Ethan D Good

“The Lord has taken all of our sufferings and cares upon himself, and He has said that He will provide for all our needs, yet we hold on to our cares so tightly that we create unrest in our hearts and minds, in our families, and all around us.”
― Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

“The battle with thoughts—which Br. Tomislav had experienced and whose mystical depths he had touched even as a young child—began in earnest when he became a monk. He began to understand, based on his own experience, that being a Christian meant waging a constant and merciless battle against evil and death in one’s own heart, a battle with no front lines or cease-fires, in which the enemy neither sleeps nor tires.”
― Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: the Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

“If we ourselves do not learn humility, God will not stop humbling us,” were words that Fr. Thaddeus often repeated during the last years of his earthly life when he recounted how he had tried to avoid his obediences and the cross that he had been given by the Lord. Or, as the old Byzantine saying goes: If it is the king that is persecuting you, run; if it is God Who is persecuting you, sit down!”
― Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: the Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

“Whatever you do, always silently repeat these words: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”
― Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: the Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica