Date: 2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Ascetical work; Orthodox ascetic writings; the Jesus Prayer; purification of the soul; monasticism and solitude; Eastern Orthodox spirituality; death and remembrance of God; Ignatius Brianchaninov; Religion & Spirituality; Christianity / Orthodox; Christian Living / Spiritual Growth
Description: Where the first volume surveyed the whole ascetic road, this second volume of St Ignatius Brianchaninov’s Ascetic Experiences draws its weight toward one thing: prayer. A linked cycle of homilies climbs from the beginner’s cell rule, through prayer in church and aloud, to the remembrance of God and prayer of the mind and heart — ending in his great Homily on the Jesus Prayer. Around it stand his essays on the fear and love of God, His judgments, His image in man, and the way of salvation.

Ascetic Experiences, Volume Two

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov

Royal Archives

2026

Copyright

The modern English translation and the cover design are © 2026 Royal Archives. All rights reserved.

The underlying source text is in the public domain.

Published by Royal Archives

First published 2026

Translated by Royal Archives

Source: Святитель Игнатий (Брянчанинов). Полное собрание творений. — СПб., 1865–1886 (дореволюционное издание, переизд.).

Cover: The Quiet Abode by Isaac Levitan (Russian, 1860–1900), Wikimedia Commons, which is in the public domain.

Edition identifier: urn:royalarchives:asketicheskie_opyty_2:en:1

Introduction

The Author

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov was born Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov on the fifteenth of February, 1807, on the family estate of Pokrovskoye in the province of Vologda, into one of the oldest and wealthiest landowning families of that northern Russian region. He was a gifted and unusually serious child, drawn from early years to prayer and to the solitude of the countryside, and his talents were such that his father set him on the path expected of a young nobleman with imperial prospects. At fifteen he entered the Main Military Engineering School in Saint Petersburg, the capital’s most demanding technical academy, where he graduated at the head of his class. He came under the notice of the court and of the emperor himself, and a brilliant career in the service of the state lay open before him.

He turned away from it. Even during his years at the engineering school, the inner life had claimed him more deeply than mathematics and fortification; he sought out spiritual guidance among the monks of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and read the ascetic Fathers with a hunger that his examinations could not satisfy. A grave illness in 1827 gave him the occasion to leave the army on medical grounds, and against the strong opposition of his family and of the authorities who had marked him for advancement, he laid down his commission to take up the monastic life. He was professed a monk in 1831, receiving the name Ignatius, and was ordained to the priesthood soon after. His natural gifts and evident holiness carried him quickly to responsibility: in 1833, still in his mid-twenties, he was appointed superior of the Trinity–Saint Sergius Hermitage near Saint Petersburg—the Sergiev Pustyn, a monastery on the Gulf of Finland close to the capital—and raised to the rank of archimandrite. He governed that community for roughly a quarter of a century, and it was there, as confessor and director to monks and to the devout laity of the capital, that the greater part of his writing took shape.

In 1857 he was consecrated a bishop and sent to the far south of the empire as Bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, with his see at Stavropol. The episcopate proved brief. His health, never robust, could not bear the burdens of a vast and difficult diocese, and after four years he asked to be released. In 1861 he withdrew to the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery on the Volga, where he spent his last six years in prayer, correspondence with his spiritual children, and the final ordering of his writings for the press. He died there on the thirtieth of April, 1867. More than a century later, in 1988, he was numbered among the saints by the Russian Orthodox Church at the council held for the millennium of the baptism of Rus; he is commemorated on the day of his repose, and his relics rest at the Tolga Monastery near Yaroslavl. Across the Christian world he is now read, well beyond the Russian Church, as one of the surest modern guides to the tradition of interior prayer.

Two things distinguished his teaching in his own age and account for its authority since. The first is that he wrote from the Fathers rather than from himself—his pages are woven through with the desert masters, with Isaac the Syrian, Barsanuphius, Macarius, the compilers of the Philokalia—so that his voice is the tradition’s voice, made intelligible to a modern reader. The second is his honesty about his own times. He believed that the age of great living elders was passing, that direct, unbroken spiritual fatherhood was becoming rare, and that the Christian of the coming century would have to learn the inner life chiefly from the written counsel of the Fathers, guarded by humility and the sacramental life of the Church. Much of the peculiar sobriety of his work—its insistence on caution, on self-knowledge, on the danger of spiritual self-deception—comes from that conviction.

The Work: Occasion and Purpose

Ascetic Experiences (Аскетические опыты) is the central work of Saint Ignatius’s life, and the present book is its second volume, the companion to the first. The Russian title is difficult to render exactly: opyty carries both the sense of “essays,” attempts at a subject, and the sense of “experiences,” things tried and proven—and both meanings are meant. These pieces were written over many years, most of them out of the actual work of guiding souls, and afterward gathered, corrected, and arranged by their author himself—occasional writings, never systematic treatises composed to a plan. In his last years at the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery he reviewed the whole body of his ascetic writing, set it in order, and saw it into print at Saint Petersburg in the mid-1860s, the first volume appearing in 1865 as the opening of the collected works published in his own lifetime. The second volume followed as its natural sequel.

Where the first volume ranges widely across the whole of the ascetic path—following Christ, repentance, the reading of the Gospel and of the Fathers, fasting, the passions, the shape of monastic life, interleaved with brief lyrical meditations drawn from a garden, a cell window, a cemetery, the sea—the second volume settles its weight upon one theme above all others: prayer, and in particular the interior prayer of the mind and heart. If the first volume lays the foundations of the Christian struggle, the second builds toward its summit. It is here, and not in the first volume, that Brianchaninov sets down his fullest and most ordered teaching on how a Christian is actually to pray, moving stage by stage from the beginner’s rule to the prayer of the heart and to the Jesus Prayer itself. The reader who comes to this book after the first will find its concerns deepened and drawn to a point; the reader who comes to it first will find a self-standing course in prayer, framed by the great doctrinal essays of the author’s maturity.

The pieces belong to the whole span of his monastic life. Some were written in the cell of the young archimandrite at the Sergiev Hermitage; the earliest bears the date 1847 and the name of the Babaevsky monastery, and several of the longest and most considered—including the homilies on prayer that form the core of the book—belong to the years of retirement, when he wrote deliberately for those who would have to seek God without the living elders he feared were vanishing from the earth. The occasion of the volume, then, is no single event: it is a life’s accumulated counsel on the one thing needful, gathered by a dying bishop for the generations who would read him after him.

Argument and Structure

The volume opens and closes with meditation on Scripture, and between these it carries the reader through the doctrine of the spiritual life and up into prayer. It is best read as a series of movements.

It begins with Blessed Is the Man, a sustained lyrical meditation on the first Psalm, written in the voice of a solitary who has withdrawn from the noise of the world and begun, in stillness, to hear the “divine bard” David sing. Here Brianchaninov sets out a theme that governs the whole book: that Scripture is to be entered as well as read, its words transferred from the page into the living mind and heart, until the man who meditates on the law of God day and night becomes himself “a tree planted by streams of water.” The retelling of Joseph, drawn from the Book of Genesis, follows as an extended sacred narrative—the story of the youth in the coat of many colors read as both a figure of Christ and a pattern for the soul that keeps faith through undeserved affliction and is at last exalted.

From narrative the book turns to doctrine. A cluster of great essays lays the theological ground on which any prayer must stand: A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God, which orders the two as beginning and end of one road; The Judgments of God, on the unsearchable providence that governs every life; A Conference of the Soul with the Mind and The Sight of One’s Own Sin, on the self-knowledge and compunction without which prayer becomes fantasy; and On the Image and Likeness of God in Man, Brianchaninov’s anthropology, his account of what the human person is and of what is restored in redemption. These essays are the necessary foundation of the subject of prayer, never digressions from it: the author’s constant teaching is that the state of the one who prays determines everything, and that true prayer grows only from a right understanding of God, of providence, and of oneself.

The book then narrows toward the monastic life proper — A Meditation on the First Epistle to Timothy and On the Essential Work of the Monk — before entering its central and most celebrated movement, a connected cycle of homilies on prayer. This cycle is the architectural heart of the volume. It opens with The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner and proceeds in careful stages: A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer, on the fixed personal discipline kept in solitude; A Homily on Prayer in Church, on common and liturgical prayer; A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer, on prayer spoken with the lips; A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God, on the unceasing turning of the mind toward God through the day; and A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul, on the descent of prayer from words into the depths of the person. The ascent culminates in A Homily on the Jesus Prayer, by far the longest single work in the volume—extended over many parts—and the fullest treatment of that prayer Brianchaninov ever wrote. It is a landmark of the Russian tradition of watchfulness: an ordered, sober, deeply cautious account of the invocation of the name of Jesus, of the way it is learned, of the conditions and dangers that attend it, and of the fruit it bears in those who practice it in obedience and humility.

After this summit the book descends by way of two shorter pieces — The Pilgrim, and A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99 (Psalm 100 in the Hebrew numbering), a return to the reading of Scripture with which the volume began—and then closes with two large doctrinal homilies that set the whole ascetic enterprise in its final perspective: A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection, on what a Christian may and may not attain in this life, and A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil, a searching analysis of human nature before the fall, after it, and under grace. The volume thus forms an arch: from the reading of Scripture, through the doctrine of God and man, up to the prayer of the heart, and out again into the doctrine of salvation and the last things.

Theological and Spiritual Significance

The lasting importance of this second volume lies in its account of interior prayer, and above all in its teaching on the Jesus Prayer. Brianchaninov stands within the tradition of the Philokalia and of the great fourteenth-century hesychast masters, and behind them the desert Fathers, for whom the short, repeated invocation of the name of Jesus—“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”—is the appointed means by which the mind is gathered into the heart and the whole person turned toward God. What Brianchaninov contributes is a clarifying sobriety rather than novelty. Writing for an age he judged to be spiritually impoverished, he strips the teaching of any suggestion of technique-for-its-own-sake and of any promise of quick or extraordinary experience. He insists, with unusual firmness, on the peril of spiritual delusion — prelest, the self-deception in which the ascetic mistakes the movements of his own imagination, or of the enemy, for the action of grace—and he sets against it the safeguards of humility, obedience, the reading of one’s own sin, and the ordinary sacramental life of the Church. His counsel on prayer is therefore inseparable from his teaching on self-knowledge: the same volume that teaches the prayer of the heart teaches, at length, The Sight of One’s Own Sin, because for Brianchaninov the two cannot be parted.

Around this practical core stand the doctrinal essays, and these too have weight beyond their occasion. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man is one of the fullest statements of his Christian anthropology; the homilies on the fear and the love of God, on providence, and on salvation and Christian perfection together amount to a compact ascetical theology, in which the disciplines of prayer are grounded in a coherent account of God, of the human person, and of the economy of redemption. His treatment of Scripture—framing the volume in Blessed Is the Man and the reading of Psalm 99—advances a distinctive claim that runs through all his work: that the words of God are to be assimilated until they live in the reader, so that spiritual reading is itself a form of prayer and a means of union with the Spirit who dwells in the Scriptures.

There is also a pastoral significance particular to this book. Brianchaninov wrote consciously for Christians who would lack what he himself had sought and found—experienced spiritual fathers, a living chain of transmitted counsel. His answer was to commit the tradition to writing with such care, order, and honesty that it might guide the attentive reader safely in the absence of a living guide, provided that reader kept humility and remained within the common life of the Church. That purpose gives the volume its enduring usefulness. It is at once a summit of the Russian ascetic tradition and a manual written for ordinary seekers in a diminished age, and it has been received in that double character ever since.

The Text and This Edition

Ascetic Experiences is the original Russian composition of Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov; there is no earlier text behind it in another tongue. This edition presents the second volume in a fresh modern English translation made directly from the public-domain Russian—the text of the pre-revolutionary collected works (Полное собрание творений, Saint Petersburg, from 1865 onward), as preserved in the standard digital editions of that source. The translation renders the whole of the second volume: the twenty-one pieces described above, in the author’s own order, under his own titles.

A word on the aims of the translation. Brianchaninov’s Russian is dignified and deliberately archaizing, close to the language of the Church, and this English seeks a matching register—grave, unhurried, plain—without either flattening his cadences into modern journalese or affecting a false antiquity. Where he quotes Scripture, he quotes it in Church Slavonic, often in wordings shaped by the Fathers’ use rather than by any modern printed Bible; these citations are carried into a faithful contemporary English that keeps to the sense he draws from them, and biblical references are supplied in the usual chapter-and-verse form for the reader’s convenience. His many quotations from the Fathers and from the desert literature are preserved as he gives them.

This is an English-only reading edition, prepared for study and devotion; it is not a bilingual or parallel-text edition, and no knowledge of Russian is presumed of the reader. Because several of the pieces—most of all the Homily on the Jesus Prayer — are very long, the longer works have been divided into sequential parts for comfortable reading, with the author’s own title standing over each; these divisions serve the reader and do not alter the text. In keeping with the conventions of this series, the work is attributed to the author as the Church has always received him, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, and those who prepared the English are credited as translators, never as authors. Nothing has been added to his argument and nothing abridged; the editorial hand appears only in this introduction, in the modernized English, and in the arrangement into readable sections.

Readers should note that Brianchaninov’s celebrated Homily on Death, sometimes associated with these ascetic writings, is a separate and self-standing work and is not contained in this volume; what the second volume of Ascetic Experiences offers on the remembrance of the last things belongs to its homilies on prayer and on salvation, not to that distinct treatise.

Suggestions for Reading

The volume rewards being read in its own order, for it is built as an ascent, and its later homilies on prayer assume the self-knowledge and doctrine laid down in the earlier essays. A reader impatient to reach the Homily on the Jesus Prayer would do well to pause first over The Sight of One’s Own Sin and A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God, since Brianchaninov himself would not let the one be sought without the other. Those new to this tradition should read slowly and without anxiety: the author’s whole counsel is that interior prayer is learned over a lifetime, in humility and within the ordinary life of the Church, and that it begins in attention, patience, and the honest sight of oneself before God, never in rapture. Read in that spirit, this second volume is among the clearest and most trustworthy guides the modern age has received to the ancient prayer of the heart.

Blessed Is the Man

Ps. 1.

A divinely-inspired Divine bard sings, striking the resonant strings.

When the noise of the world deafened me, I could not attend to him. Now, in the stillness of solitude, I begin to listen to the mysterious bard. And both the sounds and his song become, as it were, more intelligible to me. As if a new capacity opens within me—the capacity to attend to him and the capacity to understand him. I discern in his sounds a new feeling, in his words a new meaning, wondrous, wondrous, like the wisdom of God.

Saul! Cease your madness: let the evil spirit depart from you… sings holy David, playing the well-tuned harp.

I call Saul my mind, troubled and disturbed by thoughts issuing from the prince of this world. My mind—placed by God when the kingdom of Israel was established, at creation, and then at the redemption of mankind—as king, master of soul and body; through disobedience to God, through the violation of God’s commandments, through the breach of union with God, it has stripped itself of dignity and grace. The powers of soul and body do not obey it; it itself lies under the influence of the evil spirit.

Holy David sings, utters the words of Heaven. And the sounds of his psaltery are the sounds of Heaven! The subject of his song: the blessedness of man.

Brethren, let us hear the divine teaching set forth in the divine song. Let us hear the words, let us hear the sounds with which Heaven speaks to us, with which it resounds toward us.

O you who seek happiness, who pursue pleasures, who thirst for delights! Come: listen to the sacred song, listen to the teaching of salvation. How long will you wander, roam over valleys and mountains, through impassable deserts and thickets? How long will you torment yourselves with endless and fruitless labor, crowned with no fruit, no stable gain? Bow your obedient ear: listen to what the Holy Spirit speaks through the mouth of David concerning human blessedness, which all men seek, which all men hunger for.

Let all around me fall silent! And within me, let even my own thoughts be stilled! Let my heart be quiet! Let there live and act only reverent attentiveness! Let holy impressions and thoughts enter the soul through its means!

David was a king, and did not say that the throne of kings is the throne of human blessedness.

David was a commander and hero, from his youth to old age he contended with foreigners in bloody battles—as many battles as he gave, so many victories he won, moving the boundaries of his kingdom from the shores of the Jordan to the banks of the Euphrates—and did not say that in the glory of victor and conqueror lies human blessedness.

David amassed countless wealth, gathered it with his own sword. Gold lay in his treasuries as if it were copper, and silver was heaped in them as if it were iron. But David did not say that in wealth lies the blessedness of man.

David possessed all earthly consolations—he did not recognize human blessedness in any one of them.

When David was a boy, when his occupation was to tend the sheep of his father Jesse: suddenly, at God’s command, the prophet Samuel comes, and anoints the lowly shepherd with holy oil as king of the people of Israel. David did not call the hour of his anointing to the kingship the hour of blessedness.

David spent his childhood in the wild desert. There his muscles began to feel the strength of a mighty man: without weapons, with bare hands, he threw himself upon the lion and the bear, strangling the lion and the bear. There his soul began to be moved, filled with heavenly inspiration. The hands that crushed the lion and the bear fashioned the psaltery, touched the strings tautened and attuned by the action of the Spirit: there issued forth harmonious, delightful, spiritual, and intelligent sounds. Far, far away, through ages, through centuries and millennia, these sounds traveled, repeated again and again in countless voices, glorifying the name of David throughout all the ends of the earth, throughout all ages of its Christian existence. David did not call the hermit’s life, a life full of wondrous ascetic struggles and wondrous inspiration, the blessedness of man.

“Blessed is the man”, he sings,—in whatever place, in whatever station, in whatever state and rank that man may be, “who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of scoffers” (Ps. 1:1).

“Blessed is the man” who keeps himself from sin, who repels sin from himself, in whatever form, in whatever guise sin may appear to him: whether it present itself in a lawless deed, or suggest itself in a thought counseling lawlessness, or in a feeling bringing sinful pleasure and intoxication.

If a weak woman with such strong courage repels sin from herself, then she too is “the blessed man” sung of by David.

Sharers in this blessedness, sharers in the manly age in Christ—children and young people steadfastly resisting sin. There is no partiality with the righteous God.

“Blessed is the man” whose entire will is in the Law of God (Ps. 1:2). Blessed is a heart matured in knowledge of God’s will, having beheld “that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9), having attained this vision by tasting the Lord’s commandments, having united its will with the Lord’s will. Such a heart is a man. Blessed is the heart ablaze with divine zeal! Blessed is the heart burning with insatiable longing for God’s will! Blessed is the heart sweetly and unbearably suffering with love for God! Such a heart is a place, a dwelling, a chamber, a throne of blessedness!.. An eagle sits at dawn on the summit of a high crag, its gleaming eyes eagerly seeking prey, then it rises into the blue sky, soaring on spread wings through vast spaces, seeking prey. When it sees prey, it descends like an arrow, like lightning, upon it; another arrow of ascent, and it disappears with its catch. It feeds its young, and again stands watch: on the rock or in the sky. Such is a heart infected with an incurable wound of love for God’s commandments! And in this very love lies blessedness. In the commandments—not merely action: in them spiritual wisdom is hidden and by their means it is revealed: “From Your commandments I gain understanding,”—the Prophet says: “With all my heart I seek You… I run in the way of Your commandments, when You have enlarged my heart!.. I meditate on Your precepts, which I love greatly!.. Your law is better to me than thousands of gold and silver!.. I love Your commandments more than gold and precious stones!.. I have laid up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You!.. I rejoice in Your word, as one who finds great riches!.. Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for therein I delight” (Ps. 118:104, 10, 32, 47, 72, 127, 11, 162, 35).

The sun rises: men hasten to their occupations. Each has his own goal, his own intention. As the soul is in the body, so are the goal and intention in every human work. One labors, toils to gain perishable treasures; another to provide himself with abundant pleasures; another to acquire earthly, vain glory; still another says and thinks that his actions aim at the benefit of the state and society. The adherent of God’s Law has as the goal of all his labors, all his works, the pleasing of God. The world becomes for him a book of God’s commandments. He reads this book with his deeds, his conduct, his life. The more his heart reads this book, the more it is illumined by spiritual wisdom, the more it grows fervent to run the way of piety and virtue. It acquires fiery wings of faith, begins to trample every fearful enemy, to pass over every chasm, to dare every good beginning. Blessed is such a heart! Such a heart is: “the blessed man”.

Night comes with its shadows and dim light, which the night lamps of heaven shed, gathering people from the surface of the earth into their tents, their shelters. In these shelters, emptiness of soul, ennui; men strive to dull their torment with senseless distractions; idleness and corruption of morals surrender themselves to loud diversions, and the vessels of God’s temple—mind, heart, body—are used by Belshazzar for shameful purposes. The slave of earth, the slave of temporal worldly cares, barely escaped from the worries in which he was drowning throughout the day, prepares new worries for the following day; and his days, and his nights, his entire life—a sacrifice to vanity and decay. A humble lamp burns before the holy icons, pouring out a languorous light into the chamber of the righteous. And he carries his care, his incessant, gnawing concern. He brings into his chamber the memory of his daily deeds, compares it with the tablets on which God’s revealed will is written—with Scripture; he heals the defects in his deeds, his thoughts, his heart’s movements with repentance, washes them with tears; for the renewal and strengthening of his ascetic struggles, he asks Heaven for new strength, new light. A graceful light, a supernatural power descends from God into the soul bringing prayers with painful awareness of human poverty, weakness, and proneness to fall. Thus “day to day pours forth speech, and night to night shows forth knowledge” (Ps. 18:3). Such a life—constant progress, unceasing gains, eternal gains. He who so lives: “the blessed man”.

And this man will be “like a tree planted by streams of water” (Ps. 1:3). Such a tree does not fear the scorching rays of the sun, does not fear drought: its roots are always nourished with moisture; they do not await rain, never suffer lack of nourishment, the lack from which trees growing on mountain slopes and dry places often sicken, often wither, die. A tree growing on a height, open to the influence of winds and sun, drinking rain from heaven rarely, refreshed by heavenly dew rarely, resembles the man inclined to piety but leading an inattentive, scattered life, little and superficially occupied with the study of God’s Law. Sometimes even he is refreshed by the dew of compunction; sometimes upon his withered soul falls the life-giving rain of repentant tears; sometimes his mind and heart are stirred by movement toward God; but this state is not, cannot be constant, even prolonged. Religious thoughts and feelings, when not enlightened by clear and complete knowledge of God’s will, have no definition, no firmness, and therefore have no power and life. He who meditates on God’s Law day and night resembles a tree planted “by streams of water”. Constantly cool, fresh waters beat at the very roots of his being; constantly his mind and heart—these roots of man—are immersed in God’s Law, are nourished by the holy Law of God; constantly flow for him pure, powerful streams of eternal life. These waters, this power, this life: the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Sacred and Holy Scripture, dwelling in the commandments of the Gospel. Whoever constantly delves into Scripture, studies it in humility of spirit, asking God for understanding through prayer; whoever directs all his deeds, all the hidden movements of his soul according to the Gospel’s commandments—he will certainly become a partaker of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. “I am a companion”—declared the Holy Spirit of Himself—“to all those who fear You and keep Your commandments” (Ps. 118:63).[1]

The study of God’s Law requires patience. This study is the acquisition of your soul: “in your patience”, the Lord commands, “acquire your souls” (Lk. 21:19). This is the science of sciences! This is heavenly science! This is science communicated to man by God! Its paths are wholly separate from those ordinary paths which earthly sciences follow, sciences of men, sciences born from our fallen reason from its own light, for our condition in the fall. Human sciences puff up and inflate the mind, enhance and foster the human self! Divine science opens to the soul prepared, fashioned, smoothed by self-denial, as if having lost its own nature because of its humility, become a mirror having no appearance of its own, capable by that means of receiving and reflecting Divine inscriptions. Divine science is the Wisdom of God, God’s Word. The son of Sirach speaks of it: “Wisdom exalts her sons and helps those who seek her. Whoever loves her loves life, and those who seek her early will be filled with joy. She takes hold of him who loves her, and in all places where she enters she blesses him. Those who serve her serve the Holy One, and the Lord loves those who love her. Whoever obeys her judges the nations, and whoever gives heed to her will dwell secure in hope”. Such is divine science! Such is the wisdom of God! It is God’s revelation! In it—God! Access to it is through humility! Access to it is through the rejection of one’s own reason! It is inaccessible to human reason! It is rejected by it, recognized as madness! And it, this daring, proud enemy of hers, blasphemously recognizes her as foolishness, takes offense at her because she has appeared to men on the cross and shines upon them from the cross. Access to her is through self-denial! Access to her is through crucifixion! Access to her is through faith! The son of Sirach continues: “If you believe, you will inherit her” (Sir. 4:12-17).

True, God-pleasing faith, in which there is no flattery or deception, consists in the fulfillment of the commandments of the Gospel, in the diligent and constant implanting of them in one’s soul, in struggle against reason, against God-opposing feelings, movements of heart and body. Both the reason and the heart, and the body of fallen man are hostilely disposed toward God’s Law. Fallen reason does not accept the reason of God; the fallen heart resists God’s will; the body itself, having undergone corruption, has acquired its own separate will, which the fall has abundantly given to man—the death-dealing knowledge of good and evil. Narrow and sorrowful is our path to the wisdom of God! Holy faith leads us to it, trampling, crushing the opposition both of reason, heart, and body of the fallen. Here is needed patience! Here are needed firmness, constancy, longsuffering! “In your patience acquire your souls”. Whoever wishes to bring forth spiritual fruit—let him accomplish with patience a prolonged war against sin, filled with various upheavals and sorrows! Only he can behold the fruit of the Spirit on the tree of his soul who cherishes this fruit with holy, tender, many and manly patience! Let us hear, let us hear again the Wise One! “Wisdom”—he speaks—“walks with him”—her disciple—“at first with dread and fear. And she torments him with her discipline, and she tests him with her judgments until she trusts his soul and he has proved to be steadfast. Then she returns to him and brings him gladness, and reveals to him her secrets” (Sir. 4:18-21).

Days, months, years pass by, and there comes “its time”, a time known to God, “who has put times and seasons in His own authority” (Acts 1:7), and “the tree planted by streams of water” brings forth its fruit. This fruit is manifest participation in the Holy Spirit, promised by the Son of God to all who truly believe in Him. Magnificent, wondrous is the fruit of the Spirit! It transforms the whole man! Holy Scripture is transferred from a book into the soul; there are inscribed with an invisible finger upon its tablets—upon mind and heart—the word of God and the will of God, the Word and the Spirit. There is fulfilled over such a man the promise made by the Son of God: “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive” (Jn. 7:38-39)—explains the beloved disciple of the Saviour, the intimate of Wisdom and of the Theology which she dispenses. Even the very “leaf” of such a tree “shall not fall” (Ps. 1:3). The leaf, according to the teaching of the Fathers, represents bodily ascetic struggles: and they receive their value, incorruptibility and life, in the renewal and rebirth of the soul by the Holy Spirit. The will of such a man becomes united with God’s will: he desires only what is pleasing to God, fulfills only God’s will. Therefore he has God as his helper in all his undertakings “and whatever he does, he prospers” (Ps. 1:3).

Not such a likeness for the wicked! The inspired David does not compare them with trees or with anything else having the property, the marks of life! A different, different likeness for them! “Not so, the wicked, not so”—sings the royal Prophet—“but like the chaff which the wind drives away from the face of the earth” (Ps. 1:4). O wicked! You are lifeless dust, lifted by a violent whirlwind—the noisy vanity of the world—from the face of the earth, whirling in the air, driven as a dense cloud that obscures the sun, all of nature.

Do not look at this cloud! Do not believe the deception of your eyes! To them the empty dust, the insignificant dust falsely appears as a cloud. Close your eyes for a moment, and the dust cloud, borne by the strong, momentary breath of the whirlwind, will fly past without harming your sight. After a moment you will open your eyes, look—where is the vast cloud? You will seek its trace, and there is no cloud, there is no trace after it, no mark of its existence.

With a dreadful song, with dreadful sounds, David continues to proclaim a dread, a fatal decree against the wicked. “Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous” (Ps. 1:5). There is no share for the wicked “in the first resurrection” (Rev. 20), which the holy John described in the Apocalypse, in the spiritual resurrection occurring during earthly life, when the all-seeing Spirit touches the soul and renews it for eternal existence. The soul rises, comes alive to divine life. Its mind and heart are enlightened, become partakers of spiritual discernment. “Spiritual discernment is the feeling of immortal life”—according to the definition of Spirit-bearers.[2] This very discernment is a sign of resurrection. Thus, on the contrary, carnal-mindedness is the invisible death of the soul (Rom. 8:6). Spiritual discernment is the action of the Holy Spirit. It sees sin, sees the passions in itself and others, sees one’s own soul and the souls of others, sees the snares of the prince of this world, casts down every thought raised against the mind of Christ, repels sin from itself in whatever form it approaches: because spiritual discernment is the kingdom, the light of the Holy Spirit in mind and heart. “The wicked will not rise” to spiritual discernment! This discernment is the “council” of the “righteous” alone, their possession. It is inaccessible, incomprehensible to the wicked and sinners. It is God-vision, and only “the pure in heart will see God” (Mt. 5:8).

The path of the wicked is hated by God, so foreign and abhorrent to Him that Scripture represents God as turned away from it, as if not knowing it. On the other hand, the path of righteousness is so pleasing to God that Scripture says of it: “The Lord knows the way of the righteous” (Ps. 1:6). And truly, He alone knows this way!—Blessed path! You lead to God! You are hidden in the infinite God! Your beginning is God, and your end is God! You are infinite, as God is infinite.

The path of the wicked has a boundary, has a sorrowful limit! This boundary is at the edge of a deep, dark abyss, the eternal repository of eternal death. And “it will perish”—the path of the wicked—forever in this terrible abyss, having first brought to it and destroyed in it all those who walked it.

“The Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked will perish” (Ps. 1:6). “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked”, is not led astray by their way of thinking, their moral rules, their conduct, “but in the Law of the Lord is” his whole “will”.

Thus sings the heavenly, wondrous Bard: the hermit listened to his holy, divinely-inspired song.

1847. St. Nicholas Babaevsk Monastery

[1] Thus this verse was explained by Venerable Pimen the Great; see The Sketic Patericon.

[2] Saint Isaac the Syrian. Homily 38.

Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn from the Book of Genesis

Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1)

Wondrous it is how the thought of gratitude to God comes to the righteous in the midst of their afflictions—the Apostle has said:[1] “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18). The practice of thanksgiving is explained with particular satisfactoriness in the responses of Venerable Barsanuphius the Great. It wrenches their hearts from sorrow and darkness, bears them up to God, into the realm of light and consolation. God always saves those who flee to Him with simplicity and faith.

The holy patriarch Jacob was returning from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan, to the land of his birth, to the heritage predetermined for him by God (Gen. 32). Suddenly there came word to him that his angry brother Esau was approaching to meet him, and with him four hundred armed men. When still in the days of his youth, Esau, moved by envy, had sought to take Jacob’s life. To escape an untimely, violent death, Jacob departed to Mesopotamia. He remained there twenty years. Time might have healed the heart of Esau, wounded by malice… but no, he comes to meet his brother with an armed company. The multitude of the throng, its warlike appearance, revealed an evil intent. Time had not healed the hatred in Esau: he had grown to manhood, and with him his hatred of his brother had grown.

Jacob was afraid: he did not know what to do. He resolved to divide his possessions, consisting of his household and numerous flocks, into two columns. “If the enraged Esau”—he reasoned—“cuts down one column, perhaps his anger will be exhausted, and he will not touch the other column”. Behind the two columns stood Jacob’s wives and children, and last of all stood his second wife Rachel, with her only son Joseph, the youngest of Jacob’s sons. They took the last place, as the youngest, but this place was given them also by the particular thoughtful love of the husband and father, as the safest. The eye of love is keen, and so is the eye of jealousy. Having made such an arrangement, the righteous man hastens to the customary refuge of the righteous, hastens to stand before God in reverent prayer. “I am unworthy”—he confesses to God—“of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies” (Gen. 32:10). Surrounded on all sides by disaster, the righteous man pours out his heart before God, reckons with his fate, finds himself fully content, finds that God, who commanded him the journey to Mesopotamia and the return from it, has done all according to His promise. “I am unworthy of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that You have shown to Your servant”. Deep, true humility! It alone is worthy to stand before God, it alone is worthy to converse with God: God never abandons it. God listens graciously to it, pouring out abundant mercies upon him who prays with humility. At God’s nod, the heart of Esau changed: till now it had burned with enmity, now suddenly it blazed with love for his brother. Esau throws down his sword, runs into his brother’s embrace, and the two brothers weep in each other’s arms (Gen. 34-35).

Now Jacob had long been in the land of Canaan. His beloved wife Rachel had already died in childbirth with his second son Benjamin. Jacob had already experienced many sorrows from his wild sons, who conducted themselves in the Promised Land as if in a land conquered by force (Gen. 34-35). In the environs of his tent, pitched near Hebron, they tended their numerous flocks, sometimes going quite far to more fertile pastures. Jacob remained constantly at home, held there by both his years and his spiritual progress. It drew the mind and heart of the aged man toward God, and therefore he came to love solitude in his tent. It was unseemly and unnatural for such a man to give himself over to worldly cares. Never absent from him was his consolation—his beloved son, fair in soul and body, Joseph. Service to the aged father and attentiveness to the deep, holy teaching of the God-seeing father constituted the boy’s entire occupation, his entire joy. Into his soul fell the word of piety, as seed falls on rich soil, and soon it bore fruit: there shone forth in Joseph’s soul a holy purity. In the purity of the heart, God begins to be reflected, as the sun is reflected in still, transparent waters like a mirror. Joseph’s virtue aroused not emulation but envy in his brothers: so, unfortunately, it most often happens in human society. The brothers invented and circulated an evil calumny against Joseph—which exactly, Scripture is silent about. But the discerning and graceful Jacob was not deceived by the cunningly woven falsehood; he continued to love—to love Joseph, and as a sign of his special love gave his son a coat of many colors. The brightness and variety of colors were especially valued and are still valued in nomadic lands of the east. Was not this coat a symbol of a life checkered with opposing circumstances, which lay before the youth? Divine inspiration moved the far-seeing old man to express prophecy not in words—but in a symbol: a coat of many colors. From this begin the strange adventures of Joseph. He serves as a foreshadowing, a distant biblical shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for practical life is an example of a pious and virtuous man, subjected to varied, strange afflictions, during which he preserves faithfulness to piety and virtue, never and nowhere abandoned by God, protected everywhere, and finally glorified wondrously. Let us hear, let us hear the curious account of the wondrous and instructive adventures of one clothed by the prophet-father in a coat of many colors.

Joseph’s brothers (Gen. 37), seeing that their father loved him more than all his other sons, hated him: at each word from him, at each look at him, dark turmoil rose in them. But he did not understand the sickness that had seized them: his pure soul saw all as pure-hearted and well-intentioned. With trust he opened his heart before them. This innocent heart was already chosen by God as a vessel of mysterious revelations. The grace of the Holy Spirit, in accord with Joseph’s youthful years, began to manifest its presence and action in significant dreams. Strange dreams were vividly drawn by a mysterious hand in his virginal imagination. Joseph was seventeen years old when the first prophetic dream came to him. With openness suspecting no evil, he recounted it to his brothers: evidently, the dream had left an extraordinary impression in the youth’s soul, which needed explanation. He wished to draw forth, to hear this explanation from his older brothers’ lips. “I dreamed”—he said to them—“that all ‘of us were binding sheaves’ in the field; ‘my sheaf’ suddenly rose and ‘stood upright’, while ‘your sheaves’ turned toward my sheaf and ‘bowed down’ to it”. His brothers answered: “Are you really” indeed going to “reign over us” or become our lord? And the brothers doubled their hatred of him because of the graceful dream, because of their twisted, distorted understanding of his holy candor that had wounded them. Joseph sees a new dream. With childlike innocence, as if in justification of the first dream and in proof that significant dreams come to him unwillingly, independent of him, he tells the dream to his father and brothers: “I saw”—he says—“that the sun, moon, and eleven stars” bowed down to “me”. His father, hearing his son’s account, stopped the youth. “What dream”—have you seen? he said to him.—“Are we, I, your mother and your brothers,” going to bow “down to you?” The experienced and spiritual father stopped his son not because he thought the dream was idle fantasy, the product of a soul troubled by pride, but to protect the young soul from falling into pride and also, with a stern remark, to somewhat extinguish the envy and hatred in his brothers.

Thus Christian ascetic teachers command not to pay special attention to all phenomena appearing to the senses of soul and body: they command to maintain prudent coolness, salutary caution in the face of all phenomena generally.[2] There are dreams from God, to which Joseph’s dreams serve as examples and proof, but the condition of one who sees dreams and visions is dangerous, very close to self-deception. The vision of our own defects—that is safe vision! “A broken and contrite spirit” (Ps. 51:19)—that is a state essentially profitable, free from self-deception, a state which God approves! Discernment, capable of grasping, assessing and explaining visions, belongs only to those advanced in spiritual struggle: it is acquired over a long time, it is a gift of God. Saint Jacob possessed this gift of God: he stopped his son who was telling of the prophetic dream, and he himself—Scripture testifies—kept his words in memory, which bore the anointing of the Spirit.

The new dream did not have the same effect on Joseph’s brothers: it only increased in them hatred and envy of him. Once they had driven the flocks to Shechem. Jacob said to Joseph: “Your brothers are in Shechem; I want to send you to them”. Joseph answered: “I am ready”. “Go”—Jacob continued—“and see whether your brothers are well and our flocks are well. Then return and tell me”.

Sometimes people part easily: parting, they seem not to part, saying farewell, they scarcely say farewell. Yet such parting is often farewell forever; often a prolonged, sorrowful separation follows it. The aged man, in sending off Joseph, did not know that he would not see his beloved son for a long, long time! Could he think that, in sending Joseph to his brothers, he was sending him to his murderers? He was aware of their hatred for the youth: but could it occur to him that this hatred had grown into a conspiracy, into a plot, into the resolve to commit fratricide? The old man’s guilelessness was experienced guilelessness—not the childish guilelessness with which Joseph was filled, he who walked straight to the knife, like a lamb. Wise Jacob, with all his spiritual progress, with all the experience accumulated in his many years of suffering, could not imagine that his wild sons could be capable of the terrible crime of fratricide. It is characteristic of holiness not to suspect evil of one’s neighbors; it is characteristic of holiness to account even the most obvious, open evildoers as less evil than they truly are. And we see many holy people, not deceived by manifest sin, deceived by their great love, their trust in their neighbors. Old man! You are parting for a long time from your beloved son, Joseph! You have the gifts of prophecy and discernment; but for this time God, unfathomably ordering the fate of man, has covered the future from you with an impenetrable veil. You sent Joseph for a few days—you will see him after many sorrowful years. And he will see the land of Canaan, that place where your tent is pitched, when the days of your burial come—and only for the short days of this burial! His bones will be brought here; with them will return his numerous descendants, and with armed hand will take possession of the inheritance of their ancestor—now the youth Joseph.

Joseph set out from his father’s house, from Hebron, and came to Shechem. His brothers were not there. He did not know where to find them—and began to search and inquire. Suddenly there met him a stranger, who asked him whom he was seeking. Joseph answered him: “I am seeking my brothers; tell me”, do you not know “where they are” tending their flocks? The stranger answered: “They have gone from here; I heard them say” to one another: “let us go to Dothan”. By the word of this man, whom fate seemed to have sent to meet Joseph, to direct him to his predetermined fate, the youth begins again to seek his brothers—his appointed sacrifice—and finds them in Dothan. From a distance they recognized him, and began to conspire about killing him. Terrible words about their brother rose in the assembly of his brothers: “Behold, here comes the dreamer. Let us kill him and throw him into one of these pits”, and say: a wild beast has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams! Following the terrible words, criminal hands rose up. But Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son, rescued him from them. “Let us not kill him with our own hands”—he said to them—“Throw him into one of these pits here in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him!” And the softened Reuben thought to return the beloved son to the aged father. They stripped Joseph of his coat of many colors and threw him into a deep, dry well—a living man into a terrible grave. In the well lies Joseph, in the jaws of death!.. Holy youth, with hard trial begins your spiritual experience! Wondrous steadfastness of your soul, enduring such bitter sorrow! Steadfastness in afflictions is given by a spotless, blameless conscience. Teach us to attain both your purity and your steadfastness—mighty supports for the heart in life’s changes.

Joseph in the well. What do the brothers do? They sat down to eat… Ripened hatred!.. When any passion has ripened in the soul, the soul no longer feels its deadly sickness. It is more terrible to have a heart in this depth of malice than to have a body, with an angelic soul, in a deep well. The sons of Jacob accomplished their evil deed as if they had simply done their duty: hatred had become so natural to them. “And they sat down to eat bread” (Gen. 37:25)—says Scripture.

When this meal was taking place, certainly nothing good was present at it. It was conducted wildly and boisterously. How else could murderers dine? Loud laughter broke the terrible silence—it was the laughter of a soul that had shed the garment of shame, savoring its ripened, satisfied malice. Hellish words broke out from time to time—as if from a dark abyss—from the hearts resolved on fratricide. The faces of the diners were dark, bestial. Their sight and hearing wandered gloomily, wildly everywhere. Prudence had no rule here. What prudence! When passions seize a man, the mind, deprived of its sovereignty, becomes an obsequious and inventive servant to the passions, to satisfy their cunning, capricious, criminal demands.

The sons of Jacob feast over the grave with a living corpse, and lo, their frantic eyes suddenly behold travelers. These were Ishmaelites, merchants. They appeared from Gilead, on the road to Egypt. Their camels were abundantly laden with stacte, balm and frankincense: these goods they were conveying for sale in Egypt. At this wild feast there was heard a voice: “What profit is it if we kill our brother and hide his blood? Let us sell him to these Ishmaelites! And let not our hand be upon him: for he is our brother and our flesh!” This voice was the voice of Judah, the fourth among the sons of Jacob; Judah proposed the sale of his righteous brother. Through many centuries will appear another Judah, he will speak of another Righteous One, of the very God-man himself: “What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you?” (Mt. 26:15).

Gold coins rang out… Joseph was already pulled from the well and hastily sold to the Arabs. Not a single word of dispute about the price or the captive was uttered on either side. Scripture would not have been silent about a word worth noting, had one been spoken. Scripture in this narrative reports even those words that are somewhat worth noting. The gold coins ring out… there were twenty of them. How like is this sound to the sound of thirty pieces of silver!… Blessed youth, sold for twenty gold coins! You were deemed worthy to be a foreshadowing of Him sold for thirty pieces of silver!

Reuben was not present at the feast. He was not a participant in the evil plot and conspiracy, nor was he at the meal where the successful crime was celebrated. Secretly he comes to the well and calls to the entombed one. No answer. Again he calls… no answer! In despair he tears his clothes, runs to his brothers, saying: “The young man is not in the well! Where shall I go now?…” In response, the gold coins rang out. There were twenty: nine brothers who were present at the sale proved that they had not forgotten the tenth brother who was absent.

Meanwhile Jacob’s sons devised how to conceal their deed with Joseph from their aged father. They killed a goat, dyed Joseph’s coat of many colors in its blood, and sent it to their father with harsh words: “We found this; see whether it is the coat of your son, or not?” He recognized it, and said: “It is the coat of my son: a wild beast has devoured him? A fierce beast has taken Joseph!” Jacob tore his garments, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. His sons and daughters gathered to him, they tried to comfort the old man. But he was unwilling to be comforted, and said: “I shall go down with sorrow to my son in the grave”. For a long time he repeated these words and wept greatly.

The Ishmaelites brought Joseph into Egypt (Gen. 39), where they resold him to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh—Pharaohs was the name given to the kings of Egypt—chief of the royal bodyguard. And the Lord was with Joseph, mysteriously watched over him, helped him. Soon the lord noticed the blessing of heaven upon his slave, and came to love him greatly. As a result of this special love, Potiphar entrusted Joseph with the management of all his household and all his possessions. The Lord, for Joseph’s sake, blessed the Egyptian’s wealth: God’s grace was poured out upon all his possessions, upon his house and upon his fields. Potiphar gave himself over to his affection with all carefree trust, not even inspecting anything himself, paying attention to nothing. Joseph was very fine, beautiful in appearance. His beauty attracted the eyes of Potiphar’s wife. Passion seized her: openly, directly she declared her passion to the youth. The youth would not consent to lawlessness. He exhorted the wife burning with mad and criminal lust, he said to her: “My master has trusted me so, and has rested all his cares upon me, that he does not even know anything about his house. He has given all his possessions unreservedly into my hands: in his house there is no one above me; all is in my charge, except you, his wife. How then can I do as you say? How can I sin before God?” The criminal wife does not hear the wise words of Jacob’s son: passion, which has seized her, speaks other language. She hears only the voice of passion: Joseph’s words flew past her ears like empty sounds without meaning and significance. From time to time the wife repeats her proposal, always with the same openly ardent boldness. Once Joseph was occupied with his duties in the house; it happened that no one from the household was there except the mistress. She seizes him by his garment, begs, demands that her desire be fulfilled at once. Joseph tears himself from her hands, flees; his upper garment remained in the Egyptian woman’s hands. Unsatisfied criminal love suddenly turns into mad hatred: she who a moment before sought to enjoy the charms of beautiful flesh now wildly thirsts to drink blood. The frenzied Egyptian woman cries out, with loud shrieks and cries summons the household members. They come running. “Look”—says the Egyptian woman to them—“this young Hebrew was brought into our house to insult us!.. He came to me… he said to me… I cried out loudly… hearing my cry, he fled from me… here is his upper garment in my hands!” She kept this garment until Potiphar’s return. Another time this garment—a silent, untruthful witness—testified against Joseph. When the master returned, his wife told him of the event. She spoke sorrowfully and quietly: “A young Hebrew came to me, whom you brought into our house to humiliate us, and proposed to me lawlessness. When I cried out loudly, he fled, leaving me his upper garment”. Hearing a plausible account, in which the terrifying storm of the soul and infernal slander were cunningly covered by the simplicity and coldness of her narration, seeing in the hands of his wife the proof of the occurrence—Joseph’s garment, proof against which there seemed to be no refutation, Potiphar fell into great indignation. He considered inquiry and trial unnecessary, superfluous—so clear, vivid, and obvious seemed the slave’s crime to him. He commanded that Joseph be thrown into the prison where state criminals were kept—into the fortress—thus Scripture calls this prison.

The Lord, who had chosen Joseph from his childhood, the Lord who had helped him in captivity and in Potiphar’s house, did not abandon him in the prison. The heart of the prison warden became favorable to Joseph: he entrusted him with all the prison, all the prisoners confined in it, and, like Potiphar, rested with complete confidence on Joseph’s care. After some time, two of Pharaoh’s officials offended the Egyptian king: the chief cupbearer and the chief baker (Gen. 40). The angry Pharaoh confined them in the same prison where Joseph was held. The prison warden entrusted them to Joseph. When they had been several days in the prison, in one and the same night each of them saw a dream. In the morning Joseph comes to them and notices that both are disturbed. He asks Pharaoh’s officials: “Why are your faces sad?” They answer: “Each of us saw a dream, but there is no one to interpret our dreams”. Joseph said: “Does not God give the gift of explaining those dreams which are sent by Him? Tell me your dreams”. From Joseph’s words one can see his spiritual progress, the fruit of his trials. When in childhood he saw dreams, he only felt that they had significance, and told them to his father and brothers, as if seeking explanation, but not daring to add any interpretation. But here, hearing that the officials had seen dreams, he already hopes to find the solution of the mysterious visions in God, to whom he has drawn near, to whom he has united himself through sorrows, faith, purity, and prayer. Dreams led him into the furnace of sorrows; dreams will lead him out of this furnace, into which Providence ordinarily casts those people destined for great works. The chief cupbearer began to tell his dream: “It seemed to me”—he said—“that before me was a vine; in the vine I saw three branches, and as soon as they budded, they produced ripe grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand. I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and gave it to Pharaoh”. Joseph answered: “This is the meaning of the dream: the three branches are three days. In three days more, Pharaoh will remember you, will restore you to your former position as chief cupbearer: you will give the cup to Pharaoh as before. Then, in your prosperity, remember me. Show me kindness: tell Pharaoh about me, and get me out of these gloomy walls. I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing wrong, yet they have thrown me into this terrible prison”. The chief baker, hearing the favorable interpretation, also told his dream to Joseph: “I too”—he said—“saw a dream. It seemed to me that I was carrying three baskets on my head with bread. In the upper basket was every kind of baked good that Pharaoh eats. Suddenly birds came flying and ate the bread”. Joseph answered: “This is the meaning of the dream: the three baskets are three days. In three days more, Pharaoh will lift your head from you—and hang you on a pole; and the birds will eat the flesh from you”. The third day came: it was Pharaoh’s birthday. He made a feast for his courtiers; conversing with them, the king remembered the two imprisoned officials: to the chief cupbearer he restored his former position, and he again began to serve the cup to Pharaoh, but the chief baker he had executed, according to Joseph’s prediction. And the chief cupbearer forgot about Joseph. The righteous man still needed to endure suffering in prison! He still needed the solitude and darkness of the prison cell, so that his soul would sink more deeply into prayer, would draw even closer to God through it, would be illumined even more brightly by spiritual discernment.

Two years passed, and Pharaoh saw a dream (Gen. 41). It seemed to him as if he stood by the river: behold, seven cows, fat and beautiful, came up out of the river and began to graze on the bank. After them came up seven other cows from the river, thin, of poor appearance—they too began to walk with the first ones by the river bank. Suddenly the thin cows devoured the fat ones, and it was not noticeable that the fat ones went into them: they retained their former appearance of leanness. Pharaoh awoke. Then he fell asleep again and saw another dream: he saw as if from one stalk grew seven ears of grain, full of ripe seeds, and after them grew seven other ears, thin, as if dried up by heat and wind. These thin ears swallowed up the seven full ears. Pharaoh awoke, his soul was troubled; when morning came he commanded that all the learned men and wise men of Egypt be called together, and he told them his dream. But they could not interpret the vision, which had produced confusion and disturbance in the king. Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh: “Now I remember my offense! When you, O king, were angry with your servants, with me and with the chief baker, you commanded us to be imprisoned in the prison that was in the house of the chief of the bodyguard. That same night each of us saw a dream. With us there was a young Hebrew, a slave of the chief of the bodyguard; we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us. To me he predicted the restoration of my office, and to my fellow—execution. So it came to pass with both of us”.

[1] Thanksgiving constitutes a part of the mental monastic work and consists in thanksgiving and praise of God for all that happens—both pleasant and sorrowful. This work is commanded by the Apostle on behalf of the Lord: give thanks in all circumstances

[2] See the Very Useful Chapters of Gregory of Sinai, Chapter 10. The Philokalia, Part 1. All other Church Fathers hold this opinion.

Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 2)

Pharaoh sent to the prison for Joseph and commanded that he be brought to him. Joseph was brought forth from the fortress: God’s hand brought him forth. According to the custom of the land, his hair was cut and his clothes were changed: he stood before the face of Pharaoh. The Egyptian king told him his dreams and complained of his wise men, that they could not interpret these visions. “I have heard about you”—said Pharaoh to Joseph—“that you explain dreams when they are told to you”. Joseph answered: “Without God, Pharaoh cannot receive a satisfactory answer”. Unwittingly Joseph reveals his spiritual state! He confesses the evident, wondrous, essential action of God, the action of the Holy Spirit, independent of man, visiting man according to the Higher will, and revealing to him secrets. This invisible communion with God, this gracious action, Joseph felt in his soul: to such a height of spiritual progress had his constancy in virtue, his afflictions, his sufferings—or, more truly, the grace of the Holy Spirit, which constantly transforms the virtuous and especially the innocent sufferers—raised him. “Both your dreams”—he said to Pharaoh—“have one meaning; your dreams are one dream. The seven fat cows prefigure seven years of plenty; the seven full ears prefigure the same. The seven lean cows and seven shriveled ears mean seven years of famine. God shows to Pharaoh what He has determined to do. There will come seven years: in the course of them there will be abundant harvests in Egypt. Then will come seven other years, and from their scarcity the abundance of the first seven years will be forgotten. Famine will strike and devastate the land. Even the traces of the preceding abundance will be obliterated by the subsequent scarcity: for the famine will be very severe. Twice Pharaoh’s dream has been repeated: this is a confirmation of God’s word, and a sign that God will hasten to bring His purpose into execution. O King! Seek out a discerning man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let him, during the seven years of plenty, gather a fifth part of all the produce; let the grain that is gathered be placed under Pharaoh’s authority and stored in the cities. Thus grain supplies will be made for the seven years of scarcity, and the land will not perish from famine”. Joseph’s words pleased Pharaoh and all who were with him. Pharaoh said to them: “Can we find another man like this, who has the Spirit of God in him?” Then, turning to Joseph, he says to him: “God reveals mysteries to you, and therefore there is no man who compares with you in wisdom and discernment. You shall be overseer of my house; all my people shall obey you! Only in the throne will I be greater than you. I set you over all the land of Egypt”.

Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, clothed him in fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, and commanded him to ride in his second chariot: in it the new official was driven through the city; before the chariot went a herald, proclaiming to the people Joseph’s rank and authority. Then Joseph was thirty years old. Pharaoh married his intimate friend to Asenath, daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, and gave him another name, calling him “Zaphnath-paaneah”. What does this name mean? It means “Saviour of the world”.[1] Joseph prefigured the descent to earth of the God-man to the fallen and wandering human race, when he was sent by his father to his brothers tending flocks far from his father’s tent. He prefigured Him when he was sold by his brothers to foreigners. He prefigured His burial through his imprisonment in the fortress; through his sudden exaltation and glory he prefigured the glory of His resurrection. The daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, who entered into marriage with Joseph, prefigured the Church of Christ, constituted from among the gentiles. By the salvation of the people from death was prefigured the salvation of mankind from eternal death. The distributor of material bread was a prefigurement of Him who is “the Bread that came down from heaven” and the Distributor of this heavenly bread (Jn. 6:41). From among the mysterious Old Testament prefigurements, for the first time was heard the consoling name: Saviour of the world! Wondrous is God’s Providence, foretelling the great work of God, the redemption of mankind, through biblical prefigurative shadows. What distances of time did these shadows begin to appear across! How vividly did they outline the truth! What mystery was hidden in them for their contemporaries! How they became clear, evident, when God opened to men the understanding of the Scriptures inspired by Him.

Joseph undertook to fulfill the duties to which God Himself had called him, and which, by God’s arrangement, the ruler of Egypt had laid upon him. He undertook a journey throughout all Egypt and, having surveyed the land, made the necessary arrangements. The land in the course of seven years gave an abundant harvest. In the course of these seven years Joseph accumulated grain supplies, which he stored in the cities under secure watch and guard in vast storehouses. He gathered an immeasurable quantity of wheat: it lay in the storage places like mountains of sand. In the course of those same fertile seven years, Asenath bore him two sons. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh. In naming him thus, he enclosed in the name of his eldest son a profound thought: “God has made it so that I have forgotten my suffering”. The second he named Ephraim, joining to this name another profound and devout thought: “God has made me fruitful ‘in the land’ ‘of my affliction’. Such thoughts are contained in these names according to their meaning in the Hebrew language.[2]

The seven years of plenty passed, as all things subject to time pass: the hungry years came. According to Joseph’s prediction, famine began to rage throughout the land. The Egyptian people cried out to Pharaoh, asking for bread. Pharaoh answered his subjects: “Go” “to Joseph and do what he tells you”. Joseph opened the reserve storehouses and began to sell grain to the Egyptians. Famine raged over the face of the land. The inhabitants of neighboring countries, hearing that grain was being sold in Egypt, and oppressed by hunger, began to come to Egypt to buy wheat. The wise, foresighted ruler had prepared reserve grain in quantities sufficient not only to feed his own people but also to draw the money of other peoples into the Egyptian state.

Among the other lands afflicted by famine was the land of Canaan. The household of the holy patriarch was suffering from lack of food. Word reached the old man that grain was being sold in Egypt (Gen. 42). He said to his sons: “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: why do you not pay attention to this? Go down there, buy some grain for us to keep us alive; otherwise we shall die of starvation”. Obeying the will of their father, Joseph’s ten brothers set out for Egypt to buy grain. Jacob did not send Benjamin with his brothers; he said: “Lest some misfortune befall him on the way”.

When Joseph’s sons arrived in Egypt, they came with other grain buyers to the place where grain was being sold. Joseph himself was in charge of grain distribution. When his brothers came before him, he recognized them at once; but they had no idea that they were standing before the brother they had sold into slavery for twenty pieces of gold. And how could they recognize him? When they parted from him, he had barely completed seventeen years; now he was approaching forty. Changed by years, he was no less changed by the majesty and splendor of his rank—the first in the Egyptian kingdom, which had surpassed almost all other states in learning, power, and organization. Standing before Joseph, the brothers bowed low to him, their foreheads to the ground. Joseph remembered his dreams… Wise, virtuous Joseph! He put off revealing himself to his brothers for another time. What great power this mighty soul had over itself! Was not his heart consumed with a desire to immediately bring the joyful news to his aged, holy parent, who had known nothing about him for more than twenty years, and, counting him lost forever, had grieved inconsolably? He does not heed the inclination of his merciful, magnanimous heart, but chooses a course of action, necessary for the benefit both of himself and of his brothers. Joseph knew the rough, untamed nature of these men; they were half-wild shepherds, brought up among flocks, having spent their whole lives at pasture in the freedom of wild liberty, under the open sky, in desolate deserts. They knew no restraint over themselves, no bridle: they showed disobedience to their father; they often caused him insult; whatever desire came to them, however criminal, they fulfilled; their hands were often stained with the blood of the innocent. Thus Scripture portrays Jacob’s sons. They needed a lesson. For their own well-being, it was necessary to make them acquainted with obedience, with propriety of conduct. Cruel souls, accustomed to trampling conscience and the fear of God, could not otherwise be shaken, brought to their senses and to self-knowledge, except through the torment of human fear. Foreseeing the prolonged famine, Joseph foresaw also the necessity of moving Jacob’s family from Palestine to Egypt. Was this not why he called his brothers spies at their first arrival in Egypt?.. Had his brothers brought their unbridled, wild nature into their new homeland, they would soon have drawn the wrath of the Egyptians upon themselves; soon the well-being of Jacob’s family would have been destroyed, the well-being of Joseph himself; the family and he would have been subjected to the greatest disasters. What was gained through long suffering had to be protected, preserved through wise conduct.

Joseph dealt with his brothers sternly, severely, as a strict lord. “Where are you from?”—he asked them. They answered: “From the land of Canaan: we have come to buy grain”. He objected: “You are spies: you have come to spy out our land!” They answered: “No, my lord! your servants have come to buy grain. We are all brothers, sons of one old man. We have come with peaceful intent: your servants are not spies”. He said: “No, no: you have come to spy out the land!” They answered: “We are twelve brothers. Your servants are from the land of Canaan. The youngest of us stayed with our father, and one… is no more”. Joseph observed: “There is falsehood in your words! I speak the truth when I say you are spies. I swear by Pharaoh’s life, you shall not leave here unless your youngest brother comes to me. By this you shall prove yourselves. Send one of your number: let him bring your brother. You shall remain here under guard, until it is clear whether your words are true or false. If they prove false… I swear by Pharaoh’s life, you are spies!”—and with these words he had them placed under guard.

Three days passed. On the third day he summoned them and said: “I am one who fears God. Do this, and you will live: if you are peaceful men, let one of your brothers stay here with me, while you take home the grain you have bought; then bring your youngest brother to me when you return, and I shall know that you are not spies but honest men. You may trade freely in the land”. Joseph spoke with his brothers through an interpreter. He did not yet release them fully, and while he was occupied with other customers, Jacob’s sons began quietly to converse among themselves in Hebrew. Could they have supposed that the formidable Egyptian official understood them! But he, with strained hearing and attention, followed every word; his soul, full of holy love and acting with holy, saving wisdom, caught every word. “Indeed”—Jacob’s sons said to one another—“we are being punished for the sin we committed against our brother! We disregarded his bitter distress when he begged us, we did not listen to him: this disaster has come upon us for his sake!” Reuben said to the others: “Did I not say to you, Do not harm the youth? But you did not listen to me: now his blood is being required of us”. The words of his brothers pierced Joseph’s tender heart. He went out from them for a moment to relieve his overburdened heart with a flood of tears. Then he came back to them, chose Simeon from among them, and commanded that chains be put on him before their eyes. In the actions of wise Joseph, everything has its reason. The reason why chains became the lot of wild and fierce Simeon rather than another of his brothers is not stated by Scripture; but from Scripture itself it is evident that he had a greater need for a severe lesson. All ten brothers allowed themselves grave transgressions, but Simeon stained himself with the terrible murder of the Shechemites, which subjected the entire household of the holy patriarch to fearful danger, from which it was saved only by the special protection of Providence. And were not his hands raised to another, more terrible and criminal murder?.. Joseph gave secret orders to fill the sacks of his brothers with grain and to put back the money of each man in his sack, and to give them provisions for the road. It seems each paid separately for the grain he took: this is a detail—one of those by which the distant customs of biblical antiquity are portrayed to us.

Having loaded their donkeys with grain, Jacob’s sons set out on their return journey. At the first encampment, one of them, intending to feed his donkey, opened his sack, which somehow came unfastened, and saw his money tied up in the sack, on top of the grain. He cried out to his brothers: “My money has been returned to me! here it is… in my sack”. Their hearts were filled with fear, they were troubled, and said to one another: “What is God doing to us?” When they arrived in the land of Canaan, at their father’s house, they told him all that had happened to them, saying: “The man, the lord of that land, treated us very harshly, even put us in prison as spies. We said to him: No, my lord, we are not spies! We have come in peace. We are twelve brothers, we are the sons of our father; one of us is no more, and the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan. The man, the lord of that land, answered us: Here is the proof for me that you are not spies but peaceful men: leave one of your brothers with me; take for your households the grain you have bought, and go your way; but bring your youngest brother to me. Thus I shall know that you are not spies but peaceful men: then I will return your brother who remained with me, and you may trade freely in the land of Egypt”. When they poured out their grain from their sacks, each one’s money—the price of his grain—came out in his sack. When they and their father saw their money, they were afraid. Their father Jacob said to them: “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone: and Benjamin you want to take! All these things are against me”. Reuben said to his father: “Kill my two sons if I do not bring Benjamin back to you”. The old man answered: “My son shall not go with you! His brother is dead, and he alone is left: if harm should come to him on the journey you are undertaking, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave”.

The famine grew worse and worse, it oppressed the land (Gen. 43). The grain that Jacob’s household had brought from Egypt was used up, and the old man said to his sons: “Go again to Egypt, buy us a little more grain”. Judah answered him: “The man, the lord of that land, solemnly warned us when we left, saying that we shall not see his face unless our youngest brother comes with us”. Jacob said: “Why did you do me this evil, why did you tell the man that you have another brother?” They answered: “The man questioned us carefully and thoroughly. He asked: Is your father still living? Do you have another brother? We answered his questions. How were we to know that he would say: Bring your brother back?” Then Judah began to urge his father: “Send the boy with me; let us go at once, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. I myself will be his guarantee; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let your anger be upon me forever. For if we had not delayed, we would have returned twice by now”. His father said to him: “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, some gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you, for you must return the money that was put back in your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. And take your brother too. Now go back to the man. May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin as well. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved”.

Jacob’s sons took gifts and double money and set out for Egypt. When they arrived, they presented themselves to Joseph. Joseph saw Benjamin, his brother on his mother’s side, and his soul was stirred. He called his steward and said to him: “Bring these men into my house and slaughter an animal and make preparations, for the men are to dine with me at noon”. The steward did according to Joseph’s word and brought the brothers into his house. Seeing that they were being brought to Joseph’s house, they said to one another: “We are brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time; they want to accuse us, seize us as slaves, and take our donkeys”. Therefore, at the gate of the house, before entering, they approached the steward and spoke to him: “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy grain; and when we opened our sacks at the first encampment, each of us found his money, the full weight of it, in his sack; and we have brought it back with us in full. And we have brought other money with us to buy grain. We do not know who put our money in our sacks”. The steward answered: “Peace be to you, do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your fathers, must have put treasure in your sacks for you; I received your money”. And he brought Simeon out to them. Then water was brought, and they washed their feet, and their donkeys were given fodder. They laid out their gifts, preparing them, and awaited Joseph’s arrival at noon.

When Joseph returned to his house, his brothers brought him their gifts and bowed down to him with their foreheads to the ground. He asked them: “Are you well?”—then added—“How is your aged father, of whom you spoke to me? Is he still alive?” They answered: “Your servant, our father, is still alive and well”. “Blessed be this man before God!”—said Joseph. They bowed low to him. Seeking Benjamin among them with his eyes, Joseph asked: “Is this your youngest brother, whom you promised to bring to me?”—and on their affirmative answer said: “God be merciful to you, my child!” Joseph was troubled; his heart beat violently; tears flowed from his eyes. He hastily went to his chamber, there he satisfied himself with tears; then he washed his face, came out to his brothers, and, restraining himself, said: “Bring in the meal”. For him a table was prepared separately, and separately for Jacob’s sons, and separately for the Egyptians who dined at the great man’s house that day. The Egyptians, Scripture tells us, could not eat at the same table with Hebrews; they, according to their belief, abhorred every shepherd of flocks. Jacob’s sons were seated opposite Joseph in order of their age. They were amazed when they saw themselves seated by seniority. Dishes were brought to them, each his own portion served separately: Joseph himself put portions on their plates, and to Benjamin he gave a portion five times larger than to the other brothers. Wine was also brought. The hearts of Jacob’s sons became light at this luxurious and gracious table. Not accustomed to restraining themselves, desert shepherds ate their fill and drank abundantly. This meal prefigured the spiritual meal of Christ the Saviour, offered to Christians at the Divine Liturgy. The Lord was pleased to become our brother, He acquired dominion over the world—the mysterious Egypt—and to His brothers, who suffer under the burden of sin, “has prepared a table” and a cup that overflows” (Ps. 22:5), His most holy body and most holy blood. Christians, partaking of this divine food, partake of eternal life, are freed from sins, and in the intoxication of spiritual joy forget the sorrows that oppress them in their wanderings in Egypt—in a foreign land, in the land of exile: this land, full of griefs and afflictions, visible and invisible—is earthly life.

[1] We learned from the Egyptians what resounds in their language: Savior of the world. St. Jerome. Book of Hebrew Names.

[2] Notes on the Book of Genesis by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow.

Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 3)

Joseph meanwhile gave secret orders to his servants (Gen. 44): “Fill the sacks of these men with grain, give them as much as they can carry. Put each man’s money back in his sack on top of the grain. In the sack of the youngest, put my silver cup along with his money”. All was done according to Joseph’s orders. Morning came: Jacob’s sons set out on their journey with donkeys laden with bread. When they had gone out of the city and were not yet far away, Joseph said to his steward: “Go quickly after these men, catch up with them and say: Why have you repaid good with evil? Why have you stolen my silver cup? Is it not the cup from which my master drinks? And does he not use it for divination?” The steward, catching up with them, repeated word for word what Joseph had commanded. They answered: “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! If we found our money in our sacks when we returned from the land of Canaan, why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? Whichever one of your servants is found to have the cup shall be put to death, and the rest of us will become slaves to my lord”. The steward answered: “Very well then, let it be as you say: the one with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you will be free”. They quickly took down their sacks from the donkeys, and each one opened his sack. The steward began to search, starting with the oldest and going down to the youngest; the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. In despair they tore their clothes, loaded their sacks back on the donkeys, and returned to the city. Joseph was in his house: they came to him and fell to the ground before him. “What have you done?”—he said to them—“Do you not know that a man like me can practice divination?” Judah answered: “What can we say to you, my lord? What can we speak? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered the guilt of your servants. We are now your slaves—we and the one who was found with the cup”. “It is not so”—said Joseph—“Only the one who was found with the cup shall be my slave; the rest of you go back in peace to your father”. Then Judah approached him and said: “Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word in your hearing, and do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, Have you a father or a brother? And we said to my lord, We have an aged father and a young brother, born to him in his old age. His full brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him. Then you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, so that I can see him. We said to my lord, The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die. But you said to your servants, Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you shall not see my face again. When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, Go again, buy us a little grain, we said, We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, we will go; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us. Your servant, my father, said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons. One left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have not seen him since. If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol. So now, if I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, since his life is bound up in the boy’s life, when he sees that the boy is not with me, he will die; and your servants will have brought down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. I, your servant, took responsibility for the boy to my father. I said, If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life. Now please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father”. Joseph could no longer contain himself and conceal his identity (Gen. 45). He commanded all those who stood by him to leave; even from his attendants and household no one remained when he revealed himself to his brothers. All had withdrawn; then with weeping and cries Joseph exclaimed to his brothers: “I am Joseph!… Does my father still live?” His brothers were completely bewildered and could answer him nothing. Joseph said to them: “Come closer to me”. They came closer. “I am Joseph”—he repeated to them—“your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here… so that it should not trouble you, should not torment you! God, providing for your salvation, sent me here. For two years now the famine has been on the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me here ahead of you to preserve life for you, to ensure the survival of your whole household. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; He has made me like a father to Pharaoh, and master of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, with your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are still five years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to destitution. And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here”. He fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Then he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

Word reached Pharaoh’s house of the arrival of Joseph’s brothers; Pharaoh and his court were delighted. Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Say to your brothers: Do this—load your animals and go to the land of Canaan, and get your father and your households, and come to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the richest food of the land”. Joseph gave to each of his brothers sets of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. To his father he sent many gifts on ten donkeys, and ten female donkeys laden with grain and bread and provision for his father on the journey. Having so gifted his brothers, he sent them away; as he sent them, he said: “Do not quarrel on the way”. These instructions were indeed needed by the free-spirited children of the desert: certainly now they gave them their due weight, remembered and kept them.

Jacob’s sons returned to the land of Canaan, to their father, and said to him: “Your son Joseph is alive: he is ruler of all the land of Egypt”. Jacob was stunned and could not believe them. They assured him and told him all the words of Joseph in detail. When the old man saw the rich gifts and the wagons that Joseph had sent for him, his spirit revived, and Jacob said: “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die”.

The patriarch set out with all his household and possessions; arriving at what is called the Well of the Oath, he offered sacrifice to God there (Gen. 46). In a night vision God said to the old man: “Jacob! Jacob! I am the God of your fathers. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes”.

Jacob’s household, in their migration to the territory of Egypt, consisted, including Joseph and his sons, of seventy-five male souls. Having reached the land of Goshen, he sent Judah ahead to inform Joseph of his arrival. Joseph had his chariot prepared and went out to meet his aged father in the region of Goshen; seeing him, he fell on his neck with weeping and sobs. Jacob said to Joseph: “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive!” When the whole household had arrived in Egypt, Joseph said to his brothers: “I will go up and tell Pharaoh about you and say: My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds, for they have always raised livestock; and they have brought their flocks and herds, and all their possessions. When Pharaoh calls you and asks, What is your occupation? You shall answer: Your servants have been herders since our youth, we and our ancestors also. Then he will allow you to settle in the land of Goshen”. This considerable and most fertile portion of land, very suitable for shepherding, had never been settled. The reason for settling the patriarch’s household in a separate and uninhabited country, Scripture tells us, was a certain belief of the Egyptians, who considered those who engaged in shepherding to be unclean. Joseph informed Pharaoh that his father and brothers with their flocks had come from the land of Canaan and had settled in the land of Goshen (Gen. 47). From among his brothers, he selected five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers: “What is your occupation?” They answered: “Your servants are shepherds, as our ancestors were. We have come to settle in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks in the land of Canaan, for the famine has been severe there. Allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen”. Pharaoh answered, turning to Joseph: “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The whole land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen. If you know of capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock”. Joseph brought his father Jacob before Pharaoh: the old man blessed the Egyptian king. Pharaoh asked Jacob about the number of his years. “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty”—answered the old man. “Few and hard have been the years of my life, and they do not compare to the years of the life of my ancestors”. And, blessing the king once more, the old man departed from him. Joseph fulfilled all Pharaoh’s orders regarding the settlement of his father in the land of Goshen. There the beloved son often visited his aged father and provided him with all that was necessary for his support.

The various details about the civil organization of Egypt in Joseph’s time, preserved for us in the book of Genesis, are very interesting. In these details one can see an example of how states first arose, how men passed from a state of wild freedom into a state of subjection; how this subjection was at first incomplete and more akin to patriarchal obedience; how it later became absolute subjection; and finally, here one can see that the founder of absolute or monarchical rule in Egypt was the wise, holy Joseph. The court of Pharaoh at that time, although it already displayed some majesty and splendor, had not yet departed from patriarchal simplicity: his highest official personally engaged in the sale of grain; another official carried baskets of grain on his own head; a third with his own hands pressed the juice from grapes into a cup and served this cup to the king not only at festive banquets but, it appears, daily. The population of Egypt was still very insignificant, which is why the whole fertile region of Goshen remained uninhabited, while city dwellers had the opportunity to engage in farming and shepherding. The book of Genesis breathes with the youth of the political world. The narrative of the divinely-inspired author of this book, Moses, by its naturalness transports the attentive reader into the distant, sacred antiquity, to these people living in wonderful simplicity, to this newly begun life, free from all refinements. This life and this simplicity are full of power! Whoever often immerses himself in contemplation of biblical narratives will surely feel in his soul a special, strange impression. This impression consists in perceiving a certain freshness, youth, as if from the breath of the air on a beautiful summer morning. The soul grows young from gazing intently on the youth of the world, from conversation with the young world; its powers are invigorated and strengthened, as the spirit of an old man comes alive in the company of children. It is pleasant to enjoy the freshness of the young world, to rest in it from the impressions of the contemporary, decrepit, crumbling world.

The severe famine continued; Egypt and Palestine especially suffered from it: in these lands no one had grain except what Joseph had stored. No gold or silver remained in either land: all the money passed into Joseph’s hands, which he deposited in Pharaoh’s treasury—note that this was in the very house of the Egyptian king. The Egyptians, lacking money, needed grain: they sold to Pharaoh first their livestock, then their lands, and finally themselves. This was the beginning of absolute subjection in Egypt. Only the priests’ lands remained their own: they received grain from Pharaoh as a gift, as an allowance. When the years of famine ended and the Egyptians had surrendered both their lands and themselves to Pharaoh, Joseph gave them seed for sowing on the condition that they would annually give one-fifth of their harvest as tribute to the treasury. This newly established measure regarding taxation, and the very transformation regarding power, were received with pleasure and gratitude by the people of the newly born absolute state. “You have saved our lives”—the Egyptians said to Joseph—“you are our benefactor; we will be slaves to Pharaoh”. The author of the book of Genesis notes that this tribute remained unchanged even in his time—that is, after the passage of nearly four centuries. From the writings of much later authors, Herodotus and Diodorus, we can see that the same method of collecting taxes continued until their time, and that the land in Egypt was the property of the Egyptian kings. The revenues of the Egyptian kings from the land, says Diodorus, were so satisfactory that they made any other tribute from the people unnecessary.[1] In this arrangement one can see Joseph’s deep, brilliant mind, his extraordinary ability to govern—an ability which manifested itself in him from his very youth and which the chief of the bodyguard and the prison warden so quickly and justly recognized. He establishes a strong tax, but extraordinarily convenient for payment according to the nature of the country. What tribute is more suited to fertile Egypt than tribute in grain? It was easy to pay it there, where the ordinary harvest yielded a hundred-fold; it was easy to deliver it from fields lying on a navigable river, as all Egyptian fields lying on the banks of the Nile are, to cities with grain storehouses standing on the same river; it was easy to make up for shortfalls that might occur in lean years by payment in years of excessive harvest. If any harvests can be called excessive, that name belongs above all the harvests of the world to the harvests of the fields of Egypt. The sale of grain internally was perfectly convenient for Pharaoh from the harbors lying on this same navigable river. Later, when harbors were established on the Mediterranean Sea, on whose shores dwelt all the learned and trading world of that time, Egypt became the granary of that world and remained its granary as long as the Mediterranean remained its center; and it was the center of the learned, active world almost until modern times, almost throughout the life of the world. Joseph’s institution had extraordinary soundness with all its simplicity: and therefore it was long-lived. Time itself reveres a wise state ordinance and through many centuries preserves it in an unchanged state, so beneficial to states. Through this evident state benefaction, Joseph strengthened and shaped the power of the Pharaohs, secured the new state with capital and constant, abundant revenues.

Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt and, reaching the age of one hundred and forty-seven, felt the approach of death. A few days before his death, he called his beloved son Joseph to him and said: “Do me a kindness and a service: do not bury me in Egypt. Let me lie with my fathers! Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place”. Moved by faith—not by some petty, earthly wish—the divinely-inspired old man bequeaths that his body be carried to Palestine and buried in the cave in the region of Hebron. Thus the blessed Apostle Paul explains his testament, mentioning the words of this testament as divinely inspired and containing deep mystery. The holy son promises to fulfill faithfully the will of the holy father (Heb. 11:21). Jacob required that the promise be sealed with an oath, and Joseph gave his oath: then Jacob, sitting on his bed, bowed upon the top of Joseph’s staff. The staff was in the hand of the great official—either according to the custom of that time, or as a sign of high rank.

A few days later, word was brought to Joseph that his father had become very weak (Gen. 48). Joseph took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to his dying father. The aged old man lay on his deathbed in weakness. He was told: “Your son Joseph is coming to you”. The old man gathered his strength and sat up on the bed. Was it love for his son that strengthened him? Or did the anointing of grace descend upon him at that moment? The dying man came alive with the life of divine inspiration. Often in God’s chosen ones, to the natural action of man is suddenly added the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit. This powerful action brings man out of his ordinary state and makes him an instrument of God. Such were Jacob’s last moments. When Joseph entered to him, he said to his son: “God appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, I will make you fruitful and numerous and will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding. Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you here, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. When I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath”, which is Bethlehem. When he saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here”. And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them”. Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face; and lo, God has let me see your children also”. Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands—for Manasseh was the firstborn. He blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude on the earth”. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since the firstborn, put your right hand on his head”. But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; Manasseh also shall become a people, and he shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations”. So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying, May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh”. Thus he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors. I now give to you one portion more than to your brothers, the portion that I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow”. A great teacher of the ascetics notes that the word of Spirit-bearing men, like the word of the aged Jacob, conveys to listeners the spiritual power living in them, acquired through their struggle against sin and victories over the invisible Amorites—sinful thoughts and feelings.[2]

The hour of the holy patriarch’s death was approaching. In this pre-death hour, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon him abundantly and as if wholly possessed him. In those last minutes of earthly life, when the soul was ready to depart from the worn-out body, God’s Spirit descended, arrested the separation, poured into the departing soul, into the remaining body, the life of grace. The dying man came alive with the life of the age to come. The old man hastily called to him all his sons; hastily they gathered around him and surrounded him. He still sat on his bed. When they had assembled, Jacob pronounced to them an inspired, prophetic testament. This testament breathes with youthful strength and poetry, the eternal youth of the heavenly dwellers and their holy poetry. Here is no man! Here the human tongue was merely an instrument. Thus God speaks. Thus God is heard, proclaiming His will, with authority disposing of the future fates of men and their distant descendants! The patriarch’s testament is a heavenly song, sung by the Spirit for all the world to hear. This song announces to the world the Redeemer, and to the peoples sunk in idolatry, illumination by the light of Christianity. “Gather around me”—said the dying old man to his sons, speaking as if already from the realm of that age—“gather around, surround me; I will tell you what will happen to you in days to come. Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the first fruits of my vigor, pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it. Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. May I never come into their council; may I not be joined to their company—for in their anger they killed men, and on a whim they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.” The inspired patriarch pronounced the blessing on each of his sons separately, enumerating the sons by seniority. Coming to the name of Joseph, he again called down upon him and his descendants the blessing of heaven and earth. Truly and powerfully was this blessing expressed in the subsequent prosperity that Joseph’s numerous descendants enjoyed.

With the end of the prophetic testament, Jacob’s speech changed: no longer does rapture, solemnity, and heavenly majesty animate it. It is like a body abandoned by the soul. God, who had spoken through the lips of the old man, ceased His mysterious utterances: the inspired prophet fell silent: the dying old man begins to speak in weakness: “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers—in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah—the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” Having said this, Jacob drew up his feet onto the bed and expired, being gathered to his people. “He was gathered to his people”—says Scripture—to those holy righteous ones whom the earth produced and nurtured for heaven, whom it had already delivered into the realm of eternity.

When Joseph saw that his father was dead, he fell upon his face and wept over him and kissed him. He instructed the physicians in his service to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; they spent forty days in doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. When the time of mourning for him was past, Joseph addressed the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. Tell him that my father made me swear an oath; he said, I am about to die. In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me. Now therefore let me go up, so that I may bury my father; then I will return”. Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear to do”. So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. Both chariots and charioteers went up with him. It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed a time of mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians”. Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim, which means “the Mourning of Egypt”. Seeing that Jacob had died, Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over it, and kissed it, kissing the face and lips sealed by death, watering that face with abundant tears (Gen. 50).

[1] Notes on the Book of Genesis by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow.

[2] Venerable Isaac the Syrian. Homily 1.

Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 4)

After fulfilling his oath, Joseph returned to Egypt. His brothers were still troubled by the evil they had committed against him. They suspected their great brother of vindictiveness, but this pure, holy soul was capable only of kindness! Thinking that Joseph did not want to disturb his aged father’s peace with the spectacle of vengeance, that he was postponing revenge until a convenient time, they came to him and said: “Your father gave us this command before he died: Tell Joseph that he should forgive the transgression of his brothers and their sin, because they did evil to him. So please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father”. When they said this to Joseph, he wept. They also came and fell down before him and said: “We are here as your slaves”. The magnanimous Joseph, Joseph worthy of the blessings of earth and heaven, worthy of the blessing of the entire Christian people, blessing of all who read the account of his instructive deeds, answered his brothers: “Do not fear; am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear. I myself will provide for you and your little ones”. Living faith in God and the vision of pure soul’s eye of God’s Providence exalts man above all misfortunes, above the terrible spiritual misfortune: vindictiveness and revenge.

The book of Genesis is silent about the further circumstances of Joseph’s life: probably his life passed in peace and unbroken prosperity. Scripture tells only that Joseph spent the remaining days of his life in Egypt, saw his grandchildren of Ephraim, and saw the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, and died at the age of one hundred and ten years. As he approached eternity, he made this command to his people: “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob”. And he made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here”. Having given this testament, he rested; his body, preserved from decay, was placed in a coffin, prepared for the commanded transfer. And for three centuries Joseph’s body awaited the transfer about which the testament had been given and received with such faith.

Let me die and be buried in Egypt, the land of my pilgrimage. But I bequeath to my children—I, who am childless—I bequeath to my tribe, that they migrate to the Promised Land and carry my body there with them. My children and my tribe are the thoughts that arise in my mind, the feelings that arise in my heart. O my children! O my tribe! Leave the land of Goshen, its rich pastures, suitable only for herding. Migrate from Egypt, from this lower world, where flesh and sin reign, migrate to Heaven! Let my body descend for a time into the earth from which it was taken. When, awakened by the trumpet of resurrection, it rises from the sleep of death, you—my thoughts and feelings—made wings by the Spirit, will lift the resurrected body to heaven! Heaven has been promised by God to the whole man: not only to his soul, but to his body! Yes! The time will come—God will visit man, will gather his body scattered into dust, mixed with earth, will quicken this body. And if man’s thoughts and feelings are worthy of heaven, anointed, sealed by the Spirit, then his body too will be changed, glorified, winged, and will fly to heaven together with his soul.

An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Beloved Fathers and Brethren!

I thank you for your remembrance of me, a sinner, for your love toward me. May God’s blessing rest upon you and upon all who traverse the sea of life with the goal of salvation, with the goal of reaching the Divine harbor. To those who look only to the advantages, privileges, and delights of the passing world, I have nothing to say.

During my travels from the Sergius Hermitage, through Moscow, to the Babaev Monastery, I visited many monastic communities and saw firsthand what the holy Fathers describe in their divinely inspired books. I saw that in every place—both in solitary wilderness and amid the noise of the crowded world—those among Christians who attend to the Word of God and strive to embody it in their lives fill their vessels—mind and heart—with provision for blessed eternity. By contrast, those who neglect exercise in the Word of God, who disregard the fulfilling of God’s holy commandments, remain in sorrowful spiritual darkness and in sin’s captivity, in complete spiritual barrenness, even though they live in deep wilderness. Hermitic solitude, not joined to spiritual work, nourishes, fattens, and strengthens sinful passions. So teach us the holy Fathers;[1] so it truly is. The Word of God is eternal life: “those who feed upon it will live forever” (Jn. 6:51). Wherever a person nourishes himself from the Word of God—whether in wilderness or amid the multitude—the Word of God preserves everywhere its holy nature: the nature of eternal life. Therefore no place hinders this eternal life from communicating spiritual life to those who partake of it, the one true life. Remaining with you, I always reminded you, entreated you to occupy yourselves with the Word of God: it can bestow upon our noisy community the dignity of a solitary dwelling; it can build a spiritual fence around our community, which has no material enclosure. This spiritual fence will be stronger and higher than any fence built of brick and stone; no vice will penetrate our community, no virtue will be lost from it. Finding myself in your absence, I find nothing better than to write to you what I have spoken by word of mouth. Brethren! Do not pass your lives in empty occupations; do not squander earthly life, which is brief and given to us for acquiring eternal treasures. It will flee, will rush past and not return; its loss is irreplaceable; those who spend it in vanities and amusements deprive themselves of the blessed eternity prepared for us by God. Use it to study the will of God, good and perfect, as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. “To write the same things to you,” said the holy Apostle, “is not grievous to me, but for you it is safe” (Phil. 3:1).

When the merciful Lord, having granted me some recovery of my bodily health, returns me to your blessed community and permits me to behold your faces as the faces of holy Angels, my word to you will be the same as it was before. And before I entreated you, that while enduring in this God-given refuge, you would seek peace of soul in the Word of God, not becoming entangled in vain thoughts and fantasies that promise peace yet steal it away. “The fool’s portion is small in his own eyes,” said the great Isaac. By contrast, in the soul that receives God’s gifts with thanksgiving, the value of these gifts increases.[2] So I speak of our refuge, the Sergius Hermitage. Gratitude to God for this haven can make the haven peaceful and most pleasant; troubled looks of murmuring and discontent transmit their cloudiness, their darkness even to that for which, by all rights, one should give thanks and glorify God.

A tree transplanted from place to place wastes its strength, even if by nature it were strong, and loses the ability to bear fruit. “In our patience” the Divine Teacher commanded us to “acquire our souls” (Lk. 21:19). He proclaimed that those who bear fruit, “bear it” in “patience” (Lk. 8:15). He proclaimed: “he who perseveres to the end shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13); “whoever” wavers, He finally proclaimed, “my soul will have no pleasure in ‘him’ (Heb. 10:38).

I plunge into contemplation of Christ’s field. How many seeds have been sown upon it, how many ears of grain have grown up! How beautifully they flourish green, how they rustle comfortingly and pleasingly, waving in the wind. There comes for these ears a time of ripeness, a time of harvest; they leave the field in which they were born and grew, are gathered to the threshing floor, dried, threshed, winnowed. Such exactly is our life. How many different upheavals are needed for a human being to see all the vanity of the world, all its worthlessness, and finally reach, like a threshing floor, the bosom of the holy community. Heavy, fruit-bearing grain, no matter how much it is winnowed, always falls to the threshing floor, but chaff and weak, empty, light grain is carried away from the floor by the wind; first it appears as a cloud, as something of significance; then it thins, thins, fades from sight, disappears. The sorrows encountered in community cannot excuse faintheartedness. A sorrowless life and place on earth is an unrealizable dream, sought by minds and hearts estranged from divine illumination, deceived by demons. We are commanded to seek peace of soul by bearing one another’s burdens. It is not by changing places, arising solely from judging our neighbor, that Christ’s law is fulfilled. No! “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). Foolishly seeking a sorrowless place, one flees from fulfilling Christ’s law. A sorrowless life and place are in heaven: there “every sorrow” and sigh “shall flee away” (Is. 35:10). Earth is a place of sighing, and blessed are those who sigh upon it: they shall be comforted in heaven. A sorrowless life and place come when the heart finds humility, and through humility enters into patience.

All of this, everything that is good and salvific teaches us the Word of God. And therefore the Lord Himself commands, all the Prophets and Apostles, all the holy Fathers entreat, command, and implore us to abide constantly in the Word of God, which is the source of all goods, which is life, which is light on earth, in this vale of tears, hunger, darkness, and death. “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5). Guided by the ray of this light, the earthly wayfarer sets out to the pasture of salvation, spiritual pasture, whence he begins eternal life. Accept, brethren, my words, which are nothing other than an echo of the teaching of all the Saints. Thus the wild desolate cave—the dwelling of serpents and all filth—repeats in its echo the inspired sounds of divine hymns.

Requesting your holy prayers and commending myself to your holy prayers, Archimandrite Ignatius, 1847, Nikolaev Babaev Monastery

[1] Venerable Cassian the Roman, On Anger, The Philokalia, vol. 4.

[2] Homily 2.”

A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God

A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

The service of a human being to God, as established by God, is clear and simple. But we have become so complex and crafty, so estranged from spiritual understanding, that we need the most careful guidance and instruction for right and pleasing service to God. Very often we approach the service of God by a manner that is contrary to God’s establishment, forbidden by God, which brings harm to our souls rather than benefit. Thus some, having read in Holy Scripture that love is the highest of the virtues (1 Cor. 13:13) and that it is God (1 Jn. 4:8), immediately begin and strive to develop in their heart the feeling of love, to suffuse their prayers with it, their God-contemplation, all their deeds.

God turns away from this unclean sacrifice. He requires from man love, but true love, spiritual, holy love, not fanciful, fleshly love defiled by pride and lust. God cannot be loved except with a heart purified and sanctified by divine Grace. And love for God is God’s gift: it is poured into the souls of true servants of God by the action of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). By contrast, that love which belongs to our natural properties is found in sinful corruption encompassing all humanity, the whole being of each human, all properties of each human. Vainly shall we strive toward service to God, toward union with God by means of this love! He is holy, and He rests only in the holy. He is independent: fruitless are human efforts to receive God into themselves when there is not yet God’s good pleasure to dwell in the human, even though the human is God’s created temple, fashioned for the purpose that God should dwell within it (1 Cor. 3:16). This temple is in sorrowful desolation: before sanctification it needs renewal.

Premature striving to develop in oneself the feeling of love for God is already self-deception. It immediately turns one away from right service to God, immediately leads into various delusion, and ends in corruption and ruin of the soul. We shall prove this by Holy Scripture and the writings of the holy Fathers; we shall speak of how the journey to Christ begins and is accomplished under the guidance of the fear of God; finally, we shall show that the love of God is that blessed repose in God into which those enter who have completed the invisible path to God.

The Old Testament—in which truth is depicted in shadows, and events with the external man serve as an image of what is accomplished in the New Testament in the inner man—recounts a terrible punishment inflicted upon Nadab and Abihu, two sons of Aaron, priests of the people of Israel. “Each of them,” it is said in the book of Leviticus, “took ‘his censer’, put incense in it, and offered ‘before the Lord fire’ that was ‘foreign, which’ ‘the Lord had not commanded’.” Only the consecrated fire kept in the Tabernacle of the Testimony could be used in the sacred service of the Israelites. “And ‘fire came forth from the Lord’ and consumed them, ‘and they died before’ the Lord” (Lev. 10:1-2). Foreign fire in the censer of the Israelite priest depicts the love of fallen nature, which has separated itself from God in all its properties. The punishment of the rash priest depicts the death of the soul that foolishly and sinfully offers to God as sacrifice the unclean lust. Such a soul is struck by death, perishes in its self-deception, in the flame of its passions. By contrast, the sacred fire, which alone was used in sacred rites, signifies graceful love. The fire for divine worship is not taken from fallen nature—but from God’s Tabernacle. “Fire descending into the heart,” says the holy John of the Ladder, “restores prayer. And when prayer arises and ascends to heaven, then the descent of fire is accomplished into the chamber of the soul.” “‘Behold, all of you’” says the Prophet, “‘who walk,’” that is, are guided in your life by “‘the light of your own fire and the flame’” of fallen nature, “‘which you have kindled’” instead of extinguishing—all of you will perish in hellish fire and flame. By wrong and sinful action within yourselves “‘you kindle fire and strengthen’” for yourselves “‘the flame’” of hell (Is. 50:11).[1][2]

The New Testament teaches the same thing through the parable of one who entered a wedding feast in garments not befitting a wedding, though he who entered was among those called. The king said to his servants, pointing to the unworthy one: “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the outer darkness” (Mt. 22:13). The binding of hands and feet signifies the removal of all possibility for spiritual progress. Indeed: one comes into this state who has taken a false direction, rushed forth straight from the state of sinfulness, and in this very state, toward love, which accomplishes the union of the human with God, but a human already made pure by repentance. Being cast into outer darkness signifies the fall of the mind and heart into delusion and self-deception. In delusion and self-deception each thought, each feeling is utterly dark, utterly hostile to God. The servants, to whose power the wretched one is delivered—these are demons: although they are infected with insane hatred of God, they nonetheless remain His servants according to His unlimited omnipotence and wisdom; they gain power only over those humans who, through their voluntary conduct, are delivered into the power of demons. One is delivered to this power who takes a direction forbidden by God, as one carried away by self-conceit, as one who has voluntarily rejected obedience to God.

Holy love is exalted and glorified in Holy Scripture. The Apostle Paul, having enumerated in his first letter to the Corinthians the gifts of the Holy Spirit, having mentioned the gifts of miracle-working, prophecy, discernment of spirits, knowledge of various languages, said: “‘Earnestly desire the greater gifts: and yet I show you a most excellent way’” (1 Cor. 12:31). What could be greater than a prophet, a worker of miracles, one speaking in foreign languages by the gift of the Holy Spirit and not by ordinary human learning? “‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,’” replies the great Paul, “‘but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears’” (1 Cor. 13:1-3, 8-10). What is this completeness? “‘Love is the bond of perfectness’” (Col. 3:14). One must attain perfection in all virtues in order to enter into the perfection of all perfections, into their union, into love. “‘Everyone born of God loves’” (1 Jn. 4:7). “‘God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him’” (1 Jn. 4:16). “‘This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit’” (1 Jn. 4:13). The one true sign of attaining love, given to us by the Holy Spirit Himself, is the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit within us. He who has not become the temple of the Holy Spirit, let him not flatter himself, let him not deceive himself: he cannot be the dwelling of love, he is estranged from it. Love is poured out into our hearts together with the Holy Spirit. It is His property.[3] Whoever the Holy Spirit descends upon, in him there appears His property—love (Rom. 5:5). “‘Whoever acquires love is clothed in God Himself,’” said the holy Isaac the Syrian.

Someone may object to this: “We are Christians; we have been renewed by holy baptism,” through which all infirmities of fallen nature are healed, the image and likeness of God are restored in their original beauty, the Holy Spirit is implanted in man, the corruption of properties is destroyed, and therefore so is the loss of love. True! But the graceful state of renewal and restoration given to us by holy baptism needs to be maintained by living according to evangelical commandments. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Abide in me, and I in you. For as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. Whoever does not abide in me is cast out like a branch and withers; and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (Jn. 15:10, 4, 6). He who does not maintain by living according to the commandments the acquirements granted by holy baptism loses what has been acquired. “The unspeakable and awesome glory granted by baptism remains in us for one or two days,” says the holy John Chrysostom; “then we extinguish it, stirring up upon it a tempest of worldly cares and obscuring its rays with thick clouds.” Having been made alive into restoration by baptism, we again kill ourselves by living according to the flesh, by living for sin, for earthly pleasures and acquisitions.[4] The holy Apostle Paul said: “We do not owe a debt to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. For to set the mind on the flesh is death” (Rom. 8:12, 8, 6). The grace of baptism remains inactive, like bright sun hidden by clouds, like a precious talent buried in the ground. Sin begins to act in us with full force, or even stronger than before we received baptism, according to the degree to which we give ourselves over to sinfulness. But the spiritual treasure given to us is not taken from us finally until death itself, and we can reveal it again in all its power and glory through repentance. Repentance for a sinful life, sorrow over sins voluntary and involuntary, struggle against sinful habits, effort to overcome them and sorrow over their violent triumph, compelling ourselves to fulfill all evangelical commandments—this is our portion.[5] We are called to beg forgiveness from God, to be reconciled with Him, to make good our disloyalty through faithfulness to Him, to replace friendship with sin by hatred of sin. To those reconciled belongs holy love. Not so much do we seek it as God seeks that we become capable of receiving it, and do receive it. Having convicted of delusion one who was satisfied with himself through his self-conceit and blindness, and having called him to zealous repentance, the Lord pronounced the following comfort and promise: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne” (Rev. 3:20-21). This is spoken by all-holy Love itself. The feeling of love which the sinner, who continues to wallow in sin, ascribes to himself, which he ascribes to himself unnaturally and proudly, is nothing other than a deceptive, forced play of feelings, an unconscious creation of fancy and self-conceit. “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning” (1 Jn. 3:6)—God, who is “Love.”

Let us turn to the dwellers of the wilderness, caverns, and chasms of the earth, to those of mankind “of whom the world was not worthy” (Heb. 11:38), to the venerable monks who labored in the highest of sciences, the science brought down by the Lord from heaven. This science is the knowledge of God and, through means of true, experiential knowledge of God, the knowledge of man. Unsuccessfully did the philosophers of this world labor and do labor to acquire this knowledge in the light of their own reason, darkened by the fall. Here we need the light of Christ! Only in the radiance of this light can a human being see God and see himself. Illuminated by the light of Christ, the venerable wilderness dwellers labored in the field of their heart and found upon it the precious pearl—love for God. In their divinely inspired writings they warn us against those calamities which ordinarily follow from seeking love prematurely. The holy Isaac the Syrian treats this subject with particular clarity. From his works we draw forth several testimonies and most beneficial teachings.

“The wise Lord,” says the great Teacher of monasticism, “wills that we eat the spiritual bread in the sweat of our face. He established this not from malice, but so that indigestion would not occur and we would not die. Each virtue is the mother of the virtue that follows it. If you abandon the mother that gives birth to virtues and rush to seek the daughters before acquiring the mother, then these virtues become vipers for the soul. If you do not cast them off—you will soon die.[6] Spiritual understanding naturally follows the practice of virtues. Fear and love precede both of these. Again, fear precedes love. Whosoever without shame asserts that one can acquire what follows without first practicing what precedes is certainly laying the first foundation of destruction for his soul. The Lord has established such a path that the latter is born from the former.”[7]

In the 55th Discourse, which serves as a reply to a letter from Venerable Symeon the Wonderworker, Saint Isaac says: “You wrote in your letter that your soul has loved to love God, but that you have not attained to loving, though you have a great desire to love. You add to this that solitude in the wilderness is desired by you, that purity of heart has begun in you, and that the remembrance of God is greatly kindled in your heart, sets it on fire. If this is true, then it is great. But I would not wish that you had written it: because there is no order here. And if you have told it for the purpose of questioning, then the order of the question is different. How does he who says that his soul does not yet have boldness in prayer because it has not overcome the passions dare to say that his soul has loved to love God? There is no way for divine love to arise in the soul, which you are mysteriously following in solitude, if the soul has not overcome the passions. Yet you said that your soul has not overcome the passions, and has loved to love God: in this there is no order. He who says that he has not overcome the passions yet loves to love God does not know what he is saying. You will answer: I did not say “I love,” but “I love to love.” And this has no place if the soul has not attained to purity. And if you wish to speak an ordinary word, then not you alone speak it, but everyone speaks that they desire to love God; and this is spoken not only by Christians but also by those who worship God falsely. Every person speaks this word ordinarily. But with such words only the tongue moves, while the soul does not feel what is being spoken. Many sick people do not even know that they are sick. Malice is the sickness of the soul, and delusion is the loss of truth. Very many, infected with these infirmities, proclaim their health, and by many are praised. If the soul is not cured of malice and does not acquire the natural health in which it was created, if it is not born again into health by the Spirit, then it is impossible for a person to desire something supernatural, proper to the Spirit, because a soul, as long as it is in sickness due to passions, is incapable of sensing the spiritual with its sensation and does not know how to desire it, but desires only from hearing and reading the Scriptures.”

“The work of the cross is twofold, according to the composition of nature, divided into two parts. One consists in enduring sorrows with the body, is accomplished by the action of the soul’s power of zeal and is properly called work. The other is acquired by the subtle work of the mind, constant meditation upon God and abiding in prayer, which is accomplished by the power of desire, and is called contemplation. The first, that is, work, purifies the passionate part of the soul by the power of zeal; the second purifies the mental part of the soul by the action of spiritual love or spiritual desire. Each one who, before complete training in the first part, proceeds to the second, carried away by its sweetness—to say nothing of laziness—subjects himself to God’s wrath because, before he has mortified his ‘members which are on the earth’ (Col. 3:5), that is, before he has healed the infirmity of thoughts through patient endurance in practicing cross-bearing, he dares to dream in his mind of the glory of the cross. This is what the ancient Saints meant when they said: ‘If the mind wishes to ascend the cross before the senses are healed of infirmity, then God’s wrath overtakes him. Ascent to the cross brings wrath when it is accomplished not by the first part—by patience in suffering or mortification of the flesh—but by striving toward contemplation, the second part, which has its place after the healing of the soul. Such a one’s mind is defiled by shameful passions and strives toward phantasms and thoughts of self-conceit. The path is blocked for him by a prohibition: because he did not first purify his mind through sorrows, did not subdue fleshly lusts, but from hearing and the letter rushed straight ahead into a path full of darkness, being himself blind. And those whose sight is sound, who are full of light and have acquired teachers filled with grace, even they suffer day and night; their eyes are full of tears; in prayer and weeping they labor day and night because of the dangers of the journey, because of the steep places, more terrible than others, that meet them, because of the images of truth that appear mixed with its deceptive phantasms. The things of God, say the Fathers, come of themselves when you do not expect them. True! But if the place is pure and not defiled.’[8]

He who wishes to approach God for the purpose of serving Him must give himself to the guidance of the fear of God.

The feeling of sacred fear, the feeling of the deepest reverence for God, is shown to us on one hand by the boundless magnitude of God’s Being, and on the other by our extreme limitations, our weakness, our state of sinfulness and fall. Fear is prescribed to us by Holy Scripture, which has begun to replace for us the voice of conscience and the natural law, when they became darkened and began to emit unclear, for the most part false sounds, and which replaced them entirely when the Gospel appeared. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before him with trembling” (Ps. 2:11), the Holy Spirit teaches us; to those submissive to His command He says: “Come, children, listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 33:12); He proclaims the promise to grant the fear of God to those who truly resolve to assimilate themselves to God: “I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer. 32:40). The beginning of the great science—the practical knowledge of God—is the fear of God. This science is called wisdom in Holy Scripture. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding” (Ps. 110:10; Prov. 1:7). “The crown of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, bringing forth peace and good health for healing. The fear of the Lord is glory and boasting, and gladness and a crown of joy. The fear of the Lord is a gift from the Lord and sets one on the paths of love” (Sir. 1:18, 11, 13). By the fear of the Lord we are taught to turn away from sins: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. The fear of the Lord hates evil: pride, and arrogance, and the way of the wicked. Be afraid of the Lord all day long” (Prov. 14:27, 8:13, 23:17). By the fear of the Lord we are instructed in the path of God’s commandments: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands; his children will be mighty in the land” (Ps. 111:1, 2). “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him” (Ps. 127:1). “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing” (Ps. 33:8, 10).

In vain do those full of self-conceit and self-deception disdain the fear of God as the mark of contemptible slaves, when God Himself calls us to fear, proclaims that He Himself will be our teacher of fear, that He will bestow upon us the spiritual gift of the fear of God. It is not degrading for a human, a wretched creature, fallen, rejected, lost, who has made himself an enemy of God, to pass from the state of enmity and destruction into the state of servitude and salvation. Already this servitude is a great acquisition! Already this servitude is great freedom! Fear is prescribed to us as a means essentially necessary, indispensable for us. Fear purifies man and prepares him for love: we are servants so that we may lawfully become children. According to the measure of our purification by repentance, we begin to sense the presence of God; from the sensing of God’s presence arises the holy sensation of fear. Experience reveals the height of this feeling. High and longed-for is the sensation of the fear of God! When it acts, often the mind dulls its eyes, ceases to utter words, to produce thoughts: with reverent silence, transcending words, it expresses consciousness of its own nothingness and the ineffable prayer born from this consciousness. The holy Isaac the Syrian describes such a state magnificently: “When the humble-minded approaches prayer or is deemed worthy of it, he does not dare to pray to God or ask anything of Him. He does not know what to pray for; he is silent with all his thoughts, awaiting only mercy and the will that shall be spoken of him from that Majesty whom he worships. His face is bowed to the earth, while the inner vision of his heart is lifted to the exalted gates of the Holy of Holies. There dwells He, Whose dwelling is the darkness that dulls the eyes of the Seraphim, Whose goodness moves legions to stand in their ranks, imposing silence on all their orders. His boldness extends only to the following words, only this does he dare to pray: “Lord, let it be to me according to Your will.” The fear of God is a gift from God.[9] As a gift, it is requested in prayer. The holy prophet David desired to receive this gift and therefore implored God: ‘Set your word before your servant in reverence, bind your fear into my flesh’ (Ps. 118:38, 120), that is, my fleshly desires. The fear of the Lord is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which the holy prophet Isaiah enumerates thus: ‘The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord’ (Is. 11:2).

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who by His coming to earth brought peace from God and God’s good pleasure to men, who became the Father of the age to come and the Originator of the holy race of the saved, who calls His children to love and union with Himself, offers, nevertheless as medicine for our corrupted nature, among other remedies, fear. To those who give way to outbursts of anger and hatred He threatens the fiery gehenna; to those who trample on conscience He threatens prison; to those swept away by unclean lusts He threatens eternal torment (Mt. 5:22, 25, 26, 29). To those who do not forgive their neighbors from the sincere heart, He proclaims that neither shall their sins be forgiven (Mt. 6:15). To the lovers of money and pleasure He brings to remembrance death, which may seize them at a time when they do not expect it (Lk. 12:16-20). The feat of martyrdom is exalted: it is inspired and nourished by love. But the Saviour of the world, in the instruction He gave to the martyrs, encourages them to courage and assists them in the feat through fear. “Do not be afraid,” He says, “of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28). “Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Lk. 12:5). To all His followers in general the Lord commanded the saving fear of God, expressed in constant watchfulness and vigilance over oneself. “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,” He said, “like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching” (Lk. 12:35-37). “Therefore keep watch,” He said to all, “because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Mk. 13:37).””

[1] Discourse 28, ch. 45, in the translation of Paisios of Neoametus.

[2] According to the explanation of Venerable Barsanuphius the Great, Reply 158.

[3] Discourse 48.

[4] Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopouloi, ch. 5. The Philokalia, vol. 2.

[5] Callistus and Ignatius, ch. 6.

[6] Discourse 72.

[7] Discourse 5.

[8] Discourse 2

[9] Discourse 49.

A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Majestic is the depiction in the Gospel of Matthew of the second, glorious coming of the Lord, His impartial and fearful judgment over tribes and peoples. This extraordinary picture, presented with extraordinary simplicity and clarity, involuntarily comes alive before the mind’s eye and strikes the heart with fear. Contemplating this picture, one can express the state it brings the soul to in the words of Job: “Terror and dread fell upon me, and greatly shook my bones; and the hair of my flesh” stood on end (Job. 4:14-15). At the coming of judgment for the exiles from heaven, the land of exile and curse—the earth—will blaze, and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll (2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 6:14). The dead of all times and peoples, stirred by the life-giving trumpet—the Word of God—will rise from their graves and form an immense and innumerable multitude (1 Thess. 4:16; Jn. 5:28). The hosts and armies of the holy Angels will come to this fearful spectacle, to this great liturgy. And the fallen angels will stand for judgment. The Son of God will sit on the throne of glory, a glory terrible in its boundless magnitude. All rational creatures will be shaken with fear, seeing their Creator who called them into being from nothingness by one almighty Word. They will stand before that Word, for whom nothing is impossible. They will stand before that Life, outside of which there can be no other life. The Fathers rightly said that at this awesome time all creation, were it not held back by God’s omnipotence and left to itself, would turn to nothingness.[1] The righteous, seeing face to face perfect Righteousness, will consider their own righteousness to have no significance, while sinners, justified by reasoning foreign to the Gospel, will condemn themselves. The fate of all will be decided for eternity. Before this divine judgment comes, the Apostle himself acknowledges that he cannot justify himself, though he knows no sin in himself: because his Judge is God (1 Cor. 4:4). All the saints, during the time of their earthly pilgrimage, often bring to mind through pious remembrance and meditation Christ’s fearful judgment—and through timely saving fear they guard themselves against the fear that will be aroused in the damned by despair; through timely self-judgment they strive to gain timely acquittal, through weeping to avert weeping. Brethren! We need, we must have, we weak and sinful ones, frequent remembrance of the second coming and Christ’s fearful judgment: such remembrance is the most secure preparation. Fearful is that Judgment which awaits all humanity after the general resurrection, and fearful is also the judgment which awaits each person after his death. The consequences of both judgments are either desirable or disastrous. If earthly judges, dealing with what is merely corruptible and temporal, arouse our solicitude, how much more should the judgment of God concern us! For what other purpose did the Lord reveal it to us so clearly, if not to arouse in us the salvation-bringing fear that can protect us from a sinful, careless life, which is the condition of our destruction? The venerable Elias, an Egyptian monk who lived in silence in the Theban desert, used to say: “Three times terrify me: the time of the soul’s departure from the body, the time of God’s judgment, and the time of the pronouncement that will be made about me by God.”[2]

Is there need to warn that the teaching of all the holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church concerning the fear of God is in accord with the teaching of Holy Scripture, when the teaching of Holy Scripture serves as the source for the teaching of the Fathers, when both these teachings have one source—the Holy Spirit? “‘The fear of God is the beginning of virtue,’” says the holy Isaac the Syrian. “It is affirmed that it is the offspring of faith and is sown in the heart when the mind withdraws itself from the cares of this world to gather its wandering thoughts from dispersion to constant meditation on the future restoration… Be wise and lay the fear of God as the foundation of your journey, and in but a few days you will find yourself at the gates of the Kingdom, without being troubled by a prolonged journey.” Among the teachings of Venerable Pimen the Great we read the following:[3] “‘We need humble-mindedness and the fear of God as much as we need breath. Three main practices of the monk: to fear God, to pray to God, and to do good to one’s neighbor. When bees are driven by smoke from the hive, then their sweet labor is taken away: so also fleshly pleasure drives the fear of God from the soul and destroys all its good work. The beginning and end of the spiritual path is the fear of the Lord.’ Scripture says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 110:10). And again, when Abraham had built an altar, the Lord said to him: “Now I know that you fear God” (Gen. 22:12). To the question of a brother, who says: “I am a friend to all who fear you” (Ps. 118:63), the Great One answered: “The Holy Spirit speaks this of Himself.” He also transmitted the saying of the holy Anthony the Great about Venerable Pamen, that by means of the fear of God Pamen made himself the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. ““The beginning of our salvation,”” says Venerable Cassian the Roman, “is the fear of the Lord. By it both the beginning of conversion is furnished and purification from passions is achieved, and the preservation of virtues in those who are instructed in the path of perfection.[4] When it penetrates into the human heart, it gives birth in it to contempt for all material things, forgetfulness of kinsmen and hatred of the world itself.” In this same Discourse, explaining the commandment of the Lord: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10:38), Venerable Cassian reasons thus:[5] ““Our cross is the fear of the Lord. As one who is crucified can no longer turn or move his limbs according to his will, so too must we direct our will and desires not according to what is pleasant and amusing to us at the present time, but according to the Law of the Lord, to what He commands. As one nailed to the cross of wood no longer gazes at the present, does not think of his attachments: he is not distracted by cares and solicitudes about tomorrow; in him no desire acts to acquire possessions; he is not inflamed by any pride or quarrelsomeness; he does not sorrow over present dishonors, does not remember those past; although he yet breathes in the body, he considers himself already dead in every respect, directing the gaze of his heart to where he does not doubt he will pass: so too must we be crucified by the fear of the Lord to all this, that is, we must be dead not only to fleshly passions, but to their very roots, our soul’s eyes directed to where we should hope to be transported every moment. Thus we can acquire the mortification of all our lusts and fleshly attachments.”” It is easily seen that the crucifixion upon the cross of the fear of God described here by Venerable Cassian is what is called by Isaac the Syrian the work, consisting, in the Apostle’s words, of crucifying the flesh ‘with its passions and desires’ (Gal. 5:24), which makes up the first half of the spiritual path leading the Christian to the perfection destined for him.[6]

Holy Scripture, which teaches us that “the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever” (Ps. 18:10), also says, “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 Jn. 4:18). This apparent contradiction at first glance the holy Fathers explain thus: “There are two fears: one is introductory, the other is perfect; one is proper to those beginning to be pious, so to speak, the other constitutes the possession of the perfect Saints who have attained to the measure of love. For example: he who fulfills the will of God out of fear of punishment is, as we have said, still a beginner: he does not yet do good for good itself, but out of fear of punishment. Another, however, fulfills the will of God out of love for God itself, and loving God’s will properly, fulfills it in order to please God. Such a one knows what true good is! Such a one has learned what it means to be with God! Such a one has true love, which the Saint calls perfect. This love brings him into perfect fear: because such a one fears and preserves faithfulness to God’s will not out of fear of punishment, not in order to avoid (eternal) torment, but because, as we have said, having tasted the very sweetness of being with God, he fears falling away, fears losing it. By this perfect fear, acting on account of love, the introductory fear is driven out. Therefore it is said: Perfect love drives out fear.”[7] However, it is impossible to attain to perfect fear except through introductory fear.” The very greatness of God brings holy, reverent fear upon those rational creatures of God who, on account of their purity and holiness, have been deemed worthy of the closest standing before God. “God is awesome in the great assembly; he is more awesome than all those around him” (Ps. 88:8).

Should we then, because we are sinners, not love God at all? No! Let us love Him, but in the way He commanded us to love Him; let us strive with all our strength to attain to holy love, but by the path shown to us by God Himself. Let us not surrender ourselves to the beguiling and flattering delusions of self-conceit! Let us not kindle in our heart the flame of lust and vanity, so abominable before God and so pernicious for us! God commands to love Him in the following manner: “Remain in my love,” He says. “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love: just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love” (Jn. 15:9-10). The Son of God Himself, having become incarnate, showed the image of this manner of life and struggle, “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Let us reject the pride that ascribes virtues to us; let us embrace the humility that reveals to us our fall and sinfulness. Let us prove our love of Christ by obedience to Christ; let us prove our love of God the Father by obedience to the Son of God, who “did not speak on my own,” but told us what the Father commanded Him to tell, whose “commands lead to eternal life” (Jn. 12:49, 50). “He who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (Jn. 14:21, 23-24). Fulfillment of the Saviour’s commandments is the sole sign of love for God accepted by the Saviour. “For this reason all those who pleased God pleased Him in no other way than by abandoning their own righteousness, corrupted by the fall, and striving after the righteousness of God set forth in the teaching and commandments of the Gospel. In God’s righteousness they found the love hidden from fallen nature. And the Lord, having commanded much about love, commanded first to seek God’s righteousness, knowing that it is the mother of love.”[8] If we desire to acquire love for God, let us love the Gospel commandments: let us sell our lusts and attachments, let us purchase at the price of self-denial the field—our heart, which without this purchase cannot belong to us; let us cultivate it by the commandments and find hidden upon it the heavenly treasure—love (Mt. 13:44).

What awaits us in this field? Toils and sorrows await us; the adversary awaits us, who will not easily yield to us victory over himself; there awaits us, in opposition to us, the sin that lives in us. It lives in the mind, it lives in the heart, it lives in the body. A strenuous struggle is needed to bend the proud and blind mind into obedience to Christ’s commandments. When the mind submits to Christ, a new struggle begins: the agreement of a corrupted, stubborn heart with Christ’s teaching, the submission of the heart to Christ’s teaching, to which it is hostile. Finally, if the mind and heart come into a state of obedience to Christ, there must also be drawn into it the clay appointed for heaven, the body. Each step in our invisible struggle is marked by labor, marked by suffering, sprinkled with the sweat of strenuous self-violence. Now we conquer, now we are conquered; now hope appears for the breaking of our captivity, now again we see that our chains are strong, weakened not at all by the means we thought would weaken them. We are cast down by both natural infirmity and infirmity of will, and by the darkening of reason wrought by our former sinful life, and by the confusion of heart that has acquired vicious habits, and by the pull of the body that has tasted bestial pleasures and become infected with lust for them; we are assailed by fallen spirits wishing to hold us in bondage. Behold the narrow and sorrowful path, strewn with thorns, along which the prayerful weeping of the sinner before God, aided by deeds of repentance, deeds of humility, fulfillment of Gospel commandments, inspired by the fear of God, leads the sinner to reconciliation with God.

The union of the fear of God with divine love is magnificently depicted by the Spirit-bearing Fathers Isaac the Syrian and Symeon the New Theologian. We adorn our poor discourse with their graceful words. “Repentance,” says the holy Isaac, “has been given to mankind as grace upon grace. Repentance is our second birth from God. We await that through repentance we shall be granted that of which we have received the pledge through faith. Repentance is the door of mercy, opened wide to those who seek it earnestly. Through this door we enter God’s mercy; apart from this entrance we shall not find mercy: for all have sinned and are justified freely by his grace” (Rom. 3:23-24). Repentance is the second grace, and is born in the heart from faith and fear. Fear is the paternal rod that guides us until we reach the spiritual paradise of goods; when we reach there, it leaves us and departs. Paradise is the love of God, in which is the enjoyment of all blessedness, where the blessed Paul was nourished with supernatural food. Having tasted there from the tree of life, he cried out: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Tasting from this tree was forbidden to Adam by the snare set by the devil. The tree of life is the love of God, from which Adam fell, and joy no longer greeted him, but he labored and toiled on earth full of thorns. Those deprived of God’s love, even if they walk rightly, eat the bread of their labors, which was commanded to eat the first-created after his fall. As long as we do not find love, our work on this thorny earth; we sow and reap amid thorns. Though our sowing were the sowing of righteousness, yet every hour we are wounded by thorns, and however much we labor for righteousness, we live in the sweat of our face. But when we find love, then we are nourished with heavenly bread, strengthened without labor and toil. Christ is “the bread that came down from heaven and which anyone eats will live forever” (Jn. 6:51, 33). This is the food of Angels. He who has found love tastes Christ every day and every hour. “Whoever eats of this bread,” He says, “which I shall give, will live forever” (Jn. 6:51). Blessed is he who eats the bread of love, which is Jesus. And that he who has love for food has Christ for food, He who is God above all, is testified to by John, who says: “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). Furthermore, he who lives in love enjoys the life flowing from God, and while in this world already here breathes the air of resurrection. In this air the righteous delight after the resurrection. Love is that Kingdom, a mystical tasting of which the Lord promised the Apostles. What does He mean by: “eat and drink at my table in my kingdom” (Lk. 22:30), but love? This love is sufficient to feed a human, in place of food and drink. It is “wine” that “gladdens the human heart” (Ps. 103:15). Blessed is he who has drunk this wine. The intemperate drank it and became reverent; sinners drank it and forgot their paths of stumbling; drunkards drank it and became fasters; the rich drank it and desired poverty; the poor drank it and were enriched in hope; the sick drank it and became strong; the ignorant drank it and became wise. As it is impossible to cross a great sea without a ship: so no one can attain to love without fear. The foul sea that lies between us and the intelligible paradise we can cross in the ship of repentance, having fear as its oarsmen. If these oarsmen—fear—do not guide the ship of repentance on which we cross the sea of the world to God, then we drown in the foul sea. Repentance is the ship; fear is its helmsman; love is the divine harbor. Fear brings us into the ship of repentance and carries us across the putrid sea of life, directing us to the divine harbor, to love, toward which strive “all you who are weary and burdened” (Mt. 11:28) by repentance. If we have attained to love, then we have attained to God; our journey is complete: we have arrived at the island of that peace where the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit dwell.

The title of the Second Discourse in the book of the holy Symeon, written in verse, contains the substance of our entire Discourse, and we therefore place this title first: “From fear is born love; yet through love fear is uprooted from the soul, and there remains in the soul one love alone, being the Divine and Holy Spirit.” The Saint begins his Discourse thus: “How shall I sing, how shall I glorify, how shall I worthily praise my God who has overlooked my many sins? How shall I look toward heaven? How shall I open my eyes? How shall I open my mouth, Father? How shall I move my lips? How shall I stretch my hands to the heights of heaven? What words shall I devise? What utterances shall I bring forth? How shall I dare begin to speak? How shall I ask forgiveness for my immeasurable transgressions, my many sins? Truly I have done deeds that deserve no forgiveness whatsoever. You know, Saviour, of what I speak! I have surpassed all nature, I have done things below nature; I have shown myself worse than the speechless beasts, worse than all sea creatures, worse than all earth’s cattle, truly worse than reptiles and wild beasts, transgressing Your commandments more than the speechless, defiling my body and dishonoring my soul. How shall I appear to You? How shall I see You? How shall I dare to stand, wretched one, before Your face? How shall I not flee from Your glory, from the light by which Your Holy Spirit blazes? How shall I not go into darkness alone, having done the works of darkness? And I shall be cut off from the multitude of the Saints! How shall I bear Your voice, sending me into darkness? Bearing from hence the condemnation of my deeds, I am wholly terrified, I wholly tremble. Seized by fear and dread, I cry out to You: My Saviour! I know that no one other than I has sinned before You, nor have committed the deeds which I, wretched one, have committed. I have been the cause of the destruction of others too. Yet know this again, of this I have been assured, my God, that neither the greatness of my sins, nor the multitude of my transgressions, nor the uncleanness of my deeds shall ever surpass Your compassionate and great, exceeding great, exceeding word and exceeding thought mercy, which You pour forth abundantly upon those who sin and repent with fervor. You cleanse them and illumine them, and make them sharers of light, making them without envy partakers of Your Godhead. You often converse with them as with Your true friends, a thing wonderful to Angels and incomprehensible to human thought. O boundless goodness! O inexplicable love! Therefore do I bow down and cry out to You! As You received the prodigal and the harlot who came to You, so receive me, Merciful One, one who repents from the heart. Esteeming, my Christ, the drops of my tears as springs flowing unceasingly, wash with them my soul. Wash with them the defilement of my body wrought by the passions; wash my heart of all malice: it is the root and source of all sin. Malice is the sowing of the evil sower. Where it dwells, there it germinates and shoots up in height and produces many branches of malice and wickedness. Root out its roots from the depths, my Christ, and cleanse the fields of my soul and heart. Merciful One! Plant in them Your fear. Grant that it may be rooted and grow sufficiently, that it may grow high, guarded by the keeping of Your commandments, multiplying hour by hour, and in multiplying producing flowing streams of tears. Watered by them ever more and more, it grows and rises up. Together with fear, proportionately to it, humility grows. All the passions yield to humility, and with them the host of demons is driven away. All the virtues are perceived as following it, surrounding it like a queen, like a mistress, guardians, companions and servants. When they gather and join themselves to one another, then blooms in their midst, like a tree by the springs of water, Your fear, planted by You, and little by little it produces a strange flower. I said strange, because all nature brings forth according to its kind, and the seed of all trees is in each according to its kind; but Your fear produces both a flower strange to nature, and a fruit similarly strange and foreign to itself. This fear is by nature full of lamentation, and causes those who have acquired it to lament unceasingly, as slaves deserving of many punishments, as those awaiting at every hour the stroke of death, seeing the scythe of death, not knowing the hour of death, having neither hope nor assurance in complete forgiveness, but trembling at the end, terrified by the outcome, in the uncertainty of the judgment that shall come upon the trial, O my God. The flower produced by fear is inexplicable in appearance, still more inexplicable in form. It is seen blooming, but immediately hides itself, which is unnatural and out of order, which is beyond nature, exceeding all nature. Yet the flower appears beautiful, exceeding all word, captivating my whole mind to its vision, not permitting me to remember anything of what fear imparts knowledge of, but producing in me then a forgetting of all this, and it flies away quickly. The tree of fear again remains without flower. And I grieve, and sigh, and cry out to You vehemently! And again I see the flower on the branches of the tree! O my Christ! With my gaze fixed on this one flower, I do not then see this tree. But the flower appears more frequently and, drawing all of me to itself in desire, ends in the fruit of love. Again this fruit does not allow itself to remain on the tree of fear. Rather—when it ripens, then it is seen alone, without the tree. Fear is not found at all in love, just as, in contrast to this, the soul bears no fruit without fear. Truly a wonder surpassing word, exceeding all understanding! The tree with difficulty blooms and bears fruit, yet the fruit, on the contrary, uproots all the tree, and the fruit remains, remains alone. How fruit without tree? I cannot explain it. Yet it remains, yet it is, this love without the fear that gave birth to it. This Love is truly the greatest joy, fills its possessor with gladness and spiritual delight, expels him outside the world in his perception, which fear cannot do in any way. Being within the visible and within the sensible, how can fear that someone possesses place him far from all and unite all in him with the invisible by means of (spiritual) perception? Truly in no way. This flower and fruit, produced by fear, are outside this world. Do they even now captivate the soul, and lift it up, and place it outside this world? How, tell me, does this love place one outside the world? I wished to learn this precisely. It is inexplicable: Love is the Divine Spirit.”

[1] Venerable Nilus of Sora, Discourse 7.

[2] The Alphabetical Patericon and Memorable Sayings.

[3] Discourse 1.

[4] The Alphabetical Patericon.

[5] Cassian, lib. IV. De institutis, renunciation, ch. XXXIX.

[6] Ch. 35.

[7] Venerable Abba Dorotheus, Instruction 4 on the Fear of God.

[8] Venerable Macarius the Great, Discourse 37, ch. 2, 3.

A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

In what manner does the change itself occur in the heart? In what manner does it accomplish the incomprehensible transition from fear to love? We shall present the answer from the holy experience of God’s saints. Our contemporary and countryman, the ornament and glory of later monasticism, George, the recluse of the Zadonsk Monastery, a man who has attained Christian perfection, speaks thus of himself in an edifying conversation, trusting to his neighbor: “I wish to say a few words about the essence of love. It is the finest fire itself, surpassing all mind and lighter than any mind. The actions of this fire are swift and wondrous, they are sacred and are poured out upon the soul from the Holy, Omnipresent Spirit. This fire has only to touch the heart, and every disquieted thought and feeling is instantly transformed into quietness, into humility, into joy, into sweetness surpassing all else. I have been frank with you regarding much about myself: I intend to be frank as well. I have spent here, in my seclusion, it seems now six years, when the Lord was pleased to bring my heart into perfect contrition. Then I thought that I had already perished and that God’s wrath would burn my transgressing soul, despondent and negligent… I fell into great weakness and barely breathed, but unceasingly repeated in my heart: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Suddenly, in one instant, all weakness fell away, and the fire of pure love touched my heart: I was wholly filled with strength, feelings, agreeableness, and inexplicable joy; I was so ravished that I already wished for myself to be tormented, torn, mocked; I wished this in order to keep in myself the sweet fire of love toward all. It is so powerful and sweet that there is neither bitterness nor offense that it does not transform into sweetness. The more wood you add to a fire, the stronger the fire becomes: so the sorrows and sorrows inflicted by men act upon us. The more attacks, the more the heart burns with holy love. And what freedom, what light! There are no words to explain: I would rejoice if someone deprived me of my eyes so I would not see the vain light; I would be glad if someone took me like a criminal and walled me up, so I would not hear a voice, not see a human shadow…” “Love,” says the holy Isaac the Syrian, “knows no shame, and therefore cannot provide its members the appearance of decorum.[1] It is natural to love to reject shame and forget its measure. Blessed is he who has found you—harbor of infinite joy!”[2]

The blessing of God comes of itself at a time when we do not expect it and do not hope to receive it. But that God’s good pleasure may come to us, we need to make ourselves clean by repentance beforehand. In repentance are combined all God’s commandments. Through repentance the Christian is first led into the fear of God, then into divine love.

Let John, the virgin and theologian, the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 21:20), recline on the breast of Jesus. Let the other Saints of God join him, the confidants of holy love! This is not our place. Our place is in the multitude of the leprous, the infirm, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the demon-possessed. We belong to their number by the state of our souls, and in their number we shall draw near to our Saviour. With them the Mother Church places us, putting into the mouths of her children tender, penetrated with the feeling of consciousness of our sinfulness, prayers of the akathist to the Most Sweet Jesus. Our spiritual Mother gives us the proper position, so that we may the more surely receive mercy. The Lord adopted us as His own through holy baptism; but we have violated the sacred covenant with Him by the violation of His holy commandments, by an adulterous union with abominable sin. “Rulers of Sodom, people of Gomorrah” (Is. 1:10), thus the Lord calls the people, after it had fallen into lawlessness, that very people about which He had announced before: “The Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance” (Deut. 32:9).

The prodigal son, having squandered his father’s property in a distant land and having been subjected to unspeakable calamities, when he began to reflect upon returning to his father, was directed by his most calamitous state and the great wealth of his father to devise the most prudent course of action for himself. “I will set out,” he said, reflecting on his intention, “and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (Lk. 15:18-19). The humility that formed in his thoughts, the son realized in deed: “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him” (Lk. 15:20). So too must we, having lost in vain and sinful pursuits the beauty of adoption given us by the Heavenly Father, when we resolve to turn to Him, approach the throne of His glory and majesty with deep humility, with reverent fear. Our first act must be the consciousness and confession of our sins, the abandonment of a sinful life, the entrance into life according to the Gospel commandments. The soul of our prayers and other pious efforts must be the feeling of repentance. From the fullness of conviction we must consider ourselves unworthy of love, unworthy of the name of sons and daughters of God. “Make me,” says the repentant prodigal son, “like one of your hired servants,” laboring in the field of repentance, under the oversight of a stern overseer—fear. Let us not seek what the acquisition of which does not depend on us, for which we are not yet mature. As long as, like the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, we are “under authority”; as long as we are dominated by sin and fallen spirits, let us testify and confess with the prudent centurion: “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Mt. 8:8). You are most pure and most holy, and rest only in the pure and holy; but I, defiled, am “not worthy that you should enter under my roof.”

“I think,” says the holy Isaac, “that as a son does not doubt his father and does not ask him, saying: Teach me a craft, or give me this or that, so neither should a monk reason and ask of God—give me this or that. He knows that God cares for us more than a father cares for his son. Therefore we must humble ourselves, weep for the causes of our involuntary sins, committed by us either in thoughts or in deeds, and from a broken heart say in the words of the publican: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Lk. 18:13). As a sick son of a king does not say to his father: Make me king—but applies care to his infirmity, and upon recovering, his father’s kingdom becomes his kingdom of itself: so too the repenting sinner, receiving the health of his soul, enters with the Father into the land of pure nature and reigns in the glory of his Father. Amen.”[3]

1844, Sergius Hermitage.

*) devices—cunning intentions, snares.

[1] Letters of the Recluse George, vol. 2, letter 37, edition of 1860.

[2] Discourse 89.

[3] St. Isaac the Syrian. Discourse 55.

The Judgments of God

The Judgments of God (Part 1)

There is no blind chance! God governs the world, and all that is accomplished in heaven and below heaven is accomplished by the judgment of the wise and almighty God, incomprehensible in His wisdom and omnipotence, incomprehensible in His governance.

God governs the world: His rational creatures must submit to Him, and His servants must contemplate reverently, must glorify in wonder and bewilderment His management, transcending their understanding, His majestic governance!

God governs the world. Sinners blinded do not see this governance. They have contrived a senseless chance: the absence of regularity in their view, the dullness of their vision, a vision clouded, a vision perverted, they do not perceive; they ascribe to God’s governance an absence of order and meaning; they blaspheme God’s governance, and the wise action they recognize and call a foolish action.

“The Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth,” (Ps. 104:7) proclaims the royal Prophet. “The ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Ps. 18:10). In them there is nothing unjust! In them there is nothing unreasonable! They are justified by their consequences, by their spiritual fruits; they are justified by the perfection of the all-perfect Source from which they flow.

“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your people within you” (Ps. 147:1, 2). The Orthodox Church alone is able to praise God with praise well-pleasing to Him; only her true children, faithful to her—to her dogmatic and moral tradition—are able to inherit the blessing. “God, who proclaims his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel” (Ps. 147:8. Gen.Both by Jacob and by Israel was the Israelite people named here, after the name of their patriarch, who at birth was named Jacob and was renamed Israel after he was granted the vision of God. In the spiritual sense Israelites are those Christians who have attained considerable spiritual advancement. 32:28), reveals the teaching of salvation to all members of the Orthodox Church; but the mystery of Gospel truth and the mystery of His judgments He reveals, insofar as it can be comprehended, only to the chosen ones deemed worthy to see God with a pure mind in His providence and governance. “He has not dealt thus with any other nation;” God “his ordinances he has not made known to them” (Ps. 147:9).

The vision of God’s judgments is a spiritual vision. The Divine grace raises, in its own time, to this vision the mind of the Christian who struggles rightly.[1] To the spiritual vision of the mind corresponds the heart’s spiritual, holy feeling, with which it is watered like with a drink sweet and fragrant, which pours into it both nourishment, and courage, and joy. I look upon Your judgments, my Lord: “Your judgments are a great deep” (Ps. 35:7). The depth of them cannot be investigated by either the human mind or the angelic mind, just as our sensory eye cannot discern the vault of heaven, concealed behind the transparent, boundless azure of it.

Right and precise fulfillment of God’s will is impossible without knowledge of God’s judgments. What are God’s commandments? They are God’s will, declared by God to men for guidance in actions depending on their choice. What are God’s judgments? They are the actions or permissions of God’s will, upon which human choice has no influence whatsoever. It is evident that, for complete fulfillment of God’s will by man, it is necessary for man to stand in a right relationship both to God’s commandments and to God’s judgments. “I have guarded the ways of the Lord”, says the true servant of God, “for all his ordinances were before me, and I did not turn aside from his ordinances” (Ps. 17:22-23). “Teach me, O Lord, your statutes,” my Lord “and I will observe them to the end” (Ps. 118:108). “I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances” (Ps. 118:7).

“When the wicked rose up against me”, I had “no God before me, their paths have become crooked; your ordinances have been removed” “from before me” (Ps. 9:25-26). Neglect of God’s commandments necessarily joins with the rejection of God’s governance of the world and God’s providence over the world: neglect of God’s commandments flows from this rejection as a natural consequence. The ruler of the universe, the ultimate cause of all that is accomplished in human society and with each person individually, the deliberate, intentional sinner recognizes either human reason or blind, senseless chance. This sinner, by the very manner of his thoughts, by the disposition of his soul, stands in a relationship hostile to the Lord, hostile to His holy Gospel; this sinner fearlessly tramples upon all God’s commandments and fearlessly satisfies all his vicious desires.

For one who recognizes no God in God’s providence, there is no God in God’s commandments either. Whoever has seen God in the governance of His world, whoever has been moved to reverence before this governance, whoever has been moved to reverence before God’s judgments—only he can “bind the fear of the Lord upon his flesh” (Ps. 118:120): crucify his sinful and materialistic will and understanding on the cross of Gospel commandments. To see God in His providence, purity of mind, heart, and body is needed. To acquire purity, life according to the Gospel commandments is needed. From the vision of God’s judgments is born in double abundance the mother of this vision—a pious life.

God governs the universe; He also governs the life of each person in all its particulars. Such governance, entering into the most minute, seemingly worthless conditions of the existence of creatures, corresponds to God’s infinite perfect properties. The law of such governance is read in nature, is read in the public and private life of humans, is read in Holy Scripture. “Are not two sparrows” sold for a penny? “Yet not one of them will fall” “to the ground” “without your Father knowing”. “But even the” “hairs of your head are all counted” (Mt. 10:29-30). “You,” beloved and faithful servants of God, “Your judgment goes forth from my presence” (Ps. 16:2)! I wholly belong to You! My life and death rest every hour in Your hands! In all my deeds, in all my circumstances You participate: You help me in pleasing You; You are patient with me in my willful, sinful, foolish actions. Your right hand constantly directs me into Your way! Without the aid of this right hand, long ago I would have lost my way hopelessly, would have perished irrevocably. You, alone able to judge a person, judge me, and resolve my fate forever by Your righteous judgment, by Your unspeakable mercy. I am Yours even before my birth, and in my birth, and beyond the limits of my earthly life and pilgrimage!

God’s judgments are all that is accomplished in the universe. All that is accomplished is accomplished as a result of God’s judgment and determination. Nothing is accomplished in secret from God and in independence from Him, nor can it be. One thing is accomplished according to God’s will; another is accomplished according to God’s permission; all that is accomplished is accomplished by God’s judgment and determination. For this reason God’s judgments are often called God’s judgment in Scripture. God’s judgment is always righteous; “You are righteous, O Lord,” says the Prophet, “and your judgments are right” (Ps. 118:137).

By God’s will were created the visible and invisible worlds; man was created and redeemed; all events, public and private, have been and are being accomplished, from which shines forth, like the sun from heaven, God’s goodness, God’s omnipotence, God’s wisdom. By God’s permission, by the will of creatures, evil appeared with all its consequences: by God’s permission, by the angel’s own volition, the angels fell; by his own will man fell; men rejected God and departed from God, redeemed by God’s incarnation; by God’s permission, by the evil will of fallen angels and fallen men, the earth was defiled by the transgressions and impieties of these angels and these men. By God’s permission and judgment, various sorrows and calamities, public and private, have been and will be inflicting punishment upon the universe; by God’s permission and judgment those who have abandoned God, God’s enemies, will be overtaken by eternal torment in the fiery, dark abyss of hell, to which they prepared themselves voluntarily. The Apostle, gazing with a pure mind, with a mind illumined by the rays of holy Truth, gazed upon the inaccessible height of God’s judgments, and, in sacred horror at the vision of these judgments, cried out: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord?” (Rom. 11:33-34).

The Apostle cried this out while discussing the terrible crime, the willful rejection of the Redeemer by the Jews, a rejection so frenzied as to be crowned with monstrous villainy: the murder of the Redeemer. Speaking of the crime of men, which depended entirely on their free will, the Apostle speaks as if the crime had been committed by God. “God has consigned all to disobedience” the Jews (Rom. 11:32). “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear” (Rom.Hardening, insensitivity, blindness of mind and heart. 11:8). God’s permission is called God’s action. He who is limitless in might and authority has as it were limited Himself, without changing the human will, without stopping the actions of humans, which have entered into stubborn resistance, into hardened opposition to the will and action of God. The will of creatures and all their efforts could not have opposed the almighty hand of the Creator. This has not been done. These are God’s judgments. Their comprehension is impossible, as transcending the reason of rational creatures. To investigate what cannot be comprehended is a fruitless labor, devoid of sense. The investigation of God’s judgments is forbidden by God as an undertaking inspired by blind presumption, as an undertaking inspired by a false view of the subject, as an undertaking leading to inevitable delusion, to blasphemy, to the ruin of the soul. We must, following the example of the Apostle, see and contemplate God’s judgments with the eye of faith, the eye of spiritual understanding, and, not permitting ourselves fruitless judgments according to human principles, immerse ourselves reverently in sacred bewilderment, in sacred spiritual darkness, which is at once a wondrous light, “by which God is hidden from both human and angelic intellectual vision” (Ps. 17:12).

“Evil has no essence,” said the Fathers, “it appears from our neglect of virtue, and disappears from our diligence in virtue.” Evil, being a lack of good, can pertain only to limited rational creatures, in whom good is limited.[2] A lack has no place in the infinite, nor does it have approach to it. God is infinite, and His goodness is infinite. The infinite by its nature is not diminished by any numerical subtraction from it and is not increased by any such addition to it. Neither the evil nor the good of creatures has any influence or can have any influence on God or on His actions. God’s judgments stand at an inaccessible and inviolable height; they stand at a height independent of the actions of both demons and men. The action of God remains with its own proper character and significance, regardless of what might be the nature of human and demonic action joined in appearance in one action with God’s action.

“A striking image of such action is presented by a great event”: the suffering and death of the God-man. On one hand, to these sufferings and this death the incarnate God was pleased to subject Himself according to His all-holy will: on the other hand, the Jewish high priests, guided likewise by their own will, subjected the incarnate God to the most humiliating insult, to cruel torments and to shameful death. In the crime of men demons participated, as the principals of the crime (Jn. 13:2-27). Here the action of God was joined in appearance in one action with human and demonic action; but in substance the action differed from action by a most perfect difference. “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. God has so fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer” (Acts 3:14-15, 18). All the Apostles expressed this same thought in the prayer which they pronounced upon hearing of the persecution of the Church that had broken out in Jerusalem. They said in their prayer: “Sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:24-28).

God’s judgments and actions proceed along their own way; human and demonic actions also proceed along their own way. Crimes and villainies cease not to be crimes and villainies in relation to their perpetrators, even though those who commit evil with evil intent are nevertheless only instruments of God’s will. The latter is the consequence of God’s unlimited wisdom, God’s unlimited might, by reason of which creatures, acting according to their free will, at the same time remain constantly in the power of the Creator, not understanding that they fulfill the will of the Creator, not knowing that they do so.

God’s judgments are present and active in the midst of events accomplished by men and demons, as the finest spirit amid matter, not dependent on matter, not constrained by matter, acting upon matter and not subjected to the action of matter. God’s judgments are the almighty action in the universe of the all-perfect God, alone in the strict sense Spirit, filling the universe and all beyond the universe, not encompassed by the universe. The material world, subject to our senses, does not encompass God; nor does the world of spirits, not subject to our senses, encompass God. The actions of God correspond to God, His judgments correspond to Him: and they are not encompassed. Let both men and angels be reverently silent before them! In relation to God, spirits are the same as matter: they differ from God both in essence and in properties, differ by an immeasurable difference, differ as much as gross matter differs.[3] Such is the law for the relationship of the infinite to everything limited and finite. However differently limited things may differ from each other, however much they may grow or diminish, their difference from the infinite does not change and cannot ever change: it is always equal because it is always infinite.

“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come” (Mt. 18:7). This was said by the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. This was said about events which are happening before our eyes and still must happen, in which the all-holy judgments of God blend into one with the criminal and ruinous consequences of sinful, lustful, hostile-to-God human will.

“Such things must come”: by these words the predetermination of God is announced, God’s judgments are announced, incomprehensible to man and beyond the reach of his comprehension. “Woe to the person through whom they come”: by this the wrath of God is announced to the servants, preachers, patrons of sin, to sowers and spreaders of sin in human society, to enemies and persecutors of true knowledge of God and true worship of God. Their disposition and activity have already been condemned by God; thunderous threats have already been pronounced against this disposition and this activity; eternal hell with its dungeons, its terrible tortures and punishments, has already been prepared as retribution for them. But the activity and disposition of men, hostile and opposed to God, have been permitted by God. Such are God’s judgments. Evil, committed by creatures, cannot disturb in God—in perfect Goodness—the inviolable, uninterrupted abiding in His unchangeable properties and dignity, cannot hinder the boundless Wisdom of God from accomplishing its all-holy, almighty will.

What is God’s predetermination? It is a form of expression used by Holy Scripture by which the greatness of God, transcending all expression, is depicted. The concept of predetermination resembles the concept of judgments greatly: the one concept often merges with the other. We shall explain, to the extent we are able, God’s predetermination, of whose existence Holy Scripture testifies (Rom. 9), whose incorrect understanding leads many into the destructive abyss of delusion.

God is not subject to time:[4] time does not exist for God. By the word “time” is expressed a concept that has formed in rational creatures from the impression produced in them by the changes of phenomena in nature. Thus science defines time. “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day” (Gen. 1:5). Thus Scripture presents the origin of the concept of time, entirely in accord with the conclusion of empirical science.[5] It is evident that impressions from without cannot act upon God, otherwise He would not be perfect and would be subject to additions and diminutions, which is not proper to the infinite. Generally there is no time for God: there is for Him neither future time. That which is to come already appears accomplished to the eyes of God, and the otherworldly fate of each man, which must flow as a natural consequence from his earthly, voluntary activity, is already known to God, already determined by God. “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 138:16), all-perfect God! The inspired Prophet confessed this: this must be confessed, by logical necessity, by each person.

“I am predestined! I have no possibility to resist predetermination, to change or destroy God’s predetermination. Why then compel myself to an inexorable, stern Christian virtue? Why subject myself to countless deprivations, and live constantly renouncing life? Let me live as I please and wish! Let me hasten to that which my fantasy attracts me to, drawing before my eyes enchanting pictures! Let me enjoy to satiation all pleasures, even if sinful! With luxury they are scattered throughout the universe, and unbearable curiosity draws me to taste and know them by experience! If I am predestined to be saved, then despite all my depravity, God will save me. If I am destined to perish, then I shall perish, despite all my efforts to acquire salvation.” Such judgment is proclaimed in ignorance of the mysteries of Christianity! It is proclaimed by false reason and carnal wisdom. In it is pronounced fearful, incomprehensible-to-them blasphemy! An unfortunate, utterly mistaken reasoning is recognized and accepted by many as an irrefutable truth: upon it is based a self-willed manner of living, a lawless and dissolute manner of living. Upon an earthly vicious manner of living is based an eternally sorrowful manner of living, an eternally disastrous manner of living in the world beyond.

The false, soul-destroying reasoning about predetermination and fate has arisen from the confusion of actions proper to God alone with human actions. One error necessarily leads to another error; it leads to many errors if made in the initial, originating thought. Man, having confused his action with God’s action, as it were naturally subjected both actions to one law, one judgment, the judgment of his own reason. Thence was opened for him an immense field of delusions. Having set himself as judge of God’s actions, he necessarily ascribed to God the same relationship to good and evil that man has to them. He recognized God’s properties as identical with human properties; he subjected God’s thinking to the laws of human thought: he established and some difference, but a difference not infinite, but some sort of his own, undefined, alien to regularity and sense.

From His beginningless beginning, God has been satisfied and is satisfied with His one Word alone. God’s Word is at once His Thought: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1-2). Such is the property of boundless Mind. By His boundless perfection, God has one and only one Thought, despite the fact that this Thought is expressed in the realm of rational creatures by an innumerable multitude of thoughts. Let us separate ourselves to an infinite distance from both God’s being, and His properties, and His actions: then our judgment concerning the fates and predetermination will gain the necessary foundation. The predetermination of man’s fate is entirely fitting to God according to God’s unlimited perfection of mind, God’s independence from time. Predetermination, showing man the greatness of God, and remaining a mystery known to God alone, does not in any way restrict the free activity of man throughout the entire field of earthly life, has no influence on this activity, no relation to it. Having no influence on man’s activity, God’s predetermination has and cannot have any influence on the consequences of this activity, on man’s salvation or destruction. In guiding our conduct we have been given on one hand reason and free will, on the other—God’s revealed teaching. God’s revealed teaching proclaims with most satisfying detail God’s will regarding the means of salvation, proclaims God’s good pleasure that all men should be saved, proclaims eternal torment for trampling upon God’s will. From this clear consequence follows: man’s salvation and destruction depend solely on his will, not on God’s determination unknown to him.

Why is one born in wealth and nobility, another in poverty, in the midst of people despised and oppressed, condemned to a lifetime of bodily labor in the sweat of the face, deprived of the means for mental development? Why does one die as a decrepit old man, another in the bloom of youth or manhood, another as a child and even as a short-lived infant? Why does one constantly enjoy health and well-being, while another is consumed by illness, beset by sorrows upon sorrows, calamities upon calamities, as if passed from hand to hand? These and similar questions once occupied the mind of the great Egyptian wilderness dweller, Anthony, and the hermit sought in vain for their resolution in his own reason, illumined by divine grace, capable of penetrating into the contemplation of God’s mysteries. When the holy elder grew weary of fruitless reflection, a voice came to him from heaven: “Anthony! These are God’s judgments. Investigation of them is harmful to the soul. Attend to yourself.”[6]

“Attend to yourself,” O man! Enter into the labor and investigation that are essentially necessary for you, that are indispensable. Determine with precision yourself, your relation to God and to all parts of the vast universe known to you. Determine what has been given you to understand, what has been left to your contemplation alone, and what is hidden from you. Determine the degree and limits of your capacity for thought and understanding. This capacity, as the capacity of a limited being, naturally has both its degree and its limits. Human concepts, in their certain forms, science calls complete and perfect, but they always remain relative to human capacity for thought and understanding: they are perfect insofar as man is perfect. Attain to the important knowledge that perfect understanding of anything is unfitting and impossible for a limited mind. Perfect understanding belongs only to a perfect Mind. Without this knowledge, this true and holy knowledge, correctness of position and correctness of activity will constantly be foreign to even the greatest genius. Position and activity are understood here as spiritual, in which each of us is obliged to develop with the development appointed and prescribed for a rational creature by its Creator. Here is not spoken of that temporary position and that temporary activity into which we are placed for the briefest time during our earthly pilgrimage as members of human society.

[1] St. Isaac the Syrian, Discourse 56.

[2] Venerable Abba Dorotheus, Instruction 11.

[3] “Angels,” says Saint John of Damascus, “are called bodiless and immaterial in comparison with us. In comparison with God, the one incomparable, all appears coarse and material.” An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 2, Chapter 3, On Angels. Science, in its contemporary development, defines with complete clarity that all limited things are of necessity also material.

[4] St. John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 2, Chapter 3, On Angels.

[5] Physics.

[6] The Sketic Patericon.

The Judgments of God (Part 2)

It seems: what is nearer to me than myself? What is more known to me than myself? I am constantly with myself; by natural necessity I must constantly attend to myself; I direct my attention to other things insofar as this is necessary for me. Love of myself has been set for me as a law of God to the measure of love for my neighbor. And I, who undertake to know what is distant in the depths of the earth and sea, in the depths below heaven and beyond the vaults of the sky, come to difficulty, to complete bewilderment, I do not know what to answer when I hear the question: who am I, and what am I? Who am I? An entity? But I am subject to extraordinary changes from the day of my conception to the day of my death. An entity, in the full sense, should not be subject to changes; it should constantly display an equal, always identical force of life. There is in me no witness to life which would be wholly contained in me; I am subject to complete exhaustion of vital force in my body: I die. Not only my perishable body is subject to death, but my very soul has not within itself the condition of inviolable life: the sacred tradition of the Orthodox Church teaches me this. The soul, like the Angels, has been granted immortality by God: it is not their own property, not their natural possession.[1] The body, to sustain its life, needs nourishment from air and the products of the earth; the soul, to maintain and preserve its immortality within itself, needs the mysterious action upon it of the Divine hand. Who am I? A phenomenon? But I feel my existence. Someone spent many years reflecting on a satisfying answer to the proposed question, reflecting, penetrating into self-contemplation in the light of the lamp—the Spirit of God. By many years of reflection he has been brought to the following relative definition of man: “man is a reflection of Being, and borrows from that Being the character of being.” God, alone “the One who is” (Ex.St. John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 4, Chapter 13:3:1), is reflected in human life. Thus the sun depicts itself in a pure raindrop. In the raindrop we see the sun; but what we see in it is not the sun. The sun is there, at an unattainable height.

What is my soul? What is my body? What is my mind? What are the feelings of the heart? What are the feelings of the body? What are the powers of soul and body? What is life? Unresolved questions, irresolvable questions! For millennia, mankind has approached the discussion of these questions, endeavored to resolve them, and withdrawn from them, convinced of their irresolvability. What could be more familiar to us than our body? Having sensation, it is subject to the action of all these senses: knowledge of the body should be the most satisfactory, as it is acquired both by reason and by the senses. It is precisely so in regard to knowledge of the soul, its properties and powers, of matters not subject to bodily sensation;[2] yet at the same time it is knowledge that is woefully insufficient in regard to the conditions under which knowledge can be recognized as complete and perfect.

In order to know the meaning of any substance whatsoever, science is obliged to decompose it into constituent, non-decomposable parts, and then from the constituent parts reconstruct the decomposed substance. Knowledge obtained in this way about the substance science accepts as true: suppositions, so long as they are not positively proven, are not admitted into the body of knowledge, into the treasury of science, although human willfulness proclaims them both orally and in print as though they were truths, mocking the ignorance and credulity of mankind.[3] To decompose the human body satisfactorily, it is necessary to do so while the body is still alive. There is no possibility of determining the meaning of life otherwise than by capturing and examining it alone and by itself. The correctness of the decomposition must be proven by the formation of a living body from the constituent parts. This is impossible. We decompose corpses alone, not knowing what life leaves behind in the body it has abandoned and what it carries away with itself.[4] In opening corpses, we become acquainted with the arrangement of the machine hidden within the interior of the body, but a machine no longer capable of movement and action, a machine already deprived of its essential significance. What then do we know of our body? Something that falls far short of complete and perfect knowledge.

Let us make an inquiry to our mind, this chief instrument for acquiring knowledge, that it give us an essential definition of itself—what is it? A power of the soul? But in this we merely express a concept that arose in us from the impressions produced by the actions of the mind; the essence of mind is not determined. We must say precisely the same of the human spirit, that is, of those elevated feelings of the heart of which animals are deprived, the feelings by which the heart of man is distinguished from the heart of animals and which constitute the refined surplus of feeling in the human heart over that in the hearts of animals. The spirit is a power of the soul. How are the powers of the soul united with the soul itself? The manner of union is incomprehensible, just as incomprehensible is the manner of union of the body with its sensations, sight, hearing, and all the various touch. The sensations of the body leave the body when life leaves it, are carried away from it by the departing soul. Thus bodily sensations belong properly to the soul, and when it dwells in the body, they become as it were the sensations of the body. From this flows a necessary natural consequence: the capacity of the soul to feel the same things that the body feels;[5] an affinity of the soul with the body, not that perfect opposition which some have rashly ascribed to the soul and created spirits, which ignorance continues to ascribe to them. There exists among creatures a gradation and the distinction arising from gradation, as also among numbers. The distinction may be very great, but it does not destroy either the affinity or the gradation. In this gradation one thing is coarser in relation to us, another finer; but all that is created, limited, existing in space and time, cannot be foreign to materiality, that inseparable property of all that is limited. Only God is immaterial: He is distinguished from all creatures by a decisive difference; He is opposite to them in essence and properties as the infinite is opposite to numbers, all without exception. This is what we know of our soul, of our mind, of our heart! What then do we know? Something, the most limited something.

Who knows all this with complete satisfaction? God alone! He, by the property of the infinite, has of all things a perfect understanding, free from any deficiency, and He proved such understanding by a perfect proof: the creation out of nothing of countless worlds, visible and invisible to us, known and unknown. It is proper to the infinite to bring into existence what does not exist, what all numbers, however great they may be, are powerless to create. The proof of the boundlessness of the Reason that governs the universe continues to be magnificently expressed in the existence of all that exists.[6] The smallest amount of the laws of creation and existence, and that only in a certain degree, has been grasped by men. And it has been grasped by them also that all of nature is embraced by legislation that surpasses human comprehension. If a mind is needed to grasp a portion of the laws, it is all the more necessary for composing them.

Man! “Attend to yourself”, regard yourself! From a clear understanding of yourself, to the extent that you are able, you will look more clearly and rightly upon all that is subject to your eyes outside yourself. In what manner, by what occasion did I enter into existence and appear upon the course of earthly life? I appeared upon this course involuntarily and unconsciously; I know not the causes of my entering being from non-being. I reflect, I inquire into the cause, and I cannot but confess that I must necessarily recognize it in the determination of an unlimited, unknown, incomprehensible Will, to which I am unconditionally subject. I appeared with the capacities of soul and body, as with appendages: they were given to me—not chosen by me. I appeared with diverse infirmities, as it were already sealed by a sentence; I appeared a sufferer and condemned to suffering. I found myself in circumstances and surroundings which I encountered, or which were prepared for me—I know not which. On the path of earthly pilgrimage I can very rarely act according to my will, fulfill my desire: almost always I am drawn by force by some invisible, almighty Hand, by some current to which I can offer no resistance. Almost constantly there comes to me what is unexpected and unforeseen. I am taken from earthly life most suddenly, without any consent of mine to it, without any regard for my earthly needs, the needs of those around me, whom I believe, and they believe, to be necessary. I am taken from the earth forever, not knowing where I shall go! I am taken in terrible solitude! In a strange land, which I enter through death, I shall meet one thing new, one thing never before seen. To enter a strange land, I must leave upon the earth all that is earthly, must cast off from myself even the body. From thence, from that strange land, I can send no word of myself to the earth: because there is no possibility for anyone, clothed in the envelope of earthly, gross matter, to hear word from thence. My life in this visible world is an unceasing struggle with death; such it is from my cradle and until my grave. I can die daily and hourly, but the day and hour of my death I know not. It is known to me that I shall die; in this there is not and cannot be the least doubt, but I live as though immortal: because I feel myself to be immortal. The presentiment of death has been taken from me, and I would not at all have believed it possible for man to die if I had not seen in all mankind that death is an inevitable lot of every man. The Gospel truly depicts the weakness of our power over ourselves. “However much effort you make”, the Gospel says to man, “you cannot add one cubit to your stature” (Mt 6:27), “and you cannot make a single white hair black” (Mt 5:36).

“Why is it done thus? One cannot fail to confess that much of what is said here is said with palpable justice. The suffering state of mankind on earth, a state that lies before the eyes of all, must have its cause. But how can posterity be guilty of the transgression of its ancestor, removed from posterity and already estranged from posterity? Posterity is punished: this is evident. Why then is it punished, innocent as it is? Why does it bear a terrible eternal punishment? The punishment passes from generation to generation, weighs heavily upon each generation, wipes each generation from the face of the earth after subjecting each generation to innumerable torments. Each generation appears upon the face of the earth unconsciously, involuntarily, by force. Each person enters earthly life without the capacity to act willfully with the faculties which in the infant ought rather to be likened to seeds than to growths. What participation has posterity in the transgression of the ancestor, a participation worthy of such punishments, when there was not and is not even the possibility for posterity to participate in the sin either through some subtle agreement of the heart nor through the slightest turning of the mind? Where is God’s justice here? Where is His goodness? I see only what is contrary to them”. Thus cries out weak man, blinded by sinful, material existence. Thus does he cry out and summon before him for interrogation the judgments of God.

Thus cries out ignorance of God! Thus cries out human pride! Thus cries out man’s ignorance of himself! Thus cry out false notions of himself and of his entire situation! Thus they cry out—and no one hears the cry. By means of such outcries, people, not understanding it, reveal only the disease of self-conceit and self-deception that possesses them: by means of such outcries they expose the consciousness living in them of the capacity and desire in themselves to be rulers of the universe, judges and instructors of God in His governance of the world, and no one grants them the lofty transcendent thrones on which the rebellious angels once wished the rebellious men to sit. Senseless undertaking becomes mired, as in a dark abyss, in its own senselessness, tormenting the victims who have recklessly surrendered to this undertaking, tormenting them with barren torments in the chains of the irresolvable. Events proceed in their course, in the providential order of the universe nothing undergoes change, the judgments of God remain unalterable. The nothingness and self-deception of men is proved to them positively and irrefutably by harsh experience.

The most precise mathematical reasoning explains to man with complete clarity the infinite difference between him and God both in essence and in properties, although for the depiction of the one and the other the same words are used because of the poverty of human language. The infinite is governed by altogether different laws than all that can be depicted by number according to the method of positive science, on which all other sciences are founded, just as the entire structure of man is founded on bones. From this axiom flows another axiom: the actions of the infinite are naturally inaccessible to the comprehension of all possible rational creatures subject to depiction by number. Number, however much it may increase, remains number and differs from the infinite by an infinite difference, by which all numbers equally differ from the infinite. The striving to comprehend what is inaccessible to comprehension is nothing other than the consequence of false knowledge, composed of false concepts. This striving cannot but act in accord with its origin: it must lead to the most ruinous consequences by the nature of all actions proceeding from falsehood. Whence arose this striving? Evidently: from the proud, erroneous opinion about itself, which impels man to attribute to himself a different significance than that which has been given to him in the boundless universe.

I regard myself! And behold what a spectacle appears before me in my self-examination! Thus am I indisputably described, described with true strokes, with living colors, described by experiences themselves, by events themselves from my life! What conclusion must I draw about myself from this depiction? The conclusion that I am by no means a self-existent or independent being, that I am deprived of the most basic, the most vital knowledge about myself. There is a pressing need, there is a necessity, for another to explain me to myself more satisfactorily, to make known to me my destiny, to point out to me proper activity, and thereby protect me from activity without sense and without purpose.

God Himself recognized this pressing need, this necessity. He recognized it and granted to men revealed doctrine, which raises us to knowledge inaccessible to our own comprehension. In the divinely-revealed doctrine God revealed Himself to man, insofar as the limited man can be explained and the unlimited and inexplicable God can be revealed. In the divinely-revealed doctrine God revealed to man the meaning and destiny of man, his relationship to God and to the worlds, visible and invisible. God revealed to man knowledge about man, insofar as this knowledge is accessible to the human mind. Complete and perfect knowledge of man, as of all other creatures, is possessed by one alone, capable of complete and perfect knowledge of all things: the all-perfect God.

The divinely-revealed doctrine, when compared with the knowledge afforded to man by careful self-examination, is confirmed by this knowledge and confirms it. Knowledge, being confirmed by one another, appear before mankind in the bright light of irrefutable truth.

The divinely-revealed doctrine proclaims to me, the experiences of life prove to me, that I am a creation of God. I am the creation of my God! I am a servant of my God, a servant wholly subject to the power of God, embraced and upheld by His power, by power unlimited and sovereign in the true sense of the word. Power consults with no one, power gives no account to anyone of its suppositions and actions: no one, neither from among men nor from among angels, is capable either of offering counsel, or of listening, or of understanding an account. “In the beginning was His Word with God” (Jn 1:2).

I am a servant of my God, despite the fact that I have been given free will and reason for the governance of the will. My will is free almost only in the choice of good and evil: in other respects it is constrained on all sides. I can wish! But my wish, meeting with the opposing will of other men, with the opposite direction of insurmountable circumstances, remains for the most part unfulfilled. I can wish for much, but my own weakness renders fruitless many a multitude of my wishes.

When a wish remains unfulfilled, especially when the wish appears both wise and beneficial and necessary—then the heart is struck with sorrow. In accordance with the significance of the wish, sorrow can intensify, often pass into despondency and even despair. What brings comfort in the terrible times of spiritual distress, when all human help is either powerless or impossible? It is the consciousness of oneself as servant and creature of God alone that brings comfort; this consciousness alone has such power. Scarcely does man say prayerfully to God from all his heart: let Your will be done upon me, my Lord, when the turbulence of the heart is calmed. From these words, sincerely spoken, even the heaviest sorrows lose their dominance over man.

What does this mean? It means that man, having confessed himself to be a servant and creature of God, having surrendered wholly to the will of God, immediately enters with his entire being into the realm of holy Truth. Truth imparts proper disposition to the spirit and to life. One who has entered the realm of Truth, who has submitted to Truth, receives moral and spiritual freedom, receives moral and spiritual happiness. This freedom and this happiness do not depend on men and circumstances.

“If you abide in My word”, the Saviour said to the Jews, “you will truly be My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will free you. Every one who commits sin is a servant of sin. If the Son” of God, who is Himself the Truth, “should free you, you will truly be free” (Jn 8:31-34, 36). Service to sin, to falsehood, to vanity is in the full sense slavery, though it may appear outwardly as brilliant freedom. This slavery is eternal slavery. Only he is completely and truly free who is a true servant of his God.

I plunge even deeper into self-examination, and a new spectacle opens before me. I discern a decisive disorder in my own will, its disobedience to reason, and in reason I discern the loss of the capacity to direct the will properly, the loss of the capacity to act properly. In scattered life this condition is little noticed, but in solitude, when solitude is illuminated by the light of the Gospel, the condition of the disorder of the spiritual powers appears in a vast, gloomy, terrible picture. And it serves as testimony before me that I am a fallen being. I am a servant of my God, but a servant who has angered God, a servant cast off, a servant being punished by the hand of God. Thus both the divinely-revealed Revelation declares me to myself.

My state is a state common to all men. Mankind is a class of beings languishing in diverse misery, punished. It cannot be otherwise! I am surrounded by proofs of this both from without and within me. If I were not an exile on earth, like all my brothers, men, if my earthly life were not a punishment, then why would all of this life be a field of unceasing labor, unceasing conflict, insatiable striving, never and in no way satisfied? Why should earthly life be a path of suffering alone, sometimes operating more strongly, sometimes more weakly, sometimes felt, sometimes suppressed by intoxication with earthly cares and pleasures? Why should there be sicknesses and all other misfortunes, both private and public? Why should there be in human society quarrels, offenses, murders? Why should there be all the varied evil, tirelessly warring against good, oppressing and persecuting good, almost always triumphing over good? Why is every person internally poisoned by the passions, tormented by them far more than by external sorrows? Why should there be death, devouring pitilessly all? What is this phenomenon—generations succeeding one another, arising from non-being, entering into life for a brief span, sinking again forever into the unknown?

What is this phenomenon—the activity of each generation on earth, as though eternal upon it? What is this phenomenon—this activity constantly contradicting itself, constantly building with effort, building on streams of human blood, as it were on cement, constantly destroying its own work with the same effort, with the same bloodshed?… The earth is a vale of exile, a vale of unceasing disorder and confusion, a vale of temporary suffering habitation of beings that have lost their primeval dignity and dwelling, that have lost their right mind. In countless ways do people suffer in this dark and deep vale! They suffer both under the burden of poverty and in abundance of wealth, they suffer both in poor hovels and in magnificent royal palaces, they suffer from calamities from without and from that terrible disorder that afflicts the nature of each person within himself, that has smitten both his soul and his body, by which his mind has been perverted and blinded.

Thus do I surmise about myself! To such indisputable, palpable conclusions do the experiences of my life and all that has occurred and is occurring over all mankind lead me. Thus the divinely-revealed Revelation depicts me, depicts with greater clarity, opening to me the gates into the realm of knowledge by the gift of my God, gates locked, which I could only reach, before which I could only stand by the action of my own reasoning. It is proclaimed by divinely-revealed Revelation that the first man was created by God out of nothing, created in the beauty of spiritual refinement, created immortal, free from evil. This proclamation cannot but be just: I feel myself immortal, and evil is foreign to me; I hate it, I am tormented by it, I am led astray by it, as by a flatterer and as by a tyrant. The first man created on earth was taken into the division of heaven called paradise. Here, amidst uninterrupted blessedness, he poisoned himself willfully by tasting evil, and with himself he poisoned and destroyed all his offspring. Adam—thus was this man called—was smitten by death, that is by sin, which irrevocably disarranged human nature, rendering it incapable of blessedness. Killed by this death, yet not deprived of being, a death all the more terrible for being felt, he was cast down to the earth in chains: in gross, full-of-suffering flesh, transformed into such from the passionless, holy, spiritual body. The earth was cursed because of man’s transgression: it, having lost its primeval state (Gen 2:5-6), was transformed into the state that the dwelling of those exiled from heaven for trampling the commandment of God in heaven should have. We encounter hostility toward us of all visible nature at every step! At every step we encounter its reproach, its condemnation, its refusal to comply with our behavior! Before man, who rejected obedience to God, even the soulless and ensouled creation rejected obedience! It was obedient to man so long as he remained obedient to God! Now it obeys man by force, resists, often violates obedience, often crushes its lord, cruelly and unexpectedly rebelling against him. The law of the multiplication of mankind, established by the Creator after creation, has not been abolished; but it began to act under the influence of the fall; it was changed, corrupted. Parents were subjected to hostile relations toward one another, despite their carnal union (Gen 3:16); they were subjected to the pains of childbearing and labors of rearing (Gen 3:16-19); children, conceived in the womb of corruption and in sin (Ps 50:7), enter into being as victims of death. A temporary sojourn on the surface of the earth, amidst diverse and numerous sufferings, is given to each person. When the term, determined by the incomprehensible God, has passed, each person must descend into the eternal dungeon, into hell, formed by the vast interior of the earthly planet. What is humanity filled with proud dreaming about itself, maddened by this vain and false dream? Humanity is refuse, unfit for heaven, swept from heaven, cast down first to the mouth of the abyss, then cast down progressively, as it multiplies, into the abyss itself. The abyss is called the deep: such it is in relation to men. There is no way out of it: “its bars are eternal” (Jon 2:7), says Scripture.

I heed the proclamation of divinely-revealed Revelation and recognize it as true. It is impossible not to recognize it as just! The infinite God is all-perfect good; man is distinguished from Him by an infinite difference in essence, and by properties and direction has taken up a position of opposition to God. If man, so utterly insignificant before God, is also at the same time opposed to God, what significance should he have before the holiness and majesty of the Godhead? The significance of contemptible uncleanness and defilement, according to the testimony of Scripture (Rev 22:11, 15). He must be banished from the presence of God, as it were hidden from the sight of God.

[1] St. John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 2, Chapter 3, On Angels.

[2] This applies to carnal men alone, in whom the soul is not vivified by the action of divine grace. Those vivified by this action have a clearer understanding of the soul.

[3] Suppositions.

[4] A corpse is the human body in the first stages of decomposition after the soul has left it, but before it has decomposed completely.

[5] Descartes and his followers recognize the soul as a substance completely opposed to the body, having nothing in common with it, having no relation to space or time: we recognize as such a substance God alone.

[6] An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith by St. John of Damascus, Book IV, Chapter 13.

The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Divinely-revealed Revelation teaches man that he is a creation of God and a servant of God, a servant transgressing, a creation rejected, crawling and perishing in his fall (Gen 2:7, 22, 3:11-12; Ps 118:125, 89:13, 16; Ps 37, etc.). Poisoned by communion with the prince and parent of evil, with the frenzied and stubborn enemy of God, with the fallen angel, deprived of natural freedom by subjection to this all-malicious spirit, man corrupted his natural relationship to God, became, like the fallen angel, an enemy of God (Rom 5:10). Some of men were satisfied with this state, understanding and not foreseeing any other state, finding pleasure in service to sin; others, instructed by God and by the remnant of their good will, entered into intense struggle with sin, but could not purify nature from the unnatural admixture of evil, could not break the chains of slavery and cast off the yoke of sin and death. Only the Creator of nature could restore nature.

Mankind languished in terrible slavery for more than five thousand years, according to the incomprehensible judgment of God; languished in slavery, abundantly filled the dungeons of hell, having received from God the promise of liberation in the very hour of falling into slavery. “One day before the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Pet 3:8). The promise was uttered together with the pronouncement of punishment for transgression. Mankind was deemed worthy of this promise, because the cause of the fall was seduction and enticement, not deliberate and premeditated design. After the passage of five thousand years there descended to the earth, to the exiles, to the land of their exile, the Redeemer—the God who became man. He visited both the entrance to our prison—the surface of the earth—and the prison itself—hell. He granted salvation to all men, leaving it to their free will either to accept salvation or to reject it.

He liberated all who believed in Him: those locked in the subterranean abyss He raised to heaven, and those wandering on the earthly surface He brought into communion with God, severing their communion with Satan. The God-man, having taken upon Himself all the consequences of human’s fall except sin, took upon Himself also the manner of earthly life corresponding to the fallen and rejected, punished by God’s justice, conscious of his fall, confessing God’s justice through patient endurance of all divine permissions. He showed in His activity a model for the activity of each man on the field of his earthly life.

Two distinctive traits does the Gospel present before our eyes in the activity of the Saviour: the most precise fulfillment of God’s will in matters depending on choice, and perfect obedience to God’s will in divine providence. “I came down from heaven” the Lord said, “not to do My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (Jn 6:38). “The cup which the Father gave Me, shall I not drink it?” (Jn 18:11). The most precise fulfillment of God’s will and obedience to divine providence the God-man expressed with His entire life. The great virtue, the beginning of all virtues, lost by Adam in heaven, the virtue of obedience to God, the God-man brought from heaven to earth to men, languishing in perdition caused by disobedience to God. This virtue appeared especially in all its greatness in the Saviour’s acceptance of terrible sufferings. He, “being in the form of God” without ceasing to be God, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in appearance like a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8). Because of such all-perfect obedience to God, the Lord was the only true Servant of God according to His human nature. He was the all-perfect Servant of God, never declining to fulfill the will of God and to obey that will. Not one of the righteous men fulfilled this most sacred obligation of man before God satisfactorily and completely.[1]

To the assembly of the Jews the Lord declared: “I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (Jn 5:30). Before going forth to the life-giving for mankind sufferings and cross-death, the Lord revealed in Himself the weakness of the fallen man before the punishing judgments of God. He began to grieve and to suffer anguish (Mt 26:37). He was pleased to reveal the anguish of His soul to His chosen disciples: “My soul is sorrowful even to death” (Mt 26:38), He said to them. Then He turned to prayer, that true refuge in distresses and temptations. He fell “on His face” (Mt 26:39), and was brought up by His human nature to such intense ascetic struggle that “His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Lk 22:44). Despite such a strained state into which the human nature of the God-man was brought, His prayer expressed both the presence in Him of human will and complete submission of that human will to the will of God. The prayer of the God-man, uttered by Him before going forth to suffering, is a spiritual, precious heritage for the whole Christian race: it is able to pour comfort into the soul languishing under the burden of the heaviest sorrows. “My Father” the Lord said in His prayer, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt 26:39); “yet not My will, but Your will be done” (Lk 22:42). The Lord called the cup the divine judgments. This cup is offered by God to man for his salvation.

The cross-death and the outrages, torments, and tortures that preceded it the God-man was pleased to accept willfully upon Himself. As the Son of God and God, having one will with the Father and the Spirit, He laid the punishment upon Himself, upon the guiltless in sin, upon the Son of man and at the same time the Son of God, for the redemption of guilty mankind. To the one who attempted to use human means in His defense, in opposition to the judgments of God, He said: “put your” “sword” “back in its place. Or do you think that I cannot now appeal to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures” in which God’s determination is depicted “be fulfilled that it must be so?” (Mt 26:52-54). The same understanding of the action of unalterable divine judgments the Lord expressed before Pilate.[2] The proud Roman, offended by the Lord’s silence, said: “will you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to crucify You and authority to release You?” The Lord answered him: “you would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given to you from above” (Jn 19:10-11). The judgments of God act, the power of God acts: you are an instrument that does not understand itself. But the instrument is endowed with reason and free will: of this it is convinced, it declares this with audacity and vanity. It acted without any understanding of God’s judgments, it acted freely and willfully: its action is declared a sin, which has its weight and measure at God’s judgment (Jn 19:11).

Resistance to divine judgments is reckoned among satanic undertakings. When the Lord foretold the disciples of the sufferings awaiting Him and violent death, “Peter took Him aside and began to remonstrate with Him, saying: Be merciful to Yourself, Lord, this is not going to happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter: Get behind Me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not thinking the thoughts of God, but of men” (Mt 16:22-23). Peter was moved, apparently, by a good feeling; but he acted from the mindset and from the good belonging to fallen human nature. The reason and good of fallen human nature are hostile to the will of God and to the all-holy good proceeding from God, and they condemn and judge the divine judgments. Human reason and will, in their blindness, are ready to resist and oppose the divine judgments and determinations, not understanding that such an undertaking is a senseless undertaking, a struggle of the most limited, insignificant creature against the almighty and all-perfect God.

“It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has set by His own authority” (Act 1:7), the Lord said to the Apostles when they asked Him about the time in which the kingdom of Israel should be established. This answer of the Lord is an answer to all the questions of the curiosity and pride of men about God’s judgments. “It is not for you”, O men, “to know” that which “God has set by His own authority”! It is proper to you to have understanding corresponding to your mind: it is not proper for you to understand the thought of the Boundless Mind.

Your activity, O men, should consist entirely in the fulfillment of the will of God. The model of this activity has been shown, the rules of this activity have been delivered to mankind by the perfect man, God, who took upon Himself humanity. Moved by the force of the most correct faith in God, follow carefully the commandments of the Gospel, and submit reverently to the divine judgments.

What leads to the violation, to the trampling of Christ’s commandments, to resistance to the divine judgments, to resistance by vain efforts, by murmuring, by blasphemy, by despair? The forgetfulness of eternity, the forgetfulness of death, the forgetfulness that we are temporary pilgrims on earth, the rejection of the thought that we are upon it exiles, the striving to satisfy lusts and passions, the desire to enjoy carnal and sinful pleasure, the pernicious deception and self-deception, under whose spell man madly misuses his power over himself and his will, offering himself wholly as a sacrifice to earthly vanity, killing himself to the blessedness restored by the redemptive struggle of the Redeemer, preparing for himself in hell an eternal grave, a grave for both body and soul.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5-8), the Apostle Paul exhorts Christians, pointing to the obedience of the God-man to the divine judgments, to absolute obedience, extending to the acceptance upon Himself of that punishment which only criminal offenders of barbarous nations underwent, from which criminal offenders who were citizens of Rome were free. “Laying aside all pride” “and every readily-clinging” “sin, let us run” “with patience the” “race set before us,” “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. Consider the One who endured such contradiction against Himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart in your souls” (Hebr 12:1-3).[3][4] “Jesus, that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside the gates. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach”[5] (Hebr 13:12-13). Going outside the camp and laying aside all pride is understood as renunciation of love of the world. The Apostle recalls the divine comfort pronounced by God to those chosen ones of His whom He has adopted as His own, and whom, as proof of adoption, He visits with sorrows: “My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when reproved by Him, for whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebr 12:5-6).

“Christ suffered for us” “leaving us an example” “that we should follow in His footsteps” the holy Apostle Peter says, “leaving us an example that we should follow in His footsteps” (1 Pet 2:21). “If when you do what is good and suffer for it, you endure it patiently, this is commendable before God: for to this you have been called” (1 Pet 2:20-21). Such are God’s judgments! Such is God’s determination! Such is the calling of true Christians for all the time of their earthly pilgrimage! Christians beloved by God and Heaven! Do not be surprised, as if at a strange, unfitting occurrence, happening outside the natural order, at that fiery trial being sent to you for testing (1 Pet 4:12). Rejoice at the coming of trials! Just as here on earth you become partakers of Christ’s sufferings: so in the future life you will become sharers in His glory and triumph (1 Pet 4:13). The house of God is subject to God’s judgment and has need of it (1 Pet 4:17). By the house of God is meant both all the Church of Christ and each Christian. This house needs the visitation of God and purification, as it is subjected to constant defilement and corruption. And even with great assistance from sorrows, which humble the spirit of man, so inclined to pride, salvation is difficult, very difficult. “The righteous man scarcely is saved!” (1 Pet 4:18), if so, what awaits “those who oppose the Gospel of God?” (1 Pet 4:17). “Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Pet 4:18). “Cultivate humble-mindedness:” “because” “God” “opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5). You will feel the coming of grace by the wonderful peace and comfort that will be poured into your hearts, when you confess God’s judgment concerning you as righteous, and yourselves as deserving of punishment and needing it. At the coming of trials, do not give yourselves over to sorrow, hopelessness, despondency, murmuring—these manifestations of pride and unbelief: rather, animated and encouraged by faith, “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in His own time, casting all your care” that is, all your concern and worry “upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet 5:6-7). Those who suffer! Know that you suffer according to the will of God; be assured that without God’s will, without God’s permission, no sorrow could have touched you. The Lord has looked upon you mercifully, has been favorable toward you, has recognized your heart and way of life as pleasing to Himself, and therefore has stretched out His hand of help to you in His judgments. He has sent or permitted you sorrows for your purification, for your protection, as a means for achieving perfection. Those suffering according to God’s will! At the coming of sorrows, surrender yourselves entirely to God’s will and mercy, and with particular diligence attend to the fulfillment of God’s commandments (1 Pet 4:19). The time of sorrow is that blessed time in which God builds up the soul of His beloved chosen one from among men.

God has established a narrow and sorrowful path from earthly life to heaven: it is commanded to walk along this path under the cross; by this path, under the burden of His cross, walked the Leader of the Christian people, God incarnate. The cross means patient endurance in the Lord of all vexations and adversities that will be permitted by divine providence. Such is God’s judgment. On what is it based? On the fact that man on earth is a convict in an exile place. This convict is given a brief span of earthly life solely in order that he might perceive his state of fall and rejection, recognize the necessity of salvation, and achieve salvation through the mediation of the Redeemer of mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ. The convict who has confessed himself to be a convict, seeking pardon, must express his confession of sinfulness by his very life. Confession cannot be recognized as sincere when it is not attested by corresponding behavior. The convict is obliged to prove the truth of his turning to God by fulfilling God’s will and obedience to that will: he is obliged to bring before God, who is righteous in judgment and in mercy, patient endurance of God’s punishing permissions, to bring humble patience as fragrant incense, as an acceptable sacrifice, as reliable testimony to faith.

All the saints, without exception, partook of the sorrowful path (Hebr 12:8). All of them completed the course of earthly life upon pricking thorns, nourished by the unleavened bread of varied deprivation, sprinkled by bitter hyssop, constantly given to drink from the cup of various trials. This was necessary for their salvation and perfection: sorrows served for them both as a means of spiritual formation, and as medicine, and as punishment. The damaged nature in not one person has remained without bearing its proper fruit to a greater or lesser degree; our damaged nature constantly needs, as an antidote, sorrows: by them is quenched in it the affinity toward the poisonous seduction of the passions, especially toward pride (2 Cor 12:7), toward that passion which is the most poisonous and destructive among the passions; by them is the servant of God led out from the puffed-up, distorted opinion of himself into humble-mindedness and spiritual understanding. A puffed-up opinion of oneself must necessarily deprive life, which appears outwardly satisfactory, of correctness and dignity. “I understand, O Lord” confesses to God His holy prophet, “that Your judgments are righteous, and in truth You have humbled me” (Ps 118:75). “Your judgments are good” (Ps 118:39), despite their stern outward appearance.[6] Their consequences are beneficial; their fruit is life-giving and sweet. “It is good for me that You have humbled me, so that I might learn Your statutes” (Ps 118:71). “I have chosen the path of truth and have not forgotten Your judgments” (Ps 118:30), “I have not turned aside from Your decrees” (Ps 118:102), because without obedience to them pleasing You is impossible. In severe trials and adversities, finding help from nowhere, “I remembered Your judgments from of old, and was comforted” (Ps 118:52). “I put my hope in Your judgments!” (Ps 118:43). “Your judgments will help me!” (Ps 118:175). “Seven times a day”, that is, constantly “I praise You for Your righteous judgments” (Ps 118:164): the action of a person corresponding to God’s action in His incomprehensible judgments is constant or as frequent as possible glorification of God. By glorifying God, thoughts of unbelief, faint-heartedness, murmuring, blasphemy, despair are driven out; thoughts that are holy and divine are brought in. Says the Apostle: “When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor 11:32). Amen.

[1] According to the explanation of blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria of the 17th verse of the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke.

[2] The most numerous army of Romans, lords of the universe, extended to 12 legions. It is evident that here the intention of the Word of God was to express the concept of such a force that is more numerous and powerful than any human army.

[3] That easily causes us to stumble.

[4] Without paying attention to the dishonor done to Him.

[5] Insult.

[6] This can be seen with particular clarity from the book of Job. The righteous man at first enumerated his virtues and presented them in a beautiful, vivid picture; but when he was purified and perfected through sorrows, his understanding of himself was transformed: he saw himself as it were disappearing before the majesty of the Godhead, acknowledged himself to be dust and ashes.

A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

Soul. I grieve unbearably; I find solace nowhere. I find neither comfort nor consolation either outside me or within me. I cannot look upon the world filled with unceasing seduction, deception, and soul-destruction. Careless contemplation of the world, a few careless glances at its seductions, ignorance of the poisonousness of its impressions, childish and inexperienced credulity toward it—these have drawn its arrows into me and filled me with mortal wounds. Why should I look upon the world? Why be curious about it, study it in detail, or attach myself to it, when I am merely a temporary sojourner in the world? I will surely leave it, and I do not know when I will leave. Every day, every hour I must be ready for the summons to eternity. However long my wandering in the wilderness of the world, it is nothing before the immeasurable eternity, before which hours and days and years and centuries are equal. The world itself, with all its vast throng of things, passes away: “the earth and the works that are upon it shall be burned up” (2 Pet 3:10). These works shall be burned—the fruits of the fall and rejection of men. The wounds inflicted upon me by the world have made it abominable to me, but have not protected me from new wounds. I do not want to be amid the world! I do not want to submit to it! I do not want to take any part in serving it! I do not even want to see it! But it pursues me everywhere: it violently intrudes, presents itself to my eyes in enchanting beauty, weakens me, wounds me, strikes me, destroys me. I myself, constantly bearing and harboring within myself the principle of self-deception and falsehood thrust into me by sin, continue to be deceived by the world: hating it, I am involuntarily drawn to it and drink its poison with greed, drive its arrows deep into myself, which it shoots at me. I turn my yearning and searching gaze from the world to myself. In myself I find nothing comforting. In me countless sinful passions boil! I am constantly defiled by various sins; now anger and malice torment me; now I feel myself ablaze with the fire of lust. The blood stirs, imagination is inflamed by some action foreign to me, hostile to me, and I see seductive images before me, drawing me to fantasies of sin, to the delight in a destructive seduction. I have no strength to flee from seductive images: involuntarily, by force, my aching eyes are fixed upon them. And there is nowhere to flee! I fled into the wilderness: to the wilderness came with me the images of sin, or preceded me there—I do not know; in the wilderness they appeared before me with a special, deadly vividness. These images do not exist: both the images and their existence and beauty are deception and seduction; but at the same time they are alive, and nothing, neither time itself nor decrepit old age, can kill them. Tears of repentance wash them from imagination: I have no tears of repentance. Humble prayer joined with the weeping of the heart smooths them away from imagination: I have no such prayer. My heart is bereft of compunction, bereft of saving weeping: it remains in me unmoved, like a fragment of insensate stone. Despite my terrible sinfulness, I rarely see my sinfulness. Despite the fact that in me good is mixed with evil and has become evil, as beautiful food mixed with poison becomes poison, I forget the calamitous state of the good given to me at creation, damaged and distorted in the fall. I begin to see my good in myself as intact and blameless and to admire it: my vanity carries me away from the fruitful and fertile pasture of repentance into a distant land! Into a rocky and barren land, into a land of thorns and tares, into a land of lies, self-deception, and perdition. I abandon the fulfillment of Christ’s commandments and begin to fulfill the suggestions of my heart, to follow its feelings and its will; I boldly call the feelings of fallen nature good, its deeds virtues, and this good and this virtue worthy of earthly and heavenly rewards, human and divine. When I strove to fulfill Christ’s commandments, paying no heed to the will of my heart and restraining it, I recognized myself as a debtor before God and men, as an unfaithful and useless servant! Following self-deception, there appear in me sorrow, despondency, and a kind of terrible darkness. Sorrow deprives me of moral activity; despondency takes from me the strength to struggle with sin; and darkness—the consequence of sorrow and despondency—dense darkness hides from me God, His just and terrible judgment, the promised rewards for Christian virtue, the promised punishments for the rejection of Christianity and its all-holy ordinances. I begin to sin fearlessly, with the silence of conscience, as if killed or sleeping at that moment. Rarely, very rarely does a moment of compunction, light, and hope fall to me. Then I feel myself to be different. But the bright moment is brief. My heaven is clear not often. Like black clouds, the passions descend upon me again and plunge me again into darkness, into confusion, into perplexity, into perdition. My mind! You are the guide of the soul. Teach me! Bring into me blessed peace! Teach me how to close within myself the entrance to the impressions of the world, how to bridle and suppress the passions that arise within me. The world and the passions have tormented and torn me to pieces.

Mind. My answer will be unsatisfying. I too, along with you, soul, am smitten by sin. All that you have spoken of is fully known to me. How can I help you when I myself am struck by deadly blows, when I am deprived of the power to act with authority? In the unceasing activity given to me by my Creator and constituting my nature, I am unceasingly subject to foreign influence.[1] This influence is the influence of sin, by which I am damaged and disordered. This influence constantly distracts me from God, from eternity, draws me into seduction by the vain and transitory world, into seduction by myself, into seduction by you, soul, into seduction by sin, into seduction by fallen angels. My essential deficiency consists in distraction that constantly violates me. Struck by distraction, I wander aimlessly throughout the universe, like other rejected spirits. I would wish to stop—and I cannot: distraction seizes and carries me away. Seized by distraction, I cannot look upon you, soul, as I should, nor upon myself. On account of distraction I cannot listen to the Word of God as I should: outwardly I appear attentive, but while I strive to listen, involuntarily I deviate in all directions, am carried away very far, to objects entirely foreign, the examination of which is not only unnecessary for me but exceedingly harmful. On account of deadly distraction I cannot bring to God a strong, effectual prayer and become sealed with the fear of God, by which my scattered thoughts would be destroyed and my thoughts would become obedient to me, through which you, soul, would receive heartfelt contrition and compunction. Because of my distraction you remain hardened; with your hardening and insensibility I become distracted all the more. Distraction is the cause of my weakness in the struggle with sinful thoughts. From distraction I experience dimming and heaviness: when a sinful thought presents itself, I do not quickly and readily recognize it if it is covered with justification. And if it is manifest, when I arm myself against it, I do not show toward it decisive and irreconcilable hatred, I enter into conversation with my murderer, find pleasure in the deadly poison which it craftily pours into me. Rarely am I victorious; often I am vanquished. On account of my distraction forgetfulness seizes me: I forget God, I forget eternity, I forget the instability and deceptiveness of the world, am drawn to it, draw you, soul, with me. I forget my sins. I forget my fall, I forget my calamitous state: in my dimming and self-deception, I begin to find in myself and in you virtues. I begin to seek, to demand recognition of these virtues from the lying world, ready for a moment to agree, only to laugh more evilly afterward. There are no virtues in us:[2] the virtue of man is wholly defiled by the fall, and he will think correctly of himself if, as certain great ascetic advises, he considers himself an abomination. How is it not abominable—a weak, most insignificant being, called by the Almighty Creator of all visible and invisible into existence from nothingness and armed against its Creator? How is it not abominable a being that has nothing of its own, received everything from God, and has risen up against God? How is it not abominable a being that was not ashamed of paradise, allowed itself in the midst of paradisiacal blessedness to listen willingly to terrible blasphemy and insults against God, proved its immediate assent to blasphemy and insults by active transgression of God’s commandment? How is it not abominable a mind—the receptacle and unceasing parent of foul and evil thoughts, thoughts constantly hostile to God? How is it not abominable a soul in which ceaselessly whirl wild and monstrous passions, like poisonous serpents, basilisks and scorpions in a deep pit? How is it not abominable a body conceived in transgression, born in sin, an instrument of sin during the brief earthly life, a source of deadly stench after the end of earthly life? We, soul, constitute one spiritual being: I think, you feel. But we are not only damaged by sin, we are riven by it as it were into two separate beings, acting almost always in opposition to one another. We are divided, set against one another, separated from God! By the sin living in us we are set against the Very All-Holy and All-Perfect God!

Soul. Your answer is sorrowful, but it is just. It is some comfort that our calamitous state is in mutual relation, and we can share our sorrow with one another, can help each other. Give me then counsel, how shall we emerge from our common disorder? I have noticed that my feelings always correspond to your thoughts. The heart cannot long contend with the mind: it always submits to it, and when it does resist, it resists only for a brief time. My mind! Be my guide to our common salvation.

Mind. I agree that the heart does not long resist the mind. But it, having shown obedience for a moment, rises up again against the very correct, against the very God-pleasing thought, rises up with such force and hardening that almost always it casts me down and sweeps me away. Having cast me down, it begins to produce in me the most absurd thoughts, which serve as the expression and manifestation of hidden passions. What can I say about my own thoughts? On account of my disorder and corruption by sin, my thoughts are extremely unstable. In the morning, for example, certain thoughts are born in me about our spiritual living, about the invisible, laborious ascetic struggle, about our earthly situation, relations, circumstances, about our lot in eternity; these thoughts seemed to me well-founded. Suddenly by midday, or earlier, they disappear of themselves from some unexpected encounter, are replaced by others, which in turn are considered worthy of attention. By evening new thoughts appear with new justifications. At night I am troubled by different thoughts, which during the day lay hidden somewhere, as it were in ambush, so that they might suddenly appear to me in the time of night silence, disturb me with an enchanting and deadly depiction of sin. In vain, taught by God’s Word, do I recognize as correct only those thoughts to which you, soul, respond with a state of deep peace, humility, love toward neighbors; in vain am I convinced that all thoughts, not only those that produce in you torment and disturbance, but those connected with the slightest confusion, with the slightest hardening of yours, are foreign to truth, utterly false, deceptive, ruinous, whatever righteous mask they may wear. This knowledge is in vain! This sure sign is in vain, which decisively separates in the world of spirits good from evil! On account of an incomprehensible malady living in me, grasped only through experience, I cannot tear myself away from the murderous thoughts engendered in me by sin. I cannot subdue them nor root them out when they begin to seethe in me like worms; I cannot drive them away nor push them from me when they attack me from without, like robbers, like fierce, bloodthirsty beasts. They hold me in captivity, in heavy servitude, torment me, torture me, are ready at every hour to tear me to pieces, to strike me with eternal death. The torment they produce I involuntarily communicate to you, soul, communicate it to our very body, which on that account is painful and weak, because it is riddled with countless wounds, pierced both by arrows and by swords of sin. Poisoned by the poison of eternal death, you, soul, grieve unbearably, seek solace, find it nowhere. In vain do you think to find this solace in me: I am killed together with you; together with you I am buried in the narrow and dark grave of the non-vision and non-knowledge of God. Our relationship to the living God, as though to the non-existent and dead, is sure testimony of our own death.

Soul. My guide! My light! The highest spiritual power in me! My mind! You are bringing me to despair. If you, being my light, recognize yourself as darkness, what can I expect from the other powers of mine, which I have in common with the dumb beasts? What can I expect from my will or the power of desire, from zeal or natural anger, which can act differently than they act in cattle, beasts, and demons only when they are under your guidance? You said to me that, with all your weakness, with all your dimming, with all your deadness, God’s Word still acts upon you and has given you at least the sign of distinguishing good from evil, in which consists the greatest difficulty. And I became a partaker of this knowledge! Even I, when I begin to feel confusion and disturbance, together with this feeling I feel the incorrectness of my state, feel toward such a state both distrust and hatred, strive to cast off from myself a state unnatural and hostile to me. On the contrary, when you stop for a moment, as it were in native embraces, in thoughts drawn from God’s Word—what comfort I feel! What glorification of God begins to ascend from my depths, from the very treasures of my heart! What reverence for the majesty of God that opens before me seizes me! How I seem to myself a tiny speck of dust in the midst of vast and varied universe! What gracious quietness, as if borne on the breath of a heavenly breeze, begins to waft and cool me, parched with heat and drought! What sweet and healing tears, born in the heart, rise to the head and flow down the flushed cheek from a humble and meek eye, looking at all and everything so peacefully, so lovingly! Then I feel the healing of my nature! Then the inner struggle is destroyed! Then my powers, divided and shattered by sin, are united into one. Having become united with you and with my other powers, drawing the body itself to this unity, I feel the mercy of the Creator toward His fallen creation, knowingly perceive the meaning and power of the Redeemer, healing me with His almighty and life-giving commandment. I confess Him! I see the action of the worshiped All-Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and sent by the Son! I see the action of God-Spirit, brought by God-Word, revealing His Godhead by His creative power, by means of which a broken vessel appears as if never subjected to breaking, in its primordial wholeness and beauty. My mind! Turn to God’s Word, from which we have already borrowed countless blessings but have lost them by our neglect, our coldness toward God’s gifts. Priceless spiritual gifts we have exchanged for a deceptive phantom of gifts, under the appearance of which sin and the world offered us their poison. My mind! Turn to God’s Word! Seek there comfort for me: in the present moment my sorrow is unbearable, and I fear that I might fall into final perdition—into despair.

Mind. God’s Word, soul, solves our perplexity with the most satisfying definition. But many among men, having heard the Word of the Spirit and interpreted it with their carnal understanding, said about the life-giving Word of God: “Is not this word hard, and who can listen to it?” (Jn 6:60). Hear, soul, what the Lord said: “He who finds his soul will lose it: and he who loses his soul for My sake will find it” (Mt 10:39). “He who loves his soul will lose it: and he who hates his soul in this world, will keep it for eternal life” (Jn 12:25).

Soul. I am ready to die if God commands. But how can I die, being immortal? I know not the instrument that would be capable of depriving me of life.

Mind. Do not think, soul, that Christ’s commandment commands you alone to die, that I am exempt from the sentence. No! I must share the cup of death with you and be the first to drink it, as the chief culprit of our common fall, rejection, misery, temporal and eternal death. The death and destruction which God demands from us does not consist in the annihilation of our existence: it consists in the annihilation of self-love, which has become as it were our life. Self-love is the distorted love of fallen man for himself. Self-love deifies its fallen, falsely-named reason, endeavors in all things and constantly to satisfy its fallen, falsely-directed will. Self-love expresses itself toward our neighbors either through hatred or through man-pleasing, that is, the gratification of human passions, and toward the objects of the world, which it always misuses, through attachment. Just as holy Love is “the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14) and consists of the fullness of all virtues: so self-love is that sinful passion which consists of the fullness of all other varied sinful passions. In order to destroy self-love in us, I must reject all my reasonings, however rich I may be in reasonings supplied by the teaching of the world and by the elements of the world (Col 2:8). I must immerse myself in the poverty of spirit and, stripped bare by this poverty, washed by tears, smoothed and softened by meekness, purity, and mercy, receive the reason which my Redeemer’s right hand wishes to inscribe upon me. This right hand is the Gospel. And you, soul, must renounce your will, difficult though this may be for the heart, even though the feelings and affections of your heart seem to you the most righteous and the most refined. Instead of your own will you must fulfill the will of Christ, God and our Saviour, difficult and harsh though this may be for the self-loving heart. Here is the death which God demands from us, that by our willing death we might destroy the death living in us by force, and receive as a gift the resurrection and life flowing forth from our Lord Jesus.

Soul. I resolve upon self-renunciation: from your words alone about self-renunciation, I already begin to feel solace and hope. Let us abandon the life that gives rise to despair and accept death—the pledge of salvation. Lead me, my mind, in the path of God’s commandments, and yourself remain steadfastly in that Word which proclaimed of itself: “He who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit: for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). Amen.

[1] Callista of Katafygiotis, The Philokalia, Part 4, Chapter 3.

[2] A brother asked the Venerable Sisoes the Great to speak a word to him for his benefit. The elder replied to him that a monk must be lower than idols. When the brother asked what it would mean to be lower than idols, the elder said: “Scripture speaks of idols that they ‘have mouths and do not speak, have eyes and do not see, have ears and do not hear’” (Ps 113:13-14): such a monk ought to be. And just as idols are abominations, so let the monk think of himself that he is an abomination. The Sketic Patericon, letter S.

The Sight of One’s Own Sin

The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

That terrible time will come, that terrible hour will arrive in which all my sins will stand naked before God the Judge, before His Angels, before all mankind. Foreseeing the state of my soul in that awesome hour, I am seized with terror. Under the influence of vivid and strong foreboding, trembling, I hasten to plunge into the examination of myself, hasten to verify in the ledger of my conscience the sins I have marked by deed, by word, by thought.

Long unread books gathering dust in cabinets become impregnated with dust, eaten by moths. One who takes up such a book encounters great difficulty in reading it. Such is my conscience. Long unchecked, it could scarcely be opened. Opening it, I do not find the satisfaction I expected. Only the major sins are marked fairly clearly; the fine letters, of which there are many, have almost faded—and now I cannot make out what was depicted by them.

Only God, God alone can restore brightness to the faded letters and deliver man from an evil conscience (Hebr 10:22). Only God can grant to man the sight of his sins and the sight of his sin—his fall, in which is the root, seed, germ, and aggregate of all human transgressions.

Calling upon the aid of God’s mercy and power, calling upon them with the warmest prayer, joined with wise fasting, joined with weeping and the sobs of the heart, I again open the ledger of my conscience, again gaze into the quantity and quality of my sins, gaze at what the transgressions I have committed have produced for me.

I see: “My iniquities have gone over my head like a heavy burden; they have weighed me down like a load too heavy for me; they are more numerous than the hairs of my head” (Ps 37:5, 39:13). What is the consequence of such sinfulness? “My iniquities have overtaken me and I am not able to see; my heart has abandoned me” (Ps 39:13). The consequence of a sinful life is blindness of mind, hardening, insensitivity of heart. The mind of the hardened sinner sees neither good nor evil; his heart loses the capacity for spiritual sensations. If, abandoning his sinful life, this person turns to pious endeavors, his heart, as if alien, does not sympathize with his striving toward God.

When through the action of divine grace many of his transgressions are revealed to the ascetic, then it is impossible that he should not fall into extreme perplexity, should not be plunged into deep sorrow. “My heart is troubled” from such a sight, “my strength has left me, and the light of my eyes, and that has not come to be with me: for my loins are full of mockery”, that is, my activity has become full of stumbling from the habituation to sin that draws me violently to new transgressions; “my wounds have become foul and festered because of my foolishness”, that is, the sinful passions have aged and terribly damaged me on account of my inattentive life; “there is no healing in my flesh”, that is, there is no healing, through the means of my own efforts alone, for my whole being struck and infected by sin (Ps 37:6, 8, 11).

By consciousness of my sins, by repentance for them, by confession of them, by sorrow for them I cast all their countless multitude into the abyss of God’s mercy. In order to be on guard against sin in the future, I look closely, withdrawing into myself, how sin acts against me, how it approaches me, what it says to me. It approaches me like a thief: its face is covered; “its words are smoother” than “oil” (Ps 54:22); it speaks lies to me, offers transgression to me. Poison is in its mouth; its tongue is a deadly sting.

“Enjoy yourself!” it whispers to me softly and flatteringly. “Why is enjoyment forbidden to you? Enjoy yourself! What sin is there in that?”—and the wretch offers the violation of the all-holy Lord’s commandment.

One ought not pay any attention to its words: I know that it is a thief and murderer. But some incomprehensible weakness, weakness of will, vanquishes me! I listen to the words of sin, I gaze upon the forbidden fruit. In vain my conscience reminds me that tasting this fruit is at the same time tasting death.

If there is no forbidden fruit before my eyes: suddenly this fruit is depicted in my imagination, depicted vividly, as if by the hand of enchantment.

The feelings of my heart are drawn to a seductive picture, like that of a harlot. Her appearance is captivating, seduction emanates from her; she is adorned with precious and glittering ornaments; her deadly action is carefully hidden. Sin seeks a victim from the heart when the body cannot offer this victim on account of the absence of the object itself.

Sin acts in me through a sinful thought, acts through a sinful feeling, through a feeling of the heart and a feeling of the body; it acts through the bodily senses, it acts through the imagination.

To what conclusion does such a view of myself lead me? To the conclusion that in me, in my entire being, there lives corruption by sin, which sympathizes with and aids sin attacking me from without. I am like a prisoner bound in heavy chains: anyone who is permitted to do so seizes the prisoner, draws him wherever he wishes, because the prisoner, being bound in chains, has no means of offering resistance.

Sin once penetrated into the high paradise. There he offered to my forefathers the taste of the forbidden fruit. There he seduced them, there he struck them with eternal death. And to me, their descendant, he ceaselessly repeats the same proposal; and me, their descendant, he ceaselessly strives to seduce and destroy.

Adam and Eve were immediately after their transgression banished from paradise and thrust into a land of sorrows (Gen 3:23-24): I was born in this land of weeping and misery! But this does not justify me: the paradise has been brought here to me by the Redeemer, has been planted in my heart. By sin I have cast paradise out of my heart. Now there is a mixture of good and evil, now a fierce struggle of good with evil, now a collision of countless passions, now torment, a foretaste of the eternal torment of hell.

In myself I see proof that I am a son of Adam: I preserve his inclination to evil; I agree with the proposals of the seducer, although I know for certain that I am being offered deception and murder is being prepared.

It would be in vain for me to blame my forefathers for the sin communicated to me by them: I have been liberated from the captivity of sin by the Redeemer and already fall into sins not from violence but willfully.

My forefathers committed in paradise once a transgression of one commandment of God, but I, dwelling in the bosom of the Church of Christ, ceaselessly violate all the divine commandments of Christ, God and my Saviour.

Now my soul is stirred by anger and malice! In my imagination a dagger flashes above the head of an enemy and my heart delights in the satisfaction of vengeance accomplished in fantasy. Then heaps of scattered gold are presented to me! Followed by them are depicted magnificent palaces, gardens, all the objects of luxury, sensuality, pride that are provided by gold, and for which the sin-loving man bows before this idol—the means of realizing all transient desires. Then I am fascinated by honors and power! I am drawn, engage in fantasies about the governance of men and nations, about providing them with transient acquisitions, and myself with transient glory. Then, as if before my eyes, tables laden with steaming and fragrant dishes appear to me! It is both amusing and pitiable that I find delight in the seductions that appear before me. Then suddenly I see myself as righteous, or more correctly, my heart acts hypocritically, strives to appropriate righteousness to itself, to flatter itself, takes care of human praise, as if to draw it to myself!

The passions dispute over me one from another, ceaselessly hand me over to one another, disturb, trouble me. And I do not see my sorrowful state! On my mind lies an impenetrable veil of darkness; upon my heart lies a heavy stone of insensitivity.

Will my mind recover, will it wish to turn toward good? My heart resists it, accustomed to sinful pleasures, resists it my body, which has acquired beastial desires. Even the understanding has been lost in me that my body, as created for eternity, is capable of desires and movements divine, that beastial strivings are its sickness, introduced into it by the fall.

The disparate parts constituting my being—mind, heart, and body—are divided, separated, act discordantly, oppose one another; they act together in momentary, God-opposing agreement only when they labor for sin.

Such is my state! It is death of the soul while the body lives. But I am satisfied with my state! Satisfied not on account of humility—on account of my blindness, on account of my hardness. The soul does not feel its own death, just as the body does not feel it when separated from the soul by death.

If I felt my death, I would be in continuous repentance! If I felt my death, I would be concerned with resurrection!

I am entirely occupied with the cares of the world, little concerned with my soul’s calamity! I severely judge the slightest transgressions of my neighbors; I myself am filled with sin, blinded by it, transformed into a pillar of salt like Lot’s wife, incapable of any spiritual movement.

I have not inherited repentance, because I do not yet see my sin. I do not see my sin because I still labor for sin. One who is pleased with sin, who allows himself to taste it—even if only through thoughts and the sympathy of the heart—cannot see his sin.

Only he can see his sin who has decisively and firmly renounced all friendship with sin, who has risen up on alert watch at the gates of his house with a drawn sword—the Word of God, who repels and cuts down sin with this sword in whatever form it approaches him.

Whoever accomplishes the great work—establishes enmity with sin, forcibly tearing from it the mind, heart and body—to him God grants a great gift: The sight of his own sin.

Blessed is the soul that has perceived the sin nested within itself! Blessed is the soul that has perceived within itself the fall of the forefathers, the corruption of old Adam! Such a vision of one’s own sin is a spiritual vision, a vision of the mind healed from blindness by divine grace.

With fasting and kneeling the holy Eastern Church teaches us to beseech God for the vision of our own sin.

Blessed is the soul constantly studying in the Law of God! In it she may see the image and beauty of the New Man, and according to them discern and correct her own defects.

Blessed is the soul that has bought the field of repentance by putting to death herself with regard to sinful undertakings! On this field she will find the priceless treasure of salvation.

If you have acquired the field of repentance, give yourself to infantile weeping before God. Do not ask, if you are able not to ask, anything of God; surrender yourself with self-renunciation to His will.

Understand, feel, that you are a creature and God is the Creator. Surrender then without accounting to yourself to the will of the Creator, bring Him a single infantile weeping, bring Him a silent heart, ready to follow His will and to be stamped by His will.

If in your infancy you cannot plunge yourself into prayerful silence and weeping before God, utter before Him a humble prayer, a prayer for forgiveness of sins and healing from sinful passions, these terrible moral maladies which consist of voluntary transgressions repeated over a considerable period of time.

Blessed is the soul that has recognized itself as wholly unworthy of God, that has condemned itself as wretched and sinful! It is on the path of salvation; in it there is no self-deception.

On the contrary, one who considers himself ready to receive grace, who considers himself worthy of God, expects and asks for His mysterious coming, says that he is ready to receive, to hear and to see the Lord, he deceives himself, flatters himself, has reached the high cliff of pride, from which the fall into the dark abyss of perdition is certain.[1] There fall all who have become proud against God, who dare shamelessly to recognize themselves as worthy of God and from this self-conceit and self-deception say to God: “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9).

The young prophet Samuel heard the one calling him, the Lord, and not recognizing himself as worthy of communion with the Lord, appeared before his aged teacher, asking him for instruction for his conduct. Samuel heard the same calling voice a second time and again appeared before his teacher. The teacher understood that the voice calling was the voice of God: he commanded the youth, when he should hear a similar call, to answer the one speaking: “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”

A sensuous and arrogant dreamer, called by no one, intoxicated by a vain opinion, composing in himself voices and consolations, flattering thereby his haughty heart, deceiving himself and his credulous followers, dares to speak likewise.[2]

Son of the Eastern Church, the one holy and true! In your invisible ascetic struggle let yourself be guided by the teachings of the holy Fathers of your Church: from every vision, from every voice without and within you, before you are renewed by the evident action of the Holy Spirit, they command you to turn away, as from an obvious occasion for self-deception.[3]

Guard your mind imageless, drive away all approaching it dreams and opinions by which the fall has substituted for truth. Clothed in repentance, stand with fear and reverence before the great God, capable of cleansing your sins and renewing you with His All-Holy Spirit. When the Spirit comes, He will guide you “into all truth” (Jn 16:13).

The feeling of weeping and repentance is the one thing necessary for the soul approaching the Lord with the intention of receiving from Him the forgiveness of her sins. This is the better part! If you have chosen it, then let it not be taken from you! Do not exchange this treasure for empty, false, violent, pretendedly gracious feelings, do not destroy yourself with flattery to yourself.

“If some of the Fathers”, says the Venerable Isaac the Syrian, “have written about the purity of the soul, about its health, about dispassion, about vision, they have written not so that we should seek them prematurely and with expectation. Scripture says: ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation’ (Lk 17:20). Those in whom expectation lives have acquired pride and a fall… The seeking with expectation of high gifts of God is rejected by the Church of God. This is not a sign of love toward God, it is a sickness of the soul”.[4]

All the saints recognized themselves as unworthy of God: thereby they showed their dignity, which consists of humility.[5]

All the self-deceived considered themselves worthy of God: thereby they demonstrated the pride possessing their souls and demonic spiritual delusion. Some of them received demons presenting themselves as angels and followed them; others had demons appear in their own form and presented themselves as vanquished by their prayer, thereby leading them into arrogance; others aroused their imagination, inflamed their blood, produced nervous movements in themselves, took this for gracious enjoyment and fell into self-deception, into complete darkening, were numbered in spirit with the rejected spirits.

[1] St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 55.

[2] The Imitation of Christ, Moscow edition, 1834, bk. 3, ch. 2. In the passage to which we point in the Western writer, heated emotion, self-conceit, and self-deception are presented so vividly and graphically that it seems not superfluous to present to the reader’s attention the very text itself: “Speak, O Lord, for Your servant hears. I am Your servant! Instruct me, that I may know Your statutes. Incline my heart to Your words, and let Your word descend upon me like dew. The sons of Israel once said to Moses: Speak you to us, and we will listen; but let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die. Not so, O Lord, not so do I beseech You! But rather with the prophet Samuel I humbly and earnestly entreat: Speak, O Lord, for Your servant hears. Let not Moses speak to me or any of the prophets: but rather do You speak, O Lord God, who givest inspiration and illumination to all the prophets. You alone, without them, can teach me perfectly; without You they can have no success. Their words may sound, but they do not convey the Spirit! They speak eloquently, but when You art silent they do not kindle the heart! They deliver the letters, but You openest the sense! They speak the mysteries, but You openest understanding of the figures of speech! They proclaim Your commandments, but You givest strength to fulfill them! They show the way, but You givest power to walk it! They act only from without, but You instructest and illuminest the hearts! They water outwardly, but You givest fruitfulness! They call out in words, but You givest the ear understanding! And therefore let not Moses speak to me! Speak You, O Lord, my God, eternal Truth. Let me not die and remain barren if I be instructed only outwardly and inwardly not be kindled, and let the heard and unfulfilled word not be to me for judgment—the known and not embraced in love, the believed but not kept. And so, Speak, O Lord, for Your servant hears: You have the words of eternal life.” The boldness of this inflated and empty verbosity inspires horror and deep sorrow in a soul educated in the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Here repentance is set aside! Here the shattering of spirit is set aside! Here there is a decisive striving toward the nearest and closest union with God! Such in general is the disposition of Western ascetic writers. One of them, expressing his misunderstanding of the dignity of the Mother of God, concludes his frenzied eloquence thus: “Therefore! Let us cast ourselves into the arms of the Mother of God!” Opposite to this disposition is the disposition which the holy Eastern Church teaches her children. “If You hadst not granted us intercessors and Your compassion which has mercy upon us,” she says in one of her hymns, “how dared we, O Saviour, sing praise to You, whom the Angels glorify without ceasing” (Tropar at Great Compline). In another hymn she says: “Let us hasten now to the Mother of God with earnestness, we sinners and humble, and fall down, calling in repentance from the depths of our soul: O Mistress, help us, having compassion upon us! Make haste: we perish from the multitude of our transgressions! Turn not away Your servants empty: for you art our one and only hope” (Canon of Supplication to the Most Holy Mother of God). The state of self-deception and demonic delusion is incomprehensible to those not educated in spiritual struggle according to the tradition of the Orthodox Church: they recognize this disastrous state as the most correct and grace-filled condition. He who labored to translate “The Imitation” from Latin into Russian placed at the end of the book his instructions for the reader. Pointing to the second chapter of the third book, to this depiction of self-deception and self-conceit, he counsels bringing oneself before each pious reading into the disposition depicted in this chapter. Clearly, such a disposition grants freedom to interpret Holy Scripture arbitrarily, removes the obligation to follow the interpretation made by the holy Fathers and received by the Church. This is the dogma of Protestantism.

[3] Ven. Gregory of Sinai. On Spiritual Delusion, etc. Philokalia, pt. 1. Sts. Callista and Ignatius Xanthopoulo, ch. 73. Philokalia, pt. 2.

[4] Ven. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 55.

[5] His Homily 36.

The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 2)

If you need to speak with yourself—bring yourself not flattery, but self-reproach. Bitter remedies are beneficial to us in our fallen condition. Those who flatter themselves have already received here on earth their reward—their self-deception, praise, and the love of the world hostile to God: they have nothing to expect in eternity but condemnation.

“My sin is always before me” (Ps. 50:5), says blessed David of himself: his sin was the constant object of his contemplation. “My transgression I will declare, and I will be grieved for my sin” (Ps. 37:19).

Saint David engaged in self-condemnation, engaged in reproving his own sin, when the sin had already been forgiven and the gift of the Holy Spirit had already been restored to him. This was not enough: he reproved his sin, he confessed it for the hearing of the whole world (Ps. 50).

The holy Fathers of the Eastern Church, especially the desert dwellers, when they attained the height of spiritual exercises, then all these exercises were united in them into one repentance. Repentance embraced their entire life, their entire activity: it was the consequence of seeing their own sin.

A certain great Father was asked: in what should the work of a solitary monk consist? He answered:[1] “Your slain soul lies before your eyes, and do you still ask what your work should be?” Weeping is the essential work of a true ascetic of Christ; weeping is his work from the beginning of his struggle and until its completion.

The sight of one’s sin and the repentance born from it are works that have no ending on earth: by the sight of sin repentance is awakened; by repentance purification is accomplished; gradually the purified eye of the mind begins to discern such defects and corruptions in the entire human being which it did not notice before, in its blindness.

Lord! Grant us to see our transgressions, so that our mind, wholly drawn to attention upon our own failings, may cease to see the failings of our neighbors and thus may see all our neighbors as good. Grant our heart to abandon the harmful concern with our neighbor’s defects, to unite all our concern into one: the concern for acquiring the purity and holiness which You have commanded and prepared for us. Grant us, who have defiled the robes of our soul, to whiten them again: they were already washed in the waters of baptism, and now, having been defiled, they have need of washing in the waters of tears. Grant us to see, in the light of Your grace, the manifold infirmities dwelling within us, which destroy spiritual movements in the heart and introduce into it fleshly and bodily movements hostile to Your kingdom. Grant us the great gift of repentance, preceded and born of the great gift of seeing our sins. Keep us by these great gifts from the abysses of self-deception, which opens in the soul from unnoticed and ununderstood sinfulness, and is born from the action of unnoticed and ununderstood sensuality and vainglory. Preserve us by these great gifts on our path to You, and grant us to reach You, who callest the confessing sinners and rejecteth those who esteem themselves righteous, that we may glorify You forever in eternal blessedness, You alone true God, Redeemer of the captive, Saviour of the perished. Amen.

[1] St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 21.

On the Image and Likeness of God in Man

On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

“Let us make man according to Our image and according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), the God-Trinity mysteriously deliberated within Himself and with Himself before the creation of man.

Man is the image and likeness of God. God, inaccessible in His majesty, God who transcends all image, was imaged forth in man, imaged forth with clarity and glory. Thus the sun is imaged forth in a humble drop of water. The essence of man, his highest power by which he is distinguished from all earthly creatures, by which he is equal to the angels, his spirit, is the image of the essence of God; the properties of the human spirit serve, in their state of innocence, as a likeness to the properties of God, who, having inscribed His likeness with His almighty hand upon man, abides beyond all likeness and comparison.

What an excellent, full of diverse dignity and diverse beauty, being—man is!

For him was created by the Creator all visible nature; all of it is appointed to his service, all of it is his wonderful adornment.

When the Creator brought forth into being from nothingness all other creatures, He was satisfied with pronouncing His almighty command. But when He desired to complete the work of creation with the fashioning of the most exquisite, most perfect creature, He precedes the creation with deliberation.

The vast substance in its boundless and incalculable diversity, created before man, was—we say this affirmatively because we say it truly—a preparatory creation.

Thus an earthly king arranges and adorns a magnificent palace so that he might place within it his image.

The King of kings and God of gods prepares all visible nature with all its adornment, with all its wondrous magnificence that we behold. Then into this palace He places, as the ultimate purpose of all, His image.

At the completion of creation, before the creation of man, God surveys all that He had made and finds it satisfactory: “and God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:25).

After the creation of man, God again surveys all that He had made and now finds His creation refined, complete, perfect: “and God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).

O man! Understand your dignity.

Behold the meadows and fields, the vast rivers, the boundless seas, the lofty mountains, the luxuriant trees, all the beasts and cattle of the earth, all the beasts and fish wandering in the expanse of the waters, behold the stars, the moon, the sun, the sky: all of this is for you, all is appointed to you for service.

Besides the visible world that we see, there is another world invisible to bodily eyes, incomparably superior to the visible. And the invisible world too is for man.

How greatly has the Lord honored His image! What a lofty destiny has He prescribed for it! The visible world is only a preparatory antechamber of a dwelling incomparably more magnificent and spacious. Here, as in an antechamber, the image of God must be adorned with final features and colors, to attain a most perfect resemblance to its most holy, most perfect Original, so that in the beauty and grace of this resemblance it may enter into that palace in which the Original resides incomprehensibly, as if restraining His unrestrainedness to reveal Himself to His beloved, rational creatures.

The image of God the Trinity—the trinity of man.

Three persons in the trinity of man—three powers of his spirit, by which the existence of the spirit is manifested. Our thoughts and spiritual sensations manifest the existence of the mind, which, manifesting itself with complete clarity, at the same time remains entirely invisible and incomprehensible.

In Holy Scripture and in the writings of the holy Fathers, sometimes the soul in general is called spirit, sometimes a particular power of the soul is called spirit. The Fathers call this power of the soul rationality or the power of rationality. They divide it into three particular powers: mind, thought or word, and spirit. By mind they mean the source itself, the beginning of both thoughts and spiritual sensations. By spirit, in a particular sense, is meant the faculty of spiritual sensation. Often in the Paternal writings the rational power or spirit are called mind; often the created spirits are called minds. The whole receives its name from its principal part.

The very essence of our soul is the image of God. And even after falling into sin, the soul remains an image! And cast into the flame of hell, the sinful soul, even in the very flame of hell, remains the image of God! Thus teach the holy Fathers.[1]

The holy Church sings in her hymns: “I am an image of Your inexpressible glory, though I bear the wounds of transgression.”[2]

Our mind is the image of the Father; our word (we usually call unspoken word ‘thought’) is the image of the Son; spirit is the image of the Holy Spirit.

As in God the Trinity three Persons indivisibly and inseparably constitute one Divine Essence, so in the trinity of man three persons constitute one essence, not mingling with one another, not merging into one person, not dividing into three essences.

Our mind begets and does not cease to beget thought; thought, having been begotten, does not cease to be begotten again and at the same time remains begotten, hidden within the mind.

Mind cannot exist without thought, and thought cannot exist without mind. The source of one is necessarily the source of the other; the existence of mind is necessarily also the existence of thought.

Similarly, our spirit proceeds from the mind and works with thought. Thus every thought has its own spirit, every manner of thinking has its own separate spirit, every book has its own proper spirit.

Thought cannot exist without spirit; the existence of one is necessarily accompanied by the existence of the other. In the existence of both, the existence of the mind appears.

What is the spirit of man? The totality of heartfelt feelings belonging to the rational and immortal soul, foreign to the souls of beasts and animals.

The heart of man is distinguished from the heart of animals by its spirit. The hearts of animals have sensations dependent on blood and nerves; they do not have spiritual sensation—this mark of the Divine image, the exclusive possession of man.

The moral strength of man is his spirit.

Our mind, word, and spirit, by the simultaneity of their source and by their mutual relations, serve as an image of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, coeternal, cooriginate, equally honored, and consubstantial.

“He that has seen me has seen the Father”, declared the Son,—“I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (Jn. 14:9-10). The same can be said of the human mind and its thought: the mind, invisible in itself, appears in thought; whoever has become acquainted with the thought has become acquainted with the mind that produced it.

The Lord called the Holy Spirit “power from on high” (Lk. 24:49), “the Spirit of truth” (Jn. 14:17); truth is the Son. The human spirit too has the property of power; it is the spirit of a man’s thoughts, whether they are true or false. It manifests itself in the secret movements of the heart, in the character of thoughts, and in all the actions of man. By man’s spirit his mind is revealed, and the character of his thoughts; the spirit of each deed reveals the thought that guided the man in that deed.

The merciful Lord adorned His image with His likeness. The image of God is the very essence of the soul; the likeness is the properties of the soul.

The newly created image of God—man—was like God: infinite, wise, good, pure, incorruptible, holy, free from every sinful passion, every sinful thought and sensation.

A skilled artist first depicts the form, the features of the face from which he is making a portrait. Having accurately rendered these features, he gives the face and the very clothing the color and hues of the original, thereby perfecting the resemblance. God, having created His image, adorned it with His likeness: it is fitting for the Divine image to have complete resemblance to God in all things. Otherwise the image would be insufficient, unworthy of God, not fulfilling its purpose, not corresponding to it.

Alas! Alas! Weep, you heavens! Weep, O sun, weep, all you luminaries, weep, O earth, weep, all the heavenly and earthly creatures! Weep, all nature! Weep, you holy Angels! Groan bitterly, inconsolably! Clothe yourselves, as in a garment, in deep sorrow! The calamity has happened, a calamity fully worthy of being called a calamity: the image of God has fallen.

Honored by God with free will, as one of the bright, living marks of Godlikeness, deceived by an angel already fallen, he communed with the dark thought and spirit of the father of lies and all malice. He accomplished this communion by action: by severing himself from the will of God. By this he drove away from himself the Spirit of God, distorted the Divine likeness, made the very image debased.

The Preacher vividly and accurately depicted the calamities of the fall: “that which is crooked”, he said, “cannot be made straight, and deficiency cannot be numbered” (Eccl 1:15).

The derangement of the image and likeness can be readily seen by each one in himself. The beauty of the likeness, consisting of the totality of all virtues, has been defiled by dark and foul passions. The features of the image have lost their regularity, their mutual harmony: thought and spirit war against one another, go out of obedience to the mind, rise up against it. He himself is in unceasing perplexity, in a terrible obscuration that closes off God and the path to God from him, the holy and infallible One.

Terrible torment accompanies the derangement of God’s image and likeness. If a man attentively, in solitude, over a considerable period of time, continually looks into himself, he will be convinced that this torment acts continuously—it opens and closes, depending on how much or how little distraction stifles it.

O man! Your distractions, your entertainments—these are the accusers of the torment dwelling within you. You seek to silence it with the cup of noisy diversions and endless distraction. Wretched one! Scarcely does a moment of sobriety befall you when you are again convinced that the torment which you sought to eliminate through distraction lives within you. Distraction serves as its nourishment, a means of its strengthening: resting in the shade of distraction, the torment awakens with new strength. It is the witness dwelling in man himself, witnessing to him of his fall.

Sealed with the seal and testimony of the fall is the human body. From the very moment of its birth it is in enmity, in struggle with all that surrounds it and with the very soul dwelling within it. All the elements wage war against it; finally, wearied by internal and external conflicts, struck by diseases, oppressed by old age, it falls to the scythe of death, though it was created immortal, and crumbles to dust.

And again the magnificence of the Divine image appears! It appears in its very fall, in the manner by which man has been drawn forth from that fall.

God, by one of His Persons, assumed His image upon Himself: became incarnate; by Himself drew it forth from its fall, restored it to its former glory, raised it to glory incomparably higher than that which had been bestowed upon it at creation.

In His mercy the Lord is righteous. In redemption He glorified His image more than in creation: man did not himself devise his fall, as the fallen angel devised his—he was drawn into the fall by envy, deceived by evil, which covered itself with the mask of good.

All Persons of God the Trinity participate in the work of incarnation, each according to the property of His Person. The Father abides as begetter and begetting, the Son is begotten, the Holy Spirit acts.

[1] St. Dimitri of Rostov. Chronicle.

[2] Troparia after the Blameless Ones on Saturday, tone 5. Psalter with Propers.

On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

And here again it is seen what an exact image man is of God. The Son takes on humanity; through Him all God the Trinity enters into communion with man. Our thought, in order to communicate with men, clothes itself in sounds: immaterial joins itself with matter; through its mediation spirit enters into communion, the mind appears.

The Son became incarnate—God’s Word, God’s Truth. By Truth our thought has been corrected and purified, our spirit has become capable of communion with the Holy Spirit. Our spirit, which was slain by eternal death, has been made alive by the Holy Spirit. Then the mind entered into knowledge and vision of the Father.

The trinity of man is healed by God the Trinity: by the Word thought is healed, translated from the realm of falsehood, from the realm of self-deception, into the realm of Truth; by the Holy Spirit the spirit is quickened, translated from fleshly and soulish sensations into spiritual sensations; the Father appears to the mind—and the mind becomes the mind of God. “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), says the Apostle.

Before the coming of the Holy Spirit, man, as dead in spirit, asked: “Lord, show us the Father” (Jn. 14:8). After receiving the spirit of adoption, having felt his sonship, quickened in spirit for God and salvation, through the action of the Holy Spirit, he relates to the Father as to one known, as to a Father: “Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15-16)!

In the font of baptism the fallen image is restored; man is born into eternal life by water and spirit. From thenceforth the Spirit, who departed from man at his fall, begins to be co-present with him during his earthly life, healing through repentance the damages inflicted upon man by sin after baptism, and thus making it possible for him to be saved through repentance until his very last breath.

The beauty of the likeness is restored by the Spirit, just as the image in baptism. It develops, is perfected by the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments.

The model of this beauty, the fullness of this beauty, is the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1), proclaims the Apostle, calling the faithful to the restoration and perfection within themselves of the Divine likeness, pointing to the Most Sacred Model of perfection of new men, recreated and renewed by redemption. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14).

God the Trinity, in the redemption of His image—man—gave such a possibility for advancement in the perfection of the likeness, that the likeness becomes a union of the image with the Original, of the poor creature with the all-perfect Creator.

Wondrous, marvelous is the image of God, that image from which God shines forth and acts! The shadow of the Apostle Peter healed! He who lied before him fell suddenly dead, as one who had lied before God! The aprons and head coverings of the Apostle Paul worked wonders! The bones of the Prophet Elisha raised a dead man, whose careless burial attendants allowed him to touch the long-resting bones of the Spirit-bearer in the tomb!

“Abide in me”, commands the Saviour to His disciples, “and I in you. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit” (Jn. 15:4-5). The closest likeness, union is obtained and, once obtained, is maintained by abiding in the Gospel commandments.

The most blessed union is brought about when with a pure conscience, purified by turning away from every sin, by exact fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, the Christian partakes of the most holy body of Christ and His most holy blood, and together with them the Godhead united with them. “He who eats my flesh”, said the Saviour, “and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (Jn 6:56).

O rational image of God! Consider: to what glory, to what perfection, to what greatness are you called and destined by God!

The incomprehensible wisdom of the Creator has granted to you to make of yourself what you wish to make.

O rational image of God! Will you not wish to remain worthy as God’s image? Will you wish to deface yourself, destroy the likeness, transform yourself into the image of the devil, descend to the dignity of the beasts?

God did not pour forth His gifts in vain, did not accomplish the wondrous creation of the world in vain, did not honor with preliminary deliberation the creation of His image in vain, did not redeem it without accounting when it fell! He will require an account for all His gifts. He will judge how His bounties have been used, how His incarnation has been valued, how His blood, shed for us at our redemption, has been valued.

Woe, woe to the creatures who neglected the good deeds of God, the Creator-Redeemer!

Eternal fire, the abyss of fire, kindled long ago, unquenched, prepared for the devil and his angels, awaits the images of God, deformed, made depraved. There they will burn eternally, not be consumed eternally!

Brethren! While we wander on earth, while we are in the antechamber to eternity—in this visible world—let us strive to restore to their proper form the features of the Divine image imprinted by God upon our souls, to give beauty, liveliness, and freshness to the hues and colors of the likeness, and God, at the terrible judgment, will recognize us as capable of entering His eternal, blessed palace, His eternal day, His eternal feast and triumph.

Be encouraged, you of little faith! Let us be stirred, you lazy ones! A man like us, who at first, in his blindness, persecuted the Church of God, was an opponent, an enemy of God, has so corrected within himself, after his conversion, the God-given Divine image, has so perfected the likeness, that with boldness he proclaims of himself: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!” (Gal. 2:20).

Let no one doubt the truth of this voice! This voice was so filled with all-holy Truth, the Holy Spirit so worked through it, that at Paul’s voice the dead were raised, demons departed from those tormented by them, the oracles of demons fell silent, the enemies of God’s Light were deprived of the light of their eyes, the heathen rejected their idols, knew Christ—the true God, and worshipped Him. Amen.

A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

The Word of God is a testament: to those who have received the Word of God it brings salvation and blessedness (I, 5).

Love is born of a pure heart, an undefiled conscience, and a sincere faith (I, 5).

Cultivate these virtues, preserving attentiveness to yourself and silence, so that you may attain to love, which is the crown and sum of Christian perfection.

Purity of heart is violated by the reception of sinful thoughts, especially lustful ones; the unblemished conscience by voluntary sins; faith is weakened by reliance on one’s own reason, by insincerity and self-love.

Whoever wishes to reason about truth without illumination from above will only engage in empty talk and contention, will stray from the path leading to love (I, 6-7).

From untimely, presumptuous reasoning about truth that exceeds understanding, heresies, errors, and blasphemy have arisen.

Steadfastness in Orthodox confession of the dogmas of faith is nourished and preserved by the works of faith and the unblemished conscience.

Those not guided by faith in their deeds, and who violate the unblemished conscience by voluntary turning to sin, will not be able to preserve their knowledge of the dogmas in the proper purity and correctness: this knowledge, as knowledge of God, requires a necessary purity of mind, which is proper only to the virtuous and chaste (I, 19).

There is One God and One Mediator between God and men—the God-man, Jesus Christ (II, 5). No one can approach and draw near to God without this Mediator. He who rejects the Mediator rejects God. “He who denies the Son also denies the Father. He who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (1 Jn. 2:23; Jn. 3:36).

Spiritual understanding consists in the knowledge of Truth by faith. First, the knowledge of faith is acquired; faith, having been appropriated to the Christian, changes his understanding through revealing to him the Truth, which is Christ.

Those who have attained manhood in Christ receive unceasing prayer, which they perform in secret in the chamber of the soul at all times and in all places. The Christian obtains unceasing prayer when his will and the activity dependent upon it are absorbed in understanding, desiring, and fulfilling the will of God. By this there is established in the heart a living faith, Gospel simplicity, the peace of God, free from all disturbance.

Such a rational infant continually sees his weakness, continually believes, continually hungers and thirsts for divine righteousness, and therefore continually prays (1 Tim 2:8).

The virtues especially necessary for the hermit are: meek submission to God, inclination toward silence, withdrawal from conversations, even beneficial ones, but which remove from converse with God and disturb the silence of the heart. Especially at the beginning of his struggle the hermit is apt to be drawn away by external impressions. Careful abiding in the cell, withdrawal from meetings with acquaintances, and from all kinds of distraction counteract this weakness (II, 11, 12).

A newly tonsured monk should not be entrusted with positions of authority in the monastery, for he might easily be puffed up with pride and subjected to other schemes of the devil (1 Tim 3:6-7).

The mystical knowledge and experience of faith is preserved by the purity of conscience.

The Church of the living God is the pillar and foundation of truth. Therefore God is called living here because He acts. He acts in all believers through the mysteries, and in the chosen ones, beyond the mysteries, through many diverse obvious gifts of grace. This proves the firmness and immovability of the Eastern Church in truth. On the contrary, the heterodox Churches, though they adorn themselves with the name of Churches of Christ, though they acknowledge God, they acknowledge Him not as acting, as if dead (for the dead, the living is also dead!), which shows that they have wavered, have not stood firm in truth.

The great mystery of godliness (III, 16)! God appeared in flesh; He proved that He is God by the Spirit, that is, by His teaching, which is Spirit and life; by His deeds, accomplished by the finger of God; by the giving of the Holy Spirit to men. Having clothed Himself in flesh, He became visible not only to men but also to the Angels, to whom by His Godhead He is invisible.[1] The heathens, perishing from ignorance of God, heard the preaching of salvation. The teaching about God is received not by worldly wisdom, not by elevated reason, not by vast learning, not by the rich and exalted and glorious of this world, but by the humble pledge of the heart through faith. Those who believed in God enter into appropriation to Him and, raised by grace above all temporal things, receive mystical, experiential knowledge that He has ascended to heaven and raises there with Himself those who truly believe in Him.

Those who have not established and grown their faith from hearing by the works of faith are easily deceived by the teaching of falsehood, which deceitfully takes on the appearance of truth (1 Tim 4:1).

Bodily labors “are of little profit” (IV, 8), that is, they can only restrain passions but not uproot them. Godliness, which consists in the invisible exercise of mind and heart in Orthodox faith, “is profitable for all” (IV, 9). Only through it can man experience eternal life, tasted by the saints here in part, as in earnest, fully revealed after the separation of soul from body. Eternal life consists in the manifold action of grace in the soul, which is felt as it is purified from passions. This word, as spoken from spiritual experience, is true; it is worthy to be received as the beginning from which the Christian can ascend to the unspeakable blessings, setting his ascents in his heart.

Faith and attentiveness lead to the knowledge of the Cross of Christ, from which springs magnanimous endurance of sorrows, brought forth and nourished by hope in the living God, that is, by the action of gracious consolation in the heart of him who suffers for Christ (IV, 10).

When gracious consolation acts with the mystical knowledge of Christ and His providence, then the Christian does not judge either Jew, or heathen, or manifest transgressor;[2] but burns toward all with gentle, unblemished love. By the purity of his mind he beholds that since the coming of Christ, the dignity, worth, praise, and salvation of man is Christ, not the natural virtues of men. He constantly desires to be crucified, for his ear is opened, and he hears the voice of Christ his God, saying to him: “He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 10:38-39). The cup of sorrows he counts as the cup of salvation, as a testimony to his election, as the gift of God. He cannot have hatred or enemies, for those who bring sorrows upon him are in his eyes nothing other than instruments of God’s providence; he forgives them, attributing their ignorance as the cause of their justification;[3] he blesses them as instruments of God who does him good. “Can I,” he says to himself, “can I condemn those who now before me fall into manifest transgressions, when Christ has already redeemed all their sins—past, present, and future—when they already have in Christ justification and salvation which they cannot lose except by rejecting Christ to the end?”[4]

One must give no offense to one’s neighbor by one’s behavior (IV, 12). Therefore keep reverence both in soul and body. Be modest and simple in words and movements; in your household life be temperate, chaste, not bold; in your soul be meek, loving toward all, truthful, wise, do not permit yourself cunning or hypocrisy; instead of these have faith, which will teach you that the peace and destiny of each man are governed by God’s providence, not by the schemes of human reason, and that for this reason you must observe a meek Christian rectitude in deeds, words, and thoughts.

“Until I come to you,” says God’s grace to the ascetic of God, “and, dwelling in you, replace all external instruction, apply yourself diligently to reading, prayer, and be instructed by the teaching of the successful. Do not permit yourself negligence, and persist in attentiveness with constancy. Then your gradual progress will be evident; you will acquire salvation and will be beneficial to others through edifying and saving speech” (IV, 14-16).

Whoever has truly felt the poverty of Adam’s nature, who has learned that it lies in grievous fall and perdition, will certainly at the same time understand and be convinced that man needs to be united with Christ for salvation. Such knowledge is a sign of a true widow. She is permitted to enter into silence, so that she may abide in prayers and supplications day and night, so that Christ may be vividly portrayed in her (VI, 5).

As a ship’s pilot looks to the stars and by them directs the course of his ship, so too the hermit must continually gaze upon God, see Him with the eyes of faith and hope, to be preserved in constancy and patience. On the sea of silence extraordinary storms precede extraordinary calm.

A hermit drawn away by gluttony, indulging in excessive sleep and luxury, or in general by sensuality and self-love, proves by this that he is dead in soul, though alive in body (IV, 6). Christ, the true Life, dwells only in the crucified.

The age of a widow capable of silence is determined as sixty years (V, 9), which signifies in a spiritual sense the middle measure of progress, depicted in the Gospel by the numbers: thirty, sixty, and a hundred. In this middle measure are those who, though even soulish, have received the power of prayer for victory during spiritual warfare, to whom the mystery of the Cross has been opened, who feel during external tribulations the action of grace in their souls, which serves both as light and consolation for the heart.

Before a hermit enters into silence, he should have testimony from good deeds. Examine yourself, O you who wish to enter into haven, or more correctly, into the sea of silence! Have you followed every good work not according to the nature of the old Adam, but in accord with the properties of the New? (V, 10). In other words: have you taken upon yourself the yoke of humility and meekness, tasted that this yoke is good and the burden is light? In other words: have you studied the Gospel commandments? Have your mind and heart become their tablets, and your conduct their expression and consequence? Do you seek righteousness apart from the cross? If you seek it, then you are not capable, not ready for silence, into which it is disastrous to enter without condemning yourself and remaining in condemnation of your neighbors.

Youths in spiritual age, though they be old in body, though they strive away from the world, and thus deserve the name of widows, should not be permitted to enter silence (V, 11). They, through lack of spiritual understanding, cannot be constant in the conviction that for salvation only Christ alone is necessary; they will not bear their deadness, will desire to enliven their ‘I’ in good works belonging to the soulish man, by which they will cast off the yoke of Christ and enter into the nature of the old Adam. It is better for them to exercise themselves in active virtues; it is better for them, turning away from all that is unnatural, to remain in their own nature, than to strive prematurely and incorrectly toward the supernatural.

They are not forbidden to strive for renewal in the Lord; but a correct striving is commanded: let them strive to correct their character according to the character of Christ, as depicted in the Gospel. With the healing of character, the mind is gradually healed. It, having received healing, that is, having become pure, clearly sees Truth, acknowledges it, and confesses it. After this, if it pleases Truth, solely through its good pleasure and election, the disciple is led up the mountain and becomes a beholder of the Transfiguration. If not thus, remain at the foot of the mountain and engage in casting the demon out of the boy. The demon is cast out by faith, prayer, and fasting. By the name of fasting should be understood not merely abstinence from excess in food, but abstinence from all sinful enterprises. He who has looked into his condition and into the condition of all the human race, infected by sin, subjected to the spirits of darkness, can understand the mystical answer given by the Saviour by the father of the demon-possessed concerning the time when the son’s illness began: “he said: from childhood” (Mk. 9:21).

An attempt at premature silence inevitably brings about harmful consequences. The presumptuous, self-confident, obscured and bound ascetic will find no food for his soul in silence, and from this will inevitably fall into despondency, which acts in hermits with special force and harm, delivering them to captivation by various wicked thoughts and fantasies. The food for hermits is the gracious, illuminating consolation through the revelation of the mystery of the Cross of Christ. It is a gift from above, not knowledge proper to human nature itself. It is impossible to substitute the soulish for the spiritual. But if anyone strives to make such a substitution, he will appropriate to himself a lie instead of truth, in the deceitful likeness of truth. The fruit of the lie is derangement, as is the fruit of despondency. But the derangement from falsehood differs from the derangement born of despondency. The first manifests itself in self-deception, in high opinion of oneself, in boasting of imagined virtues and gifts, in contempt and condemnation of neighbors, ends in pride, delusion, frenzy of mind, sometimes falling into fleshly passions, sometimes suicide, most often demon-possession and mental disturbance, which are ordinarily called madness. The second manifests itself in idleness, laziness, in abandoning one’s cell, in inclination toward distraction through conversation, frequent outings, wanderings, turning to earthly wisdom and learning. With the awakening of soulish reason according to the nature of the old Adam, faith is rejected, God’s providence is hidden from the eyes of the mind; man, as if eternally on earth, sets himself wholly to the earthly and gradually descends into a state that is subhuman, passionate, fleshly, which is, in relation to true life—Christ—the death of the soul (V, 12-13).

Whoever has fallen into derangement of either kind, especially the first, usually becomes wholly incapable of ascetic life. However, humility heals even such infirmities as are in themselves incurable, said John of the Ladder.[5]

He who wishes to be a pure fulfiller of the commandments of Christ should guard himself extremely from attachments (V, 21). When the heart is infected with attachment, it cannot fulfill the pure and holy will of Christ with the appropriate holiness and purity. Fulfilling our own will instead of Christ’s will, and stubbornly trying to show that we are doing Christ’s will, we fall into hypocrisy. Often, displaying, and perhaps even thinking, that we are doing Christ’s will, in actual fact we are fulfilling the will of the devil.

Those who strive to know Christ’s teaching not for its own sake, but with an external, earthly aim, with the aim of gaining profit or honor, will never be able to obtain true spiritual understanding, because it is God’s gift, granted to the humble in measure of their faith, purification from passions, and self-denial (VI, 4-5).

If you see those who call themselves teachers and think themselves to know Christ indulging in disputes, envy, slander, suspicion, hatred and other passions, know that they have only dead knowledge from hearing, while their mind and heart are in darkness and infirmity, as not healed and not purified by the doing of the Gospel commandments (VI, 4). Against them thunders the saying of the Lord: “I do not know you”! (Mt. 25:12, 7:23). This Truth—Christ—says of Himself to those who think they know Him not from the works of faith, but from hearing alone. Whoever has learned that the human race lies in a fallen state, that the earth is the place of our exile, our prison, where after a brief time we depart to receive either eternal blessedness or eternal punishment, has certainly also learned that man’s one treasure on earth is Christ, the Saviour of the perished. Consequently, man’s sole and invaluable acquisition on earth is knowledge of Christ and belonging to Christ. He who desires to acquire this treasure—will he desire the acquisitions and enjoyments of time? On the contrary—he will flee them, fearing lest they distract him. He will be content not only with the necessary but even with scarcity. And he who is content is richer than the rich! (VI, 6).

Brethren, we entered this world naked; departing from it, we leave our bodies in it. Why then seek corruptible acquisitions? Why seek what must necessarily be abandoned? Let us not lose precious time for corruption, lest we lose our one treasure—Christ. To Him let us direct both mind and heart; having food and raiment, let us be content with these; let us not permit luxuries and caprices to enter us, lest they, gradually drawing our love to themselves, rob us of Christ (VI, 7-8).

Those who desire to become rich fall into temptations and snares which the very striving to become rich prepares for them. The first fruit of this striving is a multitude of cares and concerns, which turn the mind and heart away from God. The soul, occupying itself little, coldly, negligently with God, becomes gross and falls into insensibility; the fear of God is erased from it; the remembrance of death departs from it, the mind is obscured and ceases to see God’s providence, from which faith is lost; hope, instead of being grounded in God, is turned toward an idol, bringing love to its feet as well. Then man dies to virtue, gives himself over to falsehood, cunning, cruelty—in a word, to all vices, and falls into complete perdition, becoming a vessel of the devil. “The root of all evils is the love of money”, as containing in itself the cause and occasion for all sins (VI, 9-10).

And even those who have not been completely ruined by the love of money, because they have not fully surrendered to it, but only sought moderate gain, have suffered many calamities. They have ensnared themselves in heavy cares, fallen into various griefs, often been compelled to violate the purity of conscience, suffered great loss in spiritual progress, and seen in themselves considerable deviation from faith and spiritual understanding. For the Christian the Gospel poverty is more desirable than all the treasures of the world, as it guides toward faith and its fruits. The ascetic of Christ—the freer he is from the world, the safer; and insofar as he is bound to the world, by that much he is already defeated.

False wisdom (VI, 20) is a manner of thinking and judgment which has attached itself to the mind as a result of man’s fall. As a consequence of the fall, it has the character of self-deception; as a consequence of falsehood and deception, it does not accept Truth—Christ; as highly valuing all that is earthly, while the earth is the place of exile for the fallen, it is opposed to faith and the spiritual understanding born from faith, which regards all earthly things with the eye of a pilgrim. The object of false wisdom is the temporal and corruptible. When the eternal and spiritual become its objects, its judgments are wholly unfounded and erroneous. It is bereft of illumination from above, which explains spiritual matters; for its own powers, without revelation, these matters are inaccessible; the alien light in it is the light of dark spirits of falsehood. All its knowledge is supplied by the bodily senses, which are corrupted by the fall. When the invisible to sensory eyes becomes accessible to it by some means, for example magnetism, this only multiplies its delusions, strengthens its obscuration and self-deception, as remaining in the realm of falsehood, as acquiring only perverted knowledge. Its followers are in continuous disagreement with one another, contradicting each other and themselves. It does not demand virtue from man; on the contrary—it grants freedom to sin. It considers itself the ruler of the world; why it rejects God’s providence, if not always in words, then always in deed. It contains within itself the principle of atheism, which constitutes the entire essence of every error, revealing itself in it more or less. Finally, it is the negative wealth of the fallen spirits and those men who are in communion with fallen spirits.

Let us abandon the wisdom of this world, let us abandon trust in it and approach with faith and humility God’s wisdom and power, to the holy Truth—Christ, who came into the world, “that through him the world might be saved” (Jn. 3:17). He is the Light which the darkness does not comprehend and does not receive (Jn. 1:5). Only he who has loved the truth is capable of receiving Him. “Everyone who does evil hates the light. He who does not believe is already condemned. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil” (Jn. 3:18-20, 1 Tim. 6:11, 16). Amen.

[1] Ven. Macarius the Great. Homily 4, ch. 9.

[2] Ven. Macarius the Great. Homily 8, ch. 6.

[3] Ven. Macarius the Great. Homily 37, ch. 2, 4.

[4] We see practical proof of what has been said in the holy martyr Arrianus. He, being an idolater in the office of proconsul, had stained himself with the blood of many holy martyrs, then believed in Christ and sealed his faith with solemn confession and his own blood. Menaion Reader. Passion of the holy martyr Philemon on the 14th day of December, and also of the holy martyrs Timothy and Maura on the 3rd day of May.

[5] Homily 26.

On the Essential Work of the Monk

On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

The essential work of a monk is prayer, as that work which unites man with God. All other labors serve either as preparatory means or as means conducive to prayer, or else are given to those who, through moral weakness or through lack of mental capacity, cannot engage wholly in prayer. Says the Venerable Mark the Ascetic: “For those unable to persevere in prayer, it is good to be in service (to engage in labors and handiwork in obedience), so as not to lose both; but for those who can, it is better not to neglect what is better.”[1]

The Venerable Mark, explaining the words of the Lord: “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life” (Jn 6:27), teaches that their meaning consists in seeking by prayer the kingdom of heaven, which is within you (Lk 17:21), as the Lord said, having promised to those who seek the heavenly kingdom that He will supply all bodily needs through His Divine Providence (Mt 6:33).

Explaining the words of the holy Apostle Paul: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what is the will of God, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2), the Venerable Mark says: “The Apostle instructs us to fulfill the perfect will of God, desiring that we not even be judged. Knowing that prayer contributes to the fulfillment of all commandments, he does not cease to command about it repeatedly and in many ways, and to say: ‘praying at all times in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication’ (Eph. 6:18). From this we know that prayer differs from prayer; one thing is to pray to God with undistractible thought, and another is to stand in prayer with the body while the mind wanders. Again: one thing is to pray at appointed times and approach prayer after the conclusion of worldly conversations and occupations, and another is to prefer and place prayer before worldly cares as much as possible, according to the instruction of the same Apostle: ‘The Lord is near; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God’ (Phil. 4:5-6). Something like this is also said by the blessed Apostle Peter: ‘be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you’ (1 Pet. 4:7, 5:7). And first of all, the Lord Himself, knowing that all things are established by prayer, says: ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’ (Mt. 6:31, 33). Perhaps by this the Lord calls us also to greater faith: for who, having rejected cares about the temporal and not endured scarcity, will not believe God as a result for eternal blessings? Explaining this, the Lord said: ‘One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much’ (Lk. 16:10). But in this matter also He condescended to us in His love, knowing that daily care for the flesh is inevitable; He did not cut off daily care, but, allowing care for the present day, commanded not to be anxious about tomorrow. He commanded this most fittingly, rightly, and lovingly: for it is impossible for men clothed in the body not to care at all about what belongs to bodily life. It is possible, through prayer and self-control, to reduce much to little, but it is utterly impossible to entirely disregard everything belonging to the body. And therefore, one wishing, according to Scripture, to ‘attain to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13), should not prefer various services to prayer or carelessly take them on himself without need, nor, under the pretext of prayer, reject them when they come by necessity and according to God’s providence, but should examine, distinguish, and serve God’s providence without judgment. One who thinks otherwise and does not recognize that one commandment can be higher and chief than another, as one sees from Scripture, and does not wish to ‘direct myself to all your commandments’ (Ps. 118:128), as the Prophet commands, which he meets according to God’s providence—the necessary and what we meet according to God’s providence is inevitable, but untimely occupations should be rejected, preferring prayer to them, especially those occupations which drag us into many expenses and the gathering of superfluous possessions. To the extent that one limits and rejects them, to that extent one will keep the mind from wandering; to the extent that one keeps the mind, to that extent one gives place to pure prayer and proves faith in Christ. But if anyone, through lack of faith or some other weakness, cannot act thus, then at least let him recognize the truth and struggle according to his strength, accusing his immaturity. It is better to be held accountable for deficiency than for delusion and pride: in this may you be assured by the parable of the Lord, presenting in one case a tax collector and in another a Pharisee (Lk. 18). Let us strive to keep away from ourselves all worldly care by hope and prayer. But if we cannot fulfill this as we should, then let us offer to God confession of our deficiencies; and let us not permit ourselves to withdraw from the practice of prayer. It is better to be rebuked for occasional negligence than for complete abandonment. In all we have said about prayer and the inevitable service, much discernment from God is needed for us to know when and what sort of occupation we should prefer to prayer: for each one, exercising the occupation he loves, thinks he is performing due service, not knowing that service should be regarded in relation to pleasing God, not in relation to pleasing oneself. All the more difficult is discernment here, for these necessary and inevitable commandments are not always the same in regard to fulfillment, but one should be preferred over another in its time. Not every service is performed always, but in its time, while the service of prayer is appointed to us as unceasing; why we should prefer it to occupations in which no necessary need presses. All the Apostles, teaching this distinction to the people who wished to draw them to service, said: ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole congregation’ (Acts 6:2-5).”

“Let us begin the work: progressing gradually, we will find that not only hope in God, but also certain faith, and sincere love, and freedom from malice, and love of the brethren, and continence, and patience, and deep understanding, and freedom from temptations, and bestowal of gifts, and confession of the heart, and diligent tears, are given to the faithful through prayer. Not only this, but also endurance of sorrows, and pure love for neighbors, and knowledge of spiritual law, and finding of God’s righteousness, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, and bestowal of spiritual treasures—in a word, all that God has promised to give to those who believe in this age and the age to come. It is impossible for the soul to restore the image in itself in any other way than by God’s grace and the faith of man, when he remains with his mind in undistractible prayer and in great humble-mindedness.”[1]

The Venerable Macarius the Great reasons similarly: “The head of all good endeavor and the crown of good works is constant abiding in prayer, through which we acquire other virtues as well, with the cooperation of the One who gives His hand, the very One who calls us to this. For the communion of mystical power and the joining together of thoughts directed to give themselves to holiness toward God, and the clinging of the very soul, burning with love for the Lord through the same, are given inexpressibly in prayer to those who are worthy. For He says: ‘You have given me gladness in my heart’ (Ps 4:8). And the Lord Himself says: ‘The kingdom’ of heaven ‘is within you’ (Lk 17:21).”[2]

Saint John of the Ladder calls prayer the mother of all virtues.[3]

The Venerable Symeon, the New Theologian, speaks about attentive prayer: “Our holy Fathers, hearing the words of the Lord in the sacred Gospel, that ‘from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders’, and that ‘these defile a man’ (Mt. 15:19-20); and again hearing in another place of the Gospel that the Lord commands us to ‘clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean’ (Mt. 23:26), abandoned every other work and struggled mightily in this practice, namely, in guarding the heart, knowing for certain that together with this practice they would easily acquire all the other virtues, and that without this practice no virtue can either be acquired or remain. Some of the Fathers called this practice heartfelt silence, others called it attentiveness, others watchfulness and resistance, others vigilance of thoughts and guarding of the mind: for all engaged in it and through it were deemed worthy of Divine gifts. Of it the Preacher speaks: ‘Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart without fault and clean, and remove vexation from your heart’ (Eccl. 11:9); and the Proverbs speak of it: ‘If the spirit of the ruler rises against you’ (the suggestion of the devil), ‘do not leave your place’ (Eccl. 10:4), that is, do not permit him to enter into your place, by the name of place meaning the heart; and our Lord speaks of it in the sacred Gospel: ‘Be not anxious’ (Lk. 12:29), that is, do not scatter your mind here and there; and again in another place He says: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ (Mt. 5:3), that is, blessed are those who have not acquired in their heart a single thought of this world, but are poor—have no worldly thought whatsoever. And all our Divine Fathers have written much about this. Whoever wishes to read their writings will see what the ascetic Mark wrote, what Saint John of the Ladder said, and the Venerable Hesychius, and Philotheus of Sinai, and Abba Isaiah, and the great Barsanuphius, and many others. To say it briefly: whoever does not attend to the guarding of his mind cannot be pure in heart, will not be deemed worthy to see God. Whoever does not attend cannot be poor in spirit, cannot weep and groan, nor be meek and humble, nor hunger and thirst for righteousness, nor be merciful and a peacemaker, nor be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. In general I say: it is impossible to acquire any other virtue in any other way than through attentiveness. And therefore you should care about it more than about anything else, so that in reality you may acquire what I am telling you about.” Then the Venerable proposes to continuously perform the Jesus Prayer while joining the mind with the heart, whereby the ascetic may constantly abide in watchfulness and drive away by the name of Jesus every sinful thought, from wherever it arises, drive it away before it enters and takes form. Through this practice we acquire experiential and essential knowledge of the fallen spirits; knowing them, we acquire hatred and vigilance against them, enter into unceasing warfare with them, raise up against them natural zeal, chase them, strike them, destroy them.[4]

The blessed Nicephorus defines attentiveness thus:[5] “Some of the Saints called attentiveness guarding of the mind, others guarding of the heart, others watchfulness, others mental silence, others [something else]. All these expressions signify one and the same thing, just as if one said ‘bread’ or said ‘a slice’ or ‘a piece’; understand it thus about this as well. What is attentiveness and what are its properties—learn this carefully. Attentiveness is knowledge of sincere repentance; attentiveness is the cry of the soul, hatred of the world, ascent to God; attentiveness is rejection of sin and acceptance of virtue; attentiveness is certain assurance of forgiveness of sins; attentiveness is the beginning of spiritual vision, or more correctly—the cause of spiritual vision: for God, through it, comes down and appears to him. Attentiveness is non-disturbance of the mind, or more correctly, firmness of it, granted to the soul by God’s mercy; attentiveness is the overthrow of thoughts, the temple of the remembrance of God, the treasury-keeper of patience for the tribulations that come;[6] attentiveness is the cause of faith, hope, love.” The blessed Nicephorus, like the Venerable Symeon the New Theologian and the other holy Fathers, proposes as a means to attentiveness the continuous practice of the Jesus Prayer while joining the mind with the heart. Inviting all monks willing to acquire true progress to the struggle of attentiveness and the unceasing prayer united with it, Nicephorus says: “You who desire to be deemed worthy of the magnificent, Divine illumination of our Saviour Jesus Christ, you who desire to receive sensibly the supernal fire in your heart, you who strive to obtain essential reconciliation with God, you who have abandoned all the world to acquire and gain the treasure hidden in the field of your hearts, you who wish that from now on the lamps of your souls be lit brightly and therefore have rejected all that is temporal, you who wish to know wisely and experientially and to receive the kingdom of heaven, which is within you! Come, and I will tell you the science and art of the eternal, heavenly life, which leads its practitioner, without labor and sweat, into the haven of dispassion, fearing neither the fall nor deception from demons—these come only when we, through disobedience, remain outside this way of life, somewhere in a far country, like the ancient Adam, who, scorning God’s commandment, having entered into friendship with the serpent and recognized him as faithful, was sated with the fruit of delusion to excess, and wretchedly cast himself and all his descendants into the depths of death, darkness, and corruption. It is impossible for us to obtain reconciliation and union with God if we do not first, to the extent possible, return to ourselves, if we do not enter into ourselves. It is glorious to tear ourselves away from communion with the world and from vain cares and to keep unflaggingly the heavenly kingdom which is within us. For this reason monastic life has been called the science of sciences and the art of arts: this sacred way of life provides not some corruptible things so that we might bury our mind in them, turning it from the better, but promises terrible and unspeakable blessings, which eye has not seen, which ear has not heard, which have not entered the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9). And therefore ‘our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness’ (Eph. 6:12). If the present age is darkness, let us flee from it, flee, thinking that we have nothing in common with God’s enemy. Whoever wishes to be his friend becomes an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4), and who can help one who has become God’s enemy? And therefore let us imitate our Fathers and, like them, apply ourselves to seeking the treasure hidden in our hearts, and, having found it, let us hold it firmly, cultivating and guarding it: such is our calling from the very beginning.”[7]

The Venerable Nilus of Sorsk counsels those wishing to practice heartfelt silence to renounce all thoughts whatsoever and replace them with the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, that is, the Jesus Prayer. “One must,” says the Venerable Nilus, “strive to be silent in thought and from even seeming good thoughts, constantly look into the depths of the heart and say: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This practice is so desirable, so extensive, so filled with an abundance of the spiritual, that the holy Apostle Paul preferred the abiding of the mind in it to all other thoughts and meditations:[8] “I decided to know nothing” among you “except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

The blessed Elder Seraphim of Sarov says: “Those who have truly resolved to serve the Lord God should exercise themselves in the remembrance of God and unceasing prayer to Jesus Christ, saying in the mind: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.[9] Gracious gifts are received only by those who have inner practice and watch over their souls.”[10]

The Venerable Mark the Ascetic, calling prayer in his 4th Homily the chief work of the monk, which must embrace all his particular labours and his whole life, in his 1st Homily calls repentance the chief and only work of the monk, and the commandment concerning repentance the chief commandment, encompassing all other commandments. Contradiction appears here only to a superficial glance. This means that the work of repentance must be united with the work of prayer in one labour. The Lord united them: let not man divide them. “God”, says the Son of God, “will He not execute justice for His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night” (Lk 18:7). Here is indicated the work of the elect, their ceaseless prayer: it is named a cry, that is, the expression of weeping and repentance. “Repentance”, says the Venerable Mark, “as I understand it, is not limited by time or by any works: it is accomplished through the fulfilment of Christ’s commandments, in proportion to that fulfilment. Some commandments, more general, contain within themselves many particular ones and cut off many vices at once. For instance, in Scripture it is written: ‘give to everyone who asks you, and from those who take what is yours do not demand it back’ (Lk 6:30), and: ‘to the one who wants to borrow from you, do not refuse him’ (Mt 5:42): these are particular commandments. But the general commandment containing them is: ‘sell your possessions and give the money to the poor’ (Mt 19:21), and ‘take up your cross and follow Me’ (Mk 10:21), understanding by the cross the patient endurance of the sorrows that meet us. He who has given all to the poor and taken up his cross has fulfilled all the aforementioned commandments at once. Again: ‘I desire’, says Scripture, ‘that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands’ (1Tim 2:8), but the general one is: ‘go into your room and pray to your Father in secret’ (Mt 6:6), and further: ‘pray without ceasing’ (1Thes 5:17). He who has gone into his room and prays without ceasing contained within this the offering of prayers everywhere. Again it is said: ‘do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not murder’, and the like, but the general form of this is: ‘bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ’ (2Cor 10:4–5). He who brings his thoughts into captivity has placed a barrier against all the aforementioned kinds of sin. For this reason the God-loving and truly faithful compel themselves to the general commandments and do not neglect the fulfilment of particular ones when it becomes necessary by circumstance. From all this I conclude that the work of repentance is accomplished through the following three virtues: the cleansing of thoughts, ceaseless prayer, and the patient endurance of the sorrows that meet us. These three virtues must be accomplished not only outwardly, but also through the mental work, so that those practising them might become passionless. And since without these three virtues the work of repentance cannot be accomplished, I believe that repentance is befitting always and for all who wish to attain salvation, for both sinners and the righteous, because there is no degree of perfection where the practice of these three virtues is not needed. By means of them, beginners acquire an entry into piety, those in the middle way acquire progress, and the perfect acquire firmness and perseverance in perfection.” Just as the Venerable Mark in his 4th Homily, so also the other Fathers cited above testify that the patient endurance of all encountered sorrows and the successful repelling of thoughts is brought about by prayer; they call prayer the source of repentance. It is both mother of repentance and its daughter. What was said by the holy John of the Ladder concerning prayer and the remembrance of death can, with full justice, be said concerning prayer and repentance: “I sing the praises of two natures in one hypostasis” (in one person)80. The practice of repentance and prayer is one, but it encompasses two distinct kinds of virtue.[11]

The repelling of sinful thoughts and passions is accomplished through prayer: it is a labour united with prayer, inseparable from prayer, constantly needing the aid and action of prayer. The Venerable Nilus of Sora, referring to the Venerable Gregory of Sinai, says: “The blessed Gregory of Sinai, knowing with certainty that for us who are passionate it is impossible to overcome wicked thoughts, said the following: none of the beginners can hold the mind and drive away thoughts, if God does not hold the mind and drive away thoughts. To hold the mind and drive away thoughts belongs to the strong, but they do not drive them away by themselves: they strive in combat against them, having with them—God, being clothed in grace and all His armour. But if you see the uncleanness of wicked spirits, that is, the surging thoughts in your mind, do not be terrified, do not marvel; if there appear also good understandings about various subjects, do not heed them, but, holding back your breath as much as possible and enclosing the mind in the heart, instead of arms, invoke the Lord Jesus often and earnestly. They will flee, being invisibly burned by the Divine Name. When the thoughts begin to press hard, then, rising up, pray against them, and then again take up steadfastly the former practice”, that is, the invocation of the Name of the Lord Jesus.[8] The holy John of the Ladder, in his Homily on prayer, says: “The approaching dog—a sinful thought—drive it away with this weapon—the weapon of prayer, and however many times it attempts to attack, grant it no permission”82.[12] Symeon the New Theologian: “Satan and the spirits subject to him acquired the right, from the time when through disobedience he caused man’s expulsion from paradise and separation from God, to shake invisibly, by night and by day, the reasoning faculty of each person, one much, another little, one more, another less, and the mind cannot be guarded except by the ceaseless remembrance of God. When by the power of the cross the remembrance of God is imprinted on the heart, then it will establish the reasoning faculty in immoveableness. Mental struggle leads to this, which every Christian is bound to undertake in the arena of the faith of Christ; if he does not attain to this, then his struggle is in vain. For mental struggle, all the varied struggles of every one enduring suffering for God’s sake serve as introduction, with the aim of turning toward himself God’s mercy and obtaining from Him the restoration of former dignity, so that Christ may be imprinted on the mind”83.[13]

Constant dwelling in prayer, although it constitutes the essential work of the monk, nevertheless requires preparatory training, as is evident from the aforementioned Homily of the Blessed Nicephorus, who, mentioning the Venerable Sabas, says that this leader of a numerous community of monks, when he perceived that a monk had thoroughly learned the rules of monastic life, had become capable of struggling against contrary thoughts and guarding his mind, would allow such a monk to live in silence in his cell. Preparatory training for ceaseless prayer is accomplished through obedience and the practice of monastic labour, as the Venerable Philemon said: “God desires that we show our diligence to Him first in labours, then in love and ceaseless prayer”84.[14] Nothing so much promotes prayer as obedience, which puts to death in us the world and ourselves. “Great is the benefit of prayer flowing from obedience”, said the Venerable Symeon the New Theologian85.[15] Those in obedience and engaged in monastic labour must in no way consider themselves free from the practice of prayer: without this, the very labours and even obedience will be barren, and more than that, will bear the harmful fruit of vainglory and other sins, which necessarily arise in that soul where there exists a disastrous emptiness, in which the power and fragrance of prayer do not dwell. While engaged in monastic labour and handwork, pray often, if you cannot yet pray without ceasing; return to prayer whenever you remember it: prayer will gradually become a habit, and frequent prayer will imperceptibly pass into ceaseless prayer. “The ascetics of obedience”, says the holy John of the Ladder, “employ their feet in different ways: one of them is moved toward service, the other remains unmoved in prayer”86.[16] By the word “feet” is meant all activity. “I have seen those who shone in obedience and did not neglect as much as they were able the mental remembrance of God”, says that same Saint, “and how, when they rose to prayer, they immediately mastered their mind and poured forth tears in torrents: they were prepared by the Venerable obedience”87.[17] From this is evident that the ancient ascetics did not allow themselves idle distraction during monastic labour, but, occupying their hands with work, occupied their mind with prayer. For this reason, when they came to church or began to fulfil their prayer rule in their cell, their mind and heart were immediately directed toward God without any obstacle. On the other hand, whoever allows himself vain thoughts and conversations during labour and handwork, when he rises to prayer, cannot in any way master his mind, constantly tearing itself from his control, constantly turning toward those subjects which attracted it before the time of prayer.

“Child”, says Scripture, “from your youth choose discipline, and even until your grey hairs you will find wisdom. Like the one who ploughs and sows, come to her and wait for her good fruits. For in her work you will labour but a little, and soon you will eat of her fruits” (Sir 6:18–20). Let us not lose precious, irretrievable time, let us not destroy it by surrendering to distraction, idle talk and other empty occupations: from the very moment of our entry into the monastery, let us become thoroughly acquainted with the monastic life and in our youth cultivate the field of the soul through true ascetic struggle, so that in old age and at our departure into eternity we may rejoice in the abundance of grace’s gifts, the pledges of salvation, the pledges of blessedness in heaven. Amen.

[1] Homily 4.

[2] Homily 3, ch. 1.

[3] The Ladder. Title of Homily 28.

[4] On the three forms of prayer. Phil., pt. 1.

[5] Thus he was named by the holy Xanthopuli. Phil., pt. 2, ch. 18.

[6] Nicephorus the Monk. His Homily, Phil., pt. 2.

[7] Phil., pt. 2.

[8] Homily 2.

[9] Instruction 11.

[10] Instruction 4. According to the 1844 edition.

[11] The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 46.

[12] Homily 28, ch. 55.

[13] Nicephorus the Monk. His Homily. Phil., pt. 2.

[14] Phil., pt. 4. On Abba Philemon.

[15] On the third form of attentiveness and prayer of the holy Symeon the New Theologian. Phil., pt. 1.

[16] The Ladder. Homily 4, ch. 2.

[17] The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 31.

The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner

The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Introduction.

Here is set forth the doctrine concerning the quality of prayer befitting one beginning to go to the Lord by the way of repentance. The principal thoughts are presented separately, with the aim that they may be read with greater attentiveness and retained in memory with greater ease. Reading them, nourishing the mind with truth and the heart with humility, can provide the soul with the proper direction in its prayerful struggle and serve as preparatory practice for it.

1. Prayer is the lifting up of our petitions to God.

2. The foundation of prayer lies in the fact that man is a fallen being. He strives to obtain that blessedness which he once possessed but has lost, and therefore he prays.

3. The refuge of prayer lies in the great mercy of God toward mankind. The Son of God, for our salvation, offered Himself to His Father as a propitiation and reconciliation offering: on this foundation, wishing to devote yourself to prayer, cast off doubt and double-mindedness (Jac 1:6–8). Do not say to yourself: “I am a sinner, will God truly hear me?” If you are a sinner, then to you apply the comforting words of the Saviour: “I did not come to call” the righteous, “but” sinners “to repentance” (Mt 9:13).

4. Preparation for prayer consists in: an unfilled belly, the cutting away of cares by the sword of faith, the forgetting from the depths of the heart of all injuries, thanksgiving to God for all the sorrowful events of life, the removal from oneself of distraction and fantasy, and reverent fear, which is so fitting for a creature to possess when it is permitted to converse with its Creator by the ineffable goodness of the Creator toward the creature.

5. The first words of the Saviour to fallen humanity were: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). Therefore, as long as you have not entered this kingdom, knock at its gates with repentance and prayer.

6. True prayer is the voice of true repentance. When prayer is not animated by repentance, then it does not fulfil its purpose, then God does not accept it. He will not despise “a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart” (Ps 50:19).

7. The Saviour of the world calls blessed those poor in spirit, that is, those who hold of themselves the most humble understanding, who count themselves fallen beings, dwelling here on earth in exile, outside their true homeland, which is heaven. “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, those praying with deep awareness of their poverty, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). “Blessed are those who mourn” in their prayers from the feeling of their poverty, “for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4) with the gracious comfort of the Holy Spirit, which consists in the peace of Christ and in love in Christ toward all neighbours. Then none of the neighbours, not even the bitterest enemy, is excluded from the embrace of the love of one who prays; then the one praying is reconciled with all the most burdensome circumstances of earthly life.

8. The Lord, teaching us to pray, likens the praying soul to a widow wronged by an opponent, sitting before an impartial and incorruptible judge (Lk 18:1–8). Do not depart in the disposition of your soul during prayer from this likeness. Let your prayer be, so to speak, a constant complaint against the sin that oppresses you. Descend into yourself, lay open yourself to attentive prayer: you will see that you are indeed widowed in relation to Christ because of the sin living in you that is hostile to you, producing in you internal struggle and torment, making you estranged from God.

9. “All my days”, David says of himself, all the days of earthly life, “I went about grieving”, he passed through in blessed sorrow over his sins and shortcomings: “for my loins are full of mockery, and there is no healing in my flesh” (Ps 37:7, 8). The loins are named as the journey along the path of earthly life; flesh means the moral state of man. Every step of all people on this path is full of stumbling; their moral state cannot be healed by any means or efforts of their own. For our healing, the grace of God is necessary, which heals only those who acknowledge themselves to be sick. True acknowledgment of oneself as sick is demonstrated by careful and constant dwelling in repentance.

10. “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice before Him with trembling” (Ps 2:11), says the Prophet, and another Prophet speaks from the face of God: “On whom will I look, except on the meek and quiet one who trembles at My words” (Is 66:2). The Lord “regards the prayer of the humble and does not despise their supplication” (Ps 101:18). He is “giving life”, that is, salvation, “to those of a broken heart” (Is 57:15).

11. Even if someone stood at the very height of virtue, if he does not pray as a sinner, his prayer is rejected by God88.[1]

12. “On the day in which I do not weep over myself”, said a certain blessed practitioner of true prayer, “I consider myself to be in self-delusion”89.[2]

13.[3] “Even if we undertake many of the highest ascetic struggles”, said the holy John of the Ladder, “they are not true and fruitless, if with them we do not have the painful feeling of repentance”90.

14. Sorrow of mind over sins is a honourable gift of God; one who carries it in his breast with proper care and reverence carries a sacred thing.[4] It takes the place of all bodily ascetic struggles when there is insufficient strength to accomplish them91.[5] On the other hand, from a strong body labour is required during prayer; without it the heart will not be broken, prayer will be powerless and untrue92.

15. The feeling of repentance guards the praying person from all the snares of the devil: the devil flees from ascetics who emit from themselves the fragrance of humility, which is born in the heart of the repentant93.[6]

16. Bring to the Lord in your prayers the infantile babbling, the simple childlike thought—not eloquence, not reasoning. “Unless you turn”—as if from paganism and Islam, from your complexity and duplicity—“and become”, the Lord said to us, “like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3)94.[7]

17. An infant expresses all its desires with weeping: let your prayer always be accompanied by weeping. Not only in the words of prayer, but also in prayerful silence, let your desire for repentance and reconciliation with God, your extreme need for God’s mercy, be expressed in weeping.

18. The excellence of prayer consists solely in quality, not in quantity: then is quantity praiseworthy, when it leads to quality. Quality always leads to quantity; quantity leads to quality when the one who prays does so carefully95.[8]

19. The quality of true prayer consists in this: that the mind during prayer remains attentive, and the heart sympathizes with the mind.

20. Enclose your mind in the words being spoken in prayer and you will keep it in attentiveness96.[9] Keep your eyes on your lips, or closed97:[10] by this you will assist the union of mind with heart. Pronounce the words with extreme slowness and you will be better able to enclose your mind in the words of prayer: not a single word of your prayer will be spoken without being animated by attentiveness.

21. The mind, enclosing itself in the words of prayer, draws the heart to sympathize with itself. This sympathy of the heart with the mind is expressed as compunction, which is a pious feeling, uniting in itself sorrow with quiet, gentle comfort98.[11] The necessary attendant of prayer is endurance99.[12] When you feel dryness, hardness, do not abandon prayer: for your endurance and struggle against heartfelt insensitivity, God’s mercy will descend upon you, consisting in compunction. Compunction is a gift of God, sent down to those who persist and persevere in prayers (Rom 12:12; Col 4:2), constantly growing in them, guiding them toward spiritual perfection.

22. The mind, standing before the invisible God in attentive prayer, should itself be invisible, as the image of the invisible Godhead; that is, the mind should not form within itself, from itself, nor before itself any image, but should be entirely formless. Otherwise:[13] the mind should be completely free from fantasy, however much such fantasy might seem pure and holy100.

24. During prayer do not seek raptures, do not set your nerves in motion, do not heat your blood. On the contrary—keep your heart in deep peace, into which it is brought by the feeling of repentance: material fire, the fire of fallen nature, is rejected by God. Your heart needs purification through the weeping of repentance and the prayer of repentance; when it is purified, then God Himself will send into it His most holy spiritual fire101.[14]

25. Attentiveness during prayer brings the nerves and blood into calm, assists the heart to plunge into repentance and remain in it. The Divine fire does not disturb the peace of the heart if it descends into the chamber of the heart, when in it will be gathered the disciples of Christ—thoughts and feelings drawn from the Gospel. This fire does not scorch, does not heat the heart;[15] on the contrary, it refreshes and cools it, reconciles man with all people and with all circumstances, draws the heart into unspeakable love for God and for the neighbours102.

26. Distraction robs prayer. One who prays with distraction feels within himself a vague emptiness and dryness. One who prays constantly with distraction is deprived of all the spiritual fruits that normally are born from attentive prayer, acquires for himself a state of dryness and emptiness; from this state are born coldness toward God, despondency, obscuring of the mind, weakening of faith, and from these, deadness with respect to eternal, spiritual life. All of this, taken together, serves as a clear sign that such prayer is not accepted by God.

27. Fantasy in prayer is even more harmful than distraction. Distraction makes prayer barren, but fantasy serves as the cause of false fruits: self-delusion and what the holy Fathers call demonic delusion. Images of objects of the visible world and images of the invisible world fashioned by fantasy, imprinting themselves and lingering in the mind, make it, as it were, material, translate it from the Divine country of Spirit and Truth into the country of matter and falsehood. In this country the heart begins to sympathize with the mind not with the spiritual feeling of repentance and humility, but with carnal feeling, a feeling of blood and nerves, an untimely and disorderly feeling of pleasure, so unfitting for sinners, a feeling that is incorrect and false, a pretended love for God. A criminal and abominable love appears to those inexperienced in spiritual matters to be holy, but in reality it is merely a disordered sensation of a heart not cleansed from passions, enjoying in vainglory and sensuality, set in motion by fantasy. Such a state is a state of self-delusion. If a man persist in it, then the images appearing to him acquire extraordinary vividness and attractiveness. The heart at their appearance begins to heat up and to enjoy illicitly, or, according to the definition of Holy Scripture, to commit adultery (Ps 72:27). The mind recognizes such a state as gracious, divine: then is the transition near to manifest demonic delusion, in which man loses self-mastery and becomes the plaything and mockery of the evil spirit. From fantasy-based prayer, which brings man into this state, God turns away in anger. And over the one praying such a prayer is fulfilled the judgment of Scripture: “Let his prayer be accounted as sin” (Ps 108:7)103.[16]

28. Reject good, seemingly, thoughts and bright, seemingly, understandings that come to you during prayer, drawing you away from prayer104.[17] They issue from the realm of falsely-called reasoning, they sit, as if riders on horses, on vainglory. Their dark faces are hidden, so that the mind of the one praying might not be able to recognize enemies in them. But precisely because they are hostile to prayer, distract the mind from it, lead it into captivity and grievous enslavement, lay bare and empty the soul, are they recognized as enemies and from the realm of the prince of this world. Spiritual reasoning, God’s reasoning, aids prayer, concentrates a man in himself, plunges him into attentiveness and compunction, brings upon the mind reverent silence, fear and wonder, arising from the feeling of the presence and greatness of God. This feeling, in its time, can greatly intensify and make prayer for the one praying a dreadful tribunal of God105.[18]

29. Attentive prayer, free from distraction and fantasy, is a seeing of the invisible God, drawing to Himself the sight of the mind and the desire of the heart. Then the mind sees without form, and is fully satisfied by this unseeing that surpasses all seeing. The cause of this blissful unseeing is the infinite subtlety and incomprehensibility of the Object toward which the sight is directed. The invisible Sun of righteousness—God—sends forth invisible rays, yet known by the clear perception of the soul: they fill the heart with wondrous peace, faith, courage, gentleness, mercy, love for the neighbours and for God. By these actions, visible in the inner chamber of the heart, man recognizes with certainty that his prayer has been accepted by God, begins to believe with living faith and firmly trusts in the Beloved and the Beloved One. This is the beginning of the reviving of the soul for God and for blessed eternity106.[19]

30. The fruits of true prayer: the holy peace of the soul, joined with quiet, silent joy, free from fantasy, self-conceit and heated impulses and movements; love for the neighbours, not distinguishing for the sake of love the good from the evil, the worthy from the unworthy, but interceding before God for all as for itself, as for its own members. From such love for the neighbours shines forth the purest love for God.

31. These fruits are a gift of God. They are drawn into the soul by its attentiveness and humility, kept by its faithfulness to God.

32. The soul then remains in faithfulness to God when it removes itself from every sinful word, deed and thought, when it immediately repents of those sins into which it is drawn by its weakness.

33. That we desire to acquire the gift of prayer we demonstrate by patient sitting in prayer at the door of prayer. For patience and perseverance we receive the gift of prayer. “The Lord”, says Scripture, “gives gracious prayer” to the one “praying” (1Sam 2:9) patiently with one’s own effort.

34. For beginners, brief and frequent prayers are more beneficial than prolonged ones, separated from one another by considerable spans of time107.[20]

35. Prayer is the highest exercise for the mind.

36. Prayer is the head, source and mother of all virtues108.[21]

37. Be wise in your prayer. Do not ask in it for anything perishable and vain, remembering the Saviour’s commandment: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these”, that is, all things needed for temporal life, “will be given to you” (Mt 6:33)109.[22]

38. When intending to do something, or desiring something, and also in the difficult circumstances of life, lay your thought before God in prayer: ask for that which you consider necessary and useful to yourself; but entrust the granting or not granting of your petition to God’s will in faith and trust in the omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of God’s will. This excellent form of prayer was given to us by Him who prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, that the cup appointed for Him might “pass. But not My will”—He concluded His prayer to the Father: “but Yours be done” (Lk 22:42).

39. Bring to God a humble prayer concerning the virtues and pious struggles you perform: purify and perfect them by prayer and repentance. Say of them in your prayer what the righteous Job said in his daily prayer concerning his children: “Lest at any time my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts” (Job 1:5). Wicked malice is subtle: it mixes imperceptibly with virtue, defiles and poisons it.

40. Deny yourself of all things, so that you might inherit prayer, and, lifted up from the earth on the cross of self-denial, commit to God your spirit, soul and body, and from Him receive holy prayer, which according to the teaching of the Apostle and the Ecumenical Church is the action in man of the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit dwells in man (Rom 8:26)110.[23] “Whoever has attained (ceaseless prayer) has attained the height of virtue and has become the dwelling of the Holy Spirit”, said St. Isaac.

Conclusion

Whoever neglects the practice of attentive prayer, saturated with repentance, is estranged from spiritual progress, estranged from spiritual fruits, dwells in the darkness of manifold self-delusion. Humility is the one and only altar on which men are permitted to offer prayers as sacrifices to God—the one and only altar from which prayer sacrifices are accepted by God111;[24] prayer is the mother of all true, divine virtues. It is impossible, absolutely impossible to have any spiritual progress for one who has rejected humility, who has not taken care to enter into the sacred union with prayer. The practice of prayer is the testament of the Apostle: “pray without ceasing”, the Apostle tells us (1Thes 5:17). The practice of prayer is the commandment of the Lord Himself, a commandment joined with a promise: “ask”, the Lord invites us, commands us the Lord, “and it will be given to you: seek and you will find: knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). “It does not slumber, nor does it sleep” (Ps 120:4) prayer, until it shows to those who love it and constantly practice it the chamber of eternal delights, until it brings them into heaven. There it will be transformed into unceasing sacrifice of praise. This praise will continually be offered, will be proclaimed without ceasing by God’s chosen ones from the constant feeling of blessedness in eternity, sprouted here on earth and in time, from the seeds of repentance sown by attentive and fervent prayer. Amen.

[1] The Venerable Isaac the Syrian. Homily 55.

[2] These words were spoken by the hieroschemamonk Athanasius, who dwelt in silence in the tower of the Svenske monastery in the diocese of Oryol, to a certain wanderer who visited him in 1829.

[3] The Ladder. Homily 7, ch. 64, according to the Moscow Theological Academy edition of 1851.

[4] St. Isaac the Syrian. Homily 89.

[5] Ibid. Homily 11.

[6] The Venerable Gregory of Sinai. On Spiritual Delusion, and on many other topics. Phil., pt. 1. “When the devil sees someone living in weeping”, says the holy Gregory, “he does not remain there, fearing the humility that comes from weeping.”

[7] The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 9.

[8] The Venerable Meletius, who struggled in Mount Galisiou. A poem on prayer; The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 21.

[9] The Ladder. Homily 28, 17.

[10] The counsel of the elder, hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov. That it is beneficial to pray with closed eyes is said also in his 11th Instruction on prayer. Moscow edition of 1841.

[11] The Venerable Mark the Ascetic. On those thinking to be justified by works, ch. 34. Phil., pt. 1.

[12] The Venerable Gregory of Sinai. “How one who dwells in silence should sit and perform prayer.” Phil., pt. 1.

[13] The Venerable Callistus and Ignatius. On silence and prayer. Homily 73. Phil., pt. 2, and The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 42.

[14] The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 45.

[15] The Venerable Maximus of Kapsokalyvia. Dialogue with the Venerable Gregory of Sinai. Phil., pt. 1.

[16] The Venerable Symeon the New Theologian. On the first form of prayer according to the Venerable Sinai, ch. 131. Phil., pt. 1.

[17] The Ladder. Homily 28, ch. 59.

[18] Ibid., ch. 1.

[19] The aforementioned poem of the Venerable Meletius. Discourse on the hidden work of Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia. Phil., pt. 2.

[20] St. Dimitry of Rostov, pt. 1. The Inner Man, ch. 4.

[21] The Venerable Macarius the Great. Homily 3, ch. 1. The Ladder. Homily 28, Title. According to this, the other Fathers also teach.

[22] St. Isaac the Syrian. Homily 5.

[23] St. Isaac the Syrian. Homily 21.

[24] The opinion of the Venerable Pimen the Great. The Alphabetical Patericon.

A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

“Enter your room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret: and your Father, seeing in secret, will reward you openly” (Mt 6:6). Behold the establishment by the Lord Himself of solitary cell prayer.

The Lord, who commanded solitary prayer, very often Himself, during His earthly wandering, as the Gospel recounts, dwelt in it. He had nowhere to lay His head, and therefore for Him silent, peaceful cells were often replaced by the silent summits of mountains and shaded gardens.

Before His departure to the sufferings by which the salvation of mankind was to be purchased, the Lord prayed in the distant, solitary garden of Gethsemane. During His prayer the God-man bent His knees, and from the intensity of His prayerful struggle, abundant sweat in drops of blood fell from His face to the ground. The garden of Gethsemane was composed of ancient olive trees. And by day, in the light of the sun’s rays, dense shadow lay in it, and then the dark night of Palestine lay upon it. No one shared with the Lord His prayer: afar off from Him were His sleeping disciples, around Him was sleeping nature. Here with torches and an armed multitude came the betrayer: the betrayer knew the beloved place and time of Jesus’ prayers.

The darkness of night conceals objects from curious eyes, the silence of quietness does not distract the ear. In silence and at night one can pray more attentively. The Lord chose for His prayer especially solitude and night, chose them so that we not only obey His commandment about prayer, but also follow His example. Did the Lord, for Himself, need prayer? Dwelling as man with us on earth, He was also simultaneously, as God, inseparably with the Father and the Spirit, had with Them one divine will and divine power.

“Enter your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret”. Let no left hand of yours know of your prayer! Neither your friend, nor your kinsman, nor vainglory itself, dwelling in your heart and inciting you to boast of your prayerful struggle to someone, to hint at it.

Shut the doors of your cell against people coming for idle talk, to rob you of your prayer; shut the doors of your mind against extraneous thoughts, which will appear to draw you away from prayer; shut the doors of your heart against sinful sensations, which will attempt to trouble and defile you, and pray.

Do not dare to bring to God eloquent and verbose prayers, composed by yourself, however mighty and moving they may seem to you: they are the product of fallen reason and, being a defiled offering, cannot be accepted on the spiritual altar of God. And you, admiring the elegant expressions of the prayers you have composed, and taking the refined action of vainglory and sensuality for the consolation of conscience and even grace, will be carried far away from prayer. You will be carried far away from prayer at the very time when it seems to you that you are praying abundantly and have already attained some degree of pleasing to God.

The soul beginning the divine path is immersed in deep ignorance of all things divine and spiritual, even if it be rich in the wisdom of this world. Because of this ignorance, it does not know how much and how often it should pray. For the assistance of the soul in its infancy, the holy Church has established prayer rules. A prayer rule is a collection of several prayers, composed by God-inspired holy Fathers, adapted to a certain circumstance and time. The purpose of the rule is to provide the soul with the missing quantity of prayerful thoughts and feelings, and moreover, thoughts and feelings that are correct, holy, and truly pleasing to God. Such thoughts and feelings fill the grace-filled prayers of the holy Fathers.

For morning prayer practice there is a special collection of prayers, called morning prayers, or morning rule; for night prayer before going to sleep—another collection of prayers, called prayers for sleep, or evening rule. A special collection of prayers is read by those preparing for communion of the holy Mysteries of Christ, and is called the rule for holy communion. Those who have dedicated a considerable portion of their time to pious exercises read around 3 o’clock in the afternoon a special collection of prayers, called the daily or monastic rule. Others read daily several kathismas, several chapters from the New Testament, perform several prostrations: all this is called a rule.

Rule! What a precise name, borrowed from the very action produced upon man by the prayers called a rule! A prayer rule directs the soul correctly and holily, teaches it to worship God in Spirit and Truth (Jn 4:23), whereas the soul, being left to itself, would not be able to proceed rightly on the path of prayer. Because of its corruption and obscuring by sin, it would constantly turn to the side, often into abysses—now into distraction, now into fantasy, now into various empty and deceptive phantoms of exalted prayer states, fabricated by its vainglory and self-love.

Prayer rules keep the one praying in the salutary disposition of humility and repentance, teaching him constant self-condemnation, nourishing him with compunction, strengthening him with hope in the all-good and all-merciful God, gladdening him with the peace of Christ, with love for God and the neighbours.

How sublime and profound are the prayers for holy communion! What an excellent preparation they provide to those approaching the holy Mysteries of Christ! They cleanse and adorn the house of the soul with wondrous thoughts and sensations so pleasing to the Lord. The greatest of Christian mysteries is portrayed and explained with magnificence in these prayers; in contrast to this height, the shortcomings of man are vividly and faithfully recounted, his weakness and unworthiness are shown. From these prayers shines forth, as the sun from the heavens, the incomprehensible goodness of God, because of which He deigns to unite Himself closely with man, despite man’s insignificance.

Morning prayers breathe with the vigor and freshness of morning: he who has seen the light of the sensible sun and the light of the earthly day is taught to desire the sight of the higher, spiritual Light and the infinite day, produced by the Sun of righteousness—Christ.

Brief rest in sleep during the night is an image of prolonged sleep in the darkness of the tomb. And prayers for sleep remind us of our departure into eternity, review all our activity during the day, teach us to bring to God a confession of our committed sins and repentance for them.

Prayerful reading of the Akathist to the sweetest Jesus, besides its own worth, serves as an excellent preparation for the practice of the Jesus Prayer, which is read thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer is almost the sole practice of advanced ascetics, who have attained simplicity and purity, for whom all much-thinking and much-speaking serves as a burdensome distraction. The Akathist shows what thoughts can accompany the Jesus Prayer, which appears extremely dry to beginners. Throughout its entire length, it depicts one petition of the sinner for mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ; but this petition is given in varied forms, adapted to the childlikeness of the mind of beginners. Thus to infants food is given, first softened.

In the Akathist to the Mother of God, the Incarnation of God the Word is sung, and the greatness of the Mother of God, whom “all generations” (Lk 1:48) bless for bearing God incarnate. As if on a broad canvas with countless wondrous strokes, colours and shades, the great Mystery of the Incarnation of God the Word is depicted in the Akathist. Every picture is brought to life by successful illumination, and the Akathist to the Mother of God is illumined by an extraordinary light of grace. This light acts doubly: by it the mind is enlightened, from it the heart is filled with joy and understanding. The incomprehensible is received as if fully comprehended, by the wondrous action produced upon mind and heart.

Many reverent Christians, especially monks, perform the evening rule very lengthily, taking advantage of the silence and darkness of the night. To prayers for sleep they add the reading of kathismas, the reading of the Gospel, the Apostle, the reading of Akathists, and prostrations with the Jesus Prayer. In those hours in which the blind-seeing world gives itself over to wild and noisy amusements, the servants of Christ weep in the silence of their cells, pouring out fervent prayers before the Lord. Having passed the night in foolish vigil, the sons of the world meet the coming day in obscurity and despondency of spirit; in cheerfulness and vigour of spirit, in the consciousness and feeling of an extraordinary capacity for thought of God and for all good works, the servants of God meet that day to which the preceding night they dedicated to prayerful struggle.

The Lord bent His knees in prayer: and you should not neglect prostrations, if you have sufficient strength to perform them. By prostration to the ground, according to the explanation of the Fathers, our fall is portrayed, and by rising from the earth—our redemption112.[1] Before beginning the evening rule it is especially beneficial to perform as many prostrations as you are able: from them the body will become somewhat exhausted and warmed, and the heart will be filled with a feeling of pious sorrow; by both the reading of the rule will be prepared with diligence and attentiveness.

When performing the rule and prostrations, one must by no means hurry; one must perform both the rules and prostrations with possible slowness and attentiveness. It is better to read fewer prayers and make fewer prostrations, but with attentiveness, than many without attentiveness.

Choose for yourself a rule suited to your strength. What the Lord said about the Sabbath, that it was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mk 2:27), can and should be applied to all pious struggles, and among them to the prayer rule. The prayer rule is for man, not man for the rule: it should help man to achieve spiritual progress, not serve as an unbearable burden, crushing bodily strength and disturbing the soul. Still less should it serve as a cause for proud and pernicious self-conceit, for pernicious judgment and degradation of the neighbours.

A wisely chosen prayer rule, suited to one’s strength and way of life, serves as a great aid for one who strives for his salvation. To perform it at appointed hours becomes a habit, a necessary natural need. One who has acquired this blessed habit, as soon as he approaches the customary place of performing the rules, already his soul is filled with a prayerful mood: he has not yet spoken a single word of the prayers he reads, and already from his heart flows compunction, and his mind has plunged entirely into the inner chamber.

“I prefer”, said a certain great Father113, “a short rule that is constantly fulfilled to a lengthy one that is soon abandoned.” And such is always the fate of prayer rules that are not proportionate to one’s strength:[2] with the first burst of zeal the ascetic fulfils them for a time, certainly paying more attention to quantity than quality; then exhaustion, produced by the struggle exceeding his strength, gradually compels him to shorten and shorten the rules.

And often ascetics, foolishly setting for themselves a burdensome rule, pass from a laborious rule directly to the abandonment of any rule. Upon abandonment of the rule, and even upon merely shortening it, trouble necessarily attacks the ascetic. From trouble he begins to feel mental disturbance. From disturbance despondency is born. As it strengthens, it produces weakness and frenzy, and from the action of these a foolish ascetic gives himself over to idle, distracted life, falls indifferently into the grossest transgressions.

Having chosen for yourself a prayer rule proportionate to your strength and spiritual need, strive carefully and diligently to fulfil it: this is necessary for the maintenance of the moral strength of your soul, as is necessary for the maintenance of bodily strength the daily, at set hours, sufficient consumption of wholesome food.

“God will not condemn us on the day of His judgment for the abandonment of psalms”, says the holy Isaac the Syrian, “not for the abandonment of prayer, but for the entrance into us of demons following upon their abandonment. Demons, when they find a place, will enter and shut the doors of our eyes: then they accomplish through us, their instruments, forcibly and uncleanly, with the most terrible vengeance, all that is forbidden by God. And because of the abandonment of the little (rule), for which we are worthy of Christ’s protection, we become subject (to demons), as it is written by someone wise: ‘He who does not submit his will to God will be subject to his adversary.’ These (rules), which seem to you small, will become for you walls against those striving to take us captive. The accomplishment of these (rules) within the cell has been wisely established by the founders of the church order, by revelation from above, for the preservation of our life”114.[3]

The great Fathers, dwelling in ceaseless prayer from the abundant action of God’s grace, did not abandon their rules, which they were accustomed to perform at appointed hours day and night. Many proofs of this we see in their lives: Anthony the Great, while performing the rule at the ninth hour—the ecclesiastical ninth hour corresponds to three in the afternoon—was granted a divine revelation; when the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh was engaged in prayerful reading of the Akathist to the Mother of God, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to him accompanied by the Apostles Peter and John.

Most beloved brother! Submit your freedom to the rule: it, depriving you of pernicious freedom, will bind you only in order to give you spiritual freedom, freedom in Christ. At first the chains will seem burdensome; afterwards they will become precious to one bound by them. All the saints of God took upon themselves and bore the good yoke of the prayer rule: following their example and you follow in this manner the Lord our Jesus Christ, who, having become incarnate and showing us by Himself the pattern of conduct, acted as His Father acted (Jn 5:19), spoke what the Father commanded Him (Jn 12:49), had as His aim the fulfilment in all things of the Father’s will (Jn 5:30). The will of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one. With respect to men it is contained in the salvation of men. Most holy Trinity, our God! Glory to You. Amen.

[1] Discourse of St. Theoliptos. Phil., pt. 2.

[2] The Venerable Mathoi. The Alphabetical Patericon of Scetis, Letter M.

[3] The Venerable Isaac the Syrian. Homily 17.

A Homily on Prayer in Church

Without question, the most excellent in dignity of all earthly buildings is the temple, or house of God, the church—these words are synonymous115.[1] Although God is present everywhere, in the church His presence is manifested in a special manner, in the most perceptible and most beneficial way for man. God’s manifestation becomes even more beneficial and even more perceptible for man only when man himself becomes the temple of God, becoming the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, like the Apostles and other greatest saints. But such a state is reached by very few Christians. And therefore, leaving for another time discussion of the non-man-made, God-created, spiritual temple of God—man—and the worship that should be offered in him, let us now converse about the material temple of God, created by human hands, about the prayers offered in it, about the duty of a Christian to diligently visit the temple of God, and about the benefit of such visitation.

God’s temple is an earthly heaven: “standing in Your temple of glory, O Lord, we think we stand in heaven”, sings the holy Church116.[2] The temple is the place of communion of God with men: in it all Christian mysteries are accomplished. The Divine Liturgy and ordination can be accomplished nowhere but in the temple. And the other mysteries also should be accomplished in the temple: by extreme necessity the accomplishment of them, especially confession and anointing of the sick, is allowed in homes. Day and night the temple of God resounds with the glorification of God; there is no place in it for the words of this world. All in God’s temple is holy: both the walls themselves and the floor and the air. Constantly an Angel of God guards it; the Angels of God and the saints of the triumphant Church descend into it. Presence in such a sacred building constitutes the greatest happiness for an earthly sojourner. The holy prophet David, although he was a king, although he had spacious and magnificent palaces, although he possessed all the means of earthly enjoyment and amusement, but, as if having examined all and valued all in a proper manner, said: “One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to visit His holy temple” (Ps 26:4). It was the Holy Spirit who spoke these words through the lips of David. Whoever during earthly life will as often as possible visit the temple of God, as if to dwell in it, will, separated from the body, very easily pass to eternal celebration in the heavenly, non-man-made temple, of which the builder is God. In the temple we both pray and are edified and are cleansed from sins and communicate with God.

The Saviour showed us the example of visiting the temple of God (Jn 7:14), and so did the holy Apostles (Acts 3:1). Christians of all times have recognized diligent visitation of the temple of God as their inescapable duty. Saint Dimitry of Rostov compares the visitation of the temple during all prayers performed in it to the royal tribute which each should pay daily117. If presence at every service performed in the church is recognized by the holy pastor as an inescapable duty of every pious Christian, then all the more is such presence a sacred duty of a monk. The poor are freed from tribute on account of their poverty:[3] and the sick, detained by illness in their cell, are freed from constant attendance in the church. The dignitaries of the king are free from tribute, and ascetics who have progressed and are engaged in mental struggles and gathering abundant fruit from them, which must remain hidden from men, are free from constant attendance in the church. Soldiers are free from tribute, and all who are in the king’s and state service: monks occupied during worship with obediences are free from constant attendance in the church. Beware that under the pretext of obedience or cell occupation with mental struggle, or even feigned weakness, the snare of the devil does not work secretly and with justification—the devil who hates prayer, as the mother of virtues and as the sword crushing wicked spirits, who uses all efforts and all means, giving these means every possible appearance of legitimacy, to draw man away from prayer, to disarm, and the disarmed to destroy or wound118.[4]

There are seven church services, but they are combined into three divisions: 1) Vespers; 2) Compline; 3) Midnight Office; 4) Matins with the First Hour; 5) Third Hour; 6) Sixth Hour and 7) Ninth Hour. Vespers, with which the service of each day begins, is performed together with Compline and the Ninth Hour; the Ninth Hour is read before Vespers. Matins is performed with the First Hour and the Midnight Office; the Midnight Office is read before Matins, the First Hour after Matins. The Third and Sixth Hours are read together with the Typika, which is read after the Hours. When Matins is joined with Vespers or Great Compline, then the service is called an all-night vigil. It is performed before great feast days, in honour of the feasts. The effect of the all-night vigil upon the ascetic is that one who has passed a considerable part of the night in prayer with due reverence and attentiveness, feels on the following day a special lightness, freshness, purity of mind, and capacity for the thought of God. Wherefore the holy Isaac the Syrian said:[5] “The sweetness given to ascetics in the course of the day flows forth from the light of night prayers to the pure mind”119.[6] The Divine Liturgy is not reckoned among the seven services; it stands apart, as a particular and most sacred service, by which the bloodless Divine sacrifice is surrounded120.

We see the saving manner of visiting the temple of God in the visit to the temple of the publican presented to us in the Gospel (Lk 18:10). The publican stood in the depth of the temple, did not consider it permissible to lift his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, saying: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. The publican went out from the church, having drawn to himself the goodness of God. And you, having come to the church, if you have no obedience in it, stand in the back, in a modest corner or behind a pillar, so that you yourself will not be distracted and your reverence will not be exposed to the ridicule of others; direct the eye of your mind toward your heart, and your bodily eye toward the earth and pray to God in contriteness of spirit, not claiming any virtue, any dignity for yourself, acknowledging yourself guilty of an innumerable multitude of sins, both known and unknown to you. We sin very much in ignorance, and because of our limited nature, and because of the corruption of our nature by sin. Divine Scripture says: “A broken and contrite heart God will not despise” (Ps 50:19). And if you pray with awareness of your sinfulness and poverty, God will hear “from His holy temple the voice” of your, and your prayerful “cry” before Him “will enter His ears” (Ps 17:7). He will pour out upon you His abundant mercy. If you have any duty in the temple, fulfill it with the greatest reverence and care, as serving God, and not men.

Along with the aforementioned publican, the Gospel recounts, a Pharisee went into the temple to pray. As an important personage, the Pharisee stood in a conspicuous place. Perhaps he had in mind—a thought common to all Pharisees—to edify the people present by his dignified bearing and prayer. Vainglory he did not consider dangerous for himself, as one advanced in virtue, and some hypocrisy he considered excusable for the sake of the common good. In what did the Pharisee’s prayer consist? He, first of all, glorified God. A good beginning. But then he proceeded to reckon not the benefits of God, but his own merits and exploits, so that from such a reckoning a different beginning should have followed. The Pharisee would have begun more correctly if he had begun directly with the glorification of himself, and not of God. God was glorified only formally, to provide some covering for pride. This pride manifested itself in the condemnation and degradation of his neighbour, whose conscience was unknown to the Pharisee, whose confession of sins had drawn to him God’s mercy. The Pharisee, having hypocritically glorified God, said: “I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or as this publican. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess” (Lk 18:11–12). Here are evident: lack of awareness of his sinfulness, awareness of his own worth, the pride flowing from these, manifesting itself in the condemnation and degradation of his neighbour. The prayer of the Pharisee was not accepted by the Lord, who at the conclusion of this parable said: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 18:14). From this it is evident that each one who desires his prayer to be accepted by God should bring it from the consciousness of his sinfulness and extreme insufficiency with respect to virtue, should bring it, having rejected the consciousness of his own merits, truly insignificant before the immeasurable merit of God; should bring it from a heart that has humbled itself before all the neighbours, from a heart that has loved all the neighbours, from a heart that has forgiven the neighbours all insults and injuries. “I”, the Prophet says prayerfully to God, “by the multitude of Your mercy will I enter into Your house, I will worship toward Your holy temple in the fear of You” (Ps 5:8).

Great is God’s mercy to man—the establishment of public prayers in God’s holy temples. These prayers were established by the Apostles, their holy disciples and the holy Fathers of the first centuries of Christianity by revelation from above121.[7] In these prayers each Christian can participate, and the illiterate acquires for himself the knowledge, eloquence and poetry of the spiritual, holy orators and scribes of Christianity. During these prayers whoever wishes can learn the mental prayer very conveniently: the quantity of prayer leads to quality, said the Fathers, and therefore the prolonged monastic services are very conducive for the ascetic to pass from vocal prayer to mental and heartfelt prayer. Church prayers contain comprehensive Christian dogmatic and moral theology: one who frequents the church unfailingly and carefully listens to its reading and chanting can clearly learn all that is necessary for an Orthodox Christian on the arena of faith.

Blessed is the monk who always dwells near the temple of God! He dwells near heaven, near paradise, near salvation. Let us not reject the salvation which by God’s mercy has been, so to speak, put into our hands. Especially the beginning monk should unfailingly visit the church. In old age and weakness, when both years and infirmity will enclose the monk almost without exit in his cell, he will be nourished by that spiritual provision which he gathered during the time of youth and strength, dwelling in the house of God. I call mental and heartfelt prayer spiritual provision. May the merciful Lord grant us to make proper use of our monasticism, and before our departure from earthly life, transfer ourselves, in mind and heart, to heaven. Prayer, when it is overshadowed by Divine grace, can carry us there, and prayer in man becomes no longer the prayer of man, but the prayer of the Holy Spirit, interceding for man “with groans that words cannot express” (Rom 8:26). Amen.

[1] The New Tablet, ch. 1.

[2] The Order of Matins, troparion after the Doxology.

[3] Works of the Hierarch. Pt. 1. The Inner Man.

[4] The Venerable Macarius the Great. Homily 1, ch. 3; Homily 3, chs. 2 and 3.

[5] Homily 40.

[6] On the seven services see The New Tablet, pt. 1, ch. 13.

[7] See the life of St. Ignatius the God-bearer. December 20, St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 71.

A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

No one desiring to make progress in prayer should dare lightly to think or judge about prayer pronounced by the lips and voice with the attention of the mind as though it were a work of little worth, undeserving of respect. If the holy Fathers speak of the fruitlessness of oral and vocal prayer not joined with attentiveness, one should not conclude from this that they reject or disparage oral prayer itself. No! They only require attentiveness with it. Attentive oral and vocal prayer is the beginning and cause of mental prayer. Attentive oral and vocal prayer is at the same time also mental prayer. Let us first learn to pray attentively with oral and vocal prayer; then we shall easily learn to pray by the mind alone in the silence of the inner chamber.

Oral and vocal prayer is commanded us by Holy Scripture; an example of both it and vocal singing was given by the Saviour Himself, and was given by the holy Apostles through succession from the Lord. And “having sung”, at the end of the Last Supper, recounts the holy Evangelist Matthew about the Lord and His Apostles, “they went out into the Mount of Olives” (Mt. 26:30). The Lord prayed in the hearing of all before the resurrection of Lazarus dead four days (Jn. 11:41–42). Shut in prison, the holy Apostle Paul and his companion Silas at the midnight hour prayed and sang to God: the other prisoners listened to them. Suddenly at the sound of their psalmody “there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened” (Acts 16:26). The prayer of the holy Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel, often brought forth by the holy Fathers as an example of prayer, was not solely mental. “She”, says Scripture, “spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard” (1 Sam. 1:13). This prayer, although not vocal, being of the heart, was at the same time oral. The holy Apostle Paul called oral prayer the fruit of the lips, commands to offer “the sacrifice of praise to God always, that is, the fruit of lips confessing His name” (Heb. 13:15), commands to “speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”, together with vocal and oral prayer and hymnody “singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). He reproves carelessness in oral and vocal prayer. “If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound”, he says, “who will prepare for battle?” “So you likewise, unless you utter by the tongue” (intelligible) “words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air” (1 Cor. 14:8–9). Though the Apostle said these words properly about those praying and proclaiming the impulses of the Holy Spirit in foreign languages, the holy Fathers rightly apply them also to those who pray without attentiveness. One praying without attentiveness, and therefore not understanding the words pronounced by him, is nothing else to himself than a foreigner.

On this basis, the Venerable Nilus of Sorsk says that one who prays vocally and orally without attentiveness prays to the air, not to God.[1] “It is strange your desire that God should hear you, when you yourself do not hear yourself!” says Saint Dimitry of Rostov, borrowing the words from the holy martyr Cyprian of Carthage. And this does indeed happen to those praying orally and vocally without attentiveness:[2] they do not hear themselves so much, they allow themselves such distraction, they stray in their thoughts so far from prayer into foreign matters, that it often happens to them suddenly to stop, having forgotten what they were reading, or they begin instead of the words of the prayer being read to speak words from other prayers, although the open book is before their eyes. How can the holy Fathers not reprove such inattentive prayer, corrupted and destroyed by distraction! “Attentiveness”, says Saint Symeon the New Theologian, “must be bound and inseparable from prayer as much as the body is bound with the soul, which cannot be separated, cannot be one without the other. Attentiveness must go before and guard against enemies, as a certain sentinel; it must first contend against sin, must stand against the wicked thoughts coming to the heart; and then prayer must follow attentiveness, immediately destroying and mortifying all wicked thoughts with which attentiveness began the struggle first: for it alone cannot mortify them. On this struggle, carried out by attentiveness and prayer, depends the life and death of the soul. If we guard prayer through attentiveness as pure, then we make progress. But if we do not strive to guard it pure, but leave it unguarded, then wicked thoughts defile it—we become useless, deprived of progress.”

Oral and vocal prayer, like every other prayer, must necessarily be accompanied by attentiveness. With attentiveness the benefit of oral prayer is incalculable. With it the ascetic must begin. The holy Church first teaches it to her children. “The root of monastic life is psalmody”, said Saint Isaac the Syrian.[3] “The Church”, says Saint Peter Damascene, “with a good and God-pleasing purpose accepted songs and various hymns because of the weakness of our mind, so that we, being unwise, drawn by the sweetness of psalmody, as if against our will, sing to God. Those who can understand and consider the words pronounced by them come to compunction, and thus, as by a ladder, we ascend to good thoughts. To the degree that we make progress in the habit of divine thoughts, there arises in us divine desire and draws us to attain that we understand the worship of the Father in Spirit and Truth, according to the commandment of the Lord.” Lips and tongue, often exercised in prayer and in the reading of God’s Word, acquire sanctification, become incapable of idle talking, laughter, of pronouncing words that are jesting, shameful, and corrupt.[4] Do you wish to make progress in mental and heart prayer? Learn to be attentive in oral and vocal prayer: attentive oral prayer by itself passes over into mental and heart prayer. Do you wish to learn to drive away quickly and with force thoughts sown by the common enemy of mankind? Drive them away when you are alone in your cell, with vocal attentive prayer, pronouncing its words slowly, with compunction. The air resounds with attentive, oral and vocal prayer—and there seizes the princes of the air with trembling, their strength is weakened, their snares decay and crumble! The air resounds with attentive oral and vocal prayer—and the holy Angels draw near to those praying and singing, stand in their ranks, participate in their spiritual hymnody, as certain servants of God were granted to see, and among others our contemporary, the blessed elder Seraphim of Sarov. Many great Fathers throughout their entire lives exercised oral and vocal prayer, and moreover abounded in the gifts of the Spirit. The reason for such progress of theirs was that with their voice and lips were united their mind, heart, all their soul and their entire body; they pronounced prayer from all their soul, from all their strength, from their entire being, from their whole person. Thus the Venerable Simeon of Divnogorsk read through the entire Psalter in the course of the night. Saint Isaac the Syrian mentions a certain blessed elder engaged in prayerful reading of psalms, to whom it was permitted to feel the reading only during one doxology, after which divine consolation took hold of him with such force that he remained for whole days in sacred ecstasy, feeling neither time nor himself.[5] The Venerable Sergius of Radonezh while reading the Akathist was visited by the Mother of God in the company of the Apostles Peter and John.[6] It is told of the Venerable Hilarion of Suzdal:[7] when he read the Akathist in church, words flew forth from his lips as if fiery, with an inexplicable power and action upon those standing by. The oral prayer of the saints was animated by attentiveness and divine grace, uniting in one the powers of man divided by sin:[8] hence it breathed such supernatural power and produced such a wondrous impression upon hearers. The saints sang to God in “confession of the heart”; they sang and confessed themselves to God “unmovably”, that is, without distraction, they sang to God “with understanding” (Ps.First of the Morning Prayers: ‘Rising from sleep…’ 46:8).[9]

It must be noted that the venerable monks of the early times and all who desired to make progress in prayer were not at all engaged, or were very little engaged, in singing proper, and under the name of psalmody, which is mentioned in their lives and writings, should be understood extremely slow, drawn-out reading of psalms and other prayers. Drawn-out reading is necessary for the preservation of strict attentiveness and the avoidance of distraction. By reason of its drawn-out nature and resemblance to singing, such reading is called psalmody. It was performed by heart; monks of those times had as a rule to learn the Psalter by heart: reading psalms by heart especially contributes to attentiveness. Such reading—no longer reading in the proper sense, as it is done not from a book—but in its full sense as psalmody can be performed in a dark cell, with eyes closed, which all guards against distraction, whereas a light cell, necessary for reading from a book, and gazing upon the book itself scatters and tears the mind from the heart to externals.[10] Some sing, says Saint Symeon the New Theologian, that is, they pray with their lips. Those who do not sing at all, says the Venerable Gregory the Sinaite, likewise do well, if they are making progress:[11] for these do not need to recite psalms, but silence and unceasing prayer. Properly speaking, the Fathers call reading the reading of Holy Scripture and the writings of the holy Fathers, but by prayer they mean preeminently the Jesus Prayer, also the prayer of the publican and other very brief prayers, abundantly taking the place of psalmody—which for beginners is incomprehensible and cannot be explained to them satisfactorily, as it surpasses the soul’s understanding and is explained solely by blessed experience.

Brethren! Let us be attentive in our oral and vocal prayers, pronounced by us during church services and in the solitude of our cell. Let us not render our labors and our life in the monastery fruitless by our inattentiveness and negligence in God’s work. Ruinous is negligence in prayer! “Cursed”, says Scripture, “is he who does the work of God with negligence” (Jer. 48:10). The action of this curse is evident: complete fruitlessness and unsuccessfulness, despite long years of monastic life. Let us place at the foundation of our prayer struggle, the chief and most essential among monastic struggles, for which all other struggles exist, attentive, oral and vocal prayer, for which the merciful Lord grants in His time to the constant, patient, humble ascetic mental prayer, heart prayer, “prayer filled with grace”. Amen.

[1] Introduction from the Writings of the Holy Fathers on Mental Work, Heart-guarding, and Mental Watchfulness, etc.

[2] The Inner Man, Chapter 3.

[3] Homily 40.

[4] Saint Peter Damascene. On the Third Vision. Philokalia, Part 3.

[5] His Life. The Menaion Reader, May 24.

[6] Homily 31.

[7] See the Life of the Venerable.

[8] Manuscript Life of the Venerable Hilarion of Suzdal.

[9] Sixth of the Morning Prayers: ‘We bless you, O Most High God…’

[10] A Homily on Three Forms of Prayer by Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Philokalia, Part 1.

[11] Venerable Gregory the Sinaite. Fifteen Chapters on Hesychasm, Chapter 8. Philokalia, Part 1.

A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God

A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Under the name of instruction, or remembrance of God, the holy Fathers understand some brief prayer, or even some brief spiritual thought, to which they have accustomed themselves and which they strive to make their own to their mind and memory in place of every other thought.

Can one replace all other thoughts with one spiritual, brief thought of God? One can. The holy Apostle Paul says: “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). A vain, earthly thought, constantly occupying a man, produces in him a destitution of mind, hinders the acquisition of useful and necessary knowledge: on the contrary, the thought of God, when made one’s own by a Christian, enriches him with spiritual wisdom. To him who has acquired Christ in himself through unceasing remembrance of Him are entrusted the divine mysteries, unknown to carnal and soulish men, unknown to earthly scholars and inaccessible to them: “in Him” (in Christ) “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). He who has acquired the Lord Jesus Christ in himself becomes the possessor of these treasures.

Instruction, or remembrance of God, is a divine establishment. It is commanded by the very incarnate Word of God Himself, confirmed by the Holy Spirit through the messengers of the Word (the Apostles). “Watch therefore at every season with prayer” (Lk. 21:36), the Lord once commanded the disciples standing before Him. He commands this to us as well, now standing before Him and beseeching Him, that He may deem us worthy to do His will and to be His disciples, Christians not only in name but also in life. The Lord spoke the words given here, pointing to those moral and material evils with which the earthly pilgrimage of each of His disciples will be surrounded, to those sufferings and fears which precede the death of each of us, accompany it, and follow it, to those scandals and sorrows which will befall the world before the coming of the antichrist and during his reign, finally, to the shaking and transformation of the universe at the time of the second glorious and terrible coming of Christ. “Watch therefore at every season with prayer, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” in the joy of salvation; “to stand” in that joy both after the personal judgment which comes to each man after the separation of his soul from his body, and at the general judgment, at which the elect will be placed on the right of the Judge, and the rejected on His left (Mt. 25:33). “Be watchful in your prayers”, says the holy Apostle Peter, repeating to believers the commandment of the Lord. “Be watchful and vigilant, for your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; resist him steadfast in faith” (1 Pet. 4:7, 5:8–9). Repeating and confirming this all-holy, saving commandment, the holy Apostle Paul says: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17). “Be anxious about nothing, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). “Continue in prayer” (remain in it), “being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). “I desire therefore that in every place the men pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension” (1 Tim. 2:8). “He who cleaves to the Lord” through unceasing prayer “becomes one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17). The one cleaving to the Lord and uniting himself to the Lord through unceasing prayer, the Lord delivers from slavery to and service of sin and the devil: “And will not God bring justice to His chosen ones”, proclaims to us the Saviour, “who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring justice to them speedily” (Lk. 18:7–8). The mark of monastic perfection is unceasing prayer.[1] “He who has attained this”, says Saint Isaac the Syrian, “has attained the height of all virtues and has become a dwelling of the Holy Spirit.” Practice in unceasing prayer, accustoming oneself to it, is necessary for every monk desiring to attain Christian perfection.[2] The practice of unceasing prayer and accustoming oneself to it is the duty of every monk, laid upon him by the commandment of God and monastic vows.

It is evident that the holy Apostles, having received personally from the Lord the commandment about unceasing prayer, and having transmitted it to believers, themselves engaged in unceasing prayer. Before receiving the Holy Spirit, they remained in one house, devoted to prayer and supplication (Acts 1:14). By the name of prayer here are meant the prayers which they performed together, and by the name of supplication the constant prayerful direction of their spirit, unceasing prayer. When the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, making them temples of God, He made them at the same time temples of unceasing prayer, as Scripture says: “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Is. 56:7). “The Spirit, when He dwells in anyone of men, then that man does not cease from prayer: for the Spirit Himself prays without ceasing.” The Apostles had only two spiritual labors: prayer and the proclamation of God’s Word:[3] from prayer they would turn to announcing God’s Word to men, from the proclamation of the Word they would return to prayer. They were in unceasing spiritual communion, now communing with God through prayer, now communing on behalf of God with men. In both forms of communion the one same Holy Spirit was at work (Acts 6:2, 4). What do we learn from the example of the holy Apostles? That following obedience—obedience to God’s Word that works—we must concentrate all our activity in unceasing prayer, because unceasing prayer brings the Christian into a state capable of receiving the Holy Spirit. The Lord, laying upon the Apostles various ministries, when He had made them capable of receiving the Holy Spirit, commanded them to remain “in the city of Jerusalem”, in a city of peace and silence, free from every ministry: “Remain in the city of Jerusalem”, He said to them, “until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49).

From the writings of the venerable monks it is evident that the remembrance of God, or instruction, was in common use among the monks of the first Church of Christ. The Venerable Anthony the Great enjoins unceasing remembrance of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Do not consign to forgetfulness”, he says, “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, but ceaselessly turn it over in your mind, hold it in your heart, glorify it with your tongue, saying: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’ Also: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, help me.’ Also: ‘I glorify You, my Lord, Jesus Christ.’”[4]

Unceasing prayer was practiced not only by hesychasts and hermits, but also by communal monks. Saint John of the Ladder speaks of the monks of the Alexandrian cenobium which he visited, saying that they “even at table do not cease from the mental struggle, but by a prearranged sign and gesture, the blessed ones, remind one another of the prayer accomplished in the soul. And they do this not only at table, but at every meeting, at every gathering.” The Venerable Isaac, a hesychast of the Egyptian Scetis, related to the Venerable Cassian the Roman that for his unceasing prayer the second verse of Psalm 69 served him:[5] “Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord”.[6] The Venerable Dorotheus, a monk of the communal monastery of Abba Seridus in Palestine, taught his disciple the Venerable Dositheos, as is told in the Life of Dositheos, to exercise himself unceasingly in the Remembrance of God, enjoining him to constantly pronounce: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” and: “Son of God, help me.” The Venerable Dositheos prayed alternately now with the first words, now with the second words of the prayer given to him.[7] It was given to him in this form because of the beginning state of his mind, so that his mind would not lose heart from the uniformity of prayer. When the blessed Dositheos fell gravely ill and was approaching death, his holy teacher reminded him of unceasing prayer: “Dositheos! Take care of your prayer; see that you do not lose it.” When Dositheos’s illness grew even worse, the holy Dorotheus said again: “How is it, Dositheos? How goes your prayer? Does it remain?” From this one sees the high regard that the ancient holy monks had for instruction. The Venerable Ioannicius the Great constantly repeated in his mind the prayer: “My hope is the Father, my refuge the Son, my protection the Holy Spirit, O Holy Trinity, glory be to You.” The disciple of Ioannicius the Great, the Venerable Eustratios, whom the holy writer of his life called the Divine, acquired unceasing prayer: “he always spoke ‘Lord, have mercy’ within himself”, says the writer of his life. A certain Father of the Raifa desert constantly sat in his cell, engaged in plaiting ropes, meanwhile saying with a sigh, shaking his head: “What will be?” Having pronounced these words and remained silent for a while, he would again repeat:[8] “What will be?” In such instruction he spent all the days of his life, unceasingly lamenting what would follow upon his departure from the body. Saint Isaac the Syrian mentions a certain Father who for forty years prayed with only the following prayer:[9] “I, as a man, have sinned; You, as God, forgive me.” Other Fathers heard that he practiced this verse with sorrow: he wept without ceasing, and this one prayer alone replaced for him all prayers day and night. The majority of monastics always used for instruction the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Sometimes, as need required, they divided it for beginners into two halves and for several hours said:[10] “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner”, then for another period of time: “Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” However, one should not often change the words of the prayer: for trees frequently transplanted do not take root, as Saint Gregory the Sinaite notes. The choice of the Jesus Prayer for instruction is very well-founded both because the name of the Lord Jesus Christ contains within itself a special divine power, and because in the practice of the Jesus Prayer the remembrance of death, of examination by the aerial spirits, of God’s final judgment, of eternal torments, begins to come in due time of itself, and so vividly that it will bring the ascetic into abundant unceasing tears and bitter weeping over himself, as over a corpse already buried and rotting, awaiting revival by the all-powerful Word of God (Jn. 11:39, 43–44).[11][12]

The benefit from instruction, or the remembrance of God, is incalculable: it surpasses words, surpasses understanding. And those who have experienced it are unable fully to explain it. Unceasing prayer, as God’s commandment and God’s gift, is inexplicable by human reason and word. The brief prayer gathers the mind, which, if it is not attached to instruction, said one of the Fathers, cannot cease from wandering and roaming everywhere.[13] The ascetic can have the brief prayer at every place, at every time, in every occupation, especially bodily. Even while attending church worship, it is beneficial to practice it, not only when the reading is not clearly heard, but also when it is read distinctly. It contributes to attentiveness to the reading, especially when it takes root in the soul and becomes as though natural to a man. Instruction in general, and especially the Jesus Prayer, serve as an excellent weapon against sinful thoughts. The following saying of Saint John of the Ladder has been repeated by many holy writers: “Strike the warriors of the adversary with the name of Jesus: for neither in heaven nor on earth will you find a weapon mightier.” From unceasing prayer the ascetic comes to spiritual poverty:[14] accustoming himself to unceasingly ask for God’s help, he gradually loses trust in himself; if he accomplishes anything successfully, he sees in it not his own success but God’s mercy, which he unceasingly beseeches God for. Unceasing prayer leads to the acquisition of faith: for one praying unceasingly begins gradually to feel the presence of God. This feeling can little by little grow and strengthen until the eye of the mind will see God in His providence more clearly than the bodily eye sees the material objects of the world; the heart will feel the presence of God. He who has beheld God in this way and felt His presence cannot but believe in Him with a living faith manifested in works. Unceasing prayer destroys malice through hope in God, introduces into holy simplicity, freeing the mind from various thoughts, from forming plans regarding oneself and one’s neighbor, always keeping it in the poverty and humility of thoughts that constitute instruction. One who prays unceasingly gradually loses the habit of daydreaming, distraction, vain care and excessive worry, loses it more as the holy and humble instruction sinks deeper into his soul and takes root in it. Finally, he may come to the state of childhood commanded by the Gospel, become a fool for Christ’s sake, that is, lose the falsely-named wisdom of the world and receive from God spiritual wisdom. By unceasing prayer curiosity, suspicion, and mistrust are destroyed. From this all people begin to seem good; and from such a heartfelt disposition toward people is born love for them. One praying unceasingly abides unceasingly in the Lord, knows the Lord as Lord, acquires the fear of the Lord, enters through fear into purity, through purity into divine love. The love of God fills its temple with the gifts of the Spirit.

Says the Venerable Abba Isaiah the Solitary in his instruction: “A prudent rich man hides his treasures inside his house: treasure displayed outside is subject to theft by robbers and is envied by the powerful of the earth: so also a humble-minded and virtuous monk hides his virtues, as a rich man his treasures, does not fulfill the desires of fallen nature. He reproves himself hourly and exercises himself in secret instruction, according to what is said in Scripture: ‘My heart has grown hot within me, and in my meditation a fire has been kindled’ (Ps. 38:4). What fire does Scripture speak of here? Of God: ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb. 12:29). As fire melts wax and dries up the slime of vile filth: so secret instruction dries up vile thoughts, and passions are destroyed from the soul, the mind is illumined, thought is clarified and refined, joy is poured into the heart. Secret instruction wounds the demons, drives away evil thoughts: by it the inner man is given life. God strengthens him who arms himself with secret instruction; Angels impart to him strength; men glorify him. Secret instruction and reading make the soul a house shut and sealed on all sides, an immovable pillar, a quiet and peaceful haven. It saves the soul, protecting it from wavering. The demons are very troubled and silent when the monk arms himself with secret instruction, which is contained in the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”—reading in solitude assists the practice of instruction. Secret instruction is a mirror for the mind, a lamp for the conscience. Secret instruction dries up lust, tames rage, drives away anger, removes sorrow, takes away presumption, destroys despondency. Secret instruction illumines the mind, drives away sloth. From secret instruction is born compunction, the fear of God dwells in you: it brings forth tears. By secret instruction humble-mindedness free from guile is granted to the monk, watchfulness filled with compunction, prayer undisturbed. Secret instruction is a treasure of prayer: it drives away thoughts, wounds the demons, purifies the body. Secret instruction teaches patient endurance and temperance; announces to its participant the fate of Gehenna. Secret instruction keeps the mind free from fantasies, and brings to it remembrance of death. Secret instruction is full of all good works, adorned with every virtue, alien to and untouched by every base deed.”[15]

Saint Isaac the Syrian: “He to whom instruction in God is unceasing, drives far from himself the demons and uproots the seed of their malice. The heart rejoices at revelations in him who unceasingly watches over his soul. He who turns the gaze of his mind upon himself, sees in himself the dawn of the Spirit. He who has become disgusted with every wandering (distraction, scattering), sees the Master in the inner chamber of his heart… Heaven is within you, if you be pure, and in yourself you will see the Angels with their light, and with them their Master, and within their… The treasure of the humble-minded is within him, and it is the Lord… Passions are driven out and uprooted by unceasing instruction concerning God: it is the sword that kills them. He who desires to see the Lord within himself, strives to purify his heart through unceasing remembrance of God: thus by the brightness of the eye of his mind will he behold the Lord at every hour. What befalls the fish taken out of water befalls the mind that has gone out from the remembrance of God and wanders in recollection of the world… Fearful to the demons, beloved of God and His Angels is he who night and day with fervent zeal seeks God in his heart and uproots from it the opposing suggestions of the enemy.[16] Without unceasing prayer it is impossible to draw near to God.”[17]

The Venerable Cassian the Roman: “Prayer by this small verse (the aforementioned second verse of Psalm 69) must be unceasing, lest temptations cast us down, lest in prosperity we be preserved from pride. Let instruction in this small verse, I say, be ever turning in your breast unceasingly. Do not cease to repeat it, in whatever work or obedience you may be, or if you be journeying. Practice it as you go to sleep, as you take food, and in performing the lowest bodily needs. Such exercise of the heart will become for you a salutary rule, which not only will keep you unharmed in every assault of demons, but also, having cleansed you from every bodily passion, will raise you to invisible and heavenly visions, will lift you up to the inexpressible, known to very few through experience, height of prayer. This small verse will drive sleep from you, until you, having been trained by this exercise inexplicable in words, accustom yourself to practice it even during sleep. It, when you happen to awake, will be the first to come to your mind; it, when you wake, will forestall all other thoughts; it, when you rise from your bed, will occupy you until you begin genuflections; it will accompany you in every labor and work; it will follow you at all times. Practice in it according to the commandment of the Lawgiver (namely, Moses, lawgiver of Israel), sitting in your house and walking along the way, lying down to sleep and rising from sleep; write it on the threshold and on the doors of your lips: write it on the walls of your house and in the inner treasures of your breast, so that when you lie down, it may be ready as a psalm for you, and when you rise and set about fulfilling all that is necessary for a life conducive to the practice and unceasing prayer.”[18]

Saint John Chrysostom: “Brethren! I beseech you: do not allow yourselves ever to cease from performing the rule of this prayer, or to despise it… Whether the monk eats or drinks, whether he sits or serves, whether he travels or does something else, he must unceasingly cry out: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!’ That the name of the Lord Jesus, sinking into the depths of the heart, may humble the serpent holding sway over the pastures of the heart, may save and give life to the soul. Remain unceasingly in the name of the Lord Jesus, that the heart may swallow the Lord and the Lord the heart, and that these two may become one.”[19]

A brother asked the Venerable Philemon: “What does it mean, Father, secret instruction?” The elder answered: “Go, be watchful in your heart and speak in your thought watchfully, with fear and trembling: ‘Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’”[20]

Why is unceasing prayer or unceasing remembrance of God called instruction? Because the ascetics, upon whose deeds the dew of divine grace has descended, have discovered in the repeated brief prayer a spiritual, profoundest, inexhaustible meaning, constantly attracting and deepening their attentiveness through its spiritual novelty. And the brief verse became for them the most expansive science, the science of sciences, and the practice of it in the true sense instruction.

Such are the instructions of the holy Fathers: such was their practice. Not only all their deeds and words, but all their thoughts were dedicated to God. This is the reason for the abundance of the gifts of the Spirit in them. On the contrary, we are negligent about our deeds; we act not as God’s commandments command, but as it may happen, by the first impulse of the senses, by the first thought that comes. We are even more negligent about our words than about our deeds, and we pay no attention to our thoughts; they are scattered everywhere, they have all been offered by us as a sacrifice to vanity. Our mind, contrary to the state of a mind guarded by instruction, is like a four-gated chamber with all doors open, with no guard, through which anyone can enter and exit as they wish, bringing in and taking out whatever they please.[21] Brethren! Let us cease from such careless and fruitless living. Let us imitate the practice of the holy Fathers, and among other practices, the remembrance of God, in which they unceasingly kept their mind. Young man! Sow with zeal the seeds of virtues, accustom yourself with patience and by pressing yourself to all God-loving exercises and labors, accustom yourself also to the remembrance of God, enclose your mind in holy instruction. If you see that it unceasingly slips away into foreign and vain thoughts: do not fall into despondency. Continue the struggle with steadfastness: “Strive to return”, says Saint John of the Ladder, “or rather, to enclose your thought in the words of prayer. If it is snatched away (from its enclosure in the words of prayer) by immaturity—again lead it back (into them). It is natural to it to be unstable (to be constantly moving); but He who establishes all things can give it stability. If you constantly remain in this struggle, then He who sets the boundaries of the sea will come to you and say to your mind in your prayer: ‘Thus far you shall go and no farther’ (Job 38:11).” Instruction outwardly seems a strange, dry, tedious practice, but in essence is the most fruitful practice, the most precious church tradition, a divine establishment, a spiritual treasure, the heritage of the Apostles and holy Fathers, who received and transmitted it to us at the command of the Holy Spirit. You cannot imagine the riches of which you will become heir in due time, having acquired the habit of remembering God unceasingly.[22] Into the mind and heart of the beginner “have not entered the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9) not only in the age to come, but in this very life (Mark 10:30), in which they foretaste the blessedness of the age to come. “Prepare yourself”, said Saint John of the Ladder, “through unceasing prayer accomplished in the secret of your soul, for prayerful standing, and soon you will make progress.” In due time instruction will embrace your entire being, you will become from it as if intoxicated, as if belonging to this world and at the same time not belonging, estranged from it: belonging in body, not belonging in mind and heart. He intoxicated with sensual wine does not remember himself, forgets his grief, forgets his rank, his nobility and estate:[23] and he intoxicated with divine instruction becomes cold, insensate to earthly desires, to earthly glory, to all earthly advantages and prerogatives. His thought is unceasingly with Christ, whom instruction serves as a sacred fragrance: “to some an odor of death to death; to others an odor of life to life” (2 Cor. 2:16). Instruction mortifies in a man the sympathy with the world and the passions, gives life in him to sympathy with God, with all that is spiritual and holy, with blessed eternity. “What have I to do in heaven?” cries out he intoxicated with instruction. Nothing. “And from you what have I desired on earth?” Only that I should unceasingly cleave to you in silent prayer. For some riches are desired, for others glory, but for me is desired “to cleave to my God and to place on Him the trust of my dispassion” (Ps. 72:25, 28).[24]

[1] Homily 12.

[2] The Book of Needs, or a special book containing the rite of monastic tonsure into the small schema. The abbot, handing the newly tonsured monk the prayer beads, enjoins upon him unceasing Jesus Prayer. By receiving the prayer beads, the newly tonsured monk takes a vow to fulfill the abbot’s injunction.

[3] Saint Isaac the Syrian, Homily 21.

[4] Antonii Magni Opera. Patrologia Graeca.

[5] Homily 4, Chapter 17.

[6] Collatio X, cap. X.

[7] Life of the Venerable Dositheos in the book of the Venerable Abba Dorotheus, also in The Menaion Reader, February 19.

[8] The Prayer Book, Prayers for Sleep. Also in the Life of the Venerable.

[9] The Menaion Reader, January 9.

[10] Written Paterikon from the library of Bishop Ignatius.

[11] Homily 52.

[12] Fifteen Chapters on Hesychasm, Chapter 2. Philokalia, Part 1.

[13] Saint Isaac the Syrian, Homily 72.

[14] Homily 21, Chapter 7.

[15] The Alphabetical Patericon of Scetis, Letter N.

[16] Homily 8.

[17] Homily 69.

[18] Cassiani Collatio X, cap. X.

[19] Philokalia, Part 2. Xanthopoulos, Chapter 21.

[20] On Abba Philemon. Philokalia, Part 4.

[21] See above the instruction of the Venerable Isaiah the Solitary, who compares the soul guarded by instruction to a house shut and sealed on all sides.

[22] Homily 28, Chapter 17. On the standing and constant motion of the mind, see the chapters of Saint Callistus Kataphygiotes. Philokalia, Part 4.

[23] Homily 28, Chapter 31.

[24] The Ladder, Homily 28, Chapter 25.

A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 2)

The words of instruction must first be pronounced by the tongue, in a very quiet voice, slowly, with all possible attentiveness, enclosing, according to the advice given above by Saint John of the Ladder, the mind in the words of instruction. Little by little oral prayer will pass over into mental prayer, and then into heart prayer. But this transition requires many years. One should not seek it prematurely; let it accomplish itself, or rather, may God grant it in the time known to Him, according to the spiritual age and circumstances of the ascetic. The humble ascetic is content with being deemed worthy to remember God. And even this he considers a great beneficence of the Creator to the poor and weak creature—man. He acknowledges himself unworthy of grace, does not seek to discover in himself the workings of it, knowing from the teachings of the holy Fathers that such seeking has its beginning in vainglory, from which come spiritual delusion and fall, that such seeking itself is already deception, for despite all diligent seeking the bestowal of grace depends solely on God.[1] He yearns to discover in himself his sinfulness, and to acquire the capacity for weeping over it. He commits himself to the will of the all-good and most merciful God, who knows to whom it is profitable to grant grace, and for whom it is profitable to withhold its coming. Many, having received grace, fell into negligence, high-mindedness and self-confidence; the grace given them served, because of their folly, only to greater condemnation for them. Blessed is the disposition of heart in a monk by which he, practicing any struggle whatever, practices it with complete disinterestedness, hungers and thirsts solely to fulfill God’s will, and commits himself with all faith and simplicity, rejecting his own reasons, power, and will, to the governance of the merciful Lord our God, who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

[1] The Venerable Isaac the Syrian, Homily 55.

A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul

A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

He who with steadfastness and reverence practices attentive prayer, pronouncing its words aloud or in a whisper, as need requires, and enclosing his mind in the words, he who in his prayer struggle constantly rejects all thoughts and fantasies, not only sinful and vain ones, but even those that seem good, to him the merciful Lord grants in His time mental, heart, and soul prayer.

Brother! It is not beneficial for you to receive prematurely heart-felt, grace-filled prayer! It is not beneficial for you to feel prematurely spiritual sweetness! Having received them prematurely, without having first acquired the knowledge with what reverence and caution one must guard the gift of God’s grace, you might use this gift to your detriment and the destruction of your soul.[1] Moreover, it is impossible by your own efforts to bring forth in yourself grace-filled, mental and heart prayer: for it belongs to God alone to unite the mind with the heart and soul, divided in us by the fall. But if we foolishly force ourselves and seek to bring forth by our own effort alone those gifts which are sent solely by God, we shall labor in vain. And it is well if the harm were limited to the loss of labor and time! Often proud seekers of the states proper to restored human nature subject themselves to the greatest spiritual affliction, which the holy Fathers call spiritual delusion. This makes sense: the very fundamental starting point from which they begin their action is false. How then should not the consequences too be false? Such consequences, called spiritual delusion, have various forms and degrees. Spiritual delusion is most often concealed, but sometimes it is manifest, often places a man in a disordered, ridiculous and most pitiful state, often leads to suicide and ultimate spiritual ruin.[2] But spiritual delusion, understood by many in its obvious consequences, must be studied and grasped at its very beginning: in the false thought which is the foundation of all errors and disastrous spiritual states. In the false thought of the mind already exists the whole structure of spiritual delusion, as in a seed exists the plant which must spring from it when it is sown in the earth. Saint Isaac the Syrian said: “Scripture says: ‘The kingdom of God does not come with careful observation’ (Lk. 17:20) of expectation. Those who struggled with such a spiritual disposition were subjected to pride and a fall. But we shall establish our heart in the deeds of repentance and in a life pleasing to God. The gifts of the Lord, however, come of themselves, if the temple of the heart is pure and not defiled. That we should seek with deliberation, I say, the high gifts of God has been rejected by the Church of God. Those who undertook this were subjected to pride and a fall. This is not a sign that anyone loves God, but a sickness of the soul. And how should we strive for the high gifts of God when the divine Paul boasts of sorrows and acknowledges as the highest gift of God communion in the sufferings of Christ!”[3]

In your prayer struggle, rely wholly on God, without Whom even the least progress is impossible. Each step toward success in this struggle is a gift of God. Deny yourself and give yourself to God, that He may do with you as He wills. And He, the All-Good, wills to grant you what neither mind nor heart “has not entered” into (1 Cor. 2:9): He wills to grant such good things as our mind and heart, in their fallen state, cannot even imagine. It is impossible for one not having acquired purity to obtain even the slightest understanding of the spiritual gifts of God either through imagination or through comparison with the most pleasant soul-level sensations known to man! With simplicity and faith commit your care to God. Do not obey the counsel of the deceiver, who in paradise said to our forefathers: “you will be like God” (Gen. 3:5). Now he proposes to you an untimely and arrogant striving to acquire the spiritual gifts of heart prayer, which, I repeat, only God bestows, for which there is appointed a time and place of its own. This place is the whole vessel, both soul and body, purified from the passions.

Let us take care to free the temple—soul and body—from idols, from sacrifices to idols, from things sacrificed to idols, from all that pertains to idolatry. As the holy prophet Elijah brought down all the priests and prophets of Baal to the stream Kishon and there put them to death, so let us immerse ourselves in the weeping of repentance, and in this blessed stream mortify all the principles that compel our heart to offer sacrifices to sin, all the justifications by which such sacrifice is justified and excused. Let us wash the altar and all that surrounds it with tears: let us double and triple the washing: for the spiritual impurity of the soul requires tears in abundance for its cleansing. Let the altar be built of stones in the name of the Lord—of sensations drawn solely from the Gospel; let there be no place here for the sensations of the old man, however innocent and refined they may seem (1 Kings 18). Then the great God will send down His all-holy fire into our hearts and make our hearts temples of grace-filled prayer, as He has spoken with His divine lips: “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Mt. 21:13).

First let us direct our attention to bodily passions, to the consumption of food and to the lustful impulses which most depend upon excess in this consumption. Let us strive to wisely arrange the state of our flesh, giving it enough food and sleep that it may not become too weakened and remain capable of struggles. Giving it so little that it constantly bears within it death, not coming alive for sinful movements. According to the Fathers, in the consumption of food and sleep habit means much: therefore it is very beneficial to accustom ourselves beforehand to moderate and, if possible, meager consumption.[4] Saint Isaac the Syrian spoke thus of fasting and watchfulness: “He who has loved communion with these two virtues throughout his life will become an intimate of chastity. As the beginning of all evils is the satisfaction of the belly and weakness from sleep, which kindle the passion of lust, so too is the holy path of God and the foundation of all virtues fasting and watchfulness, and vigilance in God’s service through the crucifixion of the body for entire nights by depriving it of the sweetness of sleep. Fasting is the protection of every virtue, the beginning of struggle, the crown of the self-controlled, the beauty of virginity and sanctification, the brightness of chastity, the beginning of the Christian path, the mother of prayer, the source of chastity and wisdom, the teacher of silence. It precedes all good deeds. As the desire for light follows from the health of the eyes, so from fasting performed with discernment follows the desire for prayer. When one begins to fast, from fasting comes the desire for communion with God in the mind. The body of one who fasts cannot bear to spend the whole night on the bed. When the seal of fasts is placed upon a man’s lips, then his thought learns compunction, his heart pours forth prayer, his face is clothed in lamentation, shameful thoughts are far from him. Joy is not seen in his eyes, he is an enemy to whims and empty talk. Never has it been seen that one fasting with discernment was enslaved to evil desire. Fasting with discernment is a great temple of all virtues. He who does not care for it does not leave a single virtue unshaken. Fasting is a commandment given from the beginning to our nature for its protection in the consumption of food; from the violation of fasting fell the created foundation of our being.[5] From where ruin flowed, from there in return the ascetics begin to walk toward the fear of God, when they begin to keep God’s law.” He who gives himself over to excessive sleep and gluttony cannot but defile himself with lustful movements. As long as the soul and body are agitated by these movements, as long as the mind is pleased with fleshly thoughts, just so long is man incapable of the new and unknown movements which are awakened in him from the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.

As much as fasting is needed for one desiring to begin and make progress in mental prayer, so much does he need silence or extreme seclusion—in general, the greatest possible withdrawal from wandering. Living in a monastery, go out as seldom as possible; when away from the monastery, return as quickly as possible; when visiting the city or village, guard your senses with all attentiveness, so as not to see or hear anything spiritually harmful, so as not to receive an unexpected and unforeseen mortal wound. In the monastery know the church, the refectory, and your cell; go to the cells of other brothers only for a good reason; if possible, do not go at all; visit the cell of your teacher and spiritual father, if you are so blessed as to have found a teacher in these times; and even then visit at the proper time and according to real need, not at all from despondency or for idle talk. Accustom yourself to silence, so that you can remain silent even among people. Speak as little as possible, and only when absolutely necessary. It is hard to endure the suffering of silence for one accustomed to distraction; but everyone desiring to be saved and make progress in spiritual life must absolutely subject himself to this suffering and accustom himself to solitude and silence. After a brief period of labor, silence and solitude will become desired because of the fruits which the wise hesychast’s soul will not be slow to taste. The Venerable Arsenius the Great, living in the world, prayed to God that God teach him how to be saved, and heard a voice proclaiming: “Arsenius! Flee from men and you will be saved.” When the Venerable entered the Egyptian Scetis, where great holy monks led their life, he again prayed to God: “Teach me to be saved”, and heard the voice: “Arsenius! Flee, be silent, be still: these are the roots of freedom from sin.” Saint Isaac the Syrian speaks of the Venerable Arsenius the Great: “Silence helps hesychasm. How? Living in a populous monastery, it is impossible for us not to meet someone. Even the angel-like Arsenius, who loved hesychasm more than others, could not avoid this. It is impossible not to meet the fathers and brothers living with us; this meeting happens unexpectedly: and when someone is going to church or to some other place. When this most blessed man (the Venerable Arsenius) saw all this, and that him, as one living near a human settlement (although he lived in the Egyptian Scetis filled with perfect monks), it was impossible for the most part to avoid close contact with worldly people and monks dwelling in those places, then he learned from grace this manner—constant silence. If by necessity he opened the door of his cell for some, they were comforted only by the sight of him—conversation and its necessity remained superfluous.” The same Saint Isaac says: “Love silence above all else:[6] it brings you near to the fruit. A tongue is insufficient to set forth the good things born from silence. First we force ourselves to silence: then from silence is born in us something that teaches us the silence that gave it birth. May God grant you to feel something born from silence. If you begin to live this way of life, I cannot even say what light will shine upon you from this. Do not think, brother, that the wondrous Arsenius, as is told of him, that when the fathers and brothers came visiting him, he received them in silence and sent them away in silence—acted thus only because he wished to. He acted thus because first he forced himself to this practice. A certain sweetness is born in time in the heart from the training of this practice, and with exertion instructs the body to remain in silence. In this way of life are born to us many tears and a wondrous vision.” Saint Isaac in Homily 75 says: “Over a long time, being tempted from right and left, having tested myself repeatedly through the following two ways of living, receiving from the adversary (the devil) countless wounds, having been deemed worthy of great mysterious protections, I, instructed by God’s grace, through many years and experiences have acquired the following experiential knowledge. The foundation of all virtues, the calling out of the soul from the captivity of the enemy, the path leading to divine light and life, is contained in these two ways of living:[6] to gather yourself into yourself in one place, and to fast unceasingly. This means: to establish for yourself wisely and prudently a rule of abstinence in your stomach in a constant, never-to-be-left dwelling, in unceasing practice and remembrance of God. From this flows obedience of the senses, from this flows watchfulness of the mind, from this flows the taming of the fierce passions moving in the body, from this flows meekness of thoughts, from this flows the movement of bright thoughts, from this flows zeal in the practice of virtues, from this flows high and subtle understanding, from this flows immeasurable tears at all times and remembrance of death, from this flows that pure chastity which stands far from every fantasy tempting the mind; from this flows quick-sightedness and keenness of perception of distant things (that is, good and evil which might be distant consequences of every action); from this flows the deepest mysterious understanding which the mind grasps through the power of God’s Word, and the innermost movements arising in the soul, and the discernment and distinguishing of spirits from the holy powers, and true visions from vain fantasies; from this flows fear of the ways and paths in the sea of thought, cutting off negligence and carelessness, from this flows the flame of fervor, trampling down every disaster, raising one above every fear—that ardor which despises every lust and destroys it from the thought, produces forgetfulness of every memory of the passing and of all that belongs to this world and age. In short, from this flows the freedom of a true man, the joy and resurrection of the soul, its repose with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. But if anyone neglects these two ways of living, let him know that he has not only deprived himself of all the aforesaid, but by despising these two virtues has shaken the foundation of all virtues. As these two virtues are the beginning and head of God’s work in the soul, the door and path to Christ—if one keeps them and endures in them, so, on the contrary, if one abandons them and turns away from them, he comes to the two opposite ways of living, that is, to bodily wandering and to shameless gluttony. These are the beginning of what is opposite to what has been said above, and prepare a place in the soul for the passions.”

“This first principle above all else resolves the senses, which have already come into obedience, from the bonds by which they were held. What happens from this? From this come unseemly and unexpected occurrences, close to falls, the uprising of mighty waves, fierce heat kindled by sight, taking possession of the body and holding it in its power, easy slippings in the (adopted devout) way of thinking, irresistible thoughts leading toward a fall, cooling of the warmth toward God’s works and gradual weakening in love for hesychasm;[7] finally, complete abandonment of the begun way of life, renewal of forgotten evils and instruction in new ones, previously unknown, because of unceasing new meetings, involuntarily and in many forms presenting themselves to the sight in moving from land to land, from place to another place. Passions, mortified in the soul by God’s grace and destroyed in the mind by the forgetfulness of their memory, begin again to come into motion and impel the soul to commit them. This is what—I do not count in detail all the rest—is revealed (in the monk) from the first principle, that is, from bodily wandering, by the rejection of patient suffering in silence. What also comes from the other principle, that is, when the work of swine begins? In what does the work of swine consist, if not in abandoning the belly without a rule for it, if not in unceasing satisfaction of it without a fixed time for fulfilling its need, in contrast to the custom of rational creatures? What follows from this? Heaviness of the head, considerable weighing down of the body with weakening of the shoulders. From this comes the necessity of negligence in God’s service, appears sloth, not allowing one to perform bows during the prayer rule, negligence toward customary genuflections, darkening and coldness of thought, dullness of mind, lack of discernment because of the disturbance and especial darkening of thoughts, thick and dense darkness spread over the whole soul, abundant despondency in every work of God, and equally in reading, because of incapacity to taste the sweetness of God’s Word, abandonment of the needful exercises; an uncontrolled mind, wandering over all the earth; accumulation of abundant moisture in all the members, unclean fantasies at night, presenting to the soul vile and base images filled with lust, and in the soul itself fulfilling its unclean desire. The bed of this wretched one, his garments and his very body are defiled by the multitude of shameful discharges flowing from him as from a source. And this happens to him not only at night but also during the day; the body constantly drips filth, and defiles the thought, so that man because of such circumstances is deprived of hope to preserve chastity, for the sweetness of impulses works in all his body with unceasing and unbearable heat, and before him form seductive mental images depicting before him beauty, exciting him at every time, and incline the mind to unite with them (with these mental images of beauty). Without doubt, he unites with them by musing on them and desiring them, because of the darkening of his discernment. This is what the Prophet spoke of: “Such is the reward of your sister Sodom, who enjoyed herself, eating bread to fullness” etc. (Ezek. 16:49).[8] But the following was also said by some of the great wise men: ‘If someone feeds his body, providing it with pleasure, he casts his soul into a great struggle. Such a one, if he ever comes to himself and wishes to force himself and restrain, will not be able to do so because of excessive bodily heat, because of the violence and might of excitations and deceptions captivating the soul with their lusts.’ Do you see here the subtlety of godless forces? Again the same one says: ‘The pleasure of the body, with its softness and moisture of youth, becomes the cause of the rapid acquisition of passions by the soul, death embraces it, and thus it falls under God’s judgment. On the contrary, the soul, unceasingly practicing in the remembrance of its obligations, rests in its freedom, its cares are diminished, it cares about nothing (temporal), cares about virtue, bridling the passions and guarding the virtues, it is gradually in progress, in carefree joy, in a good life and in a refuge without disaster. Bodily pleasure not only strengthens the passions and raises them against the soul, but even uproots it from its foundations. By it the belly is set on fire toward incontinence and lustful disorderly sensations. It impels one to eat food at an unseemly time. One warred against by it does not wish to endure a small hunger so as to master himself, because he is captive to the passions.’ In a similar manner reason all the holy Fathers, whom we do not cite here so as not to extend the Homily greatly.”

Having surrounded our way of life externally with abstinence from excess and pleasure in the consumption of food and drink, having guarded it by the solitude depending on us, that is, by remaining within the monastery and avoiding acquaintance outside and inside the monastery, let us direct our attention to the spiritual passions. Let us first direct our attention, according to the commandment of the Lord, to anger (Mt. 5:22), which has pride as its foundation.[9] Let us forgive our fathers and brothers, those dwelling near and far, the living and the departed, all offenses and injuries inflicted upon us by them, however heavy these injuries may be. The Lord commanded us: “When you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins” (Mark 11:25–26). First of all pray for your enemies and bless them (Mt. 5:44), as instruments of divine providence, through whom recompense has been made to you for your sins during this brief earthly life, so as to save you from the recompense you deserve in eternity from the torments of hell. When you act thus, when you love your enemies and pray that all blessings, temporal and eternal, be granted to them, then only will God come down to your aid, and you will overcome all your adversaries with your prayer, you will enter with your mind into the heart temple to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth (Jn. 4:24). But if you let your heart harden with grudge-bearing and justify your anger with your pride, then God your Lord will turn away from you, and you will be trampled under the feet of Satan. With every vile thought and sensation he will trample you, you will not be able to resist him. But if the Lord deems you worthy to place at the foundation of your prayer struggle freedom from malice, love, non-judgment of neighbors, merciful excuse of them, then with especial ease and speed you will conquer your opponents, you will attain pure prayer.[10]

Know that all passions and all fallen spirits are in the closest kinship and union with one another. This kinship, this union, is sin. If you have submitted to one passion, then through submission to this one passion you have submitted to all other passions. If you have allowed yourself to be taken captive by one evil spirit, through conversation with the thoughts he implants and through being drawn into these thoughts or fantasies, then you have entered into slavery to all spirits. After your defeat, they will hand you over to one another, like a captive.[11] This the holy Fathers teach, this experience itself teaches. Watch yourself, and you will see that, having allowed yourself to be overcome in something voluntarily, after that, in something entirely different, in which you would not wish to yield victory, you will be overcome involuntarily; and so it will be until through careful repentance you restore your freedom. Having placed at the foundation of your prayer struggle freedom from anger, love and mercy toward neighbor, commanded by the Gospel, with resolution reject every conversation with thoughts and every fantasy. To meet every thought and fantasy, say: “I have wholly given myself to the will of my God, and therefore there is for me no need to dispute, suppose, foretell, for ‘the Lord is near. Be anxious about nothing’ the Holy Spirit commands me together with all those who truly believe in Christ, ‘but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God’ (Phil. 4:5–6). ‘Be prudent’, that is, reject satiation and pleasure, reject deceptive thoughts and fantasies, ‘and be watchful in your prayers,’ all your care ‘casting upon Him’ (on God), ‘because He cares for you’ (1 Pet. 4:7, 5:7). ‘I desire therefore that the men’, that is, Christians who have become perfect in the prayer struggle, ‘pray in every place’, ‘lifting up holy hands’, the mind and heart, purified from passions, filled with humility and love, ‘without anger and dissension’, that is, being free from all malice toward neighbor, free from agreement with thoughts and pleasure in fantasies (1 Tim. 2:8). Hate ‘every false way’, and you will be directed ‘to all the commandments’ of the Lord” (Ps. 118:128). The false way is conversation with thoughts and fantasy. He who has rejected this conversation and fantasy can inherit all God’s commandments, can perform God’s will in the midst of his heart (Ps. 39:9), unceasingly cleaving through prayer to the Lord, drawing his prayer with humility and love. “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Ps. 96:10), the Holy Spirit exhorts us.

[1] St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 5: “We should not seek great measures prematurely, lest God’s gift be lost because of the haste of its reception. All that is easily acquired is easily lost; but all that is acquired through heartfelt labor is kept with care”.

[2] Ven. Symeon the New Theologian. On the first manner of attentiveness and prayer. Philokalia, part 1. Also: Ascetic Experiences, part 1. On the Jesus Prayer. Conversation of the elder with his disciple.

[3] Homily 55.

[4] Life of the venerable Dositheos. The book of teachings of Ven. Abba Dorotheus.

[5] Homily 21.

[6] Homily 41.

[7] Experience shows that encounters with the female sex, with dissolute society, and with other temptations act incomparably more powerfully on a monk than on a layman, who constantly moves about among temptations. This action on a monk is all the more powerful the more attentive and strict his manner of life. The passions in him are tormented by hunger and fling themselves with fury and frenzy upon their objects if precaution is not taken. Even if the aroused passion does not commit murder, it can inflict a terrible wound, the healing of which will require many years, bloody labors, and above all the most particular mercy of God.

[8] The authentic Scripture verse reads as follows: This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but did not support the poor and needy

[9] Ven. Mark the Ascetic. Word to Nicholas the monk.

[10] Ven. Mark the Ascetic. Homily 7, On fasting and humility.

[11] Ven. Isaiah the Hermit. Homily 8, Chapter 1. This monk, who delved deeply into himself, said: “Sometimes I see myself like a horse wandering without a rider: whoever finds it sits on it, and when he dismounts, another seizes it and likewise sits on it”.

A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

It is necessary for the practitioner of prayer to come to know and see the action of passions and spirits on his blood. Not without reason does Sacred Scripture say that not only “flesh” but “blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). Not only gross bodily sensations of the old man, but also more subtle sensations, sometimes very subtle, arising from the motion of blood, are rejected by God. All the more does this matter need the ascetic’s attention, for the subtle action of passions and spirits on blood becomes clear only when the heart feels within itself the action of the Holy Spirit. Sensation is explained by sensation. Having acquired spiritual sensation, the ascetic suddenly perceives with full clarity the action of blood on the soul, sees how passions and spirits, acting through blood in the most subtle manner on the soul, keep the soul in slavery to themselves. Then he will understand and be convinced that every action of blood on the soul, not only gross but also subtle, is abominable before God, constitutes a sacrifice defiled by sin, unworthy to be placed in the realm of the spiritual, unworthy to be joined to spiritual actions and sensations. Before the manifestation of the Spirit’s actions in the heart, subtle action of blood remains either wholly incomprehensible or little understood, and may even be taken for the action of grace if proper caution is not exercised. This caution consists in not recognizing any heart sensation as correct before the time of purification and renewal by the Spirit, except the sensation of repentance, the saving sorrow for sins, mingled with hope of mercy. From fallen nature God accepts only one sacrifice of the heart, one sensation of the heart, one state of it: “The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 50:19).

The action of blood on the soul is fully evident in the action of the passion of anger and angry thoughts on the blood, especially in people prone to anger. Into what frenzy does a man inflamed with anger fall! He loses all power over himself, comes under the power of the passion, under the power of spirits thirsting for his perdition and desiring to destroy him, using as an instrument of their wrongdoing his very self; he speaks and acts as if deprived of reason. The action of blood on the soul is also evident when the blood is inflamed by the passion of lust. The action of other passions on blood is less obvious, but it exists. What is sorrow? What is despondency? What is sloth? These are various actions on the blood of different sinful thoughts. Love of money and gain of necessity have an influence on the blood: the pleasure which is produced in a man by dreams of enrichment—what is it if not a deceptive, false, sinful play of the blood? Evil spirits, sleeplessly and insatiably thirsting for man’s perdition, act upon us not only through thoughts and fantasies, but also through various touches, feeling our flesh, our blood, our heart, our mind, striving by all ways and means to infuse their poison into us.[1] There is need for caution, need for watchfulness, need for clear and detailed knowledge of the mental path leading to God. On this path there are many thieves, robbers, murderers. At the sight of countless dangers, let us weep before our Lord, and beseech Him with constant weeping that He Himself guide us along the narrow and sorrowful path leading to life. Various inflammations of blood from the action of various thoughts and demonic fantasies constitute that flaming sword which was given to the fallen cherub upon our fall, with which he turns within us, forbidding us entry into the mystical divine paradise of spiritual thoughts and sensations.[2]

Particular attention must be given to the action of vainglory within us, whose action on the blood is very difficult to perceive and understand. Vainglory almost always acts together with subtle sensual pleasure and provides man with the most subtle sinful enjoyment. The poison of this enjoyment is so subtle that many recognize the enjoyment of vainglory and sensuality as a consolation of conscience, even as an action of divine grace. The ascetic deceived by this enjoyment gradually comes into a state of self-deception; recognizing self-deception as a state of grace, he gradually comes under the full power of the fallen angel, constantly appearing as an angel of light, becomes an instrument and apostle of the rejected spirits. From such a state entire books have been written, praised by the blind world and read by people not purified from passions with enjoyment and admiration. This so-called spiritual enjoyment is nothing else than enjoyment of subtle vainglory, high-mindedness and sensuality. Enjoyment is not the lot of the sinner: his lot is weeping and repentance. Vainglory corrupts the soul just as the passion of lust corrupts the soul and body. Vainglory makes the soul incapable of the spiritual movements which begin only when the movements of soul-level passions cease, stopped by humility. For this reason the holy Fathers propose to all monks in general, especially to those occupied in prayer and desiring to make progress in it, holy repentance, which acts directly against vainglory, providing the soul with spiritual poverty. Even with considerable practice in repentance, the action of vainglory on the soul is perceived, very similar to the action of the passion of lust. The passion of lust teaches one to strive for impermissible union with another’s body, and in those who obey it, even by merely delighting in unclean thoughts and fantasies, changes all heart-felt emotions, changes the constitution of soul and body; vainglory draws toward unlawful appropriation of human glory, and, touching the heart, brings the blood into a disorderly, sweet motion—by this motion it changes all the disposition of man, introducing into him union with the crude and dark spirit of the world, and thus estranging him from God’s Spirit. Vainglory in relation to true glory is lust.[3] says Saint Isaac the Syrian, “It views the nature of things with lustful vision.” How much it darkens man, how it makes the approach and assimilation to God difficult, this the Saviour testified: “How can you believe”, He said to vain-glorious Pharisees seeking praise and approval from one another and from the blind human society, “when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (Jn. 5:44). What the venerable John of the Ladder and Nilus of Sorsk call arrogant zeal for a premature seeking of what comes in its own time, can without error be attributed to the passion of vainglory with the necessary concurrence of blood;[4] blood is heated and set in motion by vain-glorious thoughts, and vainglory, in turn, fosters and multiplies deceptive fantasies and inflated opinion about oneself, called by the Apostle the inflation of a fleshly mind, inflating itself without reason (Col. 2:18).

From all that has been said, one can discern the time befitting for mental heart prayer. For engaging in it, mature age is befitting, at which the impetuousness of the passions is naturally tamed in a man. Youth is not rejected when it has the quality of maturity, especially when it has a guide. But for maturity, the mere number of years from birth or from entering the monastery is insufficient; maturity must mainly flow from prolonged preliminary examination of oneself—not arbitrary examination, but examination in the light of the Gospel, in which the new man is depicted and all the shades of the ailments of the old man, through study of the writings of the holy Fathers of the Orthodox Eastern Church, who teach infallibly how to use the light of the Gospel. The more a man penetrates into himself, the more he comes to know himself, the more he knows his passions, their varied action, the means of struggle, his own weakness, the more he strives to destroy in himself the sinful properties implanted by the fall and to acquire the properties shown by the Gospel, the more solid will be the foundation for the edifice of prayer. One should not hurry in laying the foundation; on the contrary, one should take care that it have satisfactory depth and solidity. It is not enough to study the passions with their many-branched offshoots in reading the Fathers’ books; one must read them in the living book of the soul and acquire experiential knowledge of them. It is evident that many years are needed for such practice to be fruitful, especially in our time, when effortless acquisition of spiritual knowledge from a man is rare, when one must seek in books for each such knowledge, and then observe in the books the order, the gradualness of spiritual knowledge, practices, and states. Those who did not sufficiently care for the solidity of the foundation saw many shortcomings and inconveniences in their building, significant cracks and other damage, and often saw the sorrowful destruction of the building itself. Brethren! Let us not hurry; following the counsel of the Gospel (Lk. 6:48), let us dig, go deep, lay in the foundation solid, weighty stones. Digging and going deep is detailed examination of the heart, and solid stones are habits established by long time and practice in the Gospel commandments.

When the Christ-bearer ascetic, to the extent of his strength, masters the motions of blood and weakens its action on the soul: then in the soul little by little spiritual movements begin to arise, subtle divine understandings begin to appear to the mind, drawing it to contemplate them and turning it away from wandering everywhere, concentrating it in itself;[5] the heart begins to sympathize with the mind with abundant compunction. From the action of the spiritual, the action of blood on the soul is finally weakened: blood enters upon the performance of its natural service in the bodily system, ceasing to serve, outside its natural purpose, as an instrument of sin and demons. The Holy Spirit warms the man spiritually, at the same time watering and cooling the soul, hitherto acquainted only with various inflammations of blood.[6] At the appearance of the intellectual Sun of Righteousness, the intellectual beasts depart into their lairs, and the ascetic comes out from the darkness and captivity in which sin and fallen spirits held him, to spiritual practice and progress until the very evening of earthly life, until removal to eternal, never-ending life (Ps. 103:22–23). From the blessed action of the Holy Spirit in a man, first there begins to blow in him an unusual stillness, there appears deadness to the world, to the enjoyment of its vanity and sinfulness, to services in its midst. The Christian is reconciled to all and to everyone through the means of a strange, humble, and at the same time lofty spiritual discernment, not known to and inaccessible to the fleshly and soulish state. He begins to feel compassion for all humanity and for each person in particular. Compassion passes over into love. Then the attentiveness in his prayer begins to deepen: the words of prayer begin to produce a strong, unusual impression on the soul, to shake it. Finally, little by little the heart and all the soul are drawn into union with the mind, and with the soul the body itself is drawn into this union. Such prayer is called

Mental, when it is pronounced by the mind with deep attentiveness, with the sympathy of the heart;

Heart, when it is pronounced by the mind and heart united, whereby the mind as if descends into the heart and from the depths of the heart sends up the prayer;

Soul, when it is accomplished from the whole soul, with the participation of the very body, when it is accomplished from the whole being, whereby all the being becomes as if one mouth pronouncing the prayer.

The holy Fathers in their writings often include under one name mental prayer both heart and soul prayer, and sometimes distinguish them. Thus the Venerable Gregory the Sinaite said: “Pray unceasingly mentally or soulfully.” But now, when the teaching from living lips on this subject has greatly diminished, it is very useful to know the precise distinction. In some mental prayer acts more, in others heart prayer, and in others soul prayer, according to as each is endowed by the Giver of all good things, both natural and gracious; sometimes in one and the same ascetic now one prayer, now another operates.[7] Such prayer is very often and for the most part accompanied by tears. A man then in part comes to know what blessed dispassion means. He begins to feel purity, and from purity genuine fear of God, consuming the dullness of the flesh by a strange, hitherto unknown to man, terror, from the clear feeling of his standing before God, as before God. The Christian enters into a new life and a new struggle, corresponding to his renewed spiritual state: former milk for his nourishment no longer suffices. All his deeds flow together into one—into blessed unceasing repentance. Let him who has ears to hear, understand: what is needful has been said, what is most soul-saving, what is of greatest importance for a true practitioner, though the words are simple. This state was depicted by the Great Pimen in his reply to a question about how should an attentive hesychast conduct himself? The Great one answered: “Like a man who has sunk in mud up to his neck, who has a burden on his neck, and cries to God: have mercy on me.” The deep weeping, the weeping of the human spirit, moved to weeping by God’s Spirit, is an inseparable companion of heart prayer; by spiritual feeling of fear of God, reverence and compunction heart prayer is accompanied;[8] soul prayer is accompanied by these. In perfect Christians both these feelings pass over into love. But even these sensations belong to the class of grace-given ones. They are gifts of God, given in their own time, strange even to the perception of one struggling in the sphere of them, though he struggle rightly. Heart prayer works especially through prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus; soul prayer is prayed by those who have received heart prayer when they engage in prayer-reading and psalmody.

Mental, heart, and soul prayer is commanded to man by God in both the Old and New Testament. “You shall love the Lord your God”, commands God, “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30; Deut. 6:5). It is evident that to attain the fulfillment of the greatest, most exalted of all commandments, one cannot accomplish it otherwise than through mental, heart, and soul prayer, through which the one who prays is separated from all creation, wholly, with all his being, rushes toward God. Being in this rushing toward God, the one praying suddenly becomes united with himself and sees himself healed from the touch of God’s finger upon him. Mind, heart, soul, body, hitherto torn apart by sin, suddenly come together into one in the Lord. Since the union has taken place in the Lord, was produced by the Lord, it is at the same time both the union of man with himself and the union of man with the Lord. At the union, or together with the union, will come the manifestation of spiritual gifts. More precisely: the union is a gift of the Spirit. The first of the spiritual gifts, which also produces the wondrous union, is the peace of Christ. After the peace of Christ will come the whole company of Christ’s gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle enumerates thus:[9] “love, joy, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). The prayer of one healed, united, reconciled to himself and with himself, is free from demonic thoughts and fantasies. The flaming sword of the fallen cherub ceases to act: the blood, held in check by power from above, ceases to boil and surge. This sea becomes still, the breath of winds—demonic thoughts and fantasies—no longer act upon it. Prayer, free from thoughts and fantasies, is called—pure, non-wandering. The ascetic who has attained pure prayer begins to dedicate much time to practice in it, often without noticing it himself.[10] His whole life, all his activity is transformed into prayer. Quality of prayer, the Fathers have said, necessarily leads to quantity. Prayer, embracing a man, little by little changes him, makes him spiritual from union with the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: “He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). To the intimate of the Spirit are revealed the mysteries of Christianity.

The gracious peace of Christ, by which the ascetic is led into pure prayer, is entirely distinct from the ordinary, pleasant composure of men: dwelling in the heart, it binds the disturbing movements of the passions, and takes away fear not by removing what is fearful, but by a blessed, victorious state in Christ, in which what is fearful is not fearful, as the Lord said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you: not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Jn 14:27). In the peace of Christ there dwells secretly such a spiritual power that by it he tramples upon every earthly sorrow and affliction. This power is drawn from Christ Himself: “In Me you have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Called forth by heart prayer, Christ sends down into the heart a spiritual power, called the peace of Christ, incomprehensible to the mind, inexpressible in words, incomprehensibly grasped by the blessed experience alone. “The peace of God”, the Apostle says to Christians, “exceeds all understanding, and will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ” (Phil 4:7). Such is the power of the peace of Christ. It is “exceeding all understanding”. This means: it is above all the understanding of created beings—both human understanding and the understanding of angels of light, and the understanding of fallen angels. It, as the action of God, commands with divine authority over thoughts and affections of the heart. At its appearance, all demonic thoughts and the sensations dependent upon them flee away, and human thoughts, together with the heart, come under its all-holy governance and guidance. From this point it becomes their king, and guards them, that is, keeps them untouched by sin, in Jesus Christ. This means: it holds thoughts constantly in the teaching of the Gospel, illuminates the mind with the mystical interpretation of this teaching, and feeds the heart with the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to all who partake of it (Jn 6:33). The holy peace, in its abundant action, imposes silence on the mind and draws both soul and body to its blessed tasting. Then ceases all movement of the blood, all its influence on the state of the soul: there is great stillness. A certain subtle cold blows through the whole man, and mysterious teaching is heard. The Christian, held and guarded by the holy peace, becomes impregnable to enemies: he is clinging to the enjoyment of the peace of Christ, and, delighting in it, forgets not only sinful pleasures, but all earthly pleasures in general—both bodily and of the soul. A healing draught! Divine medicine! Blessed intoxication! Indeed: what other beginning of man’s renewal can there be than the gracious feeling of peace, by which the parts of man, divided by sin, are united again into one! Without this preliminary gift, without this union with himself, can man be capable of any spiritual, divine state, created by the all-good Holy Spirit? A broken vessel, before it is repaired, can it be a container for anything? The feeling in Christ of peace, as indeed of all gracious gifts in general, begins first of all to manifest itself in prayer, as in that activity in which the ascetic is most prepared by reverence and attentiveness to receive divine impressions. Subsequently, becoming as it were a property of the Christian, it constantly accompanies him, constantly and everywhere stirring him to prayer, accomplished in the chamber of the soul, showing from afar his mental enemies and adversaries, repelling and striking them with its all-mighty right hand.

The greatness of the spiritual gift, the peace of Christ, its manifestation in the chosen people of God, the new Israel, Christians, its power to heal souls, its power to sustain the health of souls, the beginning of this gift from the God-man, the bestowal of this gift by the God-man, is described by the holy prophet Isaiah thus: “The Mighty God”, the Prophet says of the incarnate Lord, “Master, Prince of peace, Father of the age to come: I will bring peace upon the princes”—upon Christians who have progressed, overcoming the passions and therefore deserving the name of princes—“peace and health to Him. And great is His dominion, and of His peace there is no end, upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom, to establish it and sustain it with judgment and righteousness, from now and forever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Is 9:6,7). “In His days righteousness will flourish and abundance of peace” (Ps 71:7); “The Lord will bless His people”—Christians—“with peace” (Ps 28:11), “the gentle will inherit the earth and will delight in the abundance of peace” (Ps 36:11). As the Holy Spirit proclaims the Son (Jn 16:14), so the action in man of the Holy Spirit, the peace of Christ, proclaims that the thoughts of man have entered into the all-holy realm of divine Righteousness and Truth, that the Gospel has been received by his heart: “Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed” (Ps 84:11). The action of the peace of Christ in man is a sign of his abiding in the commandments of Christ, outside error and self-deception: on the other hand, disturbance, however subtle, whatever excuses may cover it, serves as a sure sign of deviation from the narrow path of Christ onto the broad way that leads to perdition. Judge neither the ungodly nor the manifest evildoer: “to his own Lord he stands” or “falls” (Rom 14:4). Do not hate either your slanderer, or the mocker, or the robber, or the murderer: they crucify you on the right of the Lord, by the incomprehensible ordering of God’s judgments, so that you, from heartfelt consciousness and conviction, might say in your prayer to the Lord: “I receive what I deserve by my deeds; remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom”. Understand from the afflictions permitted you your unspeakable good fortune, your selection by God, and pray with fervent prayer for those benefactors of yours, by means of whom good fortune is afforded you, by whose hands you are torn from the world and made to die to it, by whose hands you are raised up to God.[11] Feel toward them compassion after the likeness of that compassion which God, Who gave His Son as an expiatory sacrifice for the creation hostile to the Creator, feels toward mankind, the wretched, drowning in sin, knowing that this creation will in its majority mock even this Sacrifice, will scorn it. Such compassion, extending even to love of enemies, poured out in tearful prayers for them, leads to experiential knowledge of Truth. Truth is the Word of God, the Gospel; Truth is Christ. Knowledge of Truth brings into the soul divine righteousness, having cast out the fallen and defiled by sin righteousness of men: the divine righteousness testifies its entrance into the soul by the peace of Christ. The peace of Christ makes man both a temple and a priest of the living God: “His place is in peace” (God’s), “and His dwelling is in Zion. There He broke the strength of the bows, the weapons and the sword, and battle” (Ps 75:3–4).

[1] Holy John of Carpathus, Chapter 87. Philokalia, part 4.

[2] According to the explanation of Ven. Macarius the Great (Homily 37, Chapter 5) and Ven. Mark the Ascetic, Homily 6.

[3] Homily 56.

[4] Ven. Nilus of Sora, Homily 11.

[5] “Before all (spiritual gifts) non-wandering is granted to the mind by the Lord”. Kallistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos, Chapter 24. Philokalia, part 2.

[6] Conversation of Ven. Maximus Kapsokalivites with the venerable Gregory of Sinai. Philokalia, part 1.

[7] The distinction is shown above.

[8] The Alphabetical Patericon.

[9] Barsanuphius the Great. Reply 184. Holy Gregory Palamas. Letter to the nun Xenia.

[10] Holy Isaac the Syrian. Homily 15.

[11] Guidance for the spiritual life of the venerable Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet, Reply 59.

A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Concerning the blessed union of man with himself from the action of the peace of Christ, the greatest teachers of monasticism bear witness. Holy John of the Ladder says: “I cried with all my heart”, that is, with body, soul, and spirit: “where two” of these latter are united, there also God is “in the midst of them” (Ps 118:145; Mt 18:20). The venerable Isaiah the Hermit: “If you, like the wise virgins, know that your vessel is filled with oil, and you can enter the bridal chamber, and not remain outside;[1] if you have felt that your spirit, soul, and body are united incorruptibly, and have risen undefiled on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, if conscience does not accuse and condemn you, if you have become as a child according to the word of the Saviour, who said: ‘Leave the children alone and do not forbid them to come to Me: for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’ (Mt 19:14): then truly you have become the bride (of Christ); the Holy Spirit has rested upon you, though you still remain in the body”. The venerable Isaac the Syrian: “Do not compare those who work signs, wonders, and powers in the world with those who keep silence wisely. Love the leisure of silence more than the feeding of the hungry in the world and the conversion of many pagans to the worship of God.[2] Better for you to loose yourself from the bonds of sin than to free slaves from servitude. Better for you to reconcile your soul in unified thought with the trinity dwelling within you—I speak of: body, soul, and spirit—than with your teaching to settle those in discord”. Holy peace is that immobility of the mind, born from the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, mentioned by the venerable Isaac the Syrian in his 55th homily, which was experienced by holy Gregory the Theologian and holy Basil the Great, and, having experienced it, they withdrew into the desert. There, having worked on their inner man and having finally formed him by the Gospel, they became spectators of the mysterious visions of the Spirit. It is evident that immobility of the mind, or non-wandering (the cessation of distraction) is gained by the mind through its union with the soul.[3] Without this it cannot restrain itself from wandering and roaming everywhere. When the mind, by the action of divine grace, is united with the heart, then it receives the prayer-power of which the venerable Gregory of Sinai speaks: “If Moses had not received from God the staff of power, God would not have smitten Pharaoh and Egypt with it: so also the mind, if you do not have in your hand the power of prayer, will not be able to crush sin and the opposing powers”. With extraordinary clarity and simplicity the teaching on the peace of Christ is depicted, the height and importance of this gift is shown in the spiritual teachings of the hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov, where everything is drawn directly from the heart’s holy experience: “When the mind and heart are united in prayer and the thoughts of the soul are not scattered, then the heart is warmed by spiritual warmth, in which the light of Christ shines, filling the entire inner man with peace and joy”. Nothing is better in Christ than peace, in it all warfare of the air and earthly spirits is destroyed.[4] The mark of a rational soul is when man immerses his mind within himself and has the work in his heart. Then the grace of God overshadows him, and he is in a peaceful arrangement, and through this also in a supernal one:[5] peaceful, that is, with a good conscience; supernal, because the mind contemplates in itself the grace of the Holy Spirit, according to God’s word: “in peace is His place” (Ps 75:3). When someone walks in a peaceful arrangement, he, as it were, draws up spiritual gifts with a ladle. When man enters into a peaceful arrangement, then he can from himself and upon others shed the light of reason. This peace, as some priceless treasure, our Lord Jesus Christ left to His disciples, before His death, saying: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (Jn 14:27). We must concentrate all our strength, desires, and actions toward obtaining the peace of God and with the Church always cry out: Lord our God! Give us peace (Is 26:12). By all means we must endeavor to preserve the peace of soul and not be troubled by insults from others: for this we must in every way try to restrain anger and guard through attentiveness the mind and heart from unseemly movements. Insults from others should be borne with indifference and we should become accustomed to such a disposition as if the insults were directed not toward us but toward some stranger. Such practice can give peace to the human heart and make it the dwelling-place of God Himself. How to overcome anger can be seen from the life of Paisius the Great. He asked the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to him to free him from anger. And Christ said to him: If you wish to overcome anger and wrath together, desire nothing, hate no one, and despise no one. To preserve the peace of the soul, one must keep melancholy far from oneself and endeavor to have a joyful spirit rather than a sorrowful one, according to the word of Sirach: “Sorrow has killed many” and “there is no benefit in it” (Sir 30:25). To preserve the peace of the soul one must in every way avoid judging others. By non-judgment and silence is the peace of the soul preserved: when man is in such an arrangement, he receives divine revelations. “The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. He who serves Christ in these things is pleasing to God”[6] (Rom 14:17–18).[7]

The peace of Christ is the source of unceasing mental, heart, soul, gracious, spiritual prayer, prayer brought forth from all of man’s being, by the action of the Holy Spirit; the peace of Christ is the constant source of gracious, surpassing human understanding, humility of Christ. He will not err who says that gracious prayer is gracious humility, and gracious humility is unceasing prayer. We recognize it as necessary to set forth here the closest union of prayer with humility. What is humility? “Humility”, the Fathers said, “is divine and incomprehensible”.[8] Is this not the same as what the Apostle said: “the peace of God, exceeding all understanding”? (Phil 4:7). We will define humility without error if we say: Humility is the incomprehensible action of incomprehensible divine peace, incomprehensibly grasped by blessed experience alone. To the composition of such a definition of humility we have as our guide the Lord Himself. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden”, said the Lord, “and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart: and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28–29). The venerable John of the Ladder, explaining these words of the Saviour, says: “Learn” not from an angel, not from man, not from a book, but “from Me”, that is, from My indwelling in you, illumination, and action, “for I am gentle and humble in heart”, and in mind, and in the manner of thought you have acquired, and you will find rest from conflicts and relief from passionate thoughts “for your souls”. This teaching is active, experiential, gracious! Further, in his discourse on humility, holy John of the Ladder, having enumerated various signs of humility which may be known and comprehended not only by the possessor of this spiritual treasure but also by his close friends and companions in the Lord, adds:[9] “There are signs for the possessor of this great wealth (humility) in his soul (by which he can know that he has become a possessor of humility), exceeding all the aforementioned. For all of those, with the exception of this, can be observed by outside witnesses. You will understand and not be deceived, that in you this venerable (humility) is present, by the multitude of inexpressible light and by the inexpressible zeal for prayer”. The venerable Isaac the Syrian, when asked: “What are the distinctive signs of humility?” answered: “As the exaltation of the soul is its dissipation, compelling it to soar (by means of the fantasies it produces) and not preventing it from being borne aloft on the clouds of its thoughts, on which it flies around all creation, so (in opposition to exaltation) humility gathers the soul into silence; by means of humility the soul concentrates within itself. As the soul is unknown and unseen by bodily eyes, so the humble-minded is not known, existing among men. As the soul is hidden within the body from the sight of men and from communion with them, so truly the humble-minded not only does not wish to be seen and understood by men because of his withdrawal and renunciation of all things, but he even desires to be submerged within himself from himself, to live and remain in silence, having completely forgotten his former thoughts and affections, to become as something non-existent and never having begun to exist, even unknown to his own soul. As much as such a one is hidden, concealed, and separated from the world, so much is he entirely in his Master”. What is this state but the state produced by gracious mental, heart, and soul prayer? Can one remain in the Lord otherwise than by being united with Him in pure prayer? In this same discourse is found the answer of holy Isaac to the question:[10] “What is prayer?” The Saint said: “Prayer is the emptying and idleness of thought from all things of this world and the heart completely turned with its gaze toward the hoped-for future”. Thus is it not the same, in action and consequence, true prayer and true humility? Prayer is the mother of virtues and the door to all spiritual gifts. By prayer practiced with care, patience, and effort, in attentiveness, both gracious prayer and gracious humility are acquired. The giver of them is the Holy Spirit, the giver of them is Christ: how should they not be so similar to each other when their source is one? How should not all virtues in general appear from such a source, in marvelous harmony and relationship with one another? They appear suddenly in that Christian into whose inner chamber Christ has entered to attend to the weeping of him shut in the chamber and to remove the causes of weeping. “Prayer is the mother of virtues”, said the venerable Mark the Ascetic, “it gives birth to them from union with Christ”. Holy John of the Ladder called prayer the matter of virtues, and humility the destroyer of passions.[11][12]

We must explain and make somewhat intelligible the union of mind, soul, and body to those who have not experienced it, so that they may know it when, by God’s mercy, it begins to manifest itself in them. This union is fully evident, fully sensible, not some fanciful matter or one assumed by deceptive opinion. It can be explained somewhat from the opposite state, in which ordinarily we all find ourselves. The opposite state—the division of mind, soul, and body, their discordant action, often turning into opposition of one to another—is the sorrowful consequence of our fall in our forefathers.[13] Who does not see in himself this discordant action? Who does not feel the inner struggle and the torment it produces? Who does not acknowledge this struggle, this torment—often unbearable—as our malady, a sign, convincing proof of the fall? Our mind prays or is in devout reflection and intention, and in the heart and body move various base desires, various passionate longings that pull with force the mind from its exercise and for the most part carry it away! Even the bodily senses themselves, especially sight and hearing, oppose the mind: by constantly delivering to it impressions of the material world, they lead it into distraction and scattering. But when, by God’s inexpressible mercy, the mind begins to unite in prayer with the heart and soul, then the soul, at first gradually, and then entirely, begins to strive together with the mind toward prayer. Finally the very mortal body of ours, created with longing for God, but infected by the fall with beastly longing, will strive toward prayer. Then the bodily senses remain inactive: the eyes see and do not see, the ears hear and at the same time do not hear.[14] Then the entire man is seized by prayer: even his very hands, feet, and fingers, inexpressibly, but fully evident and sensibly, participate in prayer and are filled with an indescribable power. The man, being in the state of peace in Christ and of prayer, is not open to any sinful thoughts—that very man for whom before all struggle with sin was certain victory. The soul feels that an enemy approaches it; but the prayer-power filling it does not permit the enemy to draw near and defile the temple of God. He who prays knows that the enemy came to him, but does not know with what thought, with what form of sin. The holy John of the Ladder said: “I did not know the evil one turning away from Me” (Ps 100:4), neither how he came, nor why he came, nor how he departed, but in such cases I remain without any feeling, being united with God now and always. When the mind is united with the soul, it is most convenient to occupy oneself with the remembrance of God, especially the Jesus Prayer:[15] by means of it the bodily senses can remain inactive, and such inactivity of them greatly promotes the deepest attentiveness and its consequences. The prayerful reading of Psalms and other prayers can and should be done in union, as being especially conducive to attentiveness. But as during psalmody various thoughts present themselves to the mind, so during psalmody it cannot be so pure from distraction as during brief, uniform prayer. In reading Holy Scripture and the books of the Fathers also one should unite the mind with the soul—reading will be far more fruitful. “There is required of the mind”, says holy John of the Ladder, “in each of his prayers (and therefore also in reading, by which prayer is nourished and which constitutes a branch of prayer and the mental work) the manifestation of that power which has been given to him by God—therefore one must be attentive”.[16]

Brother! If you have not yet felt the union of mind, soul, and body, then occupy yourself with attentive prayer, uniting the spoken and at times vocal prayer with the mind. Abide in the Gospel commandments, struggling with patience and longsuffering against the passions, not falling into despair and hopelessness when you are overcome by sinful thoughts and sensations, yet also not permitting yourself to be willingly overcome. When you fall, rise; having fallen again, rise again, until you learn to walk without stumbling. The cup of weakness has its usefulness: for a certain time it is permitted by God’s providence to the ascetic for purification from pride, anger, rancor, judgment, presumption, and vainglory. It is especially important to perceive the action of vainglory in yourself and to bridle it. As long as it acts, so long man is not capable of entering the country of spiritual life, into which the entrance is dispassion, granted by the coming of the peace of Christ. But if you have felt that your mind is united with your soul and body, that you are no longer divided by sin into parts, but constitute something one and whole, that the holy peace of Christ has breathed upon you, then guard with all possible care the gift of God. Let prayer and the reading of holy books be your primary work; give secondary importance to other works, and be cold, if possible estranged, toward earthly works. Sacred peace, as the breathing of the Holy Spirit, is subtle and readily departs from the soul that conducts itself carelessly in its presence, violating reverence, violating fidelity by indulgence in sin, permitting itself negligence. Together with the peace of Christ there departs from the unworthy soul gracious prayer, and passions burst into the soul like hungry beasts and begin to tear the self-surrendering victim, abandoned to itself by God withdrawing from it (Ps 103:20–21). If you become satiated, especially if you become intoxicated, the holy peace will cease to act in you. If you become angry, its action will be interrupted for a long time. If you allow yourself boldness, it will cease to act. If you love anything earthly, if you become infected with attachment to a thing, to some handiwork or a particular disposition toward a person, the holy peace will surely depart from you. If you permit yourself to delight in lustful thoughts, it will abandon you for a long time, a very long time, as not tolerating any stench of sin, especially of lust and vainglory. You will seek it and not find it. You will weep for its loss, but it will pay no heed to your weeping, so that you may learn to give the gift of God its proper value and keep it with fitting care and reverence. Hate all that draws you down, into distraction, into sin. Crucify yourself on the cross of the Gospel commandments, constantly hold yourself nailed to it. Manfully and vigorously reject all sinful thoughts and desires, cut off earthly cares, concern yourself with quickening in yourself the Gospel by zealous fulfillment of all its commandments. During prayer crucify yourself again, crucify yourself on the cross of prayer. Turn away from yourself all memories, even the most important, that come to you during prayer, neglect them. Do not theologize, do not be carried away in contemplation of thoughts brilliant, new, and powerful, if they begin suddenly to multiply in you. Sacred silence, brought upon the mind during prayer by the sense of God’s majesty, speaks of God more loftily and powerfully than any word.[17] “If you pray truly”, the Fathers said, “then you are a theologian”. You have a treasure![18] The invisible thieves see this, they guess at it from the loss of their influence over you (Ps 125:1–2). In the Psalter, the word “nations” everywhere means, in its mysterious significance, demons. Then the ascetic perceives his deliverance from bondage to demons, when his mind ceases to be carried away by the thoughts and fantasies brought by them, when he begins to pray with pure prayer, always united with spiritual consolation. This deliverance is intelligible also to the demons: “Then they will say among the nations: The Lord has done great things for them”. They hunger to rob you of God’s gift! They are skilled, rich both in experience and in the inventiveness of evil. Be attentive and cautious. Guard in yourself and cultivate the feeling of repentance, do not admire your state, regard it as a means to acquiring true repentance. Spiritual poverty will preserve in you the gift of grace and will shield you from all the enemy’s deceits and deceptions: “A broken and humbled heart God will not despise” (Ps 50:19) by delivering it into the power of the enemy and depriving it of salvation and grace. Amen.

[1] The Ladder, Homily 28, Chapter 61.

[2] Homily 19. The venerable also places this same thought in his 17th Homily.

[3] Homily 56.

[4] Philokalia, part 1, Chapter 114.

[5] Instruction 11 on prayer.

[6] Menaion, June 19. Life of the venerable Paisius the Great.

[7] Instructions 3 and 4. On the peace of the soul and its preservation. Moscow, second edition, 1844.

[8] Instruction of the venerable Abba Dorotheus on humility.

[9] Homily 25, Chapter 3.

[10] Homily 48.

[11] Homilies 25, 28.

[12] Discourse on those thinking to justify themselves by deeds, Chapter 35.

[13] The venerable Symeon the New Theologian calls such a state of our nature a tearing of it. Homily 3.

[14] The venerable Symeon the New Theologian. Homily 10.

[15] The Ladder. Homily 29, Chapter 10.

[16] Homily 28, Chapter 38.

[17] The venerable Nilus of Sinai. Chapters on prayer, Chapter 61.

[18] When the Lord returned the captivity of Zion, we became as those consoled. Then our mouths were filled with joy and our tongue with gladness. Then they said among the nations: The Lord has done great things for them

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Beginning to speak about the Jesus Prayer, I call upon the all-good and all-mighty Jesus to aid my feeble mind. Beginning to speak about the Jesus Prayer, I remember the saying of the righteous Simeon about the Lord: “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and as a sign that will be opposed” (Lk 2:34). As the Lord was and is the true sign, a sign that will be opposed, an object of disagreement and contention between those who know Him and those who do not know Him: so also the prayer to His all-holy name, being, in the full sense, a great and wondrous sign, has become, from a certain time, an object of disagreement and contention among those who engage in such prayer and those who do not engage in it. Justly does one Father remark that those reject this manner of prayer only who do not know it, who reject it from prejudice and from false notions formed about it. Not heeding the cries of prejudice and ignorance, in hope of the mercy and help of God, we propose to the beloved fathers and brothers our humble word on the Jesus Prayer based on Holy Scripture, based on Church tradition, based on the Patristic writings in which is set forth the teaching on this all-holy and all-mighty prayer.[1] “Let lying lips be mute”, which speak against the righteous and against his magnificent name, with “iniquity and pride” of their own, their deep ignorance and the “contempt” connected with it of God’s wonder. Having considered the greatness of the name of Jesus and the saving power of prayer with it, we exclaim in spiritual joy and amazement: “How abundant is your goodness, which you have treasured up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of men!” (Ps 30:19–20). “Some trust in chariots and some in horses”—in fleshly and vain imaginings of their own: “but we”—with the simplicity and faith of children—“will invoke the name of the Lord our God” (Ps 19:8).

The Jesus Prayer is pronounced as follows: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. Initially it was pronounced without the addition of the word sinner; this word was joined to the other words of the prayer later. This word, containing confession and acknowledgment of the fall, the venerable Nilus of Sora notes, is fitting for us, pleasing to God, who has commanded us to direct prayers to Him from the consciousness and confession of our sinfulness.[2] For beginners, condescending to their weakness, the Fathers permit dividing the prayer into two halves, sometimes to say: “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner”, and sometimes “Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. However, this is only a permission and condescension, and by no means an order and ordinance requiring inevitable fulfillment. It is far better to perform constantly a uniform, whole prayer, not occupying and not distracting the mind by change and concern about changes. And one who finds a need for his weakness in changing should not permit it often. For example: one might pray with one half of the prayer until noon, and with the other half after noon. Forbidding frequent change, the venerable Gregory of Sinai says: “Trees that are frequently transplanted do not take root”.[3]

Prayer with the Jesus Prayer is a divine ordinance. It was established not through a prophet, not through an Apostle, not through an angel—it was established by the Son of God Himself and by God. After the Last Supper, among other most exalted final commandments and bequests, the Lord Jesus Christ established prayer in His name, gave this manner of prayer as a new, unusual gift, a gift of boundless value. The Apostles already knew in part the power of the name of Jesus: they healed with it incurable diseases, brought demons to obedience to themselves, overcame, bound, and drove them out. The Lord commands this most mighty, wondrous name to be used in prayers, promising from it a particular efficacy for prayer. “Whatever you ask”, the Father in My name, I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And if you ask anything in My name, “I will do it” (Jn 14:13–14), He said to the holy Apostles. “Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (Jn 16:23–24). Oh, what a gift! It is the pledge of endless, boundless blessings! It has flowed from the lips of the unlimited God, clothed in limited humanity, called by a human name—Saviour. A name, limited in its outward appearance, but depicting the unlimited Object, God, borrowing from Him unlimited, divine dignity, divine properties and power.[4] Giver of the priceless, incorruptible gift! How shall we, insignificant, mortal, sinful, receive such a gift? Neither our hands, nor our mind, nor our heart are capable of it. You teach us to know, to the extent possible for us, both the greatness of the gift and its meaning, the manner of receiving it and the manner of using it, so that we may not approach the gift sinfully, so that we may not be subject to punishment for foolishness and presumption, so that, from right knowledge and use of the gift, we may receive from You the other gifts promised by You, known to You alone.

From the Gospel, the Acts, and the Epistles of the Apostles we see the unlimited faith in the name of the Lord Jesus and the unlimited reverence of the holy Apostles toward this name. By the name of the Lord Jesus they accomplished the most striking signs. There is no account from which one could learn how they prayed in the name of the Lord, but they certainly prayed in it. How could they not pray in it, when this prayer was taught and commanded by the Lord Himself, when this commandment was strengthened by a twofold repetition and confirmation? If Scripture is silent about this, it is silent solely because this prayer was in general use, needing no special mention in Scripture due to its known and common usage. The general usage and widespread knowledge of the Jesus Prayer is evident from the ordinance of the Church, which commands the illiterate to substitute for themselves all prayers with the Jesus Prayer.[5] The antiquity of this ordinance is indubitable. Subsequently it was supplemented as new prayers appeared in the Church. Holy Basil the Great set forth the rule of prayer in writing for his flock, which is why some ascribe to him the very institution of the rule. It is by no means an invention or institution of the Great Saint: the Saint merely replaced oral tradition with written form, just as he wrote down the order of the Liturgy, an order which had existed in Caesarea from Apostolic times, was not set forth in writing, but was transmitted orally by succession, so that the great sacred rite might be guarded from the mockery of pagans. The monastic rule is contained chiefly in the Jesus Prayer. In this form this rule is taught in general to all monks of the Orthodox Church:[5] in this form it was taught by an angel to the venerable Pachomius the Great for his monastic community. The venerable lived in the 4th century; in the rule he speaks of the Jesus Prayer just as of the Lord’s Prayer, of the 50th Psalm, and of the Creed—as of well-known and universally accepted things. The venerable Anthony the Great, Father of the 3rd and 4th centuries, bequeathed to his disciples the most careful practice of the Jesus Prayer, speaking of it as of a matter needing no explanation. Explanation of this prayer began to appear subsequently, as living knowledge of it became scarce. More detailed teaching on the Jesus Prayer was set forth by the Fathers of the 14th and 15th centuries, when practice in it began almost to be forgotten even among monks. In the historical monuments of early Christianity that have reached us, there is no separate discussion of prayer in the name of the Lord, but it is only mentioned when setting forth other circumstances. In the biography of Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch, who was crowned with martyrdom in Rome under the emperor Trajan, the following is related: “When he was being led to wild beasts and constantly had the name of Jesus Christ on his lips, the impious asked him why he was constantly remembering this name? The Saint answered that, having the name of Jesus Christ written in his heart, he confesses with his mouth the One whom he always bears in his heart. After the Saint had been eaten by wild beasts, by God’s will his heart remained whole among his remaining bones. The unbelievers, finding it and remembering the words of Saint Ignatius, cut this heart in two, wishing to know whether what the Saint had said was true. They found written inside, on both halves of the cut heart, in golden letters: Jesus Christ. Thus the holy martyr Ignatius was in name and deed a God-bearer, always bearing in his heart Christ God, inscribed by the mind’s meditation on God, as if with a stylus.” The God-bearer was a disciple of the holy Apostle John the Evangelist, the theologian, and was counted worthy in his childhood to see the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This is that blessed boy of whom it is said in the Gospel that the Lord placed him in the midst of the Apostles who were disputing about who was the greatest, embraced him, and said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3–4; Mk 9:36–37). Certainly, Saint Ignatius was taught the Jesus Prayer by the holy Evangelist and practiced it in those flourishing times of Christianity just like all other Christians. Then all Christians were taught the Jesus Prayer, first of all because of the great importance of this prayer, then because of the rarity and high cost of handwritten sacred books, because of the rarity of literacy (most of the Apostles were illiterate), because of its convenience and satisfactoriness, and because of the particularly special action and power of the Jesus Prayer. “The name of the Son of God,” an angel said to the holy Hermas, a direct disciple of the Apostles, “is great and immeasurable:[6] it sustains the whole world”. Having heard this teaching, Hermas asked the angel: “If all creation is sustained by the Son of God, does He sustain those who are called by Him, bear His name, and walk in His commandments?” The angel answered: “He sustains those who bear His name with all their heart. He Himself is the foundation for them, and He holds them with love, because they are not ashamed to bear His name”. In Church history we read the following account: “A soldier named Neocorus, a native of Carthage, was in a Roman detachment guarding Jerusalem at the time when our Lord Jesus Christ suffered voluntary passion and death for the redemption of mankind. Seeing the wonders accomplished at the death and resurrection of the Lord, Neocorus believed in the Lord and was baptized by the Apostles. At the end of his service, Neocorus returned to Carthage and imparted the treasure of faith to his whole family.[7] Among those who accepted Christianity was Callistratus, Neocorus’s grandson. Callistratus, having reached the proper age, enlisted in the army. The detachment of soldiers in which he was placed consisted of idolaters. They watched Callistratus, noticing that he did not bow to idols, but at night, in solitude, spent long hours in prayer. Once they eavesdropped on him while he was praying and, hearing that he was constantly repeating the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, reported this to their commander. Saint Callistratus, who had confessed Jesus in private and in the darkness of night, confessed Him also in the light of day, publicly—his confession was sealed in blood”. The writer of the 5th century, the venerable Hesychius of Jerusalem, already laments that practice of this prayer had become very scarce among monks. This scarcity grew more and more with time: which is why the holy Fathers tried by their writings to sustain it. The last writer on this prayer was the blessed elder hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov.[8] The elder himself did not write the instructions bearing his name;[9] they were recorded from his words by one of the monks trained by him; they are marked by a gracious anointing. Now the practice of the Jesus Prayer has almost been abandoned by monastics. The venerable Hesychius gives as the cause negligence: we must confess that the accusation is just.[10]

The gracious power of the Jesus Prayer is contained in the very divine name of the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ. Although numerous testimonies of Holy Scripture proclaim to us the greatness of the name of God, yet with exceptional definiteness the meaning of this name was explained by the holy Apostle Peter before the Sanhedrin of the Jews, when the Sanhedrin interrogated the Apostle about “what power or what name” had been given to him to heal the lame man from birth? “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being questioned today about a good deed done to someone who was sick, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man is standing before you healthy. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:7–12). This testimony is the testimony of the Holy Spirit: the lips, tongue, and voice of the Apostle were only instruments of the Spirit. And another organ of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle to the Gentiles, gives forth a similar proclamation. “Everyone”, he says, “who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13). “Christ Jesus ‘humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth’ (Phil 2:8–10).

The prophet David, who foresaw the distant future, ancestor of Jesus according to the flesh, sang the greatness of the name of Jesus, vividly depicted the action of this name, the struggle by means of it against the principles of sin, its power in liberating him who prays it from the captivity of passions and demons, the gracious triumph of those who have won victory in the name of Jesus. Let us listen, let us listen to the God-inspired David! With extraordinary clarity, describing the establishment of Christ’s spiritual kingdom on earth which was to be accomplished a thousand years later, the King-Prophet says that the dominion of the God-man will extend “from sea to sea, and from rivers to the ends of the earth. All kings will bow down to him, all nations will serve him. Honor be to His name before them, and people will pray for him constantly, blessing Him all the day. Let his name be blessed forever; his name endures before the sun: and all people groups of the earth will be blessed in him, all nations will praise him. Blessed be the glory of His name forever, and forever and ever: and let all the earth be filled with his glory” (Ps 71:8, 11, 14–15, 17, 19). The great service of prayer, which introduces men into the closest communion with God, appeared on earth in the broadest scope from the time of man’s reconciliation with God through the God-man. This service embraced the universe. It was established in cities and villages; it flourished in wild, hitherto uninhabited deserts; it shone in dark caves, in ravines, in chasms and on mountain peaks, in the depths of thick forests. The name of the God-man acquired the most important significance in this service of prayer, being the name of the Saviour of men, the Creator of men and angels, being the name of God incarnate, the Victor over the rebellious slaves and creatures—demons. “Before Him”—our Lord and Redeemer—“Ethiopia will stretch out her hands”, demons, “and his enemies”, fallen spirits, “will lick the dust” (Ps 71:9). “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger” (Ps 8:2–3). Exactly! The greatness of the name of Jesus is beyond the comprehension of the wise creatures of earth and heaven: its comprehension is incomprehensibly received by childish simplicity and faith. With such the same disinterested disposition one should approach prayer in the name of Jesus and abide in this prayer; constancy and care in prayer should be like the ceaseless striving of an infant toward its mother’s breast: then prayer in the name of Jesus can be crowned with complete success, invisible enemies can be trampled down, the “foe and avenger” can ultimately be crushed. The enemy is called the avenger because he tries to snatch away from those who pray, especially those who do not pray constantly, what they have acquired during prayer. For decisive victory, unceasing prayer and continuous watchfulness over oneself are necessary. In light of such importance of prayer in the name of Jesus, David invites all Christians to this prayer.[11] “Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, let the name” of the Lord “be praised” (Ps 112:1–3). “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness” (Ps 28:2); pray so that in your prayers the greatness of the name of Jesus is made manifest, and you, by His power, ascend into the temple made without hands in the heart to worship in spirit and truth; pray carefully and constantly; pray in fear and trembling before the greatness of the name of Jesus, “and let those who know your name trust in you”, almighty and all-good Jesus, “for you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord” (Ps 9:11). Only he who is poor in spirit, constantly cleaving by prayer to the Lord because of the constant feeling of his poverty, is capable of revealing in himself the greatness of the name of Jesus. “The humble will not be put to shame” from his standing in prayer, but will bring it entirely to God, not despoiled by distraction: “the poor and needy praise your name” (Ps 73:21). “Blessed is the one whose trust is the Lord, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods” (Ps 39:5): he will not pay attention during his prayer to the seductive action of vain concerns and attachments attempting to defile and corrupt the prayer. The nighttime especially promotes, by its silence and darkness, the practice of the Jesus Prayer; at night the great ascetic of prayer, David, occupied himself with the remembrance of God: “I remember your name in the night, O Lord”, he says; at night I was attuning my soul to divine attunement and “and”, having acquired this attunement, in the activity of the following day “I kept your law” (Ps 118:55). “At night,” advises the venerable Gregory of Sinai, referring to holy John of the Ladder, “give much time to prayer, but little to psalmody”.”[12]

[1] Schema-monk Vasily of Polyanomeros. His works were published by the Vvedensky Optina Hermitage together with the works of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. Moscow, 1847.

[2] Homily 2.

[3] On Silence in 15 Chapters, chap. 2. Philokalia, Part 1.

[4] Saviour is Jesus in Hebrew.

[5] Psalter with Commemorations.

[6] Menaion Reader. December 20.

[7] Parable 9, chap. 14. The book of holy Hermas was especially revered in the first Church of Christ. Sometimes it was joined to the New Testament and read during divine service.

[8] Menaion Reader. September 27.

[9] Discourse of Ven. Hesychius. Philokalia, Part 2, chap. 1.

[10] Ed. Moscow, 1844.

[11] Ven. Nilus of Sora, Discourse 9.

[12] On How One Should Sing. Philokalia, Part 1.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

In the fierce struggle with invisible enemies of our salvation, the Jesus Prayer serves as the most excellent weapon. “All the nations”—demons, called peoples because they are garrulous and full of tricks—“surrounded me”, says David, “but in the name of the Lord I cut them off. They surrounded me on all sides; but in the name of the Lord I cut them off. They swarmed around me like bees; they blazed like a fire among thorns; but in the name of the Lord I cut them off” (Ps 117:10–12).[1] “In the name of Jesus strike down the enemies: for there is no weapon more powerful either in heaven or on earth”. “With You we push back our enemies; through Your name we trample our foes. I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but You give us victory over our enemies, You put our adversaries to shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever” (Ps 43:6–9). The mind, having conquered and routed the enemies in the name of Jesus, is reckoned among the blessed spirits, enters the heart’s temple for true worship, which until then had been closed to it, singing a new spiritual song, singing mysteriously: “I will praise You, Lord, with all my heart; before the gods I will sing Your praise. I bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your name for Your unfailing love and Your faithfulness, for You have so exalted Your solemn decree that it surpasses all fame. When I called, You answered me; You greatly emboldened me.” (Ps 137:1–3). Holy David enumerates the wondrous effects of the “awesome and holy name” (Ps 110:9) of Jesus. It acts like a medicine that has been taken, whose mode of action is unknown to the patient and incomprehensible to him, yet its action is evident by the healing it produces. Because of the name of Jesus, employed by the one who prays, help descends to him from God, and forgiveness of sins is granted to him; for this reason holy David, presenting to God’s sight the desolation and sorrowful condition of the soul of every man, produced by sinful life, begs on behalf of all mankind for mercy, saying: “Help us, O God our Savior, for the sake of the glory of Your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake” (Ps 78:9). Because of the Lord’s name is our prayer heard, salvation is granted to us; on the basis of conviction in this, David prays again: “Save me, O God, by Your name; vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth” (Ps 53:3–4). By the power of the name of Jesus the mind is freed from hesitation, the will is strengthened, correctness is given to zeal and to other properties of the soul, to thoughts and affections pleasing to God, to thoughts and affections belonging to man’s unpolluted nature, only such thoughts and affections are permitted to remain in the soul; there is no room for thoughts and affections foreign to it, “for the Lord will build up Zion and appear in His glory. He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their plea. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord” (Ps 68:36–37). In the name of the Lord Jesus the soul, deadened by sin, is granted life. The Lord Jesus Christ is life (Jn 11:25), and His name is living: it gives life to those who cry out to it, to the source of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. “For Your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in Your righteousness, bring me out of trouble” (Ps 142:11); “do not let us turn away from You. Revive us, and we will call on Your name” (Ps 79:19). When the prayer is heard by the power and action of the name of Jesus, when divine help descends to man, when enemies are repelled and withdraw from him, when he is deemed worthy of forgiveness of sins, when he is healed and restored to his unpolluted natural state, when his spirit is restored to his authority, then repentance follows, and in the name of the Lord, gracious gifts, spiritual possessions and treasure, the pledge of blessed eternity, “for You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. Increase the days of the king’s life, his years for many generations. May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever” (Ps 60:6–8). Then man becomes capable of singing “a new song to the Lord”: he is excluded from the number of the carnal and soulish, reckoned among the spiritual, and praises the Lord “in the congregation of the devout”. The Holy Spirit, until then having called and urged him only to tears and repentance, calls him, “May the Lord rejoice in His works. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy” (Ps 149:1–3), because, through the renewal of the soul, its powers, brought into wondrous harmony and order, become capable, at the touch of divine grace, of emitting sounds and voices of the spirit, ascending to heaven, before God’s throne, acceptable to God. “May my heart be glad because You help me. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me. Let me sing praise to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord” (Ps 85:11–13). “The righteous will praise Your name and the upright will live in Your presence” (Ps 139:14), because, when the enemies that cause distraction, weaken, and defile prayer are driven away, the mind enters into darkness where nothing is seen, and stands before God’s face without any intermediary. Mental darkness is that veil, that curtain, by which God’s face is covered. This covering is God’s incomprehensibility to all created minds. The softening of the heart then becomes so strong that it is called confession. Holy David depicts the gracious action of the Jesus Prayer in the Christian who has made progress thus: “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name” (Ps 102:1). Truly! When the Jesus Prayer acts abundantly, all the powers of the soul, the very body, take part in it. The practice of the Jesus Prayer, which holy David—or more precisely, the Holy Spirit by David’s mouth—proposes to all Christians without exception: “Praise His name, you kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers on earth. Young men and women, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted” (Ps 148:11–13). A literal understanding of the conditions enumerated here will be fully correct, but their essential meaning is spiritual. By the name peoples are understood all Christians, by the name kings—Christians who have been deemed worthy to attain perfection; by the name princes—those who have attained very significant progress; judges are named those who have not yet gained mastery over themselves, but are acquainted with God’s Law, can distinguish good from evil, and, according to the instruction and requirements of God’s Law, remain in good, rejecting evil. A maiden denotes a dispassionate heart, so capable of prayer. Elders and youths depict the degrees of active progress, which differs greatly from gracious progress, although the former also has its own very significant value; one who has attained perfection in pious activity is called an elder, one who has been raised to gracious perfection—a king.Among the incomprehensible and wondrous properties of the name of Jesus is its property and power to cast out demons. This property was declared by the Lord Himself. He said that those who believe in Him “in His name will cast out demons” (Mk 16:17). Attention must be paid to this property of the name of Jesus because it has great importance for those who practice the Jesus Prayer. First, a few words must be said about the presence of demons in men. This presence is of two kinds: one may be called sensual, the other moral. Satan dwells sensually in a man when he, by his very being, enters into his body and torments his soul and body. Thus one demon may live in a man, or many demons may dwell in him. Then the man is called a demoniac. From the Gospel we see that the Lord healed demoniacs, and likewise the disciples of the Lord healed them by casting out demons from men in the name of the Lord. Satan dwells morally in a man when the man becomes the executor of the devil’s will. Thus “Satan entered into” Judas Iscariot (Jn 13:27), that is, he took possession of his reason and will, united himself with him in spirit. In this condition are and have been all who do not believe in Christ, as the holy Apostle Paul says to Christians who had passed over to Christianity from paganism: “And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath” (Eph 2:1–3). In this condition are, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the degree of sinfulness, those baptized in Christ but estranged from Him by sins. Thus do the holy Fathers understand the words of Christ about the return of the devil with seven other more wicked spirits into the soul’s temple from which the Holy Spirit has withdrawn (Mt 12:43–45). The spirits having thus entered are again expelled by the Jesus Prayer, in the context of constant and careful repentance. Let us undertake the saving struggle for ourselves! Let us take care to expel the spirits that have entered us because of our negligence, by the Jesus Prayer. It has the property of giving life to those deadened by sin, it has the property of expelling demons.[2] “I am the resurrection and the life,” said the Saviour, “those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (Jn 11:25). “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons” (Mk 16:17).[3] The Jesus Prayer both reveals the presence of demons in a man and expels them from a man. In this something similar is accomplished to what happened when the demon was cast out of the possessed boy after the Lord’s Transfiguration. When the boy saw the Lord who had come, “the spirit shook him violently. It threw him to the ground and he foamed at the mouth”. When the Lord commanded the spirit to come out of the boy, the spirit, with rage and ferocity in its motion as it departed, cried out and shook the boy severely and for a long time, as a result of which the boy became as if dead (Mk 9:17–27). The power of Satan dwelling in a man during his scattered life, unnoticed and incomprehensible, when it hears the name of the Lord Jesus being called upon by the one praying, comes into turmoil. It stirs up all the passions in a man; through them it brings the whole man into terrible agitation; it produces in the body various strange illnesses. In this sense the venerable John the Prophet said: “We weak ones have only one recourse—to take refuge in the name of Jesus: for the passions, as it is said, are demons—and they depart at the invocation of this name”.[4] This means: the action of passions and demons is combined: demons act through the passions. When we see during the practice of the Jesus Prayer a particular disturbance and boiling up of the passions, let us not be cast down into despair and confusion by this. On the contrary, let us be encouraged and prepare ourselves for the struggle with even more careful prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus, as having received a clear sign that the Jesus Prayer has begun to produce in us the action proper to it.[5] The holy John Chrysostom says: “The remembrance of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ provokes the enemy to battle. For the soul that strives toward the Jesus Prayer can find through this prayer both evil and good. First, it can perceive the evil in the depths of its heart, and then good. This prayer can stir up the serpent, and this prayer can humble him. This prayer can expose the sin living within us, and this prayer can destroy it. This prayer can set all the power of the enemy in the heart in motion, and this prayer can conquer and uproot it gradually. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the depths of the heart, will humble the serpent ruling in its pastures, and it will save and give life to the soul. Abide constantly in the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the Lord may absorb the heart and the heart absorb the Lord, and that these two become one. However, this work is not accomplished in one day or two days, but requires many years and much time: much time and struggle are needed in order that the enemy be cast out and Christ dwell”. It is evident that what is described here is that practice, with clear indication of the instrument of practice, of which the venerable Macarius the Great speaks and to which he invites in his First Homily: “Enter, whoever you are, through the ever-increasing thoughts rising within you, into your soul captive and enslaved by sin, and examine your thoughts to the depths; investigate the depths of your reflections: and you will see in the inmost parts of your soul the crawling and nesting serpent that has killed you with the poison of the parts of your soul. An immeasurable abyss is the heart.[6] If you slay the serpent, boast before God of your purity; but if not, humble yourself, praying as a weak and sinful one about your secrets to God”. The same great saint of God says: “The kingdom of darkness, that is, the evil prince of spirits, having captivated man from the beginning, has clothed and covered his soul with the power of darkness. This evil lord has clothed the soul and all its being with sin, has defiled it entirely, has enslaved it entirely to his kingdom; he has not left free from his enslavement any of its thoughts, or reason, or flesh, indeed not a single constituent part of it;[7] he has clothed it entirely in a cloak of darkness. This evil enemy of the whole man, has defiled and distorted the soul and body, has clothed man in the old man, defiled, unclean, opposed to God, not obedient to God’s law, that is, has clothed him in sin itself, so that man might not see as he wishes, but see with passion, might hear with passion, might have feet turned toward evil deeds, hands toward the making of lawlessness, a heart toward evil thoughts. But let us pray to God that He remove from us the old man, since He alone can take away our sin, because those who have captivated us and hold us in their power are stronger than us, whereas He has promised to deliver us from this slavery”. On the basis of these understandings the holy Fathers give to the one praying the Jesus Prayer the following most soul-saving instruction: “If the soul does not suffer very greatly from the persistence of sin, it will not be able to rejoice abundantly in the goodness of righteousness. Let the one wishing to purify his heart kindle it constantly with the remembrance of the Lord Jesus, having this alone as his unbroken practice and work. Those who wish to cast off their old nature should not sometimes pray and sometimes not, but constantly abide in prayer through watchfulness of the mind, even though they may be outside prayer temples.[8] Those who intend to purify gold, if they allow the fire in the furnace to go out even for a short time, produce a new hardening in the substance being purified: similarly, one who sometimes remembers God and sometimes does not remember Him, destroys by idleness what he thinks to acquire by prayer. It is proper for a man who loves virtue constantly to consume the earthiness of the heart through the remembrance of God, so that in this way evil is gradually consumed by the fire of remembrance of good, and the soul completely returns to its natural brilliance with great glory. Thus the mind, abiding in the heart, prays purely and without deception, as the same saint (Diadochos) said: then prayer is true and without deception, when the mind, while praying, is united with the heart”. Let us not be frightened, workers of the Jesus Prayer, neither by winds nor by waves! By winds I call demonic thoughts and fantasies, and by waves—the tumult of passions, stirred up by thoughts and fantasies. From the midst of the raging storm, with steadfastness, courage, and tears we will cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ: He will command the winds and the waves, and we, having experientially known the almightiness of Jesus, will render to Him the worship due:[9] “Truly you are the Son of God” (Mt 14:33). We are struggling for our salvation. Our eternal lot depends on victory or defeat. “Then”, says the venerable Symeon the New Theologian, “that is, during the practice of the Jesus Prayer, there is struggle: wicked demons attack with great upheaval, by the action of the passions they produce commotion and storm in the heart, but by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ they are consumed and destroyed like wax before fire. Again, when they are driven away and withdraw from the heart, they do not cease from battle, but disturb the mind from outside through external senses. For this reason the mind does not very soon begin to sense stillness and silence within, because demons, when they do not have the power to disturb the mind in the depths, disturb it from outside through fantasies. And therefore it is impossible to be completely freed from struggle, and not to be attacked by wicked spirits. This is proper to the perfect and those who have withdrawn completely from all things and constantly abide in the watchfulness of the heart”. At the beginning the very practice appears extraordinarily dry, promising no fruit. The mind, striving to unite with the heart, first encounters impenetrable darkness, the hardness and deadness of the heart, which is not quickly aroused to sympathize with the mind. This should not bring the practitioner into despair and despondency, and is mentioned here so that the practitioner may be forewarned and cautioned. The patient and careful practitioner will certainly be satisfied and comforted: he will rejoice at the boundless abundance of such spiritual fruits of which he cannot even form a notion in his carnal and soulish condition.[10] In the action of the Jesus Prayer there is its own gradualness: first it acts on the mind alone, bringing it into a state of stillness and attentiveness, then it begins to penetrate the heart, arousing it from the sleep of death and marking its awakening by the appearance of feelings of tenderness and tears.[11] Proceeding yet deeper, it gradually begins to act in all the members of the soul and body, expelling sin from everywhere, destroying everywhere the dominion, influence, and poison of demons. For this reason during the initial actions of the Jesus Prayer “there is inexpressible contrition and ineffable pain of the soul”, says the venerable Gregory of Sinai. The soul suffers like one who is sick and giving birth, according to Scripture (Sir 48:21): “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword”—that is, Jesus, passes, as the Apostle testifies, “even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb 4:12), passes, destroying sinfulness from all parts of the soul and body.[12]

When the seventy lesser Apostles, sent by the Lord to preach, returned to Him after completing the service entrusted to them, they joyfully announced to the Lord: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (Lk 10:17). Oh, how this joy was just! How it was well-founded! For more than five thousand years the devil had dominated men, ensnaring them in servitude to himself and kinship with himself through sin, and now, hearing the name of Jesus—he obeys men who had previously obeyed him, is bound by those he bound, is trampled by those he trampled. In response to the disciples, rejoicing over the overthrow of the power of demons over men and the acquisition of power by men over demons, the Lord said: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Lk 10:19). Authority has been given, but freedom is entrusted to use the authority and trample snakes and scorpions, or to neglect the gift and willingly submit to them. By snakes the holy Fathers understand manifestly sinful inclinations, and by scorpions—those concealed beneath an appearance of innocence and even good. The authority given by the Lord to His seventy disciples has been given to all Christians (Mk 16:17). Use it, Christian! Cut off by the name of Jesus the heads—that is, the initial manifestations of sin in thoughts, fantasies, and sensations; destroy in yourself the devil’s dominion over you, destroy all his influence upon you, acquire spiritual freedom. The foundation for your struggle is the grace of holy baptism: the weapon is prayer in the name of Jesus. The Lord, having given His disciples authority to trample snakes and scorpions, added: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:20). “Do not rejoice so much”, says the blessed Theophylact, “that demons obey you, but rather that your names are written in heaven, not with ink—by divine grace and by God’s remembrance of you”, by the Jesus Prayer. Such is the property of the Jesus Prayer: it elevates from earth to heaven the one who practices it, and includes him in the number of those who dwell in heaven. The dwelling of mind and heart in heaven and in God—this is the principal fruit, this is the goal of prayer; the repelling and trampling of enemies who oppose reaching the goal—this is a secondary matter: it should not attract all our attention, so that by consciousness and contemplation of victory we do not give entrance to haughtiness and presumption, and suffer terrible defeat because of victory itself. The Gospel further recounts: “At that moment Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said: I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what You were pleased to do. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Lk 10:21–22). The Lord rejoices with the incomprehensible rejoicing of God over the progress of men; proclaims that the mysteries of Christian faith are revealed not to the wise and exalted of the world, but to children in the civil sense, such as the disciples of the Lord, taken from among the common people, unlearned, illiterate. To become a disciple of the Lord, one must become a child and with childish simplicity and love accept His teaching. To those who have already become disciples the Lord addresses the most mysterious teaching, reveals that the Son, notwithstanding His assumption of humanity, remains beyond the comprehension of all rational creatures. Beyond the comprehension of them is His most holy name as well. With simplicity and trustfulness of children let us receive the teaching on prayer in the name of Jesus; with simplicity and trustfulness of children let us approach the practice of this prayer:[13] God alone, who knows fully the mystery of it, will impart it to us in a degree accessible to us. Let us gladden God by our labor and progress in the service which He Himself has taught and commanded us.

[1] The Ladder, Discourse 21, chap. 7.

[2] According to the explanation of blessed Theophylact. The Commentary.

[3] Ven. Gregory of Sinai. Chapter 3. On Breathing. Philokalia, Part 1.

[4] Ven. Barsanuphius. Reply 116.

[5] Reply 301.

[6] Ven. Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopuli. Chapter 49. Philokalia, Part 2.

[7] Discourse 1, chap. 1.

[8] Discourse 2, chap. 1, 2.

[9] Ven. Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopuli, chap. 56. Philokalia, Part 1.

[10] On the Third Form of Attentiveness. Philokalia, Part 1.

[11] Philokalia, Part 1.

[12] On Finding the Action. Philokalia, Part 1. § 4.

[13] The Commentary.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 3)

The Jesus Prayer was in common use among Christians in the first centuries, as we have already said above. It could not have been otherwise. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the most extraordinary wonders were wrought before the face of all Christian society, which aroused the Christian community to nurture faith in the boundless power of the name of Jesus. Those who had made progress understood this power from their own advancement. Concerning this power, which abundantly manifests itself in the saints of God, the Venerable Barsanuphius the Great expresses himself thus: “I know one servant of God in our brotherhood, in the present time and in this blessed place, who is able to raise the dead in the name of our Master Jesus Christ, to cast out demons, to heal incurable diseases, and to perform other wonders no less than the apostolic, as testified by He who granted him the gift—or rather, gifts. And what does this signify in comparison with what can be done in the name of Jesus!” Having before their eyes these wonders, in their remembrance the command of the Lord, in their hearts a burning love for the Lord, the faithful of the primitive Church exercised themselves constantly, carefully, with the fiery zeal of Cherubim and Seraphim in prayer by the name of Jesus.[1] Such is the nature of love! It remembers the beloved without ceasing, it delights without ceasing in the name of the beloved, it guards him in the heart, holds him in the mind and on the lips. The name of the Lord is above all names: it is a fountain of delight, a fountain of joy, a fountain of life; it is Spirit; it vivifies, transforms, transfigures, deifies. For the illiterate it serves with complete sufficiency in place of liturgical prayers and psalmody: those who are learned, having made progress in the Jesus Prayer, leave off the variety of psalmody and begin to exercise themselves chiefly in the Jesus Prayer, for the sake of the abundant power and nourishment present in it. All this is evident from the writings and ordinances of the holy Fathers. The holy Eastern Orthodox Church presents to all the illiterate, in place of all liturgical prayers, the Jesus Prayer, presents it not as an innovation but as an exercise well-known. This ordinance, together with other traditions of the Eastern Church, passed from Greece into Russia, and many of the common people, barely literate and even illiterate, have been nourished by the power of the Jesus Prayer to salvation and eternal life, many have attained great spiritual progress.[2] Saint John Chrysostom, counseling careful and constant exercise in the Jesus Prayer, particularly for monks, speaks of it as a matter of common knowledge. “In our case, in our case,” says he, “we have spiritual incantations: the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the cross. This incantation not only drives the dragon from its lair and casts it into fire, but even heals from the wounds inflicted by it. If many have pronounced this incantation and have not been healed, this has come about through their lack of faith, not through the inefficacy of what was pronounced. Many, although they followed Christ inseparably and pressed upon Him, did not receive benefit, but in the woman with a flow of blood, who touched not His body but the hem of His garment, the long-lasting flow was stopped. The name of Jesus Christ is fearful to demons, to passions of the soul and infirmities. Let us adorn ourselves with it, let us fortify ourselves with it. By it Paul the Apostle also became great, although he was of the same nature as us.” To the Venerable Pachomius the Great, for the large community of monks under his charge, an Angel of God imparted a rule of prayer. The monks, submitted to the spiritual guidance of the Venerable Pachomius, were required to fulfill the rule each hour, and those who had attained perfection and the unceasing prayer conjoined with it were freed from its fulfillment.[3] The rule imparted by the Angel consisted of the Trisagion, the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 50, the Creed, and one hundred Jesus Prayers. In the rule the Jesus Prayer is spoken of in the same manner as the Lord’s Prayer—that is, as exercises well-known and in common use. The Venerable Barsanuphius the Great recounts that the monks of the Egyptian skete occupied themselves chiefly with prayer, as is evident also from the Life of the Venerable Pambo, a monk and abba of Mount Nitria, not far from the skete, in which, like the skete, the monks led a solitary life.[4] Of the servants of God mentioned in this discourse, who exercised themselves or wrote concerning the Jesus Prayer, Saint Ignatius the God-bearer lived in Antioch, and died in Rome; the holy martyr Callistratus was a native and inhabitant of Carthage;[5] the Venerable Pachomius the Great lived in Upper Egypt; the monks of the skete and Nitria, as well as the Venerable Isaiah, in Lower Egypt; Saint John Chrysostom lived in Antioch and Constantinople; Saint Basil the Great in the eastern portion of Asia Minor, in Cappadocia; Saint Barsanuphius the Great in the vicinity of Jerusalem; Saint John of the Ladder on Mount Sinai and for some time in Lower Egypt, near Alexandria. From this it is evident that prayer by the name of the Lord Jesus was universal, in common use throughout the Church. Besides the mentioned Fathers, the following wrote concerning the Jesus Prayer: the Venerable Hesychius, a presbyter of Jerusalem, a disciple of Saint Gregory the Theologian, a writer of the 5th century, already lamenting the neglect by monks of the exercise of the Jesus Prayer and watchfulness; the Venerables Philotheus of Sinai, Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory of Sinai, Theoliptos of Philadelphia, Gregory Palamas, Kallistos and Ignatius Xanthopouloi, and many others. Their writings are for the most part contained in the extensive collection of ascetic writers, the Philokalia. Among Russian Fathers there are writings on this subject by the Venerable Nilus of Sora, the priest-monk Dorotheos, the Archimandrite Paisius Velichkovskii, the schema-monk Vasily of Polianojerulskii, and the hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov. All the mentioned writings of the Fathers are worthy of deep respect for the abundance of grace living in them and breathing forth from them, and spiritual understanding; but the writings of the Russian Fathers, by reason of their particular clarity and simplicity of exposition, their greater closeness to us in time, are more accessible to us than the writings of the Greek luminaries. In particular, the writings of the elder Vasily should be recognized and acknowledged as the first book to which one wishing successfully to devote himself to the Jesus Prayer should necessarily turn in our time. Such is its purpose. The elder called his writings preliminaries, introductions, or such reading as prepares for the reading of the Greek Fathers. Excellent is the book of the Venerable Nilus of Sora.[6] Reading it should also precede the reading of the Greek writers; it, constantly referring to them and explaining them, prepares for the reading and correct understanding of these profound-minded, holy teachers, often speakers, philosophers, poets. All the works in general of the holy Fathers on monastic life, and especially on the Jesus Prayer, constitute for us, monks of the latest time, an inestimable treasure. In the time of the Venerable Nilus of Sora, three centuries ago, living vessels of Divine grace were exceedingly rare, had become very depleted, in his expression; now they are so rare that one can, without hesitation and without error, say: they do not exist. It is recognized as a very special mercy of God, if one, worn out in soul and body in monastic life, at the end of this life should unexpectedly find somewhere in a remote wilderness a vessel, chosen by God who is impartial in His judgments, despised before the eyes of men, made great and exalted by God. Thus Zosimas found in the uninhabited wilderness beyond the Jordan, beyond all expectation, the great Mary. Due to such final depletion in spirit-bearing teachers, the Patristic books constitute the sole source to which a soul tormented by hunger and thirst may turn, to acquire knowledge essentially necessary in the ascetic struggle. These books are the most precious inheritance left by the holy Fathers to their monastic descendants, to us the poor. These books are the crumbs fallen to us and constituting our portion, crumbs from the spiritual table of the Fathers, rich in spiritual gifts.[7] It is notable that the time of composition of the greater number of books concerning the mental work coincides with the time of especial depletion in monasticism of the mental work itself. The Venerable Gregory of Sinai, who lived in the 14th century, when he came to the Holy Mountain, found there among thousands of monks only three who had some understanding of the mental work. To the 14th and 15th centuries belong the majority of writings on the Jesus Prayer. “Moved by a secret Divine inspiration,” says Paisius Velichkovskii, “many of the Fathers set forth in books the holy teaching, filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, concerning this Divine mental prayer, on the basis of the Divine Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. This was arranged by especial Divine providence, that the Divine work not come into final oblivion. Many of these books, by the permission of God, on account of our sins, were destroyed by the Mohammedans, who subjugated the Greek state to themselves; yet some, by Divine providence, have been preserved down to our time.” The most elevated mental work is extraordinarily simple, demands for its reception a childlike simplicity and faith, but we have become so complex that this simplicity itself is inaccessible, incomprehensible to us. We wish to be wise, wish to animate our “I”, do not tolerate self-denial, do not wish to act by faith. For this reason we need a teacher who would lead us out of our complexity, out of our cunning, out of our stratagems, out of our vanity and self-conceit into the breadth and simplicity of faith. For this reason it happens that in the field of the mental work an infant achieves extraordinary progress, while a wise man goes astray and is cast down into the dark abyss of spiritual delusion.[8] “In ancient times,” says Paisius Velichkovskii, “the most holy work of mental prayer shone in many places where the Holy Fathers dwelt, and there were many teachers at that time of this spiritual struggle: for this reason the Holy Fathers of those times, writing about it, explained only the ineffable spiritual benefit arising from it, having no need, as I suppose, to write of that part of the work which is fitting for beginners. They wrote to some extent also of this, which is very clear for those who have experiential knowledge of the struggle, but for those who do not have it, it remains hidden. When some of the Fathers saw that the true and non-delusory teachers of this work began to become very rare, then, being moved by the Divine Spirit so that the true teaching concerning the beginning of this mental prayer might not become extinct, they set forth in writing about the very beginning and methods, how beginners should be taught to enter with the mind into the country of the heart, and there truly and without delusion to perform the prayer with the mind.“[9]

We have seen that the holy prophet David invites all, without exception, people of God to prayer by the name of the Lord, and that by ordinance of the holy Church it is ordained for all the illiterate and those who do not know Holy Scripture by heart to replace liturgical prayers and psalmody with the Jesus Prayer. Saint Symeon, archbishop of Thessalonica, commands and counsels archbishops, priests, all monks and lay people at every time and hour to pronounce this sacred prayer, holding it as it were the very breath of life;[10] at the tonsuring into monasticism, when the newly tonsured receives the prayer cord, the one who performs the tonsuring says: “Receive, brother, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, which, holding it on your lips, in your mind and heart, speak without ceasing: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” But the Venerable Nilus of Sora teaches that “the remembrance of God, that is, mental prayer, is higher than all works, the head of virtues, as is the love of God.[11] Whoever presumptuously and boldly wishes to enter before God and to converse with Him in purity, whoever strives to acquire Him within himself, is easily destroyed by demons, if it be permitted, like one who seeks to attain this presumptuously and pridefully, beyond his worthiness and capacity.” At first glance, the instruction of the Venerable Nilus might seem to contradict the commandment of Holy Scripture, of the holy Fathers, and the tradition of the Church. There is no contradiction here;[12] here we speak of the Jesus Prayer in its highest degree. All Christians can and should occupy themselves with the Jesus Prayer for the sake of repentance and calling upon the Lord for help, occupying themselves with the fear of God and faith, with the utmost attentiveness to the thought and words of the prayer, with contrition of spirit; but not all are permitted to approach the prayerful work of the mind in the chamber of the heart. The first manner of prayer can and should be practiced not only by monks living in monasteries and occupied in obedience, but also by lay people. Such careful prayer can be called both mental and of the heart, as often practiced by the mind alone, and in diligent practitioners always with the participation of the heart, expressed in the feeling of weeping and tears on account of compunction. The prayerful work of the mind in the heart requires prior practice in the first manner of prayer, sufficient progress in this prayer. The grace of God of itself, at the time known to it, according to its good pleasure, leads the practitioner of prayer from the first manner to the second. If it pleases God to leave the practitioner in the prayer of repentance, let him remain in it, let him not seek the higher state, let him not seek it in the firm conviction that it is not acquired by human effort—it is granted by God. Abiding in repentance is a pledge of salvation. Let us be content with this state, let us not seek a higher state. Such seeking is an infallible sign of pride and self-conceit, such seeking leads not to progress but to stumbling and destruction. Saint Nilus, basing himself on the teaching of all the holy Fathers, forbids striving prematurely to bring the mind down into the heart, to outer and inner stillness, to the experience of sweetness and other lofty states of prayer, which are revealed when the prayer of repentance has been received by God and enemies have withdrawn from the soul. The psalmist said: “Depart from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my petition, the Lord has received my prayer.” (Ps. 6:9-10). Consolation, joy, enjoyment, the bestowal of gifts are consequences of reconciliation. Seeking them before reconciliation is an undertaking full of foolishness.

For the attainment of profound prayer of the heart, considerable preparation is required: it should consist in satisfactory study through experience of monastic life, in training oneself in activity according to the Gospel commandments: holy prayer is founded upon the ordering of the soul produced by activity according to commandments, rests upon this ordering, and cannot abide in the soul when it is not in such an ordering. The preparation should consist in satisfactory study of the New Testament and the writings of the Fathers concerning prayer. The latter preparation is all the more necessary because in the absence of spirit-bearing guides, the only guide for us should be the Patristic writings and prayerful weeping before God. The prayer of the heart is to be desired; the stillness of the heart is to be desired; the cell-dwelling, never-leaving stillness is to be desired, and life in the most remote wilderness, as these are especially conducive to the development of the prayer of the heart and the stillness of the heart. “But even these good and seemly works,” says the Venerable Nilus of Sora, “must be pursued with discernment, at the fitting time, upon the attainment of the proper degree of progress, as the great Basil says: every work should be preceded by discernment: without discernment even a good work turns to evil through untimeliness and lack of measure. When, by discernment, the time and measure for the good work have been determined, then there comes a wonderful increase. And the Ladder-maker, borrowing words from Scripture, says: ‘there is a time for every thing,’ which is ‘under heaven’ (Eccl. 3:1), and among all things, said he, in our holy way of life there is a time for each activity. And continuing, he says: there is a time for silence, and a time for peaceful discourse; there is a time for unceasing prayer, and a time for unfeigned service. Let us not be deceived by proud zeal and seek before its time what comes in its proper time. Otherwise we shall obtain nothing even in the appointed time. There is a time to sow labors, and a time to reap the grain of ineffable grace.” In particular, the Venerable Nilus forbids the senseless striving for hermitage, and such striving appears almost always in persons who understand neither themselves nor monasticism, which is why the stumbling-blocks and self-deceptions in this manner of life are most grave.[12] If monks are forbidden the untimely striving for the prayer brought by the mind in the chamber of the heart, much more is it forbidden to lay people. The holy Andrew the Fool-for-Christ and a few others, very few lay people indeed, had the most profound prayer of the heart: this is an exception and an extraordinary rarity, which in no way can serve as a rule for all. Reckoning oneself among these exceptional persons is nothing other than self-deception through self-conceit, hidden delusion before open delusion. Paisius Velichkovskii in a letter to the elder Theodosios says: “The Patristic books, especially those of them which teach true obedience, watchfulness of the mind, and stillness, attentiveness and mental prayer, that is, that which is performed by the mind in the heart, are suitable exclusively only for the monastic order alone, and not for all Orthodox Christians in general. The Fathers full of God, setting forth the teaching on this prayer, affirm that its beginning and unshakeable foundation is true obedience, from which is born true humility, and humility preserves the one struggling in prayer from all delusions that follow those who act on their own authority. True monastic obedience and perfect in all respects the cutting off of one’s own will and judgment is in no way possible for lay people to attain. How then shall it be possible for lay people, without obedience, by their own self-will, to which delusion will follow, to force themselves to such a fearful and terrible work, namely to such prayer, without any teacher? How shall they escape the manifold and varied delusions of the enemy, cunningly brought upon this prayer and its practitioners? So fearful is this thing, namely prayer—prayer not simply mental (intellectual), that is, performed by the mind without skill, but worked by the mind artfully in the heart—that even the true obedient monks, not only having cut off but completely mortified their will and judgment before their fathers, true and most skilled teachers of this prayer-work, are always in fear and trembling, fearing and trembling lest they suffer in this prayer some delusion, though God always preserves them from it on account of their true humility, which they have attained through the grace of God by means of their true obedience. All the more do lay people, dwelling without obedience, if they are prompted by merely reading such books to the prayer, face the danger of falling into some delusion that befalls those who begin this prayer-work on their own authority. The saints have called this prayer the art of arts: but who can learn it without an artist, that is, without a skilled teacher? This prayer is a spiritual sword, granted by God, for the slaying of the enemy of our souls. This prayer shone forth as the sun only among monks, especially in the lands of Egypt, also in the lands of Jerusalem, on Mount Sinai and Mount Nitria, in many places of Palestine, and in many other places, but not everywhere, as is evident from the Life of Saint Gregory of Sinai. He traversed the entire holy Mount, and having made a careful search for those engaged in this prayer, found not a single one who had even a small understanding of this prayer. From this it is evident:[13] if in such a holy place the Venerable Gregory found not a single practitioner of prayer, then in many places the practice of this prayer was not known among monks. And where it was practiced, where it shone forth among monks like the sun, there the practice of this prayer was preserved as a great and ineffable mystery, known only to God and its practitioners. To the lay people the practice of this prayer was completely unknown. But now, since the Patristic books have been published, not only monks know of it, but all Christians. On account of this I fear and tremble lest for the aforesaid reason, namely on account of the self-willed taking up of this prayer-work without a teacher, such self-willed ones should fall into delusion, from which may Christ the Saviour deliver, by His grace, all who wish to be saved.” We recognize it as our duty to set forth here, according to the measure of our meager understanding and meager experience, the teaching of the holy Fathers concerning the artful cultivation of the Jesus Prayer, with clear indication of what manner of prayer-practice and what sort of mental and heart prayer is fitting for all Christians without exception and for beginning monks, and what manner of practice is proper for those who have made progress, advanced in progress by the good pleasure of God and the grace of God.””[14]

[1] Reply 181.

[2] Psalter with Commemorations.

[3] Homily 8, on the Epistle to the Romans.

[4] Canon. Edition of the Kievan Caves Lavra.

[5] Reply 74. Ven. Gregory of Sinai. Chapter 4 of the 15 Chapters on Solitude. Philokalia, Part 1.

[6] Edition of Optina Hermitage 1847.

[7] Menaion Reader. April 1.

[8] Chapters on Mental Prayer. Chapter 1. Edition of Optina Hermitage, 1847.

[9] Chapter 4.

[10] Elder Vasily. Preface to the book of Venerable Gregory of Sinai.

[11] Elder Vasily. Preface to the book of blessed Philotheus of Sinai.

[12] Discourse 11.

[13] Ven. Gregory of Sinai visited Mount Athos in the 14th century after the Incarnation of Christ. At that time monasticism in Palestine, especially in Egypt, had been nearly destroyed by Mohammedans, who had brought Egypt and Palestine under their dominion already in the early 7th century. During the time of Saint Gregory of Sinai, the teaching on mental prayer had been diminished to the extreme everywhere. One may regard him as the restorer of this teaching, as is said in the brief biographical sketch of him placed in the Philokalia. Even in the times of Gregory of Sinai there were monks who had achieved great advancement in prayer, such as Maxim of Kapsokalivia, who dwelt on Mount Athos—Gregory himself used his teachings, calling Maxim an earthly Angel (Philokalia, Part 1). Ven. Gregory was taught mental prayer by a certain monk of the island of Cyprus; before his acquaintance with this monk, he was occupied exclusively with psalmody (Manuscript Life of Venerable Gregory of Sinai).

[14] Life and writings of the Moldavian Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. Edition of the Vvedensky Optina Hermitage, 1847.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Without any doubt, the first place among all methods should be given to the method proposed by Saint John of the Ladder, as especially convenient, completely safe, necessary, even essential for the efficacy of prayer befitting all piously living Christians seeking salvation, both lay and monastic. The great teacher of monks speaks of this method twice in his Ladder, which raises from earth to heaven: in the discourse on obedience and in the discourse on prayer. The very fact that he sets forth his method in the exposition of the teaching on obedience of communal monks clearly demonstrates that this method is intended also for beginning monks. The presentation of the method is repeated in a separate, extensive teaching on prayer, after instruction for those who dwell in solitude, consequently it is repeated for monks who have made progress: this makes plain that the method is excellent both for those dwelling in silence and for monks who have progressed. We repeat: the supreme quality of the method lies in the fact that it, despite its complete sufficiency, is entirely safe. In the discourse on prayer Saint John of the Ladder says: “Strive to return, more precisely, to enclose your thought in the words of prayer. If, on account of infancy, it should become weak and wander, bring it back again. Instability is natural to the mind. But He who established all things can establish it. If you acquire this practice and constantly hold to it, then He who sets boundaries will come in you and say to your sea at your prayer: ‘thus far shall you come, and no further’ (Job 38:11). It is impossible to bind the spirit, but where the Creator of this spirit is present, all things submit to Him.” The beginning of prayer is thoughts being driven away by the prayer at their very outset; the middle is when the mind remains in the words alone, pronounced aloud or by the mind;[1] the end is the rapture of the mind to God. In the discourse on obedience Saint John says:[2] “Struggle with thoughts unceasingly, returning it to yourself when it flies off: God does not require undistractable prayer from those in obedience. Do not grieve, being robbed, but bear it magnanimously, constantly returning the mind to itself.” Here is set forth a method of praying attentively, praying both aloud and by the mind alone. In attentive prayer the heart cannot but take part, as the Venerable Mark said.[3] “A mind praying without distraction oppresses the heart.” Thus, whoever prays according to the method proposed by Saint John of the Ladder will pray with lips, mind, and heart; he, progressing in prayer, will attain mental and heart prayer, will draw Divine grace into himself, as is evident from the words of the great teacher of monks. What more is to be desired?[4] Nothing. With such a manner of prayer-practice what delusion can occur? Only one distraction: an error entirely apparent, inevitable in beginners, capable of immediate healing through the return of thought to the words, destroyed by the mercy and help of God in His time, through constant struggle. They will ask: surely such a great Father, living at the time when the mental work flourished, says nothing of prayer performed by the mind in the heart? He does speak, but in such veiled terms that only those familiar through experience with the practice of prayer can understand what is being spoken of. Thus did the Saint, being guided by the spiritual wisdom with which his entire book is written. Having set forth the most true and satisfactory teaching on prayer, capable of raising the practitioner to a state of grace, the Ladder-maker expressed himself figuratively concerning what is accomplished under the overshadowing of prayer-work by grace. “One thing,” said he, “is often to turn to the heart, and another is to be by the mind a bishop of the heart, a prince and high priest, offering to Christ verbal sacrifices.” Another thing is to pray with attentiveness, with the participation of the heart, another is to bring the mind down into the chamber of the heart and from there to offer mystical prayer, full of power and Divine grace. The second comes from the first. The attentiveness of the mind in prayer draws the heart to sympathy; with the strengthening of attentiveness, the sympathy of the heart toward the mind transforms into a union of heart with mind:[5] finally, with attentiveness habitual to prayer, the mind descends into the heart for the most profound prayerful priestly service. All of this is accomplished under the guidance of Divine grace, according to its good pleasure and providence. The striving for the second before the attainment of the first is not only useless but can be the cause of the greatest harm; to avert this harm the mystery of prayer is concealed from curiosity and frivolity in the book intended for general use by the monastic community. In those blessed times, with an abundance of living vessels of grace, those in need of counsel could have recourse to them, in all special cases.

Among the monks of Raith, for whom the blessed John wrote the Ladder, mental prayer flourished under the guidance of experienced spiritual instruction. Of this the holy writer again expresses himself in a figurative and veiled manner in the discourse to the shepherd. He expresses it thus: “First of all, O honored father, we need spiritual strength, so that those whom we desired to lead into the Holy of Holies, whom we resolved to show Christ resting at their mystical and hidden table—especially while they are still in the forecourt of this entrance, and when we see that the multitude of thoughts presses and oppresses them, seeking to bar them from the desired entrance—we might, taking them by the hand, like infants, free them from the multitude of thoughts. If, moreover, the infants are extremely naked and weak, then it is necessary for us to lift them up on our shoulders and carry them on our shoulders until they pass through the door of the entrance; I know precisely that there is usually much crowding and pressure there. For this reason someone said of this crowding: ‘this is a labor before me, until I enter into the sanctuary of God’ (Ps. 72:16-17), and the labor extends only until entrance.” “He who desires to see the Lord within himself strives to purify his heart by the unceasing remembrance of God. The spiritual country of the pure in soul is within him. The sun shining in it is the light of the Holy Trinity. The air which its inhabitants breathe is the All-holy Spirit. The life, joy, and gladness of this country is Christ, the Light from Light of the Father—this is Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God, hidden within us,”[6] according to the word of the Lord (Lk. 17:11). This country is the cloud of God’s glory: only the pure in heart will enter it, to behold the face of their Master, and so that their minds may be illumined by the ray of His light. Strive to enter the cell which is within you, and you will see the cell of heaven. The one and the other are one: through one entrance you will enter into both.[7] The Ladder to the Kingdom of Heaven is within you: it is mysteriously established in your soul. Immerse yourself in yourself from sin and you will find there the steps by which you can ascend to heaven. The Venerable Barsanuphius, a monk who had attained the highest degree of spiritual progress, led his disciples into the sanctuary of the heart-prayer of grace and into the states produced by it. Among his teachings we read also the following, given to a certain solitary dwelling under his guidance: “The only sinless God, who saves those who hope in Him, may strengthen your love to serve Him in piety and righteousness all the days of your life, in the temple and altar of the inner man, where spiritual sacrifices are offered to God—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—where the fatted calf is slain, where the precious blood of the immaculate Lamb is sprinkled, where the harmonious cries of the Holy Angels resound:[8] ‘then they shall lay calves upon your altar’ (Ps. 50:21). Then—when? When our Lord comes, this great High Priest, who offers and receives the bloodless sacrifice; when, in His name, the lame man sitting at the beautiful gate is deemed worthy to hear the joyful voice: ‘rise up and walk.’ (Acts 3:6) The lame man enters then into the sanctuary, walking and leaping, and praising God. Then the sleep of negligence and ignorance ceases, then the drowsiness of despondency and idleness is taken from the eyelids, then the five wise maidens light their lamps (Mt. 25:7) and rejoice with the bridegroom in the holy chamber, singing in harmony, in silence: ‘taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man who trusts in Him’ (Ps. 33:9), then both battles and defilements and impulses cease, then is established the holy peace of the Holy Trinity, the treasure is sealed and remains untouched by thieves. Pray so that you may understand and attain and rejoice in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The most reverent awe for the prayerful heart’s sacred service is inspired by the majestic depiction of it made by the Fathers. This reverence and even sound judgment requires of us that we renounce the premature, self-willed, proud, senseless effort to enter the mystical sanctuary. And reverence, and sound judgment teach us to remain in attentive prayer, the prayer of repentance, at the doors of the temple. Attentiveness and contrition of spirit—behold that cell which is given as a refuge to repentant sinners. It is the forecourt of the sanctuary.[9] In it let us take shelter and enclose ourselves from sin. Let all those suffering from spiritual lameness gather in this Bethesda, all the leprous, all the blind and withered, in a word, all those diseased by sin, “awaiting ‘the moving of the water’ (Jn. 5:3)—the action of God’s mercy and grace. The Lord alone and only, at the time known to Him, grants healing and entrance into the sanctuary, solely according to His incomprehensible good pleasure. ‘I know whom I have chosen’ (Jn. 13:18), says the Saviour. ‘You did not choose me,’ He says to His chosen ones, ‘but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give to you’ (Jn. 15:16).

The method of teaching the Jesus Prayer proposed by the priest-monk Dorotheos, a Russian ascetic and ascetic writer, is very good. “Whoever prays with lips,” says the priest-monk, “but neglects the soul and does not guard the heart, such a person prays to the air, and not to God, and labors in vain, because God heeds the mind and zeal, not many words. One must pray with all one’s earnestness: from the soul and mind, and from one’s heart, with the fear of God, with all one’s might. Mental prayer does not permit distractions or unclean thoughts to enter the inner chamber. Do you wish to learn the practice of mental and heart prayer? I will teach you. Listen carefully and intelligently, heed me, my beloved. At first you must perform the Jesus Prayer with your voice, that is, with your lips, tongue, and speech, aloud to yourself alone. When your lips, tongue, and senses have been satisfied by the prayer pronounced aloud, then aloud prayer ceases and it begins to be pronounced in a whisper. After this you must practice with the mind, apply yourself and be diligent always toward the throat’s sensation. Then mental and heart prayer will begin to arise, function, and act of itself, unceasingly, self-activating, at every time, in every work, in every place.” The blessed elder, the hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov, commands the beginner, according to the pre-existing common custom in the Sarov wilderness, to perform unceasingly the prayer:[10][11] “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” “In prayer,” instructs the elder, “attend to yourself, that is, gather your mind and unite it with your soul. At first, for a day, two days, or longer, perform this prayer with your mind alone, distinctly, attending to each word separately. When the Lord warms your heart with the warmth of His grace and unites you in one spirit, then this prayer will flow in you unceasingly and will always be with you, delighting and nourishing you.” This is what is meant by the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “the dew from you is healing for them” (Is. 26:19).[12] When you have within you this spiritual food, that is, conversation with the Lord, why go wandering to the cells of the brothers, even if called upon by someone? Truly I say to you, that idle talk is also idle love of talk. If you do not understand yourself, how can you reason about anything and teach others? Be silent, always be silent, always remember the presence of God and His name. Do not enter into conversation with anyone, yet beware of judging those who talk and laugh. In this case be deaf and mute. Whatever is said about you, let it pass by your ears. You can take as an example for yourself Stephen the New, whose prayer was unceasing, whose disposition was gentle, whose lips were silent, whose heart was humble, whose spirit was full of compunction, whose body and soul were pure, whose virginity was undefiled, whose poverty was true and free from possessions as in the wilderness; whose obedience was without murmuring, whose work was patient, whose labor was diligent. Sitting at table, do not look at or judge how much anyone eats, but attend to yourself, nourishing your soul with prayer.” The elder, having given such instruction to a beginning monk living the active life in monastic labors, and having taught him prayer-practice suited to the active, forbids the premature, senseless striving for a contemplative manner of life and the corresponding prayer. “Everyone,” says he, “who wishes to live a spiritual life, must begin with the active life, and only then move on to the contemplative, because it is impossible to come to the contemplative life without the active life. The active life serves to purify us from sinful passions and raises us to the degree of active perfection, and thereby prepares for us the path to the contemplative life. Only those who have been purified from passions and have attained complete training in the active life can approach it, as can be seen from the words of Holy Scripture:[13] ‘blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Mt. 5:8) and from the words of Saint Gregory the Theologian: only those most perfect through their experience in the active life can approach contemplation. One must approach the contemplative life with fear and trembling, with a contrite heart and humility, with much examination of Holy Scripture and under the guidance of a skilled elder, if one can be found, not with boldness and self-will. The bold and haughty one, according to the words of Gregory of Sinai, seeking unjustly what is beyond his desert, strives with pride to attain it prematurely. And again: if someone imagines in his own mind that he will attain a high state and has nursed a Satanic desire, not a true one, that one the devil ensnares in his nets, as his servant.” Forewarning in this way against proud striving for high states of prayer, the elder insists, one might say, on the necessity for all monks in general, not excluding even the newest novices, in attentive life and unceasing prayer. It is noted that, for the most part, the direction which one takes upon entering the monastery remains dominant in the monk for his entire life. “Gracious gifts,” affirms Seraphim, “are received only by those who have inner work and watch over their souls.” Those truly resolved to serve God should exercise themselves in the remembrance of God and unceasing prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, saying in the mind: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By such practice, with guarding oneself from distraction and with preservation of the peace of conscience, one can draw near to God and be united with Him. Otherwise, according to the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian, we cannot draw near to God except by unceasing prayer.[14] To monks and novices willing to occupy themselves with the Jesus Prayer, for more convenient avoidance of distraction and remaining in attentiveness, Seraphim counsels them to stand in church during the services with closed eyes, and to open them only when sleep and drowsiness begin to weigh upon them. Then he counsels them to direct their gaze toward the holy icons, which also protects from distraction and awakens to prayer. A beginner is especially conveniently trained in the Jesus Prayer during the prolonged monastic services.[15] Attending them, why fruitlessly and to the harm of the soul wander with thoughts everywhere? But this is impossible to avoid if the mind is not attached to something. Occupy yourself with the Jesus Prayer: it will restrain your mind from wandering, you will become far more focused, deeper, will attend much better to the church reading and hymns, and meanwhile, imperceptibly and gradually, will be taught mental prayer.[16] To one desiring to live an attentive life Seraphim bequeaths not to heed outside reports, from which the head is filled with idle and vain thoughts and recollections, bequeaths not to give attention to others’ affairs, not to reflect, judge, or speak of them, bequeaths to avoid conversations, to conduct oneself as a stranger, to honor the fathers and brothers encountered with bows in silence, while guarding oneself from intent gazing upon them, because such gazing necessarily produces in the soul some impression which will cause it distraction, drawing its attention to itself and diverting it from prayer. In general, one conducting an attentive life should not gaze intently at anything or listen to anything with special care, but see as though not seeing, and hear in passing, so that memory and the power of attention remain always free, free from the impressions of the world, capable and ready for the reception of Divine impressions.[16][17]

It is evident that the methods proposed by the priest-monk Dorotheos and the elder Seraphim are identical with the method proposed by Saint John of the Ladder. But Saint John set forth his method with particular clarity and definiteness. This Father belonged to the most ancient and greatest teachers of monasticism, acknowledged as such by the Universal Church; later holy writers refer to him as the most reliable teacher, as a living vessel of the Holy Spirit—on this basis we offer his method with complete confidence for universal use to the beloved fathers and brothers, not only living in monasteries, but also living in the world, who have a sincere desire to pray truly, successfully, and acceptably to God. This method cannot be set aside: to set it aside from prayer would be to eliminate attentiveness from it, and without attentiveness prayer is not prayer. It is dead! It is useless, harmful to the soul, an offense to God, idle chatter! One who prays attentively necessarily prays more or less by this method. If attentiveness multiplies and strengthens in prayer, the form of prayer proposed by Divine John will necessarily appear. “Ask with weeping,” says he, “seek by obedience, knock by patience: thus ‘he who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.’ (Mt.Homily 28, Chapter 56:7:8).”

Experience will quickly show that when using the method, especially at first, one must pronounce the words with utmost slowness, so that the mind has time to be contained in the words as in forms; this cannot be achieved in hasty reading. The method of Saint John is very convenient both in prayer-practice with the Jesus Prayer and in cell reading of liturgical prayers, even in reading Scripture and Patristic books. One should become accustomed to it, as if reading syllable by syllable—with such slowness. He who has become accustomed to this method has attained vocal, mental, and heart prayer, which is proper to everyone living the active life. The most holy Kallistos, patriarch of Constantinople, reasons as follows concerning prayer: “Unceasing prayer consists in unceasing invocation of the name of God. Whether one speaks or sits, walks or does something, eats or occupies oneself with something else, at every time and in every place one must invoke the name of God, according to the commandment of Scripture: ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thes. 5:17).[18] In this manner the enemy’s attacks upon us are destroyed. One must pray with the heart, and must also pray with the lips when one is alone. If someone is in the marketplace or in company with others, he should not pray aloud, but with the mind alone. One must observe one’s sight and always look downward to guard oneself from distraction and from the snares of the enemy. The perfection of prayer lies in this: that it is offered to God without the mind’s wandering into distraction, when all the thoughts and feelings of a person are gathered into one prayer. Prayer and psalmody should be performed not only with the mind but also with the lips, as the prophet David says: ‘Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise’ (Ps. 50:17). And the Apostle, showing that the lips are also required, said: ‘Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name’ (Heb.Philokalia, pt. 4:13:13).” The Venerable Barsanuphius the Great, in response to a priest-monk who asked him how one should pray, answered: “One should practice somewhat in psalmody, practice somewhat in oral prayer; there is need of time also to examine and observe one’s thoughts. He who has many different foods for dinner eats much and with delight, but he who eats the same food every day not only tastes it without delight, but sometimes, perhaps, may feel aversion to it. So it is in our condition. In psalmody and oral prayer do not bind yourself, but do what the Lord gives you to do. Do not also abandon reading and inner prayer. Some of one thing, some of another—and thus you will spend the day, pleasing God. Our perfect Fathers did not have a fixed rule, but throughout the entire day fulfilled their rule: they practiced somewhat in psalmody, read somewhat in oral prayers, examined their thoughts somewhat, took little care of food; they did all this with the fear of God.” Thus reasoned and taught the brother the venerable Father, who was in great prayer-progress.[19] Experience will teach everyone who practices prayer that the pronunciation of the Jesus Prayer somewhat aloud, and in general all liturgical prayers, greatly assists in keeping the mind from being seized by distraction. During intense demonic attack, when one feels weakening of will and clouding of the mind, aloud prayer is necessary. Careful aloud prayer is at once mental and heart prayer.

With our poor words we neither turn away nor dissuade our beloved fathers and brothers from the elevated prayer-progress; on the contrary, we earnestly desire it for them. May all monks be like Angels and Archangels, who have no rest day and night from the Divine love that stirs them and on account of it are perpetually and insatiably satisfied in the glorification of God. Precisely so that the unspeakable riches of heart-prayer might be received in their proper time, a warning is given against premature, erroneous, bold action. Senseless, heated striving to open within oneself the grace-filled heart-prayer is forbidden, this striving is forbidden because its cause is ignorance or insufficient knowledge and the proud conviction that one is capable of and worthy of grace-filled prayer; this striving is forbidden because the opening within oneself of grace-filled prayer by one’s own efforts alone is impossible; this striving, violently breaking upon the doors of God’s mystical temple, is forbidden lest it hinder the goodness of God from one day taking pity on us, acknowledging the unworthy as worthy, giving the gift to those who look not for it, condemned to eternal torment in the prisons of hell. The gift is given to him who has humbled and abased himself before the majesty of the gift; the gift is given to him who has renounced his own will and surrendered to God’s will; the gift is given to him who subdues and mortifies in himself flesh and blood, subdues and mortifies in himself fleshly understanding by the Gospel commandments. Life will shine forth corresponding to the degree of mortification. Coming unexpectedly, solely according to its good pleasure, it completes and perfects the mortification begun willingly. The careless, especially the stubborn, those guided by self-conceit and self-will, seekers of a high state of prayer, are always stamped with the seal of rejection, by the determination of the spiritual law (Mt. 22:12-13). Removal of this seal is very difficult, for the most part impossible. What is the reason? Here it is: pride and self-conceit, leading into self-deception, into communion with demons and into enslavement to them, do not permit one to see the wrongness and danger of one’s condition, do not permit one to see either the mournful communion with demons or the disastrous, deadly enslavement to them. “Clothe yourself first with leaves, and then, when God commands, you will bear fruit,” said the Fathers.[20] Acquire first attentive prayer: to him pre-purified and pre-prepared by attentive prayer, formed and strengthened by the Gospel commandments, founded upon them, in God’s time God—the all-merciful God—grants grace-filled prayer.

[1] Discourse 28, chap. 17.

[2] Ibid., chap. 19.

[3] Discourse 4, chap. 93.

[4] On Those Who Think They Are Justified by Works, chap. 34. Philokalia, Part 1.

[5] Discourse 28, chap. 51.

[6] Chapter 14.

[7] Saint Isaac the Syrian. Discourse 8.

[8] Saint Isaac the Syrian. Discourse 2.

[9] Reply 115.

[10] That is, through the action of Divine grace.

[11] The Flower-Garden, Instruction 32. Information about sacerdotal monk Dorotheos is placed in Part 1, in the article “A Visit to the Valaam Monastery.”

[12] Very few receive the union of mind with heart soon after beginning the prayer-struggle; ordinarily many years pass between the beginning of the struggle and the gracious union of mind with heart: we must prove the sincerity of our intention through persistence and long-suffering.

[13] Instruction 32.

[14] Instruction 29.

[15] Instruction 4.

[16] Instruction 11.

[17] Instruction 6.

[18] 1 Thess. 5:17

[19] Reply 177.

[20] Ven. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet, Reply 325.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

God is the teacher of prayer, true prayer is a gift of God.[1] To one who prays in a contrite spirit, constantly, with the fear of God, with attentiveness, God Himself gives gradual progress in prayer. From attentive and humble prayer arise spiritual action and spiritual warmth, from which the heart comes alive. The awakened heart draws the mind to itself, becomes a temple of grace-filled prayer and a treasury of the spiritual gifts bestowed by it, according to its nature.[2] “Strive,” say the great ascetics and teachers of prayer, “by heartfelt labor to acquire warmth and prayer, and God will give you to have them always. Forgetfulness casts them out; and this very thing is born from negligence.[3] If you wish to be free from forgetfulness and captivity, you cannot achieve this in any other way than by acquiring spiritual fire within yourself: only from its warmth does forgetfulness and captivity disappear. And this fire is acquired by striving toward God. Brother! If your heart day and night, with longing, does not seek the Lord, you will not be able to make progress. If, however, leaving all else, you occupy yourself with this, you will achieve, as Scripture says: ‘Be still, and know.’[4] Brother! Beseech the goodness of Him who ‘desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim. 2:4), that He grant you spiritual watchfulness, which kindles spiritual fire. The Lord, Master of heaven and earth, came to the earth to kindle this fire on it (Lk. 12:49). Together with you, to the extent of my ability, I will also pray, so that God, who bestows grace on all who ask with labor and diligence, may grant you this watchfulness. It, when it comes, will teach you truth. It illumines the eyes, corrects the mind, drives away the sleep of weakness and negligence, restores luster to weapons covered with rust in the land of idleness, restores brightness to garments defiled in captivity among barbarians, instills hatred for the abominable dead things that constitute the barbarians’ food, instills desire to be satisfied with the great sacrifice offered by our great High Priest. This is the sacrifice concerning which it was revealed to the Prophet that it purifies sins and takes away iniquities (Is. 6:7), forgives the weeping, gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34), appears in the worthy, and by it they inherit eternal life, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” “Spiritual watchfulness, or sobriety, is a spiritual art, perfectly freeing man, with the help of God, from sinful deeds and passionate thoughts and words, when it is practiced over a long time and diligently.[5] It is heart-stillness; it is the guarding of the mind; it is attentiveness to self, free from all thought, always, without interruption, and ceaselessly invoking Christ Jesus, the Son of God and God, breathing with Him, standing bravely against enemies with Him, confessing to Him.” Such a definition of spiritual watchfulness gives Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem. The other Fathers agree with him.[6][7]

“Fire, coming to the heart, restored prayer. When it rose up and ascended to heaven, then was accomplished the descent of fire into the chamber of the soul.” These words belong to the Luminary of Sinai, John of the Ladder.[8] It is evident that the saint speaks from his own blessed experience. Something similar happened to the Venerable Maximus of Kapsokalivia. “I,” he recounted to the Venerable Gregory of Sinai, “from my youth have had great faith in my Lady, the Mother of God, and prayed to her with tears, that she would grant me the grace of mental prayer. Once I came according to custom to her church and prayed to her earnestly about this. I approached her icon and began to kiss reverently the image of her, and suddenly I felt that warmth had entered into my breast and my heart, warmth not consuming my inner being, but on the contrary, delighting and refreshing it, moving my soul to compunction. From this time my heart began to remain in prayer within itself, and my mind delighted in the remembrance of my Jesus and the Mother of God, and to have ceaselessly within itself Him, the Lord Jesus. From this time the prayer never ceased in my heart.” Grace-filled prayer appeared suddenly, unexpectedly, as a gift from God; the soul of the Venerable one had been prepared to receive the gift of prayer through earnest, attentive, humble, constant prayer.[9] Grace-filled prayer did not remain in the Venerable one without its usual consequences, completely unknown and not proper to the carnal and soulish state. An abundant manifestation of spiritual fire in the heart, the fire of Divine love, has been described by George, the hermit of the Zadonskoye monastery, from his own experience. But before this God sent him the Divine gift of repentance, which pre-purified his heart for love, a gift which acted as fire, consuming all that defiles the courts of the Holy and Mighty Lord, and cast even the body into weakness. “The holy and most sublime fire,” says Saint John of the Ladder, “consumes some on account of their insufficient purity, others, on the contrary, it illumines, as those who have attained perfection.[10] One and the same fire is called both a consuming fire and an illuminating light.[11] For this reason some come forth from their prayer as if from a bath heated with great heat, feeling some relief from filth and materiality, others come forth illumined by light and clothed in a twofold garment of humility and joy. Those, however, who after their prayer feel neither of these two actions, pray still carnally, not spiritually.” By spiritual prayer is here meant prayer moved by Divine grace, and by carnal prayer—prayer performed by man through his own effort, without manifest assistance of grace. The second kind of prayer is necessary, as the same John of the Ladder affirms, in order that grace-filled prayer may be granted in due time. By what then is the coming of grace-filled prayer marked?[12] It is marked by a supernatural weeping, and man enters the gates of the sanctuary of God, his own heart, in ineffable confession.[13]

Before we proceed to describe the method proposed by the holy Fathers almost exclusively for solitaries, we consider it necessary to prepare the reader somewhat. The writings of the Fathers might be compared to an apothecary, in which are found many healing medicines, but a sick person, unfamiliar with the medical art and without a doctor to guide him, will be greatly perplexed in choosing the medicine suited to his illness. If, moreover, out of self-confidence and frivolity, without properly consulting medical books in the absence of a doctor, the sick person hastily decides himself to choose and take a medicine, that choice could be the most unfortunate. A medicine, good in itself, may prove not only useless but very harmful. We are placed in a position similar to that of such a sick person, by the lack of spirit-bearing guides in relation to the writings of the holy Fathers about the mystery of heart-prayer and its consequences. The teaching on prayer in the Patristic books that have come down to us is set forth with satisfactory completeness and clarity, but we, placed in our ignorance before these books, in which there are depicted, in the greatest variety, the practices and states of beginners, those in the middle, and the perfect, find ourselves in extreme difficulty in choosing the practice and state proper to us. Unspeakably blessed is one who understands and senses this difficulty. Not understanding it, from superficial reading of the holy Fathers, becoming superficially acquainted with the practices they propose, many have undertaken practices not suited to them and have harmed themselves. Saint Gregory of Sinai, in his work written for a very advanced solitary, Longinus, says:[14] “One thing is the life of solitude, and another is communal life. Each one, remaining in that way of life to which he is called, will be saved. And therefore I fear to write on account of the weak, seeing that you dwell among them: for everyone who undertakes an excessively intense practice of prayer from hearing or learning, perishes, as one who has not attained a guide.” The holy Fathers mention that many, having taken up the practice of prayer incorrectly, in methods for which they had not matured and were not capable, fell into self-deception and mind-disorder.[4] Not only from reading Patristic books, with insufficient understanding of them, does the greatest harm arise, but also from communion with the greatest servants of God, from hearing their holy teaching. This happened to the Syrian monk Malpatios. He was a disciple of the Venerable Julian. Accompanying his elder, Malpatios visited the Venerable Anthony the Great and was deemed worthy to hear from him the most elevated teaching on monastic life: on self-mortification, on mental prayer, on purity of soul, on spiritual vision. Not understanding the teaching as he should have, burning with material zeal, Malpatios imposed upon himself the strictest practice in an unbroken cell, hoping to attain that high spiritual state which he had heard about from the Great Anthony, which he saw and touched in the Great Anthony. The consequence of such practice was the most terrible self-deception. Corresponding to the intense practice arose intense delusion, and self-conceit, taking hold of the soul of the unfortunate man, made that soul inaccessible to repentance, and therefore to healing: Malpatios became the inventor and head of the Euchite heresy. O sorrowful event![15] O most sorrowful spectacle! A disciple of the great Saint, having heard the teaching of the greatest of saints, on account of the incorrect application of that teaching to his own practice, perished. He perished at a time when on account of the multitude of saints capable both of guiding and healing, very few perished from delusion. This is told for our forewarning. By the shining of countless luminaries the path of inner monasticism—the mystical, prayerful solitude and stillness of the mind in the heart—was acknowledged as surrounded by dangers: all the more dangerous is this path now in the darkness that has come. The luminaries of heaven are hidden by mist and thick clouds. One must travel with utmost slowness, feeling one’s way. The study of the Patristic books, which Divine providence has given for the moral guidance of contemporary monasticism, is by no means a minor ascetic struggle. To accomplish it requires self-denial, requires abandonment of worldly cares, not to speak of distractions, amusements, and pleasures, requires living according to the Gospel commandments, requires purity of mind and heart, by which alone the spiritual, holy, mystical teaching of the Spirit is seen and understood, corresponding to the degree of purification. Let him who has learned that in the present times the treasure of salvation and Christian perfection is hidden in the words spoken by the Holy Spirit or under His influence, that is, in Holy Scripture and the writings of the holy Fathers, rejoice spiritually at the acquisition of knowledge substantially useful, let him hide himself entirely from the world in a godly life, “let him go and sell all that he has and buy the field” on which salvation and perfection are hidden (Mt. 13:44). For a thorough study of Scripture, with corresponding practice, a lengthy time is necessary. After thorough study of Scripture, with the greatest caution, constantly asking for God’s help through prayer and tears, from spiritual poverty, one can then touch even those practices which lead to perfection. A certain holy monk related of himself that for twenty years he studied the writings of the Fathers, living the ordinary life of a communal monk; upon the completion of this time, he decided to practically acquaint himself with the profound monastic practice whose theoretical knowledge he had acquired through reading and, probably by virtue of the nature of that time, through conversations with advanced Fathers. Monastic progress when guided by reading proceeds incomparably more slowly than when guided by a spirit-bearing teacher.[16] What has been written by each holy writer has been written from his state of grace and from his practice, corresponding to his state and his practice. This should receive special attention. Let us not be carried away and enchanted by a book written as if by fire, telling of lofty practices and states not proper to us. Reading it, igniting the imagination, can harm us, communicating knowledge and desire for struggles that for us are untimely and impossible. Let us turn to a book by a Father whose moderate progress makes him most close to our condition. With such an approach to the Patristic books, for the initial reading of a monk wishing to become acquainted with the inner prayerful struggle, one might propose the instructions of Seraphim of Sarov, the works of Paisius of Nametsk and his friend, the schema-monk Vasily. The holiness of these persons and the correctness of their teaching are beyond question. After study of these writings, one can turn to the book of the Venerable Nilus of Sora. Small this book is in appearance, but its spiritual scope is of extraordinary magnitude. It is hard to find a question about mental practice which is not resolved in it. All is set forth with extraordinary simplicity, clarity, and sufficiency. Thus too is set forth the method of practicing the Jesus Prayer. However, both the method and the whole book are intended for monks already capable of solitude.

The Venerable Nilus commands to be silent with the mind, not only refraining from thinking of anything sinful and vain, but also from what appears useful and spiritual. Instead of any thought, he commands to contemplate unceasingly the depths of the heart and to say: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” One can pray standing, sitting, or lying down; those strong in health and vigor pray standing and sitting; the infirm may pray lying down, because in this prayer it is not the body’s struggle that prevails but the spirit’s struggle. One should give the body such a position as to leave the spirit complete freedom for the action proper to it. One must remember that here is spoken of the practice of monks who by sufficient physical struggle have brought their bodily drives into proper order, and on account of their progress have moved from physical struggle to the struggle of the soul. The Venerable Nilus commands to enclose the mind in the heart and to restrain as much as possible one’s breathing, so as not to breathe frequently. This means one must breathe very quietly. In general all movements of the blood should be restrained and the soul and body held in a state of peace, in a state of stillness, reverence, and the fear of God. Without this spiritual action cannot appear in us: it appears when all the movements and impulses of the blood have ceased. Experience will quickly teach that the restraint of breathing, that is, infrequent and gentle breathing, greatly assists in bringing oneself into a state of stillness and in gathering the mind from its wandering. “Many are the virtuous practices,” says Saint Nilus, “but all they are partial; heart-prayer, however, is the source of all goods; it waters the soul, like gardens. This practice, consisting in the guarding of the mind in the heart, free from all thoughts, is for those not trained in it extremely difficult; it is difficult not only for beginners but even for those who have labored long, who have not yet received and retained within their heart the prayer-sweetness from the action of grace. From experience it is known that for the weak this practice appears very heavy and burdensome. When, however, one acquires grace, then he prays without difficulty and with love, being comforted by grace. When the action of prayer comes, then it draws the mind to itself, gladdens it, and frees it from wandering.” To become accustomed to the method proposed by the Venerable Nilus of Sora, it is very good to combine it with the method of Saint John of the Ladder, praying very slowly.[17] In setting forth his method, the Venerable Nilus refers to many Fathers of the Eastern and Universal Church, chiefly to the Venerable Gregory of Sinai.

The writings of the Venerable Gregory of Sinai, possessing full spiritual worth, are not as accessible and clear as the writings of the Venerable Nilus of Sora. The reason lies in the manner of exposition, the concepts of that time concerning various matters, foreign to us, and especially the spiritual progress both of the person who wrote the book and of the person for whom the book was written. The method of prayer proposed by the Sinaite is nearly the same as that proposed by Nilus, who borrowed the teaching of prayer both from reading and study of Sinai’s book and from oral conversations with the disciples of Sinai when he visited the East. “In the morning,” says the Venerable Gregory, citing Solomon the Wise, “sow your seed,” that is, prayers, “and in the evening let not your hand rest,” so that the continuousness of prayer, interrupted by intervals, may not lose that hour in which it could be heard: “for you do not know which will prosper, this or that” (Eccl. 11:6). From morning, having sat on a chair a span high, bring your mind down from your head into your heart, and keep it there, bending painfully, and grieving very much with your breast, shoulders, and neck, ceaselessly cry out with your mind or soul: “Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” Restrain somewhat also your breathing, so as not to breathe carelessly.[18] Regarding the teaching that one should restrain breathing, the Sinaite refers to the Venerable Isaiah the Hermit, John of the Ladder, and Symeon the New Theologian. “If we wish to find the truth without error and to know it,” says the Sinaite, “let us strive to have solely a heart-action, completely without form, in no way allowing imagination freedom, not permitting fantasy to picture the likeness of any saint or light: because it is customary for delusions, especially at the beginning of the struggle, to deceive the minds of inexperienced ones with such false fantasies. Let us strive to have acting in the heart one action of prayer, warming and gladdening the mind, setting the soul on fire with the unspeakable love of God and man. Then from prayer there appears considerable humility and contrition, because prayer in beginners is the ever-moving mental action of the Holy Spirit. This action at the beginning is like fire blazing forth from the heart, at the end like a fragrant light.” By the name of beginners are here understood beginners in solitude, and the entire book of the Venerable Gregory of Sinai is intended for the instruction of solitaries.[19] Again the saint Sinaite says: “Some, teaching the doctrine of prayer, propose to perform it with the lips, others with the mind alone: I propose both. Sometimes the mind, despairing, becomes weak in performing prayer, and sometimes the lips, and therefore one should pray with both—both lips and mind. However, one should cry out silently and calmly, so that the voice does not disturb the feeling and attentiveness of the mind and does not hinder prayer. The mind, having become accustomed to the practice, will make progress and will receive from the Spirit the power to pray strongly and in every way. Then it is not compelled to perform prayer with the lips and cannot, being fully satisfied with mental prayer.” By proposing at times vocal prayer, Saint Gregory combines his method with the method of Saint John of the Ladder.[20] In essence it is one and the same method, but Saint Gregory speaks of it at its known degree of progress. He who diligently practices the method of the Ladder will attain, in due time, that state of prayer of which the Sinaite speaks. Prayer, according to the very sound, practical view of the Sinaite, should be especially assisted by patience. “The one dwelling in silence should, for the most part, sit while performing prayer, on account of the difficulty of this struggle, sometimes also for a short time to lie on the bed, to give the body some rest. In patience, however, should be your sitting in fulfillment of the commandment, that in prayer one should be patient (Col. 4:2) and not quickly arise, fainthearted on account of the very difficult affliction of mental invocation and the constant sinking of the mind into the heart. Thus says the Prophet: ‘I am afflicted like a woman in travail’ (Jer. 8:21). But having bowed your head down and gathering the mind in the heart—if your heart has been opened to you—call upon the Lord Jesus for help.” “Aching in the shoulders and often subjected to headache, endure this with steadfastness and zeal, seeking the Lord in your heart, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who press on, and those who press on ‘seize it by force’ (Mt. 11:12). The Lord has shown that true diligence consists in enduring these and similar afflictions. Patience and expectation in every practice is the parent of afflictions of soul and body.” By the word afflictions here, in particular, is meant contrition of spirit, weeping of spirit, the aching and suffering of spirit from the sensation of one’s sinfulness, from the sensation of eternal death, from the sensation of enslavement to fallen spirits. The suffering of the spirit is communicated to the heart and body, as inseparably bound with the spirit and by natural necessity sharing in its conditions. In those weak in body, the contrition of spirit and its weeping entirely replace bodily labor;[21] but from those of strong bodily constitution is strictly required the subduing of the body: in them, without the subduing of the body, the very heart does not attain the blessed sorrow which arises in the weak from the sensation and consciousness of weakness. “Every practice,” says the Venerable Gregory, “bodily and spiritual, not attended by affliction or labor, never brings fruit to the one practicing it, because ‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,’ said the Lord, ‘and the violent take it by force’ (Mt.St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 89:11:12). By violence understand the bodily afflictive sensation in all things. Many, in the course of many years, practiced without affliction, and do so, but as they labor without affliction and warm zeal of heart, they remain not partakers of purity and the Holy Spirit, having rejected the severity of afflictions. Those performing the practice in negligence and weakness labor, as they think, much, but do not reap fruit because of the absence of affliction, being wholly without affliction. Witness to this is he who says: “If all kinds of our manner of life were elevated, yet if we do not have a suffering heart, they are not true and useless.” And the great Ephrem testifies, saying: “When laboring, labor with affliction, so that you might turn away from yourself the afflictions of vain labors. If according to the Prophet (Is. 21:3) our loins do not waste away from weakness, being worn out by fasting struggles, and we do not give birth to the sufferings of affliction as a woman in labor, in the afflictive establishment of the heart, then we shall not give birth to the Spirit of salvation on the earthly heart, as you have heard, but shall only (justly deserving pity and ridicule) boast, imagining ourselves to be something on account of a useless wilderness and relaxed stillness.[22] At the time of departure from this life all will certainly know the whole fruit.” The teaching of the Venerable Sinaite concerning the affliction accompanying the true practice of mental prayer by the solitary may seem strange, as it has seemed strange to the carnal and soulish reason, unfamiliar with the experiences of monastic life. Inviting such ones to pay attention to the knowledge acquired through experience, we testify that not only the practice of mental prayer, but also careful reading of the deep Patristic writings concerning it produces headaches. Heart-contrition, on account of the sinfulness, captivity, and death revealed by prayer, is so strong that it produces in the body sufferings and afflictions whose existence and the very possibility of their existence is entirely unknown to one unfamiliar with prayer-work. When the heart confesses to the Lord its sinfulness and its miserable state, then the body is crucified. “I was afflicted,” says David, experienced in prayer-work, “and humbled to the end;[23] I went groaning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no healing in my flesh. I am troubled and very much humbled: I roar from the groaning of my heart” (Ps. 37:7-9). In the teaching of Saint Gregory concerning prayer, there is noticed a peculiarity: he establishes the mind to concentrate in the heart. This is that practice which the Fathers call the artful practice of prayer, which they forbid to beginning monks and lay people, which requires considerable preparatory study, and to which even prepared monks should approach with the greatest reverence, fear of God, and caution. Having commanded to concentrate the mind in the heart, the Venerable one adds: “if your heart has been opened to you.” This means: the union of the mind with the heart is a gift of Divine grace, bestowed in its own time, according to God’s providence, not prematurely and not according to the judgment of the one practicing. The gift of attentive prayer is ordinarily preceded by special sorrows and spiritual upheavals that bring our spirit into the depth of consciousness of its poverty and nothingness. The gift of God is drawn by humility and faithfulness to God, expressed in zealous rejection of all sinful thoughts at the very moment of their appearance. Faithfulness is the cause of purity. To purity and humility are entrusted the gifts of the Spirit.”[24]

[1] The Ladder, Homily 28, Chapter 64.

[2] The Ladder of Divine Gifts of the monk Theophanes. Philokalia, pt. 1., Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos, Chapter 5; Philokalia, pt. 2, Instruction of Elder Seraphim 11.

[3] Ven. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet, Replies 264 and 274; Ps. 45:11. The replies cited here were given to Ven. Abba Dorotheus, who, by the blessing of these fathers, engaged in ceaseless remembrance of God, that is, in the mental Jesus Prayer. The fathers enjoined Abba Dorotheus not to falter in this ascetic struggle, but to sow with hope—Reply 263.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Reply 111.

[6] Blessed Nikephoros, Homily on Watchfulness and Guarding the Heart. Philokalia, pt. 2. Ven. Symeon the New Theologian, On the Third Form of Prayer. Philokalia, pt. 1.

[7] Homily on Watchfulness, Chapters 1, 3, and 5. Philokalia, pt. 2.

[8] Homily 28, Chapter 45.

[9] Philokalia, pt. 1.

[10] The account of the recluse is described in vol. 1 of the Ascetic Experiences, in the “Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God”.

[11] St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 68.

[12] The Ladder, Homily 28, Chapter 51.

[13] The Ladder, Homily 28, Chapters 16, 21, and 27.

[14] See the article entitled: “On How One Ought to Sing”. Philokalia, pt. 1.

[15] St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 55.

[16] The Written Paterikon.

[17] Homily 2.

[18] On Silence in 15 Chapters, Chapters 2 and 8.

[19] A Known Treatise on Silence and Prayer. On How to Find the Practice.

[20] On Silence. On How One Ought to Recite Prayer.

[21] On How One Who Observes Silence Ought to Sit and Recite Prayers.

[22] The Ladder, Homily 7.

[23] On Silence and on Two Forms of Prayer, in 15 Chapters, Chapter 14.

[24] St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 78.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 6)

The artful practice of mental prayer is set forth with particular clarity and completeness by the blessed Nikiphoros, a monk dwelling in silence on the holy Mount Athos. He rightly calls the prayer-practice the art of arts and the science of sciences, as it supplies to the mind and heart knowledge and impressions flowing from the Spirit of God, whereas all other sciences supply knowledge and impressions only human. Mental practice is the highest school of theology.[1] “This great among the greatest practices,” says the great teacher of solitaries, “many, or even all, attain through instruction. Rare are those who, without instruction, through zealous practice and the warmth of faith, receive it from God, but rarity is not a law. For this reason it is necessary to seek an unperfected teacher, so that by his teaching we might be instructed and guided during the left and right diminishings and exceedences that arise in attention-practice, introduced by the cunning malice of the Evil One, because the teacher reveals them to us, knowing them from his own experience, to which he has been subjected. He shows us this mental path faithfully, and under his guidance we easily accomplish this path. If there is no teacher known to us, we must seek one most zealously. If, however, even with such seeking no teacher is found, then, calling upon God in a contrite spirit and with tears, in humility and not worldly possession, and having prayed to Him, act as I shall tell you. You know that the breathing by which we breathe is composed of air, and breathing is produced by the heart, not by anything else. It is the instrument of life and bodily warmth. The heart draws in air, so by breathing to cast out its own warmth, and for itself to obtain coolness. The cause of this mechanism, or more precisely, the servant—the lungs, which God created rare (porous), so that it conveniently introduces and brings forth what it contains. Thus the heart, drawing in coolness by breathing and casting out warmth by it, unfailingly maintains that order in which it was established for preserving life. And so you, having sat and gathered your mind, introduce it into the nasal path through which breath enters the heart, bring the breathing into a very quiet movement and force the mind to descend with the inhaled air into the heart. When it enters there, what follows will be filled for you with joy and gladness. Like a certain man who, having been absent from his home, when he returns, cannot contain himself for joy, being deemed worthy to behold his wife and children, so also the mind, when united with the soul, is filled with unspeakable sweetness and joy. Brother! Train your mind not to come out of there quickly, because at first it is very despondent from the inner closure and tightness. But when it becomes accustomed to them, it will not love to wander outside, because the kingdom of heaven is within us. Beholding it there and seeking it with pure prayer, the mind recognizes all outside as abominable and hateful. If immediately, as I have said, you ascend with your mind into the heart-place which I have shown you, then give thanks to God and glorify Him, and rejoice, and always hold to this practice, and it will teach you that which you do not know. You must also know this: that your mind, being there, should not be silent and idle, but should have as its constant work and teaching, never ceasing from it, the prayer: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This prayer, keeping the mind from wandering, makes it inaccessible and untouchable to the suggestions of the enemy, raises it to daily progress in love and desire for Divine things. If, after much labor, brother, you cannot ascend into the regions of the heart as we have told you, then do as I shall say, and you will find what you seek by God’s assistance. You know that the spiritual faculty of each man is in his breast. Within the breast, with the silence of our lips, we speak, deliberate, offer prayers, sing psalms. To this spiritual faculty, depriving it of every thought—you can do this if you will—entrust it to say: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” And strive to cry this out within your breast instead of every other thought. When you have done this for some time, then, by means of this, the entrance to the heart will be opened to you, without any doubt, as we have written, having learned this from experience. And there will come to you, with most ardent and sweet attention, the whole company of virtues: love, joy, peace, and the rest: with them it will fulfill all your petitions in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Here, first of all, one must pay attention to the condition of the blessed Father and the condition which he observed in the monk he was instructing. This is evident from the passages of his discourse that precede the exposition of the art, from which it is clear, from the reference to the life of Saint Sabas, that the instruction concerning heart-stillness, for which and in correspondence to which outer bodily stillness is also provided, is suitable for those monks who have fully learned the rule of monastic life, are able to combat contrary thoughts, and to guard their mind.[2] To the one being instructed, the blessed Nikiphoros says: “You know that the spiritual faculty of each man is in his breast. There, with the silence of our lips, we speak, deliberate, offer prayers and sing psalms.” Very few experience a clear sensation of the power of the spiritual faculty in the breast, to the extent that prayers and psalmody can be performed there—namely, those significantly advanced, who have occupied themselves for a lengthy time with prayer according to the method of Saint John of the Ladder, have attained the absence of wandering in considerable measure, and through very attentive prayer have awakened the spirit, called here the spiritual faculty, to abundant sympathy with the mind. In men in their ordinary condition, the spirit, struck by the fall, sleeps a sleep from which it cannot wake, identical with death: it is not capable of the spiritual exercises indicated here, and awakens for them only when the mind constantly and intensely occupies itself with awakening it by means of the life-giving name of Jesus. The method proposed by the blessed Nikiphoros is excellent. In his exposition there is evident to one who understands the matter both the gradualness by which one should ascend to it and the fact that its attainment is a gift of God. Since this method is explained with particular detail in the work of Xanthopouloi on prayer and silence, we proceed to that mentioned work.

Saint Callistus Xanthopulus was a disciple of Venerable Gregory of Sinai; he pursued monasticism on Mount Athos, learning the monastic life first in a cenobitic community, and later moved to the solitary life when he had matured for it. He learned the mental prayer while serving as a kitchen assistant in the monastery; he also possessed worldly learning, which is evident from the book he composed. In his advanced years, Saint Callistus was elevated to the rank of Patriarch of Constantinople. Saint Ignatius was his closest friend and companion in monastic struggles. Both attained great proficiency in prayer. Their book was written exclusively for solitaries.[3] To the mechanism set forth by Nicephorus the Hesychast, they add that when using it one should keep the mouth closed. They teach that a beginner in the solitary life should practice the Jesus Prayer according to the method of Nicephorus, continually introducing it into the heart quietly through the breathing of the nostrils, exhaled equally quietly, with the mouth closed. It is very important to understand the significance which the holy teachers of mental prayer give to the mechanism they propose, which, as a physical method, must never be confused with the prayer’s own action, to which one must not attach special importance, as though all the proficiency of prayer proceeds from it. In prayer’s advancement, the power and grace of God act; they accomplish everything: methods remain methods, which our weakness requires, and are rejected as unnecessary and superfluous once advancement is attained. Trust placed in these methods is most dangerous: it leads to a material and incorrect understanding of prayer, turning away from a spiritual understanding, the only true one.[4] From a false understanding of prayer always comes either fruitless or soul-damaging practice of it.[5] “And know this, brother, – say the Xanthopuli, – that every art and every rule, or if you prefer, varied practice, are prescribed and rightly established for the reason that we cannot yet pray purely and without wandering in the heart.[6] When this is accomplished by the good will and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we, leaving much and manifold and varied practice, are united directly, beyond speech, with the One, sole, and uniting One.[7] From perseverance in the aforesaid art of pure and unwandering heart prayer – though it may be somewhat impure and not free from distraction on account, evidently, of thoughts and remembrances of past deeds arising to hinder it – the one who labors comes to the habit of praying without compulsion, without wandering, purely and truly; that is, comes to a state in which the mind abides in the heart, and is not merely introduced into it by compulsion, faintheartedly, through the inhalation and then springs back, but in which the mind itself constantly turns to itself, dwells in the heart with love, and prays without ceasing.” The ascetic work of mental and heart prayer “is accomplished by the mind through the illumination of its aid by Divine grace, and through the unified, heartfelt, pure, unwandering calling upon our Lord Jesus Christ in faith, and not from the merely simple, aforementioned natural art through breathing of the nostrils or from sitting during the practice of prayer in a silent and dark place – far from it![8] This was devised by the Divine Fathers for no other purpose than as a certain aid to the gathering of the mind from its customary wandering, to its return to itself and to attentiveness. Before all gifts of grace, the mind is granted unwandering by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the calling of His holy name in the heart in faith. The natural art, which assists in bringing the mind into the heart through the breathing of the nostrils, sitting in a silent and dark place, and such like, does work together with this.” The Xanthopuli strictly forbid premature striving after what, according to the spiritual order of monastic life, has its appointed time. They wish the monk to act in the order established for him, according to the laws transmitted by Divine grace. “And you, – say they, – desiring to learn the solitude that guides to heaven, wisely follow the established laws, and first embrace obedience with joy, then solitude. As action is an ascent to contemplation, so obedience is to solitude. ‘Do not remove the eternal boundaries’, – according to Scripture, – ‘which your fathers set’ (Prov. 22:28); ‘woe to the one alone’ (Eccl. 4:10).[9] Thus, laying a good foundation at the beginning, you will in time be able to place the most blessed veil over the edifice of the Spirit. As everything is in ruin for one whose beginning is unrefined, as it is said, so conversely everything is beautiful and orderly for one whose beginning is refined, though sometimes the contrary happens.” In general, it is recognized that until the attainment of non-wandering – not deceptive or fleeting, but constant and substantial – it is profitable to practice the Jesus Prayer in the monastic community, supporting the practice of prayer through the active keeping of the Gospel commandments, or, which is the same thing, through humility. After receiving the gift of non-wandering, one may then venture into solitude. Thus did the holy Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian proceed.[10] According to the account of Saint Isaac the Syrian, they first occupied themselves with the keeping of those commandments pertaining to those living in human society, practicing also the prayer corresponding to that condition; from this life their mind began to experience stillness or non-wandering, and then they withdrew into the desert solitude, engaged there in the work of the inner man, and attained contemplation. Perfect solitude in our time is very difficult, almost impossible: Seraphim of Sarov, Ignatius of Nikiforo, Nikander of Babay – monks very proficient in mental prayer – dwelt at times both in solitude and in monastic community, and especially the last never withdrew into any solitude visible to men, though his soul was a great solitary.[11] The way of solitude which Venerable Arsenius the Great followed was always excellent;[12] today it must be recognized as best. This Father constantly kept silence, did not go about the monks’ cells, admitted only the most necessary visitors to his cell, stood somewhere behind a pillar in church, did not write or receive letters, in general withdrew from all dealings that might disturb his attentiveness, and made the preservation of attentiveness the goal of his life and all his actions. The manner of life and solitude by which Venerable Arsenius attained great proficiency is greatly praised and proposed for imitation by Saint Isaac the Syrian, as a manner very suitable, wise, and fruitful. In conclusion of our extracts from the works of the Xanthopuli, let us cite their experiential judgment, consonant with that of the other holy Fathers, that to attain unwandering heart prayer requires both much time and much effort. “To pray constantly within the heart, – say they, – as those higher in this state do, is not accomplished simply, as if by chance, or through little labor and time, though this is rarely seen by the inscrutable judgment of God, but requires both long time and considerable labor, ascetic struggle of soul and body, and prolonged compulsion. According to the excellence of the gift and grace which we hope to receive, the struggles must be, in measure, equal and corresponding, so that, according to the mysterious sacred teaching, the enemy may be expelled from the pastures of the heart and Christ dwell visibly in it.” Saint Isaac says: “One desiring to see the Lord strives to cleanse his heart through the memory of God with art, and thus by the brightness of his thought will see the Lord every hour.” And Saint Barsanuphius: “If inward work by God’s grace does not help a man, he labors in vain on the outside. Inward work, united with heartfelt suffering, brings purity; purity brings true heart-stillness; by such stillness humility is afforded; and humility makes man the dwelling place of God. When God dwells there, then demons and passions are cast out, and man becomes a temple of God, filled with sanctification, filled with illumination, purity, and grace. Blessed is he who sees the Lord in the innermost treasury of the heart as in a mirror, and pours out his supplication with weeping before His goodness.” Venerable John of Carpathus: “Much time and struggle in prayers are needed to find in an undisturbed ordering of the mind a certain other heart-heaven, where Christ dwells, as the Apostle says:[13] ‘Or do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? unless you are disqualified’ (2 Cor. 13:5).

With these extracts from the holy Fathers, as adequately explaining the practice of the Jesus Prayer, we content ourselves. In the other Patristic writings the same teaching is set forth. We recognize it necessary to repeat a warning to our beloved fathers and brethren, that they should not hasten to read the Patristic writings on the elevated practices and states of monasticism, even though curiosity draws us to such reading, even though this reading produces pleasure and rapture. Our freedom, by the nature of the times, must be especially restricted. When there were spiritually gifted guides, then the attractions of beginners were readily observed and healed. But now there is no one to either heal or observe these attractions. Often a harmful attraction is recognized by inexperienced guides as great progress; the one attracted is encouraged to greater attraction. This attraction, having acted upon the monk and not being noticed, continues to act, leading him more and more away from the true direction. One can say without error: the majority find themselves in various attractions, those who have rejected their attractions and the attractions of others are very few, those who have not been attracted do not exist. For this reason, when the Patristic books have remained for us as the sole means of guidance, we must read them with special caution and discrimination, lest this sole means of guidance become a means of improper activity and the disorder arising from it.[14] “Let us seek, – says Saint John of the Ladder concerning the choice of a guide, – not one who is foreseeing, not one who is clairvoyant, but above all one who is truly humble-minded, most suited to the infirmity that encompasses us, by virtue of his character and place of abode.” The same must be said also of books, as has already been said above: we must choose from them not at all the most elevated, but those most suited to our condition, setting forth the aspiration proper to us. “It is a great evil, – said Saint Isaac the Syrian, – to teach any elevated doctrine to one who still stands in the rank of beginners and by spiritual age is a child.” When a carnal and soulish man hears a spiritual word, he understands it according to his own condition, distorts it, perverts it, and, following it in its perverted sense, acquires a false direction and holds to this direction with stubbornness, as to a direction given by holy words.[15] A certain elder attained Christian perfection by a special providence of God, entering into solitude against the rules in the days of his youth. At first he was solitary in Russia in a forest, living in an earthen hut, and then on Mount Athos; upon his return to Russia, he took up residence in a cenobitical unregistered monastery. Many of the brethren, seeing in the elder unmistakable signs of holiness, turned to him for counsel. The elder gave instructions based on his own state and damaged the souls of the brethren. A certain monk, well acquainted with the elder, said to him: “Father! You speak to the brethren of practices and states not accessible to their understanding and condition, and they, interpreting your words by their own understanding and acting accordingly, cause themselves harm.” The elder answered with holy simplicity: “I see it myself! But what should I do? I consider everyone higher than myself, and when they ask, I answer from my own state.” The elder was not acquainted with the general monastic path. Not only is sin harmful for us, but also good itself is harmful when we do it at the wrong time and in the wrong measure, just as harmful are not only hunger, but also excess in food and food quality that does not correspond to age and constitution. “One does not pour new wine into old wineskins; if one does, the wineskins burst, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed; but one pours new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (Mt. 9:17). This the Lord said concerning the practices of virtue, which must absolutely correspond to the condition of the practitioner, otherwise they will destroy the practitioner and themselves be destroyed—that is, be undertaken fruitlessly, to harm and the destruction of the soul, contrary to their purpose.”

[1] Ven. Nilus of Sinai. On Prayer. Philokalia, pt. 4, Chapter 61.

[2] Philokalia, pt. 2.

[3] Chapters 19 and 45.

[4] Chapter 38.

[5] Chapter 53.

[6] A Technical Monastic Treatise.

[7] Chapter 24.

[8] The Title of Chapter 24.

[9] Chapter 14.

[10] Homily 55

[11] The Alphabetical Patericon and Memorable Tales of Arsenius the Great.

[12] Homily 41.

[13] Chapter 52.

[14] The Ladder, Homily 4, Chapter 121.

[15] Homily 74.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 7)

Besides the foregoing aids for assisting beginners in practicing the Jesus Prayer, there are various other aids. We enumerate the principal ones. 1) Prayer beads or a prayer rope. Prayer beads ordinarily consist of one hundred beads, and a prayer rope of one hundred knots, as the rule accomplished with the Jesus Prayer is ordinarily counted in hundreds of prayers. With prayer beads one counts prostrations, and also while sitting, monks practice the Jesus Prayer initially with prayer beads. When attention is strengthened in prayer, then the possibility of praying with prayer beads and counting the prayers spoken ceases: all attention is directed to prayer. 2) It is very beneficial to learn the Jesus Prayer, practicing it with full prostrations and half-prostrations, placing these prostrations slowly and with a feeling of repentance, as did the blessed young George, of whom Saint Symeon the New Theologian speaks in a Discourse on Faith.[1] 3) In church and generally while practicing the Jesus Prayer, it is useful to have the eyes closed, and 4) to hold the left hand over the breast, above the left nipple of the chest, somewhat higher than it: this last mechanism assists in sensing the power of the word which dwells in the breast. 5) For those practicing solitude, the Fathers counsel having a somewhat dark cell, with shuttered windows, for protecting the mind from distraction and for helping it to concentrate in the heart. 6) For those practicing solitude, they counsel sitting on a low chair, first of all for the reason that attentive prayer requires a peaceful position, and secondly, following the example of the blind beggar mentioned in the Gospel, who, sitting by the road, cried out to the Lord: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mk. 10:47), was heard and had mercy shown to him. Also this low chair represents the dung-heap on which Job was cast, outside the city, when the devil smote him from head to foot with a grievous sickness (Job 2:8). The monk should see himself as maimed, distorted, mangled by sinfulness, cast out from his natural state by it, cast into an unnatural condition, and from this wretched condition cry out to the all-merciful and almighty Jesus, the Renewer of human nature: “have mercy on me.” A low chair is very suitable for practicing the Jesus Prayer. This does not mean that standing during it is rejected; but since almost all the time of a true solitary is devoted to prayer, he is allowed to practice it while sitting, and sometimes even lying down. Especially the sick and the aged should beware of excessive physical ascetic struggle, lest it exhaust their strength and deprive them of the possibility of engaging in spiritual ascetic struggle. The essence of the work is in the Lord and in His name. The paralytic was let down on his bed before the Lord through the roof of the house and received healing (Mk. 2:4). Healing is drawn to itself by humility and faith. 7) Practitioners of the mental work sometimes have need to help themselves by bathing in cold water or by applying to places of blood-accumulation towels dampened with water. The water should be summer water – not at all the coldest, because the latter increases the heating. In general, mental occupations have the property of producing heat in certain constitutions. Such heat was felt by Venerable Abba Dorotheos when he was occupied with learning, which is why he cooled himself with water. Such heat those who very much compel themselves to the union of the mind with the heart with the aid of material helps, giving them excessive importance and not giving proper importance to spiritual helps, will assuredly experience. With particular material effort toward heart prayer, warmth begins to act in the heart.[2] This warmth is a direct consequence of such struggle: every member of the human body subjected to friction becomes heated; the same happens to the heart from constant, prolonged strain on it.[3] The warmth arising from intense, material struggle is also material. It is fleshly warmth, blood-warmth, in the realm of fallen nature. An inexperienced practitioner, having felt this warmth, will assuredly imagine something about it, will find in it pleasantness, gratification, at which point begins self-deception.[4] Not only should one not think anything particular about this warmth, but on the contrary, one should take special precautions upon its appearance.[4] Precaution is necessary for the reason that this warmth, being blood-warmth, not only moves about through various parts of the chest, but also very easily can fall to the lower parts of the belly, produce in them the most intense inflammation. Naturally, at this point fleshly desire, which belongs to these parts in a state of overheating, begins to act. Some, having come into this condition and not understanding what is happening to them, fell into confusion, dejection, despair, as is known from experience. Recognizing their condition as wretched, they had recourse to famous elders, seeking in their counsel a cure for their souls, lacerated by sorrow and perplexity. The elders, hearing that upon the invocation of the name of Jesus there appeared intense inflammation combined with the action of desire, were appalled at the devil’s stratagems. They recognized in this a terrible spiritual delusion, forbade the afflicted to practice the Jesus Prayer, as being the cause of evil, and told many other practitioners of this circumstance as a remarkable and disastrous consequence of practicing the Jesus Prayer. And many believed the proclaimed judgment out of respect for the famous name of the elders, believed a judgment as if drawn from actual experience. Meanwhile, this terrible delusion is nothing other than an accumulation of blood brought about by intense, ignorant use of material aids. This accumulation can easily be healed in two or three days by applying to the inflamed parts cloth moistened with summer water. Far more dangerous, far closer to spiritual delusion, is when a practitioner, having felt blood-warmth in the heart or breast, regards it as a gift of grace, imagines something about it, and therefore also about himself, begins to create for himself gratification, obscuring, deceiving, ensnaring, destroying himself through conceit. The more compulsion and strain in the body of the practitioner, the more intensely the blood-warmth is inflamed. It must be thus! To moderate this warmth, to prevent its descent downward, one must not press the mind with particular force into the heart, must not weary the heart, must not produce excessive heat in it through excessive retention of breath and straining of the heart; on the contrary, one should hold the breath gently and bring the mind to union with the heart very gently; one should endeavor so that prayer acts in the very summit of the heart, where the word-bearing power dwells according to the teaching of the Fathers, and where, for this reason, the divine service should be performed. When Divine grace overshadows the prayer-work and begins to unite the mind with the heart, then the material blood-warmth completely disappears. Prayer-work then is completely changed: it becomes as it were natural, entirely free and easy. Then another warmth appears in the heart—subtle, immaterial, spiritual, producing no inflammation—on the contrary, cooling, illumining, anointing, acting as a healing, spiritual, anointing balm, drawing to unspeakable love of God and men, as the blessed Venerable Maxim of Kapsokalivia will testify from his own blessed experience.[1] I propose to the fathers and brethren humble counsel, beseeching them not to reject the humble counsel of my unworthiness: do not compel yourselves prematurely to the opening in yourselves of heart-prayer action. There is need, there is need for wise caution, especially in our time, when it is already almost impossible to meet a satisfactory guide for these matters, when the practitioner must make his own way, groping about, under the guidance of the writings of the holy Fathers, into the treasury of spiritual knowledge, and likewise groping about, by himself, to choose from them what is proper to himself. In living according to the Gospel commandments, engage in attentive Jesus Prayer according to the method of Saint John of the Ladder, uniting prayer with weeping, having as the beginning and goal of prayer repentance. In its own time, known to God, the action of heart prayer will reveal itself of its own accord. Such an action, revealed by the touch of God’s finger, is far superior to that attained by intense compulsion of oneself through the aid of material helps. It is superior to it in many respects: it is far more extensive, more abundant; it is wholly safe from delusion and other damages; he who has received it in such manner sees in receiving it solely the mercy of God, the gift of God; whereas he who attained it through intense use of material helps, while seeing God’s gift, cannot but see his own struggle, cannot but see the very mechanical method he employed, cannot but ascribe to it a particular importance. This on the subtle path of the spirit is a significant shortcoming, a significant stumbling-block, a significant obstacle to the development of spiritual advancement.[5] There is neither end nor limit to the development of spiritual advancement. The slightest, unnoticed trust in anything outside of God can halt the course of advancement, in which faith in God is both the guide, the feet, and the wings. “Christ is everything for the believer,” said Saint Mark. Among those who employed material auxiliary means with particular diligence, very few achieved advancement, while very many became disordered and damaged. With an experienced guide, the use of material aids is not much dangerous, but with guidance from books, it is very dangerous due to the ease of falling, through ignorance and lack of prudence, into delusion and other forms of spiritual and physical disorder. Thus some, having seen the harmful consequences of rash struggle and having only a superficial and confused understanding of the Jesus Prayer and its accompanying circumstances, ascribed these consequences not to ignorance and lack of prudence, but to the very all-holy Jesus Prayer itself. Could anything be sadder, more disastrous than this blasphemy, this delusion?The holy Fathers, in teaching heart prayer, did not give a precise instruction in which part of the heart it should be accomplished, probably for the reason that in those times there was no need for such instruction. Saint Nicephorus speaks, as of a known matter, of how the word-bearing power is located in the breast, and that when the word-bearing power is aroused to participation in prayer, then following it the heart too is aroused to such participation. It is difficult, for those who know something with complete detail and thoroughness, to foresee and forestall through resolution all the questions which might arise from complete ignorance: in what ignorance sees darkness, for knowledge there is nothing unclear. In subsequent times the indefinite indication in Patristic writings concerning the heart served as a cause of significant perplexity and erroneous practice of prayer in those who, having no guide, did not investigate Patristic writings with due diligence, on the basis of superficial notions hastily grasped in reading, decided to engage in the technical practice of heart prayer, placing all their trust in material aids for it. A precise explanation of this matter thus became necessary. The human heart has the shape of an elongated sack, widening toward the top, narrowing toward the bottom. It is attached by its upper extremity, located across from the left nipple of the breast, and its lower part, descending to the extremity of the ribs, is free; when it comes into motion, this motion is called the heartbeat. Many, having no conception of the structure of the heart, regard their heart as being where they feel its beating. Approaching of their own accord to the practice of heart prayer, they direct their breathing, introducing it into the heart, into this lower part, bring it into fleshly overheating, at which point the heartbeat is greatly intensified, bring upon themselves and impose upon themselves an improper condition and delusion. Schema-monk Vasily and Elder Paisius Velichkovsky testify that many among their contemporaries were damaged by abusing the material aid.[6] And subsequently examples of disorder from such action occurred frequently; they occur even now, though the inclination toward practicing the Jesus Prayer has diminished to the extreme. They cannot but occur: they must be an inevitable consequence of ignorance, self-will, self-conceit, premature and arrogant zeal, and finally the complete destitution of experienced guides. Schema-monk Vasily, referring to Saint Theophylact and other Fathers, asserts that the three powers of the soul—the word-bearing power, the power of spiritedness, and the power of desire—are disposed thus: in the breast and the upper part of the heart is present the word-bearing power or the spirit of man; in the middle—the power of spiritedness; in the lower—the power of desire or natural appetite. One who strives to set in motion and overheat the lower part of the heart sets in motion the power of desire, which, by its proximity to the genital organs and by its nature, sets these parts in motion. Ignorant use of the material aid will result in the most intense inflammation of fleshly desire. What a strange phenomenon! Apparently the practitioner is occupied with prayer, and the occupation produces lust, which should be deadened by the occupation, yet ignorance, having misused the material aid, ascribes to the Jesus Prayer what should be ascribed to the misuse. Heart prayer comes about from the union of the mind with the spirit, separated by the Fall, united by the grace of redemption. In the human spirit are concentrated the sensations of conscience, humility, gentleness, love of God and one’s neighbor, and other like qualities; it is necessary that in prayer the action of these qualities be united with the action of the mind. To this should be directed all the attention of the one practicing prayer. The union is accomplished by God’s finger, the only one able to heal the wound of the Fall; the one practicing prayer proves the sincerity of his intention to receive healing by constant abiding in prayer, by the enclosure of the mind in the words of prayer, by activity external and internal according to the Gospel commandments, which make the spirit capable of union with the praying mind. In this, somewhat helpful is the technical directing of the mind toward the word-bearing power and toward the upper part of the heart. In general, excessive strain in the use of this material aid, as it excites material warmth, is harmful: the warmth of flesh and blood should have no place in prayer.[7] By the soul-saving action of prayer in general, and of the memory of God, or the Jesus Prayer in particular, as a means to remaining in constant union with God and to constant repelling of the enemy’s attacks, the practice of the Jesus Prayer is especially hateful to the devil. Those who exercise themselves in prayer to the name of the Lord Jesus are subjected to special persecutions by the devil.[8] “All the struggle and all the effort of our adversary, – says Venerable Macarius the Great, – consists in turning our thought away from the remembrance of God and from love toward Him; for this he employs the delusions of the world and turns us from true good to false, insubstantial goods.” For this reason he who has devoted himself to true service of God through unceasing Jesus Prayer must especially guard himself from the scattering of thoughts, must by no means allow himself idle mental chatter, but, disregarding the thoughts and fantasies that appear, must constantly return to prayer in the name of Jesus, as if to a haven, believing that Jesus sleeplessly cares for that servant of His who remains constantly with Him in unslumbering remembrance of Him.[9] “The wicked demons, – says Venerable Nilus of Sinai, – at night strive to disturb the spiritual worker through themselves, and by day through men, surrounding him with slander, calamities, and misfortunes.” This order in demonic warfare will soon be observed from experience by any practitioner of prayer.[10] Demons tempt through thoughts, mental fantasies, remembrance of necessary matters, reflections that appear spiritual, by arousing solicitude, various fears, and other manifestations of unbelief. In all the manifold demonic battles, the sensation of disturbance always serves as a true sign of the approach of fallen spirits, even though the action they produce has the appearance of righteousness. To practitioners who pray in solitude and with intensity, demons appear in the guise of terrors, in the form of seductive objects, sometimes in the guise of luminous Angels, martyrs, ascetics, and even Christ Himself; we should not be afraid of demonic threats, but toward all appearances in general we must be very distrustful. In such cases, which however occur infrequently, our primary duty is to have recourse to God, entrusting ourselves completely to His will and asking His help: to pay no attention to the appearances and to enter into no intercourse or conversation with them, acknowledging ourselves too weak for dealings with hostile spirits and unworthy of dealings with holy spirits.

[1] Philokalia, pt. 1.

[2] Ven. Abba Dorotheus. Instruction 10, On Going in the Way of God.

[3] His Holiness Callistus, Patriarch of Constantinople. The Form of Attentiveness to Prayer. Philokalia, pt. 4.

[4] Ibid.

[5] On the Spiritual Law. Philokalia, pt. 1, Chapter 4.

[6] Preface to the Chapters of Blessed Philotheos of Sinai. Letter of Elder Paisius to Elder Theodosios, p. 231. Optina Pustyn edition, 1847.

[7] Homily 1, Chapter 3. Homily 2, Chapter 15.

[8] On Prayer, Chapter 139. Philokalia, pt. 4.

[9] Ibid., Chapters 9, 10, and others.

[10] Ibid., Chapters 91, 100. Xanthopoulos, Chapter 73. Philokalia, pt. 2.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

A true, God-pleasing practitioner of prayer is subjected to special sorrows and persecutions from his brethren, from men. And in this, as we have already said, the chief agents are demons: they employ in their service both those men whose activity has become one with demonic activity, and those who do not understand the warfare of demons and therefore easily become instruments of demons, even those who, understanding the devil’s malice, lack sufficient attentiveness to themselves and are not sufficiently cautious, and therefore allow themselves to be deceived. A striking and most terrible example of how fearful a hatred toward God, toward the Word of God, toward the Spirit of God, men can contract, having made their spirit’s disposition one with the demons’ disposition, we see in the Jewish chief priests, elders, scribes, and Pharisees, who committed the greatest crime among human crimes—deicide. Saint Symeon the New Theologian says that by the instigation of demons, monks leading a hypocritical life envy true practitioners of piety, employ every means to disturb them or drive them from the monastery.[1] Even well-intentioned monks who lead an external life and have no understanding of spiritual living are scandalized by spiritual workers, find their behavior strange, condemn and slander them, cause them various insults and persecutions. The great practitioner of the Jesus Prayer, the blessed elder Seraphim of Sarov, endured much unpleasantness from the ignorance and carnal outlook toward monasticism of his brother monks, because those who read the Law of God in a carnal manner suppose they fulfill it by external deeds alone, without mental struggle, “not understanding neither what they say nor concerning what they affirm” (1 Tim. 1:7).[2] “Proceeding along the path of inner, contemplative life,” instructs and comforts Seraphim, drawing instruction and comfort from his own spiritual experience, “one must not weaken, must not abandon it because men, clinging to externals and sensuality, strike us with the opposition of their opinions at the very sensitive feeling of the heart, and in every way strive to turn us from proceeding on the inner path, placing various obstacles before us on it. In proceeding on this path, one must not be shaken by any opposition, confirming oneself in this case by God’s word: ‘We will fear their fear not, neither be troubled, for God is with us. We will sanctify in the heart’s memory the Lord our God and His divine name, and ‘He will be’ to us ‘a fear.’’” (Is. 8:12-13).[3] When Venerable Gregory of Sinai—whom God’s providence in the 14th century used as an instrument for restoring the mental work, forgotten by monks—arrived at Mount Athos and began to impart the divinely-granted knowledge of piety to pious, zealous, and wise practitioners, but who understood the divine service only in a carnal manner, they at first greatly resisted him, so strange does the teaching concerning spiritual struggle appear to those having no understanding of it or of its existence, to those who have given the carnal struggle a significance that does not belong to it. Even stranger the mental work appears to a carnal and soulish mind, especially when it is infected with self-conceit and the poison of heresy. Then the hatred of the human spirit, having entered into communion with Satan, toward the Spirit of God, is expressed with monstrous ferocity. To explain this and generally to present it clearly how perversely the carnal and soulish mind understands all that is spiritual, distorts it according to the darkness of the Fall in which it remains, despite its earthly learning, we shall set forth here briefly the slanders and abuse of the mental work by the Latin monk Barlaam and certain Western writers. In his Church history, Blessed Innocent testifies that Barlaam, a Calabrian monk, arrived in the 14th century in Thessalonica, a city of the Eastern Greek Empire. Here, in order to work for the benefit of the Western Church under the guise of Orthodoxy, he renounced Latin Christianity. Having written several works proving the rightness of the Eastern Church, he thereby earned the praise and trust of Emperor Cantacuzene; knowing that Greek monasticism serves as the chief support of the Church, he wished to weaken it, even crush it, to shake the entire Church. With this goal in mind, he expressed a desire to lead the strictest monastic life and craftily inclined a certain Athonite hermit to reveal to him the technical practice of the Jesus Prayer. Having obtained his desire, understanding superficially and foolishly what was revealed, Barlaam took the material aid—which the Fathers, as we have seen, call only a certain aid—as the sole essence of the practice, and spiritual visions as material visions, seen by bodily eyes alone. He reported this to the emperor as an important delusion. A council was convened in Constantinople. Holy Gregory Palamas, an Athonite monk and great practitioner of mental prayer, entered into controversy with Barlaam and, by the power of God’s grace, defeated him. Barlaam and his slanders were condemned to anathema.[4] He returned to Calabria and Latin Christianity, left in many Greeks—superficial Christians—trust in his teaching, brought it to the West, where his slanders and absurd calumnies were received as a confession of truth. The historian Fleury, in describing Barlaam’s actions, similarly concentrates all the practice of mental prayer in the material aid, distorting it. Fleury makes an excerpt about the mechanism from a word of Saint Symeon the New Theologian on three forms of prayer, found in the Philokalia, and asserts that Symeon teaches:[5] sitting in a corner of one’s cell, turn the eyes and all the thought toward the middle of the belly—that is, to the navel—hold the breath, even through the nose, and so on. It would be difficult to believe that an intelligent and learned Fleury wrote such an absurdity, if it were not read on the pages of his history. Berger, another very intelligent and learned writer, says that Greek monk-contemplatives, from the effort at contemplation, became disordered in mind and fell into fanaticism (delusion).[6] To come into a state of rapture, they would fix their eyes on the navel, holding their breath: then it seemed to them that they saw a brilliant light, and so on. Distorting the form of prayer of the intelligent workers of the Eastern Church and blaspheming it, the Latins do not stop at blaspheming the states of grace produced by prayer, do not stop at blaspheming the action of the Holy Spirit. We entrust to God’s judgment the slanders and blasphemies of heretics; with a feeling of weeping, not judgment, we turn attention away from the absurdities they pronounce, and listen to what our blessed practitioner of the Jesus Prayer, Seraphim of Sarov, says about the vision of Christ’s light: “To receive and behold in the heart the light of Christ, one must, as much as possible, draw oneself away from visible objects, having purified the soul beforehand through repentance, good works, and faith in Him who was crucified for us, close bodily eyes, plunge the mind within the heart, where cry out through invoking the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; then, insofar as a person strives and is fervent in spirit toward the Beloved, he finds in the name he invokes a sweetness that arouses the desire to seek higher illumination. When through such practice the mind grows firm in the heart, then the light of Christ will shine forth, sanctifying the chamber of the soul with its Divine radiance, as the prophet Malachi says: ‘and there will shine upon you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness’” (Mal. 4:2).[7] This light is also life according to the Gospel word: “in Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:4).[8] From this it is clear, in contradiction to the understanding of Calabrian Barlaam and the Latins, that this light is not material, but spiritual; that it opens the soul’s eyes, is beheld by them, although at the same time it also acts on bodily eyes, as happened to the holy Apostle Paul (Acts 9). Venerable Macarius the Great, expounding the teaching about this light in detail and with particular clarity in his Seventh Discourse, says that “it is the essential radiance in the soul of the power of the Holy Spirit; through it every knowledge is revealed and God is truly known by the worthy and beloved soul.” In agreement with the Great One, all the holy Fathers of the Eastern Church testify—those who experienced Christian perfection and depicted it in their writings, by depiction in the realm of matter suited to this indescribable mystery. It is very useful to know that the fruit of pure unwandering prayer is the renewal of nature, that renewed nature is supplied and adorned with the gifts of Divine grace, but striving to prematurely acquire these gifts, striving which, prompted by self-conceit, anticipates God’s good will toward us, is extremely harmful and leads only to delusion. For this reason all the Fathers speak very briefly about the gifts of grace, speak very thoroughly about acquiring pure prayer, the consequence of which is the gifts of grace. The struggle of prayer requires careful training, while the gifts of grace appear of themselves, as properties of renewed nature, when this nature, after being cleansed by repentance, will be sanctified by the overshadowing of the Spirit.

Elder Paisius Velichkovsky, who lived at the end of the 18th century, wrote a treatise on the mental prayer in refutation of the blasphemies pronounced against it by a certain vain-minded philosopher-monk dwelling in the Mosha Mountains, who was a contemporary of Paisius.[9] “In our days,” says Paisius in a letter to Elder Theodosios, “a certain monk-philosopher, vain-minded, seeing that certain zealots of this prayer, though not according to true understanding, suffered certain delusion on account of their self-will and ignorant guidance by teachers unskilled in this prayer, did not place the blame on self-will and unskilled guidance, but armed himself with blasphemy against this holy prayer, armed himself, impelled by the devil, to such a degree that he far surpassed even the ancient, thrice-cursed heretics Barlaam and Akindynus, who blasphemed this prayer. Fearing not God, ashamed before no men, he raised terrible and shameful blasphemies against this holy prayer, against its zealots and practitioners, blasphemies unbearable to a chaste human ear. Moreover, he raised such a great persecution against the zealots of this prayer that some of them, abandoning everything, fled to our country and lead a godly hermit life in it. Others, being simple-minded, reached such madness from the corrupted words of the philosopher that even the Patristic books they possessed were, as we heard, drowned in a river, bound to a brick. So powerful were his blasphemies that certain elders forbade the reading of Patristic books, threatening to withdraw their blessing for such reading. The philosopher, not satisfied with oral blasphemy, intended to set down these blasphemies in writing; then, struck by God’s punishment, he became blind, whereby his godless enterprise was cut short.” In general, the carnal and soulish mind, however rich it may be in worldly wisdom, regards the mental prayer very strangely and with ill-will. It is a means of uniting the human spirit with the Spirit of God and therefore especially strange and hateful to those who are pleased with their spirit’s remaining in the assembly of fallen, rejected spirits, hostile to God, not aware of their fall, proclaiming and glorifying the fallen condition as if it were a state of the highest advancement. “The word of the cross”, proclaimed by the Apostles to all men, “is folly to those who are perishing”; it remains folly when it is proclaimed by the mind to the heart and to the entire being of the old man through prayer; but “to those who are being saved” it “is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). The Greeks, not having known Christianity, and Greeks, having turned back from Christianity to Hellenism, seek, according to their disposition, wisdom in the mental prayer, and find foolishness; but true Christians, by a struggle in mental prayer that is feeble and of little account in appearance, obtain “Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:22-26). It is not surprising that our learned men, having no understanding of mental prayer according to the tradition of the Orthodox Church, but having read of it only in the works of Western writers, have repeated the blasphemies and absurdities of these writers.[10] A spiritual friend of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky also mentions certain other monks, his contemporaries, who rejected the practice of the Jesus Prayer for three reasons: first, regarding this practice as suited only to saints and passionless men; second, on account of the complete scarcity of teachers skilled in this practice;[11] third, on account of delusions that sometimes follow upon the mental struggle. The baselessness of these arguments has been examined by us in its proper place. Here it suffices to say that those who reject, on these grounds, the practice of the Jesus Prayer are occupied exclusively with vocal prayer, not achieving even in it the due advancement. They, rejecting experiential knowledge of mental prayer, cannot acquire even in vocal prayer the proper attentiveness, furnished primarily by mental prayer. Psalmody, performed aloud and vocally, without attentiveness, accompanied by considerable distraction inseparable from those engaged in the body alone, who neglect the mind, acts on the soul very weakly and superficially, produces fruits corresponding to such action. Very often, when it is performed diligently and in great quantity, it begets self-conceit with its consequences. “Many,” says schema-monk Vasily, “not knowing mental work from experience, wrongly judge that mental work is fitting only for the dispassionate and holy men. For this reason, adhering only to the external custom of psalmody, troparia and canons, they rest in this one external prayer of theirs alone.[12] They do not understand that such sung prayer was transmitted to us by the Fathers for a time, on account of the weakness and infancy of our mind, so that, learning little by little, we might ascend to the level of mental work, and not remain in psalmody until the end of our lives. What could be more infantile than this: when we, having read with our lips our external prayer, are carried away by pleasant conceit, thinking about ourselves that we are doing something great, amusing ourselves with mere quantity and thereby nourishing the inner Pharisee in us!”

“Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19), – the Apostle commands. This command, applying to all Christians, applies especially to those who intend to practice unceasing prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus. The most pure name of Jesus does not permit dwelling amid uncleanness; it requires that from the vessel of the soul all uncleanness be cast out and continue to be cast out; entering into the vessel according to the degree of its purity, it itself begins to act in it and accomplish further cleansing, for which man’s own efforts are insufficient and which is necessary in order that the vessel become worthy to be a repository of spiritual treasure, of all-holy holiness. Let us refrain from excess and even satiation; let us establish for ourselves a rule of moderate, constant self-restraint in food and drink; let us deny ourselves enjoyment of tasty foods and drinks; let us refresh ourselves with sleep sufficiently, but not excessively; let us renounce idle speech, laughter, jesting, mockery; let us cease unnecessary departures from the cell to the brethren and receptions of brethren in the cell, under the pretext of love, in whose name empty conversations and occupations that empty the soul are concealed. Let us renounce daydreaming and vain thoughts arising in us on account of our unbelief, on account of thoughtless solicitude, on account of vainglory, grudge-bearing, irritability and our other passions. With full faith let us cast all upon the Lord, and let us replace our multiplicity of thoughts, our empty fantasies, with unceasing prayer to the Lord Jesus. If we are still surrounded by enemies, then let us cry with loud weeping and clamor to the King of kings, as the injured and oppressed cry from the throng of the people; but if we are admitted into the inner chamber of the King, let us bring Him our complaint and ask His mercy with the greatest gentleness and humility, from the very depths of the soul. Such prayer is particularly powerful: it is wholly spiritual, uttered directly to the very ear of the King, to His heart.

The necessary, essential condition for advancement in the Jesus Prayer is remaining in the commandments of the Lord Jesus. “Remain in My love” (Jn. 15:9), – He said to His disciples. What does it mean to remain in love toward the Lord? It means to remember Him unceasingly, to remain unceasingly in union with Him in spirit. The first without the latter is dead and cannot even be realized. “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love” (Jn. 15:10); if we constantly keep the Lord’s commandments, then by our spirit we will be united with Him. If we are united with Him in spirit, then we will be drawn toward Him with our whole being, we will remember Him unceasingly. Direct your deeds, all your conduct according to the commandments of the Lord Jesus; direct your words according to them; direct your thoughts and feelings according to them—and you will come to know the properties of Jesus. Having felt in yourself these properties through the action of Divine grace, and having from this feeling acquired experiential knowledge of them, you will be delighted with an incorruptible sweetness that does not belong to the world and this age, a sweetness quiet but powerful, extinguishing the heart’s inclination toward all earthly pleasures.

Having delighted in the properties of Jesus, you will love Him and will desire that He dwell fully in you; without Him you will consider yourself lost and as one already lost. Then you will cry out unceasingly, cry out from the fullness of conviction, with all your soul: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The Jesus Prayer will replace for you all other prayers. And what thought can they contain and express more extensive than the thought of Jesus’ mercy on sinners? Make the sole purpose of your life the fulfillment of Jesus’ will in every circumstance, however important or trivial it may appear; strive to do deeds that alone are pleasing to Jesus, and all your deeds will be equally worthy of heaven. Love the will of Jesus more than the desires of your flesh, more than your comfort and conveniences, more than life, more than your soul. Read the Gospel as often as you can; study in it the will of your Lord and Saviour. Leave no attention to the least detail of the Gospel, no commandment apparently insignificant. Restrain and mortify all your own movements, not only sinful ones, but even those apparently good, belonging to fallen human nature, often very developed in pagans and heretics, standing from evangelical virtues “as far as the east from the west”. Let all your old self be silent in you! Let Jesus alone act in you through His most holy commandments, thoughts and feelings flowing from these commandments. If you live in such a manner, then the Jesus Prayer will assuredly flourish in you, regardless of whether you remain in a deep desert or in the midst of the noise of a cenobitic community, because the place of dwelling and peace of this prayer is the mind and heart renewed by knowledge, by tasting, by fulfillment of “God’s will, good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). Living according to the Gospel commandments is the sole and true source of spiritual advancement, accessible to each one who sincerely desires to advance, whatever external condition God’s mysterious providence has placed him in.

The practice of the Jesus Prayer by the very nature of this practice requires unceasing watchfulness over oneself. “Reverent caution is needed here,” says Elder Seraphim, “for the reason that ‘this sea’—that is, the heart with its thoughts and desires, which must be cleansed through attentiveness—‘is great and wide, in it are creatures countless’ (Ps. 103:25)—that is, many vain, wrong, and unclean thoughts, offspring of evil spirits.” One must constantly observe oneself so that sin does not somehow creep in and empty the soul.[13] This is not enough; one must constantly observe so that the mind and heart remain in Jesus’ will and follow His holy commandments, so that carnal reasoning does not craftily supplant spiritual reasoning, so as not to be swept away by some blood-heating, so as to remain, as much as possible, in constant deadness, in a certain subtle coolness (1 Kings 19:12). When the sensation of this subtle coolness appears, then from it God’s will is more clearly perceived and more freely fulfilled. When God’s will is more clearly perceived, then with special force there is aroused the hunger and thirst for Divine righteousness, and the practitioner, in deep consciousness of his poverty and in weeping, with new effort strives to reveal within himself this righteousness through the most attentive, most reverent prayer. “As this Divine prayer,” says Elder Paisius, “is the highest of all monastic struggles, the summit of practices according to the determination of the Fathers, the source of virtues, the most subtle and invisible work of the mind in the depths of the heart, so, correspondingly, the invisible enemy sets against it invisible, subtle, scarcely comprehensible to human understanding snares of manifold delusions and fantasies.”[14]

To lay any other foundation for prayer in the name of Jesus besides that which has been laid is impossible: it is our Lord Himself, Jesus Christ, the God-man, incomprehensibly covering the unlimited nature of God with the limited nature of man, and from limited human nature manifesting the actions of unlimited God. According to our infancy, the holy Fathers teach certain methods, as said above, for the most convenient accustoming ourselves to the Jesus Prayer. These methods are nothing but methods, containing nothing particular. One should not dwell on them with excessive attention, one should not ascribe excessive importance to them. All the power and all the action of the Jesus Prayer flows from the worshipped and almighty name of Jesus, the name, alone “under heaven, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). To become capable of the opening of this action in us, we must be worked on by the Gospel commandments, as the Lord Himself said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven”—both that which awaits us after our blessed end and that which opens in us during our earthly life—“but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Mt. 7:21). For those who have advanced, no external methods are needed: amid the noise of a crowd, they dwell in silence. All obstacles to spiritual advancement are in us, in us alone! If anything external acts as an obstacle, then it serves only to expose our feeble will, our double-mindedness, our corruption by sin. No external methods would be needed if we lived as we ought to live. Our life is relaxed: will is wavering, insignificant, and therefore we need external methods, as those with injured legs need crutches and staves. The merciful Fathers, seeing that I desire to engage in the Jesus Prayer, seeing also that I am wholly alive for the world, that it powerfully acts on me through my senses, counsel me, for prayer, to enter a solitary, dark cell, so that in this way my senses would come to inactivity, my communication with the world would be cut off, and it would be easier for me to turn inward. They counsel me to sit during the practice of the Jesus Prayer on a low chair, so that in my body I would have the position of a beggar asking for alms, and would more easily feel the poverty of my soul. When I am present at divine service and during it practice the Jesus Prayer, the Fathers counsel me to close my eyes for protection from distraction, because my sight is alert for material things, and as soon as I open my eyes, visible objects at once begin to imprint themselves on my mind, drawing me away from prayer. There are many other external methods, discovered by practitioners of prayer to give material support to spiritual struggle. These methods can be used beneficially; but in using them one must reckon with the spiritual and physical characteristics of each: some mechanical method, very good for one practitioner, may be useless and even harmful for another. Those who have advanced reject material methods, as one healed of lameness casts away his crutch, as a child reaching a certain age casts off swaddling clothes, as scaffolding is removed from a completed building which had aided its construction.

[1] Chapter 13. Philokalia, pt. 1.

[2] Ven. Mark the Ascetic. Homily on the Spiritual Law, Chapter 34.

[3] Instruction 29.

[4] Part 2. The Varlaamic Schism.

[5] Vol. VI, Book 95, Chapter 9.

[6] Theological Dictionary by Bergier, Vol. 4, Hesychasts.

[7] Instruction 12.

[8] Homily 12, Chapter 43.

[9] The Life and Writings of Paisius.

[10] Starchevsky’s Encyclopedic Dictionary. Hesychasts. See this same entry in Bergier’s Theological Lexicon.

[11] Ascetic Experiences, vol. 1. On the Jesus Prayer, A Dialogue of the Elder with the Disciple.

[12] Preface to the Book of Ven. Gregory of Sinai.

[13] Instruction 5.

[14] The Scroll, Chapter 4.

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 9)

For all and each it is essentially useful to begin learning to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus by practicing the Jesus Prayer orally while enclosing the mind in the words of the prayer. The enclosure of the mind in the words of the prayer represents the strictest attention to these words, without which prayer is like a body without a soul. Let us entrust to the Lord Himself the transformation of our attentive oral prayer into mental, heart, and soul prayer. He will assuredly accomplish this when He sees us somewhat purified, trained, grown, and prepared by the practice of the Gospel commandments. A wise parent does not give a sharp sword to an infant, his son. An infant is not able to use a sword against an enemy; he will play with a fearful sword and will soon and easily pierce himself with it. A child in spiritual age is not capable of spiritual gifts; he will use them not for God’s glory, not for his own benefit and that of his neighbors, not for striking down invisible enemies, but for striking down himself, imagining things about himself, becoming filled with destructive arrogance, destructive contempt toward neighbors. And lacking spiritual gifts, filled with foul passions, we are proud and boast, we do not cease to condemn and demean neighbors who in all respects are better than us! What would it be if we were entrusted with some spiritual wealth, some spiritual gift that would distinguish its possessor from his brethren, testifying that he is God’s chosen? Would it not become for us a cause of terrible spiritual calamity? Let us strive to be perfected in humility, which consists in a special blessed disposition of the heart, and appears in the heart from the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments. Humility is that sole altar on which the spiritual law permits us to offer the sacrifice of prayer, on which the prayer sacrifice offered ascends to God, appears before His face. Humility is the sole vessel into which the gifts of grace are placed by God’s finger. Let us engage in the Jesus Prayer disinterestedly, with simplicity and straightness of intention, with the aim of repentance, with faith in God, with complete devotion to God’s will, with trust in the wisdom, goodness, and omnipotence of this holy will. In choosing mechanical methods, let us try to act with every possible circumspection and wisdom, not being carried away by idle curiosity, unreasoned zeal, which appears to the inexperienced as virtue but is called by the holy Fathers arrogant audacity, mad fervor. Let us primarily turn to the simplest and most humble methods, as the safest. We repeat: all mechanical methods must be considered as nothing but methods, which have become useful for us on account of our weakness. Let us not place our trust in them or in the quantity of our practice, so that in this way our trust in the Lord may not be stolen, so that in the essence of the matter we may not prove to be trusting in ourselves or in something material and vain. Let us not seek pleasure or visions: we are sinners, unworthy of spiritual pleasures and visions, incapable of them on account of our degradation. Through attentive prayer let us seek to turn the eyes of the mind upon ourselves, to discover our sinfulness in ourselves. When we discover it, let us stand mentally before our Lord Jesus Christ in the company of the leprous, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the paralyzed, and the demon-possessed, and let us begin before Him from the poverty of our spirit, from a heart crushed by sorrow over our sinfulness, a tearful prayerful cry. Let this cry be boundlessly abundant! Let all verbosity and all variety of words prove incapable of expressing it. According to its abundance and inexpressibility, let it be clothed constantly, let it be clothed in a prayer spare in words but vast in meaning: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Amen.

The Pilgrim

This article is drawn from the experience of a monk engaged in the mental prayer and brought by it to the intoxication of which Saint Isaac the Syrian speaks at the end of Homily 55. Such intoxication is the action of spiritual sensation, as the same Isaac the Syrian said in Homily 38: “Spiritual understanding is the sensation of eternal life, and eternal life is divine sensation, that is, granted by the Holy Spirit”. On spiritual sensation Saint Macarius the Great speaks in Discourse 7; Ven. Symeon the New Theologian in Homily 1; the venerables Gregory of Sinai and Nilus of Sorsk call it the gracious action of prayer. The name Stranger, in the sense of the article, is used in Discourse 4 of Ven. Macarius the Great.

Where do You go? Where is Your usual dwelling? Where have You been until now? Why until now have You left me in solitude, in orphanhood, in poverty, in terrible death? Having known You, I have learned that without You my state was thus! Thus was it miserable! I stood in the vestibules of dark hell, I was cast into a deep, inescapable abyss. Do not forsake me! I cannot exist without You! If You forsake me—again I am at the gates of hell, again in the abyss, again in unbearable and inexpressible calamity.

You come! I do not see the form of Your coming; I see Your arrival, I see not with fleshly eyes—through sensation. You give me no time, no means to reflect—who are You? Unexpectedly You appear in the soul, Invisible and Incomprehensible! You appear with ineffable quietness and subtlety, together with the power and might of the Creator, for You transform the entire human being: You transform, transfigure, recreate, renew both mind and heart and body! You—the Mighty One—enter the house, bind the strong one, plunder the vessels of the house, plunder not to destruction—to salvation! And both house and vessels were once Yours; You established them, established them for Yourself, and they themselves were surrendered into grievous captivity to the robber. And they were until now—my mind, my soul, my body—under the power of a cruel master, acting under his influence. You come: they now come into Your disposal, begin to act under Your influence, holy and blessed. How shall I call You? How shall I speak of You to my brothers?

How shall I convey the name of the Stranger who has withdrawn under the shelter of my soul, under a shelter that is worn out, come to final ruin, open to the gusts of wind, to rain and snow—under a shelter fit only for beasts without reason? What did You find in my heart, which various sinful thoughts had visited in turn, entering into it without resistance, finding in it, as in a manger, as in a pig’s trough, delectable food of varied passionate sensations? It seems to me I know the name of my Guest! But, looking upon my uncleanness, I fear to speak the name. One irreverent utterance of the great and all-holy name may subject me to condemnation! How much more fearful is the very presence of the One Named! But You are present! Your boundless goodness has brought You to a foul sinner, so that the sinner, having known the dignity and calling of man, having tasted it by experience, having seen it through sensation, “how good is the Lord” (Ps. 33:9), might abandon the ways of lawlessness, abandon the beloved mire (bog—Editor) of fetid passions, might take care to acquire purity through repentance, might become Your temple and dwelling.

How shall I call the One hovering near me, hovering within me, Stranger? How shall I call the wondrous Guest who came to comfort me in my exile, to heal me of an incurable sickness, to draw me out of a dark abyss, to lead me forth into the fertile pasture-land of the Lord, to guide me in the right and holy paths, who came to remove the impenetrable veil that had spread before my eyes, concealing from me the magnificent eternity and my God? How shall I call the Teacher who proclaims to me the teaching about God, a teaching new and yet ancient, a divine teaching, not human? Shall I call the Teacher light? I do not see light, but He illumines my mind and heart, transcending all words, transcending all earthly teaching, without words, with ineffable swiftness, by some strange—thus do I express the inexpressible—touching of the mind, or action within the mind itself. Shall I call Him fire? But He does not burn; on the contrary, He irrigates pleasantly and cools. He is a certain “sound of thin stillness” (1 Sam. 19:12); but from Him, as from fire, every passion flees, every sinful thought. He utters no word, and yet utters and speaks, teaches, sings wondrously, mysteriously, with ineffable quietness, subtlety, transforming, renewing the mind and heart that listen to Him in silence, in the soul’s chamber. He has no image, no form, nothing sensible in Him. He is entirely immaterial, invisible, exceedingly subtle: suddenly, unexpectedly, with ineffable quietness He appears in the mind, in the heart, gradually pervades the entire soul, the entire body, takes possession of them, removes from them all that is sinful, arrests the action of flesh and blood, unites the scattered parts of man into one, reveals our nature whole, which has been scattered by the terrible fall, as an earthen vessel scatters from a fall. Who, seeing this restoration, does not recognize the hand of the Creator, the only One who has the power to create and to recreate?

Until now I speak only of the action, not naming Who is acting. To name Him—I am afraid! Examine me, brothers! Look carefully at what is being accomplished in me! You tell me what is being accomplished in me? You tell me who is accomplishing it? I feel, I sense within myself the presence of the Stranger. Whence He came, how He appeared in me—I do not know. Having appeared, He remains invisible, entirely incomprehensible. But He is present, because He acts within me, because He possesses me, not destroying my free will, drawing it into His will by the ineffable holiness of His will. By an invisible hand He has taken my mind, taken my heart, taken my soul, taken my body. Scarcely did they sense this hand when they came alive! There appeared in them a new sensation, a new movement—spiritual sensation and movement! I knew not these sensations and movements before, did not even know, did not suppose the existence of them. They appeared, and from their appearance sensations and movements of flesh and soul hid themselves or were constrained; they appeared as life—and vanished, as death, the former state. From the touching of this hand to my entire being, mind, heart, and body united with one another, formed something whole, unified; then plunged into God, remain there, for as long as the invisible, incomprehensible, almighty hand holds them there. What feeling then embraces me there? My entire being is embraced by a deep, mysterious silence, beyond all thought, beyond all imagination, beyond all movement of soul produced by blood; my entire being keeps sabbath and yet acts under the governance of the Holy Spirit. This governance cannot be explained in words. I remain as if intoxicated, I forget all things, I am nourished by an unknown, incorruptible food, I exist outside all that is sensible, in the realm of the immaterial, in a realm that transcends not only matter, transcends all thought, all understanding: I do not feel my very body. My eyes look and do not look, see and do not see; my ears hear and do not hear; all my members are intoxicated—and I stagger on my feet, hold myself up with my hands lest I fall, or I lie cast down upon a bed, as if in painless sickness and in weakness arising from an excess of strength. The “cup” of the Lord, the cup of the Spirit intoxicates “mightily” (Ps. 23:5). Thus do I pass days, weeks!.. And time grows short!.. A wondrous silence embracing the mind, heart, soul of those who have turned with all their might toward God and lost themselves—so to speak—in infinite movement toward the boundless, this silence is at once communion, but—without words, without any variety, without thoughts, transcending thoughts. The Stranger who accomplishes all this has also a voice and word uncommon, speaking and heard mysteriously without words and sound. I search in Scripture where it might be said of such actions, to know the wondrous Stranger, and I involuntarily stop before the words of the Saviour: “The Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, but you do not know where He comes from and where He goes; so it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:8). How then shall I call the action itself? It reconciles, unites man with himself, and then with God: it is impossible not to recognize in this action the breathing of divine peace, “which surpasses all understanding, guarding your heart and your thoughts in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7), granted by the Holy Spirit coming to man, renewing man. Truly! Through this action mind and heart become evangelical, become Christ’s; man sees the Gospel inscribed within himself, on the tablets of the soul, by the finger of the Spirit.

The divine Stranger departs, hides as unnoticeably as He comes and appears. But He leaves throughout my entire being the fragrance of immortality, immaterial, as He Himself is immaterial, a spiritual fragrance, life-giving, sensed by the new sensation which He has planted or awakened within me. Revived, nourished by this fragrance, I write and proclaim the word of life to my brothers. But when this fragrance is exhausted, when there arises in my soul the stench of mortal passions, then my word too—is without life, infected with stench and decay!..

If anyone, hearing from the lips of a sinner a great word about the actions of the Spirit, wavers in unbelief, is troubled by the thought that the action proclaimed is the action of demonic delusion, let him cast away that blasphemous notion. No, no! The action is not such, the properties of delusion are not such! Tell me, is it fitting for the devil, the enemy, the murderer of men, to become their healer? Is it fitting for the devil to unite into one the parts and powers of man scattered by sin, to lead them out of bondage to sin into freedom, to lead them from a state of opposition, of internal warfare, into a state of sacred peace in the Lord? Is it fitting for the devil to extract from the deep abyss of ignorance of God and bestow a living, experiential knowledge of God, which no longer needs any proofs from without? Is it fitting for the devil to preach and explain in detail the Redeemer, to preach and explain the approach to the Redeemer through repentance? Is it fitting for the devil to restore in man the fallen image, to set in order the disordered likeness? Is it fitting to grant the taste of spiritual poverty and at once of resurrection, renewal, union with God? Is it fitting for the devil to elevate to the heights of theology where man becomes as nothing, without thought, without desire, wholly plunged in wondrous silence? This silence is the exhaustion of all the powers of human existence, turned toward God, and, so to speak, vanishing before the infinite majesty of God (Job 42:6). Differently acts delusion, and differently God, the boundless Master of men, Who was and now is their Creator. He Who creates and recreates, does He not remain Creator? Hearken then, most beloved brother, hearken to how the action of delusion differs from the action of God! Delusion, when it approaches man—whether through thought or imagination, or subtle opinion, or through some appearance seen by sensible eyes, or a voice from heaven heard by sensible ears—always approaches not as an unlimited sovereign, but as a seductress, seeking agreement in man, receiving power over him from his agreement. The action of delusion, whether internal or external to man, is always action from without; man can reject it. Delusion always encounters initially a certain doubt in the heart; those who have been decisively overcome by it do not doubt it. Delusion never unites the man scattered by sin, never arrests the movements of blood, never instructs the ascetic in repentance, never diminishes him in his own eyes; on the contrary, it arouses in him imagination, sets the blood in motion, brings him a kind of tasteless, poisonous pleasure, flatters him subtly, inspires self-conceit, establishes in the soul an idol of the “self”.

Divine action is immaterial: it is not seen, not heard, not expected, is unimaginable, cannot be explained by any comparison drawn from this world; it comes, acts mysteriously. First it shows man his sin, magnifies his sin before man’s eyes, unceasingly holds terrible sin before his eyes, brings the soul into self-condemnation, reveals to it our fall, that terrible, dark, deep abyss of destruction into which our race descended through the sin of our first ancestor; then, little by little, it grants deep attention and contrition of heart during prayer. Having prepared such a vessel, suddenly, unexpectedly, immaterially it touches the scattered parts, and they are united into one. How did it touch? I cannot explain: I saw nothing, heard nothing, but I see myself changed, suddenly felt myself so from the action of the Sovereign. The Creator acted in the recreation as He acted in creation. Tell me: when the body of Adam, formed from earth, lay yet not enlivened by the soul before the Creator, could it have any notion of life, any sense of it? When it was suddenly enlivened by the soul, could it beforehand deliberate whether to accept the soul or reject it? The newly created Adam suddenly felt himself alive, thinking, willing! With the same suddenness is recreation accomplished. The Creator was and is the Sovereign—He acts sovereignly, supernaturally, beyond all thought, beyond all comprehension, infinitely subtly, spiritually altogether, immaterially.

But you still waver in doubt! You look upon me and, seeing before you such a sinner, involuntarily question: Is it truly in this sinner, in whom the action of passions is so evident and strong—is the Holy Spirit truly acting in him? A just question! And it brings me to bewilderment, to terror! I am swept away, I sin, I commit adultery with sin, I betray my God, I sell Him for the foul price of sin. And despite my constant betrayal, my treacherous, faithless behavior, He remains unchanging. Without enmity, He awaits patiently my repentance, draws me by every means to repentance, to correction. Have you heard what the Son of God says in the Gospel? “Those who are well have no need of a physician,” says He, “but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mt. 9:12–13). Thus spoke the Saviour: thus also He acted. He reclined with tax collectors, with sinners, led them through conversion to faith and virtue into spiritual kinship with Abraham and the other righteous. Does the infinite goodness of the Son of God amaze and astound you? Know that the all-holy Spirit is equally good, equally thirsts for the salvation of mankind, equally gentle, without enmity, patient, multimerciful is the Spirit—one of the three equally honored Persons of the all-holy Trinity, which form, unmixed and undivided, one divine being, having one nature.

And sin itself attracts the Holy Spirit to man! Sin attracts Him—not enacted through committing, but seen in oneself, acknowledged, bewailed! The more man gazes upon his sin, the more he gives himself over to weeping for himself, the more pleasing and accessible he becomes to the Holy Spirit, Who, as a physician, approaches only those who recognize themselves as sick, and on the contrary turns away from those who are “rich” in their vain self-conceit (Lk. 1:53). Look and gaze upon your sin! Do not turn your eyes from it! Deny yourself, do not hold your “soul” “dear to yourself” (Acts 20:24). Entirely give yourself over to the sight of your sin, to weeping for it! Then, in His time, you will behold your restoration by the incomprehensible, and all the more inexplicable action of the Holy Spirit. He will come to you when you do not expect Him—will work in you when you acknowledge yourself utterly unworthy of Him!

But if there lurks in you an expectation of grace—beware: you are in a dangerous position! Such expectation testifies to hidden self-esteem, and self-esteem testifies to latent self-conceit, in which is pride. To pride easily follows, and to it easily cleaves delusion. Delusion is a turning away from Truth and from the Holy Spirit who serves Truth, a turning toward falsehood and toward demons who serve and support falsehood. Delusion exists already in self-conceit, exists in self-esteem, in the very expectation of grace. These are its initial forms, as the bud, the blossom, the germ are the initial forms of the ripe fruit. From false concepts arise false sensations. From false concepts and sensations arises self-deception. To the action of self-deception is joined the seductive action of demons. Demons reign and preside in the realm of falsehood: he who willfully submits to demons comes under their forcible influence. As darkened and deceived by the falsehood he has accepted as truth, he loses his freedom without noticing it. Such a state is the state of delusion. We enter into it, we are cast down into it through our pride and self-love. “He who loves his soul will lose it; and he who hates his soul in this world will keep it for eternal life” (Jn. 12:25). Amen.

A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

“Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth” (Ps. 99:1). Earth here means man. This name was given to man by his Creator Himself, God. God said to Adam: “you are earth” (Gen. 3:19). Though I am ensouled, yet I am earth: I am ensouled by a dead soul. A dead soul during earthly life is buried in the earth, that is, is enclosed in the passionate body as in a prison, as in fetters, and is enslaved to it; after separation from the body, it descends into the depths of the earth. For salvation—resurrection is necessary.

For the earth to come alive and to cry out to God, there is needed a preliminary destruction of the separation produced in it by the fall, there is needed the unification of it with itself and within itself. Only “all the earth” can cry out to God: only the entire whole, reunited with itself and within itself being of man, guided by the mind not plundered and not shaken in prayer by alien thoughts, can turn with all its powers toward God; only all bones can turn with a living word of true prayer to God; by all bones is named in Scripture all the constituent parts of man, gathered and recreated by the Lord, united into one among themselves, united into one with the Lord (Ps. 34:10). Then will man understand from the inner experience accomplished in his soul that he has come alive spiritually, that until then he was in captivity, in fetters, in death. From this blessed experience the Venerable Ephrem said: “Your grace has been multiplied upon me, O Lord, it has satisfied my hunger and my thirst, illumined my darkened mind, gathered my scattered thoughts, filled my heart. Now I bow down, I fall down, I pray and beseech You, confessing my weakness: by Your love for mankind, diminish the waves of Your grace in me and preserve it for me, so that You may give it to me again on the terrible day (of Your second coming or on the day of my death). Do not be angry with me, O Lover of mankind! I cannot bear to be without it, and therefore, casting off all doubt, I turn to You with prayer. Your grace has been multiplied in me beyond measure, and my tongue has grown weary, having no means to express it; my mind has come into bewilderment, unable to bear the multitude of its waves. O Image and radiance of the blessed Father! Restrain in me now the waves of it, for it burns my members and my heart; restrain it here, so that there You may give it again. Save me, O Master, and make me worthy of Your kingdom. Remember not my lawlessness, nor be angry at the boldness of my prayer. Grant me what I ask, and dwell in me as in a dwelling (Jn. 14:23), with Your blessed Father, in the day of Your manifestation (Jn. 14:21). Christ! Grant me my prayer, for You alone—are the giver of life. Hide my lawlessness from my friends! Receive these tears of mine![1] Let my weeping come before You!” (Ps. 38:14). The athlete of God cries out: “Diminish in me the waves of Your grace”. Homily 29, Chapter 8. Into a state similar to that described here came the young monk Zacharias, to whom was granted through his humility a special, sensible grace of the Holy Spirit. See the Memorable Tales and the Alphabetical Patericon. Saint John of the Ladder says: “The fire descended into the heart restores prayer. And when it arises and is lifted up to heaven, then is accomplished the descent of fire into the upper chamber of the soul”. Homily 27, Chapter 45. On spiritual warmth see in the Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Ascetic Experiences, vol. II). This warmth is one thing at its beginning and another in its unattainable fullness. This speech—the speech of one spiritually intoxicated with the mercy of God: it—is a cry of exultation.

“Serve the Lord with gladness, and come before His presence with singing” (Ps. 99:2). As long as prayer is plundered by alien thoughts, so long is the labor of prayer accomplished with difficulty, with sorrow, with compulsion and violence to oneself; so long is the one praying not allowed before the face of God. But when prayer begins to be uttered from the whole being, then its labor is filled with spiritual delight. By this delight the ascetic is drawn to the labor, encouraged, strengthened, held in the labor; the labor of prayer becomes the chief, ceaseless, sole labor of the ascetic. In unspeakable joy the workers of ceaseless prayer enter in spirit before the invisible face of God and stand before the face of God. They stand before this Face because alien thoughts and imaginings, which formed an impenetrable veil, have been taken away. There is no obstacle to vision! But God, mysteriously seen by the purity of heart, remains invisible: “No one has ever seen God” (Jn. 1:18; Mt. 5:8), by reason of the infinite subtlety and spirituality of His being.[2] The perfection of the divine being is the cause of His inaccessibility (1 Tim. 6:16) not only to vision by creatures, but to comprehension: it is “darkness under His feet”, it is “darkness placed as a covering”, by which God is covered. “He bowed the heavens and came down,” came God, “and mounted the Cherubim and flew: he flew on the wings of the wind” (Ps. 17:10–12). By the bowing of the heavens and descent from them is meant here God’s diminution of His majesty, His adaptation to the properties of creatures, by His omnipotence and ineffable goodness. He, so to speak, diminishes Himself, descends from the height of His perfection, so as to make sensible His all-holy action to the Cherubim and to those men who prove, like the Cherubim, capable of bearing God. The action of the Spirit of God is likened to the movement of wind or movement on wings of wind, to show that this action is immaterial, wholly spiritual.

Joy and gladness are proper to the soul that has felt revival, that has felt deliverance from the captivity in which sin and fallen spirits held it, that has felt the overshadowing of divine grace, that has felt that by the action of this grace it has been set before the face of God, brought to spotless and blessed service of God. Joy and gladness are so great that the Holy Spirit invites he who has felt them to cry out. How not to cry out in joy, he who has been set free, has come alive, has been given wings, has been lifted from the earth to heaven? The cry belongs to the human spirit. It is strong, but spiritual: flesh and blood have no part in it, and cannot have. Their willful action is set aside: they come into subjection to the acting grace of God, serve as instruments in true labor and no longer draw man into improper states and actions.

“Know you that the Lord He is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves: we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Ps. 99:3). He who prays with impure prayer has a knowledge of God that is dead, as of a God unknown and unseen. But when, freed from plunder and captivity by thoughts, he is allowed before the invisible face of God, then he will know God with a living, experiential knowledge. He will know God as God.[3] Then man, turning the eyes of the mind upon himself, sees himself as a creature, and not as an independent being, as men deceptively appear to themselves when they are in darkness and self-deception; then he establishes himself in that relation to God in which God’s creature ought to be, recognizing himself obliged to bow reverently to the will of God and earnestly to fulfill it. The pasture of God—His will, revealed to His sheep in Holy Scripture and manifest in His incomprehensible judgments.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: give thanks to Him, and bless His name” (Ps. 99:4). The means to obtain access before the face of God is humility. Humility is the gate of God, the gate into the courts of God, into the handmade temple and house of God, into the temple of the heart, in which God has dwelt through the mystery of baptism. The gates of God belong solely to God. They are His gates; they are opened exclusively by the finger of God. Before their opening is granted confession, heartfelt confession, confession from the whole soul. Confession is the action of humility. Confession is the expression by man of his consciousness before God. This consciousness arises when the eyes are opened upon ourselves by the touch of grace to the eyes of the soul, when the mind shakes off the blindness that has darkened it and deprived it of proper, God-pleasing self-awareness. We confess, we confess from the fullness of conviction, from such fullness of conviction as with which is pronounced and confessed the Creed, that we are fallen beings, burdened both with that sinfulness which belongs to all mankind, and with that which belongs to each of us in particular. We render glory to the justice of God, which has cast our guilty race out of paradise onto the earth, which has condemned all mankind to labor and suffering, which punishes each man with particular punishments for his particular sins. Following confession comes unceasing prayer. It is the gift of God. By the right hand of this gift the one praying is taken from amid the distraction and captivity that surrounded and held him, is presented, free from all distraction, before the face of God in the handmade temple of God. Out of perfect humility and perfect obedience to the will of God is born the purest, most holy prayer. It cannot be born otherwise and from other labors: thus it is natural for the grape to be born on the vine, not on any other tree. This prayer is named singing, because the prayer of the spirit is a holy, mysterious song by which God is praised. The great Paul said: “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18–19). “Enlighten the eyes of my mind, open my lips, that I may be instructed in Your words, and understand Your commandments, and do Your will, and sing Your praises with heartfelt confession, and praise Your most holy name!”[4]

“For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth to all generations” (Ps. 99:5). After knowledge and confession of God’s justice, after vindication of God’s judgments (Ps.The judgments of the Lord are true, justified together 18:10), the worker of prayer enters into knowledge of God’s infinite goodness, inseparable from His justice. In the union of God’s goodness with His justice appears His all-holy truth: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed one another” (Ps. 84:11). Into the prayer of the one praying with pure prayer is poured from the sensation of God’s goodness a spiritual sweetness that plunges the human spirit into an abyss of humility, at the same time lifting it from earth to heaven. Such a man of prayer is also the most solitary contemplative. This contemplative abides ceaselessly with God through God’s action in him, beyond the world, beyond thoughts of what is transitory, beyond sympathy for what is transitory. The heart, having come alive through its sensation for God and all that belongs to God, dies to the world, dies to all that is hostile to God and all that is alien to God. In this death is life, and in this destruction is salvation. Amen.

[1] Homily 58, according to the Slavonic translation. To these words of Venerable Ephrem the Syrian, Saint John of the Ladder refers in his Ladder: “Who, before the future glory, was deemed worthy of such dispassion as was the holy Syrian? Illustrious among the prophets, David says to the Lord: Grant me relief, that I may find rest”

[2] He who dwells in unapproachable light

[3] Ven. Mark the Ascetic. On the Spiritual Law, Chapters 13 and 14.

[4] Morning Prayer.

A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection

A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Many speak of salvation, many desire to be saved; but if one asks them what salvation consists in, the answer becomes very difficult for them. It would not matter if the matter ended in mere difficulty of answering! But no: the harmful consequence flowing from this is very significant. Ignorance of what salvation consists in imparts indefiniteness and incorrectness to our actions in the field of virtue. Apparently we do many good deeds; but in essence we do very little for our salvation. Why is this? The answer is very simple: because we do not know what our salvation consists in.

To know what our salvation consists in, we must first know what our ruin consists in, because salvation is needed only for the ruined. He who seeks salvation, by this very fact necessarily recognizes himself as ruined: otherwise why would he seek salvation? Our ruin was accomplished through the destruction of our communion with God and through the entering into communion with fallen and rejected spirits. Our salvation consists in the breaking of communion with Satan and in the restoration of communion with God.[1]

PART ONE

All mankind is in ruin, in a fallen state. We have lost communion with God in the very root and source of our being: in our first ancestors, through their voluntary transgression. They were created spotless, not partakers of sin and corruption: from the very moment of their creation they became partakers of the Holy Spirit; having received natural being according to their humanity, they at the same time received supernatural being from union with the Divine Nature. Voluntarily rejecting submission to God, voluntarily entering into submission to the devil, they lost communion with God, their freedom and dignity, surrendered themselves to submission and slavery to the fallen spirit. They voluntarily rejected life, called death upon themselves, they voluntarily violated the wholeness of the good granted them at creation, poisoned themselves with sin.[2] As the beginning of mankind, they communicate and do not cease to communicate their contagion, their ruin, their death to all humanity. Adam, created according to the all-holy Image and Likeness of God, who was to produce offspring corresponding to him, defiled the Image, destroyed the Likeness, produced offspring corresponding to the defiled image, the destroyed likeness. Holy Scripture, having testified that man was created in the Image of God (Gen. 1:27), already withholds this testimony from Adam’s children. Scripture says of them that they were born according to the image of Adam (Gen. 5:3), that is, such as Adam became after the fall. Due to the loss of the Likeness, the Image became worthless. From the face of each man entering into the being of the fallen state, Scripture brings a sorrowful confession: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps.Concerning the distinction between the image and likeness of God in man, see the works of Saint Dimitry of Rostov, the Chronicle, volume 4, p. 15:1840:50:7). Men became enemies of God, their Creator (Rom. 5:10).

God, by His ineffable mercy, called mankind back into communion with Himself. This He accomplished through the most wondrous, incomprehensible way. By one of His three Persons, the All-holy Word, He took upon Himself humanity, being conceived in the womb of the Most Holy Virgin by the action of the All-holy Spirit, setting aside from Himself the ordinary human conception from male seed; conception that communicated to all men the contagion of sin. Thus there appeared in mankind a spotless Man such as the first ancestor was created. This spotless Man was a partaker of the Divine Nature, like the first-created, but incomparably to a far greater degree: the first-created was a holy man by grace, but the God who became man became the God-man. He took upon Himself all human sins. He was able to do this because, being a man, He was also the omnipotent, all-perfect God. Having taken all human sins upon Himself, He offered Himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God’s justice for sinful mankind; He accomplished redemption, because He was able to do so. The infinitely and boundlessly Holy One redeemed by His sufferings and death the numerous, but limited, sins of mankind—and Holy Scripture with full justice testifies of Him: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). The God-man stands in for Himself before God both the entire world and each man. The virtues, both social and private, flowing from fallen human nature, lost their significance upon God’s becoming man: they have been replaced by the great work of God—“faith in the One whom He has sent” (Jn. 6:29). In this great work of God is contained salvation, as the Saviour Himself testified: “And this is eternal life (salvation), that they know You, the only true God”, and “Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn. 17:3). The virtues of the Christian must flow from Christ, from human nature renewed by Him, not from nature fallen. As our fall does not consist in the destruction of good from our nature—this is the distinguishing mark of the fall of the rejected angels—but in the mixture of our natural good with evil unnatural to us, fallen human nature has virtues and good deeds proper to it. They are performed by pagans, Mohammedans, and all who are alien to Christ. These good deeds and virtues, as defiled by the admixture of evil, are unworthy of God, hinder communion with Him, oppose our salvation. Let us reject this false good or, more correctly, this greatest evil! Let us reject the activity of fallen nature! Let us give ourselves over to the activity commanded us by Faith in Christ! Let us cease to conduct our life according to the dictates of our fallen reason, according to the inclination of our fallen heart! Let us begin to conduct our life according to the teaching of the Gospel commandments, according to the demands of God’s will. Living thus, we shall be saved.

Those who assign to the good deeds of fallen nature a high value it does not deserve fall into the greatest harmful error. They fall into it without realizing it, into the humiliation and rejection of Christ. Often one hears from them the question: “Why should not pagans, Mohammedans, Lutherans, and all such manifest and hidden enemies of Christianity be saved? Among them are many of the most virtuous people”. Clearly, such questions and objections come from complete ignorance of what human ruin and salvation consist in. Clearly, by such questions and objections Christ is humiliated, the thought is expressed that Redemption and the Redeemer were not a necessity for men, that men can satisfy their salvation by their own means. In short, by this question and objection Christianity is rejected. The virtues of fallen human nature had their value, like the provisions of the Old Testament, before the coming of Christ; they brought man into a state capable of receiving the Saviour. “The Light has come into the world”, said the God-man of His coming to men, “and men loved darkness rather than Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed as evil; but whoever practices the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be seen as done in God” (Jn. 3:19–21). It is natural for those who love sin to reject Christ, because Christ commands the abandonment of sin loved by sinners. It is natural for those who love virtue to turn to and cleave to Christ, because the fulfillment and fullness of the good they love is Christ.

“God does not show partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him” (Acts 10:34–35). These words were spoken by the holy Apostle Peter regarding the pagan Cornelius, the centurion, whom God called to Faith. The striving toward true virtue prepared and made Cornelius capable of receiving salvation. Thus should we understand the word “acceptable”, according to the explanation of the great teacher of the Church, Saint John Chrysostom; thus this word is explained also by the very narrative set forth in the Acts of the Apostles by the holy Evangelist Luke.[3] Though Cornelius was a pagan, he had abandoned idols and prayed diligently to the one true God, and gave abundant alms. Once, during prayer, an Angel of God appeared to him and said: “Cornelius! Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter” (the Apostle): “he will speak to you words by which you and all your household will be saved” (Acts 10:3–6). Cornelius’s prayers and alms were so powerful that the merciful Lord looked upon them; but they, of themselves, did not provide salvation for Cornelius. They made him capable of believing in Christ, and faith in Christ provided him salvation. Here is the precise valuation of good from fallen nature! Good has value only when it leads to Christ. But when it, being satisfied with itself, separates from Christ, then it becomes the greatest evil, takes from us the salvation granted by Christ, salvation which it, of itself, in no way can provide.

Similar to the action of natural good is the action of the Old Testament. Turning away from it before the coming of Christ was apostasy from God; the desire to remain with it after Christ’s coming became apostasy from God (Gal. 5:4). The Old Testament was a minister of salvation, preparing men for Faith in Christ, through which salvation is granted; but for Jews who wished to remain forever with the Old Testament, it became an intermediary, an instrument of destruction. The soul-destroying error of the Jews consists in that they, by the action of pride and self-conceit, gave to the Covenant given them by God a different meaning from that given by God, and for the sake of the Old Covenant, which was a vivid shadow of Truth—the New Covenant—they rejected the New Covenant; for the shadow they rejected that which the shadow prefigured; for the temporary guidance to salvation, they rejected salvation itself, rejected Redemption and the Redeemer.

Equally soul-destroying is the error of those who, blinded by pride and self-conceit, assign to their good deeds, deeds of fallen nature, a value not belonging to them. “Robber and thief—that is he who” does not enter “by the door but climbs in another way” (Jn. 10:1): so also is he who, without Christ justifying him, justifies himself.[4] All the saints, forsaking their own righteousness, sought God’s righteousness and found in it (holy) love, hidden from nature corrupted by the fall.[5] Nature, being corrupted by the fall, has also corrupted righteousness. “We have all gone astray”, says the Prophet, “and are like filthy rags; all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Is. 64:6). “From head to foot there is” in him, in fallen man, “no soundness” (Is. 1:6).[6] The evil that has struck us, according to the Fathers’ explanation of the Prophet’s words, is not partial, but in the whole body, has embraced the entire soul, has seized all its powers. Not a single particle has remained in our nature that is not damaged, not infected with sin: no action of ours can take place without an admixture of evil. When water is mixed with wine or vinegar, each drop of it contains a mixture, so also our nature, being infected with evil, contains an admixture of evil in every manifestation of its activity.[7] All our wealth and all our dignity is in the Redeemer. “Man is justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone” (Gal.All the Evangelists confirm this requirement. 2:16). To assimilate the Redeemer with living faith requires the complete renunciation of one’s soul (Lk. 14:26), that is, not only of sinfulness but also of the righteousness of fallen nature. The striving to keep hold of the righteousness of fallen nature defiled by sin is active rejection of the Redeemer. “You have severed yourselves from Christ” (you are estranged from Christ) “whoever of you seek to be justified by the law” of Moses, or by natural law; “you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4), says the Apostle. “For if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21). This means: in the mode of thinking (mindset) that permits the dignity of one’s own human righteousness before God after the revelation of Christianity, there necessarily exists a blasphemous concept leavening this entire mode of thinking, a concept of the needlessness of Christ for salvation, a concept equivalent to the rejection of Christ. The Lord said to the Pharisees who were striving to hold to their own righteousness: “you say, ‘We see’; your sin remains” (Jn. 9:41). “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mt. 9:13). This means: those who do not recognize their sins as sins, nor their righteousness as worthless rags defiled and torn through communion with sin and Satan, are estranged from the Redeemer, confessing Him perhaps with their lips, but rejecting Him in their deeds and in their spirit. The holy Apostle Paul, who was blameless and righteous according to the laws of Moses and natural law, counted his righteousness “as loss for the sake of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, the Lord”. He rejected his righteousness, counting it “as rubbish (as refuse),” “so that I may gain Christ”, says the great Paul, “and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith” (Phil. 3:4–9). “And while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners” (Gal. 2:17): because there is no way to approach Christ and assimilate oneself to Him without recognizing from the sincerity of the heart that one is a sinner, a lost sinner, having no own justification, no own dignity. “No flesh will be justified before God by the works of the law. But now a righteousness from God apart from the law has been revealed, attested by the law and the prophets. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. There is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:20–24).

By the inviolable law of ascetic practice, an abundant recognition and sensation of one’s own sinfulness, granted by divine grace, precedes all other gracious gifts. It prepares the soul to receive these gifts. The soul is unable to receive them unless it first comes into a state of blessed spiritual poverty. “When the mind sees its sins as numerous as the sand of the sea, this serves as a sign of the soul’s enlightenment having begun, a sign of its health”.[8] Having come into this state, the bishop Tikhon of Voronezh said: “Let us know our sins: for this is the beginning of repentance.[9] Let us repent, recognizing ourselves as worthy of nothing. The more unworthy they (the saints of God) recognize themselves: the more God, being good and merciful, deems them worthy.[10] What is our own? Weakness, corruption, darkness, wickedness, sins”.[11] Let us beware of this soul-destroying delusion! Let us fear the denial of Christ connected with this delusion! Let us fear the certain loss of salvation through the adoption of a false idea hostile to Faith! The more cautious we need to be in our time, since now with particular effort is spread the preaching of the heights of virtue and progress of fallen mankind, with the open aim to attract all to the field of these virtues and this progress. Deriding the all-holy good of Christianity, this preaching strives to instill toward it contempt and hatred.

The works of salvation are works of Faith, works of the New Testament. Through these works is fulfilled not human understanding, not human will, but the will of the All-holy God, revealed to us in the commandments of the Gospel. The Christian desiring to inherit salvation must accomplish the following works:

1) To believe in God in the way God commands belief in Him, that is, to receive the teaching about God revealed by God, to receive Christianity, preserved in all purity and fullness in the heart of the Orthodox Church, planted by the God-man in the East, spreading from the East to the world, abiding to this day in wholeness only in the East and containing the God-given Christian teaching unaltered, without change and without the admixture of human and demonic teachings. “It is necessary to believe”, says the Apostle, “that those who approach God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him” (Heb.The Euchologion, the Office of Confession. 11:6). Christian teaching has been proclaimed to the world by preaching, and is received by faith. Being divine teaching, revealed teaching, surpassing human reason, it cannot be received otherwise than through heartfelt sympathy, faith. Faith, by its natural property, is capable of receiving and assimilating to mind and heart that which is incomprehensible to the mind and cannot be received by ordinary judgment. “Whoever believes and is baptized”, said the Lord, “will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:16).

2) The one who has believed must bring repentance for his former voluntarily sinful life, and firmly resolve to conduct a life pleasing to God. “As obedient children”, teaches the holy Apostle Peter to Christians, “do not be conformed to the desires you had when you were living in ignorance. Rather, as He who called you is holy, you also should become holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:14–15). It is impossible to assimilate oneself to God nor to remain in assimilation to God while voluntarily remaining and abiding in sinful life. The New Testament proclaims to all who approach God repentance as the first condition of access to God. The preacher who began the preaching of the New Testament, the great John, the Forerunner of the Lord, began his preaching with an invitation to repentance. “Repent”, he said to fallen men, newly called to communion with God, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 3:2). With these words the God-man Himself began His preaching: “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Mt. 4:17). With these words the Word of God commanded His holy Apostles to begin their preaching, first sending them “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, bound fast in destruction despite the prefigurement of communion with God granted to them. “Go and proclaim”, the Word of God commanded the apostles, “saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Mt. 10:6–7). The call to faith and repentance is divine. Obedience to this call is necessary for salvation: it is the fulfillment of the all-holy will of God.

3) Those who have believed in God, having rejected sinful life to enter into communion with God, enter into this communion through the initial Christian mystery—holy Baptism: Baptism is birth into divine life. It is impossible to enter into natural existence without being born according to the law of nature; it is impossible to enter into communion with God, in which consists our true life or our salvation, without entering into Christianity through holy Baptism. Such is the divine establishment. Through Baptism we enter into rebirth (Tit. 3:5), that is, into that holy being which was granted to Adam at his creation, lost by him at his fall, returned to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above”, said the Lord, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (Jn. 3:3, 5). Being born according to the flesh, we become the offspring of our first ancestor according to the flesh, Adam, who gives us being together with eternal death; through holy Baptism we pass into the spiritual offspring of the God-man, Who, according to the testimony of the Prophet, “is the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6), Who, giving us spiritual birth, destroys in us the principle of death sown by birth according to the flesh, and grants us eternal life, salvation, blessedness in God. The holy John the Theologian proclaims concerning those who have believed in God and been reborn by holy Baptism: “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God” (Jn. 1:12–13). Holy Baptism, making us children of God, restores our freedom granted to us at creation, lost by us at the fall, restores the strength of the will, places at our disposal either to remain children of God or to reject adoption. Thus in paradise there was placed at the self-mastery of our first ancestors either to remain eternally in blessedness or to lose it. “Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard”, that is, with special care observe ourselves, “so that we do not drift away” (Heb.The Venerable Abba Dorotheos, Instruction 1:2:1). Holy Baptism is sealed by another mystery immediately following it, holy Chrismation. It is fitting that this mystery be named a seal, since holy Baptism can justly be named a covenant, a contract between God and man. The seal by which this covenant is sealed is holy Chrismation.

4) The abiding in adoption by God, which is given through holy Baptism, is sustained by a life according to the Gospel commandments. The abiding in adoption is lost by turning away from a life according to the Gospel commandments. Both of these the Lord Himself testified to: “If you keep My commandments”, He said, “you will abide in My love. Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (Jn. 15:10, 6). For salvation it is necessary that the one baptized into Christ live according to Christ’s law.

5) The God-man, having given us birth to salvation through holy Baptism, introduces us into the closest communion with Himself through another great, incomprehensible mystery, the mystery of the Eucharist, through which we unite and blend our body and blood with the body and blood of the God-man.[12] “Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood abide in Me, and I in them. Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood have eternal life. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves” (Jn. 6:56, 54, 53). Through this mystery the God-man has completely severed us from kinship with the old Adam and introduced us into the closest kinship, into unity with Himself. How should not those be saved who constitute one with the God-man? “Where the body is, there the eagles will gather” (Lk. 17:37), testifies the holy Gospel, nourishing themselves on this body. By worthy and frequent participation in the spiritual food descended from heaven and giving life to the world, we become spiritual eagles, we rise from the lowlands of the fleshly state to the heights of the spiritual state, we fly whither the God-man elevated human nature and His body, He Who was from the beginning in God the Father according to His Divinity, and who sat at the right hand of the Father according to His human nature after the completion of man’s redemption.

6) To sustain our weakness, to heal the wounds of sin which we receive after Baptism, to maintain the holiness by which we are sealed through holy Baptism in wholeness, God has granted us the mystery of confession. Through this mystery the state given by holy Baptism is renewed and restored.[13] To the mystery of Confession one must resort as often as possible: the soul of that man who makes a habit of confessing his sins frequently is held back from sinning by the remembrance of the confession that lies ahead; on the other hand, unconfessed sins easily repeat, as if committed in darkness or at night.[14]

PART TWO

The Gospel mentions two blessed states: the state of salvation and the state of Christian perfection. A certain rich and noble young man of the Jews fell at the feet of the God-man and asked Him to tell him how he ought to act to inherit eternal life, salvation? To the Jew, that is, to one who believes correctly in God, the Lord answered: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mt. 19:17). To the young man’s question about which commandments, the Lord pointed to commandments that determine the God-pleasing relationships of each rightful believer toward his neighbor, without mentioning the commandments that determine man’s relationship to God, as being known to the Jew and observed by him with precision, at least outwardly. The moral and religious ailment of the Jews at the time of the God-man’s coming in the flesh was different.

[1] The Euchologion. The Office of Holy Baptism.

[2] The Letter of the holy Gregory Palamas to the nun Xenia.

[3] Homily 23 on the Acts of the Apostles.

[4] Homily 31, chapter 4.

[5] Homily 37, chapter 2.

[6] The Venerable Abba Dorotheos, Instruction 1, on the renunciation of the world.

[7] The Venerable Mark the Ascetic. On the Spiritual Law, chapter 4.

[8] Saint Peter of Damascus. Book 1, article 2. The Philokalia, part 3.

[9] Cell Letters, volume 15, letter 73.

[10] Cell Letters, volume 15, letter 70.

[11] Cell Letters, volume 15, letter 11.

[12] “Mingle Thyself with us, and mingle Your body in us.” These words of the holy John Chrysostom are cited by the holy Xanfopuli in chapter 92 of their work on hesychasm and prayer. The Philokalia, part 2.

[13] The Euchologion, the Office of Confession.

[14] The Ladder, Homily 4, chapter 53.

A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

The infirmity has changed in its visible form, remaining in essence the same as before—a striving toward apostasy from God. The Jews did not display that irresistible inclination toward idolatry which harassed, destroyed, and devastated both their spiritual and civic well-being throughout an entire millennium, from their exodus from Egypt until their captivity in Babylon. Satan did not draw them to fall away from God and to worship him through the worship of idols: he devised another snare, more effective, another ruinous abyss, incomparably deeper and more terrible, and prepared it for them. Satan left the Jews as servants of the true God in outward appearance. More than this, he drew them toward an intense and improper veneration of ritual ordinances and the traditions of the elders, while at the same time he stole from them respect for God’s commandments; he drew them into the most detailed and refined study of God’s Law according to the letter, while at the same time he robbed them of study of God’s Law through living; he employed knowledge of God’s Law according to the letter as a means of plunging them into the most terrible pride, the most terrible conceit, by which they, calling themselves and appearing to others as children of God, were in fact enemies of God and children of the devil (Jn. 8:44). Under the pretext of preserving faithfulness to God, they rejected God;[1] under the pretext of preserving communion with God, they rejected communion with God, became infected with satanic hatred toward God, and sealed this hatred with deicide. All this came to pass through the abandonment of a life pleasing to God! All this came to pass through the abandonment of the relations to one’s neighbor that God had commanded, while the relations to God that were preserved outwardly became lifeless. For this reason the Saviour directs the Jew who asked how to be saved into the relations toward one’s neighbor commanded by God. Thus every Orthodox Christian, if he wishes to pass from a heedless life to an attentive one, if he wishes to undertake his own salvation, must first turn his attention to his relations with his neighbors. In these relations he must correct what is subject to correction, bring sincere repentance before God for what is already beyond correction, and set before himself an activity pleasing to God. “Behold, half of my possessions,” said the publican Zacchaeus to the Lord at his conversion, “I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will repay it fourfold.” He heard the most joyful determination of the all-good and all-powerful Lord, who remains even now equally good and equally all-powerful: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Lk. 19:8–10). A descendant of Abraham according to the flesh was recognized by God as a descendant at the moment when he resolved upon a life pleasing to God: from this it follows that until that time he had not been recognized, notwithstanding his right according to the flesh. And a Christian, so long as he conducts a willful sinful life contrary to the Gospel commandments, is not recognized as a Christian, although he has the right to this name, having been joined to the holy Christian race through Baptism. What profit is there in confession by words when there is rejection by deeds? “I will declare to them,” the Lord promised those neglectful of fulfilling the Gospel commandments, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!” (Mt. 7:23). For salvation it is necessary to fulfill all the ordinances of the Gospel, preserved in proper integrity by the one holy Orthodox Church. The youth mentioned above, having heard the Lord’s answer that for salvation there was need of living according to God’s commandments, said: “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth; what do I still lack? Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me, taking up your cross.’” (Mt. 19:20–21; Mk. 10:21). Salvation is possible while retaining possessions, in life in the midst of the world; to attain perfection requires prior renunciation of the world. Salvation is necessary for all—the attainment of perfection is left to those who choose it. We see the model of Christian perfection in the holy Apostles, as the holy Apostle Paul testified concerning himself and them, saying: “Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind” (Phil. 3:15), that Christian perfection, being a dwelling in God, is an infinite field of progress, as God is infinite (Phil.The Ladder, Homily 29, chapter 5. 3:20, 12). “This perfect, ever-imperfect perfection of the perfect, as one who has tasted it told me,” says the holy John of the Ladder, “illuminates the mind so greatly and turns it away from all material things that, upon entering this heavenly harbor, it for the most part lifts [one] out of bodily life, bringing [him] into a state of rapture, up to heaven to the vision (and holds [him] there). Of this speaks one not knowing, perhaps from experience, ‘For the mighty ones of God are greatly exalted upon the earth’ (Ps. 46:10). Of this spoke one caught up to the third heaven and remaining there to live through the affections of the heart and the thoughts of the mind: ‘Our citizenship is in heaven’” (Phil. 3:20). Perfection consists in manifest participation in the Holy Spirit, who, having dwelt in the Christian, transfers all his desires and all his thoughts into eternity. The holy David confessed such a state of the soul, testifying of himself: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke in me, and his word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2). From the action of the Holy Spirit David could say: “How beloved are your dwellings, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Ps. 83:2–3). “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and behold the face of God?” (Ps. 41:2–3). “Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!” (Ps. 119:5). It is not natural for man in his ordinary state to have such a burning desire for transition to eternity: it belongs only to a man filled with the Spirit, as the Spirit-filled Paul said of himself: “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. I have a desire to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:21, 23). “A merchant,” says the holy Isaac the Syrian, “when his undertaking is fulfilled and he receives the profit that follows to him, hastens to return to his home. And a monk, so long as the span of his labors is not completed, does not wish to be separated from the body. But when he senses in his soul that the span has been completed for him and he has received the earnest, then he begins to desire the age to come… The mind that has found the wisdom of the Spirit is like a man who has found a ship on the sea. When he places himself in this ship, he immediately sails away in it from the sea of the passing world and arrives at the island belonging to the age to come. The sensation of the age to come in this world is like a small island on the sea: one who has come alongside this island will no longer labor in the waves of the delusions of this age.”[2] The Venerable Macarius the Great depicts Christian perfection in the following features: “It is necessary for a man, so to speak, to ascend twelve steps and then to attain perfection. If anyone has reached this degree, then he has come to perfection. Again, when grace begins to act more feebly, he descends from one step and stands on the eleventh. Another, rich and abounding in grace, always, day and night, stands in the degree of perfection, being free and pure from all things, always drawn and rapt into the heavenly. If this supernatural state, now revealed to man, tested by him in very experience, always remained with him, then he would not be able to undertake service to the Word, nor to bear any labors, nor to hear anything, nor in necessary cases to care for himself or for the coming day, but would sit in one corner rapt and as if inebriated. For this reason the full measure of perfection is not given to man, so that he might have care for the brothers and exercise himself in service to the Word. But the wall has been broken down, and death has been defeated. This should be understood thus: just as in some place, when a candle is lit and shining in it, there can be found both a certain dark power and thick air that darkens it, so also with the spiritual light there is found a certain veil. For this reason the man in this light confesses himself still not entirely perfect and free from sin. The separating wall has, so to speak, been broken down and destroyed, but only in part, not entirely and forever, because grace at times strengthens and confirms man more powerfully, and at other times, as it were, weakens and decreases, in accordance with what is beneficial for man. Who in this life has attained the perfect degree and learned through very experience the age to come? I have not yet seen any man who has fully attained Christian perfection, who has been fully free from every vice. Although someone may rest in grace, perceive mysteries and revelations, taste the ineffable sweetness of grace, yet for all that sin dwells in him… I have not yet seen anyone entirely free: for I myself once in part ascended to this degree and learned that there is no man (fully) perfect.”[3] For this reason, as we have seen, the holy John of the Ladder, and similarly many holy Fathers, called human perfection in Christianity an imperfect perfection, as the holy Apostle Paul said: “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12–14)—Christian perfection.

Christian perfection is a gift of God, not the fruit of human effort and struggle; by struggle one demonstrates only the actuality and sincerity of the desire to receive the gift: by struggle, which tames and subdues the passions, human nature becomes capable and prepared to receive the gift. It depends on man to cleanse and adorn, and that with God’s help, the dwelling place in himself for God; the coming of God into this dwelling place depends solely on God’s benevolence (Jn. 14:23). Non-possession and renunciation of the world are necessary conditions for attaining perfection. The mind and heart must be entirely directed toward God; all obstacles, all causes of distraction must be removed: “None of you,” the Lord said, “can be my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions” (Lk. 14:33). Trust in perishable possessions must be replaced by trust in God, and the possessions themselves by the promise of God, who said: “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt. 6:31–33). Amid all the deprivations, amid the difficult situation into which the Christian who has renounced possessions and all the advantages provided by the world appears to bring himself, he, with the help of God’s grace working in him, is placed in the most satisfactory position that the world can never give to its servants. This position is described by the holy Apostle Paul thus: “As servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Cor.The Life of the Great Martyr Dimitry of Thessalonica, George the Victory-bearer, and others. 6:4–10). In such a position were all the holy Apostles, all who had left everything and followed the Lord (Mt. 19:27). They did not have material possessions, but to all the world drowning in destruction they provided an invaluable spiritual treasure—the knowledge of God and salvation. They had no material possessions, but the universe belonged to them: in every city, in every village to which they came, lodging and sustenance were prepared for them by God’s Providence, and “as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold” and “laid them at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:34–35). In such a position were the holy martyrs. Before beginning their struggle they ordinarily gave freedom to their slaves and distributed their possessions to the poor. Having broken all bonds with the world, they stripped off the very garment—the body—conceived in iniquity, clothed themselves in the garment of the Holy Spirit, in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, transformed their garment—the body—from carnal into spiritual, from corruptible into incorruptible, from sinful into holy, from earthly into heavenly. The sufferings of the holy martyrs had a special character: they suffered not as children of the old Adam—as members of Christ.[4] The holy martyress Felicity was pregnant when she was imprisoned in a dark and stifling dungeon for her steadfast confession of the Faith. In the dungeon she gave birth. During the labors of childbirth, which were difficult, Felicity could not refrain from cries. On this account one of the prison guards said to her: “You are crying out so much now: what will become of you when you are delivered to the beasts to be devoured?” She answered: “Now I am suffering, but then Another will suffer in me for me, because I am suffering for him.” Martyrdom was by no means an invention of man or a consequence of mere human will: it was a gift of God to mankind and therefore was supernatural, as the holy Apostle Paul said: “For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well” (Phil. 1:29). Like martyrdom, monasticism is also a gift of God. Monasticism is a supernatural struggle. It is the same martyrdom in its essence, only to a superficial and ignorant view appearing as something else, something indefinite. Like martyrdom, monasticism requires that it be preceded by renunciation of the world. Just as the struggle of martyrdom begins with various tormentings of the body and is perfected by its death, so the struggle of monasticism begins with the cutting off of one’s own will and one’s own opinions, with renunciation of carnal pleasure, and is perfected by the mortification of soul and body for sin, and their quickening for God. Having risen against sin to death, having purchased victory over it through relentless mortification of the body in intense supernatural struggles, many monks most readily passed from monastic struggle to martyrdom on account of the kinship between these two struggles, which consist in renunciation of the world and of oneself. Just as the struggle of martyrdom is incomprehensible to the proud person serving corruption of the world, appearing to him as madness, so incomprehensible and strange to him is the struggle of monasticism. Martyrs, as they progressed in their struggle, began to display an abundance of gracious gifts, and in monks likewise did God’s grace reveal its action upon their mortification for sin, and intensify this action in proportion as the holy deadness in the monks intensified. The struggle of every monk is supernatural: it must necessarily be joined with victory over the bestial nature of the body, which became a property of every man after the fall. The struggle of some of the holy monks seems more incomprehensible in its supernaturalness even than the struggle of the martyrs. One can be convinced of this by reading the lives of the Venerable Mark of Thrace, the Venerable Onuphrius the Great, Mary of Egypt, and others. Why do martyrdom and monasticism appear as madness and absurdity to the slaves of sin and the world? Clearly because they recognize as good only the good of fallen nature, and do not know and do not understand Christianity.

To attain perfection, following the exhaustion (distribution—Editor) of possessions to the poor, it is necessary to take up one’s cross (Mk. 8:34). The abandonment of possessions must be followed by renunciation of oneself, which constitutes the taking up of the cross, or voluntary and constant submission to sorrows of two kinds, of which the cross is composed, as though of two pieces of wood joined together and intersecting each other. Some of these sorrows are allowed by God’s Providence for the building up of our soul, while others we ourselves must voluntarily lay upon ourselves for the restraint and mortification of our passions, for the mortification within ourselves of our fallen nature. Concerning the sorrows allowed to us by God’s Providence, the holy Apostle Paul speaks: “For the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts. Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have discipline in which all children have shared, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” (Heb. 12:6–9). The holy Apostle Peter leads to spiritual understanding of sorrows and comforts those subjected to them in the following manner: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief-maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners? So, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good” (1 Pet. 4:12–19). According to the instruction of the Apostle Paul, the sorrows allowed by Providence must be received with the greatest submission to God, as the Apostle himself received the trials allowed to him: “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ” (2 Cor. 12:10). According to the instruction of the holy Apostle Peter, when sorrows approach we must abandon ourselves to the all-holy will of God and with special watchfulness firmly hold to God’s Commandments, from which the enemy strives to turn us away during sorrow through thoughts of sadness, despair, murmuring, anger, and blasphemy. “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet.According to the Russian translation of the 1822 edition. 5:7). We ought to have “great joy” (that is, the greatest joy) “when you fall into various trials” (Jas. 1:2): trials are a sign of God’s calling us, a sign of election, a sign of adoption. From the midst of them we shall raise glory to God, as the righteous and much-suffering Job raised it from the midst of various misfortunes surrounding him from all sides (Job 1:21, 2:10). From the midst of them we shall offer thanksgiving to God, which fills the heart of the one who gives thanks with spiritual consolation and the strength of patience, thanksgiving commanded by God Himself. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18). Peter of Damascus says: “As loving parents, being impelled by love, with threats turn their children, who have allowed themselves reckless behavior, to wise conduct, so God allows trials as a rod, turning the worthy from diabolical evil counsel. ‘Whoever spares the rod hates their child, but the one who loves their child is diligent to discipline them’ (Prov. 13:25). It is better through patience of the trials that come upon us to have recourse to God than from fear of misfortunes to incur a falling away, to fall into the hands of the devil, and to bring upon oneself eternal falling away and torment with him. One of two things is necessarily set before us: either we must endure the first—the temporal—or be subjected to the second—the eternal. The righteous are touched by neither these nor other misfortunes: because they, loving events that appear to us as misfortunes, rejoice in them, embracing trials as discoveries and occasions for acquiring spiritual gain, remain unwounded. He does not die into whom the arrow struck but did not pierce, he perishes for whom it dealt a mortal wound. Did misfortune harm Job? On the contrary, did it not crown him? Did the torments bring fear to the apostles and the martyrs? They rejoiced, Scripture says, ‘that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name’ (Acts 5:41). The victor, the more he is assailed, the more crowns he is deemed worthy of, the greater the joy he feels from this. When he hears the sound of the trumpet, he does not come in fear as from the sound announcing slaughter, but on the contrary rejoices as at a promise of the crown and recompense. Nothing brings victory so effortlessly as courage with enlightened faith! Nothing brings defeat so readily as self-love and fear born of unbelief.” The Lord promised sufferings to His followers throughout all the time of their earthly sojourn, promised an earthly life like His own, spent in deprivations and persecutions, but at the same time commanded them courage and good hope. “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you” (Jn. 15:18–19). “In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world” (Jn.The Philokalia, part 3, book 1, article with the heading “That without humble-mindedness it is impossible to be saved.” 16:33): no sorrow, no trial shall be able either to overcome or to crush you if you believe in Me and abide in Me through the fulfilling of My commandments. “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Also, in another place, Holy Scripture testifies: “The righteous face many afflictions, but the Lord rescues them from them all. The Lord keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken” (Ps. 33:20–21). Let us believe God’s promise, let us not be dismayed by the turbulent sea of sorrows, and let us cross it safely, held by the invisible yet all-powerful right hand of God.

The other part of the cross is made up of voluntary spiritual struggles established and commanded by God, through which the sinful desires of the body, and consequently of the soul, are restrained. The holy Apostle Paul spoke of them: “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27), and the holy Apostle Peter: “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin)” (1 Pet. 4:1). “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24): flesh that is not crucified but fattened and comforted by abundant nutrition, pleasure, and rest cannot fail to sympathize with sin, cannot fail to be delighted by it, cannot fail to be incapable of receiving the Holy Spirit, cannot fail to be alien and hostile to Christ. “If she is a real widow, alone and destitute, she has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day; but the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives” (1 Tim. 5:5–6), because “if you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit” (Gal. 6:8). It is necessary, absolutely necessary for the follower of Christ to crucify the flesh! It is necessary to submit to the good yoke of struggles for restraining the bestial urges of the flesh, but not for depriving it of the health and strength necessary for the struggling itself. “We have learned to be slayers of passions, not of the body,” says Pimen the Great.[5] Even for those weak in body and the sick, it is very harmful to violate temperance, which intensifies sickness, does not support but disturbs the weak and sick. Wise moderation is especially capable of supporting and preserving bodily strength and health in people of strong constitution and in people of weak, sickly constitution.

[1] The Gospel pages are filled with reproofs from the Lord of the impiety of the Jews, especially Matthew 23 and John 8.

[2] Homily 85.

[3] Homily 8, chapters 4–5.

[4] Histoire du Christianisme par Fleury, Livre V, chap. XVII.

[5] The Alphabetical Patericon.

A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

After distributing possessions to the poor and severing bonds with the world, the first task for the follower of Christ must be withdrawal from the midst of temptations into a solitary monastic dwelling. By such withdrawal, previously received sinful impressions are erased and the possibility of contracting new impressions is prevented. To such withdrawal the Holy Spirit Himself invites the true servants of God: “Therefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:17–18). And in the very holy monastery it is necessary to guard against acquaintance, against walking about in the cells of the brothers, and against receiving them in one’s own cell, so that the soul may become capable of receiving the seed of God’s Word, and may in its time bring forth spiritual fruit. And material soil also is prepared for abundant grain-bearing by loosening through iron tools and by removing from it all other growths. The Venerable Symeon the Reverent commanded his disciple, the Venerable Symeon the New Theologian, at his entry into the monastery: “Look, child, if you wish to be saved, then by no means converse during the church services and do not walk about in the cells. Do not have free association. Guard your mind so that it does not wander here and there, but that it looks steadily at your sins and at eternal torment.” In the cell one should have only the most necessary items, if possible simple:[1] upon unnecessary and beautiful things, attachment immediately arises in the heart, and the mind, on their account, receives an inclination toward fantasy and distraction, which is very harmful.

The second struggle consists of moderate fasting. Fasting for beginners is determined by the monastery refectory. In the refectory one should consume food, not allowing oneself satiation, though enough so that the body is capable of obedience; outside the refectory it is forbidden to consume food by paternal tradition and monastic rule. Those monks whom God has led to a life of solitude and to constant exercise in prayer and meditation on God should consume food once a day, not to satiation, and consuming all kinds of foods permitted to monasticism, according to what is sent by God.[2] With such freedom, one must strictly observe that it does not give occasion for pleasure or excess. True pleasure awaits us in the age to come, and here, on the path to it, let us renounce pleasure for ourselves, satisfying only the natural need, not the passionate whim. Solitude and fasting are such essential properties of monastic life that from them monks received their name in ancient times: monk (monachos, solitarius, from the Greek word monos, Latin solus—one) means solitary; monks were also called fasters.

The third struggle—watchfulness. A beginning monk exercises this struggle satisfactorily when he diligently attends all church services. For one living a solitary life, the struggle of watchfulness is especially important. Into this struggle the living remembrance of death draws the monk, as though a foretaste of death and the impartial judgment of God that follows it. The monk strives to prevent the terrible standing before that judgment by reverential and trembling prayer, as though before the face and eyes of God Himself. He hopes to obtain and receive here the forgiveness of sins, so that, when the soul departs from the body, it may make the journey from earth to heaven without any fear, and therefore stands constantly at the doors of God’s mercy during his solitary cell prayer, knocks at these doors with weeping, knocks with heavy sighs, with humble words issuing from the depths of a heart grieving over sinfulness. As spiritual sensation of the Fear of God intensifies, the struggle of watchfulness intensifies. But at first one must compel oneself to this struggle, without which it is impossible to obtain final and perfect victory over the passions. One must come to the state commanded by the Lord: “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near the end of the night, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour” (Lk. 12:35–40). Such a state is provided by the sensation of the Fear of God. Those who have come into it begin to live on earth like travelers in an inn, expecting every hour to depart from it. The time of earthly life is shortened before their eyes when the incomprehensible, majestic eternity opens before them. The thought that they may be called by the Lord unexpectedly keeps them in constant wakefulness, in constant guard against sin constantly attacking. They spend the nights like days, receiving sleep only out of necessary need, by no means allowing themselves to sink deeply into it and to be softened by it. They lie on their hard beds clothed and girded, so that they may immediately rise up when need requires. The struggle of watchfulness must correspond to the bodily strength of man. It, like solitude and fasting, is intensified by the gradual transition of the ascetic from a carnal and soulish state to a spiritual or gracious one. The spiritual man, even though infirm in body, endures a far greater struggle than a carnal and soulish man is capable of. The former is impelled to struggle by Divine grace and encounters fewer obstacles from his body, which ordinarily casts off a significant part of its heaviness upon entering into such a state.

Just as the visible cross requires two beams joined together crosswise, so for the construction of the invisible cross both voluntary sorrows are necessary—the struggles that keep the body in crucifixion—and sorrows from without, restraining and humbling the spirit of man, constantly inclined to pride on account of the damage from the fall. From the totality of these sorrows is composed that cross which we are commanded to take upon ourselves and follow Christ, without which it is impossible to follow Christ. Those who have not crucified their flesh, who have not restrained in it sinful desires and urges, who are drawn away by lustful sensations and thoughts, cannot be in communion with Christ, being through the delight and seduction of sin in communion with Satan. “Those who are unspiritual,” said the holy Apostle Paul, that is, those who conduct a carnal life, who live for their body, abundantly nourishing it, comforting it, caressing it, “cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). “Those who are unspiritual set their minds on unspiritual things” (Rom. 8:5), that is, those who conduct a carnal life necessarily have a carnal way of thinking, do not remember and do not care about eternity, have a false regard for earthly life, regarding it as endless and acting solely for it, highly value transitory earthly positions and advantages, cannot appropriate to themselves the New Covenant, cannot reject fallen nature, develop it, respect its dignity and progress. “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God: it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot” (Rom. 8:6–7). Such holy submission is foreign and impossible for it. The abandonment of possessions and the world and withdrawal to a monastery will bring us no benefit whatsoever if we continue to gratify the capricious desires of our flesh, if we do not place it on the cross, depriving it of excess and pleasure, allowing it only what is necessary for existence. The first commandment given by God to mankind was the commandment concerning fasting. It was given in Paradise, confirmed in the Gospel. By its violation, the holy Paradise could not prevent destruction; by its violation cannot prevent our destruction the redemption granted to us by the God-man. “For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things” (Phil. 3:18–19). The Apostle, saying this to Christians, urged them to imitate his way of life (Phil. 3:17), which he fulfilled “in labor and toil; through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked” (2 Cor. 11:27).[3] Fasting is the foundation of all monastic struggles; without it it is impossible either to preserve solitude, or to restrain the tongue, or to conduct a watchful and attentive life, or to make progress in prayer and watchfulness, or to acquire remembrance of death, or to perceive the multitude of one’s sins and weaknesses. The monk who neglects fasting shakes the entire edifice of his virtues; this edifice will not stand if the builder does not recover his senses and does not properly care for strengthening the foundation in time. The holy John of the Ladder says: “The chief of demons is the fallen Lucifer, and the beginning of the passions is gluttony.[4] Do not deceive yourself! You will not be delivered from Pharaoh and will not see the Passover on high if you do not constantly taste bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The bitter herbs are the compulsion of fasting and toil, and the unleavened bread is unsatiating wisdom. Let the word of him who said be joined with your life: ‘When they attacked me, I put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned to my bosom’ (Ps.The Ladder, chapter 29:34:13). If you have made a vow to Christ to walk the narrow and confined path, then constrain your belly. By comforting and expanding it, you violate this vow. Be attentive and hear the one speaking: broad and ‘wide is the way’ of gluttony, ‘leading to destruction’ of fornication, ‘and many are those who take it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the way’ of fasting, ‘that leads to life’ of purity, ‘and there are few who find it’.”

What does it mean to follow Christ (Mt. 19:21), after distributing one’s possessions and taking up the cross? To follow Christ means to conduct earthly life solely for heaven, just as the God-man conducted His earthly life. Those living piously in the midst of the world according to the Gospel commandments already become like the Son of God in good morals and disposition of soul, but those who have renounced the world, who have crucified their flesh through monasticism, who have attracted to themselves the grace of the Holy Spirit on account of the mortification of the flesh for sin (Rom. 8:10), attain a special likeness to the God-man. They are “led by the Spirit of God”, and “are children of God” (Rom. 8:14), through grace, having formed themselves according to the image of the Man of heaven, the second Man, the God-man (1 Cor. 15:47–49). Not the letter, not superficial knowledge according to the letter, which has no significance before God, testifies to them that they are children of God; it is the All-holy Spirit of God Himself who testifies this, having dwelt in them perceptibly to them and having united Himself with their spirit (Rom. 8:16). “If children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). How could such glory arise for a poor and fallen creature—humankind? From living faith in Christ, God, our Creator and Saviour, from living faith, which has taught God’s chosen ones not only to acknowledge the Redeemer with the heart, but to confess Him through life itself, through renunciation of the world, through taking up the double cross, composed of both voluntary and involuntary sorrows, and through the most precise fulfillment of “God’s will, which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). “If we suffer with him, we will also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17), says the Apostle to all the company of Christ’s ascetics. Comparing the eternal, heavenly glory prepared for those who suffer for Christ, which the Apostle had experienced, with the brief sorrows through which it is acquired, the holy Paul says: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). These sorrows mean nothing! Our All-powerful and All-good Champion has put into the very sorrows such spiritual consolation that sorrows for Christ’s sake already in themselves constitute a source of joy. “These bodily torments,” said the great martyr Eustratius about the supernatural sufferings he had endured, in his pre-death prayer to God, “are joy to your servants.”[5] Exactly such a quality is contained in monastic sorrows as well: in their breast flows and bubbles forth a spring of spiritual sweetness and joy, a foretaste in time of blessedness in eternity. The cross is the weapon of victory, the honorable banner of the Christian: “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14).

Worthy of profound contemplation and amazement is the bond between the body and the human spirit. A man’s way of thinking and his heartfelt feelings depend greatly on the condition in which his body finds itself. “When the belly is constrained,” observed the holy John of the Ladder, “the heart is humbled: but when the belly is satisfied, then thoughts are infected with pride.” “The soul cannot come into humility in any other way,” said Pimen the Great, “except by the diminishing of food for the body.” An abbot of some cenobitic monastery asked the Great:[6] “Why do I not feel the fear of God in myself?” “How can you feel the fear of God,” answered the Great, “when your belly is stuffed with pies and cheeses?” With the satiation of the body, our heart cannot fail to produce lustful sensations, and the mind cannot fail to produce lustful thoughts and fantasies, which by their force and seductiveness are able to change the most determined good intention and incline it toward taking pleasure in sin; therefore the holy John of the Ladder said: “The one gratifying his belly while at the same time desiring to conquer the spirit of lust is like one extinguishing fire with oil.” The holy Isaac the Syrian says: “Love poor clothing, so as to annihilate the haughtiness growing in you—I mean pride of the heart.[7] The one who loves splendor cannot acquire humble thoughts, because “the heart within is stamped in accordance with the external appearance.” The holy Apostle Paul, when listing the works of the flesh, named among them ‘enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions’ (Gal. 5:20)—defects belonging properly to the human spirit.[8] For what reason? For this reason, that these kinds of sins reveal the carnal thinking of man, and by carnal thinking is revealed the living according to the flesh, the rejection of the cross of Christ. From ecclesiastical history we see that such were all heresiarchs.[9][10]

This poor word have I, a great sinner Ignatius, written, to arouse myself, in exhortation to monastic life. I have observed that those subjects of spiritual teaching which I set down in writing are especially explained for my own sake, and sometimes are not without benefit for my beloved brothers by reason of their contemporaneous exposition. If anyone reads this word, let him forgive me the shortcomings of my knowledge and speech! If anyone reads this word and finds in it something useful for his soul, I beseech him to give attention to this poor word and, as understanding is provided to him by it, carefully examine himself.

It is necessary, absolutely necessary for all Christians in general to fulfill precisely the commandment of the Saviour, who said: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it” (Mk. 8:35). “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (Jn. 12:25). What does it mean to love one’s soul? It is to love one’s fallen nature, its properties, defiled by the fall, its false-named reason, its desires and urges, its righteousness. What does it mean to save one’s soul in this world? It is to develop the properties of fallen nature, to follow one’s own reasonings and one’s own will, to build one’s righteousness from the supposed good deeds of fallen nature. What does it mean to lose one’s soul for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, what does it mean to hate one’s soul? It is to recognize and acknowledge the fall and disorder of nature by sin, it is to hate the state produced in us by the fall, and to mortify it by rejecting conduct according to one’s own reasonings, according to one’s own will, according to one’s own urges, it is to graft forcibly onto one’s nature the reason and will of nature renewed by Christ, and to arrange one’s conduct according to the all-holy teaching of God and the all-holy will of God, revealed to us by God Himself in the Gospel. Our fallen nature is hostile to God: following the reasonings and urges of fallen nature is a striving toward certain and eternal destruction. For this reason the holy desert Fathers, the instructors of monasticism and all Christianity, pronounced so many terrible sayings against following one’s own will and one’s own reasonings. The Venerable Pimen the Great used to say: “Man’s will is a wall of brass between God and man, a stone striking against God’s will. If a man abandons it, then he too can say: ‘With my God I can leap over a wall. My God, his way is perfect’ (Ps. 17:30–31). But if justification joins with the will, then man becomes corrupt and perishes.” By the word justification one should understand the recognition by us of activity according to our own will as just or righteous: this serves as a sure sign of mental disorder and turning away from the path of salvation. The Venerable Abba Dorotheos says:[7] “I know no other cause for the fall of a monk except following the will and inclinations of one’s own heart. They say: from this or from that does man fall; I, as I have said, know no other cause of falling except this. Did you see someone fallen? Know: he followed himself.” Further, the Venerable Dorotheos relates that he, being in the cenobitic monastery of Abba Seridus, was guided in everything by the instructions of the Spirit-filled elder John, completely rejecting his own reasonings and heart’s inclinations. When some thought of his own about a spiritual matter presented itself to the learned and wise Dorotheos, he would say to himself: “Anathema to you and to your reasoning and to your reason and to your knowledge.” There is an example of blessed hatred of one’s own soul, the hatred commanded by the Saviour of our souls and bodies! There is an example of blessed destruction of the soul for the sake of Christ and the Gospel for the salvation of the soul! There is an example of the relation of the Saints to fallen nature! Let us follow, brothers, the teaching of Christ![11]

Let us follow the way of life, the conduct, the way of thinking of the holy righteous ones of God! Let us not hesitate for our salvation to renounce our fallen nature! For true love of ourselves, let us reject deceptive self-love, our self-esteem! For salvific activity according to the Gospel commandments, let us cast from ourselves activity according to the laws of fallen nature, beloved to the world, hostile to God! Let us hate the supposed good deeds arising from false-named reason, from the movements of the blood, from heartfelt feelings, however lofty, blameless, and holy our feelings and thoughts may seem to us. These deeds are capable only of developing in us harmful conceit, pride, and self-deception. They do not enlighten the eyes of the soul, as the commandment of the Lord enlightens them (Ps. 18:9), on the contrary, they intensify the blindness of the soul and make this blindness incurable. Those who do them will go into eternal torment as those who do the good of fallen nature, good always mixed with evil, good defiled, from which the Lord, as from a satanic abomination, turns His all-holy face away. To accomplish the good deeds of fallen nature there is no need to be a Christian: they belong to all fallen humanity. Where good deeds of fallen nature are accomplished, amid the thunder of praise from the world, the Saviour of the world is excluded and rejected. The deeds of faith, the deeds of salvation, or, what is the same, the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, belong to Christians alone. “Good,” said the Venerable Mark the Ascetic concerning true good, “cannot be believed or done except in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.” The fulfillment of the Gospel commandments brings man into true knowledge of God and self-knowledge, into true love of himself, of his neighbor, and of God, into communion with God, which develops all the more abundantly the more earnestly and precisely the Gospel commandments are fulfilled.[12] Communion with God, granted to the Christian even during the time of earthly sojourn, is a pledge of heavenly and eternal blessedness. This pledge testifies to its own trustworthiness, testifies so clearly and strongly that many, to preserve it, resolved to submit to the greatest sorrows, preferred it to temporal life. Pitiful and sorrowful is the blindness with which the proud world looks with contempt on the deeds of Christian Faith, with which it pronounces on them a senseless judgment and a verdict destructive for the world. How insignificant the deeds of faith appear to the world in comparison with the loud and picturesque deeds of the world! What apparent good deed is the acknowledgment of one’s sinfulness, on account of which God’s mercy was poured out on the publican?” (Lk. 18:10–14). What apparent good deed is repentance, through which the greatest sinners were reconciled with God and inherited eternal blessedness? What good deed is the confession of Christ, expressed by few and simplest words? And by whom was it expressed? Expressed by a condemned thief. These few simplest words brought the thief into paradise, accomplished what all the brilliant virtues of all humanity could not and cannot accomplish. “The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”, and so much foolishness does activity according to the Gospel appear to them as well. “To us who are being saved it” is both the message about the cross and activity according to the Gospel “the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18), healing and saving our souls (Lk. 6:19).

The holy Fathers of all times constantly expressed their relation to God’s revealed teaching with the word: I believe. In modern society, which lauds itself as preeminently educated and Christian, ceaselessly sounds the expression of heartfelt relation, a pledge to Divine Revelation, in the word: I think. Whence arose this pledge and word? From ignorance of Christianity. A sorrowful sight it is when a son of the Eastern Church reasons about Christian Faith outside the teaching of his Church, contrary to its Divine teaching, reasons willfully, ignorantly, blasphemously. Is not such reasoning a renunciation of the Church, of Christianity? Let us be alarmed at our ignorance, drawing us into eternal destruction; let us study Christianity; let us love obedience to the holy Church, beloved to all who have knowledge of Christian Faith. Let us become careful fulfillers of the Gospel commandments; let us fulfill them as unprofitable servants (Lk. 17:10) who must fulfill their duty, constantly erring in its fulfillment or fulfilling it very insufficiently. Let the Gospel guide us to good deeds, not the movement of blood and nerves. Let us learn to perform virtues with humility, not with the fervor, which is necessarily accompanied and assisted by vanity and pride or haughtiness. When the Lord pours into us the holy chill of humility, and from its action the waves of heartfelt feelings are stilled, then shall we know that the fervor accomplishing the lofty and loud human virtues is flesh and blood, unable to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (1 Cor. 15:50).

Be saved, beloved brothers, be saved! “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:40), said the holy Apostle Peter to those Jews contemporary with him who from among the people hostile to Christianity were inclined to accept Christianity. “By saving yourself, you will save your own soul,” said the ancient great monks about the true Christians of the last time. This means:[13] salvation for them will be very difficult on account of the special multiplication of sinful temptations and on account of the universal inclination of men toward sin. For salvation there will be needed special efforts, special diligence, special caution and self-preservation, special prudence, special patience. But our all-powerful Guide and Instructor, our Life, our Strength, our Salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, who foretold to us that we shall have tribulation in the world, at the same time encourages us: “Take courage,” He says, “I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33). “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Amen” (Mt. 28:20).

[1] The Life of the Venerable Symeon the New Theologian. Manuscript. This life was published at the expense of Optina Monastery.

[2] Following the advice of Saint Peter of Damascus. See the article with the heading: “A necessary and distinguished exposition of the seven physical labors.” The Philokalia, Book 1, part 3.

[3] Homily 14, chapter 30.

[4] The Ladder, Homily 14, chapter 52.

[5] See his Life. The Menaion Reader, December 13.

[6] Homily 14, chapter 22.

[7] The Alphabetical Patericon.

[8] Homily 14, chapter 21.

[9] The Venerable Symeon, the Holy Fool for Christ’s sake, pointed out in the rejection of the Cross of Christ the cause of Origen’s error and destruction. The Menaion Reader, July 21.

[10] Ibid., chapter 21.

[11] An Instruction on not building up one’s own reason.

[12] The Philokalia, part 1, On the Spiritual Law, chapter 2.

[13] A saying of the Venerable Pamva. The Alphabetical Patericon.

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

1. Introduction

The follower of Christ, in order to judge himself rightly and to act correctly with regard to himself, has a necessary need for a right understanding of his own nature. A true thought is the source of all good things; a false thought is the source of erroneous activity and those fruits which must necessarily arise from it. If we see monasticism not crowned with spiritual fruits, or crowned with fruits of self-deception, we must know that the cause of this was a false direction, a false starting point for the activity. Alas! Not infrequently the eye of the mind is struck by a sad sight that stirs the heart to bitter tears. What can be sadder than the sight when a monk, having spent his life in the bosom of the holy monastery, in ceaseless service to God, in continuous struggle, sees, upon an unbiased look at himself, his decisive fruitlessness, sees in himself grown and strengthened various passions which, upon his entry into monastic life, were very weak, almost ineffectual? What can be sadder than the sight when he sees the same thing in his brother monks as well? All the sadder is this sight because the turning around and correction of oneself becomes at a certain age and in a certain state very difficult. It is a great and blessed deed—when we magnify Christ in ourselves. It is great misfortune—a misfortune consisting of alienation from God both in time and in eternity—when we develop in ourselves our fallen self.

2. The States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil—Three

In order to avoid the great misfortune—alienation from God both in time and in eternity—let us enter upon the paths that are right and holy. In order to attain proper Christian activity, with clarity let us study human nature in its three states: in the state after creation, in the state after the fall, in the state after redemption.[1] Only then can the activity of the Christian be proper, soul-saving, and pleasing to God, when he acts or strives to act exclusively according to the laws of human nature renewed.

3. Concerning the State of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil, After Man’s Creation

In the state after creation, human nature was entirely free from evil. In it dwelt and acted one whole good. Mankind had no experiential understanding of evil. It knew only that evil exists, that experiential knowledge of evil is destructive for mankind (Gen. 2:9, 17, 3:2). Theoretical, superficial knowledge of evil could have no harmful influence on human nature, as knowledge that was lifeless, equal to non-knowledge in relation to the internal and external activity of man. Man’s fall was accomplished through active, experiential knowledge of evil; man’s fall consists in active, experiential knowledge of evil, in the assimilation of evil to oneself. Thus theoretical knowledge of poison does not cause death; on the contrary, it prevents it; practical knowledge of poison—that is, the tasting of it—brings death.

4. Concerning the State After Man’s Fall

In fallen human nature good is mixed with evil. The evil that has come into man has become so mixed and fused with man’s natural good that the natural good can never act separately without evil acting together with it. Man, by the tasting of sin—that is, by experiential knowledge of evil—is poisoned. The poison has penetrated into all members of the body, into all powers and properties of the soul: both body and heart and mind are affected by the disease of sin. Harmfully flattering themselves and deceiving themselves, fallen men call and recognize their reason as sound. Reason was sound before the fall; after the fall, for all men without exception, it became false-named, and for salvation must be rejected (1 Tim. 6:20–21). “You are the light of my eyes, yet they are not with me” (Ps. 37:11), Scripture says of the reason of fallen nature. Harmfully flattering themselves and deceiving themselves, fallen men call and recognize their heart as good: it was good before the fall; after the fall its good has become mixed with evil, and for salvation must be rejected as defiled. The heart-knowing God has called all men evil (Lk. 11:13). From the sinful contagion all in man has come into disorder; all acts improperly; all acts under the influence of falsehood and self-deception. Thus his will acts; thus all his heartfelt feelings act; thus all his thoughts act. It is vain and futile that fallen and blinded mankind names them as good, fine, and lofty! Deep is our fall: very few men are aware of themselves as fallen beings needing a Saviour; the majority looks upon its condition of fall as a condition of complete triumph, employs all efforts to establish and develop its condition of fall.

The separation by one’s own efforts of the evil that has come from natural good has become impossible for man. Evil has penetrated into the very beginning of man: man is conceived in iniquities, is born in sins (Ps. 50:7). From the moment of his birth, man has not a single deed, not a single word, not a single thought, not a single feeling, for not even the shortest moment, in which good is without greater or lesser admixture of evil. This is witnessed by Holy Scripture, which says of fallen men that among them “no one is righteous, not even one; all have become worthless. There is no one who shows kindness, not even one” (Rom. 3:10–12). Pointing to his fallen nature, the holy Apostle Paul says: “I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh” (Rom. 7:18). Here by the name flesh the Apostle understands not properly the human body, but the fleshly state of the whole man: his mind, heart, and body. And in the Old Testament the whole man is called flesh: “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh” (Gen. 6:3), said God. In this fleshly state, as in its body, dwell sin and eternal death. The Apostle calls the fleshly state the body of death (Rom. 7:24), the body of sin (Rom. 6:6). This state is called flesh and body, body of death and sin, for the reason that in it the thought and heart, which ought to strive for the spiritual and holy, are directed and fastened to nothing but the material and sinful, live in matter and sin. The human body of the Apostle, as all know, was a temple of the Holy Spirit, was permeated with Divine grace, and poured forth from itself the actions of Divine grace (Acts 19:12). To it cannot apply the expressions so truly applicable to the fleshly state into which human nature has been cast by the fall: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8), “The body of sin might be destroyed” (Rom. 6:6), “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24).

Excellently does the Apostle describe the admixture of good with evil in the fallen man left to his own efforts to do good, whereby of necessity evil penetrates from his nature, corrupts his good, and casts down the designs of the mind vainly attempting to introduce true service of God into the temple of the soul. “The law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but the sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:14–25). By the word flesh here again one must understand the fleshly state, by which all attempts of the human mind to fulfill God’s will are cast down, so long as man remains in the state of fall, so long as he is not renewed by the Spirit: the Spirit, having dwelt in man, frees him from sinful slavery (Rom. 8:14), destroying the body of sin (Rom. 6:6)—that is, the fleshly state in man. Thus one must understand also the words of the Apostle: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). Here by the name of flesh and blood are understood the thoughts and feelings born in fallen nature, keeping man in a fleshly state as to his mind, heart, and body. This state is also called the “old man” (Eph. 4:22), whom the Apostle commands the Christian to put off and to clothe himself “with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23–24). This is the same thing he said in the letter to the Romans: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14), and to the Corinthians:[2] “We will bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor.The Holy Hieromartyr Peter Damaskus, in enumerating the grace-filled spiritual visions that appear to the mind of a practitioner of Christ as he progresses in his purification, places among these visions the vision of the fall which befell mankind. Holy Peter Damaskus, Book 1, On the Eight Spiritual Visions. The Philokalia, Part 3:15:49). It is known that the Apostle was renewed by the Spirit and clothed in Christ; illumined by the Spirit and moved by love for his neighbors, he pronounced from the mouth of fallen man struggling to break the chains of sin, a confession of the state produced by the fall, a state in which man, forced by the evil dwelling in him, cannot but commit evil, although he wished to commit good. Such a vision of human fall is a gift of God’s grace.

In the society of fallen humanity some people are called good. They are called thus incorrectly, relatively. In this society a good man is called one who does the least evil, and an evil man is called one who does the least good. However, an evil man may progress so far in evil that his entire activity becomes an uninterrupted series of misdeeds. In the precise sense, there is no good man. There is no man who in his fallen state does pure good not defiled by evil: “No one is good but God alone” (Mk. 10:18), says God’s Word. It recognizes and calls all men “evil” (Lk. 11:13), as has been said above. The Old Testament righteous were called righteous solely in relation to other men (Rom. 4:2–3; Job 1:8), not in relation to God. In relation to God all fallen humanity without exception has become unworthy of God; all deeds of a nature corrupted by the fall have become unpleasing to God, as defiled by inseparable admixture of evil. Only faith in the promised Redeemer, demonstrated by deeds of faith, made the Old Testament righteous acceptable to God, was counted to them as righteousness (Rom. 4:2–8; Gal. 2:18–26), provided hope of salvation, hope of departure from the dungeons of Hades, into which all human souls without exception were cast upon separation from their bodies, until God incarnate shattered the bolts and gates of Hades.

Furthermore, it is not merely that sin has become, through the fall, as though natural to man, so inherent in him that Scripture called sin the soul of man (Mt. 10:39), that renunciation of sin became renunciation of oneself (Mt. 16:24); the fallen man took within himself the one who seduced him—Satan—and became the dwelling place of Satan.[3] “In some manner,” says the Venerable Macarius the Great, “the enemy himself dwells within us, struggling, capturing us.” This is by no means a voluntary judgment and not a dream, but experiential knowledge obtained by those who, as the same righteous one of God says, sincerely committed themselves to the Lord, firmly remained in prayer, and unshakably resisted their warring enemy.[4]

Such experiential knowledge of human fall is inaccessible to the Christian living in the midst of the world, bound by cares, and turned away from self-examination by continuous distraction. Our word is not directed to him. Let him earn his salvation through good deeds in the bosom of the Orthodox Church, especially through almsgiving and chastity. We speak with monks who have entirely committed themselves to the service of God, desiring to see the Kingdom of God opened in themselves in power and glory. An immutable spiritual law of monasticism requires that man first break the bonds of matter by which he is bound externally, and then move to breaking those bonds by which he is bound in the depth of his mind and heart by spirits of evil. “In a twofold manner and with twofold bonds,” says the holy Macarius the Great, “man found himself bound after transgressing the commandment and after being cast out of Paradise: (he was bound) in this world by the things of the world and by love for the world—that is, by carnal lusts and passions, by wealth and glory, also by love for creatures, for wife and children, for kinfolk, for homeland, for places, for clothes; in short, by love for all visible things, from which God’s Word commands him to renounce of his own free will (because man enslaves himself to all visible things voluntarily), so that, having loosened and freed himself from all this, he might be able to fulfill God’s will perfectly. Within himself, (the human) soul is bound, enclosed, surrounded by walls and fettered with chains of darkness to such a degree by spirits of evil that it cannot, however much it might wish, love God, believe in Him, and honor Him.” Further, in his discourse, the great righteous one of God and instructor of monks teaches that only those who have cast off the bonds of the world and committed themselves to true and exclusive service to God can discover their captivity, their slavery, their eternal death. On the contrary, whoever did not previously take care to break the bonds laid upon him by matter—that is, by the visible world and earthly temporal life with its position and relations—will never know, will never perceive his captivity and will never see the spirits of evil acting in him.[5] He remains forever a stranger to himself: nourishing hidden passions within himself, not only does he not perceive them, but very often recognizes their urges as urges of righteousness and their action as the action of God’s grace, or as consolation of conscience. Even in monastic life itself, bodily struggle, however great it may be, cannot by itself discover internal bonds and internal misery: spiritual struggle is necessary for this. Bodily struggle not accompanied by spiritual struggle is more harmful than useful; it serves as the cause of an extraordinary intensification of spiritual passions: vanity, hypocrisy, cunning, pride, hatred, envy, conceit. “If internal practice in God does not help man,” said the great Barsanuphius, “then his external labor is in vain.”[6][7]

The following spiritual struggles open for the ascetic his internal captivity, serving as the cause of arousing warfare in thoughts and feelings: 1) true obedience; by it the beginning monk, cutting off for God’s sake his own will and his own opinions for the fulfillment of the will and opinions of the ascetic who has made progress, who has acquired firm obedience to God, will inevitably arouse the opposition of the proud fallen angel, and thereby reveal his presence in himself. If the ascetic is not deceived by the cunning suggestions of the evil one, striving under various pretexts to draw him away from obedience, and remains constant in the struggle, he will arouse to envy and fierce battle the invisible enemy, who will not fail to raise up in the ascetic various sinful fantasies, thoughts, feelings, enticements, and thereby expose evil lurking in extraordinary abundance in the depths of the heart and appearing not to exist at all; 2) reading, study, and fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, which, cutting off active sin, especially destroy sin in the very mind, in the very heart. Fulfillment of these commandments or, more rightly, effort at fulfillment of the commandments, necessarily exposes the sin dwelling within us and arouses fierce inner warfare, in which spirits of evil take the strongest part; 3) dishonors and other sorrows also expose the hidden sin in the depths of the soul. For that reason sorrow is called a trial—because it reveals the hidden state of the heart. Naturally, in a man still under the power of sin, it exposes the sin dwelling in the depths of the soul, which is revealed by heartfelt bitterness, sorrow, thoughts of murmuring, indignation, self-justification, vengeance, hatred. Intensified action of these passions in the soul, a special onslaught and pressure of thoughts and fantasies, serves as an unmistakable sign of the action of the fallen proud spirit; 4) attentive prayer, especially prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, by effort unites the heart with the mind, exposes the serpent nesting in the depths of the heart, and, wounding it, impels it to movement. The Venerable Kallists and Ignatius Xanthopouli in their work on hesychasm and prayer cite the following words of the holy John Chrysostom: “I beseech you, brothers, never to reject or despise the rule of prayer. I once heard fathers saying that not a monk is the one who rejects or despises this rule: but he must—whether eating or drinking, abiding in the cell or occupied in obedience and travel, or doing anything else—unceasingly cry out thus: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, so that the unceasingly remembered name of our Lord Jesus Christ might provoke the enemy to warfare. For a soul under constraint can find everything through such remembrance, both evil and good. First she will see evil in the depths of her heart, and then (hidden in it) good—that is, God’s grace, implanted in each Orthodox Christian through holy Baptism.” Such a state of internal warfare must be borne with evenness of soul, as the Venerable Macarius the Great instructs, with unwavering faith and hope in the Lord, with great patience, awaiting help and the gift of inner freedom from the Lord. Warfare cannot be crowned with victory, and freedom cannot be acquired by man’s own efforts; both are gifts of God, granted to the ascetic in His own time, known to God alone.[8][9]

It is a very great error for those who, being under the power of the passions, to demand dispassion of themselves. With such an incorrect demand of themselves, arising from an incorrect understanding of themselves, they fall into extraordinary confusion when the sin living in them manifests itself in some way. They fall into despondency, into despair. It appears to them, by their incorrect view of themselves, that the manifestation of sin is something unusual, something happening outside the order of things. Meanwhile, the manifestation of sin in thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds (not speaking here of mortal sins or of voluntary sins, but of enticements) is a logical manifestation, natural, necessary. “If a passion troubles us,” says the Venerable Abba Dorotheos, “we should not be disturbed by this: to be disturbed by the passion troubling us is the work of foolishness and pride and comes from not knowing our soul’s state and avoiding labor, as the Fathers have said. Therefore we do not make progress, because we do not know our measure and do not have patience in the deeds we undertake, but wish to acquire virtue without labor. Why does the passionate one marvel when a passion troubles him? Why is he disturbed? You have acquired it, have it in yourself, and you are disturbed! Took into yourself and its pledges, and say: why does it trouble me? Better to bear, struggle, and pray to God.” Rom.Instruction 13, On How to Endure Temptations. Our Russian ascetic, Elder Seraphim of Sarov, said: “One must have compassion on one’s soul in its weaknesses and imperfections, and bear one’s own shortcomings just as we bear those of others, but without becoming slothful, and must urge oneself toward better things. If you have eaten too much food, or done something else of this kind, akin to human weakness, do not be troubled by it and do not add harm to harm, but courageously urge yourself on to correction, and meanwhile endeavor to preserve peace of soul, according to the word of the Apostle: Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself in that which he approves. The Life and Labors of Elder Seraphim. Moscow, 1884.” 14:22

Those who behold in themselves sin, on account of this beholding, spend all the days of their earthly life in lamentation over their sinfulness, mentally reveal themselves and their wretched state to the Lord and cry out in heartfelt pain: “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Enlarge the desires of my heart. Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. O guard my life, and deliver me” (Ps. 24:15–17; Ps. 21:21–22; Mt. 16:26; 1 Pet. 5:8; Job 2:6), like the soul of Job, your servant, “and deliver me, that I be not ashamed, for I trust in you” Living by this rule, without doubt, he will be worthy to say in his time: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” (Ps. 39:2–4). Truthful is He who gave the promise, trusted by those who are assured in Him and do not turn from trust in Him, despite the prolonged and painful yearning produced in the heart by the violence of sins. He who gave the promise will certainly fulfill it. “Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?” testifies the Son of God. “Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them” (Lk. 18:7–8). Here by the word “long-suffering” should be understood God’s permission for man to be tempted, for his benefit, for a certain time, by sin dwelling within man and by spirits of evil. “The prince of this age,” says the holy Macarius the Great, “for those who are infants in spirit is a rod for chastening (admonishing) and a scourge giving wounds; but he, as has been said above, by this prepares great glory and great honor, afflicting and tempting them… Through him some great work of salvation is accomplished, as it has been said somewhere: ‘evil, having as its purpose evil, cooperates toward good.’ For good souls having good intention, even what appears to be sorrowful turns out in the end to be good, as the Apostle himself witnesses: ‘All things work together for good for those who love God’ (Rom. 8:28). This rod of punishment is permitted to act for the purpose that vessels be tested as in a heated furnace, and the good be made more steadfast, while the bad be revealed in their capacity for fracture, not enduring the force of the fire. He—that is, the devil—being a creature and servant of God, tempts not as much as he wishes, does not afflict to the degree he would like, but only as God’s movement allows and permits. God, knowing precisely the state of all and how much strength each possesses, permits each to be tempted only to the extent he has strength. ‘God is faithful,’ says the Apostle, ‘and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it’ (1 Cor. 10:13). The one who seeks and knocks on the door, who asks until the end, will receive what is asked.”[10]

[1] The holy Fathers call the state after creation natural, the state after the fall subnature, the state after redemption supernatural. Saint Isaac the Syrian, Logos 4; Venerable Dorotheus, Homily.

[2] Venerable Abba Dorotheus, Instruction 1.

[3] Logos 4, Chapter 16. This is evident from the renunciations performed before the holy mystery of Baptism. Fallen man has become the dwelling-place not only of sin but also of Satan; through the mystery of holy Baptism, Satan is cast out of man, but in a negligent and sinful life the baptized man may have Satan return to him, as will be explained hereafter. See the Order of holy Baptism in the Rite-book.

[4] Logos 4, Chapter 5.

[5] Venerable Macarius the Great, Discourse 21, Chapter 1.

[6] Reply to Question 210.

[7] The 16th Instruction of Venerable Syncletica, Memorable Sayings.

[8] Chapter 49, Philokalia, Part 2. This quotation is given more fully in the Homily on the Jesus Prayer.

[9] Discourse 21, Chapters 3 and 4.

[10] Logos 4, Chapters 6–8.

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

The cause of God’s permission for the ascetic to be tempted by spirits of evil and sin consists in the necessity for man to know precisely and in detail his fall, without which he cannot, as he should, know and receive the Redeemer. It is necessary to know one’s fallen nature, its inclinations, the activity proper to it, so that subsequently, upon receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit provided by the Redeemer, one not use it for evil, not attribute its actions to oneself, but be a worthy vessel and instrument of it. The holy Gregory of Sinai says: “If a man is not abandoned and overcome and possessed, having enslaved himself to every passion and thought, and is defeated by a spirit, finding no help from deeds or from God or from anyone else, from which he comes almost to despair, being tempted from everywhere, then he cannot come to a breaking of the spirit, to counting himself less than all, last, and servant of all, more enslaved than the demons themselves, as if tortured and defeated by them. This is (providentially) permitted humility and chastening humility, after which is given by God a second, higher humility, which is Divine power, acting through God and accomplishing all things through Him; (man) sees it in himself as a tool, and with this tool accomplishes God’s wonders.” Thus is explained that marvelous sight which the holy ones of God present:[1] they, being vessels of the Holy Spirit, at the same time saw, recognized, and confessed themselves the greatest sinners, worthy of temporal and eternal punishment. They thoroughly knew and studied their fallen nature in which nothing is undefiled, and therefore all the good that was accomplished through them by the indwelling Divine grace they attributed to it with complete conviction and constantly trembled lest some thought or feeling arising from fallen nature be offensive to the Holy Spirit. It is not beneficial for man to make a quick transition from the state of warfare to the state of spiritual freedom.[2] The holy Macarius the Great observes that “not infrequently souls, being already partakers of Divine grace, being filled with heavenly sweetness and enjoying the peace of spirit, but not testified by scourges, not tried by sorrows inflicted by evil spirits, remain in infancy, and so to speak, are not fit for the heavenly kingdom. ‘If you endure discipline, God treats you as children’ (Heb. 12:8), says the Divine Apostle. ‘Therefore temptations and sorrows are sent to man for his benefit, so that the soul tested by them becomes stronger and more honored before the Lord. If it endures to the end with hope in the Lord, it is impossible for it not to receive the good promised by the Holy Spirit and complete deliverance from the malice of passions.’ For this reason, with the exception of a few cases, as a result of special Divine providence, the followers of Christ pass a significant part of their earthly sojourn in bitter battle with sin, under the yoke of a merciless pharaoh.[3] Upon going out from Egypt—the land of brickmaking and surfeit of flesh, by which is depicted the carnal state—the servants of the true God plunder the Egyptians; that is, they carry away with them the wealth of active reason, which is acquired in battle with sin and spirits of evil. Such is the Divine ordinance of the spiritual law (Ex. 3:21–22). The holy Isaac the Syrian recounts the following account: “One of the holy ones said: there was a hermit, an old man worthy of honor. Once I went to him because sorrow from afflicting temptations was oppressing me. At the time the old man was sick, was lying. I greeted him, sat near him and said: Father! Pray for me, because I am greatly grieved by demonic temptations. He opened his eyes, looked at me attentively and said: Son! You are young: God does not permit you temptations. I answered him: True, I am young, but I am tempted by the temptations of strong men. He said again: If so, then God wishes to make you wise. I said: How will God make me wise when I taste death daily? Again he: God loves you: be silent. God will give you His grace, and added: Know, son, that I struggled with demons for the course of thirty years. Having spent twenty years in struggle, I felt no relief. In the twenty-fifth year I began to feel rest. As time went on, rest increased. After the passage of twenty-seven years, in the twenty-eighth year, rest began to increase especially. At the end of the thirtieth year, already toward its end, rest became so established (which means that before, rest wavered, coming and going) that I no longer know even the measure to which it has progressed…” Behold what rest was born from much labor and long practice (struggle).”[4]

Having placed our hope in our all-powerful and all-good God, let us strive, through true monastic life, through the cloud, smoke, and storm of thoughts continually arising in us, to descend to our soul, captured and slain by sin, stinking, disfigured, lying in the grave of the fall. There, in the abyss of the heart, we will see also the serpent that has slain our soul.[5] Deep and precise knowledge of human fall is very important for the follower of Christ: only from this knowledge, as it were from hell itself, can he prayerfully, in true breaking of the spirit, cry out to the Lord, according to the instruction of the holy Symeon the New Theologian: “O God and Lord of all! Having power over all breath and soul, You alone able to heal me, hear the prayer of me miserable, and by the breath of the All-holy and Life-giving Spirit slay the serpent nesting in me, and destroy it.” In the state of fall, sin and the devil so force man that he has no ability to resist them, but is unwillingly drawn away by them, not into mortal sins, as we said above, but chiefly into mental suggestions.[6] In earnest ascetics, internal disturbance is very rarely permitted to manifest itself even in word, much less in deed.[7][8]

5. Concerning the State After Man’s Redemption

By redemption human nature has been renewed. The God-man renewed it by Himself and in Himself. This nature, renewed by the Lord, is grafted, as it were, to fallen nature through Baptism. Baptism, while not annihilating nature, annihilates its fallen condition; without changing nature itself, it changes its condition, uniting human nature to divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).

Baptism is at once mortification and vivification, at once burial and birth. Into the baptismal font is immersed, in it is buried and dies the sinful corruption of fallen nature, and from the font arises renewed nature; into the font is immersed the son of the old Adam, from the font emerges the son of the New Adam. This is testified by the Lord, who said: “If anyone is not born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God; what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:5–6). From these words it is evident that the Holy Spirit, receiving into the baptismal font the earthly man as man became through the fall, draws forth from the font that same man, now spiritual, having slain in him the sinful fleshly condition and given birth to the spiritual. At baptism the original sin, inherited from the forefathers, and one’s own sins committed before baptism are forgiven.[9] At baptism spiritual freedom is granted to man: he is no longer compelled by sin, but by his own will can choose good or evil. At baptism, Satan, who dwells in every man of fallen nature, is cast out of man; it is left to the will of the baptized man either to remain a temple of God and be free from Satan, or to cast out God from himself and again become a dwelling-place of Satan (Mt.“By Baptism the unclean spirit is cast out and roams about seeking empty and faithless souls, but finds no rest in them: for the demon’s rest consists in disturbing through evil deeds those who are baptized—the unbaptized belong to him from the beginning (of conception)—and he returns to the baptized person with seven spirits. As there are seven gifts of the Spirit, so are there seven evil and wicked spirits. When the devil returns to the baptized person and finds him idle, that is, on account of sloth lacking that activity which resists the enemies, then having entered into him, he acts wickedly more grievously than before. For one cleansed by Baptism and afterward (defiled), there is no hope in a second Baptism: unless there is hope in the very difficult work of repentance.” Explanation by the blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria of the Gospel text cited here. Venerable Gregory of Sinai said: “Hold the uncontrollable mind, that is, the mind disturbed and scattered by the opposing power, returned again after Baptism on account of negligence, with other more wicked spirits, into the idle soul, as the Lord says.” Holy Gregory of Sinai, Chapter 3. Philokalia, Part 1. Venerable Macarius the Great, Discourse 27, Chapter 11:12:43–45). At baptism man is clothed in Christ (Gal. 3:27). At baptism all men receive equality, because the dignity of each Christian is one and the same. It is Christ. This dignity is infinitely great; in it every earthly distinction among men is annihilated (Gal. 3:28). Great as it is, this distinction, in its outward aspect, was not taken away during Christ’s earthly life, and persisting, even more clearly manifests its insignificance. Thus a corpse, when the soul is torn from it, is recognized as dead, even though it has not yet decayed. At baptism the grace of the All-holy Spirit is poured out abundantly upon man, a grace that departed from him who transgressed God’s commandment in paradise, who followed the sinful understanding and will of the fallen angel.[10] Grace approaches again the one redeemed by the blood of the God-man, the one reconciling himself with God, the one renouncing his own understanding and will, the one burying in the baptismal font the inclinations of fallen nature, its life—the cause of death. “Christ, being perfect God,” said the Venerable Mark the Ascetic, “granted to those baptized the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit, which admits no addition from us, but reveals itself and appears to us in the measure of our fulfillment of the commandments.” The baptized man, doing good belonging to renewed nature, develops in himself the grace of the All-holy Spirit received at baptism, which, though unchangeable in itself, shines more brightly in man in the measure of the good of Christ he performs: thus the unchangeable sunbeam shines more brightly in the measure that the sky is freer from clouds. On the contrary, doing evil after baptism, giving activity to fallen nature, reviving it, man loses more or less spiritual freedom: sin again gains violent power over man; the devil again enters man, becomes his master and guide. Delivered from the grievous and heavy bondage by the almighty hand of God, he appears again in chains, in captivity, in prison, in hell, by his own choice. Such misfortune befalls man, to a greater or lesser degree, corresponding to those sins which he allows himself, and corresponding to the habit which he has acquired for sinful life. Sin, living within man and compelling him, is called a passion. A passion does not always manifest itself obviously: it can live secretly in man and destroy him. Spiritual freedom is completely lost also if the baptized man allows himself to live according to the understanding and will of fallen nature: because the baptized man has renounced his nature and has bound himself in all actions, words, thoughts, and feelings to manifest only renewed nature, renewed by the God-man, that is, to live solely according to the will and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ, in other words, according to the Gospel commandments and teaching. Following one’s fallen nature, following its understanding and will, is active rejection of Christ and of the renewal granted by Him at Baptism. Reviving in oneself fallen nature is complete return to eternal death, complete establishment and development of it in oneself. Why have the Jews and Greeks perished and do they perish? From love of fallen nature. Some wish to maintain dignity by the righteousness of fallen nature, by its good; others by its understanding: both become estranged from Christ, the one Righteousness, the sole treasury of understanding (Col. 2:3; Rom. 5:19). It is impossible for one who has not renounced nature, who has not acknowledged it, because of the fall, to be in all respects foul and abominable, to approach and be united with Christ, or, even having been united, to remain in that union.

God’s mercy has vividly depicted in visible nature many mysterious teachings of Christianity. The reviving of all growing things in spring serves as an image of the resurrection of men; the action of certain medicines, which at first reveal diseases and seem to intensify them, but then heal, serves as an image of spiritual struggle, which first exposes hidden passions in man, sets them in motion, and then gradually destroys them (Ps.Sinners have sprung up like grass, and all who practice lawlessness shall be destroyed forever and ever 91:8). Sinners, sprouting as grass, are passionate thoughts, like weak grass lacking strength. Thus, when passionate thoughts sprout in the soul, then are revealed—that is, exposed—“all those working iniquity,” that is, the passions, “that they may be destroyed forever”: for when passions become manifest to those struggling, they are destroyed by them. “Consider the order of exposition: first passionate thoughts sprout, thus passions are revealed, and then are destroyed.”—Abba Dorotheos, Instruction 13, On Enduring Temptations. The action of Baptism upon man also has its striking likeness. Let us go into an orchard and see what a gardener does with apple trees in order to give them the capacity to bear tasty fruit. Every apple tree that has grown from a seed taken even from the finest apple can bear only sour, bitter, and harmful fruit, unfit for use: for this reason every apple tree that has grown from seed is called wild. Our fallen nature is like a wild apple tree. It can bear only bitter, harmful fruit: good mixed with evil and poisoned by evil, destroying the one who recognizes this good, made evil by the mixture, as good worthy of God and man. The gardener, to transform a wild apple tree into a noble one, pitilessly cuts off all its branches, leaving only the trunk. To the remaining trunk he grafts a shoot from a noble apple tree; this shoot grows together with the trunk and roots, begins to send out branches in all directions, branches replace the cut-off branches; the natural tree is replaced by an artificial, grafted tree; the grafted tree holds, however, to the natural trunk, draws sap from the earth through natural roots—in short, its life is indissolubly joined to the life of the natural tree. Such a tree begins to bear excellent fruit, which belong to the natural tree, yet are entirely different from the fruit borne by the natural tree in its wild state. Then, throughout the whole existence of the tree in the orchard, the gardener carefully watches so that no shoots from the trunk and roots belonging to the natural tree emerge, for these again will bear their worthless fruit, and drawing sap to themselves, will rob the grafted branches of it, will rob these branches of the power to bear their beautiful fruit, will dry them out, will destroy them. For the tree to preserve its dignity, health, and strength, it is necessary that all its branches grow solely from the grafted shoot. Similar to the practice of grafting a noble shoot to a wild apple tree is what takes place in the sacrament of Baptism with the baptized person; similar to the conduct of the gardener toward the grafted apple tree should be conducted toward the baptized man. In baptism our being is not cut off—that being which has its beginning in conception in iniquities and birth in sins: the body of sin is cut off, the fleshly and soulish condition of nature is cut off, which can produce good only in mixture with evil; to being, to life, to the existence of man is grafted the nature of man renewed by the God-man. All thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds of the baptized should belong to renewed nature, as the Venerable Mark the Ascetic said: “Good cannot be believed in or performed except in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.” The baptized should by no means allow the action of fallen nature in himself, should immediately reject every inclination and impulse of it, even though they may appear outwardly good; he should fulfill solely the Gospel commandments in thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. To such a manner of thinking lead the instructions given by the Lord to His disciples and followers: “Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, because apart from Me you are able to do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they burn. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love.”[11] (Jn. 15:4–10). What could be clearer, more definite? Only the one who observes the Gospel commandments with all diligence, as is fitting in fulfilling commandments given by God, can remain in love toward God—not the love that belongs to fallen nature, but the love that is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is poured out upon the renewed man by the action of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and unites man with God. The one who neglects the commandments, who follows the inclinations of fallen nature, violates love, tears asunder the union. Calling the people together with His disciples, as the Gospel recounts, the Lord declared to them: “Whoever wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul because of Me and the Gospel will save it.” (Mk. 8:34–35). It is evident that here what is required is not rejection of being, but rejection of fallen nature, its will, its understanding, its righteousness. Sin and the condition of falling have so become ours, have so merged with our existence, that renunciation of them has become renunciation of ourselves, loss of our soul. For the salvation of the soul it has become an absolute necessity to lose the soul, for the salvation of ourselves it has become an absolute necessity to renounce ourselves, our fallen “self”, not conscious of falling. As long as this “self” exists, Christ cannot bring us any benefit. “Whoever does not hate his own soul cannot be My disciple.” (Lk. 14:26). “Whoever does not take up his cross and come after Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his soul will lose it; and whoever loses his soul because of Me will find it.” (Mt. 10:38–39), testified the Lord. He commanded the loss of soul not only for His sake, but also for the Gospel’s, explaining the latter by the former. The loss of soul for the sake of the Lord is rejection of the understanding, righteousness, and will belonging to fallen nature, for the fulfillment of the will and righteousness of God depicted in the Gospel, for following the understanding of God shining from the Gospel. All who have compelled themselves to fulfill the Gospel teaching know by experience how opposed and hostile to the Gospel are the understanding, righteousness, and will of fallen nature. Reconciliation and agreement are impossible. Rejection of fallen nature is an unavoidable, tangible necessity of salvation. The one who ceaselessly studies the Gospel and strives to revive it in himself through all his activity accomplishes this rejection. The Gospel is the teaching of Christ. The teaching of Christ, as the teaching of God, is law. Exact fulfillment of the law spoken by God, Creator and Redeemer, is an indispensable duty of redeemed creatures. Neglect of the study and fulfillment of the law is rejection of the Lawgiver. The Holy Apostle Paul said: “As many as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27). This means: those baptized in Christ received at Baptism, in Baptism itself, a gift from the Holy Spirit, which acted upon them: a living sense of Christ, a sense of His qualities. But the freedom to choose voluntarily the old or the new has not been taken from the baptized, just as it was not taken from Adam in paradise—the freedom to keep God’s commandment or break it. The Apostle says to believers and the baptized: “Night has passed and day has drawn near. So let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and promiscuity, not in quarreling and jealousy: but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.” (Rom. 13:12–14). Having the freedom of choice, the baptized is invited by the Holy Spirit to maintain union with the Redeemer, to maintain in himself renewed nature, to maintain the spiritual condition granted by Baptism, to abstain from gratifying the lusts of the flesh, that is, from deviating to follow the inclinations of fleshly, soulish thinking. The words of the Apostle have similar meaning: “The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthly man, so are those who are earthly; and as is the heavenly Man, so are those who are heavenly; and just as we have borne the image of the earthly man”—for we are all born in original sin and with all the infirmities attached to our nature as a result of the fall, which were revealed in Adam after his falling—“we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” through Baptism, which grants us this image, and careful observance of Gospel commandments, which preserve this image whole in its perfection and divine beauty (1 Cor. 15:47–49). To put on the image of the Heavenly Man, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, always to carry in the body the death of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:10), means nothing else than to constantly mortify in ourselves the fleshly condition through constant dwelling in Gospel commandments. Thus did the holy Apostle Paul put on and remain clothed in the God-man, for which reason he could boldly say of himself: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me.” (Gal.According to the Russian translation: are you not that which you ought to be. 2:20). The same he requires of all believers. “Or do you not know yourselves,”—he says—“that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Cor. 13:5). A just requirement and a just accusation! By holy Baptism the fallen nature is cut off in each baptized man, to man is grafted the nature renewed by the God-man. For this reason Baptism is called in Holy Scripture “the bath of rebirth,” and life after baptism—“rebirth” (Tit. 3:5; Mt. 19:28). The renewed nature, each baptized man is obliged to show forth and develop in himself: this is—to show forth in himself the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling, speaking, and acting. A Christian who has not done this is not what he ought to be.

[1] Holy Gregory of Sinai, Chapter 117. Philokalia, Part 1.

[2] Venerable Macarius the Great, Discourse 27, Chapters 4, 5, and 18.

[3] Logos 7, Chapter 14.

[4] Logos 31. Here the word ‘working’ is used, because the Fathers especially call by this name the mental and heart-centered ascetic struggle, more often using the word ‘struggle’ to designate bodily labors. Venerable Barsanuphius, Reply 210; Isaac the Syrian, Logos 56.

[5] Venerable Macarius the Great, Logos 1, Chapter 1.

[6] Philokalia, Part 1, Chapters on Action and Theology, 43.

[7] Venerable Abba Dorotheus, Instruction 1.

[8] Of the Industrious. — AB.

[9] He (the Lord) freed us through holy Baptism, granting us forgiveness of sins, and gave us freedom to do good if we desire, and no longer to be drawn, as it were, forcibly toward evil; for those who are enslaved by sins are weighed down by them and drawn along, as it is said (in Scripture), that each person is bound by the cords of his own sins (Prov. 5:22). Venerable Abba Dorotheus, the First Instruction on Renunciation of the World: “Baptism does not take away our self-mastery and self-determination: it grants us freedom, by which the devil no longer violently compels us when we do not consent to him. After Baptism it is granted to us by our choice to remain in the commandments of Christ, our Master and God, into whom we were baptized, and to walk in the path of his precepts, or to turn back again through evil deeds to our adversary and enemy, the devil.” Venerable Symeon the New Theologian, Chapter 109. Philokalia, Part 1.

[10] Logos 3 on Baptism.

[11] On Spiritual Law, Chapter 2.

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

With special precision and detail the holy Apostle Paul explains the sacrament of Baptism: “Those baptized in Jesus Christ”, he says, were immersed “in His death. We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be united with the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, so that we are no longer enslaved to sin. For he who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died to sin once for all: but in that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”[1][2][3] (Rom. 6:3–13). From this again it is evident that Baptism is at once mortification and vivification. When the forefathers sinned, death immediately struck the soul, the Holy Spirit, who constituted the true life of soul and body, immediately departed from the soul, evil immediately entered the soul, constituting the true death of soul and body. The warning of the Creator was fulfilled literally: “From the tree of which you taste, knowing good and evil, you shall not eat of it; but in the day in which you eat from it, you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:17).[4] Death in one instant made the spiritual man fleshly and soulish, the holy one sinful, the incorruptible corruptible; it gave the body density, infirmity, unclean lusts; and finally struck down the body after the passage of many centuries. Holy Baptism, on the contrary, brings resurrection to the soul, transforms the fleshly and sinful man into a spiritual and holy one, mortifies the body of sin, that is, the fleshly condition of man, sanctifies not only the soul of man, but also his body, grants it the capacity to rise in glory; the resurrection itself will be accomplished later, at the time appointed by God. Just as between the manifestation of death in man, not manifest to fleshly eyes, and the separation of soul from body, manifest even to fleshly eyes, considerable time passed, so also between the manifestation of life in man and the quickening of this life of the body, which will be united with the soul again, there is appointed a time known only to God alone. What the soul is to the body, the Holy Spirit is to all man, to his soul and body. As the body dies the death by which all animals die when the soul leaves it, so all man, both body and soul, dies with respect to true life, with respect to God, when the Holy Spirit leaves man. As the body lives and is raised when the soul returns into it, so all man, both body and soul, lives and is raised spiritually when the Holy Spirit returns to him. This quickening and resurrection of man is accomplished in the sacrament of holy Baptism.[5] The son of first-created Adam is quickened and raised through holy Baptism, but no longer in that state of integrity and holiness in which Adam was created; he is quickened and raised in a state incomparably higher, in the state granted to humanity by God, who assumed humanity. The men renewed by Baptism are clothed not in the original, spotless image of first-created man, but in the image of the heavenly Man, the God-man. The second image is as much superior to the first as the God-man surpasses the first man in his state of integrity.

The change produced by holy Baptism in man is fully evident, is fully felt, yet this change remains unknown to the majority of Christians: we are baptized in infancy, from childhood devoted to occupations belonging to the passing world and fallen nature, we cloud in ourselves the Spiritual Gift granted by holy Baptism, as the radiance of the sun is dimmed by thick clouds. But the gift is not annihilated; it continues to remain in us throughout the whole time of our earthly life. The sun is not annihilated and continues to exist when covered by clouds. Only when the baptized man abandons the activity of fallen nature, begins to wash away his transgressions with tears of repentance, crucifies the flesh with its passions and desires, enters upon the field of activity of the New Man—the gift of the Spirit begins again to manifest its presence in the baptized, to develop, to prevail. Cleansing through repentance is a consequence and action of grace planted by Baptism.[6] Repentance is a renewal, a restoration of the condition produced by Baptism. The one cleansed by repentance can have an experiential understanding of the change produced in man by Baptism.

“When we are baptized,” says the holy John Chrysostom, “then the soul, being cleansed by the Spirit, shines brighter than the sun, and not only do we behold the Glory of God, but we also draw from it a certain radiance. As pure silver placed against the rays of the sun itself also emits rays, not only by its own nature, but from the radiance of the sun, in the same way the soul, being cleansed and made brighter than silver, receives from the Spirit a ray of glory and in turn emits it.”[7]

In the Book of Acts, although there is no direct, factual exposition of the change produced in the baptized by the sacrament of holy Baptism—because in the ancient Church it was known to all what change Baptism produced—for all this change was evident in the fruits of the Holy Spirit, most of which were revealed immediately after baptism—yet are described cases which have preserved for posterity proof of this change. Thus, when the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen was baptized and went up from the water, the Holy Spirit immediately descended upon him; the eunuch, no longer needing a teacher—the Spirit became his sufficient teacher—went on his way with joy, though he had only just learned about the Lord Jesus Christ from a very brief discourse with the Apostle Philip (Acts 8:39). Upon Cornelius the centurion, a pagan, and other pagans who were with him and believed in the Lord, the Holy Spirit descended even before baptism, and they began to speak in foreign languages completely unknown to them before, proclaiming the greatness of God, which they had up to that moment not understood at all (Acts 10:44–48). Despite the fact that the Spirit had already descended upon them, the holy Apostle Peter commanded them to be baptized in water, by the urgent requirement of the sacrament. Church history has preserved for us an event of the greatest importance. The Roman Emperor Diocletian, in whose time was raised the most cruel persecution of Christians, spent the greater part of the year 304 after the birth of Christ in Rome. He came to the capital to celebrate his victories over the Persians. Among the other entertainments to which the emperor devoted himself was a visit to the theater. A certain Genesius, a comic actor, greatly amused the public with improvisations. One day, acting in the theater in the presence of the emperor and a large assembly of people, he, pretending to be ill, lay on a bed and said: “Ah, my friends! I feel very bad: I wish you would comfort me.” The other actors answered: “How can we comfort you? Do you wish us to scrape you with a scraper to make you feel better?” “Fools!” he answered. “I want to die a Christian.” “Why?” they said. “So that on this great day God will receive me as a prodigal son.” At once a priest and an exorcist were sent for. They, that is, the actors representing them, came, sat by the bed on which Genesius lay, and said to him:[8] “My son, why have you called us?” He answered: “Because I want to receive mercy from Jesus Christ, and be reborn for liberation from my sins.” They performed over him the entire rite of the holy sacrament, then clothed him, according to the custom of the newly baptized, in a white garment. Then soldiers, continuing the game, took him and presented him to the emperor, as if for interrogation, like martyrs. Genesius said: “Emperor and all his court! Wise men of this city! Hear me. Whenever it happened that I heard the name of Christian, I felt a dreadful aversion to this name, I heaped curses upon those who remained in the profession of this name, I even hated my own relatives and loved ones on account of the Christian name, I despised this faith so much that with precision I studied its mysteries to amuse you with representations of them. But when water, undressing me, touched me, when I, being asked, answered that I believe, I saw a hand descending from heaven, and around it descended upon me radiant angels. They read in a certain book all the sins I had committed from childhood, washed them away with that very water in which I was baptized before your eyes, and then showed me the book, which turned out to be clean (unwritten), like snow. Therefore, great emperor and people, you who have ridiculed the Christian mysteries, believe, as I have believed, that Jesus Christ is the true Lord, that He is the Light of Truth, and that through Him you can obtain forgiveness.” Diocletian, brought to extreme fury by these words, ordered Genesius to be beaten severely with sticks, then he was handed over to Prefect Placidian to compel him to make offerings to idols. For a considerable time he was flayed with iron nails and burned with burning torches. Amid these torments he cried out: “There is no other king except Him whom I saw! I honor Him and serve Him! And even if I were deprived of life a thousand times for serving Him—I will always belong to Him! Torments will not tear Jesus Christ out of my mouth or my heart. I deeply regret my error, the aversion I had toward His holy Name, and that I became His worshipper so late.” Genesius’s head was cut off. Saint Gregory the Theologian, in his funeral oration for his father according to the flesh, Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus, who received holy Baptism already in advanced age, speaks as follows: “The father approaches the rebirth through water and Spirit, through which, as we confess, before God man is formed and perfected as a Christian, the earthly is transformed into spirit and is rebuilt. And he approaches the washing with burning desire, with bright hope, having purified himself beforehand as much as he could, becoming in soul and body far purer than those preparing to receive the tablets from Moses. Their purification extended only to their garments, consisted of a brief period of continence and in restraining somewhat the belly; but for him the whole of his past life was preparation for enlightenment and purification up to purification, protecting the gift, so that perfection be entrusted to purity, and the granted good not be endangered by habits opposing grace. As he came up from the water, light and glory befitting the disposition with which he approached the gift of faith shine upon him. This was evident to others also. Though they kept the wonder silent at that time, not daring to make it known, because each considered himself alone to have seen it, yet soon they communicated it to one another. But to the one who baptized and accomplished it through the sacrament, the vision was very clear and plain, and he could not keep it secret, but proclaimed to all that he had anointed the Spirit his successor.” Here Saint Gregory the Theologian calls holy Baptism rebirth through water and spirit, enlightenment, purification, gift, perfection, granted good, gift of faith, sacrament. In his Discourse on Baptism, the Theologian speaks thus: “This gift, like its giver, Christ, is called by many different names, and this happens either because it is very pleasing to us—he who has a strong love for something usually hears with pleasure even the names of the beloved—or because the manifold benefits contained in it have produced in us various names for it. We call it a gift, grace, baptism, anointing, enlightenment, a garment of incorruptibility, a bath of rebirth, a seal—everything honorable for us.” In this same discourse, Saint Gregory exclaims:[9] “To know the power of this sacrament is already enlightenment!” Thus did Saint Gregory the Theologian, baptized in mature age, understand holy Baptism, having learned from his own experience and from the experience of other holy men contemporary with him, that inexpressible change, that complete rebirth, that new life which is felt from the sacrament of Baptism by those baptized worthily, who have prepared themselves for Baptism in the proper manner, and therefore have felt and known all its power. As we have seen, Gregory the Theologian mentions the radiant shining of his parent with a wondrous Light as he came up from the font. Gregory’s friend, Saint Basil the Great, archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, also experienced a very palpable action of the sacrament. This is recounted in his life.[10][11][12]

Careful preparation before receiving holy Baptism is necessary. In careful preparation is contained an indispensable condition so that the great sacrament may bear abundantly its fruit, so that it may serve to salvation rather than to greater condemnation. This is spoken to explain the sacrament and especially for those approaching it not in infancy, in which by the circumstances of the present time almost all of us receive Baptism. Preparation for holy Baptism is genuine repentance. Genuine repentance is an indispensable condition so that holy Baptism be received in a worthy manner, to the salvation of the soul. Such repentance consists in acknowledging one’s sins as sins, in sorrow for them, in their confession, in abandoning a sinful life. In other words: repentance is awareness of the fall, awareness of the need for a Redeemer, repentance is condemnation of one’s fallen nature and renunciation of it for renewed nature. It is necessary that our vessel—by vessel I mean the mind, heart, and body of man in relation to Divine grace—be cleansed to receive and preserve the Spiritual Gift granted by holy Baptism. It is necessary that this vessel not only be cleansed, but also examined carefully; it is necessary that any damage in it, especially cracks, be carefully repaired; if they remain unrepaired, the living water (Jn. 7:38), poured into the vessel by holy Baptism, will not be retained in the vessel: it will flow out of it, to the greatest misfortune. By cracks I mean sinful habits. It is necessary that our Jerusalem be surrounded on all sides, as if by walls, by good morals and customs: only then can the sacrifice and whole offering be brought in the font of Baptism, our fallen nature, and the renewed nature, granted by Baptism, become an altar acceptable for bringing sacrifices and whole offerings pleasing to God (Ps. 50:20–21). Without such preparation what benefit can Baptism have? What benefit can Baptism have when we, receiving it in mature years, understand nothing of its significance? What benefit can Baptism have when we, receiving it in infancy, afterward remain in complete ignorance of what we have received? Yet we have received an invaluable Gift, we have taken upon ourselves a terrible obligation; responsibility for this obligation is as immeasurable and infinite as the Gift is immeasurable and infinite. What benefit can Baptism have when we do not understand our fall, do not even acknowledge that our nature is in a state of the most grievous falling? When we consider the worthless good of fallen nature to be elegant and pleasing? When we strive stubbornly to do this good, not noticing that it only feeds and nourishes in us our self-love, only removes us more and more from God, only strengthens and stamps our fall and separation? What benefit can Baptism have when we do not count even mortal sins as sins—for example, adultery with all its branches—but call them enjoying life? When we do not know that our nature has been renewed by Baptism? When we completely neglect the activity according to the laws of renewed nature, heap curses and mockery upon it? John, the Forerunner of the Lord, whose baptism was only a baptism introducing to repentance, and not granting the Heavenly Kingdom, required of those coming to him for baptism a confession of sins, not having need of this confession himself as John of the Ladder notes, but caring for the spiritual benefit of those baptized by him.[13] Indeed: how can a man enter upon the field of repentance without confessing his sins? How will he know the degree of importance of different sins and the manner of repentance for them, if an experienced spiritual director does not tell him both one and the other? How will he become familiar without a guide with spiritual weapons, with their use against sinful thoughts and feelings, against sinful habits, against passions rooted from long ago? Confession of sins is indispensable both so that one may repent properly of sins committed beforehand, and so that one may guard oneself in the future from falling into sins. Confession of sins has always been recognized in the Church of Christ as an inseparable aspect of repentance. It was required of all those intending to be baptized with the purpose that the holy Baptism granted might be received and preserved as a great, unrepeatable sacrament should be received and preserved. Finally, repentance is an ordinance of God and a Gift of God to fallen humanity.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt. 3:2), proclaimed the holy Forerunner to those coming to him and receiving from him the baptism of repentance. By the Heavenly Kingdom, as the Forerunner subsequently explained, was signified in his preaching the holy New Testament sacrament of Baptism (Mt. 3:11). To receive the Heavenly Kingdom, repentance is necessary. The Saviour of the world required repentance of men so as to grant men the gift of salvation through holy Baptism, so as to make men capable of receiving the heavenly spiritual Gift. “Repent,” he said, “for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt. 4:17); “repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk. 1:15). For you everything has already been done; from you is sought no labour, no struggle, no contribution to the gift! From you is sought only one thing: purification through repentance, because to the unclean and those not wishing to be clean it is impossible to entrust the priceless, all-holy, spiritual treasure. Sending His disciples on a mission to preach, the God-man commanded them to proclaim to mankind repentance on account of the approaching Heavenly Kingdom (Mt. 10:7). Apostle Paul speaks of himself that he, wandering throughout the world, proclaimed to all, both Jews and Greeks, repentance, conversion to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Act 20:21). When in Jerusalem thousands of Jews believed in the Saviour as a result of the preaching of the holy Apostle Peter and asked him and the other Apostles: “What shall we do, brothers?” Then Apostle Peter said: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Act 2:37–38). Everywhere we see repentance as the only entrance, the only ladder, the only porch before Faith, the Gospel, the Heavenly Kingdom, before God, before all Christian sacraments, before holy Baptism—this birth of man into Christianity. It is necessary to renounce the former sinful life and to resolve to conduct one’s life according to Gospel commandments, so as to receive worthily and be able to preserve worthily in oneself the Gift of the Holy Spirit received at Baptism. The Church pastors of the Christian Church of the first centuries took all possible care so that holy Baptism, which was then accepted almost exclusively in mature age, be received by those receiving it with full understanding of the Spiritual Gift received.[14]

And upon present-day pastors lies a sacred, indispensable duty to provide accurate and detailed understanding of holy Baptism to those who received the sacrament in infancy and therefore have no experiential knowledge of the sacrament. The Gift has been received by them: an accounting for the use of the Gift is unavoidable. Timely preparation for the accounting is necessary, is most necessary! Careless and ignorant stewardship of the Gift entails the most disastrous consequences. Whoever does not use the Gift according to the will and command of the Giver, whoever does not develop in himself the grace of Baptism through action according to Gospel commandments, but hides the talent entrusted to him in the earth—that is, buries, entombs the grace of Baptism, destroys in himself all its action, having wholly given himself over to earthly concerns and pleasures—from him the grace of Baptism will be taken away at the judgment of Christ. The unworthy steward of it will be cast “into the outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 25:30). To have proper understanding of the important significance of holy Baptism, one must live a life pleasing to God, an evangelical life: it alone with due clarity and satisfaction opens to the Christian the mysteries of Christianity.[15]

Baptism is an unrepeatable sacrament. “I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins,” proclaims the Orthodox Symbol of Faith. Just as birth into being can happen once, so birth into rebirth—Baptism—can happen once. Just as various ailments befalling man after his birth, attacking, shaking, destroying his being, are cured by various medicines, which find their support in the vital force communicated with being: so also various sins committed after Baptism, attacking and disturbing man’s spiritual life, are cured by repentance, whose efficacy is based on the grace of the Holy Spirit planted in man by holy Baptism, and consists in developing this grace, suppressed and stifled by sins. “Christ,” says the Venerable Mark the Ascetic, “as perfect God granted to those baptized the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit, which admits no addition from us, but reveals itself to us and appears in the measure of our fulfillment of the commandments, and provides for us an increase, so that we all might come to ‘the unity of faith, in a perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13). By unity of faith is understood here the absorption of all the Christian’s activity by faith, whereby all activity serves as an expression of spiritual understanding or the Gospel. So, whatever we bring Him (Christ), after our rebirth (through Baptism), was already from Him and by Him planted in us (at the sacrament of Baptism).”[16]

6. On the renewal of redeemed nature through repentance in case of its damage

[1] The words of the Apostle are cited here in the Russian translation of the 1822 edition, for the sake of clarity.

[2] In Slavonic: As many of us as have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death (by immersion). Baptism and immersion are synonymous terms. Throughout the Universal Church, Baptism was administered through immersion until the twelfth century. In the twelfth century, the practice began to be replaced in Rome with sprinkling.

[3] Translation from the 1822 edition. See the explanation of these words by St. John Chrysostom.

[4] Venerable Macarius the Great, Homily 7, Chapter 26.

[5] “Through Baptism the one baptized is transformed in mind, word, and deed, and according to the grace given to him becomes one with him who gave him birth.” The twentieth moral rule of St. Basil the Great. Works of the Holy Fathers.

[6] Venerable Mark the Ascetic, Discourse on Baptism; the holy Saints Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos, Chapters 1–6. The Philokalia, Part 2.

[7] Ioanni Chrysostomi in Epistola 11 ad Cor. Homila VII, cap. 5.

[8] A scraper is a woodworking tool used to shape wood.

[9] Fleury’s Ecclesiastical History, Book 8, Chapter 49. A similar narrative is found in the Menaion Reader, September 15. The comedian Porphyry, immersing himself in water to mock baptism, was converted by the holy Sacrament into a Christian. This occurred before the eyes of the Emperor Julian the Apostate. Porphyry confessed Christ, rebuked the emperor for impiety, and was cruelly tormented and subsequently executed for this.

[10] The Menaion Reader, January 1.

[11] St. Gregory the Theologian, Homily 40. Works of the Holy Fathers.

[12] St. Gregory the Theologian, Homily 18. Works of the Holy Fathers.

[13] Homily 4 on Obedience.

[14] See the writings of St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. John Chrysostom, and others.

[15] “The law of freedom,” said Venerable Mark, “is understood through true wisdom; it is perceived through the fulfillment of the commandments (of the Gospel),” Chapter 32, On Spiritual Law.

[16] Conclusion of the Homily on Baptism.

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Those wishing to acquire experiential knowledge of holy Baptism, wishing to open the hidden mystery and the priceless Spiritual Gift placed by the unspeakable goodness of God in the treasure-house of the soul, wishing to behold their nature in the state of renewal and rebirth, wishing to feel and behold in themselves Christ, can achieve all this through repentance. The form of repentance befitting and suitable to a Christian corresponds to the Gift he wishes to reveal in himself: genuine repentance corresponds to the sacrament of Baptism. Through Baptism alone, by God’s unspeakable goodness, is the Gift of God communicated to man: and when a Christian, who has allowed himself after Baptism to engage in the activity and life of fallen nature, who has revived in himself death, who has killed in himself life, seeks restoration through repentance, the Gift is restored solely by God’s goodness. In Baptism we are born of water and Spirit; in repentance we are born again of tears and Spirit. Repentance is the ceaseless weeping of an infant before God over the loss of the Gift, in hope of receiving the Gift again. “I have not kept my vineyard!”—cries out in terrible sorrow the soul that has fallen from the nature renewed by Baptism into the realm of fallen nature, that has lost its freedom, that is compelled by sin; “I tend the goats!”—there are no spiritual feelings and thoughts in me! all the flocks of my feelings and thoughts are worthless! they are goats, as constituting a mixture of good with evil! they are mine, because they are born from my fallen nature! (Song 1:5, 7). The qualities of the renewed nature have been lost by me! Saint Isaac the Syrian, being asked what meditations the ascetic of Christ should constantly occupy himself with in his solitude, answered: “You ask about meditation and about that thought which should ceaselessly occupy a man in his cell, to make him dead? (to the world, that is, to sin)? Does the careful and watchful man need to ask how to conduct himself when he is alone, by himself? What else can be the mental occupation of a monk in his cell but weeping? Does weeping leave him the possibility of turning to other thoughts? What other mental occupation can be better than this? The very place of abode of the monk, his solitude, his manner of dwelling, like dwelling in a tomb, alien to human joy, teaches him that weeping is his activity. The very meaning of his name calls upon him and urges him to weeping; he is called mourning, that is, full of sorrow in his heart. All the saints departed from this life in weeping. If saints wept, and their eyes were ceaselessly filled with tears until the very departure from this life, then who should not weep? Comfort for a monk is born from his weeping. If the perfect and victorious wept here, how can one full of wounds endure ceasing to weep? He who has his dead lying before him and sees himself mortified by sins, does he need teaching—with what kind of thoughts should he shed tears? Your soul is mortified by sins, that which is more precious to you than all the world lies dead before you: does it not need to be wept for? If we enter into silence and remain in it with patience, we can surely remain in weeping. For this reason let us ever pray in mind to the Lord that He grant us weeping. If this gift of grace is granted to us, the best and most excellent of all gifts, then through it we shall enter into purity. When we acquire purity, then this purity will not be taken from us until our departure from this life.” It is evident that such weeping can be born only in one who has clear understanding of the states of fallen nature and nature renewed by Baptism. Only the one who understands the value of the lost Gift can weep bitterly and weep constantly. “Weeping before God,” said Saint John of the Ladder, “is a constant feeling of a grieving heart that has become its own—ceaselessly seeking with rapture what it longs for, pursuing with intensity what it is deprived of, and sobbing heavily in its wake.” The suffering feeling of weeping should constitute the character of the repenting Christian. The cessation of weeping is a sign of self-deception and delusion.[1] Only Christ-imitating humility can console the weeper; only love in Christ can comfort him, can wipe away his tears, can illuminate his face and heart with the light of heavenly joy. Sacrifices and whole offerings from fallen nature are not accepted;[2] the one sacrifice from this nature pleasing to God is: “a broken spirit” (Ps. 50:18–19).

Just as deviation from the state belonging to renewed nature and falling away into the state belonging to fallen nature is accomplished through abandoning the activity belonging to renewed nature—in other words, through abandoning life according to Gospel commandments—and through deviating into the activity belonging to fallen nature: so, conversely, return from the state belonging to fallen nature to the state belonging to renewed nature is accomplished through decisive and complete rejection of activity according to the understanding and will of fallen nature, through decisive and complete acceptance of activity according to the teaching and will of the God-man. In this internal struggle is revealed in man, because the life preceding repentance, according to one’s own will and understanding, deprived man of spiritual freedom, delivered him into bondage to sin and the devil. The repenting one strives to act according to Gospel commandments, while sin and the devil, having received power voluntarily transmitted to them through the preceding manner of life, strive to keep the captive in captivity, in chains, in prison! Experiential knowledge of captivity through the sensation of captivity and violence, experiential knowledge of spiritual death through the sensation of death, strengthen and confirm the weeping of the repenting one. “This struggle,” says the Venerable Mark the Ascetic, “is internal. It is not from without, and it is not with our brethren that we must struggle. It is within us, and no man can assist us in it. We have one helper: Christ mysteriously hidden in us by Baptism, invincible and unable to be overcome (annihilated).[3] He will strengthen us if we fulfill His commandments to the extent of our power.” Here the Venerable ascetic does not reject the guidance of advice and instructions from spiritual and experienced men—no! He advises necessarily and carefully to resort to the counsel of spiritual Fathers and brethren![4] Here he wishes to show that our invisible triumph in the inner struggle depends solely on the will and action of grace planted in us by Baptism, acting in accordance with our volition, manifested and proved by fulfillment of Gospel commandments, and in accordance with the inscrutable will of God concerning man. For this reason some, with abundant and constant human guidance, bear the scantiest fruit; others, having heard the briefest instruction, in a short time manifest swift progress by their spiritual gifts.[5] “Know for certain,” said Saint Isaac the Syrian, “that every good working in you mentally and secretly were the mediators Baptism and Faith, by which you were called by our Lord Jesus Christ to His good works”—and not to the supposed good works of fallen nature.

The repenting one is aided by God’s providential dispensations, as said the holy Prophet David: “Your providential works help me” (Ps. 118:175). By God’s providence many and varied afflictions are permitted to the repenting one: “He whom the Lord loves,” says the Apostle, “He disciplines; He scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebr. 12:6). Patience under afflictions with thanksgiving to God, with the acknowledgment of oneself as worthy of affliction, with the recognition of permitted affliction as precisely that saving medicine which we need for healing, is a sign of genuine repentance. “He who does not know God’s providential dispensations,” says the Venerable Mark, “walks in mind along a path lying between cliffs, and is easily cast down by every wind. He who resists the afflictions that befall him, though he does not know it, resists the command of God, while he who receives them with true understanding, according to Scripture, ‘waits for the Lord’ (Ps. 39:2). He who has known the truth does not resist the afflictions that come upon him: he knows that they lead man to the fear of God. Former sins, when remembered as a form, bring harm to one who has good hope: if this remembrance arises in connection with sorrow, it robs him of hope; if it arises without sorrow, it renews within the former defilement. When the mind through self-denial by simplicity of thought acquires hope, then the enemy, under the pretext of confession, depicts (in memory) sins committed before, in order to renew the passions which the grace of God has erased by forgetfulness, so as to thereby imperceptibly cause harm to man. Then even the firm mind, hating passions, will necessarily be darkened, troubled by remembrance of sins committed. If it is still dark and loves pleasure, it will certainly linger in remembrance and will converse passionately with the thoughts that come, so that such remembrance becomes not confession but a mental renewal within himself of the sins committed before.[6] If you wish to offer to God an unjudged confession, do not remember sinful tendencies as a form, but manfully endure the afflictions sent in recompense for them. Afflictions come (in recompense) for former sins, bringing to every sin its corresponding recompense. The wise man who knows the truth confesses himself to God not by remembrance of sins committed, but by endurance of afflictions that befall. Having rejected suffering and dishonour, do not promise to offer repentance through other virtues; vainglory and painlessness know how to serve sin even through righteous deeds.” “The way of God is the daily cross.[7] A man under special providence of God is recognized by this: when God constantly sends him afflictions.” “God’s power is perfected in weakness” (2Cor 12:9) of fallen nature, when this nature is ground to dust by the Cross of Christ (Mt.Homily 36:21:44). On the contrary, fallen nature can develop only with abundance of aid provided by fallen human society: through learning, through wealth, through honour. Such are the foundations and likewise the signs of the development of fallen nature. In such development, fallen nature receives, like the apocalyptic woman, worship (Apok 17) from the blinded, miserable humanity, and enters with her into adulterous union at the renunciation of Christ and the Holy Spirit—perhaps without words of renunciation—at renunciation essential, through activity, through life. After the renewal of our nature by the God-man, the return of man to his fallen nature is, in relation to God, adultery.

The grace of holy Baptism through repentance elevates the Christian to spiritual freedom, to that freedom which he already had upon coming forth from the font of Baptism. Thus the sick person, after intensive treatment, begins to feel in himself that freshness and those forces which he had before the illness, in a state of health. The primary cause of the renewal of strength is not medicine, but that life which the Creator has placed in human nature: medicines only help the vital force to struggle successfully against illness, to overcome and drive out illness, which is nothing other than a disorder of the vital force’s activity. Repentance requires more or less time according to various circumstances, especially according to the will of Divine Providence governing us. This can be seen from the biographies of many of God’s servants, who passed from a state of sinfulness to a state of holiness through repentance. The Venerable Mary of Egypt told the Blessed Zosimas that she struggled against her thoughts and lusts as with wild beasts for the period of seventeen years.[8] From our negligence in preserving the precious Gift granted us by Baptism, from activity according to the lawless law of fallen nature, the power of sin creeps into us imperceptibly: imperceptibly we lose spiritual freedom. The most grievous captivity remains invisible to many, recognized as the most satisfactory freedom. Our condition of captivity and slavery is revealed to us only when we begin to fulfill Gospel commandments; then our understanding rises up with hardness against the understanding of Christ, and our heart looks upon the fulfillment of Christ’s will wildly and hostilely, as if it were its own death and its own murder; then we experientially know the grievous loss of freedom, our terrible fall; then we see the whole depth of this fall, descending to the abysses of hell. One should not fall into despondency and weakness at such a sight: one should with courage and determination give oneself to repentance, as to an all-powerful physician, having command and authority from God to heal and cure all sins, however great and numerous these sins may be, however old and firmly established the habit of sin may be. Christ gave Himself to us and entered into us through holy Baptism; then He hid Himself in us when we did not present our will so that He might dwell in us and govern us; Christ will surely manifest Himself in us if we prove by genuine repentance a decisive will that He should dwell in us. “Behold, I stand at the door,” He says, “and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will enter to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Apok 3:20–21). The voice of Christ is the Gospel.

The order by which the repenting sinner ascends through repentance to holiness is set forth by the Venerable Macarius the Great thus: “He who wishes to approach the Lord and be deemed worthy of eternal life, to become a house of God and be counted worthy of the Holy Spirit, so as to obtain the ability to offer purely and cleanly the fruits of the Spirit according to the commandments of the Lord, must begin in this way: first, he must believe firmly in the Lord, give himself wholly to the words of His commandments, renounce the world entirely, so that the mind is occupied with nothing from the visible things (of the world), remain unshaken in prayers, not fall into despair (despondency, hopelessness) while waiting for (delay of) visitation and help from the Lord, at all times keep the mind ceaselessly directed toward the Lord. Then he must constantly compel himself to every good work and to all the Lord’s commandments, even though the heart, because of the sin dwelling in it, would not desire it; he must force himself to humility before all people, to esteeming himself as lesser and worse than all; he must not seek for himself honour, or glory, or praise from anyone, as prescribed in the Gospel, but always have before his eyes the one Lord and His commandments, seeking to please Him alone. He must compel himself also to gentleness, even though the heart resists it, according to what the Lord said: ‘Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart: and you will find rest for your souls.’ (Mt. 11:29). Likewise he must be merciful, compassionate, sympathetic, good, compelling himself to this forcibly, as the Lord said: ‘Be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.’ (Lk. 6:36). And again: ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments.’ (Jn. 14:15). And again: Compel yourselves: because ‘the violent’ (those compelling and forcing themselves) ‘seize the kingdom of heaven.’ (Mt. 11:12). And: ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate.’ (Lk. 13:24). He must always have before his eyes the humility of the Lord, His life, His conduct, keep them constantly in memory as a model and example, not permitting them to be stolen by forgetfulness. He must, to the extent of his strength, compel himself to unceasing remaining in prayers, constantly asking with constant faith that the Lord come and make him His dwelling-place (Jn. 14:23), that He instruct him in all His commandments, strengthen him in them, so that his soul may become the house of Jesus Christ. When in this manner he will conduct himself, forcing himself despite the resistance of his heart, accustoming himself to every good work, to constant remembrance of the Lord, to constant expectation of Him in great goodness and love, then the Lord, seeing such disposition in him and such good zeal, how he always forces himself to remembrance of the Lord and to every good work, to humble-mindedness, gentleness and love, how he bends the yoke (of Christ) his heart that resists it, forcing his heart to all that is good—then, I say, the Lord pours out His mercy upon him (at the proper time), delivers him from his enemies and from the sin living in him, filling him with the Holy Spirit. Thus he will, without any effort and forcing on his part, truly fulfill all the commandments of the Lord always. More precisely: the Lord Himself will perfect His commandments in him and manifest the spiritual fruits, while the man will bear them in purity.[9] But before this, it is necessary that every one coming to the Lord (as said above) compel himself to good despite the resistance of the heart, in constant expectation with unwavering faith of God’s mercy; one must forcibly compel oneself to be merciful to all, to have a loving heart toward all, to have humility before all, patience with all, not to grieve in soul at banishments and dishonours, not to complain—according to what is said: ‘Do not avenge yourselves, beloved’ (Rom. 12:19)—to compel oneself also to prayer, when one has not received the gift of it from the Holy Spirit. When God sees anyone so struggling and forcibly compelling himself to good, He gives him true prayer of Christ, the womb of mercy, true love for mankind; in short: He gives him all the spiritual fruits.”

We see that many sinners who have done repentance have achieved a high degree of Christian perfection. They have restored in themselves the Gift of Baptism not only to the degree in which it is given, but also to the degree in which it develops afterward from life according to Gospel commandments. Having acquired, having restored to themselves spiritual freedom, they did not stop at this, were not satisfied with this; they did not cease from repentance and weeping, which had restored their freedom.[10] The weakness and ready tendency to fall of man, experienced by them in reality, his capacity to change quickly, constantly stirred them to weeping. “You do not know what will come forth (the coming) day” (Prov. 27:1), they said daily to themselves in the words of Scripture: because of their purity there was revealed to them that “the commandment of the Lord is exceedingly broad.” (Ps. 118:96).[11] Comparing with the boundlessly vast commandment of the boundless Lord their own fulfillment of the commandment, they recognized this fulfillment as quite insufficient. Their fulfillment of the Gospel commandments they called and acknowledged as a defiling of the commandments. They washed their virtues, as though sins, with streams of tears. Thus the blinded sinner never weeps over his most terrible sins as the servants of Christ weep over their virtues. “The heavens are not clean before Him” (before God) (Job 15:15), that is, the pure holy Angels, as having limited purity, are not clean before God’s all-perfect purity; unclean before Him are also the holy men of earth, whose life is on earth but also in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Therefore they weep, and bringing repentance, more and more sink into repentance. “I know nothing against myself,” said the holy Apostle Paul, “but by this I am not justified: my Judge is the Lord”[12] (1 Cor. 4:4). Despite great spiritual gifts, despite the abundant grace of God dwelling in the Apostle, He said: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and of these I am the first.” (1 Tim. 1:15). Life according to Gospel commandments, contemplation of one’s fallen nature, contemplation of the infinite greatness and infinite perfections of God, comparison of the insignificant human nature—limited in its nature—with the unlimited nature of God, contemplation of the consequences of the ancestors’ sin and the consequences of one’s own sinfulness, weeping over one’s own misfortune and that of all humanity, patience under all sorrows develops in the Orthodox Christian the grace of Baptism to immeasurable dimensions, incomprehensible and incredible to the mind of man in its fallen state. The development of the sacred spiritual Gift granted by Baptism is as boundless as boundless is the Gift granted by God from His Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4); this development is as boundless and incomprehensible as boundless and incomprehensible is God Himself, who dwells in our hearts through Baptism. This development encompasses the entire being of the Christian. When we gaze upon this development in the chosen vessels of God, the depiction by Gospel parables of the action in man produced by holy Baptism becomes entirely clear. “The kingdom of heaven is like” the Saviour said, “a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows it becomes the greatest of all plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”[13] (Mt. 13:31–32). A comparison full of Divine humble-mindedness. “The Son of God ‘humbled Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming like men and found in appearance as a man’ (Phil. 2:7). In this form He chose to be numbered not among the multitude of the mighty, glorious, and wealthy of the world, but among the multitude of the poor and sufferers. ‘His appearance was without honour,’ says the Prophet, ‘diminished more than all the sons of men.’ (Is.According to the interpretation of blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria. 53:3). ‘His soul was delivered to death, and He’ was ‘reckoned with the wicked’ (Is. 53:12), taking a place between two robbers as if the chief and most dangerous of criminals.[14] His all-holy, life-giving, Divine commandments He called small (Mt. 5:19), by the simplest, artless form in which they were proposed, yet adding that the violation of even one such commandment can be the cause of eternal misfortune for the violator. So also the grace of Baptism He likened to the smallest of all earth’s seeds. And indeed, what can be simpler and more ordinary in appearance than holy Baptism?[15] It is customary for people to wash themselves in water, immersing themselves in it—with this commonly used action is joined a sacrament in which soul and body are washed of sinful uncleanness. The death and burial of man are replaced by his momentary immersion in water. Unseen by fleshly eyes the Holy Spirit descends and recreates the fallen man. The circumstances of temporal life remain for the baptized, outwardly, the same as they were before Baptism. Outwardly so imperceptible is the Gift communicated by Baptism that it must be likened with complete accuracy and justice to the smallest mustard seed. This Gift is of immeasurable price. It grows by being developed through the keeping of commandments: then by its greatness it will exceed all other gifts with which the generous hand of the Creator has abundantly rewarded man, and will make him a temple of heavenly thoughts, feelings, revelations, and states, characteristic of the heavenly dwellers alone. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like,’ the Saviour also said, ‘leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.’ (Mt. 13:33). How humbly and how truly the spiritual Gift communicated by holy Baptism is called leaven! Everyone receiving holy Baptism is united to Christ, is betrothed to Christ, and therefore is called, figuratively, a woman. This woman hides, that is, preserves and nurtures the gracious Gift through life according to the Gospel in her mind, heart, and body (1 Thes. 5:23), until the Gift penetrates, fills, and embraces the whole man.[16] Do you wish to see not only the soul but the human body soaked through and penetrated with the gracious Gift given at Baptism?[17] Look upon Paul, whose garments wrought miracles (Acts 19:12), whom the bite of a viper did not harm (Acts 28:5);[18] behold Mary of Egypt, who was raised above the earth in prayer, who walked upon the waters of the Jordan as on dry land, who completed a thirty-day journey in the course of one hour; behold Mark of Thrace, at whose voice a mountain was removed from its foundations and moved into the sea; behold Ioannikius the Great, who, like a spirit, was invisible to those whom he did not wish to see, even though he was in their presence; behold the bodies of God’s saints, resting in sacred incorruptibility for many centuries, not subject to the law of decay common to all humanity, giving forth streams of healings, streams of fragrance, streams of life.

The Venerable Sisoes the Great, who was especially abundant in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, said: “To him (the man) in whom God has dwelt through the grace of holy Baptism and through the keeping of commandments, (spiritual) Gifts are natural.” This was spoken by the holy desert-dweller from his own experience.[19] Is not this very thing testified to by Holy Scripture? “As many as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27). To those clothed in Christ, possessing Christ within themselves, the gifts of the Spirit are natural: where Christ is, there are also the Father and the Spirit.

7. On the relation of renewed nature to evil”

[1] Homily 21.

[2] Homily 7.

[3] Homily 5. Counsels of the Mind to the Soul.

[4] Homily 1.

[5] A Word to the Monk Nicholas.

[6] In Slavonic the last sentence reads thus: “as by understanding to find such remembrance” (Chapter 152). By “remembrances” active Fathers understand the renewal in thought and perception of sin committed once in deed. Remembrances torment the repenting ascetic with varying intensity after he has ceased from sinful acts. This can be clearly seen in the lives of Venerable Moses of Murin, Venerable Mary of Egypt, and others.

[7] The Homily “On Those Who Suppose Themselves Justified by Works.” Chapters 193, 197, 150–156.

[8] Life of Venerable Mary of Egypt. The Menaion Reader, April 1. Venerable Mary said of herself to the holy Zosimas, among other things, the following: “I am a sinful woman, yet protected by holy Baptism.”

[9] Homily 1, Chapter 13.

[10] Venerable Isaac the Syrian, Homily 1.

[11] St. Peter of Damascus. The Philokalia, Part 3, Book 1, Section 1.

[12] According to the Russian translation of 1822.

[13] Venerable Isaiah the Hermit, Homily 11 on the Mustard Seed.

[14] The Philokalia, Part 2. Saints Callistus and Ignatius, Chapter 92.

[15] In the early days of Christianity, pagans, seeing only the outward form of the Sacrament of Baptism and not understanding its essence, mocked what seemed to them the insignificance of that outward form. St. Cyril of Jerusalem.

[16] The Menaion Reader, April 7.

[17] Ibid., April 5.

[18] Ibid.

[19] The Alphabetical Patericon.

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Here a question naturally arises: what relation does the renewed man have to evil? He cannot avoid accurate knowledge of evil. But we have seen that the innocent human nature, in the condition it had at its creation, barely acquired such knowledge when it perished from it. So it is even more necessary to understand the relation of renewed nature to the knowledge of evil. We answer: purity of heart—the spiritual state of renewed nature, called in the Gospel a blessedness, which grants man the vision of God (Mt. 5:8), appears in the soul after the blessedness of mercy, flows from this blessedness. It is known that Gospel blessings are spiritual states revealed in the Christian from the fulfillment of Gospel commandments, that the blessings are revealed one after another, each born from the other.[1] After rejecting one’s own righteousness, as defiled by evil, out of the midst of weeping over one’s state of falling, out of the midst of gentleness—this reconciliation to all sorrows, visible and invisible—begins to be felt in the soul a hunger and thirst for God’s Righteousness. God’s Righteousness is found in mercy, where the Gospel commands us to seek it. “Love your enemies,” it says, “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you: that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the pagans do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Mt. 5:44–48). Perfection of Christian, and therefore human virtue in renewed nature is a gracious, God-imitating mercy produced in the Christian by the development of Divine grace given to him in Baptism and cultivated by commandments. From such mercy appears spiritual purity: it is nourished by it, it lives by it. The Venerable Isaac the Syrian, when asked what is purity, answered: “Purity is a heart full of mercy for all creation.” When asked what is a merciful heart, this great teacher of monasticism said: “This is a burning of the heart for every creature, for men, for birds, for animals, for demons—in short, for every creation. From remembrance of them and sight of them the eyes of the merciful flow with tears because of abundant and mighty mercy that has seized the heart. From constant patience his heart has become the heart of a child, and he cannot be indifferent when he hears or sees any harm or even a small sorrow to which any creature is subjected. And therefore he offers prayers accompanied by tears hourly, both for the dumb animals and for enemies of the truth and for those who attack him, that they may be saved and cleansed; he even does this for the nature of creeping things, from great mercy that moves excessively in his heart in likeness to God.” From the great mercy which he felt in himself, the great Isaac exclaims: “On that day, when you suffer with anyone in any way at all who is suffering, bodily or mentally, good or evil—consider yourself a martyr and look upon yourself as one who has suffered for Christ, as one deemed worthy of confession. Remember that Christ died for sinners, not for the righteous. See how great it is to suffer with the evil and to do good to sinners! It is more than doing one or the other toward the righteous. The Apostle mentions this as worthy of wonder.”[2] Holy Isaac, comparing the righteousness of fallen human nature with Divine righteousness, consisting of gracious, spiritual mercy, calls the second service to God and the first service to idols. The Apostle speaks of the acquisition of this mercy when he enjoins those who have believed in Christ: “Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, heartfelt mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”[3][4] (Col. 3:12–13). Saint Macarius the Great says: “Grace works and calms all the powers and the heart so that the soul, from great joy (mercy), becomes like a harmless child, and the man no longer judges either a Greek or a Jew, neither a sinner nor a layman, but the inner man looks upon all with a pure eye and rejoices over the whole world, and desires in every way to honour and love both Greeks and Jews.” “Purity of heart,” said the aforementioned Saint Isaac, “sees God; it shines and blooms in the soul not because of human teaching, but from not seeing human malice.” Then man does not see evil in his neighbors when all his relations with his neighbors are absorbed in mercy toward them.[5] Is not such not-seeing of defects in neighbors a blindness of the mind, a recognition of evil as good? On the contrary:[6] blindness of the mind, not-seeing of sin and evil, recognition of evil as good belong to unrepentant sinners, who justify their own sin. God’s Holy ones, enlightened by the Spirit of God, understand evil in all its detail, know its wiles and its poison; they, with the aid of this knowledge granted by the Spirit, guard themselves with special care against experiential knowledge of sins, acquired by committing sin in fact. “He who is born of God” says the holy John the Theologian, “does not sin: he who is born of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him” (1 Jn. 5:18). Through the gracious mercy with which true Christians breathe toward their neighbors, they remain alien from the sinfulness of their neighbors, communicated through the condemnation which condemns the one who condemns, violating his own peaceful, joyful, holy state. “The peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding,” dwelling in God’s holy ones, immediately convicts every approaching thought that is opposed, whatever mask of righteousness may cover such a thought (Phil. 4:7). Saint John of the Ladder in his discourse on spiritual discernment and on thoughts, passions and virtues, says that it comes from an unblemished conscience and purity of heart; that in beginners it is a knowledge of their own falling and sinfulness; that in the intermediate (in advancement) it separates true good from the natural and from evil, both open and covered with a mask of good; finally, that in the perfect it is spiritual understanding radiating from the Holy Spirit, and seeing the manner of action of evil in other men.[7] Thus the holy Apostle Peter said to Simon the sorcerer: “for I see you in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of unrighteousness.” (Acts 8:23). In the preface to the Discourse on Sacred Silence, Saint John says that God’s Holy ones have precise and detailed knowledge of sin by revelation of the Holy Spirit. The beginning of the illumination of the soul and a sign of its health consists in this: when the mind begins to see its own transgressions as numerous as the sands of the sea, said Saint Peter Damascene. This Father calls the sight of one’s own fall and the sight of one’s own sins a spiritual vision revealed by the action of grace in one who labours in Christ’s commandments.[8] Holy Church has ordained her children to ask of God with fervent prayer the great gift—the vision of their own sins.[9] Fallen nature is struck with blindness of mind.[10] It does not see its fall, does not see its sins, does not see its pilgrimage on earth and manages itself as if immortal, as if existing solely for the earth.[11] Not only does it judge and condemn the sins of its neighbor with cruelty, but out of its own miserable condition it invents for its neighbor sins which he does not have; it is scandalized by the most exalted Christian virtues, distorting their significance according to its false understanding and its heart’s malice. On the contrary, renewed nature has a gracious knowledge and vision of evil granted by God, a knowledge and vision of evil, which not only does not violate the integrity of good in man, but also serves the strictest protection of man from experiential knowledge of evil, which is destructive to man. Renewed nature sees and knows evil in itself, in men, and in demons, but remains undefiled by evil, because this sight and knowledge of renewed nature do not belong to man himself, are not acquired by man’s own effort, but are granted him by God. One can compare the knowledge of evil acquired by man through the fall to a sick man’s knowledge of the diseases from which he suffers, while the knowledge of evil by men renewed by Baptism is like a physician’s knowledge of diseases. The sick know a disease experientially, but know neither its causes nor the means of curing it; physicians, not knowing a disease experientially, know it incomparably more precisely than the sick, know its causes and means of healing from it.

8. Conclusion

Having set forth, to the extent of my meager ability, the state of human nature in relation to good and evil after its creation, after its fall, and after its redemption, to whom shall I turn with the conclusion of this humble Homily? The Homily serves as an exposure of my own shortcomings, and therefore I turn with an exhortation, which ordinarily concludes every Homily, to myself. I borrow the exhortation from a Father of the Church. If any of my neighbors recognize it as fitting for themselves as well, then let them receive it with love. “You have remembered,—says the Father I have mentioned,—that nobility which you received in Baptism from grace, and yet willfully cast it off through the passions in the world; you have desired to restore (this nobility) through good intention; you have proven such desire by deed, coming to the sacred school, having clothed yourself in the honorable garments of repentance and having taken the vow to remain with equanimity in the monastery to death itself. You made with God a second covenant. The first was made upon entering the present life; the second was made when you began to incline toward the end of the present life. Then you were received by Christ for your piety; now you have joined yourself to Christ through repentance. Then you received grace; now you have confessed your debt. Then, being an infant, you did not perceive the dignity given to you, although afterward, upon reaching maturity, you came to know the greatness of the gift, and your mouth is closed (to self-justification); now with sufficient development of knowledge, you understand the meaning of the vow. Take heed lest you neglect this promise (of repentance) as well;[12] take heed lest you be rejected and cast down, like some vessel utterly shattered, into outer darkness, where ‘there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Mt. 22:13). Apart from the path of repentance there is no other way that returns to salvation”454. “The Holy Spirit speaks: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the days of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test, tested me, and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation and said: They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways, as I swore in my anger, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Be careful, brothers, that there not be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, so as to turn away from the living God. But encourage yourselves every day, while it is still called ‘today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin; for we have become partakers of Christ, if indeed we hold the beginning of our confidence”[13]455 (Lk. 11:23),—said the Lord,—“even to the end secure, we hold fast” (Heb. 3:7–14). “Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:14–16). Amen.

[1] “Careful observance (of the Gospel commandments) teaches man of “his weakness.” St. Symeon the New Theologian, Chapter 4, On Action and Theology, The Philokalia, Part 1. This means: careful observance of the commandments introduces one into the first Beatitude, called spiritual poverty, from which spiritual weeping is born, which in turn gives birth to gentleness. The succession of the Beatitudes is set forth with particular clarity by the sacred martyr Peter, metropolitan of Damascus. The Philokalia, Part 3, Book 1.

[2] Homily 48.

[3] Homily 89; Rom. 5:6–8.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Discourse 9.

[6] Homily 55 to Venerable Symeon.

[7] Homily 26.

[8] Homily 27.

[9] The Philokalia, Part 3, on the seven bodily works.

[10] Ibid., on the eight forms of vision of the mind.

[11] Prayer of Venerable Ephraim the Syrian, used during holy Lent.

[12] St. Theoleptus, metropolitan of Philadelphia, Homily on Secret Practice. The Philokalia, Part 2.

[13] By the beginning of the arrangement—that is, by the pledge of the covenant with God—is here understood the grace of Baptism, implanted in us at the moment of our union with Christ, like a grain of mustard seed. The preservation of the gift of grace is its development: he who does not gather with me scatters”

Scripture Index

Every Scripture reference identified in this book, sorted in canonical Bible order. Tap a reference to jump to the verse where it appears.

Genesis

Genesis 1:510. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Genesis 1:2516. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

Genesis 1:2616. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

Genesis 1:2744. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Genesis 1:3116. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

Genesis 2:5–611. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

Genesis 2:1750. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Genesis 3:528. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Genesis 3:1611. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

Genesis 3:16–1911. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

Genesis 3:1943. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Genesis 3:23–2414. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

Genesis 5:344. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Genesis 6:348. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Genesis 22:128. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Genesis 32:102. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1)

Genesis 32:2810. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Genesis 37:252. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1)

Exodus

Exodus 3:111. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

Exodus 3:21–2249. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Leviticus

Leviticus 10:1–27. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:529. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Deuteronomy 32:99. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 1:1325. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

1 Samuel 2:921. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

1 Samuel 3:914. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

1 Samuel 19:1238. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8); 42. The Pilgrim

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 23:245. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Job

Job 1:521. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Job 1:848. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Job 2:648. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Job 2:837. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 7)

Job 4:14–158. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Job 15:1551. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Job 38:1126. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 34. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Job 42:642. The Pilgrim
Psalms
Psalms 1:11. Blessed Is the Man
Psalms 1:21. Blessed Is the Man
Psalms 1:31. Blessed Is the Man
Psalms 1:41. Blessed Is the Man
Psalms 1:51. Blessed Is the Man
Psalms 1:61. Blessed Is the Man

Psalms 1:192. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1)

Psalms 2:117. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 21. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Psalms 4:819. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Psalms 5:824. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Psalms 6:9–1033. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 3)

Psalms 8:2–331. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 9:1131. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 9:25–2610. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 16:210. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 17:724. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Psalms 17:10–1243. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 17:1210. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 17:22–2310. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 17:30–3146. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Psalms 18:31. Blessed Is the Man

Psalms 18:946. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Psalms 18:108. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2); 10. The Judgments of God (Part 1); 43. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 19:831. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 21:21–2248. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Psalms 22:53. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 2); 42. The Pilgrim

Psalms 24:15–1748. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Psalms 26:424. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Psalms 28:231. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 28:1129. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Psalms 30:19–2031. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 33:91. Blessed Is the Man; 34. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4); 42. The Pilgrim

Psalms 33:127. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Psalms 33:20–2145. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Psalms 34:1043. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 34:1346. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Psalms 35:710. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 36:1129. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Psalms 37:7–935. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Psalms 37:1148. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Psalms 37:1915. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 2)

Psalms 38:426. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Psalms 38:1443. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 39:251. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Psalms 39:2–448. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Psalms 39:531. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 39:928. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Psalms 39:1314. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

Psalms 41:2–345. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Psalms 43:6–932. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 46:825. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

Psalms 46:1045. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Psalms 50:515. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 2)

Psalms 50:711. The Judgments of God (Part 2); 44. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Psalms 50:1734. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Psalms 50:18–1951. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Psalms 50:1921. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1); 24. A Homily on Prayer in Church; 29. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2); 30. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Psalms 50:20–2150. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Psalms 50:2134. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Psalms 53:3–432. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 54:2214. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

Psalms 60:6–832. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 68:36–3732. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 71:729. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Psalms 71:931. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 72:16–1734. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Psalms 72:2721. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Psalms 73:2131. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 75:330. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Psalms 75:3–429. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Psalms 78:932. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 79:1932. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 83:2–345. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Psalms 84:1129. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2); 43. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 85:11–1332. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 88:88. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Psalms 91:849. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Psalms 96:1028. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Psalms 99:143. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 99:243. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 99:343. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 99:443. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 99:543. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Psalms 100:430. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Psalms 101:1821. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Psalms 102:132. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 103:158. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Psalms 103:20–2130. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Psalms 103:22–2329. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Psalms 103:2538. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

Psalms 104:710. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 108:721. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Psalms 110:932. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 110:107. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 8. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Psalms 112:1–331. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 117:10–1232. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 118:710. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 118:3012. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:3912. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:4312. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:5212. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:5531. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Psalms 118:631. Blessed Is the Man; 8. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Psalms 118:7112. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:7512. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:9651. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Psalms 118:10212. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:10810. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 118:12010. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 118:12819. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 28. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Psalms 118:13710. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 118:14530. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Psalms 118:16412. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Psalms 118:17512. The Judgments of God (Part 3); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Psalms 119:545. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Psalms 120:421. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Psalms 125:1–230. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Psalms 127:17. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Psalms 137:1–332. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 138:1610. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 139:1432. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 142:1132. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 147:810. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 147:910. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Psalms 148:11–1332. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Psalms 149:1–332. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Proverbs

Proverbs 1:77. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Proverbs 3:3435. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Proverbs 13:2545. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Proverbs 22:2836. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 6)

Proverbs 27:151. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 1:1516. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

Ecclesiastes 3:133. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 3)

Ecclesiastes 4:1036. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 6)

Ecclesiastes 10:419. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Ecclesiastes 11:635. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Ecclesiastes 11:919. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Isaiah

Isaiah 1:644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Isaiah 1:109. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

Isaiah 6:735. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Isaiah 8:12–1338. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

Isaiah 9:644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Isaiah 11:27. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Isaiah 21:335. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Isaiah 26:1230. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Isaiah 26:1934. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Isaiah 35:106. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Isaiah 50:117. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Isaiah 53:351. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Isaiah 53:1251. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Isaiah 56:726. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Isaiah 57:1521. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Isaiah 64:644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Isaiah 66:221. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 8:2135. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Jeremiah 32:407. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Jeremiah 48:1025. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16:4928. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Malachi

Malachi 4:238. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

Sirach
Sirach 4:12–171. Blessed Is the Man
Sirach 4:18–211. Blessed Is the Man

Sirach 6:18–2019. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Sirach 30:2530. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Sirach 48:2132. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Matthew

Matthew 3:244. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1); 50. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Matthew 3:1150. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Matthew 4:1721. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1); 44. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1); 50. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Matthew 5:319. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 21. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Matthew 5:421. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Matthew 5:81. Blessed Is the Man; 34. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4); 43. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99; 52. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Matthew 5:1951. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Matthew 5:2228. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Matthew 5:3611. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

Matthew 5:4219. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Matthew 5:4428. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Matthew 5:44–4852. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Matthew 6:619. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 23. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

Matthew 6:157. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Matthew 6:2711. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

Matthew 6:31–3345. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Matthew 6:3319. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 21. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Matthew 7:721. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Matthew 7:834. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Matthew 7:2138. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

Matthew 7:2345. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Matthew 8:89. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

Matthew 9:12–1342. The Pilgrim

Matthew 9:1321. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1); 44. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Matthew 9:1736. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 6)

Matthew 10:6–744. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Matthew 10:750. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Matthew 10:287. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Matthew 10:29–3010. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Matthew 10:388. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Matthew 10:38–3918. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life; 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Matthew 10:3913. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind; 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Matthew 11:1235. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Matthew 11:288. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Matthew 11:28–2930. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Matthew 11:2951. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Matthew 12:43–4532. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Matthew 13:31–3251. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Matthew 13:3351. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Matthew 13:448. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2); 35. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Matthew 14:3332. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Matthew 15:19–2019. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Matthew 16:22–2312. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Matthew 16:2448. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Matthew 16:2648. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Matthew 18:321. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Matthew 18:3–431. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Matthew 18:710. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Matthew 18:2030. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Matthew 19:1430. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Matthew 19:1744. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Matthew 19:20–2145. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Matthew 19:2119. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 46. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Matthew 19:2745. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Matthew 19:2849. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Matthew 21:1328. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Matthew 21:4451. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Matthew 22:12–1334. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Matthew 22:137. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 52. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Matthew 23:2619. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Matthew 24:136. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Matthew 25:734. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Matthew 25:3050. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Matthew 25:3326. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Matthew 26:152. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1)

Matthew 26:3025. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

Matthew 26:3712. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Matthew 26:3812. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Matthew 26:3912. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Matthew 26:52–5412. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Matthew 28:2046. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Mark

Mark 1:1550. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Mark 2:437. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 7)

Mark 2:2723. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

Mark 8:3445. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Mark 8:34–3549. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Mark 8:3546. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Mark 9:17–2732. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Mark 9:2118. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

Mark 9:36–3731. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Mark 10:1848. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Mark 10:2119. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 45. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Mark 10:3026. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Mark 10:4737. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 7)

Mark 11:25–2628. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Mark 12:3029. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Mark 13:377. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Mark 16:1644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Mark 16:1732. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Luke

Luke 1:4823. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

Luke 1:5342. The Pilgrim

Luke 2:3431. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Luke 6:1946. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Luke 6:3019. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Luke 6:3651. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Luke 6:4829. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Luke 8:156. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Luke 10:1732. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Luke 10:1932. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Luke 10:2032. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Luke 10:21–2232. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Luke 11:1348. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Luke 11:2352. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Luke 12:57. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Luke 12:16–207. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Luke 12:2919. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Luke 12:35–377. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Luke 12:35–4046. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Luke 12:4935. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

Luke 13:2451. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Luke 14:2644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Luke 14:3345. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Luke 15:18–199. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

Luke 15:209. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

Luke 16:1019. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Luke 17:1046. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Luke 17:1134. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Luke 17:2014. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1); 28. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Luke 17:2119. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Luke 17:3744. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Luke 18:1–821. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Luke 18:719. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Luke 18:7–826. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Luke 18:1024. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Luke 18:10–1446. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Luke 18:11–1224. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Luke 18:139. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

Luke 18:1424. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Luke 19:8–1045. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Luke 21:191. Blessed Is the Man; 6. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Luke 21:3626. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Luke 22:308. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Luke 22:4212. The Judgments of God (Part 3); 21. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Luke 22:4412. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Luke 24:4916. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1); 26. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

John
John 1:1–210. The Judgments of God (Part 1)
John 1:211. The Judgments of God (Part 2)

John 1:438. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

John 1:56. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery; 18. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

John 1:12–1344. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 1:1843. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

John 1:2944. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 3:5–649. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

John 3:842. The Pilgrim

John 3:1718. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

John 3:18–2018. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

John 3:19–2144. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 3:3618. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

John 4:2323. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

John 4:2428. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

John 5:334. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

John 5:1923. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

John 5:288. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

John 5:3012. The Judgments of God (Part 3); 23. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

John 5:4429. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

John 6:2719. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

John 6:2944. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 6:3329. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

John 6:3812. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

John 6:413. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 2)

John 6:516. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery; 8. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

John 6:5617. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

John 6:6013. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

John 7:1424. A Homily on Prayer in Church

John 7:3850. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

John 7:38–391. Blessed Is the Man

John 8:4445. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

John 9:4144. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 10:144. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 11:2532. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

John 11:41–4225. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

John 12:2513. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind; 42. The Pilgrim; 46. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

John 12:4923. A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer

John 13:2–2710. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

John 13:1834. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

John 13:2732. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

John 14:817. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

John 14:9–1016. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

John 14:13–1431. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

John 14:1551. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

John 14:1716. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

John 14:2143. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

John 14:2343. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99; 45. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

John 14:2729. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2); 30. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

John 15:4–1049. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

John 15:4–517. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

John 15:513. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

John 15:938. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

John 15:9–108. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

John 15:1038. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

John 15:1634. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

John 15:18–1945. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

John 16:1314. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

John 16:1429. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

John 16:23–2431. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

John 16:3329. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2); 45. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2); 46. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

John 17:344. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

John 18:1112. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

John 19:10–1112. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

John 19:1112. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

John 21:209. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

Acts

Acts 1:71. Blessed Is the Man; 12. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Acts 1:1426. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Acts 2:37–3850. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Acts 2:4046. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Acts 3:124. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Acts 3:634. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Acts 4:7–1231. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Acts 4:1238. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

Acts 4:24–2810. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Acts 4:34–3545. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Acts 5:4145. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Acts 6:2–519. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Acts 8:2352. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Acts 8:3950. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Acts 10:3–644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Acts 10:34–3544. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Acts 10:44–4850. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Acts 16:2625. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

Acts 19:1248. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Acts 20:2150. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Acts 20:2442. The Pilgrim

Acts 28:551. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Romans

Romans 3:10–1248. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 3:20–2444. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Romans 3:23–248. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Romans 4:2–348. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 4:2–848. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 5:57. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Romans 5:1012. The Judgments of God (Part 3); 44. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Romans 5:1949. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Romans 6:3–1350. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Romans 6:648. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 7:14–2548. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 7:1848. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 7:2448. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 8:546. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 8:61. Blessed Is the Man

Romans 8:6–746. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 8:846. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 8:1046. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 8:1446. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 8:15–1617. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

Romans 8:1646. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 8:1746. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 8:1846. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 8:2621. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1); 24. A Homily on Prayer in Church

Romans 8:2848. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 10:1331. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Romans 11:810. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Romans 11:3210. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Romans 11:33–3410. The Judgments of God (Part 1)

Romans 12:219. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 38. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8); 46. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Romans 12:1221. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

Romans 12:1951. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Romans 13:12–1449. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Romans 13:1417. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Romans 14:429. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Romans 14:17–1830. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

Romans 14:2248. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:1838. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8); 46. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

1 Corinthians 1:22–2638. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

1 Corinthians 2:219. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 26. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 2:98. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2); 19. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 26. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 28. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 2:1617. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 3:167. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 4:48. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

1 Corinthians 6:1726. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 29. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 9:2745. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 10:1345. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 11:117. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 11:3212. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

1 Corinthians 12:317. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 13:137. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 14:8–925. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

1 Corinthians 15:47–4946. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 15:4948. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 15:5029. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2); 46. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3); 48. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2:1626. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

2 Corinthians 4:1049. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

2 Corinthians 6:4–1045. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

2 Corinthians 6:17–1846. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

2 Corinthians 10:4–519. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

2 Corinthians 11:2746. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

2 Corinthians 12:712. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

2 Corinthians 12:951. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

2 Corinthians 12:1045. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

2 Corinthians 13:536. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 6); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Galatians

Galatians 2:1644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Galatians 2:1744. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Galatians 2:18–2648. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Galatians 2:2017. On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Galatians 2:2144. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Galatians 3:2749. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Galatians 3:2849. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Galatians 5:444. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Galatians 5:2046. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Galatians 5:22–2329. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Galatians 5:248. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2); 45. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Galatians 6:26. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Galatians 6:845. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Galatians 6:1446. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Ephesians

Ephesians 2:1–332. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Ephesians 4:1319. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 50. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

Ephesians 4:2248. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Ephesians 4:23–2448. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

Ephesians 5:18–1943. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

Ephesians 5:1925. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

Ephesians 6:1219. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Ephesians 6:1819. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

Philippians

Philippians 1:2945. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Philippians 2:5–812. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Philippians 2:6–812. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Philippians 2:751. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Philippians 2:88. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Philippians 2:8–1031. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)

Philippians 3:16. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Philippians 3:4–944. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Philippians 3:12–1445. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Philippians 3:1545. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Philippians 3:1746. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Philippians 3:18–1946. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

Philippians 3:2045. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Philippians 4:5–619. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 28. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

Philippians 4:626. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Philippians 4:729. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2); 30. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3); 42. The Pilgrim; 52. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Colossians

Colossians 2:326. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Colossians 2:813. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

Colossians 2:1829. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

Colossians 3:57. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Colossians 3:12–1352. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Colossians 3:147. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 13. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

Colossians 4:221. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1); 26. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 35. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4:168. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

1 Thessalonians 5:1719. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 21. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1); 26. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 34. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

1 Thessalonians 5:182. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1); 45. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

1 Thessalonians 5:2351. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 1:738. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

1 Timothy 1:1551. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

1 Timothy 2:435. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)

1 Timothy 2:818. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life; 19. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1); 26. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1); 28. A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

1 Timothy 3:6–718. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

1 Timothy 4:118. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

1 Timothy 5:5–645. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

1 Timothy 6:1643. A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

1 Timothy 6:20–2148. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 2:1938. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)

Titus

Titus 3:544. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Hebrews

Hebrews 2:144. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Hebrews 3:7–1452. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Hebrews 4:1232. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)

Hebrews 4:14–1652. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Hebrews 10:2214. The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

Hebrews 10:386. An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

Hebrews 11:644. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

Hebrews 11:214. Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 3)

Hebrews 11:387. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

Hebrews 12:1–312. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Hebrews 12:5–612. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Hebrews 12:651. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Hebrews 12:6–945. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

Hebrews 12:812. The Judgments of God (Part 3); 49. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

Hebrews 12:2926. A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

Hebrews 13:12–1312. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

Hebrews 13:1334. A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)

Hebrews 13:1525. A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

James

James 1:245. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

James 1:6–821. The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

James 4:419. On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

1 Peter

1 Peter 1:14–1544. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

1 Peter 2:20–2112. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

1 Peter 2:2112. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

1 Peter 4:145. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

1 Peter 4:1212. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

1 Peter 4:12–1945. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

1 Peter 4:1312. The Judgments of God (Part 3)
1 Peter 4:1712. The Judgments of God (Part 3)
1 Peter 4:1812. The Judgments of God (Part 3)
1 Peter 4:1912. The Judgments of God (Part 3)
1 Peter 5:512. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

1 Peter 5:6–712. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

1 Peter 5:745. A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

1 Peter 5:848. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

2 Peter

2 Peter 1:449. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

2 Peter 3:812. The Judgments of God (Part 3)

2 Peter 3:108. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2); 13. A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

1 John

1 John 2:2318. A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

1 John 3:67. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 John 4:77. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 John 4:87. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 8. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

1 John 4:137. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 John 4:167. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

1 John 4:188. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

1 John 5:1852. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Revelation

Revelation 3:20–217. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1); 51. A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

Revelation 6:148. A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

Colophon

Ascetic Experiences, Volume Two
by Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov.

This edition was produced by
Royal Archives.

The cover features
The Quiet Abode
by Isaac Levitan (Russian, 1860–1900), Wikimedia Commons, which is in the public domain.

The text is set in Palatino and Georgia.

The first edition of this ebook was released on
August 16, 2026.

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Blessed Is the Man

Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn from the Book of Genesis

- Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 1)

- Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 2)

- Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 3)

- Joseph: A Sacred Narrative Drawn From the Book of Genesis (Part 4)

- An Epistle to the Brethren of the Sergiev Hermitage, From the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery

A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God

- A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 1)

- A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 2)

- A Homily on the Fear of God and the Love of God (Part 3)

The Judgments of God

- The Judgments of God (Part 1)
- The Judgments of God (Part 2)
- The Judgments of God (Part 3)
- A Conference of the Soul With the Mind

The Sight of One’s Own Sin

- The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 1)

- The Sight of One’s Own Sin (Part 2)

On the Image and Likeness of God in Man

- On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 1)

- On the Image and Likeness of God in Man (Part 2)

- A Meditation Drawn From the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, Relating Chiefly to the Monastic Life

On the Essential Work of the Monk

- On the Essential Work of the Monk (Part 1)

The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner

- The Spirit of Prayer in the Beginner (Part 1)

- A Homily on the Cell Rule of Prayer
- A Homily on Prayer in Church
- A Homily on Oral and Vocal Prayer

A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God

- A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 1)

- A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 2)

A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul

- A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 1)

- A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 2)

- A Homily on Prayer of the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul (Part 3)

A Homily on the Jesus Prayer

- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 1)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 2)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 3)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 4)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 5)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 6)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 7)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 8)
- A Homily on the Jesus Prayer (Part 9)
- The Pilgrim
- A Mystical Explanation of Psalm 99

A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection

- A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 1)

- A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 2)

- A Homily on Salvation and on Christian Perfection (Part 3)

A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil

- A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 1)

- A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 2)

- A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 3)

- A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 4)

- A Homily on the Various States of Human Nature in Relation to Good and Evil (Part 5)

Scripture Index

Colophon