If the soul, its powers disordered, is still at war with itself and has not yet become receptive to the divine rays; if it is still enslaved to the will of the flesh and without peace; and if its battle with the rebellious passions has but recently come to an end, it needs to preserve strict silence, so that with David it too can say: ‘But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man who does not open his mouth’ (Psalm 38:13). It should always be full of grief and should walk sorrowfully along the road of Christ’s commandments; for it is still afflicted by the enemy and awaits the coming of the Paraclete, through whom it will receive the prize of true freedom for its compunction and cleansing tears.
~Nikitas Stithatos
Prayerful Life 