“For the time being I live in a cave. I have wonderful silence. I am the luckiest of men…”
For the time being I live in a cave. I have wonderful silence. I am the luckiest of men, for I live without cares and enjoy the honey of silence unceasingly. And when grace departs for just a little, silence comes as another grace and it shelters me in its harbor. And thus, the pains and sadness of this evil and tiring life seem less significant. In the present life, until one’s final breath, sadness always comes mixed with joy.
– Elder Joseph the Hesychast (1898-1959)