St. Maximus the Confessor: three virtues that let the mind hold fast to God

The post quotes St. Maximus the Confessor on what the mind needs before it can be wholly occupied with God. He names three virtues: love, self-control, and prayer. Each has a distinct work. Love tames anger. Self-control restrains and dries up sinful desire.

Prayer frees the mind from distracting thoughts and lays it bare before God. The quoted text states that in these three virtues all the other virtues are contained, and that without them the mind cannot be wholly occupied with God. The post presents the quotation as a single block of text attributed to St. Maximus the Confessor, followed by hashtags marking it as Orthodox Christian content on faith, the church, and the church fathers.

There is no discussion thread attached to the post; the quotation itself is the whole of the content. The teaching follows the ascetic pattern common in the fathers: the passions are first restrained (anger by love, desire by self-control), and then the mind, freed from distracting thoughts, is brought before God in prayer. The claim that all other virtues are contained in these three frames love, self-control, and prayer as a summary of the whole ascetic life rather than as three duties among many.