St. Simeon the New Theologian: Earthly and Heavenly Glory

Do you not see how those who attend on an earthly king regard it as a great glory, that they are proud of it, and are considered objects of envy by those in the world? If, then, this is so in vain and transitory matters, how much more should we, who have been enrolled in the army of the heavenly King and have taken His service upon ourselves, rejoice and be glad that we have been found worthy to be taken into His service and called on to render worship to His Name? And if we shall ever be counted worthy to behold Him face to face and to be numbered among those who stand in His presence, how greatly that would surpass any praise for blessedness! But if one were to be numbered among His special servants and friends, and be counted worthy to hear the utterance and voice of the Master, what human mind, what human tongue would be able to describe the greatness of this glory and dignity? But if that "which no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9) is above human comprehension and above all visible blessings, how much more is God Himself who has prepared them! Not only is He above them, but also those who have been counted worthy to see Him and to stand before Him and have converse with Him, and who have become partakers and sharers of His divinity and His glory. They have become altogether superior to the good things that God has prepared for them, since they have received as their inheritance the very Lord who has prepared these good things. That men have become such and continue to do so until the present time, and that not merely after death, but, I say, even while they are living this present life, this the whole inspired Scripture teaches.
+St. Simeon the New Theologian, from The Discourses, discourse X, #1.

St. Nicholas Cabasilas: How great are the Mysteries!

O how great are the Mysteries [i.e., the Sacraments]! What a thing it is for Christ's mind to be mingled with ours, our will to be blended with His, our body with His Body and our blood with His Blood! What is our mind when the divine mind obtains control? What is our will when that blessed will has overcome it? What is our dust when it has been overpowered by His fire?
That these things are so Paul shows when he claims that he has neither his own mind nor will nor life, but that all these have become Christ's for him. He states, "we have the mind of Christ" (2 Cor 2:16), and "you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me" (2 Cor 13:3), and "I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:18). From this it is clear that he has the same will as Christ. To sum it all up, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).
+ St. Nicholas Cabasilas, from The Life in Christ, fourth book, #2

St. John Cassian: The contemplation of God

The contemplation of God is arrived at in numerous ways. For God is not known only through wondering at His incomprehensible substance, because that is still concealed in the hope of the promise, but He is also clearly perceived in the grandeur of the things that He has created, in reflecting upon His justice and in the assistance provided by His daily providence - namely, when we consider with most pure minds the things that He has accomplished with His holy ones over the course of generations; when with trembling heart we admire that power of His by which He governs, directs, and rules all things, as well as the vastness of His knowledge and the eye from which the secrets of hearts cannot be hidden; when we think that He knows the sands of the sea and that He has measured the number of the waves; when we contemplate with amazement the raindrops, the days and hours of the ages, how all things past and future are present to His knowledge; when we look with a kind of overwhelming wonder at His ineffable gentleness, by which He tolerates with unwearying patience the numberless crimes committed in His sight at each and every moment, and at the call through which He has received us, thanks to His mercy and not to our own already existing deserts, and finally at the many occasions of salvation that He has bestowed on those who are to be adopted - because He commanded that we should be born in such a way that grace and the knowledge of His law might be given us from our very cradles, and because He Himself, conquering the adversary in us, bestows on us eternal blessedness and everlasting rewards for the sole pleasure of His good will; and when, lastly, He accepted the dispensation of His incarnation for our salvation and extended the marvels of His mysteries to all peoples. There are also other innumerable things of this sort to contemplate, which come to our minds (where God is seen and grasped by a pure vision) in accordance with the character of our life and the purity of our heart. Certainly no one in whom there still dwells something of carnal desire will lay hold of these things eternally, because, as the Lord says: "You shall not be able to see my face, for no one shall see me and live" (Ex 33:20) - namely, to this world and to earthly desires.
+ St. John Cassian, from The Conferences, First Conference, XV.