Showing posts with label John Chrysostom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Chrysostom. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

QUOTATION: God's Mercy is Our Salvation

St. John Chrysostom
Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God's mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.

--St. John Chrysostom

Saturday, November 5, 2016

QUOTATION: Sin

St. John Chrysostom
There is only one thing to be feared and that is sin. Everything else is beside the point.

--St. John Chrysostom

Monday, June 13, 2016

QUOTATION: Power Grab

St. John Chrysostom
The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.

--St. John Chrysostom

Saturday, May 14, 2016

QUOTATION: The Right Attitude

St. John Chrysostom

Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may recieve your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If,on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver.

--St. John Chrysostom

Thursday, June 11, 2015

QUOTATION: Praying Always

It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in your shop...while buying or selling...or even while cooking.  -

--St. John Chrysostom

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

QUOTATION: Indifference Towards the Fate of Souls

St. John Chrysostom
There is nothing colder than a Christian who is unconcerned about the salvation of others.

--St. John Chrysostom

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

QUOTATION: The Gift of the Mind

St. John Chrysostom
God gave us a mind so that we might learn and receive help from him, not so that the mind should be self-sufficient.

--St. John Chrysostom

Sunday, March 29, 2015

QUOTATION: Seeing Christ

St. John Chrysostom
If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice.

--St. John Chrysostom

Sunday, March 8, 2015

QUOTATION: Everything Rests on God's Mercy

St. John Chrysostom
Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God’s mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.

--St. John Chrysostom

Monday, January 12, 2015

QUOTATION: Influence

St. John Chrysostom
Do not say: It is impossible for me to influence others. If you are a Christian, it is impossible for this not to happen.

--St. John Chrysostom

Saturday, November 22, 2014

QUOTATION: Our Eucharistic Lord

St. John Chrysostom
How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment.

--St. John Chrysostom

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QUOTATION: Repentance

St. John Chrysostom
A first path of repentance is the condemnation of your own sins: be the first to admit your sins and you will be justified. For this reason, too, the prophet wrote: I said: I will accuse myself of my sins to the Lord and you forgave the weakness of my heart. Therefore, you too should condemn your own sins; that will be enough reason for the Lord to forgive you, for a man who condemns his own sins is slower to commit them again. Rouse your conscience to accuse you within your own house, lest it become your accuser before the judgment seat of the Lord.

-- St. John Chrysostom

Sunday, September 7, 2014

QUOTATION: God's Love

St. John Chrysostom
God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves

--St. John Chrysostom

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

QUOTATION: Shame

St. John Chrysostom
Be ashamed when you sin, not when you repent.

--St. John Chrysostom

Sunday, February 2, 2014

QUOTATION: The Soul Who Loves God

St. John Chrysostom
When the love of God has taken possession of a soul, it produces an insatiable desire to work for the beloved; insomuch that however many and however vast the works which she does, and however prolonged the duration of her service, all seems nothing in her eyes, and she is afflicted at doing so little for God ; and were it permitted her to die and consume herself for him, she would be most happy. Hence it is that she esteems herself an unprofitable servant in all that she does; because she is instructed by love to know what God deserves, and sees by this clear light all the defects of her actions, and finds in them motives for confusion and pain, well aware how mean is all that she can do for so great a Lord.

--St. John Chrysostom

Friday, September 27, 2013

QUOTATION: Angels at Mass

St. John ChrysostomWhen the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar.

--St. John Chrysostom

Thursday, June 6, 2013

QUOTATION: The Importance of a Christian Name

So let the name of the saints enter our homes through the naming of our children, to train not only the child but the father, when he reflects that he is the father of John or Elijah or James; for, if the name be given with forethought to pay honor to those that have departed, and we grasp at our kinship with the righteous rather than with our forebears, this too will greatly help us and our children. Do not because it is a small thing regard it as small; its purpose is to succour us.

— St. John Chrysostom, An Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children, 50.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

QUOTATION: Against Class Warfare

St. John Chrysostom
The rich exist for the sake of the poor. The poor exist for the salvation of the rich.

--St. John Chrysostom

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

QUOTATION: Teaching About Final Judgement

Wherefore, I exhort you, when we receive children from the nurse, let us not accustom to old wives’ stories, but let them learn from their first youth that there is a Judgment, that there is a punishment; let it be infixed in their minds. This fear being rooted in them produces great good effects. For a soul that that has learnt from its first youth to be subdued by this expectation, will not soon shake off this fear. But like a horse obedient to the bridle, having the thought of hell seated upon it, walking orderly, it will both speak and utter things profitable; and neither youth nor riches, not an orphan state, not any other thing, will be able to injure it, having its reason so firm and able to hold out against everything.

-St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on 2 Thessalonians, Homily 2.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

QUOTATION: Faith

The sea is surging and the waves are high: but we have nothing to fear because we stand on a rock—the rock of faith. Let the sea surge with all the power at its command, and let the waves rise as high as mountains; the rock on which we stand will remain firm and unshaken. Do I fear death? No, because on the rock of faith I know that death is the gateway to eternal life. Do I fear exile? No, because on the rock of faith I know that I am never alone; Christ is always beside me, my friend and my brother. Do I fear slander and lies? No, because on the rock of faith I know that I am always protected by the truth—Christ who is the truth, is my protector. Do I fear poverty? No, because on the rock of faith God also provides for my needs. Do I fear ridicule? No, because however low I may sink in the esteem of those without faith, on the rock of faith all are treated with respect. Far from fearing the surge of the sea, I enjoy it, because it assures me that the rock on which I stand is immovable.

--St. John Chrysostom