The Holy Scriptures do not know any distinctions. They enjoin that all lead the life of monks.
Saint John ChrysostomIf we were not passionately inclined to money or to vainglory, then we would not fear death or poverty. We would not know enmity or hatred, and we would not suffer from the sorrows of ourselves or others.
Saint John ChrysostomGod loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.
Saint John ChrysostomLet us return from that Table like lions breathing out fire, terrifying to the devil!
Saint John ChrysostomImagine your anger to be a kind of wild beast, because it has ferocious teeth and claws, and if you don't tame it, it will devastate all things even corrupting the soul.
Saint John ChrysostomLet the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbor.
Saint John ChrysostomAnd all men are ready to pass judgement on the priest as if he was not a being clothed with flesh, or one who inherited a human nature.
Saint John ChrysostomShall I tell you of their plundering, their covetousness, their abandonment of the poor, their thefts, their cheating in trade?
Saint John ChrysostomO most grateful burden, which comforts them that carry it! The burdens of earthly masters gradually wear out the strength of those who carry them; but the burden of Christ assists the bearers of it, because we carry not grace, but grace us.
Saint John ChrysostomIt may here be observed, that all who are offended by us are exposed to our view. But the rich man sees Lazarus not with any other righteous man, but in Abraham's bosom. For Abraham was full of love, but the man is convicted of cruelty. Abraham sitting before his door followed after those that passed by, and brought them into his house, the other turned away even them that abode within his gate.
Saint John ChrysostomWhat prayer could be more true before God the Father than that which the Son, who is Truth, uttered with His own lips?
Saint John ChrysostomWhen one is required to preside over the Church, and be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also.
Saint John ChrysostomFeet were made, not given for dancing, but to walk modestly, not to leap impudently like camels.
Saint John ChrysostomThe Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil.
Saint John ChrysostomWhen 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 follow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them.
Saint John ChrysostomWhat shepherd feeds his sheep with his own blood? But Christ feeds us with His own Blood and in all things unites us to Himself.
Saint John ChrysostomIn the Christian combat, not the striker, as in the Olympic contests, but he who is struck, wins the crown. This is the law in the celestial theatre, where the Angels are the spectators.
Saint John ChrysostomWhether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of our words, but on the fervor of our souls.
Saint John ChrysostomTherefore, not only are their passions satanic, but their lives are diabolic. So I say to you that these are even worse than murderers, and that it would be better to die than to live in such dishonor. A murderer only separates the soul from the body, whereas these destroy the soul inside the body..... There is nothing, absolutely nothing more mad or damaging than this perversity.
Saint John ChrysostomIf you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice.
Saint John ChrysostomWoman is a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic peril, a deadly fascination, and a painted ill.
Saint John ChrysostomWhatever you may do for your brother, being hungry, and a stranger, and naked, not even the devil will be able to despoil, but it will be laid up in an inviolabe treasure.
Saint John ChrysostomThings themselves do not remain, but their effects do. Therefore we should not be mean and calculating with what we have but give with a generous hand. Look at how much people give to players and dancers-why not give just as much to Christ?
Saint John ChrysostomEvery time that we sin, we are born of the devil. But every time that we do good, we are born of God.
Saint John ChrysostomAn insult is either sustained or destroyed, not by the disposition of those who insult, but by the disposition of those who bear it.
Saint John ChrysostomNo matter how just your words may be, when you speak with anger, you ruin all: no matter how boldly you speak, how fairly reprove, or what not.
Saint John ChrysostomWhen the Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels, who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar.
Saint John ChrysostomHappiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.
Saint John ChrysostomIt is impossible to be saved without the help of the Most Blessed Virgin, because those who are not saved by the justice of God are saved by the intercession of Mary.
Saint John ChrysostomLet us pass to the despotic part of the soul, spirit. We must not eliminate it utterly from the youth nor yet allow him to use it all the time. Let us train boys from earliest childhood to be patient when they suffer wrongs themselves, but, if they see another being wronged, to sally forth courageously and aid the sufferer in fitting measure.
Saint John Chrysostom