Quotes of St. Ambrose of Optina

St. Ambrose of Optina

“Sinful thoughts continually disturb a man. But if he does not cooperate with them, then he is not guilty of them.”

“One ascetic woman was besieged for a long time with unclean thoughts. When the Lord came and cast them away from her, she called to Him: ‘Where were you before now, O my sweet Jesus?’ The Lord answered: ‘I was in your heart.’ She said then: ‘How could that be? For my heart was full of unclean thoughts.’ The Lord said to her: ‘Know that I was in your heart, for you were not disposed to the unclean thoughts, but strove rather to be free of them; and when you were not able to be free, you struggled and grieved. By this you prepared a place for Me in your heart.’”

About the power of repentance, the Elder said: “One man sinned but repented, and this continued all his life. Finally he repented and died. An evil spirit came for his soul and said: ‘He’s mine.’ The Lord said, ‘No, no, he has repented.’ ‘But he repented and then sinned again,’ said the devil. The Lord said to him: ‘If you, being evil, take him back after he repented to Me, then how can I not accept him if after sinning he has turned to Me in repentance? You forget that you are evil, and I am good.’”

About laziness and depression the Elder said: “Boredom is the grandson of depression, and laziness is the daughter. To send her away, labor actively–do not be lazy in prayer, then boredom will pass and zeal will come. And if you add to this patience and humility, then you will escape much evil.”

On almsgiving the Elder said: “St. Demetrius of Rostov wrote: ‘Even if a man comes to you on a horse and asks you for alms, give it to him. You will not have to answer for how he uses it.’”
Also: “St. John Chyrsostom says, ‘Begin by giving away what you do not need, what is lying around unsued, to those who are in need. Then you will begin to give what you can according to your means, and finally you will be ready to give away all that you have.’”

“If you do not feel like praying, you have to force yourself,” the Elder said. “The Holy Fathers say that prayer with force is higher than prayer unforced. You do not want to, but force yourself. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (cf. Matt. 11:12).”

“Dogmas are not human postulates, clearly formulated, but the divine truth about God–a truth which people themselves could not possibly arrive at had it not been revealed to them by God. Truth can be investigated, truth can be known, truth can be proven, but truth cannot be contrived. . . .Heresy is a departure from the divine truth and not from the opinion of the majority.”