Sorrow and Grief 1

Our Orthodox faith is fully aware of the fact that it is natural for a person to be sorrowful at times, to grieve, and to have fears. These are part of

human nature and it is impossible for anyone to completely eradicate them. Thus our soul strives to purify and spiritually remove sorrow and grief, so that they cannot do harm, but on the contrary be useful towards becoming psychologically healthy.

The great St. John Chrysostom says, "The Lord planted sorrow in our nature in order not to be used inappropriately and too frequently in the adverse circumstances of our lives, nor in order to ruin us; but on the contrary, so that we may get immense benefits from it. How can it benefit us? When we use it at the appropriate time. The proper time for sorrow is not when we suffer from misfortunes that befall us, but when we do evil things. However, we have reversed this order and changed the proper times. We are not sorry in the least when we commit a multitude of evils. When however, we experience even a slight mishap, we sink, are stunned, grieve and even come to the point of wishing to get rid of our very lives."

As we can see from this insightful text, Orthodox Theology teaches us to be sorrowful and repent for the sins we commit everyday, and not for life's troubles. Long before, Apostle Paul had uttered the following saying, incomprehensible for the worldly-minded: "I rejoice in my sufferings."

A preventive medicine of great value is the sorrow for our sins, that is, Godly sorrow. It saves the soul. It saves the body. That is why Apostle Paul tells us, "Godly sorrow produces repentance leadng to salvation, not to be regretted."And Saint Basil echoes this by saying, "Godly sorrow leads to salvation." Saint John Chrysostom also urges us, "Let us feel this sorrow, the Godly sorrow, which is the mother of joy."

Abbott Spyridon

Depression