors, without struggles, without sweat; but this is impossible.
If you love the glories of men, and desire to be worshipped, and seek comfort, you are going off the path. You must be crucified with the Crucified One, suffer with Him that suffered, that you may be glorified with Him that is glorified.- St. Macarius of Egypt

[Sabbas]

And after a little: "Therefore the God-man, Jesus Christ, tho Son of God, is truly born for us of the Holy Ghost and the ever-virgin Mary. And so in the two natures the Word and Flesh become one, so that while each substance continues naturally perfect in itself, what is Divine imparteth without suffering any loss, to the humanity, and what is human participates in the Divine; nor is there one person God, and another person man, but the same person is God who is also man: and again the man who is also God is called and indeed is Jesus Christ the only Son of God; and so we must always take care and believe so as not to deny that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Very God (whom we confess as existing ever with the Father and equal to the Father before all worlds) became from the moment when He took flesh the God-man. Nor may we imagine that gradually as time went on He became God, and that He was in one condition before the resurrection and in another after it, but that He was always of the same fulness and power." And again a little later on: "But because the Word of God17 vouchsafed to come down upon manhood by assuming manhood, and manhood was taken up into the Word by being assumed by God, God the Word in His completeness became complete man. For it was not God the Father who was made man, nor the Holy Ghost, but the Only Begotten of the Father; and so we must hold that there is one Person of the Flesh and the Word: so as faithfully and without any doubt to believe that one and the same Son of God, who can never be divided, existing in two natures18 (who was also spoken of as a "giant"19 ) in the days of His Flesh truly took upon Him all that belongs to man, and ever truly had as His own what belongs to God: since even though20 He was crucified in weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God."
-Leporius quoted by St.John Cassian the Roman http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-11/Npnf2-11-79.htm#P6859_2460948

Could this be where St.Justin of Chelije got the word God-man? I honestly can't remember any other Saints using the word.

[alexp4uni]

The elder want to show us that neither the fear of God or almsgiving or faith or temperance or any other virtue can be achieved without humility. This is why he says, "We need humility more than anything else, to be ready, to be ready to say, "Forgive me for anything that is said to us." All the temptations of the enemy are destroyed by humility. Bretheren can you see how great the power of humility is? Do you see how effective it is to say, "forgive me". Why then is the devil called adversary and as well as enemy? He is called enemy because he hates man and goodness and is incedious. He is called adversary because he tries to prevent any good thing. Is somebody wants to pray, he opposes him, placing obstacles in his way, through bad memories, by subordinating his thoughts, and through despondancy. If somebody wants to give alms, he holds him back through averous and miserliness. If somebody wants to keep vigil, he will stand in his way using lethergy and indolence. Simply put he opposes every good thing we undertake this is why he is not only called enemy, but adversary too. However every action of the adversary is destroyed by humility. Humility is very great indeed each of the saints walked in humility and shortened his journey by working hard as it written: "Look on my humility and my pain and forgive all of my sins. Psalms 25:18
"Humility also can gain us entrance, but it will take longer let us therefore humble ourselves for a little while and we will be saved. If we cannot work hard because of our weakness, let us try to humble ourselves ", as the Elder Abba John once said. I believe in the mercies of God, but through the small effort made with humility we shall also find ourself in the position of those saints who labored and worked hard for the love of God. Yes we are weak and cannot work hard, but can we not humble ourselves?

            -From the writings of Saint Dorotheos

[Sabbas]

Paradise is therefore a land of fertility-that is to say, a soul which is fertile-planted in Eden , that is, in a certain delightful or well-tilled land in which the soul finds pleasure . . . There was a fount which irrigated the land of Paradise. Is not this stream our Lord Jesus Christ, the Fount as well as the Father of Eternal Life? It is written:'For with thee is the fountain of life.' Hence: 'From within him there shall flow living waters.' We read of a fountain and a river which irrigates in Paradise the fruti-bearing tree that bears fruit for Life Eternal. You have read, then, that a fount was there adn that 'a river rose in Eden' that is in your soul there exists a fount. this is the meaning of Solomons's words: 'Drink water out of they own cistern and they own well.' This regers to the frount which rose out of that well-tilled soul full of pleasant things, this fount which irrigates Paradise, that is to say, the soul's virtues that blossom because of their emminent merits . . . But how is this fount called the Wisdom of God? That this is a fount the Gospel tells us in the words,'If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.' Wisdom is a fount according to the Prophet:'Come and eat my bread and drink my wine which I have mingled for you.' As Wisdom is the fountain of life, it is also the fountain of other virtues which guide us to the course of eternal life. Therefore, the stream that irrigates Paradise rises from the soul when well-tilled not from the soul which lies uncultivated. The results therefrom are fruit trees of diverse virtues . . . prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice."
St.Ambrose Paradise

[Sabbas]

CHAP. II.--THAT THE EYES OF THE SOUL MUST BE PURGED ERE GOD CAN BE SEEN.

But if you say, "Show me thy God," I would reply, "Show me yourself, and I will show you my God." Show, then, that the eyes of your soul are capable of seeing, and the ears of your heart able to hear; for as those who look with the eyes of the body perceive earthly objects and what concerns this life, and discriminate at the same time between things that differ, whether light or darkness, white or black, deformed or beautiful, well-proportioned and symmetrical or disproportioned and awkward, or monstrous or mutilated; and as in like manner also, by the sense of hearing, we discriminate either sharp, or deep, or sweet sounds; so the same holds good regarding the eyes of the soul and the ears of the heart, that it is by them we are able to behold God. For God is seen by those who are enabled to see Him when they have the eyes of their soul opened: for all have eyes; but in some they are overspread, and do not see the light of the sun. Yet it does not follow, because the blind do not see, that the light of the sun does not shine; but let the blind blame themselves and their own eyes. So also thou, O man, hast the eyes of thy soul overspread by thy sins and evil deeds. As a burnished mirror, so ought man to have his soul pure. When there is rust on the mirror, it is not possible that a man's face be seen in the mirror; so also when there is sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God. Do you, therefore, show me yourself, whether you are not an adulterer, or a fornicator, or a thief, or a robber, or a purloiner; whether you do not corrupt boys; whether you are not insolent, or a slanderer, or passionate, or envious, or proud, or supercilious; whether you are not a brawler, or covetous, or disobedient to parents; and whether you do not sell your children; for to those who do these things God is not manifest, unless they have first cleansed themselves from all impurity. All these things, then, involve you in darkness, as when a filmy defluxion on the eyes prevents one from beholding the light of the sun: thus also do iniquities, 0 man, involve you in darkness, so that you cannot see God.
-St.Theophilus of Antioch

[pensateomnia]

St. Gregory of Nyssa, from his first sermon on the Beatitudes:

"You are pleased because you are handsome, because your hands move quickly, because your feet are nimble, because your curls are tossed by the wind and your cheeks show a downy beard...You look at such things, but you do not look at yourself. Let me show you as in a mirror your true image.

"Have you ever witnessed the mysteries of the cemetery? Have you seen the heaps of bones tossed hither and thither? Skulls without flesh on them, fearful and ugly, the sockets empty. The grinning jaws and the limbs strewn about. Look at these things: there you will find yourself. Where, then, is the flower of youth?...Where, in all these bones, are the things that make you proud?"

[troy]

"Do not think, then, that you have died to sin, so long as you suffer violence, whether waking or sleeping, at the hands of your opponents. For while a man is still competing in the arena, he cannot be sure of victory."

St Isaiah the Solitary, "On Guarding the Intellect"

[Sabbas]

Regard yourselves as delivered out of Egypt from a harsh servitude, where inquity ruled over you; and as having passed through the Red Sea by baptism, in which you received the seal of Christ's bloody cross. Prune yourselves therefore of past sins, those enemies of yours which pursued you from the rear. For as the Egyptians perished in teh very waters traversed by the people of God, so your sins were blotted out in the waters in which you were baptized.
Seek now the Heavenly Kingdom, the land of promise to which you have been called, and be vigilant in resisting temptations throughout this earthly life, which is nothing else than as desert wherein you are sojourners. By partaking of the holy Altar, you receive your manna along with the drink that flows from the rock. All this the Apostle Paul has in mind and inculcates in his preaching when he says," I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all udner the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)
St.Augustine Sermon "To the Newly Baptized - Easter Week"

[Matthew777]

Didn't Tertullian fall into paganism?

May peace be upon thee and with thy spirit.

[lpap]

Could this be where St.Justin of Chelije got the word God-man? I honestly can't remember any other Saints using the word.

The God-man word was introduced during The Fourth Ecumenical Council. It declares a dogmatic truth of Orthodox Faith.
Analysis can be found: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/hist_fourth.aspx

[Sabbas]

Didn't Tertullian fall into paganism?

May peace be upon thee and with thy spirit.

Tertullian fell into Montanism and later fell out of Montanism and founded his own sect which was reconciled to the Church many years later by St.Augustine.

The God-man word was introduced during The Fourth Ecumenical Council. It declares a dogmatic truth of Orthodox Faith.
Analysis can be found: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/hist_fourth.aspx

It has to be earlier than that because St.John Cassian's Seven Books On the Incarnation Against Nestorius was written before the Fourth Ecumenical Council. What I was trying to find out is who first started calling Jesus Christ the God-man or at least to try to find out who was the first Father to do so.

[Sabbas]

"VII. But do ye also, if you bear me any good will-ye who are my husbandry, my vineyard, my own bowels, or rather His Who is our common Father, for in Christ he hath begotten you through the Gospels9 -shew to us also some respect. It is only fair, since we have honoured you above all else: ye are my witnesses, ye, and they who have placed in our hands this-shall I say Authority, or Service? And if to him that loveth most is due, how shall I measure the love, for which I have made you my debtors by my own love? Rather, shew respect for yourselves, and the Image committed to your care,10 and Him Who committed it, and the Sufferings of Christ, and your hopes therefrom, holding fast the faith which ye have received, and in which ye were brought up, by which also ye are being saved, and trust to save others (for not many, be well assured, can boast of what you can), and reckoning piety to consist, not in often speaking about God, but in silence for the most part, for the tongue is a dangerous thing to men, if it be not governed by reason. Believe that listening is always less dangerous than talking, just as learning about God is more pleasant than teaching. Leave the more accurate search into these questions to those who are the Stewards of the Word; and for yourselves, worship a little in words, but more by your actions, and rather by keeping the Law than by admiring the Lawgiver; shew your love for Him by fleeing from wickedness, pursuing after virtue, living in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, drawing your knowledge from Him, building upon the foundation of the faith, not wood or hay or stubble,11 weak materials and easily spent when the fire shall try our works or destroy them; but gold, silver, precious stones, which remain and stand."
St.Gregory the Theologian Oration III

Believe that listening is always less dangerous than talking, just as learning about God is more pleasant than teaching.

[Sabbas]

V Accordingly, brethren, of these mountains was John also, who said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This mountain had received peace; he was contemplating the divinity of the Word. Of what sort was this mountain? How lofty? He had risen above all peaks of the earth, he had risen above all plains of the sky, he had risen above all heights of the stars, he had risen above all choirs and legions of the angels. For unless he rose above all those things which were created, he would not arrive at Him by whom all things were made. You cannot imagine what he rose above, unless you see at what he arrived. Dost thou inquire concerning heaven and earth? They were made. Dost thou inquire concerning the things that are in heaven and earth? Surely much more were they made. Dost thou inquire concerning spiritual beings, concerning angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, powers, principalities? These also were made. For when the Psalm enumerated all these things, it finished thus: "He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created."8 If "He spoke and they were made," it was by the Word that they were made; but if it was by the Word they were made, the heart of John could not reach to that which he says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," unless he had risen above all things that were made by the Word. What a mountain this! How holy! How high among those mountains that received peace for the people of God, that the hills might receive righteousness!
-St.Augustine First Tractate on John

[Sir Sundae]

I like this one from St. John Cassian.

From the Philokalia Volume 1:

On the Eight Vices

On Pride:

"The thief who received the kingdom of heaven, though not as the reward of virtue, is a true witness to the fact that salvation is ours through the grace and mercy of God. All of our holy fathers knew this and all with one accord teach that perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility."

[Asteriktos]

While the Orthodox Church does not consider him to be a Church Father, Origen says a lot of brilliant and insightful stuff. For example...

"And let us take heed in regard to each sin, as if we were descending into some gate of death (Matt. 16:18) if we sin; but when we are lifted up from the gates of death, let us declare all the praises of the Lord in the gates of the daughter of Zion. (Ps. 9:13-14)" - Origen, Commentary on Matthew, 12, 13

We throw that phrase, the "gates of hades" or "gates of death" around sometimes, without really thinking about what it might actually be talking about and how it might actually effect us. Origen is not alone in his thought here either.

[sin_vladimirov]

St. Chrysostom on Corinthians I, XIII, 13.

How then is love the greatest?
In that those pass on.
(Homily XXXIV)

[Sabbas]

And now I pray that I may speak worthily of those most exalted Intelligences, and as their Hierarchy is revealed in the Scriptures.
 It is clear that the Hierarchy is similar in its nature and has close affinity with those First Beings who are established after the Godhead, which is the Source of their Being, as though within Its Portals, transcending all - created powers, both visible and invisible. Therefore we must recognize that they are pure, not as having been cleansed from stains and defilements, nor as not admitting material images, but as far higher than all baseness, and surpassing all that is holy. As befits the highest purity, they are established above the most Godlike Powers and eternally keep their own self-motive and self-same order through the Eternal Love of God, never weakening in power, abiding most purely in their own Godlike identity, ever unshaken and unchanging. Again, they are contemplative, not as beholding intellectual or sensible symbols, nor as being uplifted to the Divine by the all-various contemplations set forth in the Scriptures, but as filled with Light higher than all immaterial knowledge, and rapt, as is meet, in the contemplation of that Beauty which is the superessential triune Origin and Creator of all beauty. In like manner they are thought worthy of fellowship with Jesus, not through sacred images which shadow forth the Divine Likeness, but as truly being close to Him in that first participation of the knowledge of His Deifying Illuminations. Moreover, the imitation of God is granted to them in a preeminent degree, and as far as their nature permits they share the divine and human virtues in primary power.
In the same manner they are perfect, not as though enlightened by an analytical knowledge of holy variety, but because they are wholly perfected through the highest and most perfect deification, possessing the highest knowledge that Angels can have of the works of God; being Hierarchs not through other holy beings, but from God Himself, and since they are uplifted to God directly by
 their pre-eminent power and rank, they are both established immovably beside the All-Holy, and are borne up, as far as is allowable, to the contemplation of His Intelligible and Spiritual Beauty. Being placed nearest to God, they are instructed in the true understanding of the divine works, and receive their hierarchical order in the highest degree from Deity Itself, the First Principle of Perfection. 
-St.Dionysus the Areopagite Celestial Hierarchy

[Sabbas]

Tractate LXIX.
St.John XIV. 4-6.

1. We have now the opportunity, dearly, beloved, as far as we can, of understanding the earlier words of the Lord from the later, and His previous statements by those that follow, in what you have heard was His answer to the question of the Apostle Thomas. For when the Lord was speaking above of the mansions, of which He both said that they already were in His Father's house, and that He was going to prepare them; where we understood that those mansions already existed in predestination, and are also being prepared through the purifying by faith of the hearts of those who are hereafter to inhabit them, seeing that they themselves are the very house of God; and what else is it to dwell in God's house than to be in the number of His people, since His people are at the same time in God, and God in them? To make this preparation the Lord departed, that by believing in Him, though no longer visible, the mansion, whose outward form is always hid in the future, may now by faith be prepared: for this reason, therefore, He had said, "And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come i again, and receive you to myself; that whereI am, there ye may be also. And whither I goye know, and the way ye know." In replyto this "Thomas saith unto Him Lord, we know not whither Thou goest: and how can we know the way?" Both of these the Lord had said that they knew; both of them this other declares that he does not know, to wit, the place to which, and the way whereby, He is going. But he does not know that he is speaking falsely; they knew, therefore, and did not know that they knew. He will convince them that they already know what they imagine themselves still to be ignorant of. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life." What, brethren, does He mean? See, we have just heard the disciple asking, and the Master instructing, and we do not yet, even after His voice has sounded in our ears, apprehend the thought that lies hid in His words. But what is it we cannot apprehend? Could His apostles, with whom He was talking, have said to Him, We do not know Thee? Accordingly, if they knew Him, and He Himself is the way, they knew the way; if they knew Him who is Himself the truth, they knew the truth; if they knew Him who is also the life, they knew the life. Thus, you see, they were convinced that they knew what they knew not that they knew.

2. What is it, then, that we also have not apprehended in this discourse? What else, think you, brethren, but just that He said, "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know"? And here we have discovered that they knew the way, because they knew Him who is the way: the way is that by which we go; but is the way the place also to which we go? And yet each of these He said that they knew, both whither He was going, and the way. There was need, therefore, for His saying, "I am the way," in order to show those who knew Him that they knew the way, which they thought themselves ignorant of; but what need was there for His saying, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life," when, after knowing the way by which He went, they had still to learn whither He was going, but just because it was to the truth and to the life He was going? By Himself, therefore, He was going to Himself. And whither go we, but to Him, and by what way go we, but by Him? He, therefore, went to Himself by Himself, and we by Him to Him; yea, likewise both He and we go thus to the Father. For He says also in another place of Himself, "I go to the Father;"1 and here on our account He says, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." And in this way, He goeth by Himself both to Himself and to the Father, and we by Him both to Him and to the Father. Who can apprehend such things save he who has spiritual discernment? and how much is it that even he can apprehend, although thus spiritually discerning? Brethren, how can you desire me to explain such things to you? Only reflect how lofty they are. You see what I am, I see what you are; in all of us the body, which is corrupted, burdens the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things.2 Do we think we can say, "To Thee have I lifted up my soul, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens"?3 But burdened as we are with so great a weight, under which we groan, how shall I lift up my soul unless He lift it with me who laid His own down for me? I shall speak then as I can, and let each of you who is able receive it. As He gives, I speak; as He gives, the receiver receiveth; and as He giveth, there is faith for him who cannot yet receive with understanding. For, saith the prophet, "If ye will not believe, ye shall not understand."4

3. Tell me, O my Lord, what to say to Thy servants, my fellow-servants. The Apostle Thomas had Thee before him in order to ask Thee questions, and yet could not understand Thee unless he had Thee within him; I ask Thee because I know that Thou art over me; and I ask, seeking, as far as I can, to let my soul diffuse itself in that same region over me where I may listen to Thee, who usest no external sound to convey Thy teaching. Tell me, I pray, how it is that Thou goest to Thyself. Didst Thou formerly leave Thyself to come to us, especially as Thou camest not of Thyself, but the Father sent Thee? I know, indeed, that Thou didst empty Thyself; but in taking the form of a servant,5 it was neither that Thou didst lay down the form of God as something to return to, or that Thou lost it as something to be recovered; and yet Thou didst come, and didst place Thyself not only before the carnal eyes, but even in the very hands of men. And how otherwise save in Thy flesh? By means of this Thou didst come, yet abiding where Thou wast; by this means Thou didst return, without leaving the place to which Thou hadst come. If, then, by such means Thou didst come and return, by such means doubtless Thou art not only the way for us to come unto Thee, but wast the way also for Thyself to come and to return. For when Thou didst return to the life, which Thou art Thyself, then of a truth that same flesh of Thine Thou didst bring from death unto life. The Word of God, indeed, is one thing, and man another; but the Word was made flesh, or became man. And so the person of the Word is not different from that of the man, seeing that Christ is both in one person; and in this way, just as when His flesh died. Christ died, and when His flesh was buried, Christ was buried (for thus with the heart we believe unto righteousness, and thus with the mouth do we make confession unto salvation6 ); so when the flesh came from death unto life, Christ came to life. And because Christ is the Word of God, He is also the life. And thus in a wonderful and ineffable manner He, who never laid down or lost Himself, came to Himself. But God, as was said, had come through the flesh to men, the truth to liars; for God is true, and every man a liar.7 When, therefore, He withdrew His flesh from amongst men, and carried it up there where no liar is found, He also Himself-for the Word was made flesh-returned by Himself, that is, by His flesh, to the truth, which is none other but Himself. And this truth, we cannot doubt, although found amongst liars, He preserved even in death; for Christ was once dead, but never false.

4. Take an example, very different in character and wholly inadequate, yet in some little measure helpful to the understanding of God, from things that are in peculiarly intimate subjection to God. See here in my own case, while as far as pertains to my mind I am just the same as yourselves, if I keep silence I am so to myself; but if I speak to you something suited to your understanding, in a certain sense I go forth to you without leaving myself, but at the same time approach you and yet quit not the place from which I proceed. But when I cease speaking, I return in a kind of way to myself, and in a kind of way I remain with you, if you retain what you have heard in the discourse I am delivering. And if the mere image that God made is capable of this, what may not God, the very image of God, not made by, but born of God; whose body, wherein He came forth to us and returned from us, has not ceased to be, like the sound of my voice, but abides there, where it shall die no more, and death shall have no more dominion over it?8 Much more, perhaps, might and ought to have been said on these words of the Gospel; but your souls ought not to be burdened with spiritual food, however pleasant, especially as the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
-St.Augustine "Tractates on the Gospel of St.John"

[Sabbas]

It is not possible to express in language the pleasure which the presence of friends causes, but only those who have experienced it know. One can ask a favor, and receive a favor, from a friend without suspicion. When they make a request of us, we are grateful to them; but when they are slow to ask, then we are sad. We have nothing which is not theirs. Often, though despising all earthly things, nevertheless, on their account, we do not wish to depart from this life; and they are more desirable to us than the light. Yes, indeed, a friend is more desirable than the light itself. (I speak of the genuine friend.) And do not object; for it would be better for us for the sun to be extinguished than to be deprived of friends. It would be better to live in darkness than to be without friends. And how can I say this? Because many who see the sun are in darkness. But those who are rich in friends could never be in tribulation. I speak of the spiritual friends who set nothing above friendship. Such was Paul, who would willingly have given his own soul, without having been asked, and would have willingly fallen into Hell for his brethren, [Romans 9:3]. With so burning an affection is it proper to love. Take this as an example of friendship. Friends surpass fathers and sons, that is, friends according to Christ.

What about monks, then, one might ask, and those who live as hermits on tops of mountains? They are not without friends. They have fled from the tumult of the marketplace, but they have many of one accord with them, and are closely bound to each other in Christ. And it was in order that they might accomplish this that they withdrew. For, since the zeal of business leads to many disputes, they have left the world to cultivate godly love with great strictness. The skeptic then might say: What? If a man is alone, may he also have friends? I, indeed, would wish, if it were possible, that we were all able to live together; but, in the meantime, let friendship remain unmoved. For it is not the place that makes the friend. Furthermore, the monks have many who admire them; but no one would admire unless they loved. Also, the monks pray for the entire world, which is the greatest evidence of friendship.

For the same reason we embrace each other in the Divine Liturgy; in order that being many, we may become one. And we make common prayer for the uninitiated, for the sick, for the fruits of the earth, and for travelers by land and by sea. Behold the strength of love in the prayers, in the holy mysteries, in the preaching. This is the cause of all good things. If we apply ourselves with due care to these precepts, we shall both administer present things well and obtain the Kingdom.
-St.Anthusa (mother of St.John Chrysostom) from a letter to her son on friendship

[orth_christian2000]

"Why are we so ready to judge our neighbour?  Why are we so concerned about the burden of others?  We have plenty to be concerned about, each one has his own debt and his own sins.  It is for God alone to judge, to justify, or to condemn.  He knows the state of each one of us and our capacities, our deviations and our gifts, our constitution and it is for Him to judge each of these things according to the knowledge that He ALONE has.  For God judges the affairs of a bishop in one way and those of a prince in another.  His judgment is for an abbot or for a disciple, He judges differently the senior and the neophyte, the sick man and the healthy man.  Who could understand all these judgments except the One Who has done everything, formed everything, knows everything?"  St. Dorotheos of Gaza, On Judging Others

Just for fun, an Early Church Mother

Blessed Amma, St. Syncletike, is quoted in the Evergetinos, as saying, that "to the struggling despondent souls, even the smallest good should be praised and marvelled at, to encourage their struggle to do good.  And their faults, at least to them, we must treat them as the least and unworthy of note.  Why?  Because the devil, wishing to secure spiritual destruction, tries to cover the sins of accomplished ascetics to create pride in these men.  In the neophytes/novices, he constantly exposes them to cause them despair, so that they might abandon their efforts/ascesis.  Let us never forget the boundless compassion of God.  His longsuffering and loving kindness, and so long as we truly repent, he annuls His just judgments against us.  Rahab was a prostitute, but repented, and was the repentant woman whom Holy Tuesday's service is devoted to.  St. Paul was a persecutor, but became a chosen vessel.  The thief on the cross next to the Lord's said repentful words, and was promised Paradise, was first to open the doors.  The Publican and the Pharisee, the Prodigal Son and many other parables illustrate the Lord doesn't want the death of any sinner, but his repentance and return to Him"

[orth_christian2000]

Just a little correction to the post of St. Syncletike.  Where is talks about Rahab, after the comma it should read "as was", not "and was".  The latter makes it look like the blessed Saint was saying Rahab was the repentant woman at Christ's feet, which is an obvious chronological incongruency.  But the error is not the saints, it is my typing error.
Thanks,
Ted

[Mo the Ethio]

He who seeth his own sins , seeth not the sins of others.

        -Saint Moses the Ethiopian

[Sabbas]

CHAPTER CXXXVIII -- NOAH IS A FIGURE OF CHRIST, WHO HAS REGENERATED US BY WATER, AND FAITH, AND WOOD: [i.e., the Cross.]

"You know, then, sirs," I said, "that God has said in Isaiah to Jerusalem: 'I saved thee in the deluge of Noah.' By this which God said was meant that the mystery of saved men appeared in the deluge. For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at the deluge, i.e., with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, for ever the first in power. For Christ, being the first-born of every creature, became again the chief of another race regenerated by Himself through water, and faith, and wood, containing the mystery of the cross; even as Noah was saved by wood when he rode over the waters with his household. Accordingly, when the prophet says, 'I saved thee in the times of Noah,' as I have already remarked, he addresses the people who are equally faithful to God, and possess the same signs. For when Moses had the rod in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe that this was spoken to your nation only, or to the land. But the whole earth, as the Scripture says, was inundated, and the water rose in height fifteen cubits above all the mountains: so that it is evident this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who obeyed Him: for whom also He had before prepared a resting-place in Jerusalem, as was previously demonstrated by all the symbols of the deluge; I mean, that by water, faith, and wood, those who are afore-prepared, and who repent of the sins which they have committed, shall escape from the impending judgment of God.

St.Justin the Philosopher "Dialogue with Trypho"

[Sabbas]

SERMON LXII. (ON THE PASSION, XI.) I. The mystery of the Passion passes man's comprehension. The Feast of the Lord's Passion that we have longed for and that the whole world may well desire, has come, and suffers us not to keep silence in the tumult of our spiritual joys: because though it is difficult to speak often on the same thing worthily and appropriately, yet the priest is not free to withhold from the people's ears instruction by sermon on this great mystery of God'S mercy, inasmuch as the subject itself, being unspeakable, gives him ease of utterance, and what is said cannot altogether fail where what is said can never be enough. Let human frailty, then, succumb to God's glory, and ever acknowledge itself unequal to the unfolding of His works of mercy. Let us toil in thought, fail in insight, falter in utterance: it is good that even our right thoughts about the Lord'S Majesty should be insufficient. For, remembering what the prophet says, "Seek ye the Lord and be strengthened: seek His face always," no one must assume that he has found all he seeks, lest he fail of coming near, 174 if he cease his endeavours. And amidst all the works of God which weary out man's wondering contemplation, what so delights and so baffles our mind's gaze as the Saviour's Passion? Ponder as we may upon His omnipotence, which is of one and equal substance with the Father, the humility in God is more stupendous than the power, and it is harder to grasp the complete emptying of the Divine Majesty than the infinite uplifting of the" slave's form" in Him. But we are much aided in our understanding of it by the remembrance that though the Creator and the creature, the Inviolable God and the possible flesh, are absolutely different, yet the properties of both substances meet together in Christ's one Person in such a way that alike in His acts of weakness and of power the degradation belongs to the same Person as the glory. II. The Creed takes up S. Peter's confession as the fundamental doctrine of the Church. In that rule of Faith, dearly-beloved, which we have received in the very beginning of the Creed, on the authority of apostolic teaching, we acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we call the only Son of God the Father Almighty, to be also born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost. Nor do we reject His Majesty when we express our belief in His crucifixion, death, and resurrection on the third day. For all that is God's and all that is Man's are simultaneously fulfilled by His Manhood and His Godhead, so that in virtue of the union of the Possible with the Impossible, His power cannot be affected by His weakness, nor His weakness overcome by His power. And rightly was the blessed Apostle Peter praised for confessing this union, who when the Lord was inquiring what the disciples knew of Him, quickly anticipated the rest and said, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." And this assuredly he saw, not by the revelation of flesh or blood, which might have hindered his inner sight, but by the very Spirit of the Father working in his believing heart, that in preparation for ruling the whole Church he might first learn what he would have to teach, and for the solidification of the Faith, which he was destined to preach, might receive the assurance, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The strength, therefore, of the Christian Faith, which, built upon an impregnable rock, fears not the gates of death, acknowledges the one Lord Jesus Christ to be both true God and true Man, believing Him likewise to be the Virgin's Son, Who is His Mother's Creator: born also at the end of the ages, though He is the Creator of time: Lord of all power, and yet one of mortal stock: ignorant of sin, and yet sacrificed for sinners after the likeness of sinful flesh. III. The devil's devices were turned against himself. And in order that He might set the human race free from the bonds of deadly transgression, He hid the power of His majesty from the raging devil, and opposed him with our frail and humble nature. For if the cruel and proud foe could have known the counsel of God's mercy, he would have aimed at soothing the Jews' minds into gentleness rather than at firing them with unrighteous hatred, lest be should lose the thraldom of all his captives in assailing the liberty of One Who owed him nought. Thus he was foiled by his malice: he inflicted a punishment on the Son of God, which was turned to the healing of all the sons of men. He shed righteous Blood, which became the ransom and the drink for the world's atonement. The Lord undertook that which He chose according to the purpose of His own will. He permitted madmen to lay their wicked hands upon Him: hands which, in ministering to their own doom, were of service to the Redeemer's work. And yet so great was His loving compassion for even His murderers, that He prayed to the Father on the cross, and begged not for His own vengeance but for their forgiveness, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And such was the power of that prayer, that the hearts of many of those who had said, "His blood be on us and on our sons," were turned to penitence by the Apostle Peter's preaching, and on one day there were baptized about 3,000 Jews: and they all were "of one heart and of one soul," being ready now to die for Him, Whose crucifixion they had demanded. IV. Why Judas could not obtain forgiveness through Christ. To this forgiveness the traitor Judas could not attain: for he, the son of perdition, at whose right the devil stood, gave himself up to despair before Christ accomplished the mystery of universal redemption. For in that the Lord died for sinners, perchance even he might have found salvation if he had not hastened to hang himself. But that evil heart, which was now given up to thievish frauds, and now busied with treacherous designs, had 175 never entertained aught of the proofs of the Saviour's mercy. Those wicked ears had heard the Lord's words, when He said, "I same not to call the righteous but sinners," and "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost," but they conveyed not to his understanding the clemency of Christ, which not only healed bodily infirmities, but also cured the wounds of sick souls, saying to the paralytic man, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee saying also to the adulteress that was brought to Him, "neither will I condemn thee; go and sin no more," to show in all His works that He had come as the Saviour, not the Judge of the world. But the wicked traitor refused to understand this, and took measures against himself, not in the self-condemnation of repentance, but in the madness of perdition, and thus he who had sold the Author of life to His murderers, even in dying increased the amount of sin which condemned him. V. The cruelty oaf Christ's crucifixioni s lost in its wondrous power. Accordingly that which false witnesses, cruel leaders of the people, wicked priests did against the Lord Jesus Christ, through the agency of a coward governor and an ignorant band of soldiers, has been at once the abhorrence and the rejoicing of all ages. For though the Lord's cross was part of the cruel purpose of the 'Jews, yet is it of wondrous power through Him they crucified. The people's fury was directed against One, and the mercy of Christ is for all mankind. That which their cruelty inflicts He voluntarily undergoes. in order that the work of His eternal will may be carried out through their unhindered crime. And hence the whole order of events which is most fully narrated in the Gospels must be received by the faithful in such a way that by implicit belief in the occurrences which happened at the time of the Lord's Passion, we should understand that not only was the remission of sins accomplished by Christ, but also the standard of justice satisfied. But that this may be more thoroughly discussed by the Lord's help, let us reserve this portion of the subject till the fourth day of the week God's grace, we hope, will be vouchsafed at your entreaties to help us to fulfil our promise: through Jesus Christ our Lord, &c. Amen.

-St.Leo the Great

[Sabbas]

For if man, who had been created by God that he might live, after losing life, through being injured by the serpent that had corrupted him, should not any more return to life, but should be utterly [and for ever] abandoned to death, God would [in that case] have been conquered, and the wickedness of the serpent would have prevailed over the will of God. But inasmuch as God is invincible and long-suffering, He did indeed show Himself to be long-suffering in the matter of the correction of man and the probation of all, as I have already observed; and by means of the second man did He bind the strong man, and spoiled his goods, and abolished death, vivifying that man who had been in a state of death. For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan’s) possession, whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously, and under color of immortality entailing death upon him. For, while promising that they should be as gods, which was in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death in them: wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured in his turn by God; but man, who had been led captive, was loosed from the bonds of condemnation.

St. Ireneus, “Against the Heresies,” Book 3, Chp. 23.


Troparion - Tone 4

In your manner a participant,
And in your throne a successor of the Apostles,
You discovered action an entrance into visions,
O inspired one of God.
Therefore directing the Word of Truth,
You suffered for the faith even unto blood.
O Bishop and Martyr Irenaues,
Pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved!

[Sabbas]

There is need of constant prayer lest we defect from the heavenly kingdom, as have the Jews to whom it was first promised. This the Lord makes unmistakably clear by saying: “Many will come from East and West and recline at the banquet table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven, whereas those born to the kingdom will be driven into the darkness outside, there to wail and gnash their teeth” ... Our Lord shows that the Jews were formerly children of the kingdom, but after the name “Father” disappeared from among them, so did the kingdom. The Jews have remained in darkness for having forsaken the Light. ~ St. Cyprian

[antoaneta]

Saint Anthony the Great: "I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."" 

[Stephanos7]

Polycarp, and the presbyters(2) with him, to the Church of God sojourning at Philippi: Mercy to you, and peace from God Almighty, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, be multiplied.

CHAP. VII.--AVOID THE DOCETAE, AND PERSEVERE IN FASTING AND PRAYER.

"For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist;"(18) and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross,(19) is of the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the first-born of Satan.(20) Wherefore, forsaking the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from(21) the beginning; "watching unto prayer,"(22)

St. Polycarp to the Philippians

[Stephanos7]

On the Incarnation of the Word

Part 55.
2. On the other hand, while idolatry and everything else that opposes the faith of Christ is daily dwindling and weakening and falling, see, the Saviour’s teaching is increasing everywhere! Worship then the Saviour “Who is above all” and mighty, even God the Word and condemn those who are being defeated and made to disappear by Him.

End of excerpt by St. Athanasius

My comment --

St. Athanasius could say this even when he was surrounded by apostasy and threats against his own life (due to the Arian heresy) on every side because he looked forward to the final victory of Christ and while the battle raged, St. Athanasius, contra mundum, would have nothing to do with the apostates. The Arian persecution of the Church lasted until the final victory against the Arians by St. Isadore of Seville (reposed in the Lord 636 A.D.), the last of the Church Fathers in the west. The peace that St. Athanasius speaks of is not a worldly peace (i.e. given by the world and not from above), worldly peace is only offered by Satan. St. Athanasius speaks of the peace that passes all understanding which is given by God to faithful Christians alone. The Church always has battles to fight for she is the Church Militant.

[Stephanos7]

ST. AUGUSTINE, THE CITY OF GOD
 
BOOK XX.
 
CHAP. 19.--WHAT THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE TO THE THESSALONIANS ABOUT THE MANIFESTATION OF ANTICHRIST AS THE TEMPLE OF GOD, THE FALSE CHURCH, WHICH SHALL PRECEDE THE DAY OF THE LORD.

I see that I must omit many of the statements of the gospels and epistles about this last judgment, that this volume may not become unduly long; but I can on no account omit what the Apostle Paul says, in writing to the Thessalonians, "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,"(2) etc.
No one can doubt that he wrote this of Antichrist and of the day of judgment, which he here calls the day of the Lord, nor that he declared that this day should not come unless he first came who is called the apostate --apostate, to wit, from the Lord God. And if this may justly be said of all the ungodly, how much more of him? But it is uncertain in what temple he shall sit, whether in that ruin of the temple which was built by Solomon, or in the Church; for the apostle would not call the temple of any idol or demon the temple of God. And on this account some think that in this passage Antichrist means not the prince himself alone, but his whole body, that is, the mass of men who adhere to him, along with him their prince; and they also think that we should render the Greek more exactly were we to read, not "in the temple of God," but "for" or "as the temple of God," as if he himself were the temple of God, the Church.(3) Then as for the words, "And now ye know what withholdeth," i.e., ye know what hindrance or cause of delay there is, "that he might be revealed in his own time;" …(St. Justin Martyr says this is Jesus Christ Himself Who “withholdeth”)…"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way: and then shall the wicked be revealed?" … That which there is no doubt he said is this, that Christ will not come to judge the quick and dead unless Antichrist, His adversary, first come to seduce those who are dead in soul; although their seduction is a result of God's secret judgment already passed. For, as it is said "his presence shall be after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all seduction of unrighteousness in them that perish." For then shall Satan be loosed, and by means of that Antichrist shall work with all power in a lying though a wonderful manner. …they shall be such signs and wonders as shall seduce those who shall deserve to be seduced, "because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved." Neither did the apostle hesitate to go on to say, "For this cause God shall send upon them the working of error that they should believe a lie." For God shall send, because God shall permit the devil to do these things, the permission being by His own just judgment, though the doing of them is in pursuance of the devil's unrighteous and malignant purpose, "that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Therefore, being judged, they shall be seduced, and, being seduced, they shall be judged. But, being judged, they shall be seduced by those secretly just and justly secret judgments of God, with which He has never ceased to judge since the first sin of the rational creatures; and, being seduced, they shall be judged in that last and manifest judgment administered by Jesus Christ, who was Himself most unjustly judged and shall most justly judge.

[Stephanos7]

IRENAEUS AGAINST HERESIES – BOOK I  (Chap. I to Chap. XV)

BOOK I

PREFACE.

1. INASMUCH(1) as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says,(2) "minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Demiurge;(3) and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.

2. Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than the truth itself.


CHAP. X.--UNITY OF THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD.

1. The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations(6) of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things in one,"(7) and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess" to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses,"(9) and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

2. As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions(1) of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these (for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same, neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it, make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it.
 
3. It does not follow because men are endowed with greater and less degrees of intelligence, that they should therefore change the subject-matter [of the faith] itself, and should conceive of some other God besides Him who is the Framer, Maker, and Preserver of this universe, (as if He were not sufficient(2) for them), or of another Christ, or another Only-begotten. But the fact referred to simply implies this, that one may [more accurately than another] bring out the meaning of those things which have been spoken in parables, and accommodate them to the general scheme of the faith; and explain [with special clearness] the operation and dispensation of God connected with human salvation; and show that God manifested longsuffering in regard to the apostasy of the angels who transgressed, as also with respect to the disobedience of men; and set forth why it is that one and the same God has made some things temporal and some eternal, some heavenly and others earthly; and understand for what reason God, though invisible, manifested Himself to the prophets not under one form, but differently to different individuals; and show why it was that more covenants than one were given to mankind; and teach what was the special character of each of these covenants; and search out for what reason "God(3) hath concluded every man(4) in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all;" and gratefully(5) describe on what account the Word of God became flesh and suffered; and relate why the advent of the Son of God took place in these last times, that is, in the end, rather than in the beginning [of the world]; and unfold what is contained in the Scriptures concerning the end [itself], and things to come; and not be silent as to how it is that God has made the Gentiles, whose salvation was despaired of, fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers with the saints; and discourse how it is that "this mortal body shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption;"(6) and proclaim in what sense [God] says, "'That is a people who was not a people; and she is beloved who was not beloved;"(7) and in what sense He says that "more are the children of her that was desolate, than of her who possessed a husband." For in reference to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: "Oh! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"(9) But [the superior skill spoken of] is not found in this, that any one should, beyond the Creator and Framer [of the world], conceive of the Enthymesis of an erring AEon, their mother and his, and should thus proceed to such a pitch of blasphemy; nor does it consist in this, that he should again falsely imagine, as being above this [fancied being], a Pleroma at one time supposed to contain thirty, and at another time an innumerable tribe of AEons, as these teachers who are destitute of truly divine wisdom maintain; while the Catholic Church possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we have already said

[Stephanos7]

APHRAHAT THE PERSIAN SAGE,

DEMONSTRATION VIII.--OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

1. At all times controversies arise on this matter, how the dead shall rise and with what body they shall come?(4) For lo! the body wears out and is corrupted; and the bones also, no doubt, as time lengthens out over them, waste away and are not to be recognised. And when thou enterest a tomb in which a hundred dead men are buried, thou findest not there an handful of dust. And thus say those that reflect on these things:--" We know of course that the dead shall rise; but they will be clothed in a heavenly body and spiritual forms. And if it is not so, these hundred dead that were buried in one tomb, of whom after a long time elapses there remains nothing at all there, when the dead shall be quickened, and shall be clothed in a body and rise, unless they shall be clothed in a heavenly body, from whence shall their body come? For lo! there is nothing in the tomb."

2. Whosoever reflects thus is foolish, and without knowledge. When the dead were brought in, they were something; and when they were there for a long time, they became nothing. And, when the time shall have come that the dead shall rise, that nothing shall become something according to its former nature, and a change shall be added to its nature. O thou unwise who reflectest thus, hear that which the blessed Apostle said when he was instructing a foolish man like thee; for he said fool, the seed which thou sowest unless it die is not quickened; and that which thou sowest is not like that which grows up into blade, but one bare grain of wheat or barley or some other seedling. And to each one the seeds is given its own body. But God clothes thy seed with its body as He wills.(5)

3. Therefore, O fool, be instructed by this, that each of the seeds is clothed in its own body. Never dost thou sow wheat and yet reap barley, and never dost thou plant a vine and yet it produced figs; but everything grows according to its nature. Thus also the body that was laid in the earth is that which shall rise again. And as to this, that the body is corrupted and wastes away, thou oughtest to be instructed by the parable of the seed; that as the seed, when it is cast into the earth, decays and is corrupted, and from its decay it produces and buds and bears fruit. For the land that is ploughed, into which seed is not cast, produces not fruit, even if that land drinks in all the rain. So the grave in which the dead are not buried, from it men shall not issue forth in the quickening of the dead, though the full voice of the trumpet should sound within it. And if, as they say, the spirit of the just shall ascend into heaven and put on a heavenly body, they are in heaven. And He Who raises the dead dwells in heaven. Then when our Saviour shall come, whom shall He raise up from the earth? And why did He write for us:--The hour shall come, and now is, that the dead also shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and they shall live and come forth from their tombs?(1) For the heavenly body will not come and enter into the tomb, and again go forth from it.

4. For thus say those who are stubborn in folly:--Why did the Apostle say,--Different is the body which is in heaven from that which is on earth?(2) But he that hears this, let him hear also the other thing that the Apostle said:--There is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body.(3) And again he said:-- We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed.(4) And again he said:--This that shall die must clothe itself with that that shall not die, and this which is corruptible must clothe itself with that which is incorruptible.(5) Again he said:-- We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every man may be rewarded in his body for everything that before time was done by hun, whether good or evil.(6) Again he said:-- What shall those do that are baptized for the dead? For if the dead rise not, why are they baptized for them?(7) Again he said:--If there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen, and if Christ is not risen then your faith is vain, and our preaching. And if so we are found false witnesses in that we testified of God, that He raised up Christ, Whom He raised not up.( Therefore, if the dead rise not, there is no judgment. And if there is no judgment, then let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die. Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good purposes.(9) Now as to this that the Apostle said:--The body that is in heaven is different from that which is on the earth, let this word be thus understood by thee. When the body of the just shall arise and be changed, it is called heavenly. And that which is not changed is called earthly, according to its earthly nature.

5. But hear, my beloved, another word like this, which the Apostle has spoken. For he said:-- The spiritual man judgeth everything, and he is judged by no one.(1) And again he said:-- They that are spiritual are spiritually minded, and they that are carnal are carnally minded.(2) And again he said:-- When we were in the flesh, the weaknesses of sins were working in our members that we might become fruit for death.(3) Again he said:--If the Spirit of Christ is in you, ye are spiritual.(4) All these things the Apostle said, while he was clothed in the flesh but was doing the works of the Spirit. Thus also in the Resurrection of the dead, the righteous shall be changed, and the earthly form shall be swallowed up in the heavenly, and it shall be called a heavenly body. And that which shall not be changed, shall be called earthly.

6. Concerning then this Resurrection of the dead, my beloved, according to my power I will instruct thee. For from the beginning God created Adam; moulded him from the dust of the earth, and raised him up. For if, while Adam was not, He made him from nothing, how much easier now is it for Him to raise him up; for lo! as a seed he is sown in the earth. For if God should do those things that are easy for us, His works would not appear mighty to us. For lo! there are amongst men artificers who make wonderful things, and those who are not artificers of the works stand and wonder how they were done; and the work of their fellows is difficult in their eyes. How much more should not the works of God be as a marvel! But for God this was no great thing, that the dead should be quickened. Before seed was sown in the earth, the earth produced that which had not been cast into it. Before it had conceived, it bore in its virginity. How then is this difficult, that the earth should cause to spring up again what had been cast into it, and after conception should bear? And lo! her travail-pains are near; as Isaiah said, Who hath seen anything like this and who hath heard such things as these? that the earth should travail in one day, and a people should be born in one hour?(1) For Adam unsown sprang up conceived he was born. But lo! now his offspring are sown, and wait for the rain, and shall spring up. And lo! the earth teems with many, and the time of her bringing forth is at hand.

7. For all our fathers, in hope of the Resurrection and the quickening of the dead, were looking forward and hastening; as the blessed Apostle said, If the righteous had been looking forward to that city from which Abraham went forth, they would have had an opportunity of again turning back and to it; but they showed that they were looking forward to one better than it, namely thai which is in heaven.(2) They were looking forward to be released and to go speedily thither. And from that which I am writing unto thee, understand and observe that they were looking forward to the Resurrection. For Jacob our father, when he was dying, bound Joseph his son with an oath, and said to him, Bury me in the tomb of my fathers, with Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Rebecca.(3) And why, my beloved, did Jacob not wish to be buried in Egypt, but with his fathers? He showed beforehand, that he was looking forward to the quickening of the dead; that, when the Resurrection shout should be raised and the sound of the trumpet (heard), he might rise up near to his fathers, and might not at the time of the Resurrection be mingled with the wicked who shall return to Sheol and to punishment.

8. Thus also Joseph bound his brethren by an oath,(4) and said to them:--When God shall remember you, take up my bones from hence with you. And according to the word of Joseph his brethren did, and kept the oath a hundred and twenty-five years. At that time when the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt, then Moses took up the bones of Joseph when he went forth.(5) And the bones of the righteous man were more precious and better in his estimation than the gold and the silver that the children of Israel took from Egypt when they spoiled them. And the bones of Joseph were forty years in the wilderness; and at that time when Moses fell asleep, he gave them in inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun. The bones of Joseph his father were better in his estimation than all the spoil of that land which he subdued. And why did Moses give the bones of Joseph to Joshua? Clearly, because he was of the tribe of Ephraim the son of Joseph. And he buried them in the land of promise, that there might be in that land a treasure, (even) that of the bones of Joseph (that were) buried therein. And also at the time that Jacob was dying, he blessed his tribes, and showed them what would happen to them in the latter days, and said to Reuben:--Reuben, thou art my firstborn, might and the beginning of my strength. Thou hast gone astray; as water, thou shalt not abide, because thou wentest up father's bed. Truly thou defilest my couch and wentest up.(6) From the time that Jacob fell asleep until the time that Moses fell asleep two hundred and thirty-three years elapsed. Then Moses wished by his priestly power to absolve Reuben from his transgression and sin, in that he had lain with Bilhah, his father's concubine; that when his brethren should rise, he might not be cut off from their number. So he said in the beginning of his blessing:--Reuben shall live and not die, and shall be in the number.

9. And also when the time came that Moses should sleep with his fathers, he was grieved and distressed, and he sought of his Lord and entreated that he might pass over to the land of promise. And why, my beloved, was the righteous Moses grieved because he did not enter into the land of promise? Clearly, because he wished to go and be buried with his fathers, and not be buried in the land of his adversaries, in the land of Moab. For the Moabites hired Balaam the son of Beor to curse Israel. Therefore Moses wished not to be buried in that land, test the Moabites should come and take vengeance on him by taking up and casting forth the bones of that righteous man. And the Lord performed an act of grace towards Moses. For He brought him forth to Mount Nebo, and showed him all the land, making it pass before him. And as Moses gazed upon all the land, and gazed upon the mountain of the Jebusites where the Tabernacle was to dwell, he was grieved and wept when he saw the tomb in Hebron where his fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried, that he should not be buried with them, nor his bones cast upon their bones, that he might rise along with them in the Resurrection. But when he had seen all the land, his Lord encouraged him and said to him, "I myself will bury thee and hide thee, and none shall know thy tomb." So Moses died according to the word of the mouth of the Lord, and He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-Peor, where Israel had sinned, and no man has known his sepulchre unto this day.(1) Two goodly benefits did his Lord accomplish for Moses in not making known his tomb to the children of Israel. He rejoiced that his adversaries should not know it, and cast forth his bones from his tomb; and in the second place, that the children of his people should not know it, and make his tomb a place of worship, for he was accounted as God in the eyes of the children of his people. And understand this, my beloved, from hence, that when he left them and went up to the mountain, they said:(2)--As for this Moses who brought us up from the land of Egypt we know not what has become of him. So they made them a calf and worshipped it, and they remembered not God Who brought them up from Egypt by means of Moses with a mighty hand and an uplifted arm.(3) Because of this, God had respect unto Moses, and did not make known his tomb; lest, if He should make known his tomb, the children of his people might go astray, and make them an image, and worship it and sacrifice to it, and so by their sins disquiet the bones of the righteous man.

10. And Moses again proclaimed clearly the Resurrection of the dead, for he said as from the mouth of his God:--It is I that cause to die and it is I that make able.(4) Again also Hannah said thus in her prayer:--The Lord causeth to die and quickeneth ; He bringeth down to Sheol and bringeth up (therefrom).(5) The Prophet Isaiah also said thus:--Thy dead shall live, O Lord, and their bodies shall rise, and they that sleep in the dust shall awake and praise thee.(6) David also proclaimed, saying:--For lo! for the dead Thou workest wonderful things, and the mighty ones shall rise and make confession unto Thee, and those that are in the tombs shall recount Thy grace.(7) And how in the tombs shall they recount the grace of God? Clearly, when they shall hear the sound of trumpet summoning them, and the cornet sounding forth from on high, and the earthquake that shall be, and the tombs that shall be opened, then the mighty ones shall arise in glory, and recount one to another in the tombs, saying, "Great is the grace that is performed towards us. For our hope was cut off; yet (another) hope has arisen for us. We were imprisoned in darkness, and have come forth to the light. We were sown in corruption, and have risen in glory. We were buried naturally, and we have risen spiritually. Again we were sown in weakness, and have risen in power." This is the grace that they shall tell of in the tombs.

11. And it was not only in words, my beloved, that God said:--" I quicken the dead," but also in deeds He showed it to us by many testimonies; that we might have no hesitation (concerning it). He showed it beforehand plainly; for through Elijah a wonder was manifested, (in proof) that the dead shall live and that they that sleep in the dust shall arise. For when the son of the widow died, Elijah raised him up and gave him to his mother. And Elisha again, his disciple, raised up the son of the Shunamite; that the testimony of two might be established and confirmed for us. And also again when the children of Israel cast a dead man on the bones of Elisha, that dead man revived and arose. And the witness of three is certain.

12. And also through the Prophet Ezekiel, the Resurrection of the dead was manifestly shown, when God brought him forth to the valley and showed him many bones, and made him pass by them round about them, and said to him:--Son of these bones live? And Ezekiel said to Him: Thou knowest, O Lord of lords. And the Lord said to him:--Prophesy, O Son Man, over these bones; prophesy and say to the dry bones, Hear the word of the Lord of lords. And when he had caused them to hear those words, there was a shaking and a noise, and the bones were gathered together, even those that were crushed into pieces and broken. And when the Prophet saw them, he was astonished, for they came together from all sides, and each bone received its fellow, and each joint approached its fellow-joint, and they ordered themselves, one on another. And their dryness was made moist, and the joints were united by the ligatures, and the blood grew warm in the arteries, and skin was stretched over the flesh, and hair grew up according to its nature. But they lay prostrate and there was no breath in them Then again He commanded the Prophet, and said to him Prophesy unto the spirit and say to it, Come, O spirit, from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain men that they may live. And when he caused them to hear this second word, the spirit entered into them, and they revived and stood up upon their feet, a very great host.

13. But why, my beloved, was it that those dead did not rise because of the one word (spoken) through Ezekiel, and why was not their resurrection, both of bones and spirit, accomplished (through that one word)? For lo! by one word the bones were fitted together, and by another the spirit came. It was in order that full perfection might be left for our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with one utterance and one word will raise up at the last day every body of man. For it was not the word that was insufficient, but its bearer was inferior. And with regard to this, understand and observe that when Elijah also, and Elisha his disciple, raised the dead, it was not with one word that they raised them up, but after they had prayed and made intercession and delayed no little time, then they arose.

14. And our Lord Himself, in that His first Coming raised up three that were dead, that the testimony of three might be made sure. And He raised up each one of them with two words each. For when He raised up the widow's son, He called him twice, saying to him, Young man, young man, arise.(2) And he revived and arose. And again, He twice called the daughter of the chief of the synagogue, saying to her, Damsel, damsel, arise.(3) And her spirit returned and she arose. And after Lazarus died, when He came to the place of burial. He prayed earnestly and cried with a loud voice and said, Lazarus, come forth.(4)And he revived and came out of his tomb.

15. And concerning all this that I have explained to thee, that those dead persons were raised with two words each, it was because for them two resurrections take place; that former one, and the second, that which is to come. For in that resurrection in which all men shall rise, none shall fall again; and by one word of God, sent forth through Christ, all the dead shall rise in the twinkling of an eye, speedily. For He Who brings it to pass is not feeble or insufficient. For with one word of summons He will cause all the ends (of the world) to hear, and all that are laid (in the grave) shall leap forth and rise up; and no word shall return void to Him that sent it forth, but as it is written in the Prophet Isaiah,(1) who compares the word to rain and snow; for he said:--As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and return not thither, but fertilize the earth and cause it to bring forth and give seed to the sower and bread for food, so shall the word be that goes forth from My mouth, and it shall not return to Me void, but shall accomplish whatsoever I desire and shall accomplish that for which I shall have sent it. For the rain and the snow do not return to heaven, but accomplish in the earth the will of Him that sends them. So the word that He shall send through His Christ, Who is Himself the Word and the Message, shall return to Him with great power. For when He shall come and bring it, He shall come down like rain and snow, and through Him all that is sown shall spring up and bear righteous fruit, and the word shall return to His sender; but not in vain shall His going have been, but thus shall He say in the presence of His sender:--Behold, I and the children that the Lord has given Me.(2) And this is the voice through which the dead shall live. Concerning it our Redeemer testifies, saying:--The hour shall come when even the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth from their tombs;(3) as it is written, In the beginning was the voice, that is the Word.(4) Again He said, The Word became a body and dwelt amongst us.(5) And this is that voice of God which shall sound from on high and raise up all the dead.

16. Again, our Lord explained to the Sadducees with regard to the resurrection of the dead, when they brought forth to Him the parable of the woman who was married to seven husbands, and said to Him:--Lo! the woman was wife of them all; in the Resurrection of the dead, to which of them shall she be wife?(6) Then our Lord said to them:--Ye do greatly err, and ye know not the Scriptures nor the power of God. For they who are worthy of that world and of that Resurrection front the dead, they that are men do not take wives, nor are the women married to husbands, for they cannot die, for they are as the angels of God and children of the Resurrection. But concerning the Resurrection, that the dead shall rise, have ye not read in the Scripture that God said to Moses out of the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob." And lo! He is not God of the dead, for they all are alive unto Him.(7)

17. And there are those who even while they live are dead unto God. For He laid a commandment on Adam and said to him, In the day that thou shalt eat of the tree, thou shall surely die.( And after he had transgressed the commandment, and had eaten, he lived nine hundred and thirty years; but he was accounted dead unto God because of his sins. But that it may be made certain for thee that a sinner is called dead even when he lives, I will make it clear to thee. For thus it is written in Ezekiel the Prophet, As I live, saith the Lord of lords, I desire not the death of the dead sinner.(9)

18. Moreover our Lord said to that man who said to Him:--Let me go and bury my father, and I will come to Thee.(1) And our Lord said to him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou, preach the Kingdom of God. But how is this word understood by thee, my beloved? Didst thou ever see the dead burying their dead? Or how shall a dead man arise to bury another dead man? But receive this explanation from me, that a sinner, while he is living, is dead unto God; and a righteous man, though dead, is alive unto God. For such death is a sleep, as David said, I lay down and slept, and awake.(1) Again Isaiah said, They that sleep in the dust shall awake.(2) And our Lord said concerning the daughter of the chief of the synagogue, The damsel is not dead, but sleeping a slumber.(3) And concerning Lazarus, He said to His disciples:--Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go to waken him.(4) And the Apostle said:--We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed.(5) And again he said:--Concerning those that sleep, be ye not grieved.(6)

19. But it is right for us to be afraid of the second death,(7) that which is full of weeping and gnashing of teeth, and of groanings and miseries, that which is situated in outer darkness. But blessed shall be the faithful and the righteous in that Resurrection, in which they expect to be awakened and to receive the good promises made them. But as for the wicked who are not faithful, in the Resurrection woe to them, because of that which is laid up for them! It would be better for them according to the faith which they possess, were they not to arise. For the servant, for whom his Lord is preparing stripes and bonds, while he is sleeping desires not to awake, for he knows that when the dawn shall have come and he shall awake, his Lord will scourge and bind him. But the good servant, to whom his Lord has promised gifts, looks expectantly for the time when dawn shall come and he shall receive presents from his Lord. And even though he is soundly sleeping, in his dream he sees something like what his Lord is about to give him, whatsoever He has promised him, and he rejoices in his dream, and exults, and is gladdened. As for the wicked, his sleep is not pleasant to him, for he imagines that lo! the dawn has come for him, and his heart is broken in his dream. But the righteous sleep, and their slumber is pleasant to them, in the day-time and the night-time, and they take no thought of all that long night, and like one hour is it accounted in their eyes. Then in the watch of the dawn they awake with joy. But as for the wicked, their sleep lies heavy upon them, and they are like a man who is laid low by a great and deep fever, and tosses on his couch hither and thither, arid he is terrified the whole night long, which lengthens itself out for him, and he fears the dawn when his Lord will condemn him.

20. But our faith thus teaches, that when men fall asleep, they sleep this slumber without knowing good from evil. And the righteous look not forward to their promises, nor do the wicked look forward to their sentence of punishment, until the Judge come and separate those whose place is at His right hand from those whose place is at His left. And be thou instructed by that which is written, that when the Judge shall sit, and the books be opened before Him and the good and evil deeds recited, then they that have wrought good works shall receive good rewards from Him Who is good; and they that have done evil deeds shall receive evil penalties from the just Judge. For towards the good, He changes not His nature; and He proves Himself just because He justly condemns many. But towards the evil He changes His nature, in that world where grace is lost in justice; and He proves Himself just to all. And grace will not be joined with justice towards them. Like as grace avails not (to remedy) detriment, so justice (avails not to assist) grace. For grace is far from the judge, but justice urges the judge. If grace be nigh to any one, let him turn himself towards it, and not deliver himself into the hands of justice, test it condemn him, exacting for his shortcomings the penalty at his hands. And if grace be far from any one, justice will bring him to the trial, and by it he will be condemned, and go away to the torment.

21. But hear, my beloved, this proof that retribution shall take place at the end. For when the Shepherd divides His flock and sets some on His right hand and some on His left.(1) until He shall have acknowledged the service of the good, then He will cause them to inherit the kingdom; and until He shall have rebuked the evil and they are condemned, then He will send them to the torment. And as to them that sent messengers after the King, saying, This man shall not be king over us,(2) when He shall receive the kingdom and return, then His adversaries shall be slain before Him. And the labourers who hastened and were wearied in the vineyard, shall not receive the reward till the labour shall cease. And the traders who received the money, when the Lord of the money shall come, then shall He exact the usury. And the virgins who, while waiting for the bridegroom, slumbered and slept because He delayed to come, when they shall hear the cry, then they shall awake and trim their lamps; and they that are wise shall enter in; and the foolish shall be shut out. And they who were before us in entering the faith, without us shall not be made perfect.(3)

22 From all these things, understand thou, my beloved, as it has been made certain for thee, that as yet no one has received his reward. For the righteous have not inherited the kingdom, nor have the wicked gone into torment. The Shepherd has not as yet divided His flock. And lo! the workmen enter into the vineyard, and as yet have not received the reward. And lo! the merchants are trading with the money. And as yet their Lord has not come to take the account. And the King has gone to receive the Kingdom, but as yet He hats not returned the second time. And those virgins that are waiting the bridegroom are sleeping up to the present time, and are awaiting the cry when they will awake. And the former men who toiled in the faith until the last men shall come, shall not be made perfect.

23. But they who are babes in understanding say:--" If no one has received his reward, why did the Apostle say, When we shall depart from the body, we shall be present with the Lord ?"(4) But recollect, my beloved, that I instructed thee concerning this matter in the Demonstration concerning Solitaries,(5) that the spirit which the righteous receive, according to its heavenly nature, goes to our Lord until the time of the Resurrection, when it shall come to put on the body in which it dwelt. And at every time it has the memory of this in the presence of God, and looks eagerly for the Resurrection of that body in which it dwelt, as the Prophet Isaiah said about the Church of the Gentiles:--They that make mention of thee shall be faithful and stand before the Lord, and thou shalt not give them rest.(6) But as to the wicked, they have none to make mention of them before the Lord, because the Holy Spirit is far removed from them, because they are animal, and are buried after the manner of animals.

24. And again, (the followers of) doctrines, which are instruments of the Evil One, are offended by the word which our Lord spake, No one has ascended up to heaven but He Who came down from heaven, the Son of Man, Who was in heaven.(7) And they say, "Lo! our Lord testified that no earthly body has ascended to heaven." In their ignorance they cannot apprehend the force of this. For when our Lord instructed Nicodemus, he did not apprehend the force of the saying. Then our Lord said to him:--"No one has ascended into heaven, so as to come down and relate to you whatsoever is there. For if I have spoken unto you of those things that are in the earth, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I shall speak unto you of those things which are in heaven?( For lo! no other witness besides Me has come down from thence, to bear witness concerning those things which are in heaven, so that ye should believe. For Elijah went up thither, but he came not down along with Me to bear witness, that the testimony of two might be sure."

25. But as for thee, my beloved, have no doubt as to the Resurrection of the dead. For the living mouth (of God) testifies :-I cause to die and I make alive.(1) And both of them proceeded out of one mouth. And as we are sure that He causes to die, and we see it; so also it is sure and worthy of belief, that He makes alive. And from all that I have explained to thee, receive and believe that in the day of the Resurrection thy body shall arise in its entirety, and thou shalt receive from our Lord the reward of thy faith, and in all that thou hast believed, thou shalt rejoice and be made glad.

[Stephanos7]

Early Church Fathers Collection

http://www.zeitun-eg.org/ecfidx.htm

Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm

e-Catena: Compiled Allusions to the NT in the Ante-Nicene Fathers

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/e-catena/

[Stephanos7]

A mega collection of the Church Fathers –

Internet Christian Library, Guide to Early Church Documents:

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/christian-history.html#fathers

[Asteriktos]

"And thou shalt be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease. For thou hast become God: for whatever sufferings thou didst undergo while being a man, these He gave to thee, because thou wast of mortal mould, but whatever it is consistent with God to impart, these God has promised to bestow upon thee, because thou hast been deified, and begotten unto immortality." - Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 10, 30

[GabrieltheCelt]

 "A brother sinned and the presbyter ordered him to go out of church. But Abba Bessarion got up and went out with him, saying, 'I, too, am a sinner.'" - The Desert Fathers

[recent convert]

"Strive as hard as you can to love every man. If you cannot do this, at least do not hate anybody. But even this is beyond your power unless you scorn worldly things."    St Maximos the confessor; 4th century (writing) on love #82, Pholokalia vol. II.

[Christodoulos]

God bless!+

St. Dionysios the Areopagite when visiting the Theotokos:

"I witness by God, that besides the very God Himself, there is nothing else filled with such divine power and grace. No one can fully comprehend what I saw. I confess before God: when I was with John, who shone among the Apostles like the sun in the sky, when I was brought before the countenance of the Most Holy Virgin, I experienced an inexpressible sensation. Before me gleamed a sort of divine radiance which transfixed my spirit. I perceived the fragrance of indescribable aromas and was filled with such delight that my very body became faint, and my spirit could hardly endure these signs and marks of eternal majesty and heavenly power. The grace from her overwhelmed my heart and shook my very spirit. If I did not have in mind your instruction, I should have mistaken Her for the very God. It is impossible to stand before greater blessedness than this which I beheld."


In CHRIST

[ozgeorge]

St. Basil the Great:
"The tongue, which is created by Christ, cannot bear to utter anything against Him... Do not deceive yourselves, God cannot be mocked, He judges us according to our own mouth, He justifies us by our words, and by our words, He convicts us".

[ozgeorge]

St. Pachomios:

"Go to the tombs, and see that the assurance of men is nothing."

[Heorhij]

"There exists a natural law, and there exists the Law given in scriptures; but there also exists a "middle" between them both, the law of works. Look, here's how the apostle (Paul) shows and explains all three of these laws. He says: 'when the Gentiles, who have no Law' -just what Law does he mean, you tell me! the Law of the scriptures! - 'do out of their nature the things that are lawful' - lawful according to what law? by the law that reveals itself in their works! - 'they, even not having the Law' - what Law? the one that is in the scriptures! - 'are the law for themselves' - how is this? because they use the natural law! - 'by displaying the works of the law' - what law? the law of their works. One of these laws, namely, the one that is in the scriptures, is an outer law; the other, the one given to us by our nature, is an inner law; but the third one is being revealed in our works. The first one is what the scriptures instruct; the second, wat the nature instructs; the third, what the works reveal. It is only this third law that is actually necessary; the two others are given only to the end that this third law actualized; the two others, if there is no third, are not at all profitable and may in fact be most harmful." St. John Chrysostom, "Homilies on the Epistle to Romans," homily #6, http://www.orthlib.ru/John_Chrysostom/riml06.html

[Heorhij]

"(Christ) came not only to be and live with us, but to make us His brethren and coheirs. This, it seems, is the reward granted 'in all its fullness' to those who hasten to the life-giving Vine and establish themselves as branches in it, who labor on behalf of themselves and who cultivate it on behalf of themselves. And what do they do? First, they cut away everything that is superfluous and that, instead of promoting, impedes the bearing of fruit worthy of the divine cellars. And what are these things? Wealth, soft living, vain honours, all things that are transitory and fleeting, every sly and abominable passion of soul and body, all the litter gathered while daydreaming, everything heard, seen and spoken that can bring injury to the soul. If you do not cut out these things and prune the heart's offshoots with great assiduity, you will never bear fruit fit for eternal life."

(St. Gregory Palamas, "To the Most Reverend Nun Xenia." In: "Philokalia," volume 4, Faber and Faber Ltd, London, 1995, p. 300.)

[PeterTheAleut]

Some wisdom my priest shared with his flock during the homily this past Sunday, the Sunday of St. John Climacus:

Some people living carelessly in the world put a question to me: "How can we who are married and living amid public cares aspire to the monastic life?" I answered: "Do whatever you may. Speak evil of no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one and carry no hate. Do not separate yourself from the church assemblies. Show compassion to the needy. Do not be a cause of scandal to anyone. Stay away from the bed of another, and be satisfied with what your own wives can provide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the kingdom of heaven".


Like the sun which shines on all alike, vainglory beams on every occupation. What I mean is this. I fast, and turn vainglorious. I stop fasting so that I will draw no attention to myself, and I become vainglorious over my prudence. I dress well or badly, and I am vainglorious in either case. I talk or hold my peace, and each time I am defeated. No matter how I shed this prickly thing, a spike remains to stand up against me.


When those who praise us, or, rather, those who lead us astray, begin to exalt us, we should briefly remember the multitude of our sins and in this way we will discover that we do not deserve whatever is said or done in our honor.


It is not the self-critical who reveals his humility (for does not everyone have somehow to put up with himself?). Rather it is the man who continues to love the person who has criticized him.

St John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent

[Stephans]

"And thou shalt be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease. For thou hast become God: for whatever sufferings thou didst undergo while being a man, these He gave to thee, because thou wast of mortal mould, but whatever it is consistent with God to impart, these God has promised to bestow upon thee, because thou hast been deified, and begotten unto immortality." - Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 10, 30

As long as God imparts the grace to His servants that are obedient to Him and have nothing to do with pagan idolatry and demon worship. St. Hippolytus made that clear as well.

St. Hippolytus

THE REFUTATION OF ALL HERESIES -- BOOK VI

CHAP. II.--SIMON MAGUS.

It seems, then, expedient likewise to explain now the opinions of Simon,(4) a native of Gitta, a village of Samaria; and we shall also prove that his successors, taking a starting-point from him, have endeavoured (to establish) similar opinions under a change of name. This Simon being an adept in sorceries, both making a mockery of many, partly according to the art of Thrasymedes, in the manner in which we have explained above,(5) and partly also by the assistance of demons perpetrating his villany, attempted to deify himself. (But) the man was a (mere) cheat, and full of folly, and the Apostles reproved him in the Acts.(6) With much greater wisdom and moderation than Simon, did Apsethus the Libyan, inflamed with a similar wish, endeavour to have himself considered a god in Libya, And inasmuch as his legendary system does not present any wide divergence from the inordinate desire of that silly Simon, it seems expedient to furnish an explanation of it, as one worthy of the attempt made by this man.

...

[Stephans]

e-Catena: Compiled Allusions to the NT in the Ante-Nicene Fathers
Dedicated to the transcribers and translators who made it possible.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/e-catena/


Early Christian Writings

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/


Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
Edited by Roger Pearse

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm


AN ABBREVIATED HISTORY OF THE WORLD OR

THE WORLD CHRONICLE OF
ISIDORE OF SEVILLE

TRANSLATED BY
KENNETH B. WOLF

FROM THE TEXT PRINTED IN
PATROLOGIA LATINA
VOLUME LXXXIII: 1017-1058
MMIV.

http://www.vitaphone.org/history/isidore.html


Zeitun

http://www.zeitun-eg.org/


ECF Early Church Fathers Zeitun

http://www.zeitun-eg.org/ecfidx.htm

[Asteriktos]

"If we want to do something but cannot, then before God, who knows our hearts, it is as if we have done it. This is true whether the intended action is good or bad." - St. Mark the Monk, On Those who Think They Are Made Righteous by Works, 16

[Asteriktos]

"Abraham, styled 'the friend,' was found faithful, inasmuch as he rendered obedience to the words of God. He, in the exercise of obedience went out from his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father’s house, in order that, by forsaking a small territory, and a weak family, and an insignificant house, he might inherit the promises of God... On account of his faith and hospitality, a son was given him in his old age; and in the exercise of obedience, he offered him as a sacrifice to God on one of the mountains which He showed him... For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? was it not because he wrought righteousness and truth through faith?" - St. Clement of Rome, 1 Corinthians, 10

[Asteriktos]

"He also said, 'The nearer a man draws to God, the more he sees himself a sinner. It was when Isaiah the prophet saw God, that he declared himself "a man of unclean lips."' (Is. 6:5)" - Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Matoes, 2

[DanM]

1.  St. John Chrysostom’s thanksgiving for food (Hom. LX on Matth.  [from a monastic source?])
“Blessed God, who feedest me from my youth up, who givest food to all flesh; fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that always having all sufficiency we may abound unto every good work in Christ Jesus our Lord; with whom be unto Thee glory, honor and might, with the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen. Glory to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee, O Holy One, glory to Thee, O King, that Thou hast given us meat to make us glad. Fill us with the Holy Ghost, that we may be found well-pleasing before Thee, not being ashamed, when Thou renderest to every man according to his works.”

St. John Chrysostom's universal prayer (Hom. X on Col.)
I know a certain holy man who prayeth thus. He used to say nothing before these words, but thus, “We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits bestowed upon us the unworthy, from the first day until the present, for what we know, and what we know not, for the seen, for the unseen, for those in deed, those in word, those with our wills, those against our wills, for all that have been bestowed upon the unworthy, even us; for tribulations, for refreshments, for hell, for punishment, for the kingdom of heaven. We beseech Thee to keep our soul holy, having a pure conscience; an end worthy of thy lovingkindness. Thou that lovedst us so as to give Thy Only-Begotten for us, grant us to become worthy of Thy love; give us wisdom in Thy word, and in Thy fear. Only-Begotten Christ, inspire the strength that is from Thee. Thou that gavest The Only-Begotten for us, and hast sent Thy Holy Spirit for the remission of our sins, if in aught we have wilfully or unwillingly transgressed, pardon, and impute it not. Remember all that call upon Thy Name in truth; remember all that wish us well, or the contrary, for we are all men.” Then having added the Prayer of the Faithful, he there ended; having made that prayer, as a certain crowning part, and a binding together for all.

St. John Chrysostom's prayer on leaving one's home
Gretser ... refers to St. Chrys. Catech. ii. fin., where he bids every one on leaving his house cross himself, saying, “I renounce thee, Satan, and thy pomp, and thy angels, and I place myself with thee, O Christ.” St. Cyr. Cat. iv. 10 also connects the Invocation of His Name with the Sign. St. Cyprian, Test. ii. 21, quotes Rev. xiv. 1, so as to imply this connection.

These are all from the the NPNF at CCEL.
DanM

[Asteriktos]

"But, beloved, I am persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation. For it is not accordant with the righteousness of God to forget good works, and the fact that you have ministered and do minister to the Saints for His name's sake, and to remember sins only. The Apostle James also, knowing that the baptized can be tempted, and fall of their own free choice, says: 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.' ...God created us with free will, and we are not forced by necessity either to virtue or to vice. Otherwise, if there be necessity, there is no crown. As in good works it is God who brings them to perfection, for it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that pitieth and gives us help that we may be able to reach the goal." - St. Jerome, Against Jovinianus, 2, 3

[Asteriktos]

"It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality: as some indeed give one the title of bishop, but do all things without him. Now such persons seem to me to be not possessed of a good conscience, seeing they are not stedfastly gathered together according to the commandment. It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality. For it is not the being called so, but the being really so, that renders a man blessed. To those who indeed talk of the bishop, but do all things without him, will He who is the true and first Bishop, and the only High Priest by nature, declare, 'Why call ye Me Lord, and do not the things which I say?' (Luke 6:46). For such persons seem to me not possessed of a good conscience, but to be simply dissemblers and hypocrites." - St. Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, 4

[deusveritasest]

"Let no one deceive you, monk, with the notion that you can be saved while a slave to sensual pleasure and self-esteem."
-Saint Maximos the confessor

I guess the "before the 6th century" part wasn't that strict in principle. 

[deusveritasest]

Didn't Tertullian fall into paganism?

Ummm. He fell into schism and heresy (Montanism). But not Paganism.

[PeterTheAleut]

"Let no one deceive you, monk, with the notion that you can be saved while a slave to sensual pleasure and self-esteem."
-Saint Maximos the confessor

I guess the "before the 6th century" part wasn't that strict in principle. 

To what are you referring?  What do you mean by the "'before the 6th century' part"?

[deusveritasest]

"Let no one deceive you, monk, with the notion that you can be saved while a slave to sensual pleasure and self-esteem."
-Saint Maximos the confessor

I guess the "before the 6th century" part wasn't that strict in principle. 

To what are you referring?  What do you mean by the "'before the 6th century' part"?

Considering that there now is a Modern Church Fathers section I thought I would start an Early Church Fathers section. I think it best to try to restrict the quotes to before the 6th Century.

[Asteriktos]

"It is a great evil that a man should be condemned by his own mouth. Truly, if each one shall give account for an idle word, (Matt. 12:36) how much more for words of impurity and shame? For words uttered hastily are far worse than idle words. If, therefore, an account is demanded for an idle word, how much more will punishment be exacted for impious language?" - St. Ambrose of Milan

[soufliotiki]

Thread dedicated to the Divine Wisdom of

Saint Basil the Great

[soufliotiki]

The love of God is not taught

The love of God is not taught. No one has taught us to enjoy the light or to be attached to life more than anything else. And no one has taught us to love the two people who brought us into the world and educated us. Which is all the more reason to believe that we did not learn to love God as a result of outside instruction. In the very nature of every human being has been sown the seed of the ability to love. You and I ought to welcome this seed, cultivate it carefully, nourish it attentively and foster its growth by going to the school of God's commandments with help of His grace.

[soufliotiki]

From St. Basil the Great (The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series Vol. VIII; Eerdmans pg. 212):
 
"…if, to me, “to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21), truly my words ought to be about Christ, my every thought and deed ought to depend upon His commandments, and my soul to be fashioned after His."

[soufliotiki]

From St. Basil the Great (The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series Vol. VIII; Eerdmans pg. 34):
 
"It is not he who begins well who is perfect. It is he who ends well who is approved in God’s sight."

[soufliotiki]

Thread dedicated to the Divine Wisdom of

St John Chrysostom



Most holy St John Chrysostom, intercede with your prayers to God, four our enlightenment and salvation!

[soufliotiki]

Leading others to Christ
by St. John Chrysostom

Nothing is more frigid than a Christian who does not care about the salvation of others. You cannot plead the excuse of poverty here; the widow who gave her two mites will stand to accuse you. Peter said, “Silver or gold I have none.” Paul was so poor he often went hungry, lacking the necessary food. You cannot allege lack of education or preparation. They were unlearned men. You cannot plead infirmity. Timothy was often laid low by sickness and the Apostle had to counsel him to take a little wine for his stomach. Every one can profit his neighbor if he will do what he can.

Do not say, It is impossible for me to lead others to the faith. If you are a Christian, it is impossible for it not to be so. The natural properties of things cannot be denied. This witnessing to others is part of the very nature of being a Christian. It would be easier for the sun to cease to shine and give forth heat than for a Christian not to send forth light; easier for the light to be darkness than for this to be so.

~ Excerpt taken from the book: Daily Readings From The Writings of St. John Chrysostom

[soufliotiki]

Almsgiving

Seest thou that a failure in almsgiving is enough to cast a man into hell fire? For where will he avail who does not give alms? Dost thou fast every day? So also did those virgins, but it availed them nothing. Dost thou pray? What of that? prayer without almsgiving is unfruitful, without that all things are unclean and unprofitable. The better part of virtue is destroyed. 'He that loveth not his brother,' it is said, 'knoweth not God' (1 John. 4:8 ). And how dost thou love him, when thou dost not even impart to him of these poor worthless things? "

[soufliotiki]

Do not Scandalise

Accordingly, dearly beloved, let us do everything for the purpose of giving glory to our Lord, and let us not be an occasion of scandal to anybody. This after all, is the unfailing lesson given us by the whole world’s teacher, blessed Paul, as for example when he says, “If food is a source of scandal to my brother, let me never till the end of time touch meat again;” and again, “By sinning against your brothers in this way through bruising your tender conscience, you sin against Christ.”

A stern admonition that, entailing a heavy condemnation. In other words, he is saying, don’t think the harm will be inflicted solely on one person: it passes on to Christ himself, who for that person was crucified. So if the Lord was not swayed from being crucified for him, would you not make every effort to avoid giving him any occasion for scandal? You will find Paul giving this advice everywhere to his disciples; it is, after all, the factor that keeps our life together. Hence he uses these words in writing in another letter: “Let each of you consider not your own concerns but the concerns of others;” and again in another place: “Everything is lawful for me, but not everything edifies others.” Do you see the apostolic attitude? Even repercussion for myself on that account, yet to avoid interfering with my neighbor’s spiritual progress I would not presume to behave like that. Do you see the soul full of loving concern- how he has no eye at all for his own interests, but shows us in every way that the greatest virtue consists in taking great care for our neighbor’s spiritual progress.

Taken from the Book: Daily Reading from the Writings of St. John Chyrsostom

[soufliotiki]

Thread dedicated to the Divine Wisdom of

St John of Climacus

Know, beloved, that the valleys shall abound with wheat and spiritual fruit. This valley is a soul low and humble among the mountains, that is, it is filled with labours and virtues, and always remains unhaughty and steadfast."

~ St. John Climacus "The Ladder of Divine Ascent" (Step 25)

[soufliotiki]

The True Adornment of a Lady
by St. John Chrysostom

Do you wish to adorn your face?

Do not do so with gems but with piety and modesty; thus adorned, a man will find your appearance more pleasing to behold. For that other kind of adornment generally arouses suspicions which give rise to jealousy, enmity, strife, and quarrels. For there is nothing more disgusting than a suspiciously beautiful face.

But the adornment which comes from almsgiving and modesty drives out all wicked suspicion and draws your husband to you with greater strength than any chain. For natural beauty does not make a face become beautiful as much as does the disposition of him who beholds it, and nothing is more likely to produce this disposition than modesty and piety.

Hence, even if a woman be beautiful but her husband hates her, she will appear to him as the ugliest of women; if a woman does not happen to be comely but she pleases her husband, he will find her the fairest of women. Judgments are made not in the light of the nature of what is seen but in the light of the disposition of those who see it.

Adorn your face, therefore, with modesty, piety, almsgiving, benevolence, love, kindliness towards your husband, reasonableness, mildness, and forbearance. These are the pigments of virtue; by these you draw not men but angels to you as your lovers; for these you have God Himself to praise you. When God shall approve of you, He will win over your husband to you in every way; for if wisdom illumines the face of man, much more does virtue make the face of a woman shine forth.

~ Excerpt taken from the book: Daily Readings from the Writings of St. John Chyrsostom

[soufliotiki]

St John Chrysostom’s Homily 2,

‘On Remembering the Dead’:

If, in setting out for any foreign country or city we are in need of guides, then how much shall we need helpers and guides in order to pass unhindered past the elders, the powers, the governors of the air, the persecutors, the chief
collectors! For this reason, the soul, flying away from the body, often ascends and descends, fears and trembles. The awareness of sins always torments us, all the more at that hour when we shall have to be conducted to those trials and that frightful judgement place. (pp. 236-7)

[Alveus Lacuna]

Does this belong in the prayer forum?

[soufliotiki]

Does this belong in the prayer forum?

In my opinion, yes. When we read the "words of the patristic saints" we are effectively also praying ... there are many who are using this Forum who need these "prayers" and especially if these are read daily many of those who seek prayers from others will find that in reading and absorbing the words of the Saints will receive divine nourishment ...

[Asteriktos]

Does this belong in the prayer forum?

In my opinion, yes. When we read the "words of the patristic saints" we are effectively also praying ... there are many who are using this Forum who need these "prayers" and especially if these are read daily many of those who seek prayers from others will find that in reading and absorbing the words of the Saints will receive divine nourishment ...

I'm pretty sure I could think of a few quotes by St. John which aren't exactly conducive to a prayerful attitude... for all his reputation for being "pastorally sensitive," he could get quite feisty ya know

[soufliotiki]

True Poverty and True Riches

“Lament not therefore thy poverty, but thyself who are so [carnally] minded, yea rather, lament not thyself, but reform thee; and seek not for money, but pursue that which maketh men of more cheerful countenance than great hoards of money, philosophy (Christian practice) and virtue. For where indeed these are, there is no harm in poverty; and where these are not there is no good in money.”

[soufliotiki]

Almsgiving

Seest thou that a failure in almsgiving is enough to cast a man into hell fire? For where will he avail who does not give alms? Dost thou fast every day? So also did those virgins, but it availed them nothing. Dost thou pray? What of that? prayer without almsgiving is unfruitful, without that all things are unclean and unprofitable. The better part of virtue is destroyed. 'He that loveth not his brother,' it is said, 'knoweth not God' (1 John. 4:8 ). And how dost thou love him, when thou dost not even impart to him of these poor worthless things? "

~ St. John Chrysostom

[soufliotiki]

On Repentance

For behold the love of God to man! We ought on every ground to have been punished at the first; in that having received the natural law, and enjoyed innumerable blessings, we have not acknowledged our Master, and have lived an unclean life. Yet He not only has not punished us, but has even made us partakers of countless blessings, just as if we had accomplished great things. Again we fell away, and not even so does He punish us, but has given medicine of repentance, which is sufficient to put away and blot out all our sins; only if we knew the nature of the medicine, and how we ought to apply it.

What then is the medicine of Repentance and how is it made up?

First, of the condemnation of our own sins; “For” (it is said) “mine iniquity have I not hid” ( Ps. xxxii. 5 ); and again, “I will confess against myself my lawlessness unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart.” And “Declare thou at the first thy sins, that thou mayest be justified.” ( Isa. xliii. 26.) And, “The righteous man is an accuser of himself at the first speaking.” ( Prov. xviii. 17 .)

Secondly, of great humbleness of mind: For it is like a golden chain; if one have hold of the beginning, all will follow. Because if thou confess thy sin as one ought to confess, the soul is humbled. For conscience turning it on itself causeth it to be subdued.

Other things too must be added to humbleness of mind if it be such as the blessed David knew, when he said, “A broken and a contrite heart God will not despise.” ( Ps. li. 17.) For that which is broken does not rise up, does not strike, but is ready to be ill-treated and itself riseth not up. Such is contrition of heart: though it be insulted, though it be evil entreated, it is quiet, and is not eager for vengeance.

And after humbleness of mind, there is need of intense prayers, of many tears, tears by day, and tears by night: for, he says, “every night, will I wash my bed, I will water my couch with my tears. I am weary with my groaning.” ( Ps. vi. 6.) And again, “For I have eaten ashes as it were bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.” ( Ps. cii. 9.)

And after prayer thus intense, there is need of much almsgiving: for this it is which especially gives strength to the medicine of repentance. And as there is a medicine among the physicians’ helps which receives many herbs, but one is the essential, so also in case of repentance this is the essential herb, yea, it may be everything. ...

Next not being angry with any one, not bearing malice; the forgiving all their trespasses. For, it is said, “Man retaineth wrath against man, and yet seeketh healing from the Lord.” ( Ecclus. xxviii. 3.) “Forgive that ye may be forgiven.” ( Mark xi. 25.)

Also, the converting our brethren from their wandering. For, it is said, “Go thou, and convert thy brethren, that thy sins may be forgiven thee.” And from one’s being in close relations with the priests, “and if,” it is said, “a man hath committed sins it shall be forgiven him.” ( Jas. v. 15.) To stand forward in defense of those who are wronged. Not to retain anger: to bear all things meekly.

--Excerpt from Homily on Hebrews VI

[soufliotiki]

Five ways of Repentance

Do you wish that I shall speak of the ways of repentance? They are many, and various, and different, and all lead to heaven.

I. The first way of repentance is condemnation of sins. “Declare thou first thy sins that thou mayest be justified.” Wherefore also the prophet said “ I said, I will speak out, my transgression to the Lord, and thou remittedst the iniquity of my heart.” Condemn thyself therefore for thy sins. This is enough for the Master by way of self-defense. For he who condemns his sins, is slower to fall into them again. Awake thy conscience, that inward accuser, in order that thou mayest have no accuser at the judgment seat of the Lord.

II. This is one way of repentance, the best; and there is another not less than this: not to bear a grudge against thine enemies to overcome anger, to forgive the sins of our fellow-servants. For so will those which have been done against the master be forgiven us. See the second expiation of sins: “For if ye forgive” saith he, “your debtors, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

III. Dost thou wish to learn a third way of repentance? Fervent and diligent prayer, and to do this from the bottom of the heart. Hast thou not seen that widow, how she persuaded the shameless judge? But thou hast a gentle Master, both tender, and kind. She asked, against her adversaries, but thou dost not ask against thine adversaries, but on behalf of thine own salvation.

IV. And if thou wouldest learn a fourth way, I will say almsgiving. For this has a great power and unspeakable. For Daniel saith to Nebuchadnezzar when he had come to all kinds of evil, and had entered upon all impiety, “O King let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, redeem thy sins by almsgiving and thine iniquities by compassion on the poor.” What could be compared with this loving-kindness? After countless sins, after so many transgressions, he is promised that he will be reconciled with him he has come into conflict with if he will show kindness to his own fellow-servants.

V. And modesty, and humility, not less than all words spoken, exhaust the nature of sins. And the publican is proof, being unable to declare his good deeds, in sight of all, bringing forward his humility, and laying aside the heavy burden of his sins.

See we have shown five ways of repentance: first the condemnation of sins, next the forgiveness of our neighbors’ sins, thirdly that which comes of prayer, fourth that which comes of almsgiving, fifth that which comes of humility.

Do not thou then be lazy; but walk in all these day by day. For the ways are easy, nor canst thou plead poverty. And even if thou livest poorer than all, thou art able to leave thine anger, and be humble, and to pray fervently, and to condemn sins, and thy poverty is in no way a hindrance. And why do I speak thus, when not even in that way of repentance in which it is possible to spend money (I speak of almsgiving), not even there is poverty any hindrance to us from obeying the command? The widow who spent the two mites is a proof.

Having learned then the healing of our wounds, let us constantly apply these medicines, in order that we may return to health and enjoy the sacred table with assurance; and with much glory, reach Christ the king of glory, and attain to everlasting good by the grace, and compassion, and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom be glory, power, honor, to the Father, together with the all holy, and good and quickening Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

~ from the Homily Concerning the Power of Demons, HomilyII

[soufliotiki]

NOOOOO - this is HORRID WHAT HAS THIS MODERATOR DONE?

[PeterTheAleut]

NOOOOO - this is HORRID WHAT HAS THIS MODERATOR DONE?

Would you like to speak to me via private message or report my decision to the moderator team (using the "Report to Moderator" function at the bottom of each post)?  That's the proper way to question moderatorial actions.  If you don't like what I did, please don't argue with it in public.

- PeterTheAleut
Faith Issues Section Moderator

[soufliotiki]

NOOOOO - this is HORRID WHAT HAS THIS MODERATOR DONE?

Would you like to speak to me via private message or report my decision to the moderator team (using the "Report to Moderator" function at the bottom of each post)?  That's the proper way to question moderatorial actions.  If you don't like what I did, please don't argue with it in public.

- PeterTheAleut
Faith Issues Section Moderator

Im not arguing with you .... I was shocked at the collective dumping of the different posts ... now, there is no "neatness" in presentation and association with which saint each post is. Second, I am not going to report you??? Why would I do that?

[Salpy]

This is actually a good thing.  By putting it here, it gets preserved in a sticky thread, which means that it's not going to disappear after a while of no one posting in it.  It will stay toward the top of the Faith Issues forum, where it will be accessible and visible.  This thread gets a lot of people clicking on it.  if it had remained in the Prayer forum, it would have been out of sight within a couple of weeks.

Also, it just fits here.  This is the thread for early patristic quotes.  The Prayer forum is for actual prayer requests.

[soufliotiki]

This is actually a good thing.  By putting it here, it gets preserved in a sticky thread, which means that it's not going to disappear after a while of no one posting in it.  It will stay toward the top of the Faith Issues forum, where it will be accessible and visible.  This thread gets a lot of people clicking on it.  if it had remained in the Prayer forum, it would have been out of sight within a couple of weeks.

Also, it just fits here.  This is the thread for early patristic quotes.  The Prayer forum is for actual prayer requests.

Fair enough, the only problem is that the quotes do not stick to the theme of the saint (ie St Basil the Great and then a list of HIS quotes) ... plus the pictures I posted were for the start of a thread now they are just muddled in amongst ... whatever you guys want. I just like more compact threads ...

[ozgeorge]

To lag in the fight at the very outset of the struggle and thereby furnish a token of our coming slaughter is a very hateful and dangerous thing. A firm beginning will certainly be useful for us when we later grow slack. A soul that is strong at first but then relaxes is spurred on by the memory of its former zeal, and in this way, new wings are often obtained.
(St. John Klimakos, The Ladder, Step 1 v11)

[ozgeorge]

"The athlete of Christ who is duly fighting His battles must tear out by the roots the motions of anger. The perfect medicine for the disease is that first of all we must be convinced that in no circumstances, from either just or unjust cause, is it right for us to be angry."

    —Saint John Cassian

[Get_Behind_Me_Satan]

St Leo the Great - Admonitions. Found here:http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.iii.iv.iv.ii.html

Chapter II. How the poor and the rich should be admonished.
Chapter III. How the joyful and the sad are to be admonished.
Chapter IV. How subjects and prelates are to be admonished.
Chapter V. How servants and masters are to be admonished.
Chapter VI. How the wise and the dull are to be admonished.
Chapter VII. How the impudent and bashful are to be admonished.
Chapter VIII. How the forward and the faint-hearted are to be admonished.
Chapter IX. How the impatient and the patient are to be admonished.
Chapter X. How the kindly-disposed and the envious are to be admonished.
Chapter XI. How the simple and the crafty are to be admonished.
Chapter XII. How the whole and the sick are to be admonished.
Chapter XIII. How those who fear scourges and those who contemn them are to be admonished.
Chapter XIV. How the silent and the talkative are to be admonished.
Chapter XV. How the slothful and the hasty are to be admonished.
Chapter XVI. How the meek and the passionate are to be admonished.
Chapter XVII. How the humble and the haughty are to be admonished.
Chapter XVIII. How the obstinate and the fickle are to be admonished.
Chapter XIX. How those who use food intemperately and those who use it sparingly are to be admonished.
Chapter XX. How to be admonished are those who give away what is their own, and those who seize what belongs to others.
Chapter XXI. How those are to be admonished who desire not the things of others, but keep their own; and those who give of their own, yet seize on those of others.
Chapter XXII. How those that are at variance and those that are at peace are to be admonished
Chapter XXIII. How sowers of strifes and peacemakers are to be admonished.
Chapter XXIV. How the rude in sacred learning, and those who are learned but not humble, are to be admonished.
Chapter XXV. How those are to be admonished who decline the office of preaching out of too great humility, and those who seize on it with precipitate haste.
 Chapter XXVI. How those are to be admonished with whom everything succeeds according to their wish, and those with whom nothing does.
Chapter XXVII. How the married and the single are to be admonished.
Chapter XXVIII. How those are to be admonished who have had experience of the sins of the flesh, and those who have not.
Chapter XXIX. How they are to be admonished who lament sins of deed, and those who lament only sins of thought.
Chapter XXX. How those are to be admonished who abstain not from the sins which they bewail, and those who, abstaining from them, bewail them not.
Chapter XXXI. How those are to be admonished who praise the unlawful things of which they are conscious, and those who while condemning them, in no wise guard against them.
 Chapter XXXII. How those are to be admonished who sin from sudden impulse and those who sin deliberately.
Chapter XXXIII. How those are to be admonished who commit very small but frequent faults, and those who, while avoiding such as are very small, are sometimes plunged in such as are grievous.
Chapter XXXIV. How those are to be admonished who do not even begin good things, and those who do not finish them when begun.
Chapter XXXV. How those are to be admonished who do bad things secretly and good things openly, and those who do contrariwise.
Chapter XXXVI. Concerning the exhortation to be addressed many at once, that It may so aid the virtues of each among them that vices contrary to such virtues may not grow up through it.
Chapter XXXVII. Of the exhortation to be applied to one person, who labours under contrary passions.
Chapter XXXVIII. That sometimes lighter vices are to be left alone, that more grievous ones may be removed.
Chapter XXXIX. That deep things ought not to be preached at all to weak souls.
Chapter XL. Of the work and the voice of preaching. But in the midst of these things we are brought back by the earnest desire of charity to what we have already said above;

[Asteriktos]

"Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled underfoot by all and despised, accepting injustice, contempt and mocker; unless he undergoes all these things with joy for the sake of the Lord, not claiming any kind of human reward whatsoever--glory or honour or pleasures of food and drink and clothing--he cannot become a true Christian." - St. Mark the Monk (quoted in Met. Kallistos [Ware], The Orthodox Way, p. 173)

[Asteriktos]

This practical life then, which as has been said rests on a double system, is distributed among many different professions and interests. For some make it their whole purpose to aim at the secrecy of an anchorite and purity of heart, as we know that in the past Elijah and Elisha, and in our own day the blessed Antony and others who followed with the same object, were joined most closely to God by the silence of solitude. Some have given all their efforts and interests towards the system of the brethren and the watchful care of the Cœnobium; as we remember that recently Abbot John, who presided over a big monastery in the neighbourhood of the city Thmuis, and some other men of like merits were eminent with the signs of Apostles. Some are pleased with the kindly service of the guest house and reception, by which in the past the patriarch Abraham and Lot pleased the Lord, and recently the blessed Macarius, a man of singular courtesy and patience who presided over the guest house at Alexandria in such a way as to be considered inferior to none of those who aimed at the retirement of the desert. Some choose the care of the sick, others devote themselves to intercession, which is offered up for the oppressed and afflicted, or give themselves up to teaching, or give alms to the poor, and flourish among men of excellence and renown, by reason of their love and goodness.

Wherefore it is good and profitable for each one to endeavour with all his might and main to attain perfection in the work that has been begun, according to the line which he has chosen as the grace which he has received; and while he praises and admires the virtues of others, not to swerve from his own line which he has once for all chosen, as he knows that, as the Apostle says, the body of the Church indeed is one, but the members many, and that it has “gifts differing according to the grace which is given us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion of the faith, whether ministry, in ministering, or he that teaches, in doctrine, or he that exhorts in exhortation, he that gives, in simplicity, he that rules, with carefulness, he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Rom. 12:4-8) For no members can claim the offices of other members, because the eyes cannot perform the duties of the hands, nor the nostrils of the ears. And so not all are Apostles, not all prophets, not all doctors, not all have the gifts of healing, not all speak with tongues, not all interpret. (1 Cor. 12:28) - Abbot Nesteros (found in: St. John Cassian, Conferences, 14, 4-5)

[HabteSelassie]

greetings in that Divine and Most Precious Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

The presiding ministers of the "mystery of godliness"(1) have need of a system in their instructions, in order that the Church may be replenished by the accession of such as should be saved(2) , through the teaching of the word of Faith being brought home to the hearing of unbelievers. Not that the same method of instruction will be suitable in the case of all who approach the word. The catechism must be adapted to the diversities of their religious worship; with an eye, indeed, to the one aim and end of the system, but not using the same method of preparation in each individual case. The Judaizer has been preoccupied with one set of notions, one conversant with Hellenism, with others; while the Anomoean, and the Manichee, with the followers of Marcion(3) , Valentinus, and Basilides(4) , and the rest on the list of those who have wandered into heresy, each of them being prepossessed with their peculiar notions, necessitate a special controversy with their several. opinions. The method of recovery must be adapted to the form of the disease. You will not by the same means cure the polytheism of the Greek, and the unbelief of the Jew as to the Only-begotten God: nor as regards those who have wandered into heresy will you, by the same arguments in each case, upset their misleading romances as to the tenets of the Faith. No one could set Sabellius(5) right by the same instruction as would benefit the Anomoean(6) . The controversy with the Manichee is profitless against the Jew(7) . It is necessary, therefore, as I have said, to regard the opinions which the persons have taken up, and to frame your argument in accordance with the error into which each has fallen, by advancing in each discussion certain principles and reasonable propositions, that thus, through what is agreed upon on both sides, the truth may conclusively be brought to light. When, then, a discussion is held with one of those who favour Greek ideas, it would be well to make the ascertaining of this the commencement of the reasoning, i.e. whether he presupposes the existence of a God, or concurs with the atheistic view. Should he say there is no God, then, from the consideration of the skilful and wise economy of the Universe he will be brought to acknowledge that there is a certain overmastering power manifested through these channels. If, on the other hand, he should have no doubt as to the existence of Deity, but should be inclined to entertain the presumption of a plurality of Gods, then we will adopt against him some such train of reasoning as this: "does he think Deity is perfect or defective?" and if, as is likely, he bears testimony to the perfection in the Divine nature, then we will demand of him to grant a perfection throughout in everything that is observable in that divinity, in order that Deity may not be regarded as a mixture of opposites, defect and perfection. But whether as respects power, or the conception of goodness, or wisdom and imperishability and eternal existence, or any other notion besides suitable to the nature of Deity, that is found to lie close to the subject of our contemplation, in all he will agree that perfection is the idea to be entertained of the Divine nature, as being a just inference from these premises. If this, then, be granted us, it would not be difficult to bring round these scattered notions of a plurality of Gods to the acknowledgment of a unity of Deity. For if he admits that perfection is in every respect to be ascribed to the subject before us, though there is a plurality of these perfect things which are marked with the same character, he must be required by a logical necessity, either to point out the particularity in each of these things which present no distinctive variation, but are found always with the same marks, or, if (he cannot do that, and) the mind can grasp nothing in them in the way of particular, to give up the idea of any distinction. For if neither as regards "more and less" a person can detect a difference (in as much as the idea of perfection does not admit of it), nor as regards "worse" and "better" (for he cannot entertain a notion of Deity at all where the term "worse" is not got rid of), nor as regards "ancient" and "modern" (for what exists not for ever is foreign to the notion of Deity), but on the contrary the idea of Godhead is one and the same, no peculiarity being on any ground of reason to be discovered in any one point, it is an absolute necessity that the mistaken fancy of a plurality of Gods would be forced to the acknowledgment of a unity of Deity. For if goodness, and justice, and wisdom, and power may be equally predicated of it, then also imperishability and eternal existence, and every orthodox idea would be in the same way admitted. As then all distinctive difference in any aspect whatever has been gradually removed, it necessarily follows that together with it a plurality of Gods has been removed from his belief, the general identity bringing round conviction to the Unity. Gregory of Nyssa The Great Catechism

Link provided by poster: http://www.searchgodsword.org/his/ad/ecf/pos/gregoryofnyssa/view.cgi?file=npnf2-05-39.htm

-PtA

[PeterTheAleut]

As a general reminder to everyone else: Please remember that if you copy a large block of material and paste it to this thread, U.S. copyright law requires that you give credit to your source by posting a link to the Web page from which you copied your material. I happened to notice on this thread a number of posts from several months to a few years ago that look as if they were copied from somewhere else yet have nothing indicating where they came from. It's not really feasible for me to go back and run down links for all these posts, especially since some of the guilty posters aren't even here anymore. What I can do, however, is be proactive in heading off any attempts to copy-and-paste without credit in the future, which is the reason for this warning.

- PeterTheAleut
Faith Issues Section Moderator

[mackadam]

I doesn't know about this but You have given a very good and a nice information about the this. The information which you have given for the this is interesting and necessary.I liked and very much impressed by this.

[ozgeorge]

"We observe each other’s sins, not to bewail them, but to make them subjects of reproach; not to heal them, but to aggravate them; and we excuse our own evil deeds by pointing out the wounds of our neighbours. We do not judge a person bad or good according to his character, but by whether he disagrees with us or is our friend. We praise one day what we revile the next; admire some merely because they are denounced by our enemies; will forgive anyone anything as long as they are on our side."
-St. Gregory the Theologian

[MyMapleStory]

Chapter 2. St Ambrose on the duties of the clergy

Manifold dangers are incurred by speaking; the remedy for which Scripture shows to consist in silence.

5. Now what ought we to learn before everything else, but to be silent, that we may be able to speak? Lest my voice should condemn me, before that of another acquit me; for it is written: “By your words you shall be condemned.” Matthew 12:37 What need is there, then, that you should hasten to undergo the danger of condemnation by speaking, when you can be more safe by keeping silent? How many have I seen to fall into sin by speaking, but scarcely one by keeping silent; and so it is more difficult to know how to keep silent than how to speak. I know that most persons speak because they do not know how to keep silent. It is seldom that any one is silent even when speaking profits him nothing. He is wise, then, who knows how to keep silent. Lastly, the Wisdom of God said: “The Lord has given to me the tongue of learning, that I should know when it is good to speak.” Justly, then, is he wise who has received of the Lord to know when he ought to speak. Wherefore the Scripture says well: “A wise man will keep silence until there is opportunity.” Sirach 20:7

6. Therefore the saints of the Lord loved to keep silence, because they knew that a man's voice is often the utterance of sin, and a man's speech is the beginning of human error. Lastly, the Saint of the Lord said: “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not in my tongue.” For he knew and had read that it was a mark of the divine protection for a man to be hid from the scourge of his own tongue, Job 5:21 and the witness of his own conscience. We are chastised by the silent reproaches of our thoughts, and by the judgment of conscience. We are chastised also by the lash of our own voice, when we say things whereby our soul is mortally injured, and our mind is sorely wounded. But who is there that has his heart clean from the impurities of sin, and does not offend in his tongue? And so, as he saw there was no one who could keep his mouth free from evil speaking, he laid upon himself the law of innocency by a rule of silence, with a view to avoiding by silence that fault which he could with difficulty escape in speaking.

7. Let us hearken, then, to the master of precaution: “I said, I will take heed to my ways;” that is, “I said to myself: in the silent biddings of my thoughts, I have enjoined upon myself, that I should take heed to my ways.” Some ways there are which we ought to follow; others as to which we ought to take heed. We must follow the ways of the Lord, and take heed to our own ways, lest they lead us into sin. One can take heed if one is not hasty in speaking. The law says: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 6:4 It said not: “Speak,” but “Hear.” Eve fell because she said to the man what she had not heard from the Lord her God. The first word from God says to you: Hear! If you hear, take heed to your ways; and if you have fallen, quickly amend your way. For: “Wherein does a young man amend his way; except in taking heed to the word of the Lord?” Be silent therefore first of all, and hearken, that you fail not in your tongue.

8. It is a great evil that a man should be condemned by his own mouth. Truly, if each one shall give account for an idle word, Matthew 12:36 how much more for words of impurity and shame? For words uttered hastily are far worse than idle words. If, therefore, an account is demanded for an idle word, how much more will punishment be exacted for impious language?

Can read the rest here.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/34011.htm

[Asteriktos]

But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it has by Divine assistance, but which it has of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, “A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud.” It is not therefore that “patience of the poor” which “perishes not forever.” For these poor receive it from that Rich One, to Whom is said, “My God are You, because my goods You need not:” of Whom is “every good gift, and every perfect gift;” to Whom cries the needy and the poor, and in asking, seeking, knocking, says, “My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of the lawless and unjust: because You are my patience, O Lord, my hope from my youth up.” But these which abound, and disdain to be in want before God, lest they receive of Him true patience, they which glory in their own false patience, seek to “confound the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his hope.”

Nor do they regard, seeing they are men, and attribute so much to their own, that is, to the human will, that they run into that which is written, “Cursed is every one who puts his hope in man.” Whence even if it chance them that they do bear up under any hardships or difficulties, either that they may not displease men, or that they may not suffer worse, or in self-pleasing and love of their own presumption, do with most proud will bear up under these same, it is meet that concerning patience this be said unto them, which concerning wisdom the blessed Apostle James says, “This wisdom comes not from above, but is earthly, animal, devilish.” For why may there not be a false patience of the proud, as there is a false wisdom of the proud? But from Whom comes true wisdom, from Him comes also true patience. For to Him sings that poor in spirit, “Unto God is my soul subjected, because from Him is my patience.”

--St. Augustine, On Patience, 12

[Asteriktos]

"Upon being summoned from exile by the Emperor, Pope Liberius was told to condemn Saint Athanasius. He refused to do so, which provoked from the Emperor the response: 'How large a portion of the earth are you that you take sides alone with an impious man and disturb the peace of the earth and all the universe?' Pope Liberius replied: 'Even if I am alone, the word of faith is not weakened for that.'" - Ronald H. Bainton, Early Christianity, (D. Van Nostrand Company, 1960), p. 70

[Asteriktos]

"If you are listless when you pray or afflicted by various forms of evil, call to mind your death and the torments of hell. But it is better to cleave to God through hope and prayer than to think about external things, even though such thoughts may be helpful." - St. Mark the Monk, On Those Who Think They Are Made Righteous By Works, 38

[Asteriktos]

"Would that the memory of the fathers would exhale from the tombs; who were very simple as being wise, and reverend as believing. They without cavilling searched for, and came to the right path." - St. Ephraim the Syrian, The Pearl, Hymn 6

[ozgeorge]

"Go and have pity on all, for through pity one finds freedom of speech before God."

Abba Pambo

[Asteriktos]

So great is the splendour of a virtuous life that a peaceful conscience and a calm innocence work out a happy life. And as the risen sun hides the globe of the moon and the light of the stars, so the brightness of a virtuous life, where it glitters in true pure glory, casts into the shade all other things, which, according to the desires of the body, are considered to be good, or are reckoned in the eyes of the world to be great and noble.

Blessed, plainly, is that life which is not valued at the estimation of outsiders, but is known, as judge of itself, by its own inner feelings. It needs no popular opinion as its reward in any way; nor has it any fear of punishments. Thus the less it strives for glory, the more it rises above it. For to those who seek for glory, that reward in the shape of present things is but a shadow of future ones, and is a hindrance to eternal life, as it is written in the Scriptures: “Verily, I say unto you, they have received their reward.” (Matt. 6:2) This is said of those who, as it were, with the sound of a trumpet desire to make known to all the world the liberality they exercise towards the poor. It is the same, too, in the case of fasting, which is done but for outward show. “They have,” he says, “their reward.”

It therefore belongs to a virtuous life to show mercy and to fast in secret; that you may seem to be seeking a reward from your God alone, and not from men. For he who seeks it from man has his reward, but he who seeks it from God has eternal life, which none can give but the Lord of Eternity, as it is said: “Verily, I say unto you, today shall you be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Wherefore the Scripture plainly has called that life which is blessed, eternal life. It has not been left to be appraised according to man's ideas on the subject, but has been entrusted to the divine judgment.

--St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy, 2, 1

[Asteriktos]

"...we clearly infer that the initiative not only of our actions but also of good thoughts comes from God, who inspires us with a good will to begin with, and supplies us with the opportunity of carrying out what we rightly desire" - St. John Cassian, Conferences, 13, 3

"For the will and course of no one, however eager and anxious, is sufficiently ready for him, while still enclosed in the flesh which warreth against the spirit, to reach so great a prize of perfection, and the palm of uprightness and purity, unless he is protected by the divine compassion, so that he is privileged to attain to that which he greatly desires and to which he runs." - St. John Cassian, Institutes, 12, 10

[Asteriktos]

"... so when he says, 'to work in us to will,' (Phil. 2:12) he does not deprive us of free will, but he shows that by actually doing right we greatly increase our heartiness in willing. For as doing comes of doing, so of not doing comes not doing. Have you given an alms? You are the more incited to give. Have you refused to give? You have become so much the more disinclined. Have you practiced temperance for one day? You have an incitement for the next likewise. Have you indulged to excess? You have increased the inclination to self-indulgence." - St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Philippians

[Asteriktos]

"For there are some passages which are not understood in their proper force, or are understood with great difficulty, at whatever length, however clearly, or with whatever eloquence the speaker may expound them; and these should never be brought before the people at all, or only on rare occasions when there is some urgent reason. In books, however, which are written in such a style that, if understood, they, so to speak, draw their own readers, and if not understood, give no trouble to those who do not care to read them and in private conversations, we must not shrink from the duty of bringing the truth which we ourselves have reached within the comprehension of others, however difficult it may be to understand it, and whatever labor in the way of argument it may cost us. Only two conditions are to be insisted upon, that our hearer or companion should have an earnest desire to learn the truth, and should have capacity of mind to receive it in whatever form it may be communicated, the teacher not being so anxious about the eloquence as about the clearness of his teaching." - St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 4, 9

[Asteriktos]

"This being the case, he is the true and genuine Catholic who loves the truth of God, who loves the Church, who loves the Body of Christ, who esteems divine religion and the Catholic Faith above every thing, above the authority, above the regard, above the genius, above the eloquence, above the philosophy, of every man whatsoever; who sets light by all of these, and continuing steadfast and established in the faith, resolves that he will believe that, and that only, which he is sure the Catholic Church has held universally and from ancient time; but that whatsoever new and unheard-of doctrine he shall find to have been furtively introduced by some one or another, besides that of all, or contrary to that of all the saints, this, he will understand, does not pertain to religion, but is permitted as a trial, being instructed especially by the words of the blessed Apostle Paul, who writes thus in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, 'There must needs be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest among you:' (1 Cor. 2:9) as though he should say, This is the reason why the authors of Heresies are not immediately rooted up by God, namely, that they who are approved may be made manifest; that is, that it may be apparent of each individual, how tenacious and faithful and steadfast he is in his love of the Catholic faith." - St. Vincent of Lerins, The Commonitory, 20

[Asteriktos]

"No one, I feel sure, is more distressed at the present condition, or, rather to speak more truly, ill condition of the Churches than your excellency; for you compare the present with the past, and take into account how great a change has come about. You are well aware that if no check is put to the swift deterioration which we are witnessing, there will soon be nothing to prevent the complete transformation of the Churches. And if the decay of the Churches seems so pitiful to me, what must— so I have often in my lonely musings reflected— be the feelings of one who has known, by experience, the old tranquillity of the Churches of the Lord, and their one mind about the faith?" - St. Basil the Great, Letter 66: To Athanasius of Alexandria

[Asteriktos]

The proconsul then said to him, “I have wild beasts at hand; to these will I cast you, unless you repent.”

But [St. Polycarp] answered, “Call them then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil; and it is well for me to be changed from what is evil to what is righteous.”

But again the proconsul said to him, “I will cause you to be consumed by fire, seeing you despise the wild beasts, if you will not repent.”

But Polycarp said, “You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why do you tarry? Bring forth what you will.”

-- The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 11

[Asteriktos]

Covetousness, then, is not simply being mad for money, and other possessions, wishing to add to what you have that to which you have no right, but, to speak more broadly, it is the desire to have in every transaction more than is due or belongs to you.

-- Asterius of Amasea, Sermon 3: Against Covetousness

[zekarja]

"And let him come who would test by experience what we have now said, and in the very presence of the deceit of demons and the imposture of oracles and the marvels of magic, let him use the Sign of that Cross which is laughed at among them, and he shall see how by its means demons fly, oracles cease, all magic and witchcraft is brought to nought." - St Athanasios the Great

‎"Rejoice not in the Cross in time of peace only, but hold fast the same faith in time of persecution also; be not in time of peace a friend of Jesus, and His foe in time of wars." - St Cyril of Jerusalem

[Asteriktos]

Another Psalm which was read says: “Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, and regards lowly things in heaven and in the earth?” The Lord regarded indeed lowly things when He revealed to His Church the relics of the holy martyrs lying hidden under the unnoted turf, whose souls were in heaven, their bodies in the earth: “raising the poor out of the dust, and lifting the needy from the mire,” and you see how He has “set them with the princes of His people.” Whom are we to esteem as the princes of the people but the holy martyrs?

-- St. Ambrose of Milan, Letter 22

[Asteriktos]

But under the Apostles, you will say, no one was called Catholic. Be it thus. It shall have been so. Allow even that. When after the Apostles heresies had burst forth, and were striving under various names to tear piecemeal and divide the Dove and the Queen of God, did not the Apostolic people require a name of their own, whereby to mark the unity of the people that were uncorrupted, lest the error of some should rend limb by limb the undefiled virgin of God? Was it not seemly that the chief head should be distinguished by its own peculiar appellation? Suppose, this very day, I entered a populous city. When I had found Marcionites, Apollinarians, Cataphrygians, Novatians, and others of the kind who call themselves Christians, by what name should I recognise the congregation of my own people, unless it were named Catholic?

-- St. Pacian of Barcelona, Letter 1

[Asteriktos]

And let us, then, be of the number of those who give thanks, who have served God, and not of the ungodly who are judged. For I myself, though a sinner every whit and not yet fleeing temptation but continuing in the midst of the tools of the devil, study to follow after righteousness, that I may make, be it only some, approach to it, fearing the judgment to come.

-- Pseudo-Clement, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 18

[Asteriktos]

But perhaps you will say, What difference is there between being tempted, and falling or entering into temptation? Well, if one is overcome of evil—and he will be overcome unless he struggles against it himself, and unless God protects him with His shield—that man has entered into temptation, and is in it, and is brought under it like one that is led captive. But if one withstands and endures, that man is indeed tempted; but he has not entered into temptation, or fallen under it. Thus Jesus was led up of the Spirit, not indeed to enter into temptation, but to be tempted of the devil. And Abraham, again, did not enter into temptation, neither did God lead him into temptation, but He tempted (tried) him; yet He did not drive him into temptation. The Lord Himself, moreover, tempted (tried) the disciples. And thus the wicked one, when he tempts us, draws us into the temptations, as dealing himself with the temptations of evil; but God, when He tempts (tries), adduces the temptations as one untempted of evil. For God, it is said, cannot be tempted of evil.1 The devil, therefore, drives us on by violence, drawing us to destruction; but God leads us by the hand, training us for our salvation.

-- St. Dionysius of Alexandria, Exegetical Fragments

[Asteriktos]

"But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace with Azariah and his companions, and he smote the flame of the fire out of the furnace." (Dan. 3:49) When the soul is oppressed with tribulation and taken up with various vexations, having lost hope of human aid and turned with its whole heart to God, an angel of the Lord descends to it. That is to say, the supernatural being descends to the aid of the servant and dashes aside the fierce heat of the violent flames, that the fiery shafts of the enemy utterly fail to pierce the inner citadel of our heart and we escape being shut up in his fiery furnace.

-- St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel

[Asteriktos]

Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us “in a mystery” by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion have the same force. And these no one will gainsay—no one, at all events, who is even moderately versed in the institutions of the Church. For were we to attempt to reject such customs as have no written authority, on the ground that the importance they possess is small, we should unintentionally injure the Gospel in its very vitals; or, rather, should make our public definition a mere phrase and nothing more.

-- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, 27

[Asteriktos]

You are afraid lest perchance your estate should fail, if you begin to act liberally from it; and you do not know, miserable man that you are, that while you are fearing lest your family property should fail you, life itself, and salvation, are failing; and while you are anxious lest any of your wealth should be diminished, you do not see that you yourself are being diminished, in that you are a lover of mammon more than of your own soul; and while you fear, lest for the sake of yourself, you should lose your patrimony, you yourself are perishing for the sake of your patrimony.

-- St. Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise 8, 10

[zekarja]

This is the reason for our tradition of unwritten precepts and practices, that the knowledge of our dogmas may not become neglected and contemned by the multitude through familiarity. “Dogma” and “Kerugma” are two distinct things; the former is observed in silence; the latter is proclaimed to all the world.
 - St Basil the Great, De Spiritu Sancto, ch. 27

[zekarja]

For, since ye are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, ye appear to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order, by believing in His death, ye may escape from death. It is therefore necessary that, as ye indeed do, so without the bishop ye should do nothing, but should also be subject to the presbytery, as to the apostle of Jesus Christ, who is our hope, in whom, if we live, we shall [at last] be found. It is fitting also that the deacons, as being [the ministers] of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, should in every respect be pleasing to all. For they are not ministers of meat and drink, but servants of the Church of God. They are bound, therefore, to avoid all grounds of accusation [against them], as they would do fire.
 - St Ignatios of Antioch, Trallians 2 - Died: c. 108

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.v.iv.ii.html

[Asteriktos]

And so let us be ready to forgive all the trespasses which are committed against us, if we desire to be forgiven. For if we consider our sins, and reckon up what we do in deed, what by the eye, what by the ear, what by thought, what by numberless movements; I know not whether we so much as sleep without a talent. And therefore do we daily beg, daily knock at the ears of God by prayer, daily prostrate ourselves and say, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” What debts of yours? All, or a certain part? You will answer, All. So then do you with your debtor. This then is the rule you lay down, this the condition you speak of; this the covenant and agreement you mention when you pray, saying, “Forgive us, as we forgive our debtors.”

-- St. Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament, Sermon 33

[Asteriktos]

The gymnasium is sufficient for boys, even if a bath is within reach. And even for men to prefer gymnastic exercises by far to the baths, is perchance not bad, since they are in some respects conducive to the health of young men, and produce exertion— emulation to aim at not only a healthy habit of body, but courageousness of soul. When this is done without dragging a man away from better employments, it is pleasant, and not unprofitable.

-- St. Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, 3, 10

[zekarja]

‎1. But every Lord’s day do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. 2. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. ‎3. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations. - Didache, ch. 14, c.a. 80 A.D.

[zekarja]

Which of the saints has left us in writing the words of the invocation at the displaying of the bread of the Eucharist and the cup of blessing? For we are not, as is well known, content with what the apostle or the Gospel has recorded, but both in preface and conclusion we add other words as being of great importance to the validity of the ministry, and these we derive from unwritten teaching. - St Basil the Great, De Spiritu Sancto, ch. 27

[Asteriktos]

A fearful thing is sin, and the sorest disease of the soul is transgression, secretly cutting its sinews, and becoming also the cause of eternal fire; an evil of a man's own choosing, an offspring of the will. For that we sin of our own free will the Prophet says plainly in a certain place: “Yet I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true: how are you turned to bitterness, (and become) the strange vine” (Jer. 2:21) The planting was good, the fruit coming from the will is evil; and therefore the planter is blameless, but the vine shall be burnt with fire since it was planted for good, and bore fruit unto evil of its own will.

-- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 2, 1

[Asteriktos]

If you are angry against your neighbour, you are angry against God; and if you bear anger in your heart, against your Lord is your boldness uplifted. If in envy you rebuke, wicked is all your reproof. But if charity dwell in you, you have on earth no enemy. And if you are a true son of peace, you will stir up wrath in no man. If you are just and upright, you will not do wrong to your fellow. And if you love to be angry, be angry with the wicked and it will become you; if to wage war you seek, lo! Satan is your adversary; if you desire to revile, against the demons display your curses. If you should insult the King's image, you shall pay the penalty of murder; and if you revile a man, you revile the image of God. Do honour to your neighbour, and lo! You have honoured God. But if you would dishonour Him, in wrath assail your neighbour!

-- St. Ephraim the Syrian, Homily on Admonition and Repentance

[zekarja]

One therefore is Emmanuel, for once was the Only-Begotten made Man, when He underwent fleshly Birth through the holy Virgin. For it was said to Jesus too, I will be with thee, yet was he not Emmanuel; He was also with Moses, yet neither was he called Emmanuel. As often therefore as we hear the name, With us is God, given to the Son, let us wisely conceive that not so was He with us in the last times, as He is sometimes said to have been with the saints, for with them He was as a helper only: but with us He was, because He was made like us, not losing His own nature, for He is unchangeable as God. - St Cyril of Alexandria, Scholia on the incarnation of the Only-Begotten, ch. 7

[Asteriktos]

Since then all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him, and forsake those wicked works which proceed from evil desires; so that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come. For whither can any of us flee from His mighty hand? Or what world will receive any of those who run away from Him? For the Scripture says in a certain place, “Whither shall I go, and where shall I be hid from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I go away even to the uttermost parts of the earth, there is Your right hand; if I make my bed in the abyss, there is Your Spirit.” (Ps. 139:7-11) Whither, then, shall anyone go, or where shall he escape from Him who comprehends all things?

-- St. Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 28

[Asteriktos]

Those are the Saviour's words, when directing His disciples into the newness of the Gospel life after their appointment to the apostolate. But we must see of what poor it is that He speaks such great things: for in the Gospel according to Matthew it is written, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:" wishing us to understand by the poor in spirit the man who entertains lowly thoughts of himself, and whoso mind, so to speak, is closely, and his heart gentle, and ready to yield, and entirely free from the guilt of pride.

-- St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Sermon 27

[Asteriktos]

Call upon God to open the eyes of your heart, so that you may see the value of prayer and of spiritual reading when understood and applied.

-- St. Mark the Monk, On the Spiritual Law: Two Hundred Texts, 7

[Asteriktos]

Fear of God is of two kinds. The first is generated in us by the threat of punishment. It is through such fear that we develop in due order self-control, patience, hope in God and dispassion; and it is from dispassion that love comes. The second kind of fear is linked with love and constantly produces reverence in the soul, so that it does not grow indifferent to God because of the intimate communion of its love. The first kind of fear is expelled by perfect love when the soul has acquired this and is no longer afraid of punishment (1 John 4:18). The second kind, as we have already said, is always found united with perfect love. The first kind of fear is referred to in the following two verse: 'Out of fear of the Lord men shun evil' (Prov. 16:6), and 'Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Ps. 111:10). The second kind is mentioned in the following verses: 'Fear of the Lord is pure, and endures forever' (Ps. 19:9), and 'Those who fear the Lord will not want for anything' (Ps. 34:10). 

-- St. Maximos the Confessor, First Century on Love, 81-82

[Asteriktos]

Meekness is a permanent condition of that soul which remains unaffected by whether or not it is spoken well of, whether or not it is honor or praised. The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing. Anger is an indication of concealed hatred, of grievance nursed. Anger is the wish to harm someone who has provoked you. Irascibility is an untimely flaring up of the heart. Bitterness is a stirring of the soul's capacity for displeasure. Anger is an easily changed movement of one's disposition, a disfigurement of the soul.

-- St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent (On Placidity and Meekness)

[Asteriktos]

Just to give an idea of the variety of quotes in the thread, here is a listing of the number of times each person has been quoted so far:

15 St. John Chrysostom
8 St. John Cassian
8 St. Basil the Great
7 St. Augustine
4 St. Ambrose of Milan
4 St. Mark the Monk
3 St. John Climacus
3 St. Maximos the Confessor
2 St. Ignatius of Antioch
2 Pseudo-Dionysius
2 St. Clement of Rome
2 St. Cyril of Jerusalem
2 St. Cyprian of Carthage
2 St. Gregory of Nyssa
2 St. Athanasius of Alexandria
2 St. Gregory the Theologian
2 St. Irenaeus
2 St. Cyril of Alexandria
2 St. Jerome
2 St. Dorotheos of Gaza
2 St. Hippolytus
2 St. Ephraim the Syrian
1 Abba Hyperechios
1 St. Patrick
1 St. Vincent of Lerins
1 St. Pachomios
1 St. Anthusa
1 St. Macarius of Egypt
1 St. Theophilus of Antioch
1 Origen
1 Pseudo-Clement
1 St. Dionysius of Alexandria
1 St. Isaiah the Solitary
1 St. Pacian of Barcelona
1 St. Clement of Alexandria
1 Didache
1 Abba Matoes
1 St. Anthony the Great
1 St. Polycarp
1 St. Moses the Ethiopian
1 St. Justin Martyr
1 St. Leo the Great
1 St. Syncletica
1 Aphraates
1 Martyrdom of Polycarp
1 Asterius of Amasea
1 Abba Pambo

(105 total quotes)

[zekarja]

The bread and the wine are not merely figures of the body and blood of Christ (God forbid!) but the deified body of the Lord itself: for the Lord has said, “This is My body,” not, this is a figure of My body: and “My blood,” not, a figure of My blood. - St John Damascene

[zekarja]

We confess that He is Son of God and God according to the Spirit, Son of Man according to the flesh, not Two Natures to that One Son, One [Nature] worshipped the other unworshipped, but One Nature of God the Word Incarnate, worshipped with His flesh with One worship: nor Two Sons, One, Very Son of God and worshipped, the other the man out of Mary not worshipped, made by grace son of God just as men too are. - St Cyril of Alexandria

Source: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_against_theodore_01_text.htm

[JamesRottnek]

"For those dead who are unworthy of salvation, God moves none to pray for them: neither parents, nor wife, nor husband, nor relatives, nor friends." - St. John of Damascus (as quoted in "Father Michael: Recluse of Uusi Valamo" by Serge Bolshakoff

[Asteriktos]

See then, beloved brother, that you bestow the necessary thought on the cares of the Apostolic See, which by her rights as your mother commends to you, who were nourished at her breast, the defence of the Catholic Truth against Nestorians and Eutychians, in order that, supported by the Divine help, you may not cease to watch the interests of the city of Constantinople, lest at any time the storms of error arise within her. And because the faith of our glorious Princes is so great that you may confidently suggest what is necessary to them, use their piety for the benefit of the universal Church.

--Pope St. Leo the Great, Letter 113: To Julian, Bishop of Cos

[Asteriktos]

Write straight, and make the lines straight. Do not let your hand go too high or too low. Avoid forcing the pen to travel slantwise, like Æsop's crab. Advance straight on, as if following the line of the carpenter's rule, which always preserves exactitude and prevents any irregularity. The oblique is ungraceful. It is the straight which pleases the eye, and does not allow the reader's eyes to go nodding up and down like a swing-beam. This has been my fate in reading your writing. As the lines lie ladderwise, I was obliged, when I had to go from one to another, to mount up to the end of the last: then, when no connection was to be found, I had to go back, and seek for the right order again, retreating and following the furrow, like Theseus in the story following Ariadne's thread. Write straight, and do not confuse our mind by your slanting and irregular writing.

--St. Basil the Great, Letter 334

[Asteriktos]

Let all men's faith then be established, according to the preaching of the most holy Gospel, and let no one be ashamed of Christ's cross, through which the world was redeemed. And let not any one fear to suffer for righteousness' sake, or doubt of the fulfilment of the promises, for this reason, that through toil we pass to rest and through death to life; since all the weakness of our humility was assumed by Him, in Whom, if we abide in the acknowledgment and love of Him, we conquer as He conquered, and receive what he promised, because, whether to the performance of His commands or to the endurance of adversities, the Father's fore-announcing voice should always be sounding in our ears, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear Him:” Who lives and reigns, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.

- Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 51, 8

[Asteriktos]

Thus our mind faints to transcend corporeal things, and to consort with the Incorporeal, stripped of all clothing of corporeal ideas, as long as it has to look with its inherent weakness at things above its strength. For every rational nature longs for God and for the First Cause, but is unable to grasp Him, for the reasons I have mentioned. Faint therefore with the desire, and as it were restive and impatient of the disability, it tries a second course, either to look at visible things, and out of some of them to make a god...(a poor contrivance, for in what respect and to what extent can that which is seen be higher and more godlike than that which sees, that this should worship that?) or else through the beauty and order of visible things to attain to that which is above sight...

--St. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 28.13

[Asteriktos]

But some one will ask, How is it then, that certain excellent persons, and of position in the Church, are often permitted by God to preach novel doctrines to Catholics? A proper question, certainly, and one which ought to be very carefully and fully dealt with, but answered at the same time, not in reliance upon one's own ability, but by the authority of the divine Law, and by appeal to the Church's determination. Let us listen, then, to Holy Moses, and let him teach us why learned men, and such as because of their knowledge are even called Prophets by the apostle, are sometimes permitted to put forth novel doctrines, which the Old Testament is wont, by way of allegory, to call “strange gods,” forasmuch as heretics pay the same sort of reverence to their notions that the Gentiles do to their gods.

Blessed Moses, then, writes thus in Deuteronomy: “If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams,” that is, one holding office as a Doctor in the Church, who is believed by his disciples or auditors to teach by revelation: well—what follows? “and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spoke,”— he is pointing to some eminent doctor, whose learning is such that his followers believe him not only to know things human, but, moreover, to foreknow things superhuman, such as, their disciples commonly boast, were Valentinus, Donatus, Photinus, Apollinaris, and the rest of that sort! What next? “And shall say to you, Let us go after other gods, whom you know not, and serve them.” What are those other gods but strange errors which you know not, that is, new and such as were never heard of before? “And let us serve them;” that is, “Let us believe them, follow them.” What last? “You shall not hearken to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams.” And why, I pray you, does not God forbid to be taught what God forbids to be heard? “For the Lord, your God, tries you, to know whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” The reason is clearer than day why Divine Providence sometimes permits certain doctors of the Churches to preach new doctrines— “That the Lord your God may try you;” he says. And assuredly it is a great trial when one whom you believe to be a prophet, a disciple of prophets, a doctor and defender of the truth, whom you have folded to your breast with the utmost veneration and love, when such a one of a sudden secretly and furtively brings in noxious errors, which you can neither quickly detect, being held by the prestige of former authority, nor lightly think it right to condemn, being prevented by affection for your old master.

-- St. Vincent of Lerins, The Commonitory, 10

[Asteriktos]

And all things whatsoever he does shall prosper. Never again shall His gift and His statutes be set at naught, as they were in the case of Adam, who by his sin in breaking the Law lost the happiness of an assured immortality; but now, thanks to the redemption wrought by the tree of Life, that is, by the Passion of the Lord, all that happens to us is eternal and eternally conscious of happiness in virtue of our future likeness to that tree of Life. For all their doings shall prosper, being wrought no longer amid shift and change nor in human weakness, for corruption will be swallowed up in incorruption, weakness in endless life, the form of earthly flesh in the form of God. This tree, then, planted and yielding its fruit in its own season, shall that happy man resemble, himself being planted in the Garden, that what God has planted may abide, never to be rooted up, in the Garden where all things done by God shall be guided to a prosperous issue, apart from the decay that belongs to human weakness and to time, and has to be uprooted.

--St. Hilary of Poitiers, Homily on Psalm 1

[Asteriktos]

For since man is of twofold nature, soul and body, the purification [of baptism] also is twofold, the one incorporeal for the incorporeal part, and the other bodily for the body:  the water cleanses the body, and the Spirit seals the soul; that we may draw near unto God, having our heart sprinkled by the Spirit, and our body washed with pure water (Heb. 10:22).

-- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 3, 4

[Asteriktos]

So I entreat you all, brethren in Christ, first to lay a good foundation (cf Heb. 6:1) of humility as you build up virtues. Then through training in godliness (1 Tim. 4:7) raise the house (cf. Matt. 7:24-25) of knowledge of the mysteries of God (cf. Matt. 13:11; Luke 8:10) and so be enlightened by the divine light and see God iwth the purified eye of the heart (cf. Matt. 5:8), as far as it is possible for us men. Then become initiated by the divine light and see God with purified eye of the heart (cf. Matt. 5:8), as far as it is possible for us men. Then become initiated more perfectly into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 13:11). Thus you will proceed from this knowledge, which is given from on high by the Father of Lights (James 1:17), to the word of teaching (cf. Rom. 12:7; 1 Tim. 4:6) that you may instruct your neighbors that is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12:2)

-- St. Symeon the New Theologian, The Discourses, 33 (On Partaking of the Holy Spirit), §9

[Asteriktos]

Now those who take a superficial and unreflecting view of things observe the outward appearance of anything they meet, e.g. of a man, and then trouble themselves no more about him. The view they have taken of the bulk of his body is enough to make them think that they know all about him. But the penetrating and scientific mind will not trust to the eyes alone the task of taking the measure of reality; it will not stop at appearances, nor count that which is not seen among unrealities. It inquires into the qualities of the man's soul. It takes those of its characteristics which have been developed by his bodily constitution, both in combination and singly; first singly, by analysis, and then in that living combination which makes the personality of the subject.

-- St. Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, 11

[Asteriktos]

This, in truth, must be called most excellent and praiseworthy, which God Himself considers excellent, even if it be despised and scoffed at by all. For things are not what men think them to be.

-- St. Methodius of Olympus, From a Fragment of Works Against Porphyry

[Asteriktos]

Let us, then, mourn for a time, that we may rejoice for eternity. Let us fear the Lord, let us anticipate Him with the confession of our sins, let us correct our backslidings and amend our faults, lest of us too it be said: “Woe is me, my soul, for the godly man is perished from the earth, and there is none among men to correct them.” (Mic. 7:1-2 LXX)

-- St. Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Repentance, 2, Chapter 7

[Asteriktos]

When the cares of bringing up a family and the anxieties of their education and settling in life had come to an end, and the property--a frequent cause of worldliness--had been for the most part divided among the children, then, as I said above, the life of the virgin became her mother's guide and led her on to this philosophic and spiritual manner of life. And weaning her from all accustomed luxuries, Macrina drew her on to adopt her own standard of humility. She induced her to live on a footing of equality with the staff of maids, so as to share with them in the same food, the same kind of bed, and in all the necessaries of life, without any regard to differences of rank. Such was the manner of their life, so great the height of their philosophy, and so holy their conduct day and night, as to make verbal description inadequate. For just as souls freed from the body by death are saved from the cares of this life, so was their life far removed from all earthly follies and ordered with a view of imitating the angelic life.

-- St. Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Saint Macrina

[Asteriktos]

Moreover, faith is twofold. For faith comes by hearing. (Rom. 10:17) For by hearing the divine Scriptures we believe in the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The same is perfected by all the things enjoined by Christ, believing in work, cultivating piety, and doing the commands of Him Who restored us. For he that believes not according to the tradition of the Catholic Church, or who has intercourse with the devil through strange works, is an unbeliever. But again, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1), or undoubting and unambiguous hope alike of what God has promised us and of the good issue of our prayers. The first, therefore, belongs to our will, while the second is of the gifts of the Spirit.

-- St. John of Damascus, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 4, 10

[Asteriktos]

We have spoken daily upon subjects connected with morals, when the deeds of the Patriarchs or the precepts of the Proverbs were being read, in order that being taught and instructed by these you might grow accustomed to enter the ways of the ancients and to walk in their paths, and obey the divine commands; in order that being renewed by baptism you might hold to that manner of life which beseems those who are washed.

-- St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries, 1

[Asteriktos]

Wherefore, necessary it is that we be obedient to him, unto whom all our enemies be subject, that we may so much the more be stronger than our enemies, by how much through humility we become one with the author of all things. And what marvel is it, if God's chosen servants, living yet upon earth, can do many strange things, when as their very bones, after they be dead, do oftentimes work miracles?

-- Pope St. Gregory the Dialogist, Dialogues, 3, 21

[Asteriktos]

Surely, beloved, all the law and the prophets depend upon the two commandments, as our Saviour said: "The law and the prophets are too little to convince him who will not be persuaded." Therefore our Saviour said: "On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets," that is: "A man shall love the Lord His God with all his soul, and with all his might, and with all his substance"; and that a man also "shall love his neighbor as himself." And when thou proceedest to the examination of these two commandments, upon the power of which depends all the law and the prophets, thou mayest perceive if these two commandments, on which depends all the power of the law and the prophets, are received in the hearts and in the minds of men, or if the law and the prophets which have been written, have not been sought, as it is written that "for the just the law is not appointed, but for the evil doers." On account of the wicked, therefore, the law has been appointed. And if righteousness had remained among men law would not have been needed. Again, if a law had not been appointed, the power of God would not have been known in all our generations, and in all the miracles which He showed.

-- Aphrahat, Demonstration 2: On Love, 1-2

[Asteriktos]

But as to those to whom we refer, would that they, whose tongue is so voluble and clever in applying itself to noble and approved language, would likewise pay some attention to actions. For then perhaps in a little while they would become less sophistical, and less absurd and strange acrobats of words, if I may use a ridiculous expression about a ridiculous subject.

-- St. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 27.1

[Asteriktos]

“Young men likewise exhort to be soberminded.” (Tit. 2:6) See how he everywhere recommends the observance of decorum. For he has committed to women the greater part in the instruction of women, having appointed the elder to teach the younger. But the whole instruction of men he assigns to Titus himself. For nothing is so difficult for that age as to overcome unlawful pleasures. For neither the love of wealth, nor the desire of glory, or any other thing so much solicits the young, as fleshly lust. Therefore passing over other things, he directs his admonition to that vital point. Not however that he would have other things neglected...

-- St. John Chrysostom, Homily 4 on Titus

[Asteriktos]

And in short if it were possible with the bodily eyes to behold the beauty of the soul you would laugh to scorn these corporeal illustrations, so feebly have they presented to us the gracefulness of the soul. Let us not then neglect such a possession, nor such great happiness, and especially when the approach to that kind of beauty becomes easy to us by our hopes of the things to come. 'For our light affliction,' we read, 'which is but for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' (2 Cor. 4:17)

-- St. John Chrysostom, An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 1

[Asteriktos]

Far be it from me to presume to attack anything which your Grace has written. For it is enough for me to prove my own views without controverting what others hold. But it is well known to one of your wisdom, that every one is satisfied with his own opinion, and that it is puerile self-sufficiency to seek, as young men have of old been wont to do, to gain glory to one's own name by assailing men who have become renowned. I am not so foolish as to think myself insulted by the fact that you give an explanation different from mine; since you, on the other hand, are not wronged by my views being contrary to those which you maintain. But that is the kind of reproof by which friends may truly benefit each other, when each, not seeing his own bag of faults, observes, as Persius has it, the wallet borne by the other.

-- St. Jerome, Source

[Asteriktos]

You fight and war for temporal glory, and you are not able to procure it, surely for the reason that you have not taken care to ask the Lord to bestow upon you all those things that lead to salvation. For if you would ask Him with devout intention, He would grant you necessary earthly things to use now and good things from above to enjoy forever.

-- St. Bede the Venerable, Commentary on James, 48

[Asteriktos]

Tribulations, that is, are so far from confuting these hopes [of the glory of God and things to come], that they even prove them. For before the things to come are realized, there is a very great fruit which tribulation has--patience; and the making of the man that is tried, experienced... What then? Do our goods lie in hopes? Yes, in hopes--but not mere human hopes, which often slip away, and put him that hoped to shame; when some one, who was expected to patronize him, dies, or is altered though he lives. No such lot is ours: our hope is sure and unmoveable.

-- St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Romans

[Asteriktos]

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. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him.

-- St. Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 7

[Asteriktos]

Now a certain holy man said what might seem to be a bold thing; yet, nevertheless, he spoke it out. What then is this? He said, that not even the blood of martyrdom can wash out this sin. For tell me for what do you suffer as a martyr? Is it not for the glory of Christ? Thou then that yieldest up your life for Christ’s sake, how do you lay waste the Church, for whose sake Christ yielded up His life?

-- St. John Chrysostom, Homily 11 on Ephesians

[Asteriktos]

I believe the words of the wise, that every fair and God-beloved soul, when, set free from the bonds of the body, it departs hence, at once enjoys a sense and perception of the blessings which await it, inasmuch as that which darkened it has been purged away, or laid aside— I know not how else to term it— and feels a wondrous pleasure and exultation, and goes rejoicing to meet its Lord, having escaped as it were from the grievous poison of life here, and shaken off the fetters which bound it and held down the wings of the mind, and so enters on the enjoyment of the bliss laid up for it, of which it has even now some conception. Then, a little later, it receives its kindred flesh, which once shared in its pursuits of things above, from the earth which both gave and had been entrusted with it, and in some way known to God, who knit them together and dissolved them, enters with it upon the inheritance of the glory there. And, as it shared, through their close union, in its hardships, so also it bestows upon it a portion of its joys, gathering it up entirely into itself, and becoming with it one in spirit and in mind and in God, the mortal and mutable being swallowed up of life.

-- St. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 7.21

[Asteriktos]

Sin, indeed, is a miscarriage, not a quality of human nature: just as disease and deformity are not congenital to it in the first instance, but are its unnatural accretions, so activity in the direction of sin is to be thought of as a mere mutilation of the goodness innate in us; it is not found to be itself a real thing, but we see it only in the absence of that goodness. Therefore He Who transformed the elements of our nature into His divine abilities, rendered it secure from mutilation and disease, because He admitted not in Himself the deformity which sin works in the will. “He did no sin,” it says, “neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Pet. 2:22)

-- St. Gregory of Nyssa, Letter 17: To Eustathia, Ambrosia, and Basilissa

[Asteriktos]

Study, therefore, to be established in the doctrines of the Lord and the apostles, that so all things, whatsoever you do, may prosper both in the flesh and spirit; in faith and love; in the Son, and in the Father, and in the Spirit; in the beginning and in the end; with your most admirable bishop, and the well-compacted spiritual crown of your presbytery, and the deacons who are according to God. Be subject to the bishop, and to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, according to the flesh, and the apostles to Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit; that so there may be a union both fleshly and spiritual.

-- St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Magnesians, 13

[Asteriktos]

Since, then, God, Who is good and more than good, did not find satisfaction in self-contemplation, but in His exceeding goodness wished certain things to come into existence which would enjoy His benefits and share in His goodness, He brought all things out of nothing into being and created them, both what is invisible and what is visible. Yea, even man, who is a compound of the visible and the invisible. And it is by thought that He creates, and thought is the basis of the work, the Word filling it and the Spirit perfecting it.

-- St. John of Damascus, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 2, 2

[Asteriktos]

Seeing, then, that man fell through pride, He restored him through humility. We were ensnared by the wisdom of the serpent: we are set free by the foolishness of God. Moreover, just as the former was called wisdom, but was in reality the folly of those who despised God, so the latter is called foolishness, but is true wisdom in those who overcome the devil.

-- St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 1, 14

[Ioannis Climacus]

"It is necessary for everyone, whether eating, drinking, sitting, serving, traveling, or doing anything, to unceasingly say: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,' that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the depths of the heart, may subdue the pernicious serpent, and save and quicken the soul."

- St. John Chrysostom

[Asteriktos]

“For God,” he says, “is light.” He does not express the divine essence, but wishing to declare the majesty of God, he has applied to the Divinity what is best and most excellent in the view of men. Thus also Paul, when he speaks of “light inaccessible.” (1 Tim. 6:16) But John himself also in this same Epistle says, “God is love:” (1 Jn. 4:16) pointing out the excellences of God, that He is kind and merciful; and because He is light, makes men righteous, according to the advancement of the soul, through charity. God, then, who is ineffable in respect of His substance, is light.


-- St. Clement of Alexandria, Commentary on 1 John 1:5

[Ioannis Climacus]

Today's Prologue reflection :

"The Abba John the Short asked the monks: "Who sold Joseph?" One monk replied: "His brothers." To that, the elder replied: "No brethren, rather his humility. Joseph could have said that he is their brother and could have protested to being sold but he remained silent. His humility, therefore, sold him. Afterward, this same humility made him master over Egypt." In surrendering ourselves to the will of God, we defend ourselves too much from external unpleasantness, that is why we lose the good fruits which is harvested at the end of unpleasantness endured with humility. Abba Pimen wisely spoke: "We have abandoned the easy yoke, i.e., self-reproach and we have burdened ourselves with a heavy yoke, i.e., self-justification." The Christian accepts every unpleasantness as deserving of their present or their past sins; seeking in all, the will of God with faith and awaiting the end with hope."

[Asteriktos]

Let us hear Himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” If you seek truth, keep the way, for the way and the truth are the same. The way that you are going is the same as the whither you are going: you are not going by a way as one thing, to an object as another thing; not coming to Christ by something else as a way, you come to Christ by Christ.

-- St. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, 13.4

[Asteriktos]

Let him who has love in Christ keep the commandments of Christ. Who can describe the [blessed] bond of the love of God? What man is able to tell the excellence of its beauty, as it ought to be told? The height to which love exalts is unspeakable. Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love bears all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love. Love admits of no schisms: love gives rise to no seditions: love does all things in harmony. By love have all the elect of God been made perfect; without love nothing is well-pleasing to God. In love has the Lord taken us to Himself. On account of the love He bore us, Jesus Christ our Lord gave His blood for us by the will of God; His flesh for our flesh, and His soul for our souls.

-- St. Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 49

[Asteriktos]

The scriptural Word knows of two kinds of knowledge of divine things. On the one hand, there is relative knowledge, rooted only in reason and ideas, and lacking in the kind of experiential perception of what one knows through active engagement; such relative knowledge is what we use to order our affairs in our present life. On the other hand, there is that truly authentic knowledge, gained only by actual experience, apart from reason and ideas, which provides a total perception of th eknown object through a participation by grace. By this latter knowledge, we attain, in the future state, the supernatural deification that remains unceasingly in effect. They say that the relative knowledge based on reason and ideas can motivate our desire for the participative knowledge acquired by active engagement. They say, moreover, that this active, experiential knowledge which, by participation, furnishes the direct perception of the object known, can supplant relative knowledge based on reason and ideas.

-- St. Maximos the Confessor, Source

[Aindriú]

Naming your child.

“So let the name of the saints enter our homes through the naming of our children, to train not only the child but the father, when he reflects that he is the father of John or Elijah or James; for, if the name be given with forethought to pay honor to those that have departed, and we grasp at our kinship with the righteous rather than with our forebears, this too will greatly help us and our children. Do not because it is a small thing regard it as small; its purpose is to succour us.”

— St. John Chrysostom Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children 50.

[Asteriktos]

Moses was wise enough to know that contempt stretches to the trite and to the obvious, while a keen interest is naturally associated with the unusual and the unfamiliar. In the same manner the Apostles and Fathers who laid down laws for the Church from the beginning thus guarded the awful dignity of the mysteries in secrecy and silence, for what is bruited abroad random among the common folk is no mystery at all. This is the reason for our tradition of unwritten precepts and practices, that the knowledge of our dogmas may not become neglected and contemned by the multitude through familiarity.

-- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, 27

[Asteriktos]

What advantage, moreover, is reaped by him who reaches those celebrated spots themselves? He cannot imagine that our Lord is living, in the body, there at the present day, but has gone away from us foreigners; or that the Holy Spirit is in abundance at Jerusalem, but unable to travel as far as us. Whereas, if it is really possible to infer God's presence from visible symbols, one might more justly consider that He dwelt in the Cappadocian nation than in any of the spots outside it. For how many Altars there are there, on which the name of our Lord is glorified! One could hardly count so many in all the rest of the world. Again, if the Divine grace was more abundant about Jerusalem than elsewhere, sin would not be so much the fashion among those that live there...

-- St. Gregory of Nyssa, On Pilgrimages

[Asteriktos]

It is not without reason or by chance that we worship towards the East. But seeing that we are composed of a visible and an invisible nature, that is to say, of a nature partly of spirit and partly of sense, we render also a twofold worship to the Creator; just as we sing both with our spirit and our bodily lips, and are baptized with both water and Spirit, and are united with the Lord in a twofold manner, being sharers in the mysteries and in the grace of the Spirit. Since, therefore, God is spiritual light (1 Jn. 1:5), and Christ is called in the Scriptures Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2) and Dayspring , the East is the direction that must be assigned to His worship. For everything good must be assigned to Him from Whom every good thing arises. Indeed the divine David also says, Sing unto God, you kingdoms of the earth: O sing praises unto the Lord: to Him that rides upon the Heavens of heavens towards the East. Moreover the Scripture also says, And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed (Gen. 2:8): and when he had transgressed His command He expelled him and made him to dwell over against the delights of Paradise , which clearly is the West. So, then, we worship God seeking and striving after our old fatherland.

Moreover the tent of Moses (Lev. 16:14) had its veil and mercy seat towards the East. Also the tribe of Judah as the most precious pitched their camp on the East. (Num. 2:3) Also in the celebrated temple of Solomon the Gate of the Lord was placed eastward. Moreover Christ, when He hung on the Cross, had His face turned towards the West, and so we worship, striving after Him. And when He was received again into Heaven He was borne towards the East, and thus His apostles worship Him, and thus He will come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven (Acts 1:11); as the Lord Himself said, As the lightning comes out of the East and shines even unto the West, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be (Matt. 24:27). So, then, in expectation of His coming we worship towards the East. But this tradition of the apostles is unwritten. For much that has been handed down to us by tradition is unwritten.

-- St. John of Damascus (d. mid-8th century), Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 12

[Asteriktos]

Just as night follows day and winter follows summer, so do sorrow and pain follow vainglory and pleasure whether in the present or in the future.

-- St. Maximus the Confessor (d. 662), Four Hundred Chapters on Love, 65 (Source)

[Asteriktos]

He [St. Felix] was, therefore, seized by his fierce adversaries, and, supported in his soul by Divine consolation, thrown into prison, where his hands and neck were enclosed in chains, his feet tied with a thong, and broken shells scattered under him, that in his terror and the chillness of the place he might be prevented by their painful galling from enjoying sleep or rest. Meanwhile the bishop, who had fled for safety to the mountains, was suffering no less martyrdom than if he had been thrown into prison, or given to the flames. Solicitude for his flock preyed upon his mind; whilst his body suffered from hunger and the severe cold of winter; for he lay among the brushwood without food or covering, and spent one whole anxious day and night in prayer. Nor was it surprising that such a load of misfortunes should almost sink into the grave an old man exhausted by long fasting.

But the Divine love, to show how great was the merit of the blessed confessor Felix, sent down an angel to pluck him from his chains, and send him forth to seek the bishop and bring him home. There were others in the prison, but the angel appeared to him alone, shining in a brilliant light which filled the whole house. Felix was alarmed at the light and at the angel’s voice, and at first thought that he was dreaming. When the angel told him to rise and follow him out, he said that he could not, because he was bound in chains and carefully guarded. The angel told him again to rise without any impediment from the chains, and immediately his bonds fell from his hands, neck, and feet. By a wonderful course of events he led him out, though the door which was open to him was closed to the others, and they passed through the guards without their knowledge, whilst the angel, like the pillar of Moses, guarded Felix and lighted his path until he was clear of his enemies.

-- St. Bede the Venerable (d. 735), The Life of the Holy Confessor Saint Felix

[Asteriktos]

At another time, a certain Goth, poor of spirit, that gave over the world, was received by the man of God; whom on a day he commanded to take a bill, and to cleanse a certain plot of ground from briers, for the making of a garden, which ground was by the side of a lake. The Goth as he was there labouring, by chance the head of the bill slipped off, and fell into the water, which was so deep, that there was no hope ever to get it again. The poor Goth, in great fear, ran unto Maurus and told him what he had lost, confessing his own fault and negligence: Maurus forthwith went to the servant of God, giving him to understand thereof, who came straightways to the lake: and took the handle out of the Goth's hand, and put it into the water, and the iron head by and by ascended from the bottom and entered again into the handle of the bill, which he delivered to the Goth, saying: "Behold here is thy bill again, work on, and be sad no more."

-- St. Gregory the Dialogist (d. 604), The Dialogues, 2, 6

[Asteriktos]

Wherefore, as children of light and truth, flee from division and wicked doctrines; but where the shepherd is, there follow as sheep. For there are many wolves that appear worthy of credit, who, by means of a pernicious pleasure, carry captive (2 Tim. 3:6) those that are running towards God; but in your unity they shall have no place. Keep yourselves from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I have found any division among you, but exceeding purity. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of repentance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Do not err, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If any one walks according to a strange opinion, he agrees not with the passion [of Christ.].

-- St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 107), Epistle to the Philadelphians, 2-3

[Asteriktos]

For in fine, in food, and clothes, and vessels, and everything else belonging to the house, I say comprehensively, that one must follow the institutions of the Christian man, as is serviceable and suitable to one's person, age, pursuits, time of life. For it becomes those that are servants of one God, that their possessions and furniture should exhibit the tokens of one beautiful life; and that each individually should be seen in faith, which shows no difference, practising all other things which are conformable to this uniform mode of life, and harmonious with this one scheme. What we acquire without difficulty, and use with ease, we praise, keep easily, and communicate freely. The things which are useful are preferable, and consequently cheap things are better than dear.

-- St. Clement of Alexandria (d. 215), The Instructor, 2, 3

[Asteriktos]

It is right and holy therefore, men and brethren, rather to obey God than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation. For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good. Let us be kind one to another after the pattern of the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator.

-- St. Clement of Rome (d. c. late 1st century), First Epistle to the Corinthians, 14

[Asteriktos]

Wretch that I am! I have not remembered that God observes the mind, and hears the voice of the soul. I turned consciously to sin, saying to myself, God is merciful, and will bear with me; and when I was not instantly smitten, I ceased not, but rather despised His forbearance, and exhausted the long-suffering of God.

-- St. Peter of Alexandria (d. 311), Fragments

[Severian]

ß++-â+++¦-üß+¦-ä. - ß+¡-â-Ç+¦-ü -äß+¦++ ++ß+¦+++¦-ä-ä+¦++ ß+Ñß+¦+++¦++, ß+É-åß++ ß+à -Ç+¦++-ä+¦ ++ß+¦++ -äß+¦ +¦+++¦-â-äß+¦+++¦-ä+¦ +¦+¦+++¦+¦ß+¦++++-à -â+¦++, ß+Ç-åß++ ß+æ+¦ß+¦-â-ä++-à  +¦ß+¦ -äß+¦ -ç-üß+¦-â+¦+++¦ +++¦+++¦ß+¦++++-à -â+¦+++ç  ++ß+ò-ä-ë +¦+¦ß+û +¦+¦ß++ -ä++ß++-é -Ç+¦+¦+¦+¦ß+++¦-é ß+Ç-ü+¦+¦++++ß+¦++++-à -é, +++++¦+¦++ß+¦-é ++ß+¦++ ß+Ç-Ç+¦ß++-ü-ë-é ß+ö-ç+¦+¦++, -Ç+¦++-ä+¦-çß+¦+++¦++ +¦ß+¦ -äß+¦ -ç-üß+¦-â+¦+++¦ -â-à ++++ß+¦+¦+¦+¦++.
Isocrates: Like we see the bee sit on all the flowers but only take what is useful from each, thus, those who want to learn, should taste of everything and keep what is good.

ß+ê++ß+¦-ç+¦-ü-â+¦-é. - +ħ+ù-ä++-é ß+æ-â-ä+¦+¦+++¦ß++-é -Ç+¦-üß+¦ +úß+¦++-ë+++¦, +¦+¦ß++ +¦+++¦++ß+++++¦++++-é ß+ñ-Ã¥++++, -äß+¦++ ++ß+¦++ ß+Ç-ü+¦-â-ä+¦-üß+¦++ -ç+¦ß+û-ü+¦ -ä++ß+û-é ++++-üß+++++¦-é, -äß+¦++ +¦ß+¦ +¦+¦+++¦ß+¦++ -äß++ -â-äß+¦+++¦-ä+¦ -Ç-ü++-â+¦+¦+¦++ß+¦++++++ ß+ö-ç-ë++. ß+ÿ+¦+¦-ü+¦-ä+¦-â-äß+¦-ü++-à  +¦ß+¦-ü ß+ñ+¦-ä++ -ç+¦+++¦++++ß+ª +¦+¦ß+û-â+++¦+¦ -äß+¦++ +¦++ß+¦-ä-ä+¦++.
Anacharsis - Called to dinner by Solon he fell asleep and was seen having his left hand over his genitals while the right hand over his mouth. He considered the mouth needing a greater restrain.


... oops they are not early church fathers... 

Why do a lot of the earlier posts have these strange characters in them?

[Asteriktos]

Why do a lot of the earlier posts have these strange characters in them?

At one point I think they did something with the database, like had to reset everything and reload all the data, and some of the data got garbled. Not sure if that was after a hack or what. Anyway, for a while you could report it and they'd fix it, if I remember correctly, but eventually they just had to move on.

[Severian]

Why do a lot of the earlier posts have these strange characters in them?

At one point I think they did something with the database, like had to reset everything and reload all the data, and some of the data got garbled. Not sure if that was after a hack or what. Anyway, for a while you could report it and they'd fix it, if I remember correctly, but eventually they just had to move on.

Thank you.

[Asteriktos]

And therefore, first in the holy Synod of Nicæa, the gathering of the three hundred and eighteen chosen men, united by the Holy Ghost, as far as in him [ie. St. Athanasius] lay, he stayed the disease. Though not yet ranked among the Bishops, he held the first rank among the members of the Council, for preference was given to virtue just as much as to office. Afterwards, when the flame had been fanned by the blasts of the evil one, and had spread very widely (hence came the tragedies of which almost the whole earth and sea are full), the fight raged fiercely around him who was the noble champion of the Word.

-- St. Gregory the Theologian (d. c. 391), Oration 21.14

[Αριστοκλής]

Why do a lot of the earlier posts have these strange characters in them?

At one point I think they did something with the database, like had to reset everything and reload all the data, and some of the data got garbled. Not sure if that was after a hack or what. Anyway, for a while you could report it and they'd fix it, if I remember correctly, but eventually they just had to move on.

Strange characters = mostly Greek but some Cyrillic letters.

[Asteriktos]

There are two kinds of humility, as there are two kinds of pride. The first kind of pride is when a man reproaches his brother, condemns and reviles him as someone of no account, regarding himself as his superior. If such a man does not speedily come to his senses and try to mend his ways, he comes, little by little, to the second kind of pride, which puffs itself up in the face of God Himself and ascribes to itself its achievements and virtues, as though the man has done it all himself, with his own intelligence and knowledge, and not with the help of God. From this can be seen what constitutes the two kinds of humility. The first humility consists in considering that one's brother has better judgment and is in all things superior to oneself—or in considering oneself below all men. The second humility consists in ascribing one's achievements to God. This is the perfect humility of the saints.

-- St. Dorotheus of Gaza (d. c. 565), Directions on the Spiritual Life (Source)

[Asteriktos]

You see what sort of person a widow is said to be, the wife of one man, tested also by the progress of age, vigorous in religion, and worn out in body, whose resting-place is the temple, whose conversation is prayer, whose life is fasting, who in the times of day and night by a service of unwearied devotion, though the body acknowledge old age, yet knows no age in her piety. Thus is a widow trained from her youth, thus is she spoken of in her age, who has kept her widowhood not through the chance of time, nor through weakness of body, but by large-heartedness in virtue.

-- St. Ambrose of Milan (d. 397), Concerning Widows, 22 (Source)

[Asteriktos]

Some members we can dispense with and yet live: without others life is an impossibility. Some offences are light, some heavy. It is one thing to owe ten thousand talents, another to owe a farthing. We shall have to give account of the idle word no less than of adultery; but it is not the same thing to be put to the blush, and to be put upon the rack, to grow red in the face and to ensure lasting torment. Do you think I am merely expressing my own views? Hear what the Apostle John says: 'He who knows that his brother sinneth a sin not unto death, let him ask, and he shall give him life, even to him that sinneth not unto death. But he that hath sinned unto death, who shall pray for him?' You observe that if we entreat for smaller offences, we obtain pardon: if for greater ones, it is difficult to obtain our request: and that there is a great difference between sins.

-- St. Jerome (d. 420), Against Jovinianus, 2, 30

[Asteriktos]

Let Presbyters and Deacons do nothing without the consent of the Bishop. For he is the one entrusted with the Lord’s people, and it is from him that an accounting will be demanded with respect to their souls.

-- 39th Apostolic Canon



As therefore the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united to Him, neither by Himself nor by the apostles, so neither do anything without the bishop and presbyters. Neither endeavour that anything appear reasonable and proper to yourselves apart; but being come together into the same place, let there be one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in love and in joy undefiled. There is one Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is more excellent. Therefore run together as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from one Father, and is with and has gone to one.

-- St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 107), Epistle to the Magnesians, 7

[Asteriktos]

Now the demon of envy could not control his envy so he found an instrument worthy of his evil designs. A certain harlot,* Basiane, who had lately come to Constantinople from the East, entrapped many of those who hunted after women of her sort. The sons of some heretics summoned her and made the following suggestion to her: 'If you can in any way bring a scandal upon the man who stands on the pillar in Anaplus* or upon any of those who are with him, we will pay you a hundred gold pieces.' The shameless woman agreed and went up to the holy man with much parade and took with her a crowd of young men and prostitutes and simulated illness and remained in the suburb opposite the Saint's enclosure. And though she stayed there no little time she spent her time in vain.

As she was anxious to get possession of the money she went down to the city and plotted after this fashion. To her lovers she said, 'I managed to seduce the man, for he became enamoured of my beauty and ordered his disciples to bring me up to him by means of the ladder; but as I would not consent, the men there planned to lie in wait and kill me; and it is with difficulty that I have escaped from their hands'. When her lovers heard this they thought they had gained their object and imparted the news to all their fellow conspirators. And thereupon as the report spread you could have seen a war between the believers and unbelievers. While matters were in this state, God Who rejoices in the truth and ever defends His servants, brought it about that the abandoned woman, Basiane, should be tormented by an evil demon in the middle of the City and then and there should proclaim her plot and the wrong which the licentious men had suggested to her against the righteous Daniel, promising her money if she were successful. And not only did she make public their names, shouting them for all to hear, but their rank also. Then could be seen a change in the ordering of affairs, for the faithful now rejoiced, whilst the faithless who had threatened to throw stones against the just man were put to shame.

While she was being chastised terribly for many days, the Christ-loving inhabitants of the City took pity upon her and led her away to the Saint and importuned him to pray to God on her behalf that she might obtain healing. But the servant of God said to them, 'Believe me, beloved, the former calumnies have now become as it were blessings to me; for neither does a man who is praised falsely benefit thereby nor does he sustain any injury who is slandered unjustly. For he who has entrusted his soul to God rejoices rather in false calumnies-for they procure a reward for him-than in true praises which swell and puff up the mind'. After these words as they all besought him to bear no malice against her, because they saw the wretched woman being so afflicted before the column, he bade them all stand for prayer. And stretching out his hands to heaven in the sight of them all, he besought God with tears for many hours that she might be healed. And it came to pass, as he prayed, that the demon cast her to the ground and came out of her in that same hour; and he bade them give her to drink from the oil of the saints. And when she came to herself she stood up and embraced the pillar weeping and praising God. And all those who were present gave thanks to God Who had granted such grace to the holy man: and they took her and went away with rejoicing.

-- The Life and Works of our Holy Father St. Daniel the Stylite, 39-40 (Source)

[Asteriktos]

Christ's gifts therefore raise men to a hope long looked for, and to a most dear joy. The woman who was guilty of many impurities, and deserving of blame for most disgraceful deeds, was justified, that we also may have confidence that Christ certainly will have mercy upon us, when He sees us hastening to Him, and endeavouring to escape from the pitfalls of wickedness. Let us too stand before Him: let us shed the tears of repentance: let us anoint Him with ointment: for the tears of him that repenteth are a sweet savour to God. Call him to mind who saith, "Awake, they who are drunken with wine: weep and howl all they who drink wine to drunkenness." For Satan intoxicates the heart, and agitates the mind by wicked pleasure, leading men down to the pollutions of sensuality.

-- St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444),  Sermon 40 on the Gospel of Luke

[Asteriktos]

If then the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death and the quickening of the flesh: that by the putting away of the enmity towards God, which is unrighteousness, we should obtain peace with Him, doing that which is pleasing to Him.

-- St. Irenaeus (d. 202), The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, 86

[Asteriktos]

But it will be said, If the words, the sentiments, the promises of Scripture, are appealed to by the Devil and his disciples, of whom some are false apostles, some false prophets and false teachers, and all without exception heretics, what are Catholics and the sons of Mother Church to do? How are they to distinguish truth from falsehood in the sacred Scriptures? They must be very careful to pursue that course which, in the beginning of this Commonitory, we said that holy and learned men had commended to us, that is to say, they must interpret the sacred Canon according to the traditions of the Universal Church and in keeping with the rules of Catholic doctrine, in which Catholic and Universal Church, moreover, they must follow universality, antiquity, consent.

And if at any time a part opposes itself to the whole, novelty to antiquity, the dissent of one or a few who are in error to the consent of all or at all events of the great majority of Catholics, then they must prefer the soundness of the whole to the corruption of a part; in which same whole they must prefer the religion of antiquity to the profaneness of novelty; and in antiquity itself in like manner, to the temerity of one or of a very few they must prefer, first of all, the general decrees, if such there be, of a Universal Council, or if there be no such, then, what is next best, they must follow the consentient belief of many and great masters. Which rule having been faithfully, soberly, and scrupulously observed, we shall with little difficulty detect the noxious errors of heretics as they arise.

-- Vincent of Lerins (d. mid-5th century), The Commonitory, 27