“Now you see that grace has come again. Be careful, because it will leave again. And when it leaves, be brave, patient, and perfectly obedient. It will return again. I told you that it would come at Nativity. It came but did not remain because it did not find zeal in you. Now it has come, but again it will leave in order to cleanse you from the passions. This will happen until you become the way the Lord wants you to be, so that His grace may find a place and a way to stay. So exert yourself in the struggle. Don’t get lazy, and don’t let time pass, for you will not recover the time that you waste idly every day. You will have to give an account for all the days and hours and moments of your life. Man is not meant only to run, but he should also count the miles on the road. On the other hand, he should not remain behind out of negligence, either.  In addition, learn this: with love towards Christ and the Panagia, you obtain more watchfulness and theoria than with other struggles. Everything else is also good, when done properly, but love surpasses them all.”
– ‘Monastic Wisdom’