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From Our Holy Father, St. Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch, remembered on Dec. 20
"But pray unceasingly also for the rest of men, for they offer ground for hoping that they may be converted and win their way to God. Give them an opportunity therefore, at least by your conduct, of becoming your disciples. Meet their angry outbursts with your own gentleness, their boastfulness with your humility, their reviling with your prayers, their error with your constancy in the faith, their harshness with your meekness; and beware of trying to match their example. Let us prove ourselves their brothers through courtesy. Let us strive to follow the Lord's example and see who can suffer greater wrong, who more deprivation, who more contempt. Thus no weed of the devil will be found among you; but you will persevere in perfect charity and sobriety through Jesus Christ, in body and soul."
Daniel the Prophet & the Three Holy Youths Ananias, Azarias, & Misail
"The Prophet Daniel and the Three Children were all descended from the royal tribe of Judah. In the year 599 before Christ, in the reign of Joachim/ who was also called Jechonias (I Chron. 3:16, and II Chron. 36:8), while yet children/ these righteous ones were led away as captives into Babylon together with the other Jews by Nebuchadnezzar. He singled them out from among the other captives to serve him, and renamed them thus: Daniel was named Balthazar; Ananias, Shadrach: Misael, Meshach; and Azarias, Abednego. They were reared in the royal court, and taught the wisdom of the Chaldeans; and after the passage of three years, they surpassed all the Chaldean sages (Dan. 1).
Thereafter, Daniel, being stilt a lad, interpreted that mysterious image seen by
Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, an image that was composed of different metals, but was shattered and ground to dust by a certain stone which had been hewn out of a mountain without the hand of man.
This vision clearly portrayed through the mountain the height of the Virgin's holiness and the power of the Holy Spirit which overshadowed her. Through the image of the Stone, Christ was portrayed, Who was seedlessly born of her, and Who by His coming as the God-Man would shatter and destroy all the kingdoms of the world, which were portrayed through the image; and He would raise them that believe in Him into His Heavenly Kingdom, which is eternal and everlasting (ibid. 2:31-45), Thereupon, he signified in prophecy the time of His appearance in the Jordan, the beginning of His preaching of the Gospel, the time of His saving Passion, and the cessation of the worship according to the Mosaic Law, (ibid. 9:14-27). He portrayed most excellently the majestic and dread image of His second coming, presenting by means of words, as with living colors, the fiery throne which shall be set, the Eternal Judge Who shall sit thereon, the river of fire that shall flow forth before Him, the calling to account before the impartial judgment seat, the opened books of each ones deeds, the thousands upon thousands of them that minister to Him, and the ten thousands of them that stand in His presence (ibid. 7: 9-10). Daniel (whose name means "God is judge") was called "man of desires" by the Angels that appeared (ibid. 9:23), because he courageously disdained every desire of the body, even the very bread that is necessary for nourishment. Furthermore, he received this name because, in his longing for the freedom of those of his tribe, and his desire to know their future condition, he ceased not supplicating God, fasting and bending the knee three times a day. Because of this prayer he was cast into the den of lions, after he had been accused by his enemies as a transgressor of the decree issued through the proclamation of the king that no one should worship or ask for anything from God or from men for thirty days, but only from the king. But having stopped the mouths of the lions by divine might, and appearing among them as though he were a shepherd of sheep, Daniel showed the impious the might of godliness (ibid. 6:1-23).
As for the Three Children, Ananias ("Yah is gracious"), Misael ("Who is what God is?), and Azarias ("Yah is keeper"), since they refused to offer adoration to Nebuchadnezzar's image, they were cast into the furnace of fire. They were preserved unharmed amidst the flames - even their hair was untouched - by the descent of the Angel of the Lord, that is, the Son of God. Walking about in the furnace, as though in the midst of dew, they sang the universal hymn of praise to God, which is found in the Seventh and Eighth Odes of the Holy Psalter. And coming forth from there, without even the smell of the fire on their clothes (Dan. 3), they prefigured in themselves the Virgin's incorrupt giving of birth; for she, on receiving the Fire of the Godhead within her womb, was not burned, but remained virgin, even as she was before giving birth.
Therefore the Church celebrates the Three Children and Daniel on December 17, on the Sunday of the Forefathers, and on the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ, since they prefigured and proclaimed His Incarnation. Furthermore, they were of the tribe of Judah, wherefrom, Christ sprang forth according to the flesh. The holy Three Children completed their lives full of days; as for the Prophet Daniel, he lived until the reign of Cyrus, King of Persia, whom he also petitioned that his nation be allowed to return to Jerusalem and that the Temple be raised up again, and his request was granted. He reposed in Peace, having lived about eighty-eight years. His prophetical book, which is divided into twelve chapters, is ranked fourth among the greater Prophets.
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"This is My beloved Son..."
"Do not set up tents equally for the Lord and His servants. 'This is My beloved Son; hear Him,' My Son, not Moses or Elijah. They are servants; this is the Son. This is My Son, of My nature, of My substance, abiding in Me, and He is all that I am. This is My beloved Son. They, too, indeed are dear to Me, but He is My beloved; hear Him, therefore. They proclaim and teach Him, but you, hear Him. He is the Lord and Master, they are companions in service. Moses and Elijah speak of Christ; they are your fellow servants. He is the Lord; hear Him. "
- St. Jerome
Thoughts on the Incarnation
"The Lord reconciled heaven and earth in His Incarnation, bringing heaven to earth, and raising earth to heaven, and establishing all of it under His mind, under His headship. Through Christ we are reconciled with the Holy Trinity and the angels of God, with one another, and with die created nature around us. "
- St. Nikolai of Ochrid
"Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Theologian. For he who said, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1), went on to say. 'and the Word was made flesh' (John 1:14). For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He was also made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead, nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, 'girded Himself with the linen' of humanity (John 13:4), and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry. "
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem
"Mary, the Mother of God,...being pre-ordained by the eternal prescient counsel of God and imaged forth and proclaimed in diverse images and discourses of the Prophets through the Holy Spirit, sprang at the pre-determined time from the root of David, according to the promises that were made to him. 'For the Lord hath sworn, He saith in truth to David, He will not turn from it: of the fruit of Thy body will I set upon Thy throne' (Ps. 132:11).. And again, 'Once have I sworn by My holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven' (Ps. 139:35-37). And Isaiah says: 'And there shall come out a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots' (Isaiah 11:1). "
- St. John of Damascus
"Faithfully worship, with honor and reverence, the venerable likeness of the features of the Lord, the Word of God, Who for our sake was made man, thinking to behold the Icon of your Creator Himself. 'For the honor of the Image, says one of the Saints, passes over to the original.' The original is the thing imagined, and from it comes the derivation. For when we see the drawing in the Icon, in our mind's eye we pass over to the true form of which it is an Image, and devotedly worship the form of Him Who for our sake was made flesh, not making a god of it, but saluting it as an image of God made flesh, with desire and love of Him Who for us man emptied Himself, and even took the form of a servant. In the same way also for this reason we salute the Icons of His undefiled Mother, and of all the Saints. "
- St. John of Damascus
"[At the Eucharist] the bread itself and the wine are changed into God's body and blood. But if you enquire how this happens, it is enough for you to learn that it was through the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord took on Himself flesh that subsisted in Him and was born of the Holy Mother of God through the Spirit. And we know nothing further save that the Word of God is true and energizes and is omnipotent, but the manner of this cannot be searched out. But one can put it well thus, that just as in nature the bread by the eating and the wine by the drinking are changed into the body and blood of the eater and drinker, and do not become a different body from the former one, so the bread of the table and the wine and water are supernaturally changed by the invocation and presence of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of Christ, and are not two but one and the same. "
- St. John of Damascus
From St. John of Kronstadt
"Edifying words, the writings of the Holy Fathers, prayers, and especially the words of the Word Himself, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, are indeed living water; water runs, and the words flow like water; water refreshes and gives life to the body, and edifying words animate the soul, filling it with peace and joy, or with compunction and contrition for sin. "
"Watch your heart during all your life-examine it, listen to it, and see what prevents its union with the most blessed Lord. Let this be for you the science of all sciences, and with God's help you will easily observe what estranges you from God, and what draws you towards Him and unites you to Him. It is the evil spirit more than anything that stands between our hearts and God; he estranges God from us by various passions, or by the desires of the flesh, by the desires of the eyes, and by worldly pride. "
"In all your works, either at home or at the place of your service, do not forget that all your strength, your light and your success are in Christ and His Cross; therefore, do not fail to call upon the Lord before beginning any work, saying, 'Jesus, help me! Jesus, enlighten me!' Thus your heart will be supported and warmed by lively faith and hope in Christ, for His is the power and glory, unto ages of ages. "
"The Lord said of His Church: 'I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' (Mt. 16:18). This is said of the pastors of the Church and all true believers, as well as of all the Sacraments, all the dogmas and commandments of the Holy Orthodox Faith, and of all the offices of the Sacraments; for instance, the Liturgy, Holy Orders, Matrimony, Baptism, Chrism, Holy Oil, which have been established unto all the ages, and have already been in existence unchanged during many centuries. See how firm is the Church, founded by the Lord! Remember these words of the Lord and do not waver in the slightest degree when celebrating any of the Sacraments. Be firm as adamant. "
"So do not let us stand in church in a state of spiritual prostration, but let the spirit of each one of us on such occasions bum in its working towards God. Even men do not much value the services which we render to them coldly, out of habit. And God requires our hearts. 'My son, give Me thine heart.' (Proverbs 23:26) Because the heart is the principal part of the man - his life. More than this, the heart is the man himself. Thus he who does not pray or does not serve God with his heart, does not pray at all, because in that case his body only prays, and the body without the mind is nothing more than earth. Remember, that when standing in prayer, you stand before God Himself, who has the wisdom of all. Therefore, your prayer ought to be, so to say, all spirit, all understanding. "
"Lord! As it is natural to be the Prototype to attach, to assimilate to Itself Its images, to abide and to live in them, so, likewise, it ought to be natural to those who are created after Thine image to yearn with all their love, with all their ardor after their Prototype, and to attach themselves to It. But our greedy, sensual flesh, gross and inert, withdraws us from Thee. Fasting and abstinence are necessary for us whilst we crave after sensual gratifications. Strengthen us in abstinence! "
"Do not fear bodily privations, but fear spiritual privations. Do not fear, do not be faint-hearted, do not be irritated, when you are deprived of money, food, drink, enjoyments, clothes, dwelling, even of your body itself; but fear when the enemy deprives your soul of faith, of trust and of love for God and your neighbor; when he sows hatred, enmity, attachment to earthly things, pride and other sins in your heart. "