We cannot be kind to each other here for even an hour. We whisper, and hint, and chuckle and grin at our brother's shame; however you take it we men are a little breed.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
truisms
One of the most excellent allotments of the gift of faith, is for a man to be certain of the petition of his prayer through his trust in God. Certainty of faith in God is not the soundness of a man's confession (although this is the mother of faith), but a soul that beholds the truth of God by the power of her disciplines.
St. Isaac the Syrian.
The Birth of Christ is an historical event, because it took place at a specific moment in history, when Caesar Augustus was emperor of Rome and Herod was ruler of Judea....In spite of its historicity, this event remains a mystery....Thus the fact that the event is historical does not remove the mystery, but also the mystery does not do away with the historicity.
Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, The Feasts of the Lord, pp. 39 -40.
Strive to enter the shrine within you and you will see the shrine of heaven, for the one is the same as the other and a single entrance permits you to contemplate both. The ladder leading to that kingdom is hidden within you, that is, within your soul: cleanse yourself from sin and there you will find the steps by which to ascend.
Nikiphoros the Monk.