“Just as the thought of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not actualize the light of spiritual knowledge in the soul.” DoeSoulBodyLightChristianSpiritualFireWarmOrthodoxOrthodox ChristianWithout LoveSpiritual Knowledge Author:Maximus the Confessor
“Let us be satisfied simply with what sustains our present life, not with what pampers it. Let us pray to God for this, as we have been taught, so that we may keep our souls unenslaved and absolutely free from domination by any of the visible things loved for the sake of the body. Let us show that we eat for the sake of living, and not be guilty of living for the sake of eating. The first is a sign of intelligence, the second proof of its absence.” FirstsMayHas BeensSoulShowsBodyChristianTaughtPrayingEatingSakeProofAbsenceSatisfiedGuiltyVisibleOrthodoxDominationPraying To GodPresent Life Author:Maximus the Confessor
“Every genuine confession humbles the soul. When it takes the form of thanksgiving, it teaches the soul that it has been delivered by the grace of God.” Has BeensSoulChristianFormTeachGraceGenuineOrthodoxConfessionGrace Of GodOrthodox Christian 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
“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
“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
“Just as the teaching of the Law and the prophets, being harbingers of the coming advent of the Logos in the flesh, guide our souls to Christ (cf. Gal. 3:24), so the glorified incarnate Logos of God is Himself a harbinger of His spiritual advent, leading our souls forward by His own teachings to receive His divine and manifest advent. He does this ceaselessly, by means of the virtues converting those found worthy from the flesh to the spirit. And He will do it at the end of the age, making manifest what has hitherto been hidden from men.” MenMeanDoeSoulEndsAgeChristianSpiritualLawSpiritFoundChristVirtueTeachingDivineWorthyGuidesFleshProphetOrthodoxManifestAdventConvertingCfsLogosGalsHarbinger Author:Maximus the Confessor
“He who has mastery over his incensive power has mastery also over the demons. But anyone who is a slave to it is a stranger to the ways of the Saviour, for as the Saviour enjoined us: 'Learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart: and you will find rest for your souls' (Mt. 11:29). Now if a man abstains from food and drink, but becomes incensed to wrath because of evil thoughts, he is like a ship sailing the open sea with a demon for a pilot.” IfsMenWayHeartSoulChristianEvilSeaDrinkSlaveHumbleStrangerShipsYour SoulGentleDemonOrthodoxPilotsMasterySailingWrathSaviourFood And DrinkEvil Thoughts Author:Evagrius Ponticus
“It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved.” BelieveSoulOrthodoxHeresy Author:Galileo Galilei
“... if, to me, to live is Christ (Phil. 1:21), truly my words ought to be about Christ, my every thought and deed ought to depend upon His commandments, and my soul to be fashioned after His.” IfsSoulChristianChristDependsOughtDeedsMy SoulOrthodoxCommandmentsOrthodox Christian Author:Saint Basil