From a church bulletin:
“…in the early twenties—before my departure to Mt. Athos in 1925, I wept and prayed to God: ‘Find a way to save the world—to save all of us, we are all defiled and cruel.’
I would pray with particular fervor for the ‘little ones,’ the poor and oppressed.
Towards morning, with my strength waning, my prayer would be disturbed by the
thought that if I grieve for mankind with all my heart, how is it that God can look on indifferently at the pain and torment of millions of beings whom He Himself had created? Why does He allow the innumerable instances of brute force in the world?
And I would turn to Him with the insane challenge, ‘Where art Thou?’ And in my heart I heard: ‘Was it you who was crucified for them?’ …The gentle words uttered by the Spirit shook me to the core—He Who was crucified had answered me as God.”
—Saint Sophrony, reposed July 11th, 1993
St. Gabriel Fool-for-Christ of the Republic of Georgia fell asleep in death on this day in 1995. That is a modern saint! I was advised last year to “get to know” St. Gabriel, and one way I’ve learned about him was through the several videos about his life, which include a multitude of stories from people who knew him well.
“For there is nothing in creation capable of impeding the advance of the grace proclaimed evangelically to the Gentiles: neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor danger, nor sword (Romans 8:35). On the contrary, grace was confirmed by these very circumstances, and subdued everything which arose against it. Even amid suffering, grace all the more conquered those who suffered, and turned our errant nature toward the true and living God.”
On this feast day of St. Kassiani, I have a few items to share with you. Kassiani was a Byzantine abbess, poet, composer, and hymnographer, born at the beginning of the 9th century in Constantinople. This short biography is a good introduction: 
