St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Church

Holy Baptism

"By dying to sin in Baptism one could say mystically that he shares in the death of Christ Himself (cf. II Tim. 2:11). Join me in observing how appropriately the symbols convey the sacred. To us death is not, as others imagine, a complete dissolution of being. It is, rather, the separation of two parts which had been linked together. It brings the soul into what for us is an invisible realm where it, in the loss of the body, becomes formless. And the body is hidden in earth and undergoes a change from its corporeal shape and is withdrawn from its human appearance. Now because of this it is quite appropriate to hide the initiate completely in the water as an image of this death and this burial where form is dissolved. This symbolic lesson therefore sacredly leads the one who is baptized into the mystery that by his triple immersion he imitates, as far as the imitation of God is possible to men, the divine death of One Who was three days and nights in the tomb, the life-giving Jesus, in Whom, according to the mysterious and hidden tradition of Scripture, the ruler of this world found nothing. Next they put bright clothes on the initiate. His courage and his likeness to God, his firm trust toward the One, make him indifferent to contrary things. Order descends upon disorder within him. Form takes over from formlessness. Light shines through all his life. "

- St. Dionysius the Areopogite

He gave us our being...

"A person whose mouth always thanks God will by no means lack the blessings of God, but a person whose mouth grumbles and wounds his great Benefactor shall certainly be chastened by God. He gave us our being; He gives us life; He preserves us in various ways with His divine Providence. Through the death of His Son, He reconciled us who were previously His enemies and made us sons and heirs of His Kingdom! He purifies us and sanctifies us through His holy Mysteries! He gives us the heavenly, most holy food and drink, that is, His All-holy Body and Precious Blood! He has also given us a guardian for our whole life! He will receive our soul and guide it to the eternal inheritance! But what am I saying? Time would fail me to recount everything; I would be laboring in vain, trying to count the sand in the sea - the infinite benefactions of our good God! "

- Elder Ephraim

Wisdom of St. John of Kronstadt

"The object of our life is union with God: in this life by faith, hope and love and in the future one by all-perfect love. But see how the enemy and we ourselves here distort this object. We unite ourselves in our hearts with various things in accordance with the diversity of our passionate attachments. Sometimes, 0 horror! our love is fixed upon silver, upon food, drink, dress, dwelling, furniture, upon men like unto ourselves, until we forget God. Sometimes we are proud, we envy, hate, lie, and then we unite ourselves directly with the Devil himself, who is malice, falsehood, pride, envy personified—and we thus insult our Master, Who created us after His own image and likeness; how we distort this divinely drawn image, drawn from God Himself! But we think of this too little, are too ignorant of that which is the most essential matter to us—our union with God. "

"In what does the life of a Christian consist? In having nothing in the heart but Christ, or, if possessing earthly blessings, in not in the least attaching himself to them, but in clinging with the whole heart to Christ. "

"Christian hope is our hope in Christ and in the eternal bliss promised us by Christ. He is the limit of our desires."

"Your Lord is love: love Him and in Him all men, as His children in Christ. Your Lord is a fire: do not let your heart be cold but burn with faith and love. Your Lord is a light: do not walk in darkness and do not do anything in darkness of mind, without reasoning or understanding, or without faith. Your Lord is a God of mercy and bountifulness: be also a source of mercy and bountifulness to your neighbors. If you will be such, you will find salvation yourself with everlasting glory. "

"Take care; do not forget, Christian; never lose hearty faith in Him Who is your invisible Life, your Peace, your Light, your Strength, your Breath; that is, in Jesus Christ. "

"God the Father is Life, God the Son is Life, God the Holy Spirit is Life: the Holy Trinity is Life. Life is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; if you deny in heart the Father you deny the life of your heart; if you deny the Son, you deny your life; if you deny the Holy Spirit, you also deny your life. "

"Could the leaves exist without the tree, and could the tree itself exist without earth, air, water and warmth? Likewise no soul can exist without God, without His Son, without His Spirit. God is my being, my breath, my light, my strength, my drink, my food. He carries me as a mother carries her infant in her arms. More than this. Carrying me, my soul and body, He dwells in me and is united to me. "

"Looking upon the Savior's Cross, contemplate Love, crucified upon it for our salvation; and think, for what blessedness He has saved us, and from what torments He has redeemed us! He has snatched us from the jaws of the beast and hast brought us to the Father! 0 love! 0 redemption! 0 indescribable, endless blessedness! "

" When Christ is in our heart, we are contented with everything: what has been discomfort to us becomes the greatest comfort, what was bitter to us becomes sweet, poverty becomes our wealth, our hunger is satisfied, and our sorrow turns into joy! But when Christ is not in the heart, then the man is not contented with anything, he does not find happiness in anything: neither in health nor in comfort, nor in ranks and honors, nor in amusements, nor in rich palaces, nor in a luxuriously served table covered with all kinds of viands and drinks, nor in rich attire — in nothing. Ah! 'now necessary for the man is Christ, the Life-giver and the Savior of our souls! "

" There is no happiness for me on earth save the Lord Jesus Christ, with His Father and the Holy Spirit. After God, there ss nothing on earth dearer to me. "