“The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. (I Corinthians 7, 34)”

     There are people who say that monks ought to be of some use in the world, and not eat bread they have not toiled for; but we have to understand the nature of a monk’s service and the way in which he has to help the world.

     A monk is someone who prays for the whole world, who weeps for the whole world; and in this lies his main work.

     But who is it constrains him to weep for the whole world? The Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, incites him. He gives the monk the love of the Holy Spirit, and by virtue of this love the monk’s heart forever sorrows over the people because not all men are saved. The Lord Himself so grieved over people that He gave Himself to death on the Cross. And the Mother of God bore in her heart a like sorrow for men. And she, like her beloved Son, desired with her whole heart the salvation of all.

     The same Holy Spirit the Lord gave to the Apostles, to our holy Fathers and to the pastors of the Church. This is how we serve the world. And this is why neither pastors of the Church nor monks should busy themselves with secular matters but should seek to be like the Mother of God, who in the Temple, in the ‘Holy of Holies’, day and night pondered the law of the Lord and continued in prayer for the people.

     It is not for the monk to serve the world with the work of his hands. That is the layman’s business. The man who lives in the world prays little, whereas the monk prays constantly.

     Thanks to monks, prayer continues unceasing on earth, and the whole world profits, for through prayer the world continues to exist; but when prayer fails, the world will perish.

 Saint Silouan the Athonite