Admonitions from the Diary of Eldress Galaktia

Two great passions dominate people today—the flesh and money. Carnal passions drag them even lower than animals. They make them filth, mud, stench, dark slime full of worms… I don’t know how else to describe it. But money… makes them hard as steel.

A sexually immoral person is more likely to repent. At some point, he feels the filth, the disgust of his actions, the distortion, the wounds tormenting his soul, and decides to clean the pigsty. He disinfects the stable of his life—how? With the river of tears of his repentance. A single hot tear kills all the germs of sin. Then comes confession, and the wound heals completely. A little effort afterward, and even the bad images fade from the mind. Everything becomes pure!

Forgive me for saying this, but there were prostitutes who had done unspeakable things to their bodies… Yet, when faced with human suffering, they would break down. During the Occupation in Athens, they would give their earnings to feed hungry children! God counted that highly. Some of them received Grace because of their generosity, they wept and repented. But the wealthy are unmoved—even when their neighbor is dying before their very eyes! Often not even their own family moves them—how much less a stranger… a foreigner. Manure can be washed away with water, like a stable. No matter how much you strike it, even with a sledgehammer, nothing happens. Not even a crack. It won’t soften…

The miser becomes increasingly harder. Not even the blows of life correct him. He sees everything in terms of money. He remains alone, finds no joy in anything, lives hell even in this life, and easily blames even God when things go wrong financially! How can he experience paradise, when paradise is faith and devotion to God, love, kind thoughts toward others, and self-sacrifice for others? Hell is the failure of love—of true love.

Confession

“We must make sure to leave this life in a state of order, ready to enter the Light of the Holy Trinity. There, everything is revealed as it truly is. The Light brings everything to the surface—in front of angels and men. Thoughts, sins, everything. Whatever we leave behind here through proper confession will not be visible there. It will have disappeared from us. It will be erased. Confession renews the soul. It is far better for us to humble ourselves here before a man, a spiritual father, than to be disgraced there eternally before the entire kingdom of heaven.”

Humility

“Without humility, no one can walk in the will of Christ. Instead, they follow their own will and suffer in this temporary life through trials meant to bring them back into order. Whoever has encountered the majesty of God through humility then seeks out trials, lest they lose that majesty…”

On Gossip

“There’s nothing more pleasing to people than gossip—especially when it is driven by hatred… As if we were sinless, we condemn one another. Gossip is a disease that clings to the body of love. If you guard your heart from these evils, the mercy of God will come greatly. But if your heart is hard toward your neighbor, God will never remember you…”

The Christian Life

“The true Christian life is the one defined by the Gospel—following Christ with love. This love casts out fear; no change frightens us. The love of Christ prevents us from feeling insecure, weak, or unprotected. Illnesses, old age, and problems no longer terrify us. A good Christian forgets his poverty and places his hope in the wealth of Christ. With the power of His love, those who love others share their goods and blessings. Pride precedes the fall. Where there is no love, sow love—and you will find love. Sow love, and you shall reap love—and perhaps even abundantly.”

On Death

“We fear eternal life because we don’t know what it’s like. Those who’ve known it have an irresistible urge in their soul to go there… The righteous bathe in the ABUNDANT LIGHT of the Holy Trinity! They don’t change in any way; they fully retain their character, remember everything from this life, and care for us… There, they have other kinds of knowledge. They know countless things, but only God is truly all-wise. To go there, we must be crucified here… We must die to sin. Earthly pleasures bring pain—this is inevitable. But the pains of repentance and asceticism bring spiritual pleasures—paradise in the soul, even in this life. And this continues without end in the next life… You see them—rejoicing, joking, conversing, exchanging ideas—just like here, only without malice, wickedness, or ego. Love reigns there.

When we pray for the departed, when we give hidden alms and do proper memorial services, we greatly improve their condition…

They depend on us, for after death, no one can help themselves. They must be pushed forward by the living. While we live here, through repentance and struggle, we develop spiritually. They there… wait for us. When someone rejoices in the Kingdom of God and sees great sorrow on earth over them, they keep their distance—it disturbs their soul’s peace. Like a bride full of joy on her wedding day, saddened when she sees her mother grieving for losing her… The calmer the souls of the grieving become, and the more they pray, the closer those souls can come to one another.”

Cancer

“God permits a difficult death out of love… Cancer patients have filled Paradise. Cancer is either fertilizer or a furnace. The fertilizer nourishes the good in the soul. The furnace cleans the gold from filth. Those who indulge today in filthy pleasures distort the quality of their souls. Their souls become greatly damaged, constantly oozing demonic pus. The evil one gains great power over them. God allows them to enter the furnace of cancer. If they realize this and cooperate with God, they are purified and sanctified. That’s why, though the cure for cancer is simple, God has not yet revealed it—because cancer has filled Paradise.

Now Maria rejoices in the Kingdom of God. Cancer is equivalent to martyrdom. Maria wasted away, groaned… I didn’t pray for her healing because I saw God’s will was otherwise. I only prayed she would endure, my child. I stayed up at night and prayed for her strength. Those pains purified her. I sent Father to hear her confession. He hesitated. He didn’t want, as he told me, to violate anyone’s will or freedom. I insisted and said, ‘Go, my child. You’ll see. You’ll see.’ After much pressure, he went. You weren’t there. She confessed beautifully! Her repentance and pain gave her a heavenly bridal gown! Oh, how gloriously she ascended! How beautiful she is now!”

Pain

“God gives pain, my child, for three reasons:

1. To make what is good become excellent. The vine, when pruned, hurts and weeps from the wound. Water drips from where it was cut. But then it grows, becomes proud and full of grapes! So too with us. God prunes us. Through pain, we cast off bad habits, transform inwardly, grow spiritually, and bear beautiful fruit.
2. God gives pain to free a soul from small things and perfect it. When we confess, our wounds are healed. But some little things remain that we didn’t take seriously. Then comes a strong pain to complete the work.
3. One pain can cleanse great sins. Just as rust is born from iron and then devours it, just as the worm born in wood ends up destroying it—so too do sorrows come from pleasures and later erase those pleasures. As long as there is faith, repentance, and patience.

Now we indulge in pleasures worse than in the days of Noah and Righteous Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah… People have become desensitized, unaware. They consider everything natural. Everyone defiles themselves—even married couples. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting! Not even animals do this. Animals are shameless, yes—but in natural ways. They know nothing of unnatural acts. Forgive me, my child, for writing these things. You may wonder how I, an old woman, know them? God informs me with pain, and the demons come boasting. The Heavenly Good Father takes the broken, sin-damaged material of humanity and places it into the molds of pain to reshape it—to make it human again. That’s why calamities will come upon mankind. That’s why we suffer so greatly today… He is waiting for our repentance.”

Excerpts from the book:

“The Blessed Eldress Galaktia of Crete” — Theomorphos Publications