The origin of suffering is sin in the sense that suffering comes after sin. However the problem of suffering is a delicate one and none of us can elucidate it yet. Any responses we would give to this problem would be insufficient and unsatisfactory. Generally it is argued that suffering is the result of sin, though not always is so, because just people have suffered as well, like, for instance, the Right Job, or people who were clean of sins as the Apostle Paul. There is, however, a difference between the suffering of the just and that of the sinner. There is a cross of the thief who repented and one of the thief who didn’t. Even though they both suffered, the result was not the same.

What is important about the suffering is not knowing what it is and what point it has, but rather knowing how to use it for our own good. Christianity means assuming the cross and assuming suffering as a cross, and what is important is how we carry this cross. For many, suffering is abolished by faith, meaning that if suffering is not so painful as to be overwhelming, it can be a way of improving the man.

A doctor from Transylvania, Ioan Suciu Sibianul - may God rest him - said that there are two things in particular that you cannot do without faith in God: to endure a great pain and raise good children.

(Translated from Arhimandrit Teofil Părăian, Iubirea de aproapele – ajutor pentru bucuria vieții, Editura Doxologia, Iași, 2014, pp. 40-41)