Why do we love the fathers?

Because the fathers of the Church love the Word of God, receive everything they have from it, give everything they give from it. Because they live in it, making the Word their home. Because they feed on it, becoming what they eat. Because they know and believe that the words of Jesus are Truth and Life. That's why we love and honor the fathers of the Church, because they love and honor the Word, and keep reminding us of it in their every encounter with us. Here's an example sent me this morning by Presbytera Candace.

What does it mean to take up your cross? It means the willing acceptance, at the hand of Providence, of every means of healing, bitter though it may be, that is offered. Do great catastrophies fall on you? Be obedient to God's will, as Noah was. Is sacrifice demanded of you? Give yourself into God's hands with the same faith as Abram had when he went to sacrifice his son. Is your property ruined? Do your children die suddenly? Suffer it all with patience, cleaving to God in your heart, as Job did. Do your friends forsake you, and you find yourself surrounded by enemies? Bear it all without grumbling, and with faith that God's help is at hand, as the apostles did.
—Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich