St. Sabbas of Kalymnos: On what it means to be a monk

 A monk is one who suffers and weeps for his own sins and who pays no attention to the sins of others; who does not judge or get angry, but who endures patiently, with pleasure, every wrong and all contempt in order to achieve intimacy with God, the heavenly Judge and Father of all.

+St. Sabbas of Kalymnos, quoted in The Synaxarion, volume 4, his entry on April 7.

Abbot Haralambos Dionysiatis: Understand only the prayer

 As much as you can, my child, fall noetically with the fear of God, like the gypsy, at the feet of our Christ. And know this. You have come from the world. You are still carrying the world with you. The evil one will run through all the scenes of the world that you have inside you, all of them, like a tape in your mind. Continue to say the prayer. With perseverance, patience, and forcefulness. As much and you can, drive away whatever fantasy¹ is in your mind, whether it's good or bad. Compel yourself to understand only those five words of the prayer.

This is the first lesson, today. Let's see whether you have understood it.

+Abbot Haralambos Dionysiatis, from Abbot Haralambos Dionysiatis; The teacher of noetic prayer, Part 2, chapter A
¹ Fantasy is here understood as A mental image formed in the nous either by oneself or by the demons.

St. Paisios of Mount Athos: The Joy in Accepting Injustice

 Geronda, when I gladly accept a reprimand for a mistake I have made, is what I am feeling pure?

Look, if you cause damage, and people reprimand you and you do not complain but are rather happy, saying, "Glory be to God, I needed that reprimand," you have only half the joy. But if you do not do any damage, and are unjustly reprimanded and you accept it with good thoughts, then you will have complete joy. I am not saying that you should seek unfair reprimands, because then the devil will entangle you in the sin of pride, but rather that you should accept injustice when it come your way naturally, and be joyful in it.

There are four stages in confronting injustice. Let's say someone strikes you unjustly. If you are at the first stage, you strike back. If you are at the second stage, you feel very upset inside, but control yourself and do not speak. At the third stage you are not agitated by the injustice. But at the fourth stage, you experience great joy, extraordinary spiritual gladness.

+St. Paisios of Mount Athos, from Spiritual Counsels III, Righteousness and Injustice, The Joy in Accepting Injustice