“To us, however, it often seems that God’s help is slow in coming, and sometimes even arrives too late. But this is not so, for God’s help arrives exactly when it is needed, neither too soon nor too late, but exactly on time.”
- Elder Aimilianos of Simonapetras, Mt. Athos
“Monks (it has been observed) are like the great and silent forests of the earth. In silence and stillness the trees grow, unremarkable and unobserved in their forest wilderness, silently but effectively purifying the air of the whole world, removing, in their unmoving, unimpressive activity, the poisons and carbons that would otherwise destroy the world of cities and nations. It is for others to be the primary movers and dramatic doers. Monks, like trees, will do the world far less good by removing themselves from the purifying task of prayer and monastic observance. The world in its folly sees no usefulness in its rain forests - or in its monastics. But destroy either of these - and the world is ever ready to destroy both - and the world will strangle itself and die, poisoned by its own toxins.”
- Hieromonk James Deschene, Christminster, quoted in Orthodox Canada
“Life is a precious and unique gift, and we squander it foolishly and carelessly, forgetful of its brevity. Either we look back with yearning on the past or else we live in the expectation of a future in which, it seems to us, life will really begin; whereas the present -that is, our life as it actually is - is wasted in these fruitless dreams and regrets.”
- Fr. Alexander Elchaninov
