12 Insightful Sayings from the Three Hierarchs of the Church

12 Insightful Sayings from the Three Hierarchs of the Church

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1 – “Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good man’s fortune, and many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger.” ~ Saint Basil the Great

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2 – “Grace is given not to them who speak [their faith] but to those who live their faith.” ~ Saint Gregory the Theologian

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3 – “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.” ~ Saint John Chrysostom

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4 – “A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” ~ Saint Basil the Great

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5 – “We are not made for ourselves alone. We are made for the good of all our fellow creatures.” ~ Saint Gregory the Theologian

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 6 – “In children, we have a great charge committed to us. Let us bestow great care upon them, and do everything that the Evil One may not rob us of them. But now our practice is the reverse of this. We take all care indeed to have our farm in good order, and to commit it to the faithful manager, we look out for it an ass-driver, muleteer, bailiff, and a clever accountant. But we do not look out for what is much more important, for a person to whom we may commit our son as the guardian of his morals, though this is a possession much more valuable than all others. It is for him indeed that we take such care of our estate. We take care of our possessions for our children, but of the children themselves, we take no care at all. Form the soul of thy son aright, and all the rest will be added hereafter.” ~ Saint John Chrysostom

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7 – “When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love, and praise their Creator.” ~ Saint Basil the Great

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8 – “Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God if we have given what we could.” ~ Saint Gregory the Theologian

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9 – “Let everything take second place to our care of our children, our bringing them up to the discipline and instruction of the Lord. If from the beginning we teach them to love true wisdom, they will have great wealth and glory than riches can provide. If a child learns a trade or is highly educated for a lucrative profession, all this is nothing compared to the art of detachment from riches; if you want to make your child rich, teach him this. He is truly rich who does not desire great possessions, or surround himself with wealth, but who requires nothing…” ~ Saint John Chrysostom

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10 – “You can see that a city is prosperous by the wealth of goods for sale in the market. Land too we call prosperous if it bears rich fruit. And so also the soul may be counted prosperous if it is full of good works of every kind.” ~ Saint Basil the Great

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11 – “Let us treasure up in our soul some of those things which are permanent…, not of those which will forsake us and be destroyed, and which only tickle our senses for a little while.” ~ Saint Gregory the Theologian

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12 – “When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their fellow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them.” ~ Saint John Chrysostom

12 Insightful Sayings from the Three Hierarchs of the Church

Source: OrthodoxChurchQuotes.com,
BrainyQuote.com,
AZQuotes.com,
and Goodreads.com.