churchfathers Archives • Page 12 of 13 • Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands, U.K.

Pray simply. Do not expect to find in your heart any remarkable gift of prayer. Consider yourself unworthy of it. Then you will find peace. Use the empty, cold dryness of your prayer as food for your humility. Repeat constantly, “I am not worthy. Lord, I am not worthy!” But say it calmly, without agitation. This humble prayer will be acceptable to God. – Starets Makarii of Optina (1788-1860 #prayer #seeking #orthodox #orthodoxy #coptic #dailyreading #churchfathers

Pray simply. Do not expect to find in your heart any remarkable gift of prayer. Consider yourself unworthy of it. …

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What keeps you from giving now? Isn’t the poor man there? Aren’t your own warehouses full? Isn’t the reward promised? The command is clear: the hungry man is dying now, the naked man is freezing now, the man in debt is beaten now – and you want to wait until tomorrow? “I’m not doing any harm,” you say. “I just want to keep what I own, that’s all.” You own? … You are like someone who sits down in a theater and keeps everyone else away, saying that what is there for everyone’s use is his own … If everyone took only what he needed and gave the rest to those in need, there would be no such thing as rich or poor. After all, didn’t you come into life naked; and won’t you return naked to the earth? – St. Basil the Great #dailyreadings #sayingsofthefathers #churchfathers #coptic #copticorthodox #orthodoxy #service #giving #charity #love

What keeps you from giving now? Isn’t the poor man there? Aren’t your own warehouses full? Isn’t the reward promised? …

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“Some people read books in order to find God. Yet there is a great book, the very appearance of created things. Look above you, look below you! Note it, read it! God whom you wish to find, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? Why, heaven and earth cry out to you, ‘God made me’ ” – St. Augustine #copticorthodox #orthodox #orthodoxy #dailyreadings #churchfathers #books #infinite #allknowing

“Some people read books in order to find God. Yet there is a great book, the very appearance of created …

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“The more we contemplate about the Cross, the greater our unity with and the deeper our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ becomes.”~ Father Pishoy Kamel #copticorthodox #churchfathers #coptic #dailyreadings #faith #orthodox #orthodoxy #cross #sonsofgod

“The more we contemplate about the Cross, the greater our unity with and the deeper our knowledge of the Lord …

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“It is those lacking endurance who, in their ignorance, impetuously hurry on to seize what they have not yet been given, failing to realize that “one day in the eyes of the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a single day” (Psalm 90:4). But he, who by enduring patiently has gained experience of the Devil’s machinations will fight and strive forward with patience so as to reach the goal, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24- 26.” – St. Peter of Damaskos #copticothodox #coptic #dailyreadings #churchfathers #patience #angelgabriel

“It is those lacking endurance who, in their ignorance, impetuously hurry on to seize what they have not yet been …

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