My constant prayer proceeded from the profound despair that had taken over my heart...two seemingly totally incompatible states (Easter joy and despair) met together in me...The Lord had granted me the grace of repentance...The moment despair slackened, prayer cooled off and death would invade my heart...Through repentance, by being expanded until in spirit I touched upon both hell and the Kingdom. —Saint Sophrony, On Prayer

And from one of his spiritual children:

If we are to be in the image of the new Adam, Christ, we should bear in our hearts the rest of humanity. Therefore, whoever puts himself in the way of the Lord receives this enlargement of the cross and resurrection of the Lord, and this enlargement makes him universal. We cannot become universal with technology, with computers and mobile phones, and such things. True universality comes when we put ourselves in the way of the Lord. —Archimandrite Zacharias, The Enlargement of the Heart

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