An Approach to the Monastic Legacy of Saint Sophrony
The truly charismatic monk flees any honour as fire, knowing that it will extinguish the flame of love for God burning in his heart and stop the current of the divine will from flowing through him and guiding him. He would rather do everything to remain hidden from the eyes of this world so as not to be seen by men, but to be under the gaze of God’s eyes alone, ‘who seeth in secret and rewardeth openly.’ Neither does he seek consolation or support from this world but puts his only hope in the Lord, ‘which hope he has as an anchor of his soul’, leading him into that which is ‘within the veil.’