Evagrius Ponticus Quotes

• Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask Him; for He desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to Him in prayer.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Faith, Prayer, Inspiration

  38 Copy quote

• God cannot be grasped by the mind. If he could be grasped, he would not be God.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Mind, Ifs

  37 Copy quote

• The further the soul advances, the greater are the adversaries against which it must contend.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Soul, Christianity, Greater

  35 Copy quote

• Blessed is the one who has arrived at infinite ignorance.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Faith, Peace, Blessed

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• Prayer is the laying aside of thoughts.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Prayer

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• The Holy Spirit, out of compassion for our weakness, comes to us even when we are impure. And if He finds our intellect truly praying to Him, He enters it and puts to flight the whole array of thoughts and ideas circling within it, and He arouses it to a longing for spiritual prayer.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Christian, Spiritual, Prayer

  21 Copy quote

• If you patiently accept what comes, you will always pray with joy.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Life, Prayer, Joy

  21 Copy quote

• He who has mastery over his incensive power has mastery also over the demons. But anyone who is a slave to it is a stranger to the ways of the Saviour, for as the Saviour enjoined us: 'Learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart: and you will find rest for your souls' (Mt. 11:29). Now if a man abstains from food and drink, but becomes incensed to wrath because of evil thoughts, he is like a ship sailing the open sea with a demon for a pilot.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Christian, Humble, Heart

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• A man who worships in Spirit and Truth no longer honors the Creator because of His works, but praises Him because of Himself.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Men, Honor, Spirit

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• A monk is a man who considers himself one with all men because he seems constantly to see himself in every man.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Men, Monk, Seems

  Evagrius (Ponticus), John Eudes Bamberger (1970). “The praktikos: Chapters on prayer”, Cistercian Pubns

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• Provide yourself with such work for your hands as can be done, if possible, both during the day and at night, so that you are not a burden to anyone, and indeed can give to others, as St. Paul the Apostle advises (cf. I Thess. 2:9; Eph. 4:28). In this manner you will overcome the demon of listlessness and drive away all the desires suggested by the enemy; for the demon of listlessness takes advantage of idleness. 'Every idle man is full of desires' (Prov. 13:4 LXX).

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Christian, Night, Men

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• Happy is the spirit that attains to the perfect formlessness at the time of prayer.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Prayer, Perfect, Spirit

  "Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos. Chapters on Prayer". Translated by John Eudes Bamberger, 1972.

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• Prayer is the fruit of joy and thankfulness.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Gratitude, Prayer, Joy

  Evagrius (Ponticus) (1970). “The Praktikos”

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• Remember how the Lord rebukes Martha when He says: 'You are anxious and troubled about many things: one thing alone is needful' (Lk. 10:41-42) ? to hear the divine word; after that, one should be content with anything that comes to hand.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Christian, Hands, Remember

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• ... we should not worry about clothes or food? Such anxiety is a mark of? unbelievers, who reject the providence of the Lord and deny the Creator. An attitude of this kind is entirely wrong for Christians who believe that even? sparrows? are under the care of the holy angels (cf. Mt. 10:29). The demons, however? suggest worries of this kind? The divine word can bear no fruit, being choked out by our cares. Let us, then, renounce these cares, and throw them down before the Lord, being content with what we have at the moment?

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Christian, Attitude, Believe

  9 Copy quote

• If your spirit still looks around at the time of prayer, then it does not yet pray as a monk. You are no better than a man of affairs engaged in a kind of landscape gardening.

  Evagrius Ponticus

  Prayer, Men, Gardening

  11 Copy quote

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