John Chrysostom Quotes
If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice.
Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.
Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.
Not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own wealth, but theirs.
No matter how just your words may be, when you speak with anger, you ruin all: no matter how boldly you speak, how fairly reprove, or what not.
When you are weary of praying, and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him.
The road to Hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lamp posts that light the path.
To destroy the fetus 'is something worse than murder.' The one who does this 'does not take away life that has already been born, but prevents it from being born.'
The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.
I am a Christian. He who answers thus has declared everything at once-his country, profession, family; the believer belongs to no city on earth but to the heavenly Jerusalem.
It is impossible to be saved without the help of the Most Blessed Virgin, because those who are not saved by the justice of God are saved by the intercession of Mary.
The Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil.
God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.
Let us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time.
It is better to err by excess of mercy than by excess of severity. . .Wilt thou become a Saint? Be severe to thyself but kind to others.
Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.
Poor human reason, when it trusts in itself, substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts
If there were no tribulation, there would be no rest; if there were no winter, there would be no summer.
We are commanded to have only one enemy, the devil. With him never be reconciled! But with a brother, never be at enmity in thy heart.
Many can give money to those in need, but to personally serve the needy readily, out of love, and in a fraternal spirit, requires a truly great soul.
You can set up an altar to God in your minds by means of prayer. And so it is fitting to pray at your trade, on a journey, standing at a counter or sitting at your handicraft.
God helps those who work, not those who are idle. No one helps an inactive person, but one who joins in the labor. The good God himself will bring...work to perfection.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
The test of sincerity of one's prayer is the willingness to labor on its behalf.
Imagine your anger to be a kind of wild beast, because it has ferocious teeth and claws, and if you don't tame it, it will devastate all things even corrupting the soul.
We pray not to inform God or instruct Him but to beseech Him closely, to be made intimate with Him, by continuance in supplication; to be humbled; to be reminded of our sins.
What is it to be a fool for Christ? It is to control one's thoughts when they stray out of line. It is to make the mind empty and free.
If repentance is neglected for an instant, one can lose the power of the Resurrection as he lives with the weakness of tepidity and the potential of his fall.
Every family should have a room where Christ is welcome in the person of the hungry and thirsty stranger.
Is it not excessively ridiculous to seek the good opinion of those whom you would never wish to be like?
When the Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels, who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar.
When we once begin to form good resolutions, God gives us every opportunity of carrying them out.
In the Christian combat, not the striker, as in the Olympic contests, but he who is struck, wins the crown. This is the law in the celestial theatre, where the Angels are the spectators.
Surely we ought to show them (animals) great kindness and gentleness for many reasons, but, above all, because they are of the same origin as ourselves.
Charity is indeed, a great thing, and a gift of God, and when it is rightly ordered likens us unto God himself, as far as that is possible; for it is charity which makes the man.
