sarkakaiaima

  “The things that have come into being have received from the Creator their proper place, their beginning and, in some cases, their end. But there is no boundary to virtue. The psalmist says, ‘I have seen the end of all perfection, but Your commandment is very broad and is without limit’ (Ps. 118[119]:96). Now if it is true that some good ascetics pass from the strength of action to the strength of contemplation (cf. Ps. 83[84]:7), and if it is true that love never fails (1 Cor. 13:8), and the Lord will guard the coming in of your fear and the going out of your love (cf. Ps. 120[121]:8), then love has no boundary, and both in the present and in the future age we will never cease to progress in it, as we add light to light. Perhaps this may seem strange to many. Nevertheless it has to be said, and the evidence we have, blessed Father, would lead me to say that even the angels make progress and indeed that they add glory to glory and knowledge to knowledge.”   *John Climacus, The La

  “A meek soul is a throne of simplicity, but a wrathful mind is creator of evil.   A gentle soul will make a place for wise words, since the ‘Lord will guide the meek in judgment’ (Ps.24:9), or rather, in discretion.   An upright soul is the companion of humility, but an evil one is the daughter of pride.   The souls of the meek shall be filled with wisdom, but the angry mind will cohabit with darkness and ignorance.   A bad-tempered man met a dissembler, and not an honest word passed between them, for if you open the heart of the one you will find frenzy, and if you examine the soul of the other you will see malice.   Simplicity is an enduring habit within a soul that has grown impervious to evil thoughts.   Evil is a deliberate kind of knowledge. Or, rather, is a deformity of the devil. There is no truth in it. And it imagines it can avoid being detected by many.   Hypocrisy is soul and body in a state of opposition to each other, intertwined with every kind of inventi