Fear is good, and the lack of it is only found in the perfect, whom, as a rule, no one would claim to be. It is meant to be used, properly, in the proper moderation, to benefit one’s life.
Anxiety however, is normally bad.
‘Anxiety proceeds from an inordinate desire to be freed from a present evil or to acquire a hoped for good. Yet there is nothing that tends more to increase evil and prevent enjoyment of the good than to be disturbed and anxious.’
‘With the single exception of sin, anxiety is the greatest evil that can happen to a soul. Just as sedition and internal disorder bring turmoil to a state and make it helpless to resist the foreign invader. So also if our heart is inwardly troubled and disquieted it loses both the strength necessary to retain the virtues it acquired and the means to resist the temptations of the enemy. And Satan then uses his utmost efforts to fit in those troubled waters.’
St. Francis de Sales
‘When the devil again tempts you to sin, telling you that God is merciful, remember that the Lord showeth mercy to them that fear Him, but not to them who despise Him.’
‘What is it that renders death terrible? Sin. We must therefore fear sin, not death.’
‘Ecclesiasticus says, that the fear of the Lord brings not pain, but joy and gladness: The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give joy and gladness. Thus this very fear leads to the acquisition of a firm hope in God, which makes the soul happy: He that fears the Lord shall tremble at nothing, and shall not be afraid, for He is his hope. The soul of him that fears the Lord is blessed. Yes, blessed, because fear draws man away from sin. The fear of the Lord drives out sin and at the same time infuses into him a great desire of observing the commandments: Blessed is the man that fears the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in His commandments.’
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
‘Is it not evident that the Lord Jesus is angry with us when we sin in order that He may convert us through fear of His indignation? His indignation, then, is not the carrying out of vengeance, but rather the working out of forgiveness, for these are His words: “If thou shalt turn and lament, thou shall be saved.” He waits for our lamentations here, that is, in time, that He may spare us those which shall be eternal. He waits for our tears, that He may pour forth His goodness.’
St. Ambrose of Milan
‘No one can love God consciously in his heart unless he has first feared Him with all his heart. Through the action of fear the soul is purified and, as it were, made malleable and so it becomes awakened to the action of love. No one, however, can come to fear God completely in the way described, unless he first transcends all worldly cares; for when the intellect reaches a state of deep stillness and detachment, then the fear of God begins to trouble it, purifying it with full perception from all gross and cloddish density, and thereby bringing it to a great love for God’s goodness. . . Fear and love are found together only in the righteous who achieve virtue through the energy of the Holy Spirit in them. For this reason Holy Scripture says in one place: “O fear the Lord, all you who are His saints,” (Ps. 34:9) and in another: “O love the Lord, all you who are His saints.” (Ps. 31:23) From this we see clearly that the righteous, who are still in the process of being purified, are characterized both by fear and by a moderate measure of love; perfect love, on the other hand, is found only in those who have already been purified and in whom there is no longer any thought of fear, but rather a constant burning and binding of the soul to God through the energy of the Holy Spirit. As it is written, “My soul is bound to Thee: Thy right hand has upheld me.” (Ps. 63:8. LXX)’
‘. . . if the soul is neglected and wholly covered with the leprosy of self-indulgence, it cannot experience the fear of God, however persistently it is warned of the terror and power of God’s judgment. When, however, through great attentiveness the soul begins to be purified, it also begins to experience the fear of God as a life-giving medicine which, through the reproaches it arouses in the conscience, burns the soul in the fire of dispassion. After this the soul is gradually cleansed until it is completely purified; its love increases as its fear diminishes, until it attains perfect love, in which there is no fear but only the complete dispassion which is energized by the glory of God. So let us rejoice endlessly in our fear of God and in the love which is the fulfilling of the law of perfection in Christ (cf. Rom. 13:10).’
St. Diadochos of Photiki
‘In the fear of God let us keep our attention fixed within ourselves, until our conscience achieves its freedom.’
St. Isaiah the Solitary
‘The first degree of humility is the fear of God, which we should constantly have before our eyes.’
St. Louis de Blois
‘Fear of God is of two kinds. The first is generated in us by the threat of punishment. It is through such fear that we develop in due order self-control, patience, hope in God and dispassion; and it is from dispassion that love comes. The second kind of fear is linked with love and constantly produces reverence in the soul, so that it does not grow indifferent to God because of the intimate communion of its love.’
St. Maximos the Confessor
‘We must know how to confide. There is the fear of God and the fear of a Judas. Too much fear makes one labour without love, and too much confidence prevents from considering the danger which we must overcome.’
St. Padre Pio
