“...one's movement towards the divine reaches its end only when one reaches God... 'The true Sabbaths are the rest laid up for the people of God' (Heb. 4:9). God can 'bear these sabbaths' (cf. Is. 1:13) because they are true. And the one 'in which the world is crucified' (Gal. 6:14) reaches these sabbaths of rest because he has clearly turned away from worldly things and returned to his own spiritual resting place. The one who arrives there will no longer be moved from his place, for there he finds quiet and tranquility.” PeopleWorldEndsChristianSpiritualMovementDivineBearsQuietMovedOrthodoxTranquilityWorldlySabbathCfsGalsWorldly Things Author:Maximus the Confessor
“He who through virtue and spiritual knowledge has brought his body into harmony with his soul has become a harp, a flute and a temple of God. He has become a harp by preserving the harmony of the virtues; a flute by receiving the inspiration of the Spirit through divine contemplation; and a temple by becoming a dwelling place of the Logos through the purity of his intellect.” SoulBodyInspirationChristianSpiritualSpiritVirtueDivineBecomingHarmonyIntellectContemplationPurityTemplesOrthodoxReceivingDwellingOrthodox ChristianHarpsLogosFlutesDwelling PlaceSpiritual Knowledge Author:Maximus the Confessor
“He who is a beginner on the way must not be brought to practise the commandments by kindness alone, but must more often be induced to continue the struggle by being rigorously reminded of God's judgment. In this way he will not only be moved by love to desire what is divine, but will be moved by fear to avoid what is evil. For 'I will sing to Thee, O Lord, of mercy and judgment' (Ps. 101:1 LXX). He will sing to God charmed by love, and steeled by fear he will have strength for the song.” WayChristianDesireSongEvilLordKindnessStruggleDivineJudgmentMercyMovedTheeOrthodoxCommandmentsOrthodox ChristianOften IsBeginnersPractiseCharmedHaving Strength Author:Maximus the Confessor
“If we keep the path of virtue undefiled through devout and true knowledge, and do not deviate to either side, we will experience the advent of God revealed to us because of our dispassion. For 'I will sing a psalm and in a pure path I will understand when Thou wilt come to me' (cf. Ps. 101:1-2). The psalm stands for virtuous conduct; understanding indicates the spiritual knowledge, gained through virtue, by means of which we perceive God's advent, when we wait for the Lord vigilant in the virtues.” IfsMeanChristianSpiritualWaitingUnderstandingSidesLordVirtuePathPurePerceiveOrthodoxVirtuousOrthodox ChristianAdventVigilantPsalmsCfsTrue KnowledgeDeviateSpiritual KnowledgeKnowledge Gained Author:Maximus the Confessor
“We must not only put bodily passions to death but also destroy the soul's impassioned thoughts. Hence the Psalmist says, 'Early in the morning I destroyed all the wicked of the earth, that I might cut off all evil-doers from the city of the Lord' (Ps. 101:8) - that is, the passions of the body and the soul's godless thoughts.” SoulBodyMightEarthChristianPassionEvilCitiesLordMorningCuttingDestroyedWickedOrthodoxDoersImpassionedEvil Doers Author:Maximus the Confessor
“A pure heart is perhaps one which has no natural propulsion towards anything in any manner whatsoever. When in its extreme simplicity such a heart has become like a writing-tablet beautifully smoothed and polished, God comes to dwell in it and writes there His own laws.” WritingHeartChristianLawNaturalPureSimplicityExtremesOrthodoxOrthodox ChristianPolishedTabletsPure HeartPropulsion Author:Maximus the Confessor
“The man who has struggled bravely with the passions of the body, has fought ably against unclean spirits, and has expelled from his soul the conceptual images they provoke, should pray for a pure heart to be given him and for a spirit of integrity to be renewed within him (cf. Ps. 51:10). In other words, he should pray that by grace he may be completely emptied of evil thoughts and filled with divine thoughts, so that he may become a spiritual world of God, splendid and vast, wrought from moral, natural and theological forms of contemplation.” MenWorldShouldHeartMaySoulBodyChristianSpiritualFormSpiritPassionEvilGivenNaturalMoralGraceDivineHe ManPrayingIntegrityPureFilledContemplationOrthodoxProvokingSplendidTheologicalCfsPure HeartEvil Thoughts Author:Maximus the Confessor
“When our intellect has shaken off its many opinions about created things, then the inner principle of truth appears clearly to it, providing it with a foundation of real knowledge and removing its former preconceptions as though removing scales from eyes, as happened in the case of St. Paul (cf. Acts 9:18). For an understanding of Scripture that does not go beyond the literal meaning, and a view of the sensible world that relies exclusively on sense perception, are indeed scales, blinding the soul's visionary faculty and preventing access to the pure Logos of truth.” WorldDoeRealSoulEyeChristianUnderstandingViewsOpinionPrinciplesCasesHappenedPurePerceptionFoundationIntellectAccessScriptureScalesFormerRelyOrthodoxFacultySensibleProvidingVisionariesLiteralPreventingCfsLogosPreconceptionsReal KnowledgeSense Perception Author:Maximus the Confessor
“...the Lord said as He drew near His passion, 'Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself; and He will glorify Him at once' (Jn. 13:31-32). From This it is clear that divine gifts follow sufferings endured for the sake of virtue.” IfsMenSaidChristianSufferingPassionLordVirtueClearDivineSonSakeGods WillOrthodoxGlorify Author:Maximus the Confessor
“The Logos came down out of love for us. Let us not keep Him down permanently, but let us go up with Him to the Father, leaving the earth and earthly things behind, lest He say to us what He said to the Jews because of their stubbornness: 'I go where you cannot come (Jn. 8:21).” SaidEarthChristianFatherBehindsLeavingJewOrthodoxOrthodox ChristianStubbornnessLogosEarthly ThingsFather Leaving Author:Maximus the Confessor