How Does Christ Help the Person Who Suffers?

The question is reasonable and deeply human: how can a person who suffers be practically helped when we tell him that Christ knew anguish, was crucified, and rose from the dead? Is it enough to say that “God understands our pain”?

The answer of the Orthodox Church is not first of all a logical explanation of suffering. It does not offer a theoretical system that answers every “why.” The Church does not stand before the sufferer like a philosopher analyzing evil from a distance, but like a Mother who points to the Crucified and Risen Christ and says: God did not remain outside pain; He entered into it, struggled with it, and conquered it.

This does not mean that pain ceases immediately. It does not mean that illness disappears. It does not mean that a person always receives a clear answer as to why something happened to him. It means, however, that pain is no longer a dark place of God’s absence. Within grace, it can become a place of encounter, prayer, repentance, humility, love, and hope.

What the Orthodox Church Does Not Say About Pain

First, we need to clarify what the Orthodox Church does not say.

The Church does not say that pain is good in itself. Illness,…