“[T]he Cross of CHRIST is said to be not only in that time of suffering when there is the

fixing to the wood, but even of that Whole LIFE taken up as a TRAINING in every
discipline of the virtues . . . . [U]nderstand that the CROSS is NOT the wooden gibbet,
but the PURSUIT of the Virtuous Life. Thus the LIFE of the Christian MAN, that He lives
according to the Gospel, is the CROSS and Martyrdom.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 82

“[T]hese things are the height of Christianity, that we should return love to loved ones,
and patience to harmful folk. Therefore he who shall be more patient in suffering, shall
be more highly placed in the kingdom, for to the kingdom of heaven we do not come by
pride, or by wealth, or by status, but by HUMILITY, by POVERTY, by MERCY.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 85

“[S]ome say that it is a great labor to love enemies and to pray for persecutors. I do not
deny it, brothers. It is not a little task in this world, but it gains great reward in the future,
for by love of an enemy one is made a friend of God, and not only a friend, but even a
son.”
—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 64

“Sufficient should the examples of the saints be to us to profit for our salvation, those
who on account on obtaining the celestial crown subdued themselves to all the
teachings of the Lord, and served all the precepts of the Savior, that by the life lived
they might merit to come to the glory of the martyrs.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 82

“[H]umility Brings One to the kingdom and Simplicity bears One to Heaven. Whoever,
therefore, desires to Achieve the Divine high place, Let him Seek the depths of
Humility.“
—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 85

“[T]he Devil's captivity Subjects One to Slavery, the captivity of CHRIST Restores One
to liberty.”
—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 60, On The Ascension of the Lord

“Weakness is strong when the flesh withers in fasting and the soul strengthens in purity.
As much as the taste of bread is withdrawn, so much does the virtue of righteousness
grow. Thus a man is made weak by worldly things, but strong by Divine works. Then
indeed the more he thinks of God, then the more he fears judgment, and then the more
he tramples down the enemy.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 40

To Battle against the world, the flesh, and the Devil!
“For to us the fast is our camp, which defends us from the assaults of the devil. And
they are called a station, because standing and watching in them we repel the plots of
the enemy.

So the camps are the fasting of Christians, from which if we wander, We are seized by
the Spiritual Pharaoh, or the wasteland of sin devours us. He suffers the wasteland of
SIN, who forsakes the society of the Holy. The fast, then, is a wall for the Christian,
insurmountable by the Devil, impassable to the enemy. For who of the Christians who
has fasted, has been seized? Who remains sober and is conquered?”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 40

BRIDLE THY TONGUE!

“[T]he perfect teacher of the holy life binds back the tongue from fault, which from the
beginning of the world, in God's paradise, first sinned in the serpent. . . . Therefore the
tongue is a wicked servant of the devil, and the handmaid of every depravity. The
tongue is a most piercing evil, a sword which wounds not only the body but the innocent
soul.

The wicked and thoughtless tongue strikes the fraternal heart with contumely and into
settled hearts brings wicked strife. The wicked tongue holds to a mere image of truth
and defiles the truth with lies. The wicked tongue betrays the secrets of friends into the
ears of enemies.

The wicked tongue, compelled to fear the open word, strives to tarnish with hidden
detraction. The tongue with deception sets traps for the simple, seeks the blood of good
men, inflames the souls of the powerful, and troubles the hearts of the humble; and as if
this did not suffice to bewilder human things, it even strikes heaven with disgraceful,
harmful blasphemies.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 106, On the Fear of God and the Correction of Tongues

+++

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

“You, therefore, who possess wealth, if it pleases, let us compare our goods. You, when
you make a journey, must leave behind your wealth in your house, placing yourself far
from it, always fearful because of it, always uncertain, that when you return to your
home you no longer posses what you have.

Thus while You always fear its loss, your conscience is weak and poor. My goods are
not able to be separated from me, because they are not from some pit of the earth, but
they are carried in the treasury of the heart. When you are required to leave the earth,
you lose your wealth; I, however, when it comes that I must depart this world, I bear my
wealth with me to paradise.
Your riches after death, if we recall the example of that finely garbed rich man, are
consigned to fire and darkness, My wealth, by the example of Lazarus, gain the lap of
Abraham and blessedness.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 82

“Martyr means witness, and as many times as We adhere to the teaching of CHRIST by
good deeds, so often Do We give witness to Christ.”

—St. Maximus of Turin, Homily 82

Life and death of the soul depend on the war of attention and prayer. By attention we keep
our prayer safe and therefore we progress: if we do not have attention and we leave it
unguarded, then it is inflicted by evil thoughts and we become wicked and hopeless.

+St Symeon the New Theologian

Spiritual life usually begins when the situation seems "hopeless", then a person learns to
turn to God, and not rely on his own strength and opinion.

+Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)