For nothing so much disturbs the mind, though it be done for some beneficial purpose, as to innovate and introduce strange things, and most of all when this is done in matters relating to divine worship and the glory of God.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that changing established practices can cause distress, especially in sacred matters, regardless of the intended positive effects.
Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes the discomfort and disturbance that can arise from introducing innovations, particularly in religious practices that are deeply rooted in tradition. He expresses concern that even beneficial changes can be unsettling to the mind when they challenge established norms, especially those concerning divine worship and the glory of God, indicating that tradition holds significant importance in such matters.
In practice
During a discussion about changes in church services, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of tradition.
No one has ever been accused for not providing ornaments, but for those who neglect their neighbour a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demons. Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all.
It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life.
When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their follow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them.
Abba Moses asked Abba Sylvanus, Can a person lay a new foundation every day? The old man replied, If you work hard, you can lay a new foundation every moment. Abba Pimen said, To throw yourself before God, not to measure your progress, to leave behind all self-will; these are the instruments for the work of the soul. The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.
I hear no one boast, that he hath a knowledge of the Scriptures, but that he owneth a Bible written in golden characters. And tell me then, what profiteth this? The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.
Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my daily joy, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in life.
At bottom, every state regards another as a gang of robbers who will fall upon it as soon as there is an opportunity.
Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself.
Englishmen hate Liberty and Equality too much to understand them. But every Englishman loves a pedigree.
She also considered very seriously what she would look like in a little cottage in the middle of the forest, dressed in a melancholy gray and holding communion only with the birds and trees; a life of retirement away from the vain world; a life into which no man came. It had its attractions, but she decided that gray did not suit her.
What if we discover that our present way of life is irreconcilable with our vocation to become fully human?
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.