Macarius of Egypt

“If indeed the soul takes refuge in God, believes and seeks the salt of life which is the good and person-loving Spirit, then the heavenly salt comes and kills those ugly worms. The Spirit takes away the awful stench and cleanses the soul by the strength of his salt. Thus the soul is brought back to health and freed from its wounds by the true salt in order to be again useful and ordered to serve the heavenly Lord. That is why even in the law God uses this example when he ordered that all sacrifices be salted with salt.”

“Scripture enjoins everyone to "guard his own heart with all diligence," so that anyone, guarding the word within him like a paradise, may enjoy the grace not to listen to the serpent that creeps around inside, enticing him with things that lead to pleasure whereby anger that slays a brother is engendered and the soul, that gives birth to it, itself dies. But may he have the grace rather to listen to the Lord saying, "Be concerned with faith and hope through which love of God and of man is engendered which bestows eternal life." …For in a proportionate measure the word of God comes to each person. As long as a person possesses the word, he is held by the word and as long as he keeps it, so long he is guarded.”

“Now if God willed to accept and to lower Himself to such sufferings, dishonours, and humiliations, then no matter how much you humble yourself, you whose nature is mud and subject to death, you will never resemble your Lord [in this]. God for your sake humbled Himself, but you, for your own sake, do not humble yourself. You are proud and puffed up. God came and took up your burden to give you His rest, but you do not wish to endure labours and suffering. By your labours your wounds are healed.”

“SOULS that love truth and God, that long with much hope and faith to put on Christ completely, do not need so much to be put in remembrance by others, nor do they endure, even for a while, to be deprived of the heavenly desire and of passionate affection to the Lord; but being wholly and entirely nailed to the cross of Christ, they perceive in themselves day by day a sense of spiritual advance towards the spiritual Bridegroom. Being smitten with the heavenly longing, and hungering for the righteousness of the virtues, they have a great and insatiable desire for the shining forth of the Spirit. Even if they are privileged through their faith to receive the knowledge of Divine mysteries, or are made partakers of the gladness of heavenly grace, they put no trust in themselves, thinking themselves to be somewhat, but the more they are permitted to receive spiritual gifts, the more insatiable they are of the heavenly longing, and the more they seek on with diligence. The more they perceive in themselves a spiritual advance, the more hungry and thirsty they are for the participation and increase of grace; and the richer they spiritually are, the more do they esteem themselves to be poor, being insatiable in the spiritual longing for the heavenly Bridegroom, as the scripture says, They that eat Me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink Me shall yet be thirsty [Ecclesiasticus 24:21] - "The 50 Spiritual Homilies 10.1"”

“We Are Not Irremediably In Error "It is not true, as some maintain who are led astray by error, that the human being is irremediably dead and can no longer do anything good. A small child is incapable of anything; it cannot run to its mother on its own legs; it tumbles on the ground, cries out, sobs, calls out to her. And she is gentle with it, she is touched to see her baby seeking her so impatiently with so many sobs. It cannot reach her but cries out to her tirelessly, and she goes to it overcome with love, she kisses it, presses it to her heart and feeds it, with unspeakable tenderness. God loves us and he behaves like her towards the soul that seeks him and cries out to him. In the eagerness of that infinite love that is his… He takes hold of our spirit, unites Himself to it, and we become 'one spirit with Him', as the apostle says (I Corinthians 6.17). The soul is linked with the Lord, and the Lord, full of compassion and love, unites Himself to it and it dwells in his grace. Then the soul and the Lord are one spiritually, they form one life, one heart." - "Homily 46"”