Saint Sophia of Kleisoura said:
"The eyes should see and not see.
The ears should hear and not hear.
The mouth should not blaspheme.
The mouth should have a key.
Do not transfer words from one person to another.
Have love for everyone.
Cover over things, that God may cover you.
Have much patience, much patience!"
***
The word that was constantly on her lips was the word of the Forerunner in the desert:
“Repent!”
***
She did not distinguish between rich and poor. She had no favoritism. She showed broad love to everyone, and this because she loved our Christ above all, whom she saw in the faces of others, and to Whom, addressing herself with constant compunction, she said:
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on your world and then on us.”
***
Her comfort was the Most Holy Theotokos, in whose Monastery she lived under her maternal love and her awesome protection.
“The Panagia is sad. The Panagia cries every day,” she would say to the people who approached her and the tears flowed like a fountain from her eyes.
***
“Why do you sweep every day, Grandma Sophia?” asked one of her spiritual daughters.
“But blessed one, the Panagia will pass by and find her yard full of leaves.”
***
She prayed:
“My Panagia, let me be a sacrifice for you.”
***
She saw many scandals from laypeople, monastics and clergy. But she never accused anyone.
“Cover over things, that God may cover you,” she would say.
***
She was especially concerned about unmarried girls who happened to go astray. She gathered them close to her and admonished them better than a mother. She told them not to speak of their fall again, and she took care to marry them off well, giving them dowries herself from what others gave her.
"The eyes should see and not see.
The ears should hear and not hear.
The mouth should not blaspheme.
The mouth should have a key.
Do not transfer words from one person to another.
Have love for everyone.
Cover over things, that God may cover you.
Have much patience, much patience!"
***
The word that was constantly on her lips was the word of the Forerunner in the desert:
“Repent!”
***
She did not distinguish between rich and poor. She had no favoritism. She showed broad love to everyone, and this because she loved our Christ above all, whom she saw in the faces of others, and to Whom, addressing herself with constant compunction, she said:
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on your world and then on us.”
***
Her comfort was the Most Holy Theotokos, in whose Monastery she lived under her maternal love and her awesome protection.
“The Panagia is sad. The Panagia cries every day,” she would say to the people who approached her and the tears flowed like a fountain from her eyes.
***
“Why do you sweep every day, Grandma Sophia?” asked one of her spiritual daughters.
“But blessed one, the Panagia will pass by and find her yard full of leaves.”
***
She prayed:
“My Panagia, let me be a sacrifice for you.”
***
She saw many scandals from laypeople, monastics and clergy. But she never accused anyone.
“Cover over things, that God may cover you,” she would say.
***
She was especially concerned about unmarried girls who happened to go astray. She gathered them close to her and admonished them better than a mother. She told them not to speak of their fall again, and she took care to marry them off well, giving them dowries herself from what others gave her.
“The Panagia will not lose you,” she would add.
***
Although ragged in appearance, her virtuous heart distributed to the poor everything that the kindness of people gave her.
“Take it and wear it, so my soul rejoices,” she would tell them, when they asked her why she was distributing clothes that others had offered her out of sympathy, since she herself was destitute.
***
She never hurt or upset anyone. When she understood that someone was struggling with the sins that oppressed them, she would discreetly pass by them. She would say a few words, something like a slogan, without the others understanding or hearing, and then she would move away again. They would understand and follow her. Then the two of them would sit alone apart, so that they could be seen but not heard. Without revealing the sin or the problem, she would first comfort and then advise with soul-beneficial loving words of God.
At other times she herself would say: “They came black to the Panagia and are leaving white.”
Source: From the book Sophia Hotokouridou, A Popular Ascetic, † May 6, 1974, published by Mygdonia. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
***
Although ragged in appearance, her virtuous heart distributed to the poor everything that the kindness of people gave her.
“Take it and wear it, so my soul rejoices,” she would tell them, when they asked her why she was distributing clothes that others had offered her out of sympathy, since she herself was destitute.
***
She never hurt or upset anyone. When she understood that someone was struggling with the sins that oppressed them, she would discreetly pass by them. She would say a few words, something like a slogan, without the others understanding or hearing, and then she would move away again. They would understand and follow her. Then the two of them would sit alone apart, so that they could be seen but not heard. Without revealing the sin or the problem, she would first comfort and then advise with soul-beneficial loving words of God.
At other times she herself would say: “They came black to the Panagia and are leaving white.”
Source: From the book Sophia Hotokouridou, A Popular Ascetic, † May 6, 1974, published by Mygdonia. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
