Category: SUFFERING & TRIBULATION

  • CHAPTER IX: Of another sort of dejection which produces despair of salvation.

    THERE is, too, another still more objectionable sort of dejection, which produces in the guilty soul no amendment of life or correction of faults, but the most destructive despair: which did not make Cain repent after the murder of his brother, or Judas, after the betrayal, hasten to relieve himself by making amends, but drove him to hang himself in despair.

    —St. John Cassian, Institutes

  • Life is random as it is deliberate, funny as it is tragic.

    — W.F. Gerald (Character) from The Only Living Boy in New York (2017)

  • And if there’s one thing individuals considering suicide are short on, it’s patience—because of their willfulness. They’re like passengers aboard a transcontinental airplane flight who, halfway there, decide they can’t wait any longer to land, and want to jump out. Life is like that. It’s not finished yet, You don’t know the conclusion. The part of suicidal thinking that’s not so intelligent is deciding to judge life before you’ve let God in to heal it and make it meaningful.

    —Dee Pennock, God’s Path to Sanity

  • I never believed Moravia really wanted to die (and he would express the wish in an offhand tone, as if saying “I could use a cigarette”); but I did believe he was bored, and boredom—like idleness, its sister vice—was something he disliked, even feared. Talk dispelled that fear, and for the rest of our afternoon there would be no mention of dying, not of his dying, at least.

    —William Weaver, introduction to Boredom by Alberto Moravia

  • Christian hope! How many are deprived of thee through the snares of invincible enemies! How many fall into despair and take away their own lives! Think of those who of their own free will have laid hands on themselves by hanging, by drowning themselves, or in other ways; also drunkards and others. The Lord spoke the word of promise, and His word shall be fulfilled. He speaks, and shall it not be? The Lord points to the laws of nature, to their constancy and firmness, as a proof of the faithfulness of His promises.

    —St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ

  • By perpetually trying to guarantee for ourselves a painless future, we are perpetually creating a painful present.

    —David Cain, When You Can’t Stop Looking Ahead, Look Backwards

  • If St. Paul had to learn humility through suffering for Christ’s sake, should we expect anything less? No, there is no magic wand. We grow in Christ as we love what He loves, especially in the midst of suffering.

    —Fr. Michael Gillis, Praying In The Rain – Why We Have To Suffer

  • There is one person particular I knew who, the two words that would be constantly reiterated is, “Thank God.”  

    No matter what the question was, no matter what the situation was, “How are you feeling?”  

    “Thank God.”  

    “That’s not what I’m asking.  Are you well?”  

    “Thank God.”  

    “But, that’s not what I’m asking, that’s not the answer to my question.”  

    And then as you know the person more and more, you realize, well actually, it is the answer to my question. We say it in the Prayer of Thanksgiving every day. We thank You for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition.

    How can you be thankful for illness? Because it’s been given to me. Because I know that everything I have is either from God’s hand or by His permission. Either from His hand directly or by His permission. If it’s from His hand directly, it must be good. And if it’s by His permission, it can’t harm me.

    —H.G. Bishop Angaelos – How obstacles become stepping stones

  • These calamities pass away. There is no calamity that lasts forever – even if it seems that way. Sometimes, it seems like it just doesn’t go away. Sometimes, it seems like it will never change, it will never pass. It’s important that we realize that everything passes. Everything comes to an end. Even our life comes to an end. But that shouldn’t scare us because even with the ending of this life comes a much better and more glorious start.

    —H.G. Bishop Angaelos – Joy comes in the morning

  • Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America told this anecdote at his election. As a young monk he went to Mount Athos. While he was there, he encountered an old monk carrying a bag. The young monk, Tikhon, offered to carry the old man’s bag. The old man refused, saying, “No, I need to carry my own bag.” Metropolitan Tikhon said he learned a valuable lesson that day. He learned that he must carry his own bag. He also learned that he must allow others to carry their own bag. So, as a healing presence, we need to be present for others and allow them to carry their own bag and deal with their own issues, without trying to save them from their pain or control the outcome of their plight.

    —Albert S. Rossi, Becoming a Healing Presence