Therefore, brothers, let us strive with all our heart, bearing death before our eyes every hour, and every moment imagining the fearful punishment. But these things the mind comes to perception and the soul is weighed down weeping, but it is also made contemplative and prepared to be turned toward God, undistracted by earthly things. And not only this, but once humility is worked out by these, the soul is persuaded to become compassionate and without vainglory, lowly and made a stranger to all worldly mentality.
Let the soul then, brothers, teach wisdom to this thick body every day when we come to our bed at evening, and say to each member of the body, “O feet, while you have power to stand and to move before you are laid out and become motionless, stand eagerly for your Lord.” To the hands, let it say, “The hour comes when you will be loosened and motionless, bound to each other and having no motion whatever; then, before you fall into that hour, do not cease stretching yourselves out to the Lord.
St. Pachomius
