(Excerpt) ST SILOUAN THE ATHONITE - Chapter 10: Spiritual Trials - Written by: St. Sophrony of Essex

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Excerpt:
Chapter 10: Spiritual Trials (pages 193-207)
SVS Press, paperback, 1st Edition 1991.
Written by: Saint Sophrony of Essex, England
Translated from the Russian by: Rosemary Edmonds
Originally published in 1991 by the Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights by Maldon, Essex
"Man does not always find it easy with God. In the generally much prolonged periods when grace abandons the soul, God may appear a merciless tyrant. When all his efforts - often pushed to extreme limits - fail to obtain Divine mercy, man suffers acutely that were it possible, he would renounce existence in any form. What, then is the nature of suffering? Not an easy question to answer." (p. 193)
"The soul from love of the Lord has lost her wits. She sits it silence, with no wish to speak, and looks upon the world with mazed eyes, having no desire for it and seeing it not. And people do not know that she is contemplating her beloved Lord, that the world has been left behind and is forgotton, for there is no sweetness therein." (p. 207)