“Prostrations are also gymnastics. And – even though we should not think of this at all – there is no better gymnastics for the abdomen, the bowels, the chest, the heart and the spinal column. It is highly beneficial so why should we do it? When this exercise is done for the worship of God and the soul achieves this worship, it is still with joy and becomes calm and peaceful. This is everything. At the same time of course it also benefits the body. The body follows and is benefited in turn. Do you see? Peace and calm come to the soul and good functioning is insured for all our bodily systems – circulatory, digestive, respiratory and endocrine – all of which have a direct relation with our soul.”
Elder Porphyrios
~Wounded by Love

“Human righteousness says are you at fault? You must be punished. Divine righteousness says do you acknowledge your fault and repent? You are forgiven. You see even by human laws a person who is not under suspicion but has committed a crime if he repents sincerely and on his own initiative confesses his crime to the authorities will be judged with leniency. And if such a person is judged with leniency by his fellow human beings so much more is he judged with leniency by the Righteous and most Compassionate God.”
Elder Paisios
~Spiritual Struggle

“The demons start their warfare in the imagination; they cultivate it with thoughts; they defile the nous; they take it down into the heart; and they make both the soul and body filthy. What decides a person’s entire progress or failure is whether he gives in to or resists the attacks of the imagination. If he makes the mistake of beginning a dialogue with the simple assault and accepting the devil’s garbage by his own consent what will follow are falls of the soul, mind, heart and body. As a result the passion will take him captive.”
Elder Joseph
~ My Elder Joseph the Hesychast

“Learn first of all to be at peace with the spiritual situation which has been given you, and to make the most of it. If your situation is spiritually barren, do not let this discourage you, but work all the harder at what you yourself can do for your spiritual life. It is already something very important to have access to the Sacraments and regular church services. Beyond this you should have regular morning and evening prayers with your family, and spiritual reading—all according to your strength and the possibilities afforded by your circumstances.”
Fr. Seraphim Rose
~ Letter

“The breaking of bread [in Acts] was Holy Communion. And the number of those who were being saved increased continually since people saw all the Christians in a state of “great joy and simplicity of heart” and “praising God”…It is an enthusiasm and again a madness…I go to the event, I experienced it, I feel it and am filled with enthusiasm all week. This is divine grace. This is also looking towards Christ. The apostles experienced amongst themselves this great joy [which then] happened to all those who were beneath the upper room. That is they loved each other, they took joy in one another: the ‘one’ had become united with the other. This experience radiates outwards and others experience it.”
Elder Prophyrios
~Wounded by Love

“I’ve heard of a godless man who rolls  up various little  icons and puts inside of them in hairs, little pieces of wood, needles, beads and other things. When the Church censored this man he simply said, “I am a psychic.”… Then I asked [a man] if he had anything given to him by that sorcerer. “Yes I have this little box that looks like a small Gospel book,” he said. I took it and when I opened it I discovered various little icons rolled up inside. I enrolled them one by one and found inside them beads, hairs and some tiny pieces of wood. I took these things away from him and the man was freed. You see what a craftsman the devil is!”
Elder Paisios
~Spiritual Struggle

“Despite the austerity of the regime which the Elder adapted to our surroundings he maintained undiminished sympathy and love for his neighbor and showed it in practice towards the infirm and poor be they fathers or lay people. I recall that there were some infirm elders… whom he looked after more or less permanently often sending them what they needed and in particular food already prepared. Compassion is a first fruit of a soul that loves God and faith as a sure stronghold, were the reasons why he left nothing in our modest huts to the point where it was hard for us to endure, inexperienced as we were in the operation of faith. He gave whatever we had to those who asked and left us with hopes as the saying goes. And yet in this way he helped us to enter quickly into the providence of faith which gave us so much support in our later life.”
Elder Joseph of Vatopedi on Elder Joseph
~Elder Joseph the Hesychast

“Even great saints who die in the mists of obvious signs of God’s grace retain a sobering humility about their own salvation…How different this profound and sober Christian attitude is when compared with the superficial attitude of some non-Orthodox Christians today to think they are already “saved” and will not even undergo the judgment of all men and therefore have nothing to fear in death. Such an attitude, very widespread among present-day Protestants, is actually not too far from the occult idea that death is not to be feared because there is no damnation; certainly even though inadvertently it has helped give rise to the latter attitude.”
Fr Seraphim Rose
~The Soul After Death

“He was so strict with silence that when father Arsenios started to say “Father so and so did this and that…” Francis immediately interrupted him and said: “Look, what other people do out there is none of our business. It is forbidden to talk about what the other people are doing. We need to pay attention to what we are doing.” A little while later father Arsenios forgot himself and started to say… He didn’t even finish what he was saying before Francis slapped him and abruptly said to him: “Don’t talk! Who are we to judge? Shame on you! Say the prayer!”… A few hours later, though, something else was slipped out… “If we lose grace where are we going to find it again?”
Elder Joseph
~My Elder Joseph

“When you have a bad dream never examine what you saw, how you saw it or whether you’re guilty or how much you may be at fault. The evil one having failed to tempt you during the day tempts you at night. Sometimes God permits the devil to tempt us in our sleep so that we may see the old self is not entirely died. Other times the enemy approaches a person in his sleep and prevents various dreams in order to upset him when he awakes. This is why you should pay any attention to them. Cross yourself and the pillow, place a cross and an icon on your pillow and say the Jesus Prayer til you fall asleep.”
Elder Paisios
~Spiritual Struggle