Words from the Saints -- February 19, 2019
Gerald Largent
"As a fish cannot swim without water, and as a bird cannot fly without air, so a Christian cannot advance a single step without Christ." --St. Gregory the Theologian
"We are not without hope of salvation, nor is it at all the right time for us to despair. All our life is a season of repentance, for God 'desires not the death of the sinner', as it is written, 'but that the wicked turn from his way and live' (Ezekiel 33:11). For, if there were no hope of turning back, why would death not have followed immediately on disobedience, and why would we not be deprived of life as soon as we sin? For where there is hope of turning back, there is no room for despair." --St. Gregory Palamas
"Give no ear to the slanderer's talk nor let your talk run on in the fault-finder's hearing, by readily speaking and listening to things against your neighbor; otherwise you will fall from divine charity [love] and be found a foreigner to eternal life." --St. Maximos the Confessor
"Humility consists, not in condemning our conscience, but in recognizing God's grace and compassion." --St. Mark the Ascetic
"Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife." --St. Leo the Great