Saturday of Lent Week 5

"By sufferings and distress He has caused you frequently to recall Him in your heart, and by fear of adversities He incites you to turn towards the gate of his mercy. By liberating you from these [troubles] He sows in you causes of love unto Him. And when you have found love he brings you near to the honor of the sons, He shows you the richness of His bounty and the steadfastness of His care for you. Then He will make you perceive the holiness of His honor and the hidden mysteries of the nature of His greatness. How should you have become acquainted with these things if there had not been adversities? For through these the love of God is able to increase, viz. by understanding His acts of bounty and by recalling His various acts of care. All this good is born for you from things causing grief, if you know to give thanks" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 5, 72).

Friday of Lent Week 5

“Deem him a man of God, who constantly takes upon himself the lot of want, being moved by great compassion. He who does good to the poor finds God his provider. He who suffers want for His sake finds Him to be a great treasure. God does not need anything, only He rejoices when anyone satisfies or honors His image for His sake” (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 5, 68).

Thursday of Lent Week 5

“If it is certain to you and you believe that God cares for you, you need not be anxious for your body nor have care concerning the guiding of yourself by means. But if you doubt this and desire to care for yourself, without God, you are more wretched than any man, and what does life mean to you? Throw your care on God, that you be strengthened against all fear. He who once has entrusted his life to God, will dwell in mental peace” (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 5, 67).

Wednesday of Lent Week 5

"[Divine] care surrounds all men at all times, but it is not seen, save only by those who have purified themselves from sins and think of God perpetually. To these men then it is revealed clearly; for when they have been led into great temptations for the sake of truth, then they receive a faculty of perception clearly as if with the eyes of the flesh" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 5, 64-65).

Tuesday of Lent Week 5

"When sin is still green, eradicate it, lest it cover the whole ground. He who neglects an evil thing while it is small, will find it at last a hard master and he will go in bonds before it. He who treats it severely in the beginning, will easily rule it" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 5, 63).

Monday of Lent Week 5

"Among men riches are honored; by God a humble soul... The commandments of God are better than the treasures of the whole earth. He who acquires His laws in his heart, will find the Lord in them. He who meditates upon God in the night, will acquire Him as a housemate. He who is pliable to His will, will find the angels of heaven his teachers" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 5, 61-62).

Fifth Sunday of Lent

"There is nothing which brings the heart so near unto God as mercy... Do not make any distinction between the rich and the poor nor know who is worthy and who is not worthy. Deem all men worthy of bounty on your part. Especially because you spur them unto truth thereby. The soul can easily be drawn by corporeal things to the thought of the fear of God. Also our Lord shared his table with publicans and harlots without making any distinction between those who were worthy and those who were not, seeking to spur them on thereby unto the fear of God and to bring them, through communion in bodily things, unto spiritual communion" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 4, 54-55).

The Raising of Lazarus (Greek Icon)