Wasn’t this conviction also in you, Sisters- this first impulse that caused you to abandon everything and dedicate yourselves to the Lord? At any rate, that’s how it should have been. The difference between you and holy Catherine is that Catherine, having understood the lack of fulfillment in the way of life surrounding her, still had to seek for better ways, for the One in Whom she could find this fulfillment. You, having felt the thirst for what is better, knew in advance that the satisfaction of this thirst is possible only in the Lord, Who is calling all: Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink (John 7:37). Therefore, together with all this, as your coolness towards your surroundings grew, so also grew your desire for the Lord.

—St. Theophan the Recluse, Kindling the Divine Spirit