Church Fathers V3 - Fr George Grube - Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox ...

+ When we lay bare the hidden meaning of history, Holy Scripture is seen to
teach that the birth which distresses the tyrant is the beginning of the virtuous
life. I am speaking of the kind of birth in which free will serves as the midwife,
delivering the child amid great pain. For no one causes grief to his antagonist
unless he exhibits in himself those marks which give proof of his victory over
the other.
- St. Gregory of Nyssa
+ Holiness is the fruit of man’s efforts and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- St. John Maximovitch
+ Holiness, my brethren, is the virtue that encompasses all the other virtues.
A saint, a mere man, is adorned through it with all the virtues. If a man is a man
of prayer and is not compassionate, he cannot be called a saint, and if a man
endures all things but does not have faith and hope, he does not belong among
the saints. If a man is full of compassion but is without faith in God, truly such a
man cannot be reckoned among the saints.
- Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
+ A saint cannot be a saint in only one part of his life, but must be so in the
whole of it. We must be holy in every part and particle of our lives, so that we
may be counted among the saints, among the people who are conformed to the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Prototype of the Saints and the Primal Image of Man.
- Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
+ We shouldn’t be concerned that our worldly resources will decrease while we
practice the virtues. For Christian poverty is always rich because what it has is
more valuable than what it doesn’t have.
- Pope Leo I of Rome
+ For God, who produces and gives breath to people, desired that all should
be equally matched. He has placed the same life conditions on everyone; He
has given everyone wisdom. No one is prevented from receiving His heavenly
benefits. For He gives light, water, food, and the most pleasant rest of sleep to
everyone. In the same way, He grants everyone equity and virtue. In His eyes,
no one is a slave and no one is a master. For, if we all have the same Father,
by an equal right we are all His children. No one is poor in God’s sight except
the unrighteous. No one is rich except those who are filled with virtue.
- Lactantius
+ There are virtues of the body and virtues of the soul. Those of the body
include fasting, vigils, sleeping on the ground, ministering to other’s needs,
working with one’s hands so as not to be a burden or in order to give to others
(cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:9, Ephesians 4:28). The virtues of the soul include love,
long- suffering, gentleness, self- control and prayer (cf. Galatians 5:22). If as a
result of some constraint or bodily condition, such as illness or the like, we find
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