Wise Words from Saint Porfyrios
23 December 2019- When the soul’s in turmoil, it clouds the reason and doesn’t see clearly. When the soul’s calm it illumines the reason which then sees clearly the cause of each thing.
- The soul’s very profound and only God knows it.
- Why should we seek darkness? Light a candle and the darkness disperses by itself. If we let Christ reside in our soul, the demons will depart of their own accord.
- When Christ enters us, then we just experience what’s good; love for the whole world. Evil, sin and hatred disappear by themselves, because they can’t do otherwise, there’s nowhere for them to remain.
- Don’t be concerned about whether other people love you, but about whether you love Christ and other people. That’s the only way to fill your soul.
- There’s no way the devil can enter and dwell in a soul that’s occupied by Christ, because there’s no room. There’s no space for him.
- Our aim isn’t to condemn evil but to correct it. By condemning, we may be lost; through understanding and assisting we’ll be saved.
- Evil begins with wicked thoughts. If you become bitter and disillusioned, even just by thinking, you spoil the spiritual atmosphere. You prevent the Holy Spirit from acting and you allow the devil to increase evil. Always pray, love and forgive, expelling all wicked thoughts from within you.
- Christ’s people must love Him and when they do they’re freed of the devil, hell and death.
- Pray without anxiety, calmly with trust in God’s love and providence.
- Don’t fight against your children, but against Satan who’s fighting against them. Don’t talk too much to them, but pray a lot.
- Prayer works wonders. Mothers shouldn’t be content with physical caresses that the child can feel; they should also practice the spiritual caress of prayer.
- The salvation of your child depends on your own sanctification.
- Sanctification isn’t unachievable. In fact, it’s easy as long as you acquire humility and love.
- If you want, you can become saint even in Omonia Square [i.e. in the crowded, noisy center of a city].
- Beg God to forgive your sin. Then, because you’ve asked Him in pain and humility, He’ll also heal your body.
- When you pray, forget your bodily infirmity. Accept it as a penance, a ‘rule’, for the forgiveness of your sins. Beyond that, don’t worry. Leave it to God. He knows what He’s doing.
- Provided we suffer them without complaint, begging God to forgive us our sins and glorifying His name, illnesses are good for us.
- Great sorrow and depression aren’t from God; they’re a trap of the devil.
- Fill your soul with Christ, with divine passion, with joy. Christ’s joy will heal you.
- God takes care of even the tiniest details of our life. He’s not indifferent to us, we aren’t alone in the world.
- God loves us very much, we’re in His mind every moment and He protects us. We have to understand this and not fear anything.
- The only thing that can save us and other people is God’s Grace: true love that mystically sacrifices itself for others.
- Love means sacrifices. We have to humbly sacrifice something of our own, which, in actual fact, is God’s anyway.
- You can be happy in a marriage but it depends on one thing: the couple have to have spiritual belongings, they have to love Christ and keep His commandments. In this way, they’ll really come to love one another and they’ll be happy.
- It’s better to fail as a layman than as a monk.
- Orthodox asceticism isn’t only for monasteries, but for people in the world, as well.
- A lot of people say that the Christian life is difficult and unpleasant. I say that it’s easy and pleasant but it has two necessary requirements: humility and love.
