Your affliction of hair loss has wounded your confidence, yet consider the words of the Apostle: "Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him?" The hair is a small and passing thing, and its removal from the brows or lashes would indeed mar the face, yet the loss of a trifle does not destroy true comeliness, which is the beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, precious before God. You mourn what is already given to decay, but what is the hair but a covering, like the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven? Fix your gaze, then, not on the mirror of the flesh but on the mirror of the soul. For if the hair were all your glory, then indeed you would be poor; but you have an immortal soul, capable of receiving the divine beauty.
I have seen many who contributed even hair to the building of the temple, and because they had nothing else, they were not rejected. So if you offer to God this very loss as a sacrifice of humility, giving your distress into His hand, He will accept it as the widow's mite. The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and guard you from the evil one, if you do not set your heart on this transitory ornament. Let not the thinning of your hair steal your peace, for that is a warfare against your own soul, and he who wars with himself suffers double loss.
As for marriage, if you fear that a bare head will hinder a holy union, remember that marriage is pure, and its beauty is holiness, not the abundance of locks. The saints Paul and Peter, more honored than any king, spent their lives in hunger and thirst, yet their glory was within. A wife who is sought for the abundance of her hair builds her house upon the sand; but a prudent wife is a crown to her husband, and her value is far above rubies. Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added, if it be His will.
I will lift up my voice with you to Jesus Christ, the true Physician: Lord, who didst number the hairs of our head and hast counted our every sorrow, look upon this Thy servant. If it be profitable for his salvation and Thy glory, command that this hair cease to fall and new growth spring forth, that he may offer his body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. Yet not as we will, but as Thou wilt. Grant him the greater healing of a tranquil heart, that whether in abundance or in lack, he may be content, for Thou art his portion. Let your prayer be joined with alms and fasting, and co-operate with grace, for the Lord is faithful to His promise, but demands also our willing effort.
Go in peace, and let the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible beauty of a quiet spirit, be your adornment. Let your confidence be in Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life, and who will clothe you with immortality when this corruptible puts on incorruption.