You have burst my bonds; to you will I offer a sacrifice of praise (Ps 1 15(1 16): 16- 17)

Each one is freed from the bonds of evil desires or from the knotty entanglements of his own sins. The forgiveness of our sins is a liberation. What good would it have been to Lazarus to escape from his tomb if the command had not also been given. Untie him, and let him go (Jn 1 1 :44)?

It was the Lord's voice that awakened him in the sepulcher, and the Lord who over threw the earthy weight that had been laid upon the dead man at his burial.Lazarus emerged still bound and therefore not carried by any strength in his own feet, but only because the Lord's power brought him out. The same thing happens in the heart of a penitent. When you hear someone repenting of his or her sins, that person has already begun to live again; when you hear someone laying bare his or her conscience in confession, that person has already been led out from the tomb but has not yet been freed. - St Augustine, 2nd Exposition on Psalm 101

and I shall remind you now, as a brother in Christ, that you should preach doctrine to the laity and a tenet of the faith with all caution. You should consider that scandalizing even only one of the little ones believing in Christ has an unendurable punishment.

If the number of those harmed be so great, do we not stand in need of all skill to remove the scandals prudently and explain the sound teaching of the faith to those seeking the truth?

If we abide by the teachings of the holy Fathers and are earnest in considering them of great value, and test ourselves, "whether we are in the faith" according to the Scripture, it will truly come about that we most fitly will mold our thoughts to their upright and blameless judgments. - St Cyril of Alexandria, Letter 4 to Nestorius

#Patristics #Pastoralcare

Stop, I beg you, and remember that you are a mortal man; fear the Day of Judgement and keep yourself pure for it. Do not involve yourself in ecclesiastical matters and do not give us instructions, but learn about these things from us instead.

God gave the empire to you; he entrusted church affairs to us. And just as a man who usurps your empire opposes God, since he [God] established your rule, so you ought to be afraid in case, by appropriating church affairs to yourself, you become guilty of a great crime. It has been written, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. - St Hosius, Historia Arianorum 44.6-7

#Patristics #Politics #Soteriology #Arianism

And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground

Nor can it be thought that Almighty God Himself is meant. For it is impious to suggest that the Divine changes and puts on the shape and form of a man. And so it remains for us to own that it is the Word of God who in the preceding passage is regarded as divine : whence the place is even today honoured by those who live in the neighbourhood as a sacred place in honour of those who appeared to Abraham, and the terebinth can still be seen there. represented in the picture, sit one on each side, and he in the midst surpasses them in honour. ‘This would be our Lord and Saviour, Whom though men knew Him not they worshipped, confirming the Holy Scriptures. - Eusebius, Proof of the Gospels, Book V, Chapter 9

#patristics #iconology #christology

The ministers of God's grace preached on repentance with the help of the Holy Spirit. And the Lord of all things Himself spoke of repentance, with an oath:

For as I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner but his repentance.

He added this kindly assurance:

Repent, O house of Israel, of your wickedness. Say to the sons of my people: "If your sins reach from the earth to Heaven, and if they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sackcloth, and you return to Me with all your heart and say, Father, I will listen to you as a holy people." - Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians, VIII

#Patristics #Penance #Soteriology

By the word of His majesty He has set up all things, and by a word He can overturn them. 'Who shall say to Him, "What hast Thou done?" or who shall stand against the force of His power?'

When He wishes, and as He wishes, He will do all things, and none of the things decreed by Him shall fail. All things are before Him, and nothing is hid from His planning. - St Clement of Rome, Ibid.

#Patristics #Providence #Predestination

“Why shouldst thou fear to be stripped of that which thou hast resigned already to Christ?… Thou hast no life to lose, because thou hast given it already to Christ, nor can man take away that without God’s leave.”

— Fr. William Gurnall