He answered, "The woman whom You gave to be with me" (Gen 3:9-12), he did not say, "the woman deceived me," but "The woman whom You gave to me," as if he wanted to say: "This catastrophe has come upon me because of You." So it is, brethren, since Man is not accustomed to blame himself. He does not hesitate to consider even God as the cause of evil.

Then God came to the woman and said to her, "Why did you not keep the commandment?" as if He wanted to say, "At least you, say forgive me, so as to humble your soul and to receive mercy." Again, there was no request for forgiveness. She also answered, "The serpent deceived me," as if she wanted to say, "If the serpent sinned, where is my mistake?"

A man who gives way to his passions is like a man who is shot by an enemy, catches the arrow in his hands, and then plunges it into his own heart. A man who is resisting his passions is like a man who is shot by an enemy, and although the arrow hits him, it does not seriously wound him because he is wearing a breastplate. But the man who is uprooting his passions is like a man who is shot by an enemy, but who strikes the arrow and shatters it or turns it back into his enemies heart.

The grace of God comes swiftly to the soul when endurance is no longer possible.

The devil loves and always rejoices over the ungoverned; those who are not subject to one who has power, under God, to help them and to give them a hand.

Sin is one thing but instinctive reaction or passion is another. These are our reactions: pride, anger, sexual indulgence, hate, greed, and so on. The corresponding sins are the gratification of these passions: when a man acts and brings into corporeal reality those works which were suggested to him by his desires. It is impossible to exist without desires arising, but not to give way to them is by no means impossible.

In the measure that we pay attention and take care to carry out what we hear, God will always enlighten us and make us understand His will.