As you piercingly cry out to him,
as you seek Him out, the Provider of happiness,
the Giver of joy, the Riches that last and subsist forever,
while He tests your will,
see to it that you do not grow discouraged, my soul, that you do not turn back,
that you do not say: "How long will he remain so incomprehensible to me?"
that you do not say: "Why, when he has just appeared, does he again hide himself?
How long yet will He heap troubles upon me instead of mercy?"
That you do not say: "How can I undergo until the end such crosses?"
But do not shrink back, O my soul, in seeking the Master,
but as a soul which has once and for all given itself over to its own death,
do not grope to seek your own ease,
do not seek out glory,
nor the pleasure of the body,
nor the affections of the neighbors. Do not look at all to the right nor to the left, 
but, as you have begun, so even run more ardently!
Make haste always to apprehend, to seize the Master!
As often as He should disappear, even 10,000 times, likewise 10,000 times He will appear to you and thus He who cannot be grasped
will be grasped by you.
10,000 times, or rather as long as you still breathe,
seek with greater ardor to run towards him!
For He will not forsake you, He will not forget you.
Little by little, nay, He will even show Himself more and more.
And the more frequently, my soul, the Master will be present to you,
and after having perfectly purified you by the radiance of His light,
He Himself, the Creator of the world, will be with you.
He Himself will be with you, the Creator of the world.
And you will have real riches such as the world does not possess,
but such as Heaven and those who are inscribed there possess.
If such will be yours, tell me, what more do you desire?
SAINT SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN