Isidore Archives - Saint Sophia

Friday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent: Poison in your Heart: The Memory of Insults. Reconciliation with our Neighbours.

03/23/2018

Poison in your Heart: The Memory of Insults The memory of insults is the residue of anger. It keeps sins alive, hates justice, ruins virtue, poisons the heart, rots the mind, defeats concentration, paralyses prayer, puts love at a distance, and is a nail driven into the soul. If anyone has appeased his anger, he has already suppressed the memory of insults, while as long as the mother is alive the son persists. In order

Friday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent: Two Sexes but Only One Human Nature. Helps and Hindrances in Human Relations.

03/16/2018

Two Sexes but Only One Human Nature The author of the story of our creation teaches us that the Creator formed from the clay a man, formed from the man’s rib a woman and then, starting from the union of the two, filled the earth with their descendants. God did not create the woman from just any kind of material. He took from the man what he needed to create her. The reason? To prevent

Thursday of the Third Week of Great Lent: Persevering is More Important than Beginning. Hunger for Righteousness.

03/08/2018

Persevering is More Important than Beginning Jerome said: ‘Christians will not be asked how they began but rather how they finished. St Paul began badly but finished well. Judas’s beginning was praiseworthy but his end was despicable. ‘Many start the climb but few reach the summit.’ Gregory said: ‘The value of good work depends on perseverance. ‘You live a good life in vain if you do not continue it until you die.’ Isidore said: ‘Our

Tuesday of the Third Week of Great Lent: To Rise You Must Go Downward. Have You Ever Seen the Snow Catch Fire?

03/06/2018

To Rise You Must Go Downward Origen said: ‘If you are not humble and serene, it is impossible for the grace of the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.’ Augustine said: ‘God humbled himself: human beings should blush to be proud.’ Gregory the Great said: ‘The more humility aims at the depths, the higher it climbs on the path to the summit. ‘Humility in listening to the Word of God makes the path ready for

Wednesday of the First Week of Great Lent: One Route but so Many By-Ways. The Spiritual Pilgrim’s Guidebook.

02/21/2018

One Route but so Many By-Ways Jerome said: ‘There are many virtues which lead those who practice them to the kingdom of heaven. There is only one route but there are many by-ways. ‘Whoever is anxious to make progress, even if he reaches a certain degree of perfection, can always find some need for improvement and become more proficient day by day. ‘No one can enjoy a good reputation both for virtue and for a

Anything a Fools says is Rubbish. The Attainment of Perfect Freedom

09/19/2017

Anything a Fool says is Rubbish Jerome said: ‘Stupid and tasteless words are not fitting for Christians. Their speech should always be in good taste so as to sound pleasing to the ears of other people. ‘Anything a fool says is rubbish, just an empty din.’ Gregory said: ‘Just as the ear does not understand food nor the throat take in words, so the fool does not comprehend the conversation of the wise.’ Isidore said:

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent: Greed is never Satisfied & Anyone Given to Lust is Dead while Alive

04/21/2016

Greed is never Satisfied Ambrose said: ‘Avarice and pride are so much the same evil that you cannot find someone who is proud but not avaricious nor someone who is avaricious but not proud.’ Isidore said: ‘The greater our love for the things we possess, the greater our pain when we lose them. ‘Greed is insatiable. The person who is afflicted with it always needs something else; the more he has, the more he wants.

The Fifth Friday of Great Lent: The Three Stages & One Vice leads to Another

04/15/2016

The Three Stages We must distinguish simple thoughts, that is, ones without passion, from passionate thoughts. If we are examining the way in which sins of thought begin, we notice that the latter, namely passionate thoughts are accompanied by a large number of simple thoughts. Let us take money as an example. Someone thinks of a sum of money belonging to someone else. His imagination urges him to theft, and in his spirit he has

The Sixth Wednesday of Great Lent

04/09/2014

Courage and Humility Defeat Death Isidore said: ‘The one who is faithful to God ought not to trust in God’s own faithfulness: nor should the one who sins against God despair of God’s mercy. In the heart of both are hope and fear side by side: hope of forgiveness which inspires courage, and fear of punishment which rouses humility. ‘It is necessary that the penitent never feel secure with regard to their sin, because such

The Second Monday of Great Lent

03/10/2014

Life is a Dream with Many Changes of Scene I am not telling a lie: human life is a dream. In our dreams we look without seeing, we listen without hearing, we taste and touch without tasting or touching, we speak without saying anything, we walk without moving. We seem to be moving normally even though we stay still and to be making our habitual gestures even though we are not. The mind invents realities

Archive

Friday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent: Poison in your Heart: The Memory of Insults. Reconciliation with our Neighbours.

Friday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent: Two Sexes but Only One Human Nature. Helps and Hindrances in Human Relations.

Thursday of the Third Week of Great Lent: Persevering is More Important than Beginning. Hunger for Righteousness.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Great Lent: To Rise You Must Go Downward. Have You Ever Seen the Snow Catch Fire?

Wednesday of the First Week of Great Lent: One Route but so Many By-Ways. The Spiritual Pilgrim’s Guidebook.

Anything a Fools says is Rubbish. The Attainment of Perfect Freedom

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent: Greed is never Satisfied & Anyone Given to Lust is Dead while Alive

The Fifth Friday of Great Lent: The Three Stages & One Vice leads to Another

The Sixth Wednesday of Great Lent

The Second Monday of Great Lent

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