"God, in the end, gives people what they most want, including freedom from himself. What could be more fair?"
-Attributed to C. S. Lewis #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"Let us quake before the great Spirit, Who is my God, Who has made me know God, Who is God there above, and Who forms God here: almighty, imparting manifold gifts, Him Whom the holy choir hymns, Who brings life to those in heaven and on earth, and is enthroned on high, coming from the Father, the divine force, self-commandeered; He is not a Child (for there is one worthy Child of the One who is best), nor is He outside the unseen Godhead, but of identical honor."
-Attributed to St. Gregory the Theologian #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"Let no man's place, or dignity, or riches, puff him up; and let no man's low condition or poverty abase him. For the chief points are faith towards God, hope towards Christ, the enjoyment of those good things for which we look, and love towards God and our neighbor."
-Attributed to St. Ignatius of Antioch #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

The elders used to say: “If you see a young man ascending to heaven of his own free will, seize him by the foot and drag him down, for it is to his advantage.”
-Sayings of the Desert Fathers #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them."
-Attributed to C. S. Lewis #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"How is it... that the Son and Holy Spirit are not co-unoriginate with the Father, if they are co-eternal with Him? Because they are from Him, though not after Him. 'Being unoriginate' necessarily implies 'being eternal,' but 'being eternal' does not entail 'being unoriginate,' so long as the Father is referred to as origin. So because They have a cause They are not unoriginate... a cause is not necessarily prior to its effects... Because time is not involved, They are to that extent unoriginate... for the sources of time are not subject to time."
-Attributed to St. Gregory the Theologian #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"In proportion to the size of the vessel of faith, brought by us to the Lord, is the measure we draw out of His overflowing grace."
-Attributed to St. Cyprian of Carthage #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

An elder said: “Just as the earth never falls down, neither does he who humbles himself.”
-Sayings of the Desert Fathers #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment 'as to the Lord.' It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received."
-Attributed to C. S. Lewis #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God."
-Attributed to St. Ignatius of Antioch #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"Such is the grace and power of baptism; not an overwhelming of the world as of old, but a purification of the sins of each individual, and a complete cleansing from all the bruises and stains of sin. And since we are double-made, I mean of body and soul, and the one part is visible, the other invisible, so the cleansing also is twofold, by water and the Spirit; the one received visibly in the body, the other concurring with it invisibly and apart from the body; the one typical, the other real and cleansing the depths."
-Attributed to St. Gregory the Theologian #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

An elder was asked: “What should a monk do?” “He should apply himself to every good activity and abstain from every evil one”, he replied.
-Sayings of the Desert Fathers #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in."
-Attributed to C. S. Lewis #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"This supernatural bread and this consecrated chalice are for the health and salvation of mankind."
-Attributed to St. Cyprian of Carthage #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us toward is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven."
-Attributed to C. S. Lewis #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"God thought and things came to be, in-formed: the divine thought is the complicated womb of all that is. For it's not likely that, like some painter, He conjured up an image from a similar image, having seen beforehand things which His own one mind did not write."
-Attributed to St. Gregory the Theologian #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

"If He [Jesus] prayed who was without sin, how much more it becometh a sinner to pray!"
-Attributed to St. Cyprian of Carthage #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

A very devout and God-loving monk held a certain anchorite dear to himself. The anchorite died and, going into his monastery, the brother found five hundred pieces of gold. He began to wonder and to weep, fearing that the anchorite might have fallen foul of God on account of the money. As he was beseeching God at length about this matter, he saw an angel of the Lord who said to him: “Why are you so despondent about the anchorite? Leave this matter you are asking about to the loving-kindness of God. If all were perfect, how would the loving-kindness of God be made manifest?” Assured in this way that the anchorite had been counted worthy of pardon, the brother became joyful and glorified God with all his heart.
'Sayings of the Desert Fathers #Christian #Christianity #Catholic #OrthodoxChristian

#Kontakion
Grave Mode

You were transfigured upon the mount, O Christ our God, and Your disciples, in so far as they could bear, beheld Your glory. Thus, when they see You crucified, they may understand Your voluntary passion, and proclaim to the world that You are truly the effulgence of the Father.

#OrthodoxChristian #Christianity #transfiguration

#Apolytikion
Grave Mode

You were transfigured on the Mount, Christ God revealing Your glory to Your disciples, insofar as they could comprehend. Illuminate us sinners also with Your everlasting light, through the intercessions of the Theotokos. Giver of light, glory to You.
#christianity #OrthodoxChristian #transfiguration