From the Diary of Eldress Galaktia

Flesh and Money

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

A sexually immoral person is more likely to repent. At some point, they feel the filth, the disgust of their actions, the distortion, the wounds tormenting their soul, and they decide to clean the pigsty. They disinfect the stable of their life — how? With the river of their tears of repentance. A single burning tear kills all the germs of sin. Then comes confession, and the wound heals completely. With a bit of effort, even the sinful 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… and yet, when they faced human suffering, they would break down. During the Nazi Occupation in Athens, they gave away their earnings to feed starving children! God counted that very deeply. Some of them received divine Grace through their generosity — they wept and repented. But the wealthy remain unmoved — even when their neighbor is dying before their very eyes! Often not even their own family can move them — let alone a stranger… a stranger. Manure can be washed with water, like a stable. But steel — no matter how much you strike it, even with a sledgehammer — does not crack. It won’t soften…

The miser grows ever more hard-hearted. Not even the blows of life correct him. He sees everything in terms of money. He remains alone, finds joy in nothing, experiences hell even in this life, and quickly blames even God when things go wrong financially! How can he experience paradise, when paradise is faith and devotion to God, love, good thoughts towards others, and self-sacrifice for others? Hell is the failure of love — of true love.

Confession

“We must make sure we leave this life in 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 — before angels and humans. Thoughts, sins, everything. Whatever we have left behind here through proper confession will not be visible there. It will have vanished 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 eternally ashamed there before the whole kingdom of heaven.”

Humility

“Without humility, no one can live according to the will of Christ. On the contrary, they follow their own will and suffer in this temporary life through trials meant to restore order. Whoever has encountered the greatness of God through humility, then seeks out trials — so that they do not lose that greatness…”

On Gossip

“There is nothing more pleasant to people than gossip — especially when it is fueled by hatred… As if we are 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 in abundance. But if your heart is hard toward your neighbor, God will never remember you…”

The Christian Life

“True Christian life is defined by the Gospel — to follow Christ with love. This love casts out fear. No change frightens us. The love of Christ prevents us from feeling insecure, weak, or unprotected. Illness, old age, and troubles no longer scare us. A good Christian forgets his poverty and places his hope in the riches of Christ. Through His love, those who love others share their goods and blessings. Pride comes before the fall. Where there is no love, sow love — and you will find love. Sow love, and you will reap love — and perhaps even abundantly.”

On Death

“We fear eternal life because we do not know what it is like. But those who have known it feel an irresistible longing in their soul to go there… The righteous are bathed in the ABUNDANT LIGHT of the Holy Trinity! They remain unchanged. They retain their full character, remember everything from this life, and care for us… There, they possess other kinds of knowledge. They know countless things, but only God is truly all-knowing. To reach that place, we must be crucified here… We must die to sin. Earthly pleasures bring pain — that’s inevitable. But the pains of repentance and asceticism bring spiritual pleasures — paradise in the soul, even in this life. And that continues endlessly in the next… You see them — rejoicing, joking, conversing, exchanging ideas — just as here, but without malice, without evil, without ego. Love reigns there.

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

They depend on us, because after death, no one can help themselves. The living must go before them. While we are alive here, through repentance and struggle, we grow spiritually. But they… are waiting for us. When someone rejoices in the Kingdom of God and sees deep sorrow on earth because of him, he keeps his distance — it disturbs the peace of his soul. Like a bride on her wedding day, filled with joy, but saddened when she sees her mother mourning her absence… The calmer the grieving souls become, the closer those souls can draw to one another.”

Cancer

“God allows 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 purifies the gold from filth. Those who indulge today in filthy pleasures distort the quality of their soul. Their souls become deeply damaged, constantly secreting 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 is why, although 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 fainted, sighed… She did not pray for her healing, because I saw that God’s will was otherwise. I only prayed for her to endure, my child. I stayed awake at night, praying for her strength. Those pains purified her. I sent the priest to hear her confession. He hesitated. He didn’t want, 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 wedding gown! Oh, how gloriously she ascended! How beautiful she is now!”

Pain

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

1. To transform good into something exceptional. A vine, when pruned, hurts and weeps from the wound. Water drips from where it was cut. But afterward, it sprouts, becomes proud and full of grapes! The same happens to us. God prunes us. Through pain, we shed bad habits, are transformed 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 small things remain that we didn’t take seriously. Then a powerful pain comes to complete the work.
3. A single pain can cleanse great sins. Just as rust is born from iron and then devours it, just as a worm born in wood ends up destroying it — likewise, sorrows are born from pleasures and later extinguish those pleasures. As long as there is faith, repentance, and patience.

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

Excerpts from the book:

“The Blessed Eldress Galaktia of Crete” — Theomorphos Editions