Orthodox Saints on Repentance

“Repentance is the beginning, middle and end of the Christian way of life.”

Saint Gregory Palamas

“Always do a metanoia (repentance) when you are wrong. Don’t delay, otherwise the evil one can spread his roots within you.”

Saint Joseph the Hesychast

“To repent is not to look downwards at my own shortcomings, but upwards at God’s Love. It is not to look backwards with self-reproach but forward with trustfulness. It is to see not what I have failed to be, but what by the Grace of Christ I might yet become.”

Saint John Climacus

“Do not be ashamed to turn back and say boldly: I will arise and go to my Father. Arise and go!”

Saint Ephrem the Syrian

“The Lord greatly loves the repenting sinner and mercifully presses him to His bosom: “Where were you, My child? I was waiting a long time for you.” The Lord calls all to Himself with the Voice of the Gospel, and His Voice is heard in all the world: “Come to Me, My sheep. I created you, and I love you. My Love for you brought Me to Earth, and I suffered all things for the sake of your Salvation, and I want you all to know My Love, and to say, like the Apostles on Tabor: Lord, it is good for us to be with You.””

Saint Silouan the Athonite

“There is more mercy in God than there are sins in us. Confess your sins at once, whatever they may be.”

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk

“Are you wounded? Despair not. Have you fallen? Get up and say bravely: now I have begun. Fall down before your Merciful Master and confess your sins. But before you say anything He will already know what you intend to say. Before you open your lips, He will see what is in your heart. You will not be able to say, “I have sinned” before you see Him stretch forth His hands to receive and embrace you. Approach with faith and He will cleanse you straightaway as He cleansed the leper, lift you from your bed as He lifted the paralytic, and raise you from the dead as He raised Lazarus.”

Saint Ephrem the Syrian

“As every sickness has its treatment, so every sin has repentance.”

Saint Seraphim of Sarov

“We must always remember that we are not condemned for the multitude of our evils, but because we do not want to repent.”

Saint Mark the Ascetic

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Saint John the Baptist

“Be ashamed when you sin, don’t be ashamed when you repent. Sin is the wound, repentance is the medicine. Sin is followed by shame; repentance is followed by boldness. Satan has overturned this order and given boldness to sin and shame to repentance.”

Saint John Chrysostom

“Repentance will bring you humility. Humility will bring you the Grace of God. And God will uphold you in His Grace, and will give you whatever you need for your Salvation.”

Saint Paisios the Athonite

“The heart clears with tears and sighs. A sigh with pain of the Soul is equivalent to two buckets of tears…”

Saint Paisios the Athonite

“The Lord calls to Him all sinners; He opens His arms wide, even to the worst among them. Gladly He takes them in His arms, if only they will come to Him.”

Saint Macarius of Optina

“Repentance is a medicine which destroys sin. It is a Heavenly gift.”

Saint John Chrysostom

“The path leading to perfection is long. Pray to God so that He will strengthen you. Patiently accept your falls and, having stood up, immediately run to God, not remaining in that place where you have fallen. Do not despair if you keep falling into your old sins. Many of them are strong because they have received the force of habit. Only with the passage of time and with fervour will they be conquered. Don’t let anything deprive you of hope.”

Saint Nektarios of Aegina

“Confession is a way for man to come to God. It is the offering of the Love of God to man. Nothing and no one is able to deprive us of this Love.”

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

“You must then wash away, by a life of virtue, the dirt which has clung to your heart like plaster, and then your Divine beauty will once again shine forth.”

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

“Every genuine confession humbles the Soul. When it takes the form of thanksgiving, it teaches the Soul that it has been delivered by the Grace of God.”

Saint Maximos the Confessor

“However many and however great and burdensome your sins may be, with God there is greater mercy. Just as His Majesty is, so likewise is His Mercy.”

Saint Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow

“Repentance is the gate of mercy which is opened to all who seek it.”

Saint Isaac the Syrian

“As every sickness has its treatment, so every sin has repentance.”

Saint Seraphim of Sarov

“Repentance is the abandoning of all false paths that have been trodden by men’s feet, and men’s thoughts and desires, and a return to the new path: Christ’s path. But how can a sinful man repent unless he, in his heart, meets with the Lord and knows his own shame? Before little Zacchaeus saw the Lord with his eyes, he met Him in his heart and was ashamed of all his ways.”

Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

“When the air is cleared of clouds, the sun shines brightly; and a Soul freed from its former habits and granted forgiveness has certainly seen the Divine Light.”

Saint John Climacus

Orthodox Saints On Repentance