"Keep your mind in hell, and despair not"
I forgot to mention a strange coincidence that happened while we were at the Monastery of St John the Baptist. In the room where we had the wheat soup the frescoes on the wall showed a man holding a scroll with the words: "Keep your mind in hell, and despair not" ...
I kept looking at this and eventually realised that I'd previously read it in the book Love's Work by Gillian Rose which I'd given to my dear friend Marie. The book is amazing and I think if I had to make the 'desert island book choice' this would be the one I'd choose. Anyway the phrase had always struck me as interesting and it emerged that it comes from Staretz Silouan who left his papers to Elder Sophrony who eventually founded the Monastery of St John the Baptist.
The sister who explained the paintings to us gave her understanding of the text which rather differed from my own, but it was an interesting coincidence none the less.
I kept looking at this and eventually realised that I'd previously read it in the book Love's Work by Gillian Rose which I'd given to my dear friend Marie. The book is amazing and I think if I had to make the 'desert island book choice' this would be the one I'd choose. Anyway the phrase had always struck me as interesting and it emerged that it comes from Staretz Silouan who left his papers to Elder Sophrony who eventually founded the Monastery of St John the Baptist.
The sister who explained the paintings to us gave her understanding of the text which rather differed from my own, but it was an interesting coincidence none the less.
posted by Nina at 12:34 PM
1 Comments:
The man who gives us this advice is St Silouan the Athonite:
http://silouanthompson.net/2008/03/saint-silouan-the-athonite/
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