from the writings of:

• St. Irenaios of Lyons

• St. Ephraim the Syrian

• Gregory the Theologian

• St. John Chrysostom

God created man in order to have someone on whom to shower His love. . .

The glory of God is a human being who is fully alive, and the life of such a person consists in beholding God. . . .

Christ, by reason of His measureless love, became what we are, in order that He might make us what He Himself is
. . . . St. Irenaios of Lyons

Thyself, O Lord, teach us to exalt Thee and put life in our souls. .

According to Thy mercy, nourish the children of the Church, who have cleaved themselves unto thee. May Thy loving-kindness be our helper, O Lord of the morning and the evening. Praise to the All-good One, Who because of His love has revealed glory to the sons of men! From dust did He create a voiceless being and adorn him with a soul, a proprietress of heavenly treasures. . . . St. Ephraim the Syrian

The soul is the breath of God and, while being heavenly, it endures being mixed with what is of the dust. It is a light enclosed in a cave, but still it is Divine. . . .

The Word spoke and, having taken a part of the newly created earth, with His immortal hands formed my image and imparted to it His life. . . . St. Gregory the Theologian

God created human beings as having control of everything on earth, and nothing on earth is greater than the human beings under whose authority everything falls. . . . St. John Chrysostom