“Whenever famine, plague, flood or war descended upon God’s people, it was interpreted as a wakeup call from Him unto repentance. They had abandoned the path of God which leads to authentic life, and God’s merciful chastisement was calling them back to the wisdom of holiness amidst this world of delusion. For our loving heavenly Father wakes us up when the nightmare of sin threatens to become our reality, never leaving us to stray too far.”
(Abbot Silouan of the Monastery of St Michael the Archangel, newsletter)