If we love our enemies, there will be no place in our souls for pride, for in Christ-like love no one ranks above another.

St. Silouan the Athonite

They say that Abba Macarius the Egyptian [St. Macarius the Great] on one occasion went up from Scete to the Nitrian mountain, and as he drew near to a certain place, he said to his disciple, "Pass on a little in front of me"; and when he had done so there met him a certain heathen priest, who was running along and carrying some wood about the time of noon. And that brother cried out to him and said, "O minister to devils, where run thou?"  And the priest turned round and smote him with many severe blows, and he left him with but very little breath remaining in him, and he took up his wood and went on his way; and when he had gone on a little further the blessed Macarius met him on his journey, and said to him, "May you be helped, O man of labours?"  And the priest was astonished, and came to him and said, "What fair thing have you seen in me that you should salute me [in this gracious fashion] ?"  And the old man said to him, "I see that you toil, and that you do not know that you are toiling for naught"; then he said to the old man, "At your salutation I also was very sorry, and I learned that you did belong to the Great God. But a wicked monk met me just before you didst, and he cursed me, and I smote him even to death."  And the old man knew that it was his disciple [of whom he spake], and the priest laid hold upon the feet of Macarius, and said to him, "I will not let you [go] until you make me a monk"; and they came to the place where the brother was lying, and they carried him and brought him to the church of the mountain. Now when the fathers saw the heathen priest with him, they marvelled that he had been converted from the error which he had held; and Macarius took him and made him a monk, and through him many of the heathen became Christians. And Abba Macarius said, " ' An evil word makes wicked even those who are good, and a good word makes good even those who are wicked,' as it is written."

from Sayings of the Holy Desert Fathers

If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it, then do deeds of love, even though you do them without love in the beginning. The Lord will see you desire and striving and will put love in your heart.

St. Ambrose of Optina

Thou, O Christ, art the Kingdom of Heaven; 

Thou, the land promised to the meet; 

Thou, the meadowland of Paradise; 

Thou, the hall of the celestial banquet; 

Thou, the ineffable bridal chamber; 

Thou, the table set for all; 

Thou, the bread of life; 

Thou, the unheard-of drink; 

Thou, both the urn for the water and the life giving water; 

Thou, moreover, the inextinguishable lamp for each one of the saints; 

Thou, the garment and the crown and the One Who bestoweth the crowns; 

Thou, the joy and rest; 

Thou, the delight and glory; 

Thou, the gladness and mirth; 

And Thy grace, the grace of the Spirit of all sanctity, will shine like the sun in all the saints; 

And Thou, the unapproachable Sun, wilt shine in their midst, and all will shine brightly, according to the measure of their faith, their asceticism, their hope and their love, their purification, and their illumination by Thy Spirit.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

Such are the souls of the saints: they love their enemies more than themselves, and in this age and in the age to come they put their neighbor first in all things, even though because of his ill-will he may be their enemy. They do not seek recompense from those whom they love, but because they have themselves received they rejoice in giving to others all that they have, so that they may conform to their Benefactor and imitate His compassion to the best of their ability; "for He is bountiful to the thankless and to sinners" (cf. Luke 6:35).

St. Peter of Damascus

I judge my own case: if the Lord so loved me, it must mean that He loves all sinners in the same measure as He loves me.

St. Silouan the Athonite

Unceasing prayer is born of love, while fault-finding, idle talk, and self-indulgence are the death of prayer.

St. Silouan the Athonite

The Lord said: Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me (Matthew 25:40). 

Similar things happen in almsgiving and in Holy Communion. In Holy Communion we receive the Living Lord Christ Himself, in the form of bread and wine; in almsgiving we give to the Living Lord Christ Himself, in the form of the poor and needy. A certain man in Constantinople was unusually merciful. Walking along the streets of the city, he would press his gift into the hands of the poor and hurry onward, so he would not hear their gratitude or be recognized. When a friend of his asked how he had become so merciful, he replied: “Once in church I heard a priest say that whoever gives to the poor, gives into the hands of Christ Himself. I didn’t believe it, for I thought, ‘How can this be, when Christ is in heaven?’ However, I was on my way home one day and I saw a poor man begging, and the face of Christ shone above his head! Just then a passerby gave the beggar a piece of bread, and I saw the Lord extend His hand, take the bread, and bless the donor. From then on, I have always seen Christ’s face shining above the beggars. Therefore, with great fear I perform as much charity as I can."

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

If we want, Christian, to have our heart filled with divine love we must first empty it of the love of this world, its frivolous and sinful customs and then turn our hearts to the one God, our only good and happiness and eternal beatitude.

St Tikhon of Zadonsk

We must begin with thanksgiving for everything. The beginning of joy is to be content with your situation.

St. Ambrose of Optina

Open, O doors and bolts of my heart, that Christ the King of Glory may enter! 

Enter, O my Light, and enlighten my darkness; 

Enter, O my Life, and resurrect my deadness;

Enter, O my Physician, and heal my wounds; 

Enter, O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins; 

Ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of Your love; 

Enter, O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin; 

Sit on the throne of my heart and alone reign in me, O Christ, my King and Lord!

St Dimitri of Rostov 

And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years, and cannot say that I perfectly love Him. If we love someone we always remember him and try to please him; day and night our heart is occupied with that object. Is that how you, gentlemen, love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always remember Him, do you always pray to Him and fulfill His holy commandments? ‘For our good, for our happiness at least let us make a vow that from this day, from this hour, from this minute we shall strive to love God above all else and to fulfill His holy will.'

St. Herman of Alaska

Attend not to the law of the strong but to the law of the Creator. Help nature to the best of your ability, honor the freedom of creation, protect your species from dishonor, come to its aids in sickness, rescue it from poverty …. Seek to distinguish yourself from others only in your generosity. Be like gods to the poor, imitating God’s mercy. Humanity has nothing so much in common with God as the ability to do good.

St. Gregory the Theologian

A Christian must be courteous to all. His words and deeds should breathe with the grace of the Holy Spirit, which abides in his soul, so that in this way he might glorify the name of God. He who regulates all of his speech also regulates all of his actions. He who keeps watch over the words he is about say also keeps watch over the deeds he intends to do, and he never goes out of the bounds good and benevolent conduct. The graceful speech of a Christian is characterized by delicateness and politeness. This fact, born of love, produces peace and joy. On the other hand, boorishness gives birth to hatred, enmity, affliction, competitiveness, disorder and wars.

St. Nectarios of Aegina

Christians, have we understood the great responsibility that we have taken on before God through baptism?  Have we come to know that we must conduct ourselves as children of God, that we must align our will with the will of God, that we must remain free from sin, that we must love God with all our hearts and always patiently await union with Him?  Have we thought about the fact that our heart should be so filled with love that it should overflow to our neighbor? Do we have the feeling that we must become holy and perfect, children of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven?  We must struggle for this, so that we may not be shown unworthy and rejected.  Let none of us lose our boldness, nor neglect our duties, nor be afraid of the difficulties of spiritual struggle.  For we have God as a helper, who strengthens us in the difficult path of virtue.

St. Nectarios of Aegina 

Faith and love towards Christ Jesus... are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love. Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

If we have true love with sympathy and patient labor, we shall not go about scrutinizing our neighbor's shortcomings. As it is said, "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). . . True love screens anything of this kind, as did the saints when they saw the shortcomings of men. Were they blind? Not at all! But they simply would not let their eyes dwell on sins.

St. Dorotheos of Gaza