We do well to admire the blessedness of the saints and desire to be crowned as they are, but we are unwilling to imitate their labors and combats. Do you think that they were drowned without labors and afflictions in the same manner as you desire to be? Will you hear what kind of rest the saints had in this life? Some of them were tortured, others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yes, even more bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted and tormented. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. Lo, you have heard a few particulars out of many. Such were the accommodations and repose of the saints in this life; and they bore these things with all joy because they looked for those eternal good things which are laid up for them in the heavens, which eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither have they entered into to heart of man.
—St. Ephraim the Syrian
Category: SUFFERING & TRIBULATION
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“The Stoics used to say: ‘Suffering is nothing’, and they were not telling the truth. But, more enlightened, we Christians say: ‘Suffering is everything’. Suffering asks for and gets everything; because of suffering God consents to accomplishing all things; suffering helps the gentle Jesus to save the world. At times, when I feel overwhelmed by the immensity of my desires for those I love, by the importance of what I have to obtain for them, I turn toward suffering. I ask suffering to serve as the intermediary between God and them. (…) Suffering is the complete form of prayer, the only infallible form of action. So, my beloved sister, may suffering accomplish what we desire, may it obtain the realization of our desires, may it benefit these dear people and praise God!”
—Servant of God Élisabeth Leseur
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I’m convinced that there are a good many things in this life that we really can’t do anything about, but that God wants us to do something with.
―Elisabeth Elliot, Suffering Is Never for Nothing -
“Do the next thing.” I don’t know any simpler formula for peace, for relief from stress and anxiety than that very practical, very down-to-earth word of wisdom. Do the next thing. That has gotten me through more agonies than anything else I could recommend.
―Elisabeth Elliot, Suffering Is Never for Nothing -
That it is our duty to perform each task considered as worthy with the utmost enthusiasm is insured by the terrible caveat that performing Godly work in a careless manner curses it. But worry, or the many worries that trouble the heart and give it no peace, is a disease of fallen man, who under took to decide his own fate and who is tossed and turned on all sides. Worry disturbs our thoughts and does not even allow us to focus on the task at hand. I suggest, therefore, that you look into this and, if you find that such a worry occasionally overwhelms you, try to drive it out and do not give it any ground. Have enthusiasm for your work and, performing it with utmost care, expect success from God, dedicating the task itself to Him, no matter how small it is, and you will get rid of worry.
Do this, and everyday occupations and tasks will not distract you from God.
May the Lord help you!
—St. Theophan the Recluse -
Anyone who is sick should seek the prayer of others, that they may be restored to health; that through the intercession of others the enfeebled form of the body and the wavering footsteps of our deeds may be restored to health….Learn, you who are sick, to gain health through prayer. Seek the prayer of others, call upon the Church to pray for you, and God, in His regard for the Church, will give what He might refuse to you.
—St. Ambrose -
The best form of mortification is to accept with all our heart, in spite of our repugnance, all that God sends or permits, good and evil, joy and suffering…I find absolute submission to God’s will a sovereign remedy in every trouble, and when I consider that in reality God’s will is God Himself, I see that this submission is but the supreme adoration due to God, due to Him in whatever manner He may manifest Himself.
—C. Marmion
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Woe to our times: we now depart from the narrow and sorrowful path leading to eternal life and we seek a happy and peaceful path. But the merciful Lord leads many people from this path, against their will, and places them on the sorrowful one. Through unwanted sorrows and illnesses we draw closer to the Lord, for they humble us by constraint, and humility, when we acquire it, can save us even without works, according to St. Isaac the Syrian.
—St. Macarius of Optina -
He who opposes unpleasant events opposes the command of God unwittingly. But when someone accepts them with real knowledge, he ‘waits patiently for the Lord’ (Ps. 27:14).
—St. Mark the Ascetic
Philokalia, Vol. 1 p.142
SO GOOD QUOTES 