For us in the world living ordinary lives….. we too must discover stillness and watchfulness in the cave of the heart and learn to attend to what is heard in silence while living ordinary lives in the world as she did. Deep interior prayer is not something only for the monastics or for a hermit far off in the desert.
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A woman cannot live without Faith. Either she lives for a period of time without Faith and then soon returns to Faith in God, or she quickly begins to go to pieces. It is another matter for a man; it is possible for him to live without Faith. He hardens completely and becomes a pillar of salt and so he lives stiff and cold.
But a woman can not live like this.
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Saint Barsanuphius
Living Without Hypocrisy
spiritual counsels of the Optina Elders
gladsomelife.com 