“Death, which is awesome and dreadful for most people, is a repose for me, something sweet that will relieve me from the afflictions of the world as soon as it comes. And I await it any time now. It is truly awesome; but then again, it is also a great struggle for one to bear all the burdens of the world today, when everyone demands that his neighbor fulfills all the commandments, while ignoring them himself. This is how our times are. For this reason, patience is required until we breathe our last standing upright…. Because of these things and everything else, I have become a corpse. I beg God to take me so that I may rest.”
– ‘My Elder Joseph’