The life of the faithful should be filled with joy and gladness, which are among the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit Himself gives these fruits to our souls and to our communities. At the same time our life must be something that transcends the world, informed by theological thought and feeling, manifesting the experience of eternity in the place and time in which we live. We are obliged truly to be people of eternity. If we are not thinking theologically, and if our relationships are not relationships of essential contact with God, then our life will be prosaic and vain…

Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra

The Mystical Marriage : The Spiritual Life According to Saint Maximos the Confessor