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Geronda yearned for grace and ardently strove for it with all his might, which is what made him spiritually rich.

When he spoke to us about grace, he spoke with great facility about its various actions and degrees, just as a master craftsman would speak about his craft. We realized that his teachings were drawn from his vast personal experience. is was why he could implant them deeply within us and impart to us the feeling that we, too, had experienced the various actions and degrees of grace; for there is a tremendous di erence between a person who teaches based on reading and a person who teaches based on his own experience.

He inspired us to aim all our pursuits, all our desires, and all our actions toward this goal: to induce grace to come and stay within us. e focus was on grace because only through grace can we succeed in being freed from the “old man,” and because without grace we will not be able to do anything. As the Lord said, “Without me ye can do nothing.”

Moreover, Geronda taught us that if we don’t nd grace, we should consider that we have failed as monks, since all the other good works are just the formalities that lay Christians do. “Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the vasileia of heaven.” He explained to us that the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees corresponds to external works. In order for our righteousness to exceed theirs, we must turn our attention inwards and cultivate grace.

He also told us: “Acquiring the grace of God is not nearly as difficult as regaining grace after it has withdrawn because of our negligence or pride. is is why there have been many strugglers who found grace, but only a few who succeeded in regaining it after losing it. e withdrawal of grace is so fearsome that I shudder when I talk about it. I went through severe trials because I did not have the support of an experienced guide. If you are going to nd God’s grace and end up losing it, it would be better if you had never found it in the rst place. at is how severe the struggle is. is is why I hope God gives you experience rather than grace, for experience brings many graces and is a permanent gift from God, whereas receiving grace too early does not bring any experience.”

The primary reason why he emphasized the acquisition of God’s grace so much was because only God’s grace will bring us the love of God, which is our real goal. He proved to us with detailed explanations that there is nothing more worthy for man to occupy himself with than the love of God. Everything else—even virtues—are vanity in comparison with it. The goal and center of Christian life is the love of God.

—My Elder Joseph the Hesychast, pages 419-420

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