1
When we give
ourselves to Christ, then our spiritual organism is in peace, which allows our
organs begin to function naturally. They all depend on our condition. Then we
recover and stop suffering… It can also be so in case of cancer: if we
trust in God and our soul is calm, then the Divine Grace together with this world
can work in such a way that cancer and any other illness will go away. If you
do not know, I can tell you that neurosis is the reason of stomach ulcers. The
thing is that sympathic nervous system is under pressure; it collapses and
suffers, which leads to ulcer. The same we can say about cancer. Both diseases
depend on our nervous system. When everything is confused in our soul, it
affects our body and undermines our health. (St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia)
2
If we are sick, it is better to give ourselves to Christ. We should think that our soul needs patience and glorification when we feel pain much more than a body of steel, which lets us perform any corporal feats. (Paisios of Mount Athos)
3
A nun wrote
to me. She said she was suffering and needed surgery.
Otherwise she would die. I wrote an answer suggesting otherwise. Then she wrote
again: the doctor told her that without an operation a perforation would occur
and that would lead to death. I repeated: “Have faith, hope for God's help and choose
death then”. She sent me the answer, saying that her illness went away. You
see? I have experienced that a thousand times. When you know you are ready for
death and you wait for it to come, it runs away from you. But when you are
afraid of it, it will pursue you all the time. (St. Joseph the Hesychast)
4
Dear child,
remedy means poison. Do not think that remedies can only be for our benefit. They can cause harm
too. Why do we take meds? Because we are sick. And why are we sick? Because we
worry. Why do we worry? Because we sin. If we let Christ inhabit our soul, then
sin, nervousness and sickness run away and we throw out our meds. (St. Porphyrios
of Kafsokalivia)
5
In what era
there were so many sick people? In ancient times, people were different.
Whatever letter I open now, I always read about cancer, spiritual diseases,
blood stroke or family breakdown. Cancer was a rare disease earlier. The life
itself was natural. I do not speak now about something that was sent by God.
People ate natural food and were in perfect health. Everything was clean:
fruits, onions, tomatoes… But now even such a natural food harms a person. Those
who eat only fruits and vegetables suffer even more because everything is
polluted. If it was like that earlier, I would die young, because I was feeding
on what was growing in the garden and I felt wonderful. Now everything is
fertilized and sprayed… Just look at what people eat nowadays!.. Spiritual
uncertainty, food surrogates – all these things make people suffer. By using
science without thinking, people disable themselves. (St. Paisios of Mount Athos)
6
If you care
more about your spiritual health, you will suffer corporally less. You have not
to love being treated, but you have to love how to stay in good health. (Monk
Simeon the Athonite)
7
Do not ask
God to ease the pain you feel because of your diseases, do not make Him do this
in your prayers. Withstand your illness with patience and humility, and then
you will see what benefit you will get.
8
If Christ sees that a person can withstand a hard disease, He
gives it to him: for this small suffering, a person will get a great benefit in
eternal life. We suffer here, but he will get his gain in the next life because
there is Heaven and reward for any sufferings. (St. Paisios of Mount Athos)
9
Temptations,
sorrows, grief arising from devil or people of just caused by the world we
carry in ourselves – all of these are remedies, all of these are sent by God’s
Providence so that we return the spiritual health that we have lost. The health
of soul and heart is impassibility, absence of sin and true holiness, which will
come with us in the next life. (Elder Ephraim (Moraitis))
10
When a body
is challenged by a disease, a soul gives blessing. Our body – a small mud house
– suffers because of it, but our soul - the owner of this house - will
constantly rejoice in the heavenly palace, which Christ prepared for us.
According to this spiritual logic, which is illogic for people of this world, I
am happy with the corporal diseases and disabilities I have. The only thing I
do not think about is that I will get a heavenly gain. (St. Paisios of Mount
Athos)
11
Corporal
weaknesses are the means serving various intentions of indescribable God’s
love. It is appropriate to recall a simple people’s idea saying that a disease
is a Divine punishment for sins, while a good health is a reward for goodness.
In fact, it all can be on the contrary. The thing is that many saints were burdened
with corporal afflictions; at the same time, many of the people, who live in
sin and are far from repentance, are never ill. Of course, no one will argue
that a soul corrupted by sinful passions is a fertile soil for numerous
corporal diseases. On the other hand, a calm and peaceful soul full of Divine
tenderness provides with the necessary conditions both for its own healing and
for corporal health. However, the health of any person, which comes and goes
just like a sea wave, serves God’s pedagogical aims, which are hidden from us
but known by His saints. (St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia)
12
Once a man
came to us, who had spent much time in a monastery in Switzerland. He had three
severe and incurable diseases. He had spent a lot of money for different
remedies. […] I told him the he would recover as soon as he believed that God could
heal him. […] …he stayed with me, he did not leave us, but refused to believe
too until the moment when God helped, and the man heard the voice clearly, “Why
don’t you want to obey to be healed?” Then he became free. I asked him to eat the opposite – the food
about which he said that he would die if he ate that; to leave his knowledge
behind and follow the faith, to eat once a day instead of ten times a day as he
used to. Three days were enough for the Lord to challenge him, while the only
thing I could do at that time was to pray. (St. Joseph the Hesychast)
Source: http://pravlife.org/content/12-izrecheniy-afonskih-starcev-o-tom-kak-sohranit-zdorove-i-pobedit-bolezni
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