“If we exclaim, ‘All Saints, Pray to God for us!’, then the whole Heaven will immediately Pray, ‘O Lord, help them!'”
Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
+
Saint Nektarios once appeared to a most-pious cleric and complained:
“It’s as if we Saints are in retirement… The people don’t Pray to us, don’t entreat us, don’t ask us for anything, don’t give us any handiwork to do. They don’t give us the opportunity to Pray to God for them…”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
+
“What does the daily invocation of the Saints signify – of different ones each day, during the whole year, and during our whole life? It signifies that God’s Saints – as our brethren, but perfect – live, and are near us – ever ready to help us by the Grace of God. We live together with them in the house of our Heavenly Father, only in different parts of it. We live in the Earthly, they in the Heavenly half; but we can converse with them and they with us. God’s Saints are near to the believing heart, and are ready in a moment to help those who call upon them with faith and love.
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“Cleave to the Saints, for they who cleave to them shall be made Holy.”
Saint Clement of Rome
+
“Read the Lives of the Saints, engrave them upon your heart, and endeavour to bring your life into conformity with theirs.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“The words of the Saints are words of God and not of men.”
-Saint Symeon the New Theologian
+
“When I am dead, come to me at my grave, and the more often the better. Whatever is in your Soul, whatever may have happened to you, come to me as when I was alive and kneeling on the ground, cast all your bitterness upon my grave. Tell me everything and I shall listen to you, and all the bitterness will fly away from you. And as you spoke to me when I was alive, do so now. For I am living and I shall be forever.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
+
“God’s Saints are represented in their inward actions as listening to the inward Guest, Who works within them – the Lord – venerating Him, smiling from inward sweetness and tenderness, and enjoying heavenly rest.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“There are no writings by female Saints. This is not because there are fewer Holy women than men. There are more Holy women, but female Saints lead a hidden life; they are able to keep their life secret. The All-Holy Virgin received great Grace from God. We do not have revelations that come from the All-Holy Virgin, but we know that she had great Grace; the Church and all who Pray to her are aware of it.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
+
“My children, God walks on the Earth through His Saints.”
Saint Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia
+
“God’s Saints are near to believing hearts and, like the truest and kindest of friends, are ready in a moment to help the faithful and pious who call upon them with faith and love… I speak by experience.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“There is no Icon like Nicholas.”
Russian Proverb
+
“Though the Christian Prays alone, he has the Choir of the Saints standing with him.”
Saint Clement of Alexandria
+
“We depict Christ as Our King and Lord, and we do not strip Him of His Army. For the Saints are the Lord’s Army.”
Saint John of Damascus
+
“If you wish, the Lives of the Saints are a sort of Orthodox Encyclopedia. In them can be found everything which is necessary for the Soul which hungers and thirsts for Eternal Righteousness and Eternal Truth in this life, and which hungers and thirsts for Divine Immortality and Eternal Life. If faith is what you need, there you will find it in abundance: and you will feed your Soul with food which will never make it hungry. If you need love, truth, righteousness, hope, meekness, humility, repentance, Prayer, or whatever virtue or spiritual struggle, in them, the Lives of the Saints, you will find a countless number of Holy Teachers for every spiritual struggle and will obtain Grace-Filled help for every virtue.”
Saint Justin Popovic
+
“The Saints were people like all of us. Many of them came out of great sins, but by repentance they attained the Kingdom of Heaven. And everyone who comes there comes through repentance, which the Merciful Lord has given us through His sufferings.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
+
“When I read the Lives of the Saints as a child, I felt as though a ray of Divine Light had entered my heart. It filled my heart with sweetness, joy, and jubilation and lit a desire and love for God and Heavenly things.”
Elder Philotheos Zervakos
+
“The humble are like nightingales that hide in ravines and spread joy to the Souls of men with their sweet songs.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“When we read the Lives of the Saints we gain two things. Firstly, the example of their struggles wakes us from the numbness of negligence and, secondly, when we read the Lives of the Saints with reverence, the Saints intercede to Christ for us.”
Elder Arsenios the Cave-Dweller
+
“The Martyrs suffered greatly when they were tormented. They suffered in the same way as any normal person would have suffered, with the difference that they were continually united to Christ through Prayer and partook of a force which was greater than their pain, and in this way they were able to conquer. If, however, they had abandoned Prayer, even for just a moment, their pains would have become unbearable and they would have been ready to deny Christ. However, hanging onto Prayer, they were strengthened and endured the pain of their Martyrdom until the end.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
+
“Icons in Churches and houses are necessary because they remind us of the immortality of the Saints; that they live unto Him, that in God they see, hear and help us.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the Saints, and they love us in the Holy Spirit. The Saints hear our Prayers and have the power from God to help us.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
+
“Read the Fathers, even one or two lines a day. They are strengthening vitamins for the Soul.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“Ask the Angels and the Saints to intercede for you, just as you’d ask people who are alive. Stand face to face with them, in the belief that they’re also standing face to face with you.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“What would happen if the sun stopped shining on the Earth? Life of Earth would stop. Thus even in Spiritual darkness man cannot remain, and the Lord frees us from the great darkness, sending to the world His Saints, who shine in Spiritual darkness.”
Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopel
+