“Love is not a feeling that comes and goes like the wind; it is a labor of the heart, to will the good of another, even when it costs you dearly.”
☦️St Ambrose of Optina
He who is pure of soul and chaste in life always speaks the words of the Spirit discreetly, and in accord with his own measure he speaks of the things of God and of the things that are within him. But when a man’s heart is crushed by the passions, his tongue is moved by them; and even though he speak of spiritual matters, yet he discourses passionately, to the end that he might be victorious by unjust means. The wise man will mark such a man at his first encounter with him, and the pure man will smell his evil stench.
☦️St. Isaac the Syrian
