In order for us to become one with the God, we are first
and foremost required to exhibit meekness, as the Lord Himself
says: “Come unto Me…and learn of Me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls”
(Matt. 11:28-29). This rest is precisely the rapture of
Christ’s Heavenly Kingdom. It is clear that without meekness
we will never come to Christ, we will never become one with
Him, and consequently, instead of experiencing bliss, we will
be most wretched.
Only the meek are under God’s special protection. And this
protection is the source of all the indescribable bounties which God
showers upon us, of all our happiness and bliss, both temporal and
eternal.
This leads us to understand why the Holy Fathers
say: “Do not seek miracles, but rather seek a meek person,
who is the supreme miracle.” Therefore, let us seek meekness
above all and strive to attain it. But to this end we
must understand, what exactly is meekness? Meekness is the
mildness of a tender age, and not only tender age, but
angelic mildness, and not only angelic, but Divine mildness.
The most prominent and essential characteristic of saints was
precisely such meekness.
St. Seraphim of Sarov possessed this meekness.
When three robbers fell upon him in the forest of Sarov, he
threw down the axe which he held in his hands, folded his
arms over his chest and meekly said to them: “Do with me
what you will.” The robbers beat up the holy elder nearly
to death with his own axe. But when these robbers were
caught and stood trial for their crime, St. Seraphim pleaded
with the authorities for their release. And even that was
not enough. Through the intercession of St. Seraphim, the
robbers were released from prison. They then came to the
holy saint to beg his forgiveness, and he forgave them
whole-heartedly, as a father would forgive his errant sons.
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk possessed this meekness.
Once, when a haughty and cruel landowner slapped him in the
face, St. Tikhon fell at the feet of the landowner and asked
his forgiveness.
This wondrous meekness was possessed to the
fullest measure by our Saviour. When He was hit over the
head and the crown of thorns, when He was spat upon, the
Lord did not turn His face away, but silently and meekly
gazed upon His tormentors. And when the Lord was being
crucified, He prayed for His executioners. To such a grace,
to such a supreme and wondrous possession we must aspire with
all our hearts. If we attain this meekness, we will attain
the rapture of the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ.
The great Optina elder Ambrose looked upon his
offenders as his greatest benefactors. Elder Ambrose used to
say: “Whoever slanders us - showers us with gifts, and
whoever praises us - robs us .”
The saints fully embodied the Lord’s words: “Upon
whom shall I gaze? Only upon the meek, and the silent,
and the one who trembles at My words.” Why does the Lord,
speaking of meekness, also mention silence? In order to show
that our meekness should be expressed through silence.
But one can keep silence with one’s lips, yet
hold great malice and hate in one’s heart against those who
offend us. The Lord wishes our heart to participate in this
time of silence, too. Therefore, let Christ’s silence during
His trial be a constant example to us in this case, and may
the words of the Gospel: “But Jesus held His peace” (Matt.
26:63) serve as the basic guideline of our spiritual life.
Let us always remember St. Seraphim’s injunction to one of his
monks: “Keep silent, keep silent, keep ever silent.” This
means - with one’s lips, with one’s heart, while being
insulted, in order to attain meekness or supreme love.
One may ask: how can one attain this meekness,
this supreme love, when we are so weak, so frail, and unable
to do any good on our own? Yes, we are weak and frail,
but within us is omnipotent the grace of the Holy Spirit,
which even the impossible makes possible and attainable. For
this reason the Lord demands from all people without exception
to model themselves in perfection on God Himself, saying: “Be
ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven
is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). And be ye merciful, even as your
Father which is in Heaven is merciful.
Let us strive to attain meekness and supreme
love, which is the pinnacle of all Christian virtues. But it
is impossible to reach the top of the mountain without
climbing the entire mountain. Therefore, let us strive towards
the acquisition of all the virtues, and first of all the
attainment of their foundation - Christian humility.
It is easy to be humble in terms of being aware
of one’s sinfulness. It is easy for us also to humble
ourselves before God, realizing all our frailties and all our
insignificance. But it is most difficult for us to humble
ourselves before our neighbors. We are impeded by a
consciousness of our supposed superiority to them, for we
believe ourselves to be better than others, even when we have
great shortcomings. We always justify and whitewash these
shortcomings. But rarely do we forgive the shortcomings of
our neighbors. Almost always we accuse and judge them for
sins which do not exist in their lives, but exist only in
our sinful and haughty imagination.
Let
us humble ourselves before our neighbors not out of fear, but out of
love for them, as the Lord enjoined us during His Mystic supper. And
thus let us not consider our moral state to be higher and better than
that of others. Let us bring the attention of our hearts and minds only
upon our own sins, and not upon the sins of others, for love is
expressed in a mutual and forgiving participation in the carrying of the
burden of others, i.e. our neighbors’ shortcomings. Blessed Augustine
says: “Nothing makes us as pleasing in the eyes of the Lord as our
forgiving attitude towards our neighbors’ shortcomings.”
Unfortunately, our mutual relationships exhibit completely
the opposite: not love towards one another, but cruelty; not a
forgiving, but a judgmental attitude towards the imperfections of
others. This condemnation is the favorite topic of our conversations,
and is often accompanied by slander and a feeling of malice.
May the Lord help us acquire great love for our neighbors,
and a forgiving attitude towards their imperfections. As Apostle Paul
witnesses, in acquiring such love we will fulfill the entire law of God,
all His saving commandments. Then the grace of the Holy Spirit, as
manifested in the Epiphany, will shine its divine light upon us. Then we
will become the embodiment of the wondrous church hymn: “As many as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” and the grace of
baptism will become the vestment of Christ for us.
This vestment of Christ, or the grace-filled divine light,
will shield us from all demonic attacks when our souls will be passing
through the celestial toll-houses after death.
This vestment of Christ, this baptismal grace, made
available to us by our fulfillment of God’s commandments and the
endurance of sorrows, will cover us at the Last Judgment. Like a wedding
garment, this grace will lead us into the celestial chamber of our
Saviour, and will be the source of our eternal and continuous joy in the
Heavenly Realm of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From the sermons of the newly-canonized Saint Seraphim (Sobolev), wonderworker of Sophia
