“Regard as free not those whose status makes them outwardly free, but those who are free in their character and conduct. For we should not call men truly free when they are wicked and dissolute, since they are slaves to worldly passions. Freedom and happiness of soul consist in genuine purity and detachment from transitory things.”

There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.

“I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, “What can get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, “Humility.”

“You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.”

True perfection consists in having but one fear; the fear of losing God’s friendship.

“The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit.

“I hope the day that all the Christians are one. This is my dream.”

“The world sees in our conduct, in our behaviour, the proof that we are the real children of God.”

“A Church without Youth is a Church without a future. Moreover, Youth without a Church is Youth without a future.”

“When a thought oppresses you, do not be downhearted, but put up with it in courage, saying, ‘They swarmed around me closer and closer, but I drove them back in the name of the Lord’ (Ps. 118:11). Divine help will arrive at your side immediately, and you will drive them away from you, and courage will compass you round about, and the glory of God will walk with you; and ‘you will be filled to your soul’s desire’ (Isa. 58:11).”

“Take as an example the wisdom of Joseph and his submission. Do battle in chastity and service until you make yourself a king (cf. Gen. 41).”

“The physical voice we use in prayer need not be great nor startling; even should we not lift up any great cry or shout, God will yet hear us.

“To say that God turns away from the sinful is like saying that the sun hides from the blind.”

A servant of the Lord is he who in body stands before men, but in mind knocks at heaven with prayer.

“Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”

“God became man so that man might become a god.”

“Indeed the mystery of Christ runs the risk of being disbelieved precisely because it is so incredibly wonderful.

“Those who believe the Author of Nature to be also the Author of Scripture must expect to find in Scripture the same sorts of difficulties that they find in Nature.

“What good does it do me if Christ was born in Bethlehem once if he is not born again in my heart through faith?

Prayer preserves temperance, suppresses anger, restrains pride and envy, draws down the Holy Spirit into the soul and raises man to heaven.

“As two pieces of wax fused together make one, so he who receives Holy Communion is so united with Christ that Christ is in him and he is in Christ.

“Fasting is not bodily hunger but bodily elevation and purity. It is not a body that hungers and longs for food, but a body that rids itself of the desire to eat. Fasting is a time when the soul flourishes and lifts the body up with it. It rids the body of its loads and burdens and lifts it up so that God may work with it without impediment to the happiness of the spiritual entity.”

“Love never ends or fails. Love never ends. Everything must be based on love – the relation between two friends, my ministry, my service; the church services in every field must be based on love. Why? Because God is Love.”

“Yes, fasting is not merely a commandment from God but a godly gift, a grace and a blessing. God the creator of our body and soul knows of our need to fast for its benefit for our spiritual life, development and our eternity. He granted us the knowledge and manner of fasting. As a kind Father and a wise Teacher, He has recommended fasting for us.”