On the study of God's will

The study of the will of God is a task filled with joy, filled with spiritual consolation. At the same time it is a task that presents great sorrows, disappointments, trial and temptations. It is also inseperable from self-renunciation, the mortification of our fallen nature, and the saving destruction of the soul. It involves the crucifixion of the old man. It requires that the carnal mind and outlook be renounced, spurned, annihilated. "Do not be conformed to the world; but be transfigured by the renewal of your mind, that you may know experimentally what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God"*, says the Apostle.

Bishop Ignatius, The Arena, An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism, Chapter 14, pp.55

*Rom. 12:2