Chapter 105

One Who Walks Without Pain Will Not Receive Fruit

You must know that the sure sign of the goodness of ascetic labor and at the same time the condition for making progress through it is sorrowfulness. One who walks without pain will not receive fruit. Heartfelt pain and bodily effort bring into manifestation the gift of the Holy Spirit, granted to every believer in Holy Baptism, which is buried by our negligence in the fulfilling of the commandments and in the passions, but by the unspeakable mercy of God is again raised up in repentance. Do not retreat from labors because of their sorrowfulness, lest you be condemned for fruitlessness and hear: “Take the talent from him.” Every ascetic labor, bodily or spiritual, not accompanied by sorrowfulness and not requiring effort, bears no fruit: The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent seize it (Matt. 11:12). (16, 187–188)