St. Innocent of Alaska: Whosoever will come after Me

 Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever will come after Me”(cf. Mark 8:34). These words mean that Jesus Christ does not compel or force anyone to follow Him. He does not want to have as His disciples those who are unwilling or those who have no special desire to follow Him, but wants us willingly and without any compulsion to surrender ourselves wholly to Him.
+St. Innocent of Alaska, from Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven: An Introduction to Christian Life, Chapter 3.

Archbishop Averky (Taushev): On Spiritual Zeal

 “I came to send fire on the earth; al1d how I wish it were already kindled!”(Luke 12:49) This fire is interpreted by the Holy Fathers as spiritual zeal, which the Lord came to plant in the hearts of men and that will inevitably give rise to divisions and enmity among people, for some will accept the teaching of Christ with their Whole heart, while others will reject it. Since this fire of zeal must especially come to

blaze only after the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the Lord expresses His desire to quickly be baptized with that baptism with which He must be baptized, meaning He wishes to quickly suffer His imminent death and redemption of mankind, as a result of which the fire of zeal will blaze forth.

As a result of the redemptive sacrifice of the Lord, there will no longer be that evil peace that unites all in the doing of sin and separates them from God, but instead there will arise a salvific division—the followers of the teaching of Christ will be separated from the enemies of Christ. The war that will arise on the basis of this essential division, even Within families, was especially evident in the time of the great persecution of Christians by the Roman pagans, but it is always inevitable, for evil hates good and strives to destroy it completely.

+Archbishop Averky (Taushev), from Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume 1, commentary on Luke 12:49-53.

St. Seraphim (Sobolev): On saving zeal

 The Grace of God only acts in us, renews us, and saves us, when, on our part, saving zeal is brought to light, without which the Grace-filled fire does not become inflamed within us nor act in us with its revivifying force. After all, the Grace-filled fire was as present in the foolish virgins as it was in the wise ones. But the former, instead of zeal, had a lackadaisical attitude, and the fir of their oil lamps went out, and along with it they were deprives of an inheritance in the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ. (cf. Matt 25:1-13) For this reason, the Apostle Paul, in his First Epistle to Saint Timothy, warns us against a lackadaisical attitude when he says, "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." (1 Tim 4:14).

+St. Seraphim (Sobolev), from St. Seraphim of Sofia, His Life, Teachings, Miracles, and Glorification. Part II, The Archpastoral Ideal

St. Macarius the Great: On longing for God

 Just as one who suffers from a burning fever is sickened by and rejects any food of drink that you may offer him even if it were very delicious, because he is on fire with a fever and is really burning up from it, so those who are burning with  holy and venerable longing for the heavenly Spirit are wounded in their soul with love for the love of God. They burn with a divine and heavenly fire which the Lord came on this earth to enkindle. How He wishes that is be quickly accomplished! They are enflamed with a heavenly longing for Christ so hat everything that is of this world, considered as outstanding and precious, is reputed base and despised on account of the fire of their love for Christ who binds them, burns them, and enflames them with a passion for God and for the heavenly good things that lead to love. From such a love nothing of the earth or underworld will separate them, as the Apostle Paul testified: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom 8:35), and all that follows.

+St. Macarius the Great, from Fifty Spiritual Homilies, Homily 9

St. Theophan the Recluse: The Fire of Zeal

 What success can one expect when there is no enthusiastic zeal for a Christian pleasing of God? If there is something that involves no labor, one is ready to do it; but as soon as one is required to do a little extra labor, or some kind of self-sacrifice, immediately one refuses, because one is unable to accomplish it oneself. For then there will be nothing to rely on that can move one to good deeds: self-pity will undermine all the foundations. And if any other motive besides the one mentioned becomes involved, it will make the good deed into a bad deed...

Zealous pleasing of God is the path to God which is full of consolation and gives wings to the spirit. Without it one can ruin everything.

One must to everything for the glory of God in defiance of the sin which dwells in us. Without this we will do everything only out of habit, because it seems "proper", because this is the way it has always been done, or the way others do it. We must do all we can, otherwise we will do some things and neglect others, and this without any contrition or even knowledge of what we have omitted. One must to everything with heedfulness and care, as our chief task; otherwise we will do everything just as it comes.

And so, it is clear that without zeal a Christian is a poor Christian. He is drowsy, feeble, lifeless, neither hot nor cold - and this kind of life is not life at all. Knowing this, let us strive to manifest ourselves as true zealots of good deeds, having neither stain nor spot, nor any of these things.

+St. Theophan the Recluse, from The Path to Salvation, Chapter 1, #2.

St. Gregory of Nyssa: On Synergy in Christian spiritual growth

Enter the contests eagerly, since the gift of grace is measured by the labors of the receiver. For the grace of the Spirit gives eternal life and unspeakable joy in heaven, but it is the love of the toils because of the faith that makes the soul worthy of receiving the gifts and enjoying the grace. When a just act and grace of the Spirit coincide, they fill the soul into which they come with a blessed life;  but, separated from each other, they provide no gain for the soul. For the grace of God does not naturally frequent souls which are fleeing from salvation, and the power of human virtue is not sufficient in itself to cause the souls not sharing in grace to ascend to the beauty of life. For it says: "Unless the Lord build the house and keep the city, he labors in vain that builds it and watches in vain who keeps it" (cf Ps 126:1).
+St. Gregory of Nyssa, from On the Christian Mode of Life, in The Fathers of the Church Volume 58, St. Gregory, Ascetical Works.

Abbess Nazaria of Varatec: Spiritual Moderation

The path which we walk along in the spiritual life is narrow: we must keep to the middle of this path and avoid falling from either side. The fall from the left side comes when we are negligent in our life of prayer and fasting; the fall from the right side comes when we are overly zealous and impose rigors on ourselves which we are not able to maintain and which also lead to the deadly sin of pride. The temptations and perils of the fall from the right side are the most dangerous.
+Abbess Nazaria of Varatec, from Come, Follow Me: Orthodox Monasticism in Moldavia, by Mother Cassiana, Chapter 6. First Week of Great Lent

St. Theophan the Recluse: Unwavering zeal

As a straight thread is artfully spun by an industrious spinner, no matter how long she is at it, so also must be spun the thread of zeal of monastic life, from the moment you cross the threshold of the convent until the moment you cross the threshold of the door of the grave. Unwavering zeal has great significance, perhaps all significance. Have you ever seen a complicated machine that is brought into motion by steam? This is what occurs: when there is steam, the machine is in motion, and the more steam there is, the stronger the motion. When the steam weakens, then the motion also weakens; when the steam ceases, the motion also ceases. What steam is for a machine, zeal is for a God-pleasing life. When there is zeal, all labors go smoothly and any labor in not laborious. When there will be no zeal, there also will be no strength, no labor and no order; all becomes out of order then.
+St. Theophan the Recluse, from Kindling the Divine Spark, chapter 1, Keeping of the Monastic Vows.