Jacob’s Reviews > My Life in Christ: The Spiritual Journals of St John of Kronstadt > Status Update

“This life is not a joke or a toy, although men have turned it into a joke and a toy. They heedlessly play with time, given for preparation for eternity.”

“How terrible will it be for those who merely amuse themselves.”

“You must take the utmost care not to compare yourself with others in any respect, but always to put yourself below them, even though you may truly be better or equal to others in some respects. Everything good in us comes from God and is not our own.”

“You ask me what cause there can be for joy when you are racked with pain? Rejoice that the Lord has sent you this temporary chastisement to cleanse your soul of sins. "For whom the Lord loves He chastens" (Heb 12:6).”

“The whole art of curing spiritual diseases consists in not paying attention to them, and in not indulging them in the least, but immediately cutting them off.”

“By celebrating the sacraments carelessly we mock the Lord’s holy things.”

“How can one do anything without forcing oneself? How is it possible not to compel or inspire Christians, too, to fulfill the precepts of religion and piety? Is it not written in Scripture, “the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violence take it by force” (Matt 11:12)?”

“Why are long prayers necessary? By prolonged, fervent prayer, we warm our cold hearts, hardened in worldly vanity.”

“(Theater) is a mirror reflecting all the passions and deformities of this world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

“Everything heavenly, holy, bearing the stamp of Christianity is foreign to the theater.”

“Since most sins come from anger and pride, it is necessary to treat everyone who suffers from the disease of sin with kindness and love.”

“Though they may know much, let them not pride themselves upon this, but strive above all for the cleansing of their soul and body.”