Respect

St. John of Kronstadt: Do not despise any man . . .

Reflection on Giving Alms to the Poor

Do not despise any man, however poor he may be; but behave with full respect and kindness to every well-intentioned man, especially to the poor, as to our members worthy of compassion — or, rather, to members of Christ — otherwise you will cruelly wound your soul.

O, how easy it would appear to be to live in simplicity and love, and yet how difficult it is for our corrupt hearts to live in love!

At every step there is a pretext for enmity against our brother.

+ St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ [paperback]  or  [hardback]

You don’t need a Kindle device to read the Kindle version of this book, which is available a very reduced cost. Try Amazon’s FREE Kindle Cloud Reader app for your computer, phone, or tablet!

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk: In going to church, think that thou art going to the house of the King of Heaven . . .

st-tikhon-of-zadonsk-2

“In going to church, think that thou art going to the house of the King of Heaven, where with fear and joy one ought to stand as in heaven before the King of Heaven. While standing in church, do not look around to the sides and do not look at how someone is standing and praying, lest thou be condemned with the Pharisee, since thou didst not come to judge others, but to ask for mercy for thyself from God the Judge and Knower of hearts. Gaze with compunction toward the altar alone, where the holy sacrifice is offered. More than anything else, beware of laughter and conversations, for whoever laughs or converses while standing in church does not render honor to the holy place and tempts others and prevents others from praying.”

— St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Scroll to Top