The Saving Meaning of Suffering

The Saviour Jesus Christ entrusts us: "In the world you have distress: but rejoice! I have overcome the world" (John 16: 33), showing that this material and temporal life is not just a trip or a place of rest, but a journey on a sea shaken by shattered and dangerous waves. Life itself is a struggle, because during times when sins seem to deepen, it is not easy to fight against them in order to live a pure, beautiful and elevated life, achieving the Christian virtues. It is painful, but it is also true that we learn more from trials than from goodness and from passions than from fulfillments. Compared to the moments of joy, profoundly and mysteriously, we discover God only when we are on the sickbed and among tears and sighing. In this book I tried to answer some questions that hinder the human soul: "How can we be delivered from suffering? Why do the saints and the virtuous suffer? What is the purpose of "involuntary sufferance?" I trust the volume will be considered a spiritual counsel for the difficult moments and times of sadness in life, hoping that these words of faith will bring comfort and relief for the body and soul.

Autorentext

Fr. Ioan C. Te u (PhD) is a professor of Christian Spirituality at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iäi, Romania. During his academic activity, he gave approximately 300 lectures, published more than 250 studies and articles and wrote 20 volumes on Christian Theology.

Klappentext

The Saviour Jesus Christ entrusts us: In the world you have distress: but rejoice! I have overcome the world (John 16: 33), showing that this material and temporal life is not just a trip or a place of rest, but a journey on a sea shaken by shattered and dangerous waves. Life itself is a struggle, because during times when sins seem to deepen, it is not easy to fight against them in order to live a pure, beautiful and elevated life, achieving the Christian virtues. It is painful, but it is also true that we learn more from trials than from goodness and from passions than from fulfillments. Compared to the moments of joy, profoundly and mysteriously, we discover God only when we are on the sickbed and among tears and sighing. In this book I tried to answer some questions that hinder the human soul: How can we be delivered from suffering? Why do the saints and the virtuous suffer? What is the purpose of "involuntary sufferance? I trust the volume will be considered a spiritual counsel for the difficult moments and times of sadness in life, hoping that these words of faith will bring comfort and relief for the body and soul.