—Fr.
Arsenie, tell us, how can we be saved from our many
earthly cares, so that we might have more time for
prayer?
—Fr. Ioannichie, pure prayer from the heart and lips
to God is a great work! Prayer is a sharp arrow that all
the saints have aimed at heaven for thousands of years,
and not only they, but also the simplest Christians.
Prayer has pierced the heart of the heavens, perhaps it
has reached those who were displeased with the earth's
inhabitants, and salvific replies have returned along the
same path; thus was faith preserved on earth from
generation to generation.
Brother Christian, you also have your own history: you
have entered into the great Christian union—the
Church—and are forever redeemed by the Savior's
sacrifice. That means that you are of great worth, and you
have a great and noble responsibility. Is it so difficult
for each of us to simply and directly ask God to help us
in our troubles and sufferings, and to thank Him?!
Where is the man who has nothing to ask of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the Mother of God? They say that the Mother of
God is offended by those who never ask her for anything!
She is the prayerful intercessor for people; and as much
as God can do through His power, so much can the Mother of
God do by Her prayer. Show that you are the child of the
Mother of God, having a child's heart in your breast!
And we can be free of earthly cares only if we want to
be—after all, our salvation depends upon us. As
souls given by God, we must show more will, in order not
to immerse ourselves in these earthly cares and burden
ourselves with them to such an extent. We shall manage our
lives as people of higher thought, and as responsible
human beings. If we were to ask those who are saved and
living in heaven, "What did it cost you to attain
such blessedness?" they would reply, "Time, a
little time well spent on the earth!" That means that
we have absolutely no other time to bring our souls to
perfection—souls that are called, gifted, and full
of such resolve.
We must think about the fact that we are called "the
angelic ranks" [the monastic rank is called the
angelic rank. –OC]. Angels pray unceasingly,
throughout eternity.
—What is the easiest way to overcome in the
struggle against fornication and fleshly thoughts?
—In order to overcome in the struggle against
fornication, in whatever stage it may be, we must first of
all ask for grace from the Good God. This is not a short
term battle, because we must definitely achieve total
victory. At first, each one sees that he is powerless to
withstand it; but with God all things are possible.
He who enters into this struggle must:
–want to be freed of this struggle, no matter what
happens;
–pray with all his heart to the Mother of God, and
ask her help;
–avoid, as much as possible, all circumstances that
might arouse passions;
–do not accept into your mind those suggestions that
might seem innocent, but then begin to solidify into
images. Route all these thoughts, changing your mind to
prayer—but your own prayer, and not something
someone else recommended, no matter who that might be;
into prayer with your own sighing, even if it is without
words.
If the attack is aggressive, pleasurable, and vanquishing,
one must call out to the Mother of God, and not give in.
During the first phases, he should confess contritely and
purely, not sparing himself and not blaming incidents,
circumstances, or other individuals. He will be greatly
helped if he goes to confession often.
 |
| Fr. Ioannichie (Balan) |
The
father-confessor will understand him, console him, and
assure him that he is not alone, yet not allow him to
harden in his motivations, as if it were all
"necessary and perfectly natural."
The father-confessor should have zeal and kindness in
order to be able to tear his spiritual child away from
this secret and many-headed passion. It is recommended to
read books and everything that has as its goal the
preparation for death. The lost one will be forgiven
through repentance, no matter what sin he committed, and
this will be a great achievement; but let no one deceive
himself or suppose that he can find any forgiveness
without repentance. Because of this sin, you cannot ever
know what heaven and hell really are; and one should think
about this and pray.
A person who is more spiritually inclined, but
nevertheless gets wounded to a greater or lesser extent
and then passes through the bath of repentance, counts
this as a misfortunate accident. He will have a serious
reason for truly meek humility—and this gives God
more joy than when someone thinks highly of himself as
never having fallen.
This is not a paradox, but divine justice and mercy. He,
the Master of the house and Good Pastor, left his
sheepfold of sheep and went to find the lost sheep, and
then happily put it on His shoulders and carried it into
the gates of the Kingdom of glory. I once read what I am
telling you now: "Brother Christian, believe me,
there are two kinds of joy, which cannot be
combined—you cannot rejoice here on earth in
pleasures that are transient and sinful, and then reign
with Jesus Christ." "Then, iniquity will stop
its mouth" (cf. Ps. 106:42). "Thou fool, the
time that you use for evil digs a pit for you, and
tomorrow eternity will come!" Saying this, I think
that the father confessor can encourage the person who is
struggling with onslaughts from without, and with nature
from within.
—How can one conquer and route ambition and
prideful thoughts from himself?
—A hideous and impure passion! All evil catches a
fish in this murky water! God does not even want to hear
about a proud person! He takes all grace away from him, so
that he might stumble—maybe then he will become
humble, as the Scripture says (cf. 1 Pet. 5:5).
He abandons him, and that person becomes a great
abomination; He takes from him all sense of beauty, leaves
him to roam around in chaos, in all manner of filthy back
alleys of the world. He has no image, or likeness, or
healthy reason. The holy fathers say truly, "Wherever
there was a fall, pride first did its work." No
other passion will liken you to a devil like pride.
All passions can, let's say, be excused due to nature and
bad life circumstances; but pride cannot be justified by
anything! It has an unbearable insolence—it attaches
itself to any virtue if it can, and it even hides behind
humility, which serves as its shield. We see this very
often, and to prove what I am saying, it is as one father
said: "That proud one is so humble!"
Because it is so dangerous and so broadly present in all
ages and ranks, it would be good if no one would disdain
any person, no matter how unimportant he may be—for
Christ is within him—and would even ask his opinion,
even if it is for a lark. This would be the first step,
one length along the path of the Gospels.
It would be good to ask everyone's opinion, no matter who
you are; for who knows? After all, God's grace rests more
often upon the simple and unnoticed. Make a prostration,
as they say, if only for the sake of humbling the
body—for this also shows good manners—and you
will see how much you need these people with whom God has
assigned you to live. You will see, and will be convinced
in life that wisdom really does abide more in places where
there is humility—for God is there.
Lucifer fell irreparably; his grandiose fall happened due
to one word only: "I". Having fallen, he became
an adversary for eternity, an abomination of desolation.
Let no one be deceived, thinking that without true
purification in the only water of humility he can enter
into the Kingdom from which the angels fell!
These are, in brief, my thoughts and exhortations about
this, so that one might realize that God created us
beautiful only for Himself!
—What can one do to restrain the tongue and
acquire the gift of silence?
—This is truly a serious matter—to not be the
master of your tongue. As the saints say, "The tongue
leads us to great falls." More vanity than benefit
comes from loquacity, and malignant gossip brings great
danger not only in this world, but also in the next. They
say that most of the people in hell are those who murdered
with malicious words!
Brother, you must love you brother. Isn't this the
Savior's most important commandment? He gave this
commandment as the crown of all His teachings—that
the only way to salvation is love; and He ascended the
unforgettable and soul-rending Golgotha!
We must always reiterate to people the responsibility that
we bear for our lifetime, the only time given to us, so
that we would set a lock upon our tongue and purify our
hearts from evil. St. Gregory the Theologian says:
"We must answer for every superfluous word, even more
so for every shameful word"; how much more horribly
for every murderous word! The Patericon is very
useful in this regard with its chapter on "The
benefit of silence."
St. Isidore of Pelusium says, "Speaking with benefit
is a blessing, but if it is reinforced by deeds, it is
crowned." "For life without words brings greater
benefit, while a commanding word evokes anger. If word and
life are united they comprise the personification of all
philosophy."
Treasure the Lord in your heart and let your attention
abide there, and remain there before the Lord without
leaving. Then you will notice every speck of dust in
yourself. This is how mystical knowledge begins. It is a
mirror for the mind and a lamp for the conscience. It
dries up lust, extinguishes rage, humbles anger and
disperses sorrow, tames insolence, scatters despondency,
gives clarity to the mind, casts out sloth, truly humbles
you and makes your reason undeceivable; it wounds the
demons, and purifies the body. Such a person is no longer
the participant in any wicked deed, but rather is alien to
it. He thinks all the time, "Who shall I go to? I am
a worm…" This is something different, having
to do with remembrance of death and man's eternal lot, and
belongs to mystical knowledge.
From: Ne vorbeşte
părintele Arsenie. Ediţia îngrijită
de а Arhimandrit Ioanichie Bălan. Vol. 1–3.
Editura Mănăstirea Sihăstria, 2004.
