St. Theophan the Recluse

“The chief end of our life is to live in communion with God. To this end the Son of God became incarnate, in order to return us to this divine communion, which was lost by the fall into sin. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we enter into communion with the Father and thus attain our purpose.”

— Letters to various people, 24

“As it is not possible to walk without feet or fly without wings, so it is impossible to attain the Kingdom of Heaven without the fulfillment of the commandments.”

— Five Teaching on the Way to Salvation, 3

“"Love covers a multitude of sins," (I Pet. 4:8). That is, for love towards one's neighbor, God forgives the sins of the one who loves.”

— Letters, VI.949

“When a man is given over to the passions, he does not see them in himself and does not fight against them, because he lives in them and by them. But when the grace of God becomes active in him, he begins to discern the passionate and sinful in himself, acknowledge them, and to repent and decide to guard against them. A struggle begins. At first, the struggle begins with deeds, but when released from shameful deeds, then the struggle begins with shameful thoughts and feelings. And here the struggle encounters many steps ... The struggle continues. The passions increasingly are torn out of the heart. It even happens that they are entirely torn out ... The sign that the passions are torn out of the heart is that the soul begins to feel repulsion and hatred for the passions.”

— How the Spiritual Life Proceeds

“Sincere faith is the renunciation of your own mind. It is necessary to make your mind naked and present it like a clean chalkboard to faith, so that she can draw herself on it like she is, without any admixture of foreign sayings and attitudes. When the mind's own attitudes remain within it, then, after the attitudes of faith are written on it, there appears a mixture of attitudes. The mind will be confused, encountering contradictions between the actions of faith and the sophistries of the mind. Thus are all who approach the region of faith with their own sophistries... They are confused in the faith, and nothing comes of it but harm.”

— Thought for Every Day of the Year, 11.04

“If you want to attain salvation, learn and keep in your heart all that the holy Church teaches and, receiving heavenly power from the mysteries of the Church, walk the path of Christ's commandments, under the direction of lawful pastors, and you will undoubtedly attain the Heavenly Kingdom and be saved. All of this is naturally necessary in the matter of salvation, necessary in its entirety and for all. Whoever rejects or neglects any part of it has no salvation.”

— Five Teachings on the Path to Salvation, 3