What Eldress Galaktia teaches us about pain
"My child, God gives pain for three reasons:
1) To make the good, excellent. The vine, when pruned, feels pain and ‘bleeds’ where it is truncated. It drips water from the place where it is injured. Then it grows, grows, becomes a beam, and fills with grapes! The same applies to us. God prunes us. We discard bad habits with pain, change mentally, grow spiritually, and fill with beautiful fruits.
2) God gives pain even when He wants to take away small things from the soul and perfect it. When we confess, our wounds are healed. However, some small wounds remain that we did not value as important. A strong pain comes and completes the work...
3) Pain heals great sins. Like rust that is generated by iron and then rust ruins the iron. Like a woodworm that is generated by wood and then the woodworm eats the wood. So do the sorrows... they come from pleasures, and then the sorrows extinguish the pleasures... It is enough to have faith, repentance, patience..."
From the book "H Οσία Γερόντισσα Γαλακτία της Κρήτης ", in the Greek language.
