Saint Seraphim wanted to increase his asceticism so he remained on a large rock in the forest, alternating with a smaller one in his cell, and Prayed here, standing and kneeling with his arms raised in Prayer, entreating “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Saint Seraphim Prayed in this way for 1000 days and nights, only resting for a short time.
“It is up to us to add labours in order to ‘go from strength to strength’ (Psalm 83:7), and to come ‘to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13), so that the words of the Lord may be fulfilled in us: ‘But they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall grow wings like eagles; and they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). Only then will our present joy (which now visits us little and briefly) appear in all its fullness; and no one will take it from us, for we shall be filled to overflowing with inexplicable Heavenly delights.”
“Without having freed itself from the world, the Soul cannot love God sincerely. For worldly things, in the words of Saint Antioch, are as it were a veil for the Soul.”
“If in Prayer it happens that the mind is caught up by distracting thoughts, then one should bow down to Our Lord God and ask for forgiveness, saying: I have sinned, O Lord, in word, deed and thought, and all my senses.”
“A sign of Spiritual life is the immersion of a person within himself and the hidden workings within his heart.”
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