ACC ~ Matthew 22 v37

LOVE GOD WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART

ORIGEN: However, now as he responds, he says, “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul and your whole mind.” This is the greatest and the first commandment. His statement contains something necessary for us to know, since it is the greatest. The others—even to the least of them—are inferior to it. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2. [1]

[1] GCS 38.2:4.

HEART, MIND AND SOUL

ORIGEN: Worthy is he, confirmed in all his gifts, who exults in the wisdom of God, having a heart full of the love of God, and a soul completely enlightened by the lamp of knowledge and a mind filled with the word of God. It follows then that all such gifts truly come from God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets are in some way a part of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets depend upon and adhere to the principle of the love of the Lord God and of neighbor and that the perfection of piety consists in love. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4. [1]

[1] GCS 38.2:8.

WITH ALL YOUR HEART

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Therefore the first commandment teaches every kind of godliness. For to love God with the whole heart is the cause of every good. The second commandment includes the righteous acts we do toward other people. The first commandment prepares the way for the second and in turn is established by the second. For the person who is grounded in the love of God clearly also loves his neighbor in all things himself. The kind of person who fulfills these two commandments experiences all the commandments. FRAGMENT 251. [1]

[1] MKGK 238.