Why do there seem to be so few miracles in our days? It is because, believed Fr. Seraphim, there is so little pain of heart.
In a little handwritten note, hidden away and discovered man years after his death, Fr. Seraphim crystallized into a few words the essence of a great truth for our times:
"Pain of heart is the condition for spiritual growth and the manifestation of God's power. Healings, etc., occur to those in desperation, hearts pained but still trusting and hoping in God's help. This is when God acts. The absence of miracles today (almost) indicates lack of this pain of heart in man and even most Orthodox Christians--bound up with the 'growing cold' of hearts in the last times."
A proof of this statement can be seen in Fr. Seraphim's own experience, out of which it of course came. . . . All the miracles that Fr. Seraphim had witnessed in his own life, including those of the greatest miracle-worker Archbishop John, had resulted from the prayers of hearts which did not shrink from the pain of Golgotha.
--Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works, p. 795
Posted by Clifton at March 6, 2004 06:55 PM | TrackBack