A treasury of the Church

The Library

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Sayings of the saints — East and West, ancient and modern — gathered as a single choir, to be tasted slowly.

May’s gathering · a fresh selection each month

The whole choir of the Great Tradition.

Do not be afraid; only believe.
Mark 5:36Scripture
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me… but I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
Thomas Merton, Thoughts in SolitudeModern · 20th c.
I would rather feel compunction than be able to define it.
Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of ChristWestern · 15th c.
Stay in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.
Abba Moses the BlackDesert · 4th c.
Prayer is the breath of the soul. As long as we breathe, the soul is alive in God.
St Theophan the RecluseEastern · 19th c.
Holiness is not an addition to our humanity. It is humanity made whole in Christ.
Fr Stephen De YoungEastern · Contemporary
Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Attributed to St Teresa of ÁvilaCarmelite · 16th c.
The greatest issue facing the world today is whether those who are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples.
Dallas WillardModern · 20th–21st c.
We are formed by what we love, and we love what we behold.
James K. A. SmithModern · Contemporary
Do not seek to be loved; seek to love. The one who loves is the one who is at rest.
St Paisios of Mount AthosEastern · 20th c.
Always we begin again.
St Benedict, RuleWestern · 6th c.
What we need most in order to make progress is to be silent before this great God with our appetite and with our tongue.
St John of the CrossCarmelite · 16th c.
The aim of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.
St Seraphim of SarovEastern · 19th c.
When we live the worship of the Church, we live within the world the Scriptures themselves describe.
Fr Stephen De YoungEastern · Contemporary
We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves properly.
Thomas Merton, No Man Is an IslandModern · 20th c.
To come to the knowledge you have not, you must go by a way in which you know not.
St John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount CarmelCarmelite · 16th c.

“That they may all be one… so that the world may believe.” — John 17:21