From the diary of the New-Martyr Empress (Tsaritsa) Alexandra

Whoever humbles himself within will never be despoiled by his mouth. For no one can bring out through the door of a storehouse that which it does not contain within.

The soul that has bad inclination receives ill from everything, even if the thing is beneficial such a soul receives harm from it.

A Christian must endure sorrows together with internal and external battles; thus when you receive the blows you will be victorious through patience. This is the Christian path. Where the Holy Spirit is, there like a shadow, follows persecution and battle. Do you see how the prophets were persecuted by their own kinsmen? Do you see how the Lord, Who is the way and truth, was persecuted, not by a foreign people but His very own? His own people – the Israelites – persecuted and crucified Him. A very similar thing took place with the Apostles. From the time of the Cross, the Comforter – the Spirit – came and dwelt in Christians; thus no one of the Jewish faith was persecuted (by the Jews) but only Christians became martyrs. Therefore we should not be surprised by this: Truth will always be persecuted. (St. Macarius the Great)

Translated from Russian by Fr. Zechariah