Books By or About the Saints
All of the picture quotes from social media come from the lives of the saints. Below are some of the books we have referenced while making the picture quotes that are available for purchase on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
The Life and the Wisdom of Saint Porphyrios
“You can speak to your confessor just as you feel, but that's not as important as it is that, as he prays, the priest looks into your soul and sees how you are and transmits to you the grace of God. It has been proved that this looking into the soul is a spiritual radiation, which relieves you and cures you. Don’t imagine that these are natural rays. These things are true.”St. Porphyrios of KavsokalyviaWounded by Love (p. 175)
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The Synaxarion
The Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church
The lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church by Hieromonk Makarios of Siomonos Petra, Mt. Athos. The Complete Synaxarion consist of 7 hardcover volumes, with 6 volumes, each one covering two months of the liturgical calendar (arranged in sequence by calendar date), and with over 550 pages in each volume, illustrated with numerous icons, miniatures, and ornaments from Byzantine manuscripts, some of these latter painted by the nuns of Ormylia. Purchase the complete set on Sebastion Press. Each volume individually is available from various sellers on Amazon as outlined below:
“The Holy Spirit illumined firstly the holy Prophets, and they wrote the Divine Scripture; secondly, He illumined the holy Apostles; and thirdly, He has illumined the holy Fathers, and they have explained the books of our Church, in order that we may know how to conduct ourselves.”
St. Cosmas Aitolos
Modern Orthodox Saints (p. 94)
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The Art of Salvation
by Elder Ephraim
“When we pray in the morning, we receive grace from God, we receive strength, we receive blessings, we receive our angel at our right side, and we proceed to our daily work. Where we go, we should hold on to the memory of God. What is the memory of God? It is the phrase ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’”
Geronda Ephraim of Arizona
The Art of Salvation (p. 58)
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His Life is Mine
by Saint Sophrony
“The Jesus Prayer will incline us to find each human being unique, the one for whom Christ was crucified. Where there is great love the heart necessarily suffers and feels pity for every creature, in particular for man; but our inner peace remains secure, even when all is confusion in the world outside.”
St. Sophrony of Essex
His Life is Mine (p. 156)
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Prayer and Holiness
by St. Dumitru Staniloae
In these five essays Fr Stăniloae gives us the essentials of his teaching on prayer. They are the fruit not only of personal experience and long familiarity with the hesychast writings of Orthodox monasticism, but also of the spiritual tradition of his native Romania. Through the texts we are given the outline of the icon of humanity restored to God in Christ.
“Pure prayer is concerned with the reuniting of the mind (nous) and the heart. Neither mind or heart can be allowed to remain alone. Prayer that comes only from the mind is cold; prayer that comes only from the heart is sentimental and is ignorant of all that God has given us, is giving us now and will give us in Christ.”
St. Dumitru Staniloae
Prayer and Holiness (p. 11)
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A Little Corner of Paradise:
The life and Teachings of Elder Paisius of Sihla
by Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan
“Lying on his bed of suffering, the elder would utter the Jesus Prayer in the secrecy of his heart. Then, when his disciple would check on him, he would ask, ‘Fr. Paisius, do you need anything?’[Saint] Paisius, showing him the prayer rope in his hand, said to him, ‘Fr. Gerasim, I'm praying to God and to the sweet Mother of the Lord, for from now on that's all that remains to me.’”
A Little Corner of Paradise:
The Life and Teachings of Elder Paisius of Sihla (p. 166)
The Life and Teachings of Elder Paisius of Sihla (p. 166)
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by Benedicta Ward
“Unless a man keeps guard over his heart, he will forget and neglect all counsel that he has heard and the enemy will gain a foothold within him and eventually take control. A lamp supplied with oil will give forth light; but if through neglect it has not been given oil it will soon go out and darkness will prevail.”
Abba Orsisios
Sayings of the Desert Fathers (p. 152)
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Spiritual Counsels VI: On Prayer
by Saint Paisios of Mt Athos
“—Geronda, what is nepsis?—Nepsis is attention to one's thoughts, to one's actions, to one's movements. When, on one day, you are careful, you observe your own self, and examine your behaviour, on the next day you will be more attentive, and so on. The entire basis is attentiveness. That is why, as you can see, the Holy Fathers were so attentive! Why are they called neptic Fathers? Neptic Fathers means attentive Fathers. They gave attention to their own self and laboured on their inner self. They observed their thoughts and were in a constant state of spiritual vigilance.”
St. Paisios of Mount Athos
On Prayer (p. 197)
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Monastic Wisdom
Elder Joseph the Hesychast
“Come, my child, and occupy yourself with divine philosophy. A new world will be created within you, a new spirit, another heaven, which are unknown to you because the people you have talked with till now have no idea about them. A monk is not like someone you meet who speaks words without fruit. A true monk is the product of the Holy Spirit.”
—St. Joseph the Hesychast
Monastic Wisdom (pp. 239-240)
“Lord! When shall we duly keep holy Your festivals? When shall we comfort our holy Mother the Church by obeying her commandments? When shall we be imbued with her spirit? How often shall we begin celebrations of the great saving events of the Orthodox faith with the spirit, but end them with the flesh? How long shall the enemy mock the members of Christ, which Christians should be?”
St. John of Kronstadt
My Life in Christ (p. 108)
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The Philokalia 4 Volume Set
“Reject completely every suspicion about someone else that rises in your heart, because it destroys love and peace. But accept with courage any calamity that comes from without, since it provides an opportunity for exercising the patience that leads to salvation, the patience that bestows an abiding-place and repose in heaven.”
St. Theoleptos of Philadelphia
On Inner Work in Christ
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RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English
“The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent. Since few, however, have the strength for this, we urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to wash away in this holy season the negligence of other times. This we can do in a fitting manner by refusing to indulge evil habits and by devoting ourselves to prayer with tears, to reading, to compunction of heart and self-denial.”
St. Benedict of Nursia
The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 49
