What is necessary to have peace in soul and body? We must love all men as ourself, and be ready for death at all times.

St. Silouan the Athonite

A terrible accident has a power to awaken us to the realization of the existence of various calamities and dangers surrounding us, from which the Providence of God preserves us. At the same time it convincingly persuades us to acknowledge our own infirmity and weakness and to seek the Father’s protection and His most powerful defense, which affirms us in the Wisdom and the Word of God, which came down from above by the will of the Heavenly Father under a curtain of flesh like ours, woven by the Divine Might from the Immaculate Virgin, for our salvation. He became man and taught us to pray that we be not led into temptation. This reminds us from what Father we have our existence, and this in turn should make us seek our heavenly Fatherland and our eternal inheritance.

St. Herman of Alaska

One should not seek among others the truth that can be easily gotten from the Church. For in her, as in a rich treasury, the apostles have placed all that pertains to truth, so that everyone can drink this beverage of life. She is the door of life.

St. Irenaeus of Lyon

Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. He was the only disciple absent; on his return he heard what had happened but refused to believe it. The Lord came a second time; He offered His side for the disbelieving disciple to touch, held out His hands, and showing the scars of His wounds, healed the wound of his disbelief. 

Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events? Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance but in God’s providence. In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his Master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief. 

The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection. 

Touching Christ, he cried out: ‘My Lord and my God. 

Jesus said to him: ‘Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed.’ 

Paul said: ‘Faith is the guarantee of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.’

It is clear, then, that faith is the proof of what can not be seen. What is seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he told: ‘You have believed because you have seen me?’ 

Because what he saw and what he believed were different things. God cannot be seen by mortal man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said: ‘My Lord and my God.’ 

Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see. What follows is reason for great joy: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.’ 

There is here a particular reference to ourselves; we hold in our hearts One we have not seen in the flesh. We are included in these words, but only if we follow up our faith with good works. The true believer practices what he believes. But of those who pay only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: ‘They profess to know God, but they deny him in their works.'

St. Gregory the Great

The rule of piety admits nothing new. All things are to be delivered to those who come after us with the same fidelity with which they were received by us. It is our duty to follow religion, not make religion follow us.

St. Vincent of Lerins

The thief who received the kingdom of heaven, though not as the reward of virtue, is a true witness to the fact that salvation is ours through the grace and mercy of God. 

All of our holy fathers knew this and all with one accord teach that perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility. 

Humility, in its turn, can be achieved only through faith, fear of God, gentleness and the shedding of all possessions. 

It is by means of these that we attain perfect love, through the grace and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory through all the ages. Amen.

St. John Cassian

Thanksgiving dulls the fierceness of your illness!  Thanksgiving brings the ailing person consolation!  The tutored heart, sweetened by thanksgiving, is renewed through the power of a living faith.  Illumined by the sudden light of faith, the mind begins to contemplate the divine Providence of God... The sickbed is often the place where one gains the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self.  The suffering of the body often brings spiritual joys, and the sickbed is often watered with tears of repentance and tears of joy in God.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Thou, O Christ, art the Kingdom of Heaven; 

Thou, the land promised to the meet; 

Thou, the meadowland of Paradise; 

Thou, the hall of the celestial banquet; 

Thou, the ineffable bridal chamber; 

Thou, the table set for all; 

Thou, the bread of life; 

Thou, the unheard-of drink; 

Thou, both the urn for the water and the life giving water; 

Thou, moreover, the inextinguishable lamp for each one of the saints; 

Thou, the garment and the crown and the One Who bestoweth the crowns; 

Thou, the joy and rest; 

Thou, the delight and glory; 

Thou, the gladness and mirth; 

And Thy grace, the grace of the Spirit of all sanctity, will shine like the sun in all the saints; 

And Thou, the unapproachable Sun, wilt shine in their midst, and all will shine brightly, according to the measure of their faith, their asceticism, their hope and their love, their purification, and their illumination by Thy Spirit.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

When struggles are replaced by consolations, and vice versa, they engender faith in God and indifference to the world.  Faith, having taken man by the hand, places him before God.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

What does it mean to take up your cross? It means the willing acceptance, at the hand of Providence, of every means of healing, bitter though it may be, that is offered. Do great catastrophies fall on you? Be obedient to God’s will, as Noah was. Is sacrifice demanded of you? Give yourself into God’s hands with the same faith as Abram had when he went to sacrifice his son. Is your property ruined? Do your children die suddenly? Suffer it all with patience, cleaving to God in your heart, as Job did. Do your friends forsake you, and you find yourself surrounded by enemies? Bear it all without grumbling, and with faith that God’s help is at hand, as the apostles did.

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Through repentance the filth of our foul actions is washed away. After this, we participate in the Holy Spirit, not automatically, but according to the faith, humility and inner disposition of the repentance in which our soul is engaged. For this reason it is good to repent each day as the act of repentance is unending.

St Symeon the New Theologian 

Faith and love towards Christ Jesus... are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love. Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

And pray without ceasing in behalf of other men. For there is in them hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be steadfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness.

St Ignatius of Antioch

The fact that I am a monk and you are a layman is of no importance. The Lord listens equally to the monk and to the man of the world provided both are true believers. He looks for a heart full of true faith into which to send his Spirit. For the heart of a man is capable of containing the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God are one.

St Seraphim of Sarov 

Courageousness of heart, and scorning every danger, come from one of two causes: either they are due to hardness of heart, or from an abundant faith in God. The former is accompanied by pride, the latter by humility of heart.

St. Isaac of Syria