«Ἡ συγχώρεση εἶναι ἕνα σπάνιο λουλούδι ποὺ εἶναι ὁλοένα καὶ πιὸδύσκολο νὰ τὸ μαζέψεις ἀπὸ ψυχὲς ποὺ μικραίνουν κάθε μέρα. Τί ὠφελεῖ ἂν συγχωροῦμε, ἀλλὰ δὲν ξεχνᾶμε, καὶ ὅταν τὰ νερὰ τῆς καρδιᾶς μᾶς ταράζονται, ἀναδύονται τυφῶνες μομφῆς; Βράζουμε, ἀφήνουμε νὰ πάρει μία βράση καὶ μετὰ δὲν ξέρουμε πῶς νὰ προσθέσουμε ἄλλα μυρωδικὰ σὲ ὅ,τι περισσεύει. Ἔτσι κάνει ὁ Χριστὸς μαζί μας, μᾶς συγχωρεῖ μόνο μὲ τὴν ἄκρη τῶν χειλέων Του;
Πόσο ἀδικοῦμε τὸν Θεὸ καὶ πόσο λίγο μας ἀδικεῖ ὁ διπλανός μας. Πόσες φορὲς μᾶς ἔχει συγχωρήσει ὁ Θεὸς καὶ θὰ μᾶς συγχωρήσει ξανά, ἂν πᾶμε κοντά Του μὲ συντετριμμένη καὶ ταπεινὴ καρδιά, γεμάτη μετάνοια, καὶ πόσο μικροὶ καὶ ἀνελέητοι εἴμαστε μὲ τοὺς γύρω μας; Ὁ Χριστὸς τὰ συγχωρεῖ ὅλα, τὰ σκουπίζει, φέρεται μαζί μας τόσο εὐγενικά, σὰν νὰ μὴν ἔγινε τίποτα, ἀλλὰ ἐμεῖς; Δὲν συγχωροῦμε, δὲν παρηγοροῦμε, ἀλλὰ προσθέτουμε λύπη στὴ συνείδηση τῆς καρδιᾶς.»
Μέ εὐχές καί εὐχαριστίες,
Ἡ Καθηγουμένη
καὶ αἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀδελφαί
With many prayers and heartfelt appreciation,
Abbess Alexia and the sisterhood
"Forgiveness has become a rare flower; increasingly difficult to find because our souls have become too distant from God to even ask for forgiveness. How does it benefit us if we forgive, but do not forget? When the waters of our hearts are stirred, but only hurricanes of anger arise in remembrance of wrongs done against us, we boil, let it steep, and then we don’t know how to move through what remains. Is that how Christ treats us? Does He forgive us only from the edge of His lips?How much do we wrong God, and how little does our neighbor wrong us in comparison? How many times has God forgiven us and will forgive us again, if we approach Him with a broken and humble heart, full of repentance? How small and merciless are we with those around us? Christ forgives everything. He wipes it away, treats us so gently, as if nothing happened, but do we? We do not forgive, we do not comfort, but add sorrow to the conscience of our hearts.