You cannot imagine how joyous a spiritual father is when at last a soul overcomes its ignorance, its obstinacy, the condition that makes it as if blind! All this has created an opaque barrier between the soul and God, and one is unable to see.
And while the distance between them is so small –it’s like a nylon curtain, just one millimeter in thickness– it’s enough to separate the soul from God. And one rejoices and is full of elation when at last the soul manages to break this barrier and enter a new reality, a new state; and from then on, things are different.
Many souls suffer and are unhappy although they don’t have to be. Why do we have obedience in the Church? What are Saints for? Why are there, as the apostle Paul says, prophets, teachers, shepherds?
Why are you suffering, brother?
Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos (†)
From the book: Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos, “SPIRITUAL MESSAGES” Panorama Thessaloniki, 2017
