Suffering and Trials

St. Paisios of Mount Athos taught that suffering, while not desired by God as an end in itself, is permitted as spiritual medicine – a means of healing, purification, and growth toward God. His teaching on redemptive suffering, patience (hypomoné) as a central virtue, the Cross in daily life, and illness as spiritual opportunity was not abstract theology but counsel forged in his own experience of severe and prolonged physical suffering. The Elder, who endured chronic respiratory illness and died of cancer of the large intestine, demonstrated in his own body everything he taught about bearing afflictions with faith, patience, and even joy.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Redemptive Suffering: Suffering as Spiritual Medicine

The Fundamental Teaching

St. Paisios taught that suffering has a redemptive dimension in the economy of God’s providence. He was emphatic, however, that this does not mean God desires human suffering or that suffering is good in itself:

In the Elder’s own image, “just as a powerful medicine cures an illness, so illness itself is a medicine to cure the passions” – and the sufferer is to trust God as the best of Surgeons, not pulling away from the scalpel that heals (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life, on illness; as quoted at saintsophiadc.org). The point is not that God desires our pain but that, like a surgeon’s blade, the suffering He permits is ordered to our cure.

The Elder consistently used the image of the physician and medicine to describe the relationship between God and suffering. Suffering is medicine – unpleasant in itself, but administered by a loving physician for the patient’s healing. The key is the intention behind the suffering: when received with faith and patience, suffering becomes a powerful instrument of spiritual transformation.

What Suffering Accomplishes

St. Paisios identified several ways in which suffering serves the soul:

Humility: Suffering strips away illusions of self-sufficiency and brings the person face-to-face with their dependence on God. The healthy, successful, comfortable person may never discover how deeply they need God. Suffering teaches this lesson with unmistakable clarity.
Purification: Like gold tested in fire (cf. 1 Peter 1:7), the soul is refined through suffering. Impurities – hidden passions, unacknowledged sins, attachments to worldly things – are burned away when the soul is subjected to the furnace of affliction.
Compassion: The person who has suffered develops a capacity for empathy that the comfortable person often lacks. As the Elder put it, “if we do not endure sorrows, we cannot understand the pain of others, we cannot empathize” – it is one’s own experience of pain that makes genuine comfort of others possible (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life, on illness; as quoted at spzh.eu).
Detachment: Suffering loosens the soul’s grip on worldly things – material possessions, physical comfort, social status – and redirects its attention toward eternal realities.
Participation in Christ’s Passion: For the Christian, suffering is not merely endured but offered – united with Christ’s own suffering on the Cross. “Whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). St. Paisios taught that this participation in Christ’s suffering is not only a duty but a privilege: to bear one’s trials with patience is to share in the Cross of Christ, and “only the patient will inherit the Kingdom” – the Resurrection is reached by way of the Cross, never around it (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 5: Passions and Virtues, on patience).
Spiritual reward: The Elder taught, in accordance with the patristic tradition, that suffering endured with faith stores up spiritual reward: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). He did not teach a transactional calculus but a spiritual reality: the soul that has been refined by suffering is more capable of receiving God’s grace and glory.

The Patristic Foundation

St. Paisios’s teaching on redemptive suffering stands in a long patristic lineage:

St. Isaac the Syrian: in his homily “On the Reasons Why God Permits Temptations to Come Upon Those Who Love Him,” Isaac teaches that trials are not a sign of God’s absence but of His care – “it is not possible for us to know the truth unless temptations are allowed to come upon us,” and the soul that loves God is led to maturity precisely through them (St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies, Holy Transfiguration Monastery ed.). Isaac’s teaching on the necessity of trials for spiritual growth profoundly shaped St. Paisios’s understanding.
St. John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent presents the entire monastic life as a structured experience of voluntary and involuntary suffering, leading to purification and union with God.
St. Maximus the Confessor: Taught that suffering, when accepted, becomes a means of participating in Christ’s redemptive work and of overcoming the consequences of the Fall.
St. Paul the Apostle: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame” (Romans 5:3–5).

The Distinction: Suffering from God’s Permission vs. Our Own Choices

Two Sources of Suffering

St. Paisios carefully distinguished between different sources of suffering, because the appropriate response differs according to the source:

1. Suffering from our own choices (self-inflicted)

The natural consequences of sin – addiction, broken relationships, financial ruin, guilt, physical harm from reckless behavior. This suffering is educative: it shows us the cost of sin and motivates repentance. The Elder did not treat this suffering as punishment from God but as the built-in consequence of violating the spiritual and moral order:

The Elder taught that much of our suffering is “the natural result of our own sinfulness” and is not “arranged by God” as a punishment: like a burn that follows from touching fire, it is the built-in consequence of acting against the moral and spiritual order, not the revenge of an angry God (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 1: With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man; this is the Elder’s consistent teaching, here paraphrased rather than quoted verbatim).

The appropriate response to self-inflicted suffering is repentance: recognizing the sin, confessing it, and changing direction (see Repentance and Confession).

2. Suffering permitted by God for growth (pedagogical)

Trials that come not from personal sin but from God’s pedagogy – illness, loss, persecution, misunderstanding, natural disasters, the difficulty of others’ characters. These are the “cross” every Christian is called to bear (Matthew 16:24). St. Paisios taught that these trials are not signs of God’s displeasure but of His active care, in the spirit of the Scripture that “the Lord disciplines the one He loves” (Hebrews 12:6; cf. Proverbs 3:12) and that faith is refined like gold tested in fire (1 Peter 1:7).

Note: A popular saying about a goldsmith placing “the finest gold in the hottest fire,” widely circulated under St. Paisios’s name, could not be located in any published source of his works and is therefore not quoted here; the underlying refiner’s-fire image is scriptural (1 Peter 1:7) and patristic rather than a distinctive saying of the Elder.

The appropriate response to pedagogical suffering is patience, trust, and prayer: accepting the trial as from the hand of God, seeking the lesson He is teaching, and waiting for His deliverance in His own time.

3. Voluntary suffering (ascetical)

The ascetical life – fasting, vigil, manual labor, sacrificial love, self-denial – in which the Christian voluntarily embraces difficulty for spiritual benefit. St. Paisios saw the ascetical struggle as a form of proactive suffering: rather than waiting for trials to come, the Christian actively engages in practices that refine the soul (see Passions and Virtues).

4. Suffering for others (intercessory)

Bearing the burdens of others through intercessory prayer, service, and compassion (Galatians 6:2). St. Paisios exemplified this form of suffering in his ministry: he would pray for others so intensely that he sometimes experienced their pain in his own body. “We should make the other’s pain our own,” he taught; “we must love the other, must hurt for him, so that we can pray for him” – for “to pray with the heart, we must hurt” (St. Paisios, as recorded in The Orthodox Word; cf. Hieromonk Isaac, Elder Paisios of Mount Athos). He taught that this intercessory burden-bearing is a participation in Christ’s own priestly work.

Avoiding False Explanations

The Elder warned against simplistic explanations of suffering:

Do not assume that suffering is always punishment: The disciples asked Jesus about the man born blind: “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Jesus answered: “Neither” (John 9:2–3). Not all suffering is the direct result of personal sin.
Do not assume that the prosperous are more righteous: Material success is not a reliable indicator of God’s favor, nor is suffering a reliable indicator of His displeasure.
Do not judge others’ suffering: the Elder warned against telling the afflicted that their suffering must be deserved. We do not know another’s inner history or struggle; the task before a suffering person is to comfort, not to pass judgment (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 1: With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man; paraphrase of the Elder’s pastoral counsel).

Patience (Hypomoné) as a Central Virtue

The Nature of Patience

Patience (hypomoné) was one of the virtues St. Paisios valued most highly. The Greek word hypomoné means literally “remaining under” – enduring, persevering, bearing up under a weight without collapsing. In Passions and Virtues the Elder teaches that patience “sorts out many things and brings divine results,” presupposing humility, faith, hope, and love (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 5: Passions and Virtues).

Note: In Vol. 5 it is discernment, not patience, that St. Paisios calls “the crown of the virtues” (“Discernment is not simply one of the virtues; it is its result and its assurance… the steering wheel which guides the soul”). An earlier version of this file applied the “crown of all the virtues” language to patience; that wording has been corrected.

He taught that patience is not passive resignation – it is active endurance: the decision to remain faithful, loving, and prayerful in the midst of suffering, without becoming bitter, without accusing God, and without abandoning the struggle.

The Fruits of Patience

The Elder identified specific spiritual fruits that grow only through the exercise of patience:

Spiritual maturity: The patient person develops a depth of character that cannot be achieved any other way. “Patience is the fire that turns raw clay into a strong vessel. Without the fire, the clay remains fragile.”
Inner peace: Paradoxically, patience produces peace even in the midst of affliction. The person who has accepted their cross and carries it with trust experiences a deep inner calm that the restless, impatient person cannot know.
Compassion for others: The patient person, having learned endurance through their own suffering, becomes a source of strength and comfort for others.
Strengthened faith: Each trial endured with patience strengthens faith for the next trial – the soul that bears its cross willingly is exercised and made stronger for what comes after (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 5: Passions and Virtues, on patience; paraphrase).

Patience with Ourselves

A distinctive note in the Elder’s teaching: patience must extend to ourselves. He saw many people tortured by impatience with their own spiritual progress – falling into despair because they hadn’t overcome their passions quickly enough:

The Elder counseled the same patience toward oneself that God shows toward us: when you fall, get up; when you fall again, get up again, and do not collapse into despair, for what matters is that you keep rising (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 5: Passions and Virtues; this echoes his consistent counsel against despondency, here paraphrased rather than quoted verbatim).

This teaching echoes St. John Climacus: “Do not be astonished that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly the angel who guards you will honour your patience” (Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 5, “On Repentance” [Step 5.30]).

The Cross in Daily Life: Bearing Afflictions

Every Christian’s Cross

St. Paisios taught that every Christian has a cross – a particular set of difficulties, temptations, and sufferings that constitutes their personal share in Christ’s Passion:

“Don’t sit at the crossroads. Choose a cross… and follow Christ to the Crucifixion, if you want to rejoice in the Resurrection” (St. Paisios, widely published counsel; as collected at thebaid.org). The Christian is not to evade the cross but to take it up and carry it after Christ.
The cross differs for everyone: for one person it may be chronic illness, for another a difficult marriage, for another a struggle with a particular passion, for another poverty, persecution, or loneliness.
The cross is not a curse but a blessing in disguise: the very means by which we are conformed to Christ and made capable of resurrection. “No cross, no crown” – the Resurrection follows the Cross, not the other way around.

Comparing Crosses

The Elder warned against the common temptation of comparing crosses:

The Elder taught that the cure for envying another’s lighter lot is to contemplate the far heavier crosses borne by the saints and the righteous, which makes one’s own trials seem small; and he assured the faithful that “the Good God takes into account the age and the conditions in which we live, and will ask of each one of us accordingly,” never laying on a soul more than it can bear (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13).

He also warned against the temptation to choose one’s own cross: “The cross God gives you is the right cross for you. If you could choose your own cross, you’d choose the wrong one, because you don’t know what you need.”

Illness as Spiritual Opportunity

Teaching from Experience

St. Paisios, who suffered from severe respiratory problems throughout much of his monastic life – undergoing major surgery in 1966 that removed part of his lungs – and eventually from the cancer of the large intestine that caused his repose in 1994, taught about illness from personal experience. His teaching on this subject carries a weight and authenticity that theoretical teaching cannot match.

He taught that illness serves several spiritual purposes:

Illness humbles: It strips away the illusion of physical strength and self-reliance, bringing the person to childlike dependence on God. The healthy person may forget God; the sick person can scarcely avoid remembering Him.
Illness purifies: Like gold tested in fire, the soul is refined through the experience of physical weakness and pain. Hidden passions – impatience, self-reliance, attachment to comfort – are exposed and can be addressed.
Illness reveals priorities: When facing serious illness or death, trivial concerns fall away and the essential things – faith, love, repentance, relationships – come into sharp focus. The Elder taught that God may permit illness when a person has neglected to repay a spiritual debt, and that “pain burns this debt faster than years of lukewarm prayer,” bringing the soul to attention as nothing else can (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life, on illness; paraphrase, as summarized at spzh.eu).
Illness opens the heart to compassion: Suffering makes us more compassionate toward others who suffer. As the Elder taught, the one who has not endured sorrows “cannot understand the pain of others” or truly empathize; illness teaches the heart to feel another’s affliction (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life).
Illness provides opportunity for prayer: The bedridden person, stripped of the ability to work or be active, can devote themselves to prayer in a way that healthy busyness often prevents.

His Own Final Illness

During his final illness (1993–1994), St. Paisios demonstrated everything he had taught. He was diagnosed with cancer of the large intestine, which metastasized to the lungs and liver, and he bore the excruciating pain with patience, humor, and even gratitude, calling his end “martyrdom, true martyrdom.” He continued to receive visitors and pray for others from his sickbed.

According to the well-attested tradition recorded in his biography, the Elder had earlier asked God to give him the disease so that he might be a consolation to others who suffer, and he then declined to pray for his own cure. Pressed to ask God for more time, he reportedly answered: “I cannot deceive God. I myself asked for this disease; and now that God has given it to me, I cannot ask Him to take it back” (accounts vary in detail – the Orthodox Church in America’s Life notes that he also “asked God to grant him bodily and spiritual health” – but the dominant biographical tradition is that he embraced the cancer and did not seek its removal by prayer). He reposed on July 12, 1994, at the Holy Hesychasterion of St. John the Theologian in Souroti, near Thessaloniki, where he had been brought from Mount Athos for treatment, and was buried beside St. Arsenios of Cappadocia (Hieromonk Isaac, Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, final chapters; cf. the Life at oca.org).

Comfort for the Suffering: The Elder’s Compassion

Presence, Not Lectures

St. Paisios was known for his extraordinary compassion for those in pain. When suffering people came to him – and they came by the thousands – he did not offer theological lectures or easy answers. He offered presence, prayer, and practical help:

He wept with those who wept, entering into their pain rather than standing above it. His visitors consistently reported that he felt their suffering – that it was not an intellectual exercise but a genuine participation in their affliction.
He prayed intensely for the sick, sometimes spending entire nights in prayer for a single person. Some visitors reported that their conditions improved or resolved after his prayers (Hieromonk Isaac, Elder Paisios of Mount Athos).
He assured the suffering of God’s nearness, reminding them that “God never abandons us; we are the ones who forget and abandon Him,” and that He is closest to the soul precisely in its weakness (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 1: With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man; the “closer in your suffering” phrasing is a paraphrase of the Elder’s consistent counsel, not a verbatim quotation).
He encouraged the suffering to look beyond the present trial: this life is brief and its afflictions temporary, and what endures after the suffering is the spiritual fruit it bears (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life; paraphrase).

What Not to Say to the Suffering

The Elder also taught others how to comfort the afflicted – and, importantly, what not to say:

Do not say “God is punishing you.” This is almost never helpful and is usually false.
Do not say “You should be grateful for your suffering.” While gratitude in suffering is a virtue, demanding it from someone in acute pain is cruel.
Do not minimize their pain: “I know how you feel” (unless you truly do).
Do not offer solutions when what is needed is simply presence and compassion.
Do say: “I am praying for you.” “God loves you.” “I am here.”

Suffering and the Mystery of Evil

St. Paisios did not claim to have a complete explanation for suffering. He acknowledged the element of mystery – the fact that not all suffering can be neatly explained or justified from a human perspective:

We cannot always understand why God permits a particular suffering, the Elder taught, but we can trust that He knows what He is doing even when we do not – holding up the patient, uncomplaining endurance of the righteous Job, who did not grasp the reason for his affliction yet held fast to God and was vindicated in the end, as the model of trust in the midst of suffering (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life; the Job-as-exemplar-of-patience theme is standard Orthodox teaching, here paraphrased rather than quoted verbatim).

This pastoral humility – the willingness to say “I don’t know why, but I trust God” – is itself part of the Elder’s teaching. The answer to the problem of suffering is ultimately not a theological formula but a Person: Christ, who Himself suffered, died, and rose again.

References

St. Paisios of Mount Athos. Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 1: With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man. Souroti, Thessaloniki: Hesychasterion of St. John the Theologian.
St. Paisios of Mount Athos. Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 4: Family Life. Souroti, Thessaloniki: Hesychasterion of St. John the Theologian. (Source of the Elder’s counsels on illness, suffering, and the remembrance of death; quotations as translated at johnsanidopoulos.com, saintsophiadc.org, and spzh.eu.)
St. Paisios of Mount Athos. Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 5: Passions and Virtues. Souroti, Thessaloniki: Hesychasterion of St. John the Theologian.
St. Paisios of Mount Athos. “On Pain of Heart” and related counsels, in The Orthodox Word (intercessory suffering).
“Venerable Paisios of the Holy Mountain” (Life). Orthodox Church in America, oca.org (date of repose, nature of the final illness, place of burial).
Hieromonk Isaac. Elder Paisios of Mount Athos. Chalkidiki: Holy Monastery of St. John the Theologian, 2012.
Isaac the Syrian. The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1984.
John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 5, “On Repentance.” 7th century.
Maximus the Confessor. Various works on the economy of suffering and redemption. 7th century.