Quote

...when we abandon visible riches... it is strange goods and not our own that we are leaving. And this is so even if we boast that we acquired them through our own efforts or that they were passed on to us as an inheritance. I say nothing is ours except what is in our hearts, what belongs to our souls, what cannot be taken away by anyone.

John Cassian

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

John Cassian
Christian Monk
Saint
Theologian
Writer
Joannes Cassianus
Ioannes Cassianus
Nothing
Strange
Efforts
Even
Effort
Goods
Inheritance
Heart
Taken
Passed
Acquired
Anyone
Visible
Boast
Christian
Souls
Orthodox
Away
Leaving
Belongs
Cannot
Hearts
Abandon
Soul
Except
Riches

More quotes by John Cassian

Image
...we should realize that there are three sources for our thoughts - God, the devil, and ourselves.
John Cassian
Image
The thief who received the kingdom of heaven, though not as the reward of virtue, is a true witness to the fact that salvation is ours through the grace and mercy of God.
John Cassian
Image
All of our holy fathers knew this and all with one accord teach that perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility.
John Cassian
Image
True knowledge is found only among those genuinely worshiping God.
John Cassian
Image
God can be sensed when we gaze with trembling hearts at that power of his which controls, guides, and rules everything, when we contemplate his immense knowledge and his knowing look which the secrets of the heart cannot evade.
John Cassian
Image
The bond between friends cannot be broken by chance no interval of time or space can destroy it. Not even death itself can part true friends.
John Cassian
Image
If you wish to attain to true knowledge of the Scriptures, hasten to acquire first an unshakeable humility of heart. That alone will lead you, not to the knowledge that puffs up, but to that which enlightens, by the perfecting of love.
John Cassian
Image
In proportion as the ardor of divine love brings you nearer to God, so will a larger concourse of saintly brethren flock to you. For, as the Lord says, 'A city set on a hill cannot be hid' (Mt. 5:14).
John Cassian
Image
A clear rule for self-control handed down by the Fathers is this: stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied.
John Cassian
Image
No just man suffices unto himself for the winning of justification. The divine mercy must always hold out a hand to his footsteps as they falter and almost stumble, and this is so because the weakness of his free will may cause him to lose balance, and if he falls he may perish forever.
John Cassian
Image
The apostles were very sure that everything of theirs which had to do with salvation was a gift to them from God. 'Increase our faith'. They did not presume that the fullness of faith would come to them merely because they freely opted for it. They believed, rather, that it was a gift of God which would have to be granted to them.
John Cassian
Image
... a Christian is quite certain to fall into the same sins which he condemns in another with merciless and inhuman severity, for 'a stern king will fall into misfortunes,' and 'one who stops his ears so as not to hear the weak, shall himself cry, and there shall be none to hear him' (Prov. 13:17 21:13).
John Cassian
Image
Everything we do, our every objective, must be undertaken for the sake of... purity of heart... we must practice the reading of the Scripture, together with all the other virtuous activities... to hold our hearts free of the harm of every dangerous passion and in order to rise step by step to the high point of love.
John Cassian
Image
If you want to correct your brother when he is doing wrong? you must keep yourself calm otherwise you yourself may catch the sickness you are seeking to cure and you may find that the words of the Gospel now apply to you? 'Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother's eye, and not notice the rafter in your own eye?'
John Cassian