The most merciful Lord, loving us and wishing to save us and keep us from going astray and from being slaves to our passions, sends us various sorrows, depravations and illnesses, so that we, realizing our vanity and finding no comfort, will turn to Him, "the culmination of our desires." Our heart, when it is wounded by random adventures and sorrows, unconsciously dies to the world, that is to the passions, and seeks comfort in a better one. Yet, sorrows cause the heart to die to the world, that is to voluptuousness, to love of money, and love of glory. The soul, terrified by the noise of temptations, runs to God with much humility, striving to hide from the pangs of sorrow under the protection of His Providence; thus cleansed by frequent thoughts of Him, comes to the knowledge of itself, in solitude it sees the enormity of its sins and begins weeping, which is the door to the innermost place in the life of the new person.
We, in our foolishness, think ourselves lucky and at the peak of happiness when we obtain riches, honor, glory and respect; but God knows better than we do. When he sees that the condition of our soul is harmed by increase of these things, then He takes from us these blessings, like a wise father who refuses to give his son harmful things instead of beneficial things. And just as the good things of this world are themselves harmful to us, and not beneficial, since they plunge us either into luxury, or pride, if we place our hope of comfort in them, then the Lord will take them away from us in His compassion for us, that our souls not perish; which is why we must thank God for His abiding with us. I can tell you for certain that you are on the way to salvation when you are visited by sorrows. There is a cross for every Christian, and each one is unique. When our Lord, Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, took on our flesh, and suffered for our redemption even unto death, death on the Cross, He left us an example, that we might follow in His footsteps and, calling upon us, said: "If any man wishes to follow me, let him take up his cross." (Matt. 16:24) What is this cross, if not sorrows sent to us by God's Providence, to each of us according to the strength we have to bear them?
We see the grace of God does everything for our own good; it sends sorrows so that we, living in comfort and without cares might not become puffed up with conceit, for this is an enemy arrow that can strike us unawares; you don't notice how it stings the heart. But sorrows make us humble; that is why the saintly David cried to God: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." (Psalm 118:71). "Before I was afflicted, I went astray." (Psalm 118:67)
We must accept suffering as sent by God as a trial of our faith or a punishment, and we must not grumble and moan and feel they are spoiling our disposition; we must not blame our sorrows, but blame and reproach ourselves for our faintheartedness, for through this is born humility.
When we receive our sorrows with faintheartedness and we break down under their weight, we are only depriving ourselves of the fruits of patience.
You must believe that no misfortune can happen to you if the Lord does not allow it. And He allows sorrows out of love for us. And so, if you accept your sorrows as a punishment that shows that you are not deprived of God's love, as the holy Apostle Paul writes: "My son! Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when they art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers then are ye bastards, and not sons." (Heb. 12:5-8) You see, when we are punished, then we turn like children to the Lord, and if we have no punishments, then we become like surrogates, and not like genuine children. So when you have sorrows, then you know that the Lord has not forgotten you and He is thinking of you; and you can be sure that He will not send more temptation than you can handle, and that along with temptation He will also send relief. In the sorrows that are brought upon you, don't blame any of those who offend you, for it is the Lord who is punishing you and people are only the tools of God, through whom He works.
Accept this with faith and hope and bring to the Lord your gratitude for his untold mercy, for from this you will receive relief and comfort in the bearing of your sorrows and, if it is the will of the Lord, complete deliverance from them.
St. Macarius of Optina
Recent Posts
Friday, June 30, 2006
Repent and Then Return to God
The first and the last of the Apostles of Christ sinned gravely. Peter denied Christ; Judas betrayed Him. But Peter was forgiven and Judas perished. Peter regained his Apostolic dignity, but the condemnation of the ages is still weighing on Judas.
What saved Peter, and what destroyed Judas? Should Judas have confessed the sin after he committed it? But, technically speaking, he did confess, when he went to the scribes and elders and told them, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood (Matt. 27:4)”, and with the confession gave back the thirty silver pieces to them. Is this enough? Alas no! A confession by itself does not save. Besides a broken heart, a live faith in God’s grace is needed.
Judas despaired of his salvation, that is why he hanged himself after his confession. Peter did not do so. In the yard of Caiphas he denied Christ, his Benefactor and Teacher, three times: “I do not know the man (Matt. 26:74).” But at the third denial, when the rooster crowed, he realized his sin, and humbled his heart. He went out of the yard, began to shed bitter tears and turned back again to Christ. Saint Peter left us a living lesson: to turn again to God after our fall.
What saved Peter, and what destroyed Judas? Should Judas have confessed the sin after he committed it? But, technically speaking, he did confess, when he went to the scribes and elders and told them, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood (Matt. 27:4)”, and with the confession gave back the thirty silver pieces to them. Is this enough? Alas no! A confession by itself does not save. Besides a broken heart, a live faith in God’s grace is needed.
Judas despaired of his salvation, that is why he hanged himself after his confession. Peter did not do so. In the yard of Caiphas he denied Christ, his Benefactor and Teacher, three times: “I do not know the man (Matt. 26:74).” But at the third denial, when the rooster crowed, he realized his sin, and humbled his heart. He went out of the yard, began to shed bitter tears and turned back again to Christ. Saint Peter left us a living lesson: to turn again to God after our fall.
Sayings of the Holy Fathers
"Blessed is the person who has consented to become the close friend of faith and of prayer: he lives in single-mindedness and makes prayer and faith stop by with him.
"Prayer that rises up in someone's heart serves to open up for us the door of heaven: that person stands in converse with the Divinity and gives pleasure to the Son of God.
"Prayer makes peace with the Lord's anger and with the vehemence of His wrath. In this way too, tears that well up in the eyes can open the door of compassion."
St. Ephrem the Syrian
+ + +
"Love, therefore, is the foremost of all excellent achievements and the first of the commandments of the law. If ever, then, the soul reach this goal, it will be in no need of anything else; it will embrace that plenitude of things which are, whereby alone it seems in any way to preserve within itself the stamp of God's actual blessedness. For the life of the Supreme Being is love, seeing that the Beautiful is necessarily lovable to those who recognize it, and the Deity does recognize it, and so this recognition becomes love, that which He recognizes being essentially beautiful. This True Beauty the insolence of satiety cannot touch; and no satiety interrupting this continuous capacity to love the Beautiful, God's life will have its activity in lfe; which life is thus in itself beautiful, and is essentially of a loving disposition towards the Beautiful."
St. Gregory of Nyssa
+ + +
"Grace is not merely faith, but also active prayer. For the latter shows in practice true faith, made living by Jesus, for it comes from the Spirit through love. And so faith is dead and lifeless in a man who does not see it active in himself. More than thtat - a man has no right to be called faithful, if his faith is a bare word and if he has not in him a faith made active by love or the Spirit. Thus faith must be made evident by progress in works, or it must act in the light and shine in works, as the divine Apostle says: 'Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works (James 2:18).'"
St. Gregory of Sinai
"Prayer that rises up in someone's heart serves to open up for us the door of heaven: that person stands in converse with the Divinity and gives pleasure to the Son of God.
"Prayer makes peace with the Lord's anger and with the vehemence of His wrath. In this way too, tears that well up in the eyes can open the door of compassion."
St. Ephrem the Syrian
+ + +
"Love, therefore, is the foremost of all excellent achievements and the first of the commandments of the law. If ever, then, the soul reach this goal, it will be in no need of anything else; it will embrace that plenitude of things which are, whereby alone it seems in any way to preserve within itself the stamp of God's actual blessedness. For the life of the Supreme Being is love, seeing that the Beautiful is necessarily lovable to those who recognize it, and the Deity does recognize it, and so this recognition becomes love, that which He recognizes being essentially beautiful. This True Beauty the insolence of satiety cannot touch; and no satiety interrupting this continuous capacity to love the Beautiful, God's life will have its activity in lfe; which life is thus in itself beautiful, and is essentially of a loving disposition towards the Beautiful."
St. Gregory of Nyssa
+ + +
"Grace is not merely faith, but also active prayer. For the latter shows in practice true faith, made living by Jesus, for it comes from the Spirit through love. And so faith is dead and lifeless in a man who does not see it active in himself. More than thtat - a man has no right to be called faithful, if his faith is a bare word and if he has not in him a faith made active by love or the Spirit. Thus faith must be made evident by progress in works, or it must act in the light and shine in works, as the divine Apostle says: 'Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works (James 2:18).'"
St. Gregory of Sinai
Thursday, June 29, 2006
From St. Barsanuphios the Great:
How does a man renounce himself? Simply by forsaking his natural desires and following the Lord. That is why the Lord speaks here strictly of what is natural and not of what is unnatural.
For if anyone forsakes only what is unnatural, he has not yet forsaken anything of his own for God's sake, because what is unnatural does not properly belong to him. But whoever has forsaken what is natural, always says with the Apostle Peter, "We have left everything and followed You. What will there be for us?" And he hears the blessed voice of the Lord, and by His promise is assured of the inheritance and possession of eternal life.
Since Peter was not rich, what did he renounce and what was his claim? Surely he renounced his own natural desires? For unless a man dies to the flesh and lives in the spirit, his soul cannot rise.
Just as in a corpse there are no natural desires whatever, so too there are none in a person who is spiritually dead to the flesh. If you have died to the flesh, how can natural desires live in you? But if you have not attained this measure of spirituality, and are mentally still in your infancy, humble yourself before a teacher, that he may correct you with mercy, and do nothing without advice even though it may seem to you apparently good. For the light of demons eventually turns to darkness.
For if anyone forsakes only what is unnatural, he has not yet forsaken anything of his own for God's sake, because what is unnatural does not properly belong to him. But whoever has forsaken what is natural, always says with the Apostle Peter, "We have left everything and followed You. What will there be for us?" And he hears the blessed voice of the Lord, and by His promise is assured of the inheritance and possession of eternal life.
Since Peter was not rich, what did he renounce and what was his claim? Surely he renounced his own natural desires? For unless a man dies to the flesh and lives in the spirit, his soul cannot rise.
Just as in a corpse there are no natural desires whatever, so too there are none in a person who is spiritually dead to the flesh. If you have died to the flesh, how can natural desires live in you? But if you have not attained this measure of spirituality, and are mentally still in your infancy, humble yourself before a teacher, that he may correct you with mercy, and do nothing without advice even though it may seem to you apparently good. For the light of demons eventually turns to darkness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)