My whole life is a continuous loss, a continuous misfortune, a continuous failure. And if there did not stand before me the image of Christ, Who in His earthly life, on the final day, at Golgotha, saw around Him only His mother and St. John, that is, the most terrifying of all misfortunes in the history of the world, then I would despair not only in my relationship to people, but in terms of eternity. Now, having Christ before me, I am able to preserve some hope.

— St. Sophrony of Essex