Teddy Bear Saints…
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 20th, 2007
“‘There, in the forest the fearsome bear wanders, terrible and ferocious, and not at all guilty for that.’ And I told him of how a bear had once come to a great saint, who was saving his soul in the forest, in a little cell, and the great saint felt tenderness for him, fearlessly went out to him and gave him a piece of bread, as if to say, ‘Go, and Christ be with you.’ And the fierce beast went away obediently and meekly without doing any harm. The lad was moved by the story about the bear and how the bear had gone away without doing any harm, and that Christ was with him, too. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘how good it is, how good and wonderful all that is God’s!’” - From the Life of Elder Zosima
[Art; St. Sergius of Radonezh and the bear.]
“A hermit said, ‘When you flee from the company of other men, or when you despise the world and worldings, take care to do so as if it were you who was being idiotic.” - Sayings of the Desert Fathers