«I remember a priest who struck me very much, but I understood him only decades later. I was then a boy of about 10-11 years old in a children’s camp, and we had a priest who seemed decrepit to us; he was probably about thirty years old, he had long hair, a long beard, and to us he seemed like our grandfather. But I was struck by him, puzzled (at that time I did not understand this): he everyone without exception, he loved us with a love that did not change, with the only difference that when we were “good,” his love became joy, when we were “bad,” his love became grief, but it never diminished. Then I noticed this, I was amazed, but at 10 years old I did not know how to comprehend it: that is not how God loves us. changes, but when we are unworthy of ourselves, then for Him it is grief, which ends, in the extreme case, with crucifixion on Calvary. When, on the contrary, we are worthy of ourselves and, therefore, of Him, then His love becomes jubilation. Years passed, and I met this priest at the service of the Removal of the Shroud. I was already a young man then, we gathered at the shroud to pray. He knelt down in front of the shroud and stood there for a long time, and we stood there. Then he stood up, turned to us with his face covered in tears, and said: “Today Christ died for us…” and began to cry. And it was not sentimental. the way in which we can teach a child to perceive what we cannot explain in words.»
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.
Saint Charitable Foundation Earth
Investment in the Soul!
