John Chrysostom: thrown into security

Saturday, September 13, 2014
    Feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher, 407
Meditation:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
    —Psalm 51:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The devil then lies in wait [during prayer], deceiver that he is. For since he sees very great gain accruing to us from prayer, then most he assails us, in order that he may disable us from our defence; that he may send us off home emptyhanded... The devil, when he has seen us coming to the judge, drives us away to a distance, not by any staff, but through our own slackness. For he knows, he knows clearly, that if they have come to him in a sober spirit, and have told the sins committed, and have mourned with their soul fervent, they will depart having received full forgiveness; for God loves mankind; and on this account [the devil] is beforehand with them, and debars them from access, in order that they may obtain no one of the things which they need, [doing so] with no compulsion, but by deceiving us, and throwing us into security.
    ... St. John Chrysostom (345?-407), A, Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, v. IX, New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889, p. 237 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 51:7; 32:5; Matt. 7:7-8; John 8:44; 1 John 1:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I never be slack about my sins. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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