Elder Joseph the Hesychast 'on patience and endurance'

 

Γέροντας Εφραίμ Φιλοθεΐτης-Περί θλίψεων, πόνων και κόπων..

Η θλίψις είναι όργανον, εργαλείον, το οποίον κρατεί ο Θεός εις το χέρι Του, και Αυτός μόνος το εργάζεται, καθώς Του υπαγορεύει η άπειρος σοφία Του. Εις τον κάθε άνθρωπον διαφοροτρόπως
το εργάζεται, αναλόγως της ανάγκης που έχει έκαστος.
Η θλίψις με την ποικιλομορφία της εξαγνίζει και αγιάζει τον άνθρωπον εκείνον, που με σοφίαν και γνώσιν την δέχεται. Δηλαδή κάθε θλίψις του χριστιανού είναι θεία επίσκεψις έχουσαν σκοπόν την σωτηρίαν αυτού και την αποστέλλει η γλυκυτάτη δεξιά του ουρανίου μας Πατρός, αν και απαρέσκεται η φύσις μας εις την τοιαύτην, καθώς και τα πικρά φάρμακα απαρέσκουν εις τον ασθενούντα...


Εάν η θλίψις δεν έχει καμμίαν σχέσιν με ημάς, πάντως θα είχαμε την μοίραν του εωσφόρου, διότι και εκείνος ευρισκόμενος εις το ύψος της δόξης και της αναπαύσεως, ελησμόνησε την μεγαλειότητα του Θεού και την εαυτού σμικρότητα και αδυναμίαν, « στήσω τον θρόνον μου επί των νεφελών και έσομαι όμοιος τω Υψίστω».

Και ταύτα διανοηθέντα, κάτω τον έρρψεν ο Θεός, και ο πρώτος ανατέλλων φωτεινότατος άγγελος, γέγονε δαίμων, Σατανάς, διάβολος, το βρωμερώτερον εκ των δημιουργημάτων του Θεού, ουχί τη φύσει, διότι ο Θεός όλα λιαν καλά τα εποίησεν, αλλά τη προαιρέσει πονηρός και αντάρτης!

Ο διάβολος διασπείρει μέσα εις τας οικογενείας την μεμψιμοιρίαν, την απαρέσκειαν, την ζήλειαν, την ισχυρογνωμοσύνην, κ.λ.π. και ούτω υπάρχει εις πολλάς οικογενείας ένα πρόσωπον, που θα διαταράσση την ειρήνην, την γαλήνην και την χαράν της οικογενείας. Αυτή η κακή σπορά δεν έλειψε και μέσα εις την του Κυρίου ιεράν οικογένειαν, όπου είχε δημιουργήσει επί της γης δια την μέλλουσαν σωτηρίαν, δηλαδή εν μέσω των ιερών μαθητών Του, ο Ιούδας ο Ισκαριώτης, σπόρος θεοκτόνος! Ο διάβολος σπείρει τον σπόρον εν μέσω του σίτου, και εις τας συνοδείας των μοναχών το τοιούτον υπάρχει, όχι ότι το πρόσωπον αυτό είναι κακόν, αλλά έχοντας τας αδυναμίας αυτάς, μεμψιμοιρίαν, ζήλειαν κ.λ.π., γίνεται ένα όργανον, δια να διαταράσση την ειρήνην και ησυχίαν των άλλων.

Όλα αυτά μαρτυρούν ότι είμεθα εξόριστοι της αληθινής πατρίδος μας, ευρισκόμενοι εις τα σωφρονιστήρια, ένθα εξασκείται η παιδεία Κυρίου, και όσοι ευρεθούν δια της παιδείας ευδόκιμοι, εισάγονται πάλιν εις την ουράνιον κληρονομίαν λαμβάνοντες και πάλιν την χαθείσαν υιοθεσίαν των, άξιοι να κληρονομήσουν τον Θεόν.

Όσοι μείνουν απαίδευτοι, ως εγώ, και δεν αναγνωρίζουν την παιδείαν, αλλά δια των έργων των αναδειχθούν νόθοι, αποδιώκονται ως ανάξιοι της υιοθεσίας, εις ην απέβλεπεν η παιδεία Κυρίου και καταδικάζονται. Ο αγαθός Θεός και Πατήρ ημών να μας αξιώση μετά των ευδοκίμων, τωνλαβόντων την υιοθεσίαν, εις αιώνας αιώνων. Αμήν.

Γέροντας Εφραίμ Φιλοθεΐτης

Become and remain to the end as “a gentle breeze"...

We Too Are Anxious As The Prophet Elijah!

 

There is a great lesson that we are given through the commemoration of the Prophet Elijah, those of us who have the Church at heart and thirst for its purity. We receive this lesson by reading chapter 19 of book III of The Kings. What is said in this part of the Old Testament is the following:

The fiery Prophet Elijah, with a soul exhausted and almost broken-hearted as a result of his struggles against the idolatry which plagued the state of Israel, is found in a cave of the mountain Horeb. He opens his heart in prayer before God and overflows with feelings of grievance: “I have served you with zeal,” he says to his Divine Master. “See, however, the reasons which have discouraged me. The sons of Israel betrayed me. And, in spite of all that I did for them, in spite of the castigation which I addressed to them, and in spite of the punishment of the priests of Baal which your power brought about, the same situation continues to apply. Your altars are still ruined. Your Prophets are assassinated. And I have remained alone but my enemies seek to put me to death.”

Then, the Prophet Elijah heard a voice which said to him: “Tomorrow you must come out of your cave and you must stand at the peak of the mountain.” This is indeed what happened. The following day, the Prophet came out of his cave, and climbed up to the top of the Mountain. What a dreadful moment! A terrible thunderstorm had broken out. It seemed that its force would dissolve the rocky mass of Mount Horeb. At this moment he heard a voice which said to him: “The Lord is not inside this violent and destructive storm.” Then the storm passed and a terrible earthquake occurred. But again the voice informed him that the Lord was not inside this earthquake either. And then, the rocks of Horeb brought out flames. And the voice said to Elijah that the Lord was not in that fire either. After these breath-taking phenomena, a gentle Breeze began to blow. The Lord was in it. This is what the voice said to the Prophet, and he believed it and understood what God wanted to teach him. The lesson is this: that the presence of God is not expressed in any other way but as “a gentle Breeze”, as the sacred text calls it. This is an eternal lesson, which is addressed to us as well.

We, too, often become as anxious as Elijah. Our zeal makes us feel violent like the storm, and like the earthquake and vehement like the fire. Our sacred indignation pushes us to words and acts which do not have the freshness and the gentleness of the Breeze.

We believe that the Church, this new Israel, will not be cleansed from sin, unless we move vigorously, imitating the activity of Elijah, before he received this superb lesson on the mountain Horeb.

But the Lord loves His Church more than we do. He is concerned much more for her well being than we are. His grievance which he feels because of our sorry state is uncontainable not only in our heart, but also in our imagination.

And yet, He tells us that we must not be impatient and uncharitable. Rather we should be merciful and condescending as He is.

When God came down to the earth, and became a human being, He repeated this lesson to us. We may recall here the verses from Isaiah which St. Matthew the Evangelist recalls in order to show the simplicity which characterizes the Son of God in his behavior towards those who exhibit an evil behavior in the Church. “He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; he will not break a bruised reed, or quench a smoldering wick” (Matth. 12:19-20). It is exactly because the Lord loves his Church more than us that he is genial and caring and delicate. He does not like screaming, lengthy expostulations of wild criticism, or unbridled victimization. He knows, because he is the only one who knows our heart, and so, even in the worst guises of evil, which stigmatize the body of the Church, there is always the hope of recovery. This recovery is accomplished only under the life-giving and distinctive breeze of the Spirit. Love, forbearance, meekness, humility, affection should distinguish the workers of the Church. The workers should imitate their divine employer, the Lord of the Vineyard. There is no room in them for rage, anger, or a judging tongue. What has to be gained on behalf of Christ on the earth will not be gained by force, but with love, harmlessness and non-aggressiveness.

Indeed, the Son of God himself teaches this most clearly in the Parable of the Weeds Among Wheat. We see the weeds among the wheat and this sight is unbearable to us. Our zeal pushes us to cut out the weeds. Nevertheless, this impulse is not the finger of God, but the finger of Lucifer. God does not want us to cut them out. Listen to what he says to us, when we take it to ourselves to strike persons and situations in His Church: “It is not I who inspires you to do so. This behavior is thoughtless and prejudicial. Because where you direct your beating, there are souls around which will be scandalized by your action, and you may damage them and even uproot them together with the evil which purportedly you tried to uproot.”

Do not misappropriate what is not your own task. I will purge my Church from all weeds on the Day of Judgment. Your judgment, your holy indignation, your anger will not bring only good, but also evil. You may uproot from the Church myriads of pharisees, vicious culprits and bribe-takers, but if with them you cast out even one soul which is scandalized by your behavior, for whom I shed my Blood, the damage to you will be infinitely greater than the benefit.

Do you want to bring glory to my Church, or to work for its progress and her purity? Imitate me. Do not run to cut out the weeds. Do not take recourse to violence. Become and remain to the end as “a gentle breeze,” because I am not present either in the storm, or in the earthquake, or in the fire. I am only present in the refreshing breeze.

Taken from the «Κιβωτός» - απάνθισμα, vol. 2. Translated from the Greek original by Fr. George Dion. Dragas.

http://tokandylaki.blogspot.ca/2012/08/become-and-remain-to-end-as-gentle.html 

 

My heart is hard like a stone…

Elder Paisios The Athonite

- Elder, when I feel my heart become hard like a stone, what should I do?

- Your problem is not a hard heart but a mind-driven heart. Your entire heart has been taken over by your mind and is now at its service. But there is still a chance for your heart to go back. Each day you must read prayers to the Theotokos. If you want your heart to get back in shape, that’s the best medicine. You do have a heart, but it has been clouded by “logic”…. Things are different in the spiritual life. What is needed is simplicity. Act with simplicity and trust in God.


- How can I become simple, Elder? – I shall have to open your head and put an old-fashioned mind in it!

You need to enter the simple world of the Saints, and get to know the spiritual science which lifts and refreshes the soul, and gets rid of headaches. “Logic” will make us suffer. For example, I say to myself, ‘This must be done in this specific manner,’ and so I go ahead and do it because it has to be done. I don’t do it with my heart but because the mind dictates it. Logic and courtesy may tell me that ‘I must surrender my seat,’ but my heart will not. Think of the difference when my heart is moved and I surrender my seat out of love. I feel such joy!
 

- Elder, I don’t have a heart.


- You do have a heart, but as soon as it tries to act, your mind puts a muzzle on it. You must try to acquire the logic of the heart, faith and love.


- How can I achieve this? – The first step: go down town in the city Thessaloniki and March barefoot in protest, so that people will say that you went mad; this way you will get rid of your mind!!! Blessed soul! You approach everything with mathematical exactness. What are you, an astronomer? If you stop thinking “logically”, you will be able to start working spiritually on yourself. 

“The Holy Fathers saw everything with the spiritual, the divine eye. Patristic tests were written in the spirit of God and it was in the spirit of God that the Holy Fathers gave their interpretations. Today this spirit is lacking and Patristic texts are hard to understand. People see everything with secular eyes and cannot see beyond that; they do not have the breadth of spirit that results form faith and love.”

Christ the good Portrait Painter..

By "Saint Makarios of Egypt".
(Excerpt from Homily 30)
Just as the portrait painter is attentive to the face of the King as
he paints,and,when the face of the king is directly opposite,face to
face,th

en he paints the portrait easily and well.But when he turns his
face away,then the painter cannot paint because the face of the subject is
not looking at the painter.
In a similar way the good portrait painter,Christ,for those who believe in Him
and gaze continually toward Him,at once paints according to his own image
a heavenly man.
Out of his Spirit, out of the substance of the light itself,ineffable light,he paints
a heavenly image and presents to it its noble and good Spouse.
If anyone,therefore,does not continually gaze at Him,overlooking all else,
the Lord will not paint His image with his own light.
It is necessary that we gaze on Him,believing and loving Him,casting aside all
else and attending to Him so that He may paint his own heavenly image and
send it to our souls.
And thus carrying Christ,we may receive eternal life and even here,filled with confidence,
we may be at rest.Amen.
http://tokandylaki.blogspot.ca/2012/08/christ-good-portrait-painter.html 

Γέροντας Εφραίμ - Ομιλία Περι Μετανοίας

Γέροντας Εφραίμ της Iεράς Σκήτεως Aποστόλου Aνδρέου και Μεγάλου Αντωνίου, Ομιλία Περι Μετανοίας