Holiness is not simply righteousness, for which the righteous are rewarded with

blessedness in the Kingdom of God; rather, it is such a height of righteousness that

people are so filled with the grace of God that it flows from them even upon those who

associate with them. Great is their blessedness, which proceeds from their direct

contemplation of the glory of God. Being filled also with love for men, which

proceeds from love of God, they are responsive to men’s needs, and at their

entreaties they act as mediators and intercessors for them before God.

from a sermon by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco