Holiness - Orthodox Church Quotes

St. Theognostos: Let no one deceive you, brother: without holiness . . . no one can see God

“Let no one deceive you, brother: without holiness, as the apostle says, no one can see God (cf. Heb. 12:14).

For the Lord, who is more than holy and beyond all purity, will not appear to an impure person.

Just as he who loves father or mother, daughter or son (cf. Matt. 10:37) more than the Lord is unworthy of Him, so is he who loves anything transient and material.

Even more unworthy is the person who chooses foul and fetid sin to preference to love for the Lord; for God rejects whoever does not repudiate all filthiness: ‘Corruption does not inherit incorruption’ (1 Cor. 15:50). ”

+St. Theognostos, On the Practice of the Virtues, Contemplation and the Priesthood

St. Nicholas of Myra: Children, I beseech you to correct your hearts . . .

“Children, I beseech you to correct your hearts and thoughts, so that you may be pleasing to God. Consider that although we may reckon ourselves to be righteous and frequently succeed in deceiving men, we can conceal nothing from God. Let us therefore strive to preserve the holiness of our souls and to guard the purity of our bodies with all fervor. Ye are the temple of God, says the divine Apostle Paul; If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.”

+ St. Nicholas of Myra, The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints
by St. Demetrius of Rostov