Illness The truth is that the illnesses, afflictions, and tribulations of Christians bring about the cleansing of the their soul and the forgiveness of their sins. Every Christian has the sacred obligation to accept with a guileless and simple heart whatever kind of cross God has placed upon him, and to carry it up to glorious Golgotha. Sometimes he may fall to his knees under the toil and burden, but God will send another good Simon of Cyrene 1 —that is, the grace of patience— who will lift the cross to Golgotha. When we visit a cemetery, we see a cross on every grave —some wooden, others stone, others iron, etc. Likewise, God gives a cross to every Christian soul. To one He gives an iron cross, to another a wooden cross, to another a stone cross; each person is given one as the wisdom of God deems best. The main purpose of the Lord is to save our precious soul, regardless of whether or not it suffers in the process. He Himself provides us with the patience and enlightenment to be able to bear the cross to the end.
subm. no. 16 paragraphs: 1*, 4, 7 from pages 35, 43, 47 —- 1 vid. Mt. 27:32
From the book
Councels from the Holy mountain
Selected from the letters and homilies of Elder Efraim of Arizona
Selection of passages from the book by Silviu Podariu
