“My Elder wanted to remain with the zealots but I pressed him. “If you don’t do this I’ll leave.” The elder was forced to give in. When we return to our cell he said bitterly and remorselessly, “Why, boy, did you pressure me to do this thing? When I had died you could have done what ever you wanted afterwards.” The result? Grace departed for me and I remain dry without sensation or consolation. For two years I experienced abandonment and trials as a penance from God I came to understand out of the significance of dependency and obedience.”
Elder Ephraim of Katounakia
~Obedience is Life