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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Saint Quote of the Day: Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzen

Byzantine icon of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzus

Saint Quote of the Day: Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzen

O God and Lord of the Powers, and Maker of all creation, Who, because of Thy clemency and incomparable mercy, didst send Thine Only-Begotten Son and our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, and with His venerable Cross didst tear asunder the record of our sins, and thereby didst conquer the rulers and powers of darkness; receive from us sinful people, O merciful Master, these prayers of gratitude and supplication, and deliver us from every destructive and gloomy transgression, and from all visible and invisible enemies who seek to injure us. Nail down our flesh with fear of Thee, and let not our hearts be inclined to words or thoughts of evil, but pierce our souls with Thy love, that ever contemplating Thee, being enlightened by Thee, and discerning Thee, the unapproachable and everlasting Light, we may unceasingly render confession and gratitude to Thee: The eternal Father, with Thine Only-Begotten Son, and with Thine All-Holy, Gracious, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

-- Saint Basil the Great from a prayer by him



O All-Transcendent God (and what other name could describe you?), what words can hymn your praises? No word does you justice. What mind can probe your secret? No mind can encompass you. You are alone beyond the power of speech, yet all that we speak stems from you. You are alone beyond the power of thought, yet all that we can conceive springs from you. All things proclaim you, those endowed with reason and those bereft of it. All the expectation and pain of the world coalesces in you. All things utter a prayer to you, a silent hymn composed by you. You sustain everything that exists, and all things move together to your orders. You are the goal of all that exists. You are one and you are all, yet you are none of the things that exist - neither a part nor the whole. You can avail yourself of any name; how shall I call you, the only unnameable? All-transcendent God! Amen.


-- Saint Gregory of Nazianzen from a prayer by him

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