If only the sinner knew that all his failures, all his transgressions and weaknesses evoke only compassion and forgiveness in God! If only he knew that no matter how serious they were, they cannot disgust or repel God, they cannot exhaust His mercy or prevent His love, even for a moment… If he knew this, he would not cling so much to his sin, he would not settle for darkness, he would not try to flee from God, he would not hide from Him to conceal his shame and would see the Face of the Most High…, while He is striving with all His might to show him His love, and is constantly calling him to Himself.
(Matta el-Meskin /1919–2006/, abbot of the monastery of St. Makarios in Egypt; La Communion d’amour)
