Thanks, I missed these, though Alice has been doing a good job too.

"God rests in holy places; that is (in) the Theotokos and all the Saints. These are they who have become likenesses of God as far as it is possible, since they have chosen to cooperate with divine election. Therefore, God dwells in them."

St. John of Damascus

There are four forms of wisdom: first, moral judgment, or the knowledge of what should and should not be done, combined with watchfulness of the intellect; second, self-restraint, whereby our moral purpose is safeguarded and kept free from all acts, thoughts and words that do not accord with God; third, courage, or strength and endurance in sufferings, trials and temptations encountered on the spiritual path; and fourth, justice, which consists in maintaining a proper balance between the first three. These four general virtues arise from the three powers of the soul in the following manner: from the intelligence, or intellect, come moral judgment and justice, or discrimination; from the desiring power comes self-restraint; and from the incensive power comes courage.

St. Peter of Damaskos,"The Four Virtues of the Soul"

If you see someone exalting himself and is arrogant about his abilities, know that even if he created great signs and resurrected the dead….he is being robbed by an evil spirit without realizing it. Even if he performs miracles — do not believe him because the sign of a Christian is to hide from others any gifts that God have deemed him worthy to receive.

Having the riches of a king, the Christian hides them as though to say: "These are not my riches, someone else put them there." If someone says " What I have acquired is sufficient for me, I don’t need any more," — he is already not a Christian but is in a state of delusion and has become an instrument of the devil.

Because rapture in God is insatiable, the extent of one’s savoring it and partaking of spiritual blessings is the measure by which the hunger for it is increased. Such people have a fervent and unstoppable love for God. The more they succeed and acquire, the more they acknowledge themselves as beggars.

St Macarius the Great

Each virtue lies between the unnatural passions. Moral judgment lies between craftiness and thoughtlessness; self-restraint, between obduracy and licentiousness; courage, between overbearingness and cowardice; justice between over-frugality and greed. The four virtues constitute an image of the heavenly man, while the eight unnatural passions constitute an image of the earthly man (see I Corinthians 15:49).

St. Peter of Damaskos,"The Four Virtues of the Soul"

A life of fasting, properly understood as general self-limitation and abstinence, to the annual practice of which the Church always calls us with the Great Lent, is really that bearing of the cross and self-crucifixion which is required of us by our calling as Christians. And anyone who stubbornly resists this, wanting to live a carefree, happy, and free life, is concerned for sensual pleasures and avoids sorrow and suffering that person is not a Christian. Bearing one's cross is the natural way of every true Christian, without which there is no Christianity.

+Averky of Blessed Memory

We must be clearly aware of the kind of time in which we live. Indeed, only a spiritually blind one, or one who had already sold his soul to the enemies of our holy faith and Church, could fail to sense the spirit of the approaching Antichrist in everything which is now happening in the world. Of what sort of genuine union of all Christians in the spirit of Christian love can one speak now when the Truth is denied by almost everyone, when deceit is in control almost everywhere, when a genuinely spiritual life among people who call themselves Christians has dried up and been replaced by a carnal life, an animal life which has nonetheless been placed on a pedestal and concealed by the idea of pretended charity which hypocritically justifies any sort of spiritual excess, any sort of moral anarchy. Indeed it is from this that are derived all these numberless "entertainments," various kinds of "games," "dances" and amusements toward which, despite their immoral, anti-Christian nature, even my modern clergymen have a tolerant attitude, sometimes even organizing them themselves and participating in them.
+ + +

+Averky of Blessed Memory

... avoid in all possible ways communion with people, who can be a temptation to you ... The wise Solomon calls a man wise, who fears and avoids the causes of sin; and he calls foolish a man who, with great self-reliance, confidently neglects to avoid them, saying: 'A wise man fears, and departs from evil: but the fool rages, and is confident'...(Prov. 14:16).

(Unseen Warfare: Chapter 19)

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt. 6:14–15). What a simple and handy means of salvation! Your trespasses are forgiven under the condition that you forgive the trespasses of your neighbor against you. This means that you are in your own hands. Force yourself to pass from agitated feelings toward your brother to truly peaceful feelings—and that is all. Forgiveness day—what a great heavenly day of God this is! If all of us used it as we ought, this day would make Christian societies into heavenly societies, and the earth would merge with heaven.

St Theophan the Recluse

Fasting is wonderful, because it tramples our sins like a dirty weed, while it cultivates and raises truth like a flower.

St John Chrysostom

"You must kill egoism. If you don't kill it yourself, then the Lord, hammer-blow after hammer-blow, shall send various misfortunes, so as to crush this stone."

St. Feofan Zatvornik

Very, very profound.

Fr. Corapi has said that the Lord is a Master Sculptor, He will make you in His Image and Likeness. Some of us are easy to sculpt like clay. The rest of us are as hard as marble and the Lord has to hammer and chisel away at us until we resemble His Image.

the marble applies to me it hurts

Christ is Risen!!

Brothers and Sisters:

I was looking for the link to the Optina Fathers series offered by Eighth Day books and came across this very profound comment by Elder Ambrose. I started to wonder if this holy man had the answer to the prayer Abba Anthony, the first monk, had in prayer when he wondered why some people live only a short time and others live to the edge of a very old age.

In any event, whenever I have had a close call--and there have been more than a few (especially with people driving me off the road while on their cell phones)--I've thought that I've been preserved to do one more thing for the Lord and for someone He would yet direct me to.

In Christ,

Bob