“Lord, have mercy on those who are despairing, help them and grant them peace.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“God loves us very much; He has us in mind in each and every moment and He protects us. We should know this and not be afraid of anything.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Don’t let anything deprive you of hope.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“May the Light of Thy Grace overcome the darkness that is in me.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“You gaze upon the Icon of the Saviour and see that He looks at you from it with brightest eyes; this look is the image of how He actually looks upon you with His eyes, that are brighter than the sun, and sees all your thoughts, hears all your heartfelt distress and sighs… Therefore Pray before the Icon of the Saviour as before Himself.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“When despondency seizes us, let us not give into it. Rather, fortified and protected by the light of faith, let us with great courage say to the spirit of evil: ‘What are you to us, you who are cut off from God, a fugitive for Heaven, and a slave to evil? You dare not to do anything to us: Christ, the Son of God, has dominion over us and over all. Leave us, you thing of bane. We are made steadfast by the uprightness of His Cross. Serpent, we trample on your head.'”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Grief will succeed joy, and joy, grief, just as night follows day. This is how the Father of Lights has established the path of those who are being saved. Just have patience and hope: engrave these in the depths of your heart – with these, all adversities will be faced.”
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
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“Something which can help a person who is depressed is work, interest in life, the garden, plants, flowers, trees, the countryside, a walk in the open air – all these things tear a person away from a state of inactivity and awake other interests… To occupy oneself with the arts, with music and so on, is very beneficial. The thing that I place top of the list, however, is interest in the Church, in reading Holy Scripture and attending Services. As you study the Words of God you are cured without being aware of it… In our Church a cure is to be found through love for God and Prayer, provided this is done with all the heart.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Remember that after temptations follows Spiritual joy and the Lord watches over those who endure temptations and sufferings for the sake of His Love. So, don’t lose heart and don’t be afraid.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“It sometimes happens that a person in despondency thinks to himself that it would be easier for him to be destroyed, or to be without any feeling and consciousness than to remain any longer in this unaccountably tormenting state of mind. One should try to get out of it as quickly as possible. Beware of the spirit of despondency, for it gives birth to every evil.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“Until we fully trust Christ, we are haunted by despondency and despair.”
Monk Simeon of Mount Athos
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“We must have our gaze fixed on Heaven. Then nothing here can shake us.”
Saint Amphilochios of Chios
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“When you are Praying alone, and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the Angels, your own Guardian Angel, and all the Saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is, there are they also.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“In the darkest moments of my life I found Lord Jesus’ Hand takes care of me.”
Saint Onuphrius the Anchorite
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“Come, then, soldier of Christ… Follow the Heavenly Bridegroom; withstand the onset of invisible foes; wage war against principalities and powers, driving them out first from your own soul… Earth did not accept you as a citizen, but Heaven will welcome you. The world persecuted you, but the Angels will bear you aloft to the presence of Christ. You will even be called friend by Him and will hear the longed for word of commendation: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, brave soldier and imitator of the Lord, follower of the King, I shall reward you with My own gifts and I shall pay heed to your words even as you did to Mine.'”
Saint Basil the Great
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“He has come to you in order to give you rest and to fill you with joy and peace in place of sadness.”
Elder Thaddeus Vitovnica
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“Pain is a psychological power which God implanted in us with a view to doing us good and leading us to love, joy, and Prayer. Instead of this, the devil succeeds in taking this power from the battery of our Soul and using it for evil. He transforms it into depression and brings the soul into a state of lethargy and apathy. He torments us, takes us captive and makes us psychologically ill. There is a secret. Turn the satanic energy into good energy. This is difficult and requires some preparation. The requisite preparation is humility. With humility you attract the Grace of God. You surrender yourself to the Love of God, to worship and to Prayer. But even if you do all in the world, you achieve nothing if you haven’t acquired humility. All the evil feelings, insecurity, despair and disenchantment, which come to take control of the soul, disappear with humility. The soul must turn to God’s love… Many of our Saints transformed depression into joy with their love for Christ. That is, they took this power of the Soul which the devil wished to crush and gave it to God and they transformed it into joy and exultation. Prayer and worship gradually transform depression and turn it into joy, because the Grace of God takes effect. Here you need to have the strength to attract the Grace of God which will help you to be united with Him. Art is required. When you give yourself to God and become one with Him, you will forget the evil spirit which drags at you from behind, and this spirit, when it is disdained, will leave. And the more you devote yourself to the Spirit of God, the less you will look behind to see the spirit that is dragging at you. When Grace attracts you, you will be united with God. And when you unite yourself to God and abandon yourself to Him, everything else disappears and is forgotten and you are saved. The great art, the great secret, in order to rid yourself of depression and all that is negative is to give yourself over to the love of God.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Do not lose heart. There is hope, and it is Christ.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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“If you return to the Grace of the Image which was planted in you at the beginning, you will find what you look for within you.”
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
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“God is with us! When you lose all hope, He sends you something that you did not expect… you just have to believe in Him and love Him.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Every thought that brings despair and heavy sorrow is from the devil.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“Do not be afraid, you are not left by God; if we do not leave Him. He does not leave us, for His Will is that we turn to Him and be saved.”
Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
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“When people are empty of Christ, a thousand and one other things come and fill them up: jealousies, hatreds, boredom, melancholy, resentment, a worldly outlook, worldly pleasures. Try to fill your Soul with Christ so that it’s not empty.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“God never abandons a soul that puts its trust in Him.”
Saint Nikolas of Sora
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“The greatest secret to get rid of depression is to give yourself over to the Love of Christ.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyia
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“Courage, courage; gaze high and you will see the Lord, when you weep, when you seek with longing, when you bleed, then you will see how He stretched out His beloved and comforting hand with a Crown.”
Saint Luke Archbishop of Simferopel
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Geronda, why do I not always feel joy in my heart?
“If your mind is not with God, how will you feel the joy of God? You forget Christ, your mind is constantly busy with work, because your spiritual motor stops. Include a Prayer and a quiet chant, and fly forward, and you will turn around to Christ like a star.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Brethren, Christ is our one and only true friend.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
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