On Suffering

Father Nicholas compares the gospel reading of the blind man who suffered and received consolation on earth, to Saint Maximus the Confessor (or Theologian) for whom the opposite was the case.

Saint Maximus (c.580-662) was born into a wealthy family and left it behind to enter a monastery. A theologian and a scholar, he single-handedly stood up against the heresy of Monothelitism. For this Saint Maximus was persecuted: following a trial his tongue and right hand were cut off. Though he was hated and suffered in this life, the story of Saint Maximus shows what one person can do. 

Since the fall, human beings have been asking, what does it mean to suffer?