A sign of true repentance is the acknowledgment that we deserve all the afflictions, visible and invisible, that come upon us, and even greater ones.

St. John Climacus

He who accepts present afflictions in the expectation of future blessings has found the knowledge of the truth; and he will easily be freed from anger and remorse.

St. Kosmas Aitolos

Thanksgiving dulls the fierceness of your illness!  Thanksgiving brings the ailing person consolation!  The tutored heart, sweetened by thanksgiving, is renewed through the power of a living faith.  Illumined by the sudden light of faith, the mind begins to contemplate the divine Providence of God... The sickbed is often the place where one gains the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self.  The suffering of the body often brings spiritual joys, and the sickbed is often watered with tears of repentance and tears of joy in God.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

I, as a sick man, should have as the harbor of my hopes not my works, not my merits, but the mercies and merits of the God-Man Jesus.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Be merciful to your soul in her infirmities; excessive strictness distracts from repentance and leads to depression and despair.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

The soul is greater than the body: the body becomes sick, and with that it is finished. But a spiritual sickness extends into eternity. Deliver us, O Lord, from such illness, and grant us healing.

St Macarius of Optina