“Burdensome and laborious, brethren, is the journey through the desert of this world for those who seek the Heavenly city; but the promised land flows with milk and honey! The six days of earthly labor are long and sometimes gloomy, but the seventh day of eternal rest is full of unspeakable joy! Will we complain about the thorns and thistles that we encounter along the way when we ourselves have sown them throughout the earth and continually nurture them with our sins?”
(St Innocent of Kherson, Paschal teaching)