Părăsirea-de-către-Dumnezeu, conform Părintelui Sofronie Saharov
Divine abandonment according to Elder Sophrony

Summary/Abstract: Elder Sophrony divides the spiritual life into three periods. The first, the initial one, is that of the call to and inspiration for the struggle in question; the second is that of the withdrawal of “perceptible” Grace and the experience of divine abandonment; and the third is the return of perceptible Grace and its retention.The Elder writes that God, Who has at first wounded the heart of the Christian with His love, then withdraws. The Christian is then faced with a struggle which may last for years or even decades. After the initial visitation of divine Grace, the wars and the combat begins. It takes us a long time to assimilate the Grace we were first given. And this assimilation comes with patience and fortitude in the times when divine Grace is with- drawn. Grace returns for a while, reinforces hope, renews the inspiration for the struggle, but then departs again.

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