Saint Isaac the Syrian
Humiliation will limit the temptations of sorrow.
Let us recall the guilty brought to justice to be punished for their wrongdoings. When they start to torture them, if they humble themselves and immediately plead guilty, they will be sentenced with a more lenient sentence and avoid getting in trouble.
But if they are hard-nosed and do not confess their guilt, their torture is increased and, after much suffering and beating, they are forced to confess their guilt without wanting to. However, there is no use of suffering that much. Something like that happens to us, too.
For our foolish sins, we are begging the righteous judge of all for mercy, and we take the hard knocks of sorrow until we confess, so that the punishment becomes more lenient.
When the judge is ready to pronounce the sentence, if we humble ourselves, remember our offenses and confess our guilt, we quickly escape from the temptations and sorrows; however, if we are stubborn, instead of confessing that we are worthy to be blamed and that we deserve a harsher punishment, we put the blame of our sins on other people, or even on demons, and sometimes on the righteousness of God, and thus we vindicate ourselves from the charge of our wrongdoings.
And we are stubborn and we do not repent, knowing that God knows better what our interest is, and that his righteousness spreads throughout the world, and that no one is punished without God wanting to.
So if we are stubborn when confronting our sorrows, sorrow is so overwhelming and becomes painful and seems to be endless until we acquire self-knowledge and humble ourselves and recognize our wrongdoings.
But if we insist and we finally have to confess, our confession is no use, since we have already suffered all the sorrows and temptations and have been deprived of the consolation that repentance brings.
Unintentional sorrows are healed by the immense love of God.
If someone willingly denies of the goods, as long as he denies them, the mercy of God follows him, and the charity of God will be his support.
But those who have a weak will and therefore can not obtain eternal life, God guides their souls with unintentional sorrows to virtue.
Poor Lazarus did not deny the goods, while his body had wounds. He had two bitter disabilities (the deprivation of the goods and the wounds) so you cannot tell which one was worse.
But in the end he was vindicated. God is listening to the grieving heart of all the people, which desperately looking for Him. And He can deprive someone of goods related to body, or otherwise disturb him.
All this is done until we acquire patience, like the doctor who is operating a very ill patient to make him healthy again. However, the Lord shows immense love and understanding for the grieving soul, proportionate to how big is the pain disturbing it.
