Sayings of the Holy Fathers... St. John Chrysostom (the Golden Mouth)

Sayings of the Holy Fathers... St. John Chrysostom (the Golden Mouth)


“Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.”


“Riches are not forbidden, but the pride of them is.”


“Not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own wealth, but theirs.”


“This is why God has allowed you to have more: not for you to waste on prostitutes, drink, fancy food, expensive clothes, and all other kinds of indolence, but for you to distribute to those in need.”


“The rich exist for the sake of the poor. The poor exist for the salvation of the rich.”


“Every family should have a room where Christ is welcome in the person of the hungry and thirsty stranger.”


“No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”


“The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others.”


“If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him (Christ Jesus) in the chalice.”




“The Holy Scriptures were not given
to us that we should enclose
them in books, but that we should
engrave them upon our hearts.”



“The Holy Scriptures lead us to God and open the path to the knowledge of God.”


“Let them hear, as many of us as neglect the reading of the Scriptures, to what harm we are subjecting ourselves, to what poverty.”



“This is the cause of all evils, the not knowing the Scriptures. We go into battle without arms, and how are we to come off safe?”


“Let us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time.”



“Let the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbour.”



“Everywhere, wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer.”



“When you are weary of praying, and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling upon you, and hast not listened to him, and he has not been angry nor insulted you.”



“For Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force.”



“The more you try to hide a sin behind another sin, the more you broadcast it. You can’t hide a sin behind another one. You get rid of it only through repentance and confession. When we want to hide a sin behind another sin, we’re like little children playing hide and seek.”



“Be ashamed when you sin, don’t be ashamed when you repent. There are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is the wound, repentance is the medicine. Sin is followed by shame; repentance is followed by boldness. Satan has overturned this order and given boldness to sin and shame to repentance.”



“We are commanded to have only one enemy, the devil. With him never be reconciled! But with a brother, never be at enmity in thy heart.”


“The Church is a hospital, and not a courtroom, for souls. She does not condemn on behalf of sins, but grants remission of sins.”



“There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others.”



“I reminded you many times about the atheist heretics (non-Orthodox), and now I implore you not to compromise with them on anything, do not eat or drink with them in the name of friendship, better relations, love or peace, because he who is swayed and compromises with them renders himself foreign to the Catholic (universal) church.”



“The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.”



“Correct faith does not benefit in anything when life is corrupted.”




“If a man and a woman marry in order to be companions on the journey from earth to heaven, then their union will bring great joy to themselves and to others.”



“I am a Christian, He who answers thus has declared everything at once—his country, profession, family; the believer belongs to no city on earth but to the heavenly Jerusalem.”



“God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.”




“It is impossible to be saved without the help of the Most Blessed Virgin, because those who are not saved by the justice of God are saved by the intercession of Mary (the Most Holy Theotokos).”



+St. John Chrysostom (the Golden Mouth)