“By an invincible patience he bore all afflictions and rebukes without a word of complaint; he sincerely looked upon himself as the outcast of the world; and he spoke to all with the most engaging sweetness and charity.”
“The Holy Spirit is for everyone: but in those who are pure of the passions, who are chaste and live in stillness and silence, He reveals special power."
“I have looked so closely into my heart that I cannot find there any single good action. I know my sins and they are more than the sand upon the sea-shore."
“The marriage which men contract is a perishable thing, but let us choose for ourselves the marriage which perishes not, and the marriage feast which never ends.”
“It is the wisdom of the saints to recognize the will of God. Indeed, in obeying the truth, man surpasses everything else, for he is the image and likeness of God.”
For an insult which is rendered externally reveals the character. This great pope remembered, that, by his station, he was the common father of the poor.
"In that choir of saints who shine like brilliant stars in the night of this world, we have seen the holy Paphnutius, like some great luminary, shining with the brightness of knowledge."
Abba Barsanuphius lived in a community of monks in the Gaza area of Palestine. He lived during the first half of the sixth century, near the tail end of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.