In proportion as the visitations of grace grew in strength and duration, so did the feeling of gratitude to God increase in Silouan’s soul. ‚O Lord’, he would cry, ‚how can I give thanks to Thee for this new, inscrutable mercy, that Thou dost reveal Thy mysteries to the ignorant sinner that I am? The world totters in the chains of despair, while to me, the least and the worst of men, Thou didst reveal eternal life. Lord, not to me alone: Suffer the whole world to know Thee!’ Gradually, sorrow for the world ignorant of God began to dominate his prayer. ‚To pray for people is to shed blood’ said the Staretz, taught of the Holy Spirit Christ-like love. Christ-like love is blessedness with which nothing in this world can compare but at the same time it means suffering greater than any other suffering.