Thu Dec 4th, Saint Barbara, Great Martyr. Saint John of Damascus.
Troparion of Saint BarbaraThis most venerable woman pierced the enemy's net, and like a trapped ostrich, escaped from it, through the strength giving weapon of the Cross.
St. John of Damascus, eastern prelude of St. Thomas Aquinas
"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."
Saint John of Damascus, De Fide Orthodoxa
By the 'Father's right hand' we understand the glory and honor of the divinity, where He who exists as Son of God before all ages, indeed as God, of one being with the Father, is seated bodily after He became incarnate and His flesh was glorified."
Saint John of Damascus, De Fide Orthodoxa
"You ask how the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the flesh the wine...the Blood of Christ. I shall tell you the Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought...Let it be enough for your to understand that it is by the Holy Spirit, just as it was of the Holy Virgin and the Holy Spirit that the Lord, through and in Himself, took flesh."
Saint John of Damascus, De Fide Orthodoxa
"Previously God, who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could not be represented by an image. But now that He has made Himself visible in the flesh, and has lived with men, I can make an image of what I have seen of God...and contemplate the glory of the Lord, His face revealed."
Saint John of Damascus, De sacris imaginibus orationes
"The beauty of the images moves me to contemplation, as a meadow delights the eyes and subtly infuses the soul with the glory of God."
Saint John of Damascus, De sacris imaginibus orationes
To serve Mary and to be her courtier is the greatest honor we can ever possess. For to serve the Queen of Heaven is already to reign on high, and to live under her commands is a greater thing than to govern."
Saint John of Damascus