“So whatever good thing a person thinks, it is due to the grace  And now, if you exert yourself in the prayer and pray continuously, if you read lives of saints and toil a little at night, you will quickly obtain what you seek, and your little mil will rejoice that Christ loves you so much. He is Love.  He seeks love from us. It is when we love our neighbor that we show that we love Christ, too.

So exert yourself as much as you can, and I pray that you mil quickly obtain Him Whom you desire. So whatever good thing a person thinks, it is due to the grace…period. And now, if you exert yourself in the prayer and pray continuously, if you read lives of saints and toil a little at night, you will quickly obtain what you seek, and your little soul will rejoice that Christ loves you so much. He is Love and He seeks love from us. It is when we love our neighbor that we show that we love Christ, too. So exert yourself as much as you can, and I pray that you will quickly obtain Him Whom you desire.”

– ‘Monastic Wisdom’