Orthodox Spirituality

"As quickly as possible break the knots of the passions, which have become entangled by desires and emotions combining and frequently recurring. It is easier to break the individual threads of desires and the individual threads of emotions than the knots of passions. Nevertheless you must break them even if it causes you to bleed, if you want a new childhood, a new youth, more beautiful and eternal than your former youth. Cast the world out of yourself, my heart, and then observe how feeble it is. And then observe yourself, and you will feel unheard-of power. The world seems powerful to us only when we serve it as its slave."

+St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Blessed is he who has obtained such love and yearning for God as a mad lover has for his beloved. Blessed is he who fears the Lord as much as men under trial fear the judge. Blessed is he who is as zealous with true zeal as a well-disposed slave towards his master. Blessed is he who has become as jealous of the virtues as husbands who remain in unsleeping watch over their wives out of jealousy. Blessed is he who stands in prayer before the Lord as servants stand before a king. Blessed is he who unceasingly strives to please the Lord as others try to please men.

+St. John Climacus

Fasting and vigils are the foundation of all the virtues; for when they are undertaken with discretion, these virtues help a man to attain every good. That is, the beginning of all evils is the comfort of the belly and the softness that comes from sleep, which excites the desire for fornication, dulls the mind, and makes one continually gross and darkened. Just as the desire for light comes to healthy eyes, so also he who fasts with discernment desires prayer; for when one begins to fast, as a result of this fasting, his mind starts gradually to wake up and he experiences the desire to converse with God. But also the body, when it fasts, and is not burdened with satiety, does not need to sleep for the entire night in bed, but wakes up eagerly to serve God.

To the extent, then, that the seal of fasting is placed on a man’s body, his mind contemplates with compunction, his heart wells up with prayer, and austerity is imprinted on his face, while shameful thoughts remain far from this man. Fasting is the adversary of evil desires and vain associations. Fasting is a good road that leads to every good deed and he who neglects it confounds all the virtues....

+ Abba Isaac

If a man resolves to treat and heal his soul, he must first apply himself to a careful examination of his whole being. He must learn to distinguish good from evil, the things of God from those of the devil, for "discernment is the greatest of the virtues."

+St. Justin Popovich

When you want to begin a Godly work, first give a promise to God that you will not live for the present life and that you are prepared to die, being thereby indifferent to all earthly things. You should always keep this in your mind, in which case you will be able, with God’s help, to struggle and be victorious. Hope for the present life enervates one’s mind and does not allow a man to make progress in anything good. But as for you, do not approach the performance of good work with dual thoughts, about the world and about God, something which leads to laxity, so that your toil may not prove useless and your efforts at spiritual cultivation may not prove arduous. But begin to do what is good with courage and unhesitating faith in God, since you know that the Lord is merciful and is ever ready to help those who seek Him, rewarding with generosity and great bounties the good toil of those who have labored, granting to us His Grace, not in proportion to our work, but according to the measure of the eagerness and faith of our hearts. For He it is who says: “As thou has believed, so be it done unto thee”.

The Evergetinos

Beloved brothers, our Lord and Saviour sometimes gives us instruction by words and sometimes by actions. His very deeds are our commands; and whenever he acts silently he is teaching us what we should do. For example, he sends his disciples out to preach two by two, because the precept of charity is twofold – love of God and of one’s neighbour.
The Lord sends his disciples out to preach in twos in order to teach us silently that whoever fails in charity towards his neighbour should by no means take upon himself the office of preaching.

Rightly is it said that he sent them ahead of him into every city and place where he himself was to go. For the Lord follows after the preachers, because preaching goes ahead to prepare the way, and then when the words of exhortation have gone ahead and established truth in our minds, the Lord comes to live within us. To those who preach Isaiah says: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. And the psalmist tells them: Make a way for him who rises above the sunset. The Lord rises above the sunset because from that very place where he slept in death, he rose again and manifested a greater glory. He rises above the sunset because in his resurrection he trampled underfoot the death which he endured. Therefore, we make a way for him who rises above the sunset when we preach his glory to you, so that when he himself follows after us, he may illumine you with his love.

Let us listen now to his words as he sends his preachers forth: The harvest is great but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. That the harvest is good but the labourers are few cannot be said without a heavy heart, for although there are many to hear the good news there are only a few to preach it. Indeed, see how full the world is of priests, but yet in God’s harvest a true labourer is rarely to be found; although we have accepted the priestly office we do not fulfil its demands.
Think over, my beloved brothers, think over his words: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. Pray for us so that we may be able to labour worthily on your behalf, that our tongue may not grow weary of exhortation, that after we have taken up the office of preaching our silence may not bring us condemnation from the just judge.

+St Gregory the Great

He who keeps silent about the truth conceals Christ in a tomb......It is not right, it is not lawful, it is not fitting for those of right belief to be silent at all when those eager to promote deception and error violate the laws of God.

+St. Meletios the Confessor

O God and Lord of all! Who hath the power over every breath and soul, the only One able to heal me, hearken unto the prayer of me, the wretched one, and, having put him to death, destroy the serpent nestling within me by the decent of the All-Holy and Life-Creating Spirit. And vouchsafe me, poor and naked of all virtue, to fall with tears at the feet of my spiritual father, and call his holy soul to mercy, to have mercy on me. And grant, O Lord, unto my heart humility and good thoughts, becoming a sinner, who hath consented to repent unto Thee, and do not abandon unto the end the one soul, which hath united itself unto Thee and hath confessed Thee, and instead of all the world hath chosen Thee and hath preferred Thee. For Thou knowest, O Lord, that I want to save myself, and that my evil habit is an obstacle. But all things are possible unto Thee, O Master, which are impossible for man. Amen.

Prayer before confession of St. Symeon the New Theologian

Why in our fear of not praying as we should, do we turn to so many things, to find what we should pray for? Why do we not say instead, in the words of the psalm: I have asked one thing from the Lord, this is what I will seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, to see the graciousness of the Lord, and to visit his temple? There, the days do not come and go in succession, and the beginning of one day does not mean the end of another; all days are one, simultaneously and without end, and the life lived out in these days has itself no end.
So that we might obtain this life of happiness, he who is true life itself taught us to pray, not in many words as though speaking longer could gain us a hearing. After all, we pray to one who, as the Lord himself tells us, knows what we need before we ask for it.
Why he should ask us to pray, when he knows what we need before we ask him, may perplex us if we do not realise that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it), but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us. His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it. That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires, do not bear the yoke with unbelievers.
The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed. No eye has seen it; it has no colour. No ear has heard it; it has no sound. It has not entered man’s heart; man’s heart must enter into it.
In this faith, hope and love we pray always with unwearied desire.
However, at set times and seasons we also pray to God in words, so that by these signs we may instruct ourselves and mark the progress we have made in our desire, and spur ourselves on to deepen it. The more fervent the desire, the more worthy will be its fruit. When the Apostle tells us: Pray without ceasing, he means this: Desire unceasingly that life of happiness which is nothing if not eternal, and ask it of him who alone is able to give it.

+ St Augustine

...do not despair in any way ignoring God’s help, for He can do whatever He wishes. On the contrary, place your hope in Him and He will do one of these things: either through trials and temptations, or in some other way which He alone knows, He will bring about your restoration; or He will accept your patient endurance and humility in the place of works; or because of your hope He will act lovingly towards you in some other way of which you are not aware, and so will save your shackled soul. Only do not abandon your Physician, for otherwise you will suffer senselessly the twofold death because you do not know the hidden ways of God.

+St. Peter of Damascus

"We should never lack the contemplation of death or other such meditations. All these contemplations create watchfulness in the soul and purity and cleanse the mind so that it may feel the contemplation better. This contemplation is a barrier for evil thoughts. When this spiritual contemplation is within us, we shut out evil thoughts...

We should never at any time stop remembering death. The Holy Fathers said that they were not overcome by negligence in their cells, because they had the remembrance of death night and day. Negligence found no room in them. The Fathers kept thinking, 'If today or tomorrow is my last day, what should I do?' In this way, this remembrance kept their mind on the fear of God, and the fear of God gave light to their conscience regarding how to compel themselves.

What will come more certainly than death? It is the most certain thing that every person will encounter. We ought to keep the remembrance of death alive within us constantly, so that through this most saving remembrance, we may avoid the soul's death . . . Violently compel yourselves, says the Lord in the gospel, for you do not know when the Bridegroom of your soul will visit you, and woe to him whom He finds indolent and neglectful of his salvation.

The truth of God sounds forth like a might trumpet and says, 'Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!' 'For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 'Remember your end and you shall not sin unto the ages.' 'Riches do not remain, glory does not accompany one to the other world, for when death comes, all these things are obliterated.' Behold the truth, which mightily crushes the lie!

When we visit our final dwelling, our grave, we shall see with our own eyes all the vanity of man, as did Abba Sisoes when he saw the tomb of Alexander the Great and cried out, 'Alas, alas, O death! The entire world was not big enough for you, Alexander. How then have you fit into two meters of earth now?'
My child, be careful with this world which is like a theater. For poor and ignoble people on stage in the theater wear the clothes of kings, tycoons, etc. and appear to be different from what they really are and fool the audience. But when the show is over and they take off their masks, then their true faces are revealed."

+Elder Ephraim

Thee alone I follow, Lord Jesus, Who heals my wounds. For what shall separate me from the love of God, which is in Thee? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine? I am held fast as though by nails, and fettered by the bonds of charity. Remove from me, O Lord Jesus, with Thy potent sword, the corruption of my sins. Secure me in the bonds of Thy love; cut away what is corrupt in me. Come quickly and make an end of my many, my hidden and secret afflictions. Open the wound lest the evil humour spread. With Thy new washing, cleanse in me all that is stained. Hear me, you earthly men, who in your sins bring forth drunken thoughts: I have found a Physician. He dwells in Heaven and distributes His healing on earth. He alone can heal my pains Who Himself has none. He alone Who knows what is hidden, can take away the grief of my heart, the fear of my soul — Jesus Christ. Christ is grace, Christ is life, Christ is Resurrection! Amen.

+St. Ambrose of Milan

“A young person must bring his youth into submission to the Word of God, so that, in keeping with the demand of the Word, "ye present" — as Holy Scripture says—"your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptble unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1); he must exsiccate and chill, as well, every thought of fleshly pleasure by eating and drinking little and by all-night vigils, so that he might be able say from the depth of his heart: "For I am become like a wineskin in the frost; yet have I not forgotten Thy statutes" (Psalm 118:83). Let him keep in mind that he belongs to Christ, so that he might crucify the flesh, along with its affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24), and mortify his members, which are the seat of the earthly and fleshly pleasures (Colossians 3:5).

He who attains to the crown of true, spotless, and total virginity does not stop his struggle there; but he struggles, in accordance with Apostolic teaching, to mortify even the very thought of the passions and their action in the heart. And yet not even in this does one who with keen love struggles to bring to dwell in his soul Angelic and spotless virginity imagine that he does so truly. Therefore, he prays that there might also be expunged from his thoughts even the memory of simple lusts which come into the mind through its wandering, without any incitement by, or action of, the bodily passions. This, of course, can be achieved only by the power and with the aid of God, as well as the strengthening of the Holy Spirit, though there are, indeed, only a few worthy of this Grace.
Thus, he who succeeds in gaining the crown of purity and spotless virginity, and is thus wholly possessed by Divine love, crucifies his flesh with ascetic labors, putting to death his earthly members (thereby) through resistance and the maintenance of self-restraint. And having enfeebled the external man and weakened him, as though he had been emaciated by a famine, he is reduced to a virtual skeleton, wherein the inner man is renewed by faith, struggles, and the energy of Grace, moving daily towards better things. He is enlarged in love, made greater in hope, rendered blissful by spiritual joy, rewarded by the peace of Christ, led by kindness, enlightened with prudence and knowledge, made luminous by wisdom, and inclined to humility.

The spiritual faculty being renewed by the Spirit with these and similar virtues, there is revealed within such a man the imprint of the Divine image; he feels spiritual and indescribable beauty, understanding perfectly the self-taught wisdom which one learns on his own from the richness of the moral law implanted in us.”

+Abba Mark

“The cross is the door to mysteries. Through this door the intellect makes entrance in to the knowledge of heavenly mysteries. The knowledge of the cross is concealed in the sufferings of the cross. And the more our participation in its sufferings, the greater the perception we gain through the cross. For, as the Apostle says, `As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”

+St. Isaac the Syrian

The name of Jesus should be repeated over and over in the heart as flashes of lightning are repeated over and over in the sky before rain. Those who have experience of the intellect and of inner warfare know this very well. We should wage this spiritual warfare with a precise sequence: first, with attentiveness; then, when we perceive the hostile thought attacking, we should strike at it angrily in the heart, cursing it as we do so: thirdly, we should direct our prayer against it, concentrating the heart through the invocation of Jesus Christ, so that the demonic fantasy may be dispersed at once, the intellect no longer pursuing it like a child deceived by some conjuror.

+St. Hesychios the Priest

During this present, difficult time, when the earth has grown old, is burdened by faithlessness, lawlessness, and ignorance of the knowledge of God’s commandments, has our Fervent Intercessor turned away from us in her zeal for the glory of her Son and God?
No, my dears, this could not be. Needy children are dearer to a mother. As long as there is at least a “little flock” left… to bear and preserve faithfulness to Christ’s commandments and hope in the intercessions of the Mother of God, we will not perish. And so we pray to the Mother of God with our whole heart and with our whole mind and say: “Rejoice, O our joy! Protect us from all evil by Thy precious omophorion!”

–Archimandrite John Krestiankin

This sacrament of unity, this bond of a concord inseparably cohering, is set forth where in the Gospel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at all divided nor cut, but is received as an entire garment, and is possessed as an uninjured and undivided robe by those who cast lots concerning Christ's garment, who should rather put on Christ. Holy Scripture speaks, saying, "But of the coat, because it was not sewed, but woven from the top throughout, they said one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots whose it shall be" (John 19:23-24).

That coat bore with it a unity that came down from the top, that is, that came from heaven and the Father, which was not to be at all rent by the receiver and the possessor, but without separation we obtain a whole and substantial entireness. He cannot possess the garment of Christ who parts and divides the Church of Christ.

+St. Cyprian of Carthage

"Here I am sending you out like sheep with wolves all round you; so be as wise as serpents and yet as harmless as doves. But be on your guard against men." (Matthew 10:16)
What does it mean to be as wise as a serpent? When a serpent is attacked, it is willing to have much of its body severed, as long as it saves its head. So to be as wise as a serpent means to be willing to lose everything: your wealth, your reputation, your friends, as long as you save your faith. Your faith is your head, by which you learn all truth, and by that truth your soul is set free. We should, however, recognize that the wisdom of the serpent is not enough, we must be as honest and innocent as doves. Indeed it is the combination of wisdom and innocence that creates virtue. The person who is wise as a serpent can sustain the most terrible attacks and still continue to flourish as a disciple of Christ. The person who is innocent refuses to retaliate against those who make the attacks. To be as innocent as a dove means never to take revenge on those who wrong you or undermine you. Unless wisdom is tempered by innocence, one attack provokes another, and conflict continues without end. Unless innocence is tempered by wisdom, a person is so vulnerable that he will not even survive a single attack. Rest assured that no one can ever take away you faith, your wisdom guard against that. But be careful never to bear a grudge against anyone who does you wrong.

+St. John Chrysostom

When you see two evil men who have love for each other, know that one cooperates with the other to accomplish their evil will. A haughty man and a vainglorious man will gladly enter into an alliance with each other; for the former praises the vainglorous one, as he slavishly cringes before him, while the latter exults the haughty one, as he continually praises him. Keep yourself far away from them, so that you may not suffer the harm that comes therefrom.

+ Abba Mark

“The servants of Christ are protected by invisible, rather than visible, beings. But if these guard you, they do so because they have been summoned by your prayer.”

+St. Ambrose

In every work you are about to do, always say: “If God visits me now, what happens?” And be attentive to what your thought replies. If it condemns you, immediately stop and abandon the work you have begun. Engage in another that you will complete with certainty. For the spiritual worker must always be ready to set out on his journey (towards eternity). Whether you are sitting at your handiwork or walking on the road or eating, always say within yourself: “If God calls me at this moment, what happens?” Then see what answer your conscience gives you and act without delay according to what it tells you. Wanting to know if you have received mercy, ask your conscience again. Do not stop asking until your heart is informed and your conscience says: “We believe that God’s mercy will definitely have compassion on us.” However, be careful that your heart does not say this word with hesitation. For if there is still even a hair of doubt, God’s mercy is far from you.

The Gerontikon

The spiritual father is the internal teacher of society, the guard of a family’s morals, the consolation of the suffering, and the harbor of those who waver in life’s ocean.

+St Nektarios of Aegina

Today out of pride too many people, too many priests, think they are authorized to reform my Church. Instead they should begin by reforming themselves and humbly forming around them faithful disciples who will not listen to what they think, but to what I myself think. You have heard, and can verify, that humanity is currently undergoing a crisis of folly, agitated in every way, without any spiritual realization that would help it regain inspiration in me and stabilize itself. Alone, the few contemplative souls in the world can put a stop to this profound imbalance that leads to catastrophe....

–Gaston Courtois

“There is nothing better than peace in Christ, for it brings victory over all the evil spirits on earth and in the air. When peace dwells in a man’s heart it enables him to contemplate the grace of the Holy Spirit from within. He who dwells in peace collects spiritual gifts as it were with a scoop, and he sheds the light of knowledge on others. All our thoughts, all our desires, all our efforts, and all our actions should make us say constantly with the Church: “O Lord, give us peace!” When a man lives in peace, God reveals mysteries to him..”

+ St. Seraphim of Sarov

Love silence above all things, because it brings you near to fruit that the tongue cannot express. First let us force ourselves to be silent, and then from out of this silence something is born that leads us into silence itself. . . . If you begin with this discipline, I know not how much light will dawn on you from it. . . . Great is the man who by the patience of his members achieves wondrous habits in his soul! When you put all the works of this discipline on one side and silence on the other, you will find the latter to be greater in weight.

+ Saint Isaac the Syrian

Here is merriment, music— there are prayers, hymns, lamentations for the dead; here are riches, luxury, splendour—there naked poverty, need of everything, even of decent and sufficiently warm clothing, overcrowding, disgusting dirt and damp; here is blooming health, superfluity of strength—there maladies, decrepitude, exhaustion; here are enlightenment, much knowledge—there ignorance, darkness; or here worldly education is united with spiritual enlightenment and piety, and in this union there is beautiful and pleasant harmony and spiritual beauty, while there worldly education is accompanied with unbelief immorality, spiritual deformity, want of harmony and dissonance, harrowing the soul; here is success in all undertakings—there failure; here everything is easily obtained (money, position in society, honours, distinctions), whilst there a man strives with all his might and obtains nothing, or only by enormous efforts obtains even a little.
Who shall solve this apparent contradiction? God alone.
We can only conjecture.

+St John of Kronstadt

The start of liberty from anger is stillness of the mouth when the heart is troubled. The middle is a stillness of the mind when there is a small agitation of the soul. The end is an unchanging calm beneath the breath of polluted winds.

+St John Climacus

You are tender-hearted to sinners, please be compassionate to us on judgment day.
Pardon our debts by Your love and at the day of Your coming grant us Your dwelling place.
When the people who are to be sentenced quake before the just judgment and stand in front of You naked and fearful, then, O my Judge, be compassionate to me because I have sung of Your glory.
When the mouths of the wise are shut and Your fearful powerful scepter appears ominously in front of all, then let my lips be open, because I have confessed You.
When no friend or companion can help a man and everyone is presented naked to speak for himself, then, O Lord, be a intercessor for me, because I have relied on You.
When the noise of the trumpet reverberates out, the nations quake and each man receives a reckoning in accord with his labors.
Then, O Lord, my helper, to You I will flee. O Lord, receive our ministry, for You are the hope of those above and those below.
Have mercy upon us. O Lord, be merciful to us and our parents.
Be merciful to our instructors, and our brothers.
O Lord, be merciful to us and grant rest to our relatives who have departed and to the dead who professed and believed in You and who tasted Your flesh and drank Your life-giving blood.
Grant us along with Your sheep to go into Your pasture, and with Your saints to present You praise in agreement with Your greatness forever.

+St. Ephrem the Syrian

“Watch your heart during all your life - examine it, listen to it, and see what prevents its union with the most blessed Lord. Let this be for you the science of all sciences, and with God’s help you will easily observe what estranges you from God, and what draws you towards Him and unites you to Him.”

+St. John of Kronstadt

It is better for you if men think you unlearned and uncouth because of your inexperience in disputation, rather than one of the wise because of your shamelessness. Become poor for humility’s sake, and do not amass riches on account of your shamelessness. Confute those who would strive to dispute with you by the strength of your virtues, and not by the persuasiveness of your words. By the meekness and quietness of your lips, put the impudence of the obstinate to silence, and not by speaking. Reprove the wanton by the nobility of your life, and those who are shameless as regards the senses, by the modest curbing of your eyes.

+St. Isaac the Syrian

At the heart of this wisdom is the insight that in order to learn theology one must learn to pray; or rather, that learning theology is learning prayer, and that a theologian is one who prays well. A corollary is that in order to learn prayer one must above all practice humility, obedience and interior silence, rather than intense mental activity with its attendant pride that frequently accompanies formal theological study in the universities; or rather, that intense intellectual pursuit is itself God-given and beautiful, but requires the discipline of the Spirit (or what the Orthodox saints call “Heart”) if it is not to go astray. All this can be put another way: that our whole life constitutes our prayer before God, but in order to pray truly we must live truly, and this is something that we learn in community and through the chores, disappointments and struggles of daily life. If so, this suggests that most formal seminaries and theological schools of today require a reorientation...

+Fr. Brendan Pelphrey

“Clerics and, in particular, celibate clerics must be chosen from those of a mature age, with excellent education, extreme piety, shining ethos, sterling character and complete spiritual formation: all those things that are acquired with labors and struggles, prayer and study, fasting and vigils, with voluntary poverty and hardships, and through various deprivations. For asceticism is not the privilege or responsibility of monastics alone, but of all the faithful and particularly of clerics, and especially of unmarried clerics. The Church is deeply ascetic and those who don’t love asceticism and who are friends of luxury and comfort don’t have a place within Her.”

–Elder Epiphanios of Athens

“Young people must be made to distinguish between helpful and injurious knowledge, keeping clearly in mind the Christian’s purpose in life. So, like an athlete or the musician, they must bend every energy to one task, the winning of the heavenly crown.”

+St. Basil the Great

It is preferable, then, to live with a few good men than with a multitude of unprofitable men, just as the Divine Scriptures have instructed us. For as the author of the Proverbs says: “Do not desire a multitude of unprofitable men, if the fear of the Lord is not with them.” Indeed, one righteous man is better than a thousand sinners; “for in the assembly of sinners fire will be kindled”. Another passage says: “Do not desire an unprofitable multitude, and if they increase, do not rejoice over them, if the fear of the Lord is not in them; do not entrust yourself to their life, for you will groan with untimely grief. One righteous man who does the Will of God is better than having impious children; for from one wise man a city will be replenished.”

The Evergetinos

“Ever let mercy outweigh all else in you. Let our compassion be a mirror where we may see in ourselves that likeness and that true image which belong to the Divine nature and Divine essence. A heart hard and unmerciful will never be pure.”

+St. Isaac of Syria

You cannot be or become spiritually intelligent in the way that is natural to man in his pre-fallen state unless you first attain purity and freedom from corruption. For our purity has been overlaid by a state of sense-dominated mindlessness, and our original incorruption by the corruption of the flesh.

Only those who through their purity have become saints are spiritually intelligent in the way that is natural to man in his pre-fallen state. Mere skill in reasoning does not make a person’s intelligence pure, for since the fall our intelligence has been corrupted by evil thoughts. The materialistic and wordy spirit of the wisdom of this world may lead us to speak about ever wider spheres of knowledge, but it renders our thoughts increasingly crude and uncouth.

+St Gregory of Sinai

The firmament has the stars for its beauty, and dispassion has the virtues for its adornments; for by dispassion, I mean nothing other than the Heaven of the mind within the heart, which regards the wiles of the demons as mere pranks.
And so he is pre-eminently dispassionate, and is recognized as dispassionate, who has made his flesh incorruptible, who has raised his mind above creatures and has subdued all his senses to it, and who keeps his soul before the face of the Lord, ever reaching out to Him even beyond his strength.

+St. John Climacus