“... for our sake loosing within Himself the bonds of bodily birth, He granted us through spiritual birth, according to our own volition, power to become children of God instead of children of flesh and blood if we have faith in His Name (cf. Jn. 1:12-13). For the Savior the sequence was, first of all, incarnation and bodily birth for my sake; and so thereupon the birth in the Spirit through baptism, originally spurned by Adam, for the sake of my salvation and restoration by grace, or, to describe it even more vividly, my very remaking.” IfsFirstsChildrenChristianSpiritualSpiritNamesGraceBloodBirthSalvationSakeFleshGrantedOrthodoxSaviorHave FaithAdamSequenceRestorationIncarnationOrthodox ChristianChild Of GodBaptismCfsFlesh And BloodVolition 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 devoutly strives to attain wisdom and is on his guard against the invisible powers, should pray that both natural discrimination - whose light is but limited - and the illuminating grace of the Spirit abide in him. The first by means of practice trains the flesh in virtue, the second illuminates the intellect so that it chooses above all else companionship with wisdom; and through wisdom it destroys the strongholds of evil and pulls down 'all the self-esteem that exalts itself against the knowledge of God' (II Cor. 10:5).” ShouldFirstsMeanSelfLightChristianSpiritEvilNaturalPracticeVirtueGraceSelf EsteemPrayingTrainStriveIntellectFleshInvisibleDiscriminationEsteemOrthodoxCompanionshipStrifeOrthodox ChristianIlluminatingKnowledge Of GodStrongholds Author:Maximus the Confessor
“The Holy Spirit, out of compassion for our weakness, comes to us even when we are impure. And if He finds our intellect truly praying to Him, He enters it and puts to flight the whole array of thoughts and ideas circling within it, and He arouses it to a longing for spiritual prayer.” IfsIdeasWholeChristianSpiritualSpiritPrayerCompassionPrayingHolyWeaknessLongingIntellectFlightHoly SpiritOrthodoxOrthodox ChristianThoughts And Ideas Author:Evagrius Ponticus
“How can it be other than right to worship the Body of the Lord, all-holy and all-reverend as it is, announced as it was by the archangel Gabriel, formed by the Holy Spirit, and made the Vesture of the Word? It was at any rate a bodily hand that the Word stretched out to raise her that was sick of a fever (Mk. 1:31): a human voice that He uttered to raise Lazarus - the dead (Jn. 11:43); and, once again, stretching out His hands upon the Cross, He overthrew the prince of the power of the air, that now works (Eph. 2:2) in the sons of disobedience, and made the way clear for us into the heavens.” WayHumansMadeBodyHandsChristianSpiritHeavenVoiceLordClearAirSonHolyWorshipCrossesSickRaisesRateHoly SpiritOrthodoxDisobedienceFeverOrthodox ChristianStretchingGabrielArchangelHuman VoiceReverendsLazarus Author:John of Kronstadt
“Our Savior was crucified for our sakes that by His death He might give us life and train and attract us all to endurance. To Him I press on, and to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. I strive to be found true, judging myself unworthy of this world's goods; and yet not I because of the world, but the world because of me. Think of all these things in your heart; follow them with zeal; fight, as you have been commanded, for the truth to the death: For Christ was made 'obedient' even 'to death'” ThinkingWorldGivingHeartHas BeensMadeMightChristianSpiritFightingFoundFatherChristThis WorldJudgingHolyPressesTrainStriveSakeHoly SpiritEnduranceOrthodoxGoodsSaviorZealOrthodox ChristianUnworthyObedientJudging Myself Author:Saint Basil