Marcus Eremita, Mark the Ascetic or Marcus the Ascetic[n 1] was a Christian theologian, saint, and ascetic writer of the fifth century AD.
If someone puts his trust in God in a matter, let him not argue with his brother about it.
Whatever we do or say without prayer always ends up either sinful or harmful and convicts us through the deeds in some mysterious way.
Failure to do the good that is within your power is hard to forgive. But mercy and prayer reclaim the negligent.
Guard your mind from self-praise and flee a high opinion of yourself, so that God does not allow you to fall into the opposite passion to the virtue for which you boast, for man does not accomplish virtue alone, but with the help of God who sees all.
Whoever prays for those who hurt him lays the demons low; but he who opposes his affronter is bound to the demons.
Do not think about or do anything without a spiritual purpose, whereby it is done for God. For If you travel without purpose, you shall labor in vain.
One evil receives strength from another. In the same way, good deeds also sprout one from another, and the one in whom they are found grows larger.
Because God's justice is inexorable, it is hard to obtain forgiveness for sins committed with complete deliberation.
Whoever has a spiritual gift and compassionate toward one who does not have it guards his gift through his compassion. But whoever is proud of his gift loses it through self-opinion.
When the mind forgets the purpose of Christian life, then even the clear fulfillment of virtue becomes profitless.
God values deeds according to their intentions. For it is said, "The Lord grant unto you according to your heart" (Ps. 19:5). . . Therefore, whoever wants to do something but can't is considered as having done it by God, who sees the intentions of our hearts. This applies to both good and evil deeds alike.
Every affliction tests our will, showing whether it is inclined to good or evil. That is why an unforeseen affliction is called a test, because it enables a man to test his hidden desires.
We must receive the one who curses us as a messenger from God, rebuking our hidden evil thoughts, so that we, seeing our thoughts with exactness, might correct ourselves. For we do not know how many hidden evils we have; Only a perfect man can understand all of his own shortcomings.
Consistently pray in all things, so that you might not do anything without the help of God. . . Whoever does or busies himself with anything without prayer does not succeed in the end. Concerning this, the Lord said: "Without Me you can't do anything". (John 15:5)
As water and fire oppose one another when combined, so are self-justification and humility opposed to one another.
In the spiritual life we can do nothing worthy without repentance, but the Lord has much mercy on us because of our intentions. He who compels himself and holds on to repentance until the end, even if he sins is saved because he compelled himself, for the Lord promised this in the Gospel.
Do not attempt to benefit by rebukes one who boasts of his virtues, for he loves to display himself can not be a lover of truth.
No one is as good and merciful as the Lord. But even He does not forgive the unrepentant.
Do not desire to hear about the misfortunes of those who oppose you. For those who listen to such speech later reap the fruits of their evil intention.
The sign of sincere love is to forgive wrongs done to us. It was with such love that the Lord loved the world.