... Well, now I will also "curse you"! Here it is: "May God fill your hearts with His goodness and His much love, to such an extent that you become fools, that your mind is already torn from the earth and henceforth dwells near Him in Heaven. So become mad from the divine madness of God's love! May God scorch your hearts with His love!" This is the "curse" to which I give you, and do not force me to repeat it, for my good "curse" comes from my heart and therefore has power. Even when I was in the sanatorium[67], I felt sorry for you. Some of you waited eight years, saying, "Let's build a monastery," but the monastery still did not exist and did not exist. Completely, poor people, they are exhausted! Then I said to you: "As soon as I am discharged from the hospital, the monastery will grow, as fast as mushrooms grow after rain. In a year you will be in the monastery!" Then, in the sanatorium, I said this from the heart, and you had a good disposition, so God did not leave you. I do not find any other explanation for this.

If you feel hurt for a person who has humility and asks you from the heart to pray, for example, to get rid of some passion that torments him, and you say to him: "Do not be afraid, you will become better," then you will give him a divine blessing. In this good wish, there is a lot of love, a lot of pain, and therefore it has power. This is pleasing to God, and He fulfills the blessing. This means that the pain that one person feels for another is already like a blessing.

Once, when I was a soldier, our commander sent me to fulfill a promise we had made to St. John the Baptist after he had helped us in the war. We made a vow to buy two large church candlesticks for one of the churches of the Holy Baptist. So I had to buy candlesticks, and at the same time escort one of our colleagues to the city of Nafpaktos[68] to be handed over to the military tribunal. I remember other officers saying to the commander: "Well, you have found an escort for him!" The unfortunate man whom I was to accompany was a native of Epirus, a musician by profession, a poor man, married, with children. He was accused of "self-shooting", that is, of inflicting bodily injury on himself in order to be sent to the rear. "Better," he reasoned, "to live with one leg than to be killed." First we went to the city of Agrinio, where he had acquaintances. "Come," he said, "let us see them." "Well," I answered, "let's go." "Let's go here, let's go there," what could I do, I had to go everywhere with him. Oh, what a toll-house! Besides, he didn't want me to turn him over to the tribunal. And I felt sorry for the poor guy myself, it hurt him very much, and I said to him: "You'll see, everything will work out for you, and you'll be the best of all! Our commander will send an explanatory note on your case, and you will be placed in some quiet place - so that you can help your children, and your life will be safe." When we finally reached Nafpaktos, we learned that a letter from the commander had already arrived at the tribunal and the case against our self-shooter had been closed. But he was threatened with execution - it was a wartime, harsh. The commander took pity on him, since he was the head of the family, and appointed him as a cook at the Recruit Distribution Center. His family moved closer to this Center, and he spent the war best of all, and since the soldiers sometimes did not come to dine in the mess hall, he had food left over and fed his children. After the war, everyone told him: "You were the best!" because we were sitting in the mountains, in the snow. What I wished for him was pleasing to God, because I said it with pain, from the heart. Therefore, God fulfilled this blessing.

I remember another similar incident – when I was in Konitsa, in the monastery of Stomion. On the eighth of September, the monastery celebrates its patronal feast day – the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. After the feast, the pilgrims left everything upside down. I began to slowly put things in order. I saw that my sister and another girl stayed to help me. This second girl had two more sisters, one older and the other younger. Both sisters had already married, and she was still unmarried. How much love she had! She stayed to help, and when we cleaned and cleaned everything up, she said: "Father, if there is other work, then we will stay and do everything that is necessary." I entered the church and said with all my heart: "Most Holy Mother of God, build her Yourself. I have nothing to give her." Yes, even if I had something, she would still not take anything. Well, so what: she returns home, and there is one of my former colleagues waiting for her - not a guy, but just gold, very good and from a good family. They got married and lived well. See how the Most Holy Mother of God rewarded her!

Chapter Six. That sin brings misfortune

 "Did you spray the trees with caterpillar poison?"

 "Sprayed, Geronda.

 "There are so many of you nuns that you can't kill a caterpillar!" When locusts attacked the fields during the occupation, the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought from the Vatopedi Monastery[71] here, to Chalkidiki[71] — and the locusts fell in clouds into the sea. And in Epirus, I remember, it covered the fields like snow. We all went out into the fields then - collected locusts with sheets and carried them away. And what a famine there was then! It's better not to ask... The wheat after the locusts came to its senses again, but it was already very, very weak.

Locust plagues, wars, droughts, diseases are a scourge. And it is not that God wants to educate man in this way, no, these misfortunes are a consequence of man's separation from God. All this happens because man is torn away from God. And God's wrath comes – so that a person remembers God and asks for His help. It is not that God arranges all this and gives commands that this or that misfortune should come upon man. No, but God, seeing to what extent people's malice will reach and knowing that they will not change, allows misfortune to happen – for their admonition. This does not mean that God arranges all this Himself.

God commanded Joshua[73] not to exterminate one pagan tribe, the Philistines, so that when the Jews forgot God, the Philistines would become a scourge to them. Thus, when the Jews moved away from God, the devil entered into his rights, stirred up his "brothers" – the Philistines, and they went to war against the Jews. They took Hebrew babies and smashed them against a stone to destroy [all]. But when the enemies attacked Israel through no fault on the part of the Jews, God Himself fought on the side of the Jews. God struck the Gentiles with a hail of stones[74] and destroyed them, because in this case the Israelites had the right to divine intervention.

How many promises did God give about the temple of Solomon! And yet, how many times this temple burned down and was destroyed! When the people of Israel departed from God, the prophets began to call out to the people and called them to come to their senses, but their efforts were in vain. People comforted themselves with the following thought: "When Solomon built the temple, God sent down many blessings and said that from that place all people would be blessed and sanctified[75]. This means that all this will remain unharmed – both our walls and our church. Such a promise was given by God." Yes, God gave such a promise, but on the condition that the Israelites themselves would live rightly. God gave Grace to the temple of Solomon, but when the Israelites ceased to keep the commandments, then by His permission the temple was given over to fire or destruction. And after repenting, the Israelites built the temple anew. For example, when they departed from God under the pair of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar came, set fire to the temple, destroyed the walls of Jerusalem, and led the Jews in chains into Babylonian captivity. Of course, those who were innocent were also taken captive, but these people had a pure retribution. Those whose guilt was great, atoned for it. And those who suffered whose guilt was not so great received a small recompense. When someone becomes the cause of God's wrath and the innocent are also subjected to suffering, then, although the innocent sufferers are waiting for a reward, the one who is guilty of their suffering is still a criminal, so [innocent] people could inherit the kingdom of heaven without suffering, while now they are suffering.

We must know that believers who keep God's commandments receive the Grace of God, and God – how to put it better – "without fail" helps them in these difficult years. I've heard that a new disease has emerged in America. Many of those who live an unnatural, sinful life fall ill with it and die. And now I have learned that this disease has appeared in our country. You see, it is not God who destroys people – people destroy their own race, they destroy themselves. That is, it is not God who punishes them, but by their sinful life they create punishment for themselves. And it is clear that those people whose life has no meaning are being eradicated.

 "Geronda, why can't they find a cure for cancer?" Does God not allow this, or do people themselves not call for divine help?

 "The bad thing is that even if a cure for cancer is found, some other disease will appear. First there was tuberculosis – a cure for tuberculosis was found – cancer appeared. And if God helps to defeat cancer, then another disease will appear. The cause of the new disease will be the people themselves, and there will be no end to it.