Thirty Steps to Heaven Quotes

“Wishing to appear humble is the worst form of pride.”
― Vassilios Papavassiliou, Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life

“St. John Chrysostom writes: If you are a Christian, no earthly city is yours. Of our City “the Builder and Maker is God.” [Heb. 11:10] Though we may gain possession of the whole world, we are withal but strangers and sojourners in it all! We are enrolled in heaven: our citizenship is there!”
― Vassilios Papavassiliou, Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life

“Our worldly desires are mortified when we remember that death is at the door. At the same time, we seek all the more urgently to do good. When people know they have only so long to live, they begin to get their affairs in order:”
― Vassilios Papavassiliou, Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life

“What if this day is your last? What if tomorrow morning is your last chance to pray and repent and prepare your soul for death? When we perceive our sins and remember our coming judgment, when we become sensitive to the presence of God, we are snapped out of our slumber and we become alert. Do you see now why remembrance of death is so important in spiritual life? Remembrance of death leads to alertness, alertness fosters prayer, and prayer prepares us to meet God.”
― Vassilios Papavassiliou, Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life

“People sometimes complain about the notion of Divine Judgment. “How can God judge and condemn us if He loves us?” But we condemn ourselves every time we judge others. With each thought and word with which we condemn sin, we create more rope to hang ourselves with. “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37).”
― Vassilios Papavassiliou, Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life

“The insensitive man is a foolish philosopher, an exegete condemned by his own words, a scholar who contradicts himself, a blind man teaching sight to others. . . . He talks profoundly about death and acts as if he will never die. . . . He has plenty to say about self-control and fights for a gourmet life. He reads about the judgment and begins to smile, about vainglory and is vainglorious while he is reading. He recites what he has learnt about keeping vigil, and at once drops off to sleep. Prayer he extols, and runs from it as if from a plague. Blessings he showers on obedience, and is the first to disobey. Detachment he praises, and he shamelessly fights over a rag. . . . He blesses silence and cannot stop talking about it. He teaches meekness and frequently gets angry while he is teaching it. . . . In front of others he criticizes himself for being vainglorious, and in making the admission he is looking for glory. . . . Out in the world he is full of praise for the solitary life and cannot see how much he is disgracing himself. He glorifies almsgivers and despises the poor.”
― Vassilios Papavassiliou, Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life