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I am ninety-four years old now, and because I am growing old and death is approaching I thought I would leave you a few paternal requests.

Above all is love for God and for one another, for where there is love there is God, where love is lacking there is the tempter. When you have love between you, you also love God. When, however, there is no love between you, you cannot love God; for Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: He who loves me keeps my commandments, and, if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. (Jn 14:21-23, 1 Jn 5:20).

You must be careful not to depart from our loving God; do not leave Him, but love Him. Our Savior and God-Man Jesus Christ gave us the commandment to love one another. He said unto the Holy Apostles a few days before departing bodily from this world: A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another (Jn 13:34), and these things I command you that ye love one another. (Jn 15:17).

Therefore, strive to acquire the love that is genuine and not the love that is with words, with the tongue, or with the lips. Loving with the whole heart unites with God and makes one a son of God by grace. St. Augustine tells us that a man comes to resemble that which he loves. If you love God you will become a god; not by nature but by grace. If you love the flesh and say that this is your life and existence, and think that it will save you, then you will become flesh ... and if again you love the devil, then you will become a devil. How does someone come to love the devil? By doing his works. When they have pride, and especially when they have envy, jealousy, and hatred for their neighbor, then they become a devil. Therefore, for this reason strive to love God. As the Holy Fathers say in the doxastikon of the Saints, where we chant: You have loved God, preferring nothing to His love, prefer nothing more than the love of God; so that when He comes in all of His Glory, we may find rest with all the saints. We must love God, so that we can find rest there where the saints are.

Therefore take care to have love and obedience, for he who is obedient imitates Christ, while he who is not obedient, but disobeys and contradicts, imitates the devil. Do not be contradicting unless it is because the presiding nun asks you to do something that will grieve God, then do not listen to her. If however she tells you to do something, which in your opinion is not good, then it is better to cut your will and do that which was indicated.

Our Lord Jesus Christ—who is God—cut His own will: I came down from heaven, He says, not to do My own will but the will of Him that sent Me. He became obedient unto death; even death on the Cross. One should be obedient unto death, then he will become worthy of the Eternal Kingdom and of the Eternal Life. Never neglect your spiritual duties, because only with diligence you will be victorious, by God’s grace, over all enemies. For this the Lord tells us: Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh, shall find watching. (Lk 12:37). And the Church chants: Behold the Bridegroom is coming in the night and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching, and unworthy is the one whom He shall find heedless.

Of the ten virgins, five were foolish, and the other five were prudent, having oil in their lamps. The lamps represent the soul. When the Bridegroom came (i.e., at the hour of death), they left and went together with the Lord to the Heavenly bridal chamber. The foolish virgins, however, remained outside the bridal chamber because they were neglectful; they did not have oil, nor did they have love, they were tired and slept, and they did not take care. When death came, they repented and knocked on the door that He would open it unto them, but the Lord said unto them, Go, I do not know you.

Therefore, we must not be neglectful, for negligence is dreadful and repentance is great. Struggle when you feel drowsy and sluggish. The body always wants rest, it wants sleep, and it wants good food. The soul, however, wants fasting, vigil, and prayer. Woe to the person who allows his soul to be subjected to the flesh, and who does the will of the flesh. (cf. Gal 5:14-21). The flesh wants comfort, and whenever possible to sleep, but we must resist this. The spirit must be victorious and subject the body; not allowing it to become that which the flesh seeks, but that which God desires, for the flesh desires to do the will of the devil. For this reason the Apostle James tells us: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (Jas 4:7). We must resist him as much as we can; for only with labor and pain are the good things achieved.

The Saints did not make it to Paradise easily, but labored and struggled against three enemies: the flesh, the world, and the ruler of the world (the devil). But, because they were eager and serious, they overcame the devil, the desires of the world, and the desires of the flesh.

Thus, prayer and watchfulness are necessary. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak. (Mt 26:41). The Apostle Peter because he was not careful for just one moment, denied the Lord. But he repented and was saved. For this he wrote the following beautiful words to make us and everyone careful: Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (I Pet 5:8). Be vigilant, careful, and watchful. Do not stay at all idle, for the devil is prowling about, looking for someone to devour, but seek the aid of God; and God, when we approach Him will help us.

The devil many times uses hypocrisy, slyness, and wickedness to fool people. Many times he transforms himself as an angel of light; and he has deceived many because they accepted him, obeyed him, and were not careful. Therefore, great care is needed. As I told you, go to a spiritual father for confession, and if he is not there, tell your thoughts to the Abbess and you will be greatly benefitted.

Take care especially for love and humility, for where there is humility, the devil flees from there. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word. (Isa 66:2). Upon whom does He say He shall look? Upon him who is humble, upon him who is meek. For this reason, all the saints were sanctified through humility; for humility gives birth to love and to all the virtues. The humble person is a dwelling place of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit: the humility of the Most Holy Theotokos pleased God, the Wholly Uncontainable, to dwell in her womb. The Panagia boasting in the Lord, not in herself, says: For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden... (Lk 1:48).

If all virtues exist but humility is lacking, they are insufficient, unbeneficial and are most likely hazardous: Magdalene the nun was prideful; she became a dwelling place of the devil, doing whatever he told her to do. She forgot about the good things and did as the devil bid her. Because St. Nektarios did (and still does) miracles, she was envious and wrote a book against the saint: among her other blasphemies, she said that the Sacraments are not performed by the Holy Spirit, but by the Old Calendar, and that if they are not performed by the Holy Spirit on the Old Calendar then the Sacraments are invalid. She also said that whoever considers St. Nektarios to be a Saint should have the curse of all the Ecumenical Synods, etc. She cursed God and the great saints of our days without thinking about it; God had made them saints because of the humility, the faith, and the love they had.

Be very careful to hate pride, which the devil sows continually in the mind of man, whispering to him that he is something, that he does something and he arrives at the point where he accuses others for not performing so well.

May the grace of our Lord, who for us men and our salvation became man and rose again, raise our souls unto new life, and grant us eternal life and the Heavenly Kingdom.

Love must take root in our hearts, and it will take root when we continuously remember God; whether walking or working, in bed resting or sleeping, the recollection of God and the short prayer must never be absent. And in this way, God will always be here with us in this temporal life, and shall take us with Him to the Eternal one. Go with the Panagia’s blessing, and May God always be with you.

Amen.