~St Maximos the Confessor
16. He who loves Me, says the Lord, will keep My commandments (cf. John 14:15, 23); and ‘this is My commandment, that you love one another’ (John 15:12). Thus he who does not love his neighbor fails to keep the commandment, and so cannot love the Lord.
17. Blessed is he who can love all men equally.
18. Blessed is he who is not attached to anything transitory or corruptible.
19. Blessed is the intellect that transcends all sensible objects and ceaselessly delights in divine beauty.
20. If you make provision for the desires of the flesh (cf. Rom. 13:14) and bear a grudge against your neighbor on account of something transitory, you worship the creature instead of the Creator.
