St. Maximos the Confessor (+662):
It is characteristic of hope to bring future things before us as if they were present. It thereby assures those who are attacked by hostile powers that God protects them and is in no way absent. Hope is the intellect’s surest pledge of divine help, and promises the destruction of hostile powers. Hope drives off the enemy’s attack. Hope is the strength of the two pre-eminent gifts of love and faith, since it gives us glimpses both of that in which we believe and of that for which we long, and teaches us to make our way towards our goal.
And today we celebrate...