Maximus the Confessor

Only wonder can comprehend His incomprehensible power.

— Maximus the Confessor

Peace is truly the complete and undisturbed possession of what is desired.

— Maximus the Confessor

As we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly

— Maximus the Confessor

Dispassion and humility lead to spiritual knowledge. Without them no one will see the Lord.

— Maximus the Confessor

In all our actions, God considers the intention: whether we act for Him or for some other motive.

— Maximus the Confessor

Theology without practice is the theology of demons

— Maximus the Confessor

Christianity is an entirely new way of being human.

— Maximus the Confessor

In conformity with the philosophy of Christ, let us make of our life a training for death.

— Maximus the Confessor

Humility and suffering free a man from all sin; for the first cuts out spiritual passions, and the latter bodily.

— Maximus the Confessor

He who has realized love for God in his heart is tireless in his pursuit of the Lord his God, and bears…

— Maximus the Confessor

Just as the light of the sun attracts a healthy eye, so through love knowledge of God naturally draws to itself a…

— Maximus the Confessor

There is a single energy of God and the saints? they are living icons of Christ, being the same as He is,…

— Maximus the Confessor

Every genuine confession humbles the soul. When it takes the form of thanksgiving, it teaches the soul that it has been delivered…

— Maximus the Confessor

Whoever sees in himself the traces of hatred toward any man on account of any kind of sin is completely foreign to…

— Maximus the Confessor

If an unexpected temptation comes, don't blame the one through whom it came, but seek out the reason. Thus you will find…

— Maximus the Confessor

You will be able to check envy if you rejoice with the man whom you envy whenever he rejoices, and grieve whenever…

— Maximus the Confessor

The person who loves God cannot help loving every man as himself, even though he is grieved by the passions of those…

— Maximus the Confessor

Blessed is he who like Joshua (cf. Josh. 10:12-13) keeps the Sun of righteousness from setting in himself throughout the whole day…

— Maximus the Confessor

As long as I remain imperfect and refractory, neither obeying God by practising the commandments nor becoming perfect in spiritual knowledge, Christ…

— Maximus the Confessor

A pure heart is perhaps one which has no natural propulsion towards anything in any manner whatsoever. When in its extreme simplicity…

— Maximus the Confessor

If you expound the teaching of the Logos from the standpoint of the moral life, using materialistic words and examples which correspond…

— Maximus the Confessor

There are lots of those who speak but few who do. However, no one should distort the word of God by his…

— Maximus the Confessor

Do not say that faith in Christ alone can save you, for this is not possible if you do not attain love…

— Maximus the Confessor

...the aim of every hierarchy is always to imitate God so as to take on His form... the task of every hierarchy…

— Maximus the Confessor

He who devoutly strives to attain wisdom and is on his guard against the invisible powers, should pray that both natural discrimination…

— Maximus the Confessor

Before His visible advent in the flesh the Logos of God dwelt among the patriarchs and prophets in a spiritual manner, prefiguring…

— Maximus the Confessor

God, Who is by nature good and dispassionate, loves all men equally as His handiwork. But He glorifies the virtuous man because…

— Maximus the Confessor

When a man's intellect is constantly with God, his desire grows beyond all measure into an intense longing for God and his…

— Maximus the Confessor

The man who has struggled bravely with the passions of the body, has fought ably against unclean spirits, and has expelled from…

— Maximus the Confessor

When our intellect has shaken off its many opinions about created things, then the inner principle of truth appears clearly to it,…

— Maximus the Confessor

When we think of the height of God's infinity we should not despair of His compassion reaching us from such a height;…

— Maximus the Confessor

The patient endurance of the saints exhausts the evil power that attacks them, since it makes them glory in sufferings undergone for…

— Maximus the Confessor

Unclean spirits increase the passions in us, making use of our negligence, and inciting them. But the angels decrease our passions, inciting…

— Maximus the Confessor

Do not disdain the commandment to love, for through it you become a son of God, and when you break it, you…

— Maximus the Confessor

Inasmuch as you pray with all your soul for the one who has slandered you, so much will God reveal the truth…

— Maximus the Confessor

In all of our deeds God looks at the intention, whether we do it for His sake, or for the sake of…

— Maximus the Confessor

Love is manifested not only through the distribution of one's possessions, but even moreso through the spreading of the word of God…

— Maximus the Confessor

If you make provision for the desires of the flesh and bear a grudge against your neighbor on account of something transitory,…

— Maximus the Confessor

Cleanse your mind from anger, remembrance of evil, and shameful thoughts, and then you will find out how Christ dwells in you.

— Maximus the Confessor

Just as the thought of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not actualize the light of spiritual…

— Maximus the Confessor