Love is the key to the life of the monastic in the desert, and just as much to the layperson in the world. St. Isaac the Syrian teaches that when silence and seclusion leave no room for active charity, it is enough before God to offer mental love, which is prayerful intercession. In other words, the Christian ideal has two sides: active mercy and contemplative stillness. Spiritual fathers and mothers may live either or both. St. John Maximovitch rescued refugees from Shanghai

St. Nicholas the Sicilian - you who lived an ascetical life on Mount Neotaka in Euboea (the island of Evia) - pray for us to see the same...