Lord, send Thy mercy upon the children of the earth whom Thou lovest, and let them know Thee by the Holy Spirit. With tears I beseech Thee; Hear my prayer for Thy children, and let them all know Thy glory through the Holy Spirit.

* * *

From a young age, I liked to think: the Lord has ascended to heaven and is waiting for us to Himself; but in order to be with the Lord, one must be like Him, or like children, humble and meek, and serve Him; then, according to the word of the Lord: "Where I am, there will My servant be," and we will be with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. But now my soul is very gloomy and despondent, and I cannot raise a pure mind to God, and I have no tears to weep over my evil deeds; my soul is withered and weary from a gloomy life...

Oh, who would sing me the song that I have loved since my youth, about how the Lord ascended to heaven, and how much He loves us, and how longingly He waits for Him. I would listen to this song with tears, for my soul is bored on earth.

What happened to me? How did I lose joy, and will I find it again?

Weep with me, all animals and birds. Weep with me, forest and desert. Weep with me, all creatures of God, and hear me in grief and sorrow.

This is what my soul thinks: If I love God so little, and my soul yearns for the Lord so much, then how great was the sorrow of the Mother of God when She remained on earth after the Ascension of the Lord?

She did not consign to the Scriptures the sorrow of Her soul, and we know little of Her life on earth, but we must think that we cannot understand the fullness of Her love for Her Son and God.

The heart of the Mother of God, all Her thoughts, Her whole soul were occupied with the Lord; but She was given something else: She loved the people and fervently prayed for people, for the new Christians, that the Lord would strengthen them, and for the whole world, that all would be saved. In this prayer was Her joy and consolation on earth.

We do not fully comprehend the love of the Mother of God, but we know that:

The greater the love, the greater the suffering of the soul;

The fuller the love, the fuller the knowledge;

The more ardent the love, the more fervent the prayer;

The more perfect the love, the holier the life.