Tuesday of Lent Week 3

"Do not fear temptations by means of which you will find precious things... For without temptations God's care cannot be perceived and familiarity of speech with Him cannot be acquired and spiritual wisdom cannot be learned and the love of God cannot be implanted in the soul. Before [having experienced] temptations, man prays unto God as a stranger. But when he has entered into troubles for the sake of his love, without being changed, then ... he is reckoned as His housemate and His friend, who has fought, for the sake of His will, against the host of His enemies" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 3, 34.36).