55 Maxims from Fr. Thomas Hopko

55 Maxims
(2007)

1. Be always with Christ and trust God in everything
   
2. Pray as you can, not as you think you must
   
3. Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline
   
4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times each day
   
5. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied
   
6. Make some prostrations when you pray
   
7. Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days
   
8. Practice silence, inner and outer
   
9. Sit in silence 20 to 30 minutes each day
   
10. Do acts of mercy in secret
    
11. Go to liturgical services regularly
    
12. Go to confession and holy communion regularly
    
13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings
    
14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings to a trusted person regularly
    
15. Read the scriptures regularly
    
16. Read good books, a little at a time
    
17. Cultivate communion with the saints
    
18. Be an ordinary person, one of the human race
    
19. Be polite with everyone, first of all family members
    
20. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home
    
21. Have a healthy, wholesome hobby
    
22. Exercise regularly
    
23. Live a day, even a part of a day, at a time
    
24. Be totally honest, first of all with yourself
    
25. Be faithful in little things
    
26. Do your work, then forget it
    
27. Do the most difficult and painful things first
    
28. Face reality
    
29. Be grateful
    
30. Be cheerful
    
31. Be simple, hidden, quiet and small
    
32. Never bring attention to yourself
    
33. Listen when people talk to you
    
34. Be awake and attentive, fully present where you are
    
35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary
    
36. Speak simply, clearly, firmly, directly
    
37. Flee imagination, fantasy, analysis, figuring things out
    
38. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance
    
39. Don’t complain, grumble, murmur or whine
    
40. Don’t seek or expect pity or praise
    
41. Don’t compare yourself with anyone
    
42. Don’t judge anyone for anything
    
43. Don’t try to convince anyone of anything
    
44. Don’t defend or justify yourself
    
45. Be defined and bound by God, not people
    
46. Accept criticism gracefully and test it carefully
    
47. Give advice only when asked or when it is your duty
    
48. Do nothing for people that they can and should do for themselves
    
49. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice
    
50. Be merciful with yourself and others
    
51. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath
    
52. Focus exclusively on God and light, and never on darkness, temptation and sin
    
53. Endure the trial of yourself and your faults serenely, under God’s mercy
    
54. When you fall, get up immediately and start over
    
55. Get help when you need it, without fear or shame

Father Tom explains this list of maxims in an excellent podcast for Ancient Faith Radio.