Wings Of Fire

Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἰωάννης, ὅτι εἶδέ τις τῶν γερόντων ἐν ἐκστάσει· Καὶ ἰδοῦ τρεῖς μοναχοὶ ἒστηκαν πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης· καὶ ἐγενετο φωνὴ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ ἄλλου πέραν, λέγουσα· Λάβετε πτερὰ πυρὸς, καὶ δεῦτε πρὸς μέ. Καὶ οἱ μέν δύο ἔλαβον, καὶ ἐπετάσθησαν εἰς τὸ ἄλλο πέραν· ὁ δὲ ἄλλος ἒμεινε, καὶ ἔκλαιε σφόδρα καὶ ἔκραζεν. Ὕστερον δὲ ἐδοθησαν καὶ αὐτῷ πτερὰ, οὐ μέντοι πυρὸς, ἀλλ' ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἀδύναμα· καὶ μετὰ καμάτου καταποντιζόμενος και ἀνιστάμενος, μετὰ θλίψεως πολλῆς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸ πέραν. Οὕτως καὶ ἡ γενεὰ αὔτη, εἰ καὶ λαμβάνει πτερά, οὐ μέντοι πυρὸς, ἀλλὰ μόλις ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἀδύναμα λαμβάνει.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father John said that he saw some of the elders in a vision. 'I saw monks on the shore of the sea and a voice called them to the other shore, saying, ' Take up wings of fire and come to me.' And two of them did so and flew to the other shore, but one remained and he wept profusely and cried out. Later wings were given to him, but not of fire, for these wings were weak and fragile, and after repeatedly tumbling down into the waves and bobbing up, after so much trouble and effort, he came to the other shore. Thus it is with this generation; even if it takes up its wings they are not of fire but ever so weak and fragile.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia