“I spent my entire life in sickness and sorrows, but without sorrows, how can one be saved? Illness is sent by God in place of and to make up for the deficiency of our struggles. I see that my ill health is a gift of God – His Epitimia, His Mercy.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“If the Lord allows sicknesses to test people, then He’ll also give the strength of patience. If people bear their illness with patience and gratitude to God they’re Crowned as Martyrs and strivers. Just as wax doesn’t become soft unless it’s heated enough to bear a stamp, so the Soul can’t accept the stamp of Virtue unless it’s been tried with labours and sicknesses.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“May God’s Will be done for everything. Sickness is a school of humility, where you really learn about your weakness.”
Saint Seraphim of Vyritsa
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“We benefit greatly from our illnesses, as long as we endure them without complaint and Glorify God, asking for His Mercy.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Illness always comes along with spiritual experiences to a person who is in a position to grasp them.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“The Lord allows those who love Him to be tested, first, so that their Faith in Him may grow stronger, and second, to set an example for those around.”
Mother Gavrilia
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“The body is a slave, the Soul a sovereign, and therefore it is due to Divine Mercy when the body is worn out by illness: for thereby the passions are weakened, and a man comes to himself; indeed, bodily illness itself is sometimes caused by the passions.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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