Stjohnchrysostom Quotes

“Consider that St. Paul was bold in the face of fire, hard as adamant, firm and unshaken, riveted in the fear of God, and absolutely inflexible. “Who,” he asked, “shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will we be separated by tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the word?”
But the man who was brave in the face of all those things, who
laughed in scorn at the hard gates of death, who broke everything that
opposed him: this same man, when he saw someone he loved in
tears, was crushed. He did not even conceal his feelings, but said
straight away, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my
heart?”
What do you think of that? Does a tear have the power to crush a
soul as hard as his? “Yes,” Paul says, “because I can hold out against everything but love. Love prevails, love subdues me.” That is the mind of God. An abyss of water did not drown Paul, but he was crumpled by a few tears.”
― St. John Chrysostom

“Think of St. Paul’s tears when he was in prison: for three years, night and day, he did not stop weeping. What fountain can you compare to those tears? The one in Paradise, that waters the entire earth? But this font of tears watered souls, not earth. If some artist were to show us St. Paul bathed in tears and groaning, wouldn’t that be far better to see than a choir of countless singers, all gaily crowned?… With these tears the Church is watered; with these tears souls are planted; with these tears any fire, no matter how fero cious, is quenched…. Christ said, “Blessed are they who mourn, and blessed are they that weep, for they shall laugh.” Nothing is sweeter than these tears; they are sweeter than any laughter…. So tears are not painful. In fact, tears that flow from pious sorrow are better than tears from worldly pleasures and disasters…. For where is a pious tear not useful? In prayers? In exhortations? We give tears an ill name, by not using them the way they were given us to be used.”
― St. John Chrysostom