Archimandrite George of St. Gregorios: Moral perfection is not enough

 Moral perfection is not enough for man. It is not enough for us simply to become better than before, simply to perform moral deeds. We have as our final aim to unite with holy God Himself. This is the purpose of the creation of the universe. This is what we desire. This is our joy, our happiness, and our fulfillment...

Each of us is an image of God, and God is our prototype. The image seeks the prototype, and only when it finds it does it find rest.

+Archimandrite George of St. Gregorios, from Theosis, The True Purpose of Human Life

St. Gregory Dialogos: Let us give the Gifts of the Magi

 The Magi brought gold, incense and myrrh. Gold befits a king; incense is offered in sacrifice to God; the bodies of the dead are embalmed with myrrh. Therefore the Magi, [with their mystical gifts], also preach Him whom they worshipped, a king with the gold, God with the incense, a human being with the myrrh...

we too offer gold to the new-born King if we shine in His sight with the brightness of the wisdom from on high; we offer Him incense if we enkindle on the altar of our hearts the thoughts of our human minds by our holy pursuit of prayer, so as to give forth a sweet smell to God by our heavenly desire; we offer Him myrrh if we mortify the vices of our bodies by our self-denial.

+St. Gregory Dialogos, from Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 8

Columba Graham Flegg: The moral content of the Seven Letters of the Apocalypse

 [We should not] try to make specific identifications with the particular churches to which the letters [in the book of Revelation] were addressed, but rather than we should measure ourselves, both as individuals and as communities, against all those things singled out for condemnation. We can summarize them as follows: failing to live up to the promises of baptism in faith and works, becoming primarily consumers of the things of this world; corrupting the church and the faith with secular ideas; seeking worldly instead of heavenly objectives; tolerating the presence of false prophets or even following them; failing to watch for the Lord's coming; having pride in worldly things and achievements; allowing our faith and our love to become lukewarm. Let us not delude ourselves by thinking that our Orthodox churches are not guilty of any of these things. But, remember that the overall message of the Apocalypse is also reflected in these seven letters. The message is that the victory has already been won, that Christ is enthroned on high, and that a share in that throne is offered to all who turn away from the world, repent, set their hearts on the things above, and live in Him.

+Columba Graham Flegg, from An Introduction to Reading the Apocalypse, chapter 4, The Letters to the Seven Churches.

St. Paisios of Mount Athos: On overcoming bad habits

 Geronda, can a bad habit be broken immediately?

First of all, man must realize that such a habit is harmful to him, and then he must be willing to struggle to break the habit. One must have a lot of willpower in order to be able to break a bad habit al at once. Just as the rope rubs against the edge of the well and over the years forms a small groove that holds the rope in place, every habit forms a groove in the heart, making them difficult to get rid of. This is why we must be very careful not to develop bad habits, because it takes a lot of humility and great willpower to overcome them. Father Tychon on the Holy Mountain used to say, "my child, a good habit equals virtue; a bad habit equals passions."

In any case, I have found that when a man while struggling, continues to make the same mistakes and does not change, the reason is usually egoism, self-love and self-interest. Humility and love are missing, thus blocking divine intervention. The person himself does not allow God to help him. If, for example, God helps him overcome a particular passion, such a person will selfishly take credit for it and assume that it was his own achievement, without any help from God.

+St. Paisios of Mount Athos, from Spiritual Counsels volume 3, Spiritual Struggle, part 3 chapter 1.

St. Polycarp of Smyrna: Faith is the Mother of us all

 Faith is the mother of us all; it is the well-spring of hope and it is preceded by love of God, of Christ and of neighbor. Whoever dwells in these virtues has fulfilled the precepts of Righteousness, for whoever has charity is far from all sin.

+St. Polycarp of Smyrna, from Epistle to the Philippians, in Ante Nicene Fathers volume 1.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov: On the Beginning of the Spiritual Life

 Brother! If you have not yet sensed the union of mind, soul, and body, then practice attentive prayer, uniting the prayer of the lips - sometimes spoken, sometimes whispered - with the mind. Act according to the commandments of the Gospel, battling the passions with endurance and long-suffering, never slipping into despair or hopelessness when you are defeated by sinful thoughts or emotions. At the same time, do not allow yourself to be defeated easily. Having fallen down, stand up. If you fall again, stand up again, until you learn how to walk without tripping. The cup of infirmity has its uses; until a proper time, the providence of God allows it, so that the ascetic can be purified of pride, anger, remembrance of evil, condemnation of others, arrogance, and vanity. It is especially important to recognize the action of vanity within yourself and to rein it in. While it acts in you, you will not be able to enter the domain of the spiritual life, for [the] price of entrance is a lack of passionate attachments, which is a gift received after the coming of the peace of Christ.

+St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, from The Refuge: Anchoring the Soul in God, Chapter 16 The Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul.

St. Melania the Roman: The virtues are vain without love

 All the virtues and all ascesis are in vain without love. The Devil can easily imitate all our virtues; he is conquered only by humility and charity.

+St. Melania the Roman, from The Synaxarion, Volume 2, her entry on Dec 21st.

Abba John the Dwarf: A little bit of all the virtues

 I think it best that a man should have a little bit of all the virtues. Therefore, get up early every day and acquire the beginning of every virtue and every commandment of God. Use great patience, with fear and long-suffering, in the love of God, with all the fervor of your soul and body. Exercise great humility, bear with interior distress be vigilant and pray often with reverence and groaning, with purity of speech and control of your eyes. When you are despised do not get angry; be at peace, and do not render evil for evil. Do not pay attention to the faults of others, and do not try to compare yourself with others, knowing you are less than every created thing. Renounce everything material and that which is of the flesh. Live by the cross, in warfare, in poverty of spirit, in voluntary spiritual asceticism, in fasting, penitence and tears, in discernment in purity of soul, taking hold of that which is good. Do you work in peace. Persevere in keeping vigil, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, and in sufferings. Shut yourself in a tomb as though you were already dead, so that at all times you will think death is near.

+Abba John the Dwarf, from The Desert Christian, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, his section #34

St. Paisius Velichkovsky: On Walking with Heedfulness

 Every evening we must test ourselves as to how the day passed with us, and every morning we again should test ourselves as to how the night passed. And not only at some definite time but at every time and in every place and concerning everything we must give account of ourselves, and reflect concerning everything we must give account to ourselves, and reflect concerning the virtues and the passions, in what condition of life we are: in the beginning, at the middle, or at the end: whether we are laboring worthy of the rewards and performing virtues, or only laboring without receiving rewards. When we sin in anything, let us make up for our lack of virtue by tears and let us weep. 

+St. Paisius Velichkovsky, from Field Flowers, or Lilies of the Field from the Divine Scripture, Concerning God's Commandments and the Holy Virtues, #18 On Walking with Heedfulness, in Little Russian Philokalia, Volume 4.

St. Isaac the Syrian: On devotion to learning from the Scriptures

 Nothing can so banish licentious habits from the soul and restrain memories which disturb and stir up troubling flames in the body as can avid devotion to the love of learning and searching investigation into the meanings of the passages of Scripture.

When the impulses of the soul plunge into the pleasure which comes from the wisdom stored in the words of Scripture, vigorously drawing understanding from it, a person will leave his body behind. Such a one will forget the world and all that is in it and will cancel from the soul all the memories which stir up images of the material world. Often the soul in wonder desists in its reflection from the use of habitual thoughts which come naturally to it, in the presence of the novelties which come to it from the sea of the Scripture's mysteries.

+St. Isaac the Syrian, from On Ascetical Life, First Discourse #16-17.

St. Polycarp of Smyrna: Exhortation to the practice of Virtue

 Follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, (cf  1Peter 2:17) and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another, and despising no one. When you can do good, defer it not, because "alms deliver from death" (Tobit 4:10, 12:9). Be all of you subject to one another, (cf 1 Peter 5:5), "having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles", (1 Peter 2:12) that ye may both receive praise for your good works, and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed! (Isa 52:5) Teach, therefore, sobriety to all, and manifest it also in your own conduct.

+St. Polycarp of Smyrna, from The Epistle of Polycarp, chapter X, in Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 1.

Holy Apostle Paul: Further blessings

 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
 Blessed are those who guard the chastity of their flesh for they shall be the temple of God.
 Blessed are those who have renounced this world for they shall be acceptable to God.
 Blessed are those who fear the words of God for they shall be comforted.
 Blessed are those who embrace the wisdom of Jesus Christ for they shall be called sons of the most high.
 Blessed are those who have guarded their baptism for they shall find rest with the Father and the Son.
 Blessed are those who have understood the knowledge of Jesus Christ for they shall be in the light.
 Blessed are those who have rejected the outward appearances of this world for the love of God for they shall judge the angels and shall be glorified at the right hand of the Father.
 Blessed are the bodies of the virgins for the word of the Father shall be their justification in the day of His Son and they shall enjoy rest forever and ever.
+Holy Apostle Paul, attributed to him from the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla in The Synaxarion: The Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church, volume 1, entry for the Holy Protomartyr and Equal-to-the-Apostles Thecla (Sep 24).

Holy Apostle Barnabas: The Way of Light

The way of light, then, is as follows. If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following. Thou shalt love Him that created thee: thou shalt glorify Him that redeemed thee from death. Thou shalt be simple in heart, and rich in spirit. Thou shalt not join thyself to those who walk in the way of death. Thou shalt hate doing what is unpleasing to God: thou shalt hate all hypocrisy. Thou shalt not forsake the commandments of the Lord. Thou shalt not exalt thyself, but shalt be of a lowly mind. Thou shalt not take glory to thyself. Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not allow over-boldness to enter into thy soul. Thou shall not commit fornication: thou shalt not commit adultery: thou shalt not be a corrupter of youth. Thou shalt not let the word of God issue from thy lips with any kind of impurity. Thou shalt not accept persons when thou reprovest any one for transgression. Thou shalt be meek: thou shalt be peaceable. Thou shalt tremble at the words which thou hearest. Thou shalt not be mindful of evil against thy brother. Thou shalt not be of doubtful mind as to whether a thing shall be or not. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. Thou shalt love thy neighbor more than thine own soul. Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born. Thou shalt not withdraw thy hand from the son, or from thy daughter, but from their infancy thou shalt teach them the fear of the Lord. Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbor's, nor shalt thou be avaricious. Thou shalt not be joined in soul with the haughty, but thou shalt be reckoned with the righteous and lowly. Receive thou as good things the trials which come upon thee. Thou shalt not be of double mind or of double tongue, for a double tongue is a snare of death. Thou shalt be subject to the Lord, and to [other] masters as the image of God, with modesty and fear. Thou shalt not issue orders with bitterness to the maidservant or thy man-servant, who trust in the same [God], lest thou shouldst not reverence that God who is above both; for He came to call men not according to their outward appearance, but according as the Spirit had prepared them. Thou shalt communicate in all things with thy neighbor; thou shalt not call things thine own; for if ye are partakers in common of things which are incorruptible, how much more [should you be] of those things which are corruptible! Thou shalt not be hasty with thy tongue, for the mouth is a snare of death. As far as possible, thou shalt be pure in they soul. Do not be ready to stretch forth thy hands to take, whilst thou contractest them to give. Thou shalt love, as the apple of thine eye, every one that speaketh to thee the word of the Lord. Thou shalt remember the day of judgment, night and day. Thou shalt seek out every day the faces of the saints, either by word examining them, and going to exhort them, and meditating how to save a soul by the word, of by thy hands thou shalt labor for the redemption of thy sins. Thou shalt not hesitate to give, nor murmur when thou givest. "Give to every one that asketh thee," (Matt 5:42, Luke 6:30) and thou shalt know who is the good Recompenser of the reward. Thou shalt preserve what thou hast received [in charge], neither adding to it nor taking from it. To the last thou shalt hate the wicked [one]. Thou shalt judge righteously. Thou shalt not make a schism, but thou shalt pacify those that contend by bringing them together. Thou shalt confess thy sins. Thou shalt not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light.
+Holy Apostle Barnabas¹, from The Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter 19 - The Way of Light, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1.

¹ I follow the traditional attribution to the companion of St. Paul, although this is disputed by many scholars.