Tuesday 16 September 2014

«Συνομιλία ψυχῆς καί νοῦ»


 Ἁγίου Ἰγνατίου Μπριαντσανίνωφ
Ψυχή: Θλίψη ἀνυπόφορη αἰσθάνομαι. Πουθενά δέν βρίσκω χαρά καί παρηγοριά, οὔτε μέσα μου οὔτε γύρω μου. Δέν μπορῶ νά βλέπω συνέχεια στόν κόσμο τήν πλάνη, τήν ἀπάτη, τήν ψυχοκτονία. Τό ἀφηρημένο κοίταγμα τοῦ κόσμου, οἱ λίγες ἀπρόσεκτες ματιές στούς πειρασμούς του καί ἡ παιδιάστικη, ἀπό ἔλλειψη πείρας, ἐμπιστοσύνη μου σ᾿ αὐτόν τράβηξαν ἐπάνω μου τά φαρμακερά του βέλη, πού μέ γέμισαν θανάσιμες πληγές.
Γιατί νά κοιτάζω τόν κόσμο; Γιατί νά τόν περιεργάζομαι, γιατί νά μαθαίνω κάθε λεπτομέρειά του, γιατί νά ἀφοσιώνομαι σ᾿ αὐτόν, ἀφοῦ εἶμαι μιά φευγαλέα σελίδα στό πελώριο βιβλίο του; Ὁπωσδήποτε θά τόν ἀφήσω κάποτε, μόνο πού δέν γνωρίζω τό πότε. Κάθε μέρα καί κάθε ὥρα πρέπει νά εἶμαι ἕτοιμη γιά τή μετάβασή μου στήν αἰωνιότητα. Ὅσο κι ἄν παραταθεῖ ἡ περιπλάνησή μου στήν ἔρημο τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, αὐτή δέν εἶναι τίποτα μπροστά στήν ἀτέλειωτη αἰωνιότητα, ὅπου δέν ὑπάρχει διαφορά ἀνάμεσα στίς ὧρες, τίς μέρες, τά χρόνια καί τίς ἑκατονταετίες. Ὁ ἴδιος ὁ κόσμος μέ ὅλα τά τεράστια κατασκευάσματά του θά πάψει νά ὑπάρχει: « Ἡ γῆ, ὅπως καί ὅλα ὅσα θά ἔχουν γίνει πάνω σ᾿ αὐτήν, θά κατακαοῦν»1. Θά κατακαοῦν, γιατί εἶναι καρποί τῆς πτώσεως καί τῆς ἀποδοκιμασίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
Οἱ πληγές, πού μοῦ προξένησε ὁ κόσμος, μ᾿ ἔκαναν νά τόν ἀποστραφῶ. Αὐτή ἡ ἀποστροφή, ὡστόσο, δέν μέ φύλαξε ἀπό νέες πληγές.
Δέν θέλω νά βρίσκομαι μέσα στόν κόσμο!
Δέν θέλω νά ὑποτάσσομαι στόν κόσμο!
Δέν θέλω νά τόν ὑπηρετῶ!
Δέν θέλω οὔτε νά τόν βλέπω!
Ἀλλά αὐτός ἀπό παντοῦ μέ παρακολουθεῖ. Βίαια μέ κυριεύει. Παρουσιάζεται μπροστά μου μέ ὀμορφιά σαγηνευτική. Μέ παραλύει, μέ σημαδεύει, μέ χτυπᾶ, μέ σκοτώνει. Κι ἐγώ, ἔχοντας πάντα μέσα μου τήν τάση πρός τήν αὐταπάτη, τήν πλάνη καί τήν ἁμαρτία, συνεχίζω νά ἐξαπατῶμαι ἀπό τόν κόσμο. Χωρίς νά τόν βλέπω, ἐλκύομαι ἀθέλητα ἀπ᾿ αὐτόν. Μέ βουλιμία πίνω τό φαρμάκι του. Βαθιά καρφώνονται μέσα μου τά βέλη πού μοῦ πετᾶ.
Παίρνω τό βλέμμα μου ἀπό τόν κόσμο καί τό στρέφω βαρύθυμο καί ἐρευνητικό στόν ἴδιο μου τόν ἑαυτό. Δέν βρίσκω τίποτα τό παρήγορο μέσα μου, ὅπου κοχλάζουν ἀναρίθμητα ἁμαρτωλά πάθη! Συνέχεια μολύνομαι μέ διάφορα ἁμαρτήματα. Ἄλλοτε βασανίζομαι ἀπό τή μνησικακία καί τήν ὀργή, ἄλλοτε καίγομαι ἀπό τή σαρκική ἐπιθυμία καί τή σαρκική πύρωση. Ἡ φαντασία μου κινητοποιεῖται ἀπό κάποιαν ἐνέργεια ξένη, ἐχθρική. Σκανδαλιστικές μορφές παρουσιάζονται μπροστά μου καί μέ παρακινοῦν νοερά νά ἁμαρτήσω, νά γευθῶ τήν ὀλέθρια ἡδονή. Δέν ἔχω τή δύναμη νά τρέξω μακριά ἀπό τίς προκλητικές εἰκόνες. Αὐθόρμητα καί ἀναπότρεπτα κολλᾶνε πάνω τους τά ἀρρωστημένα μου μάτια. Καί νά τρέξω ποῦ;! Ἔτρεξα κάποτε στήν ἔρημο. Μέ ἀκολούθησαν κι ἐκεῖ οἱ παραστάσεις τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Κι ἔπεσαν πάνω μου μέ ζωντάνια μεγαλύτερη, μέ διάθεση φονική.

Martyr Sophia and her 3 Daughters: Faith, Hope and Love

 
 Holy Martyr Sophia with her daughters, Russian icon

The holy martyr Sophia and her three daughters, Elpis (Faith), Pistis (Hope) and Agapi (Love) [Sophia, here is taken to be a woman’s name rather than “Wisdom”, as in the church of Holy Wisdom (Agia Sophia) in Constantinople; similarly, the third daughter is Love, in accordance with Saint Paul, who calls her Love (which was translated, correctly, into Latin as “caritas” and then, wrongly, into English as “charity”)], lived at the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian, (117-138) and belonged to fine, exalted stock. They inherited the Christian faith from their forebears and lived their lives in accordance with the will of God.

It happened that once, when these holy woman went to Rome, the fame of their family followed them there, as did the information about their faith in Christ. So the ruler [it is not clear from the text whether this was Hadrian himself or a more local high official] commanded that they be brought before him. When this had happened, he was struck by their beauty and comeliness and, once he had separated the mother from her three daughters, he discussed the faith with her, in an attempt, at times with blandishments and promises and at others with threats, to wean her away from her faith in Christ. Sophia, however, remained adamant in her faith, defended it, fended off the insults of the emperor and so these could not be realized.
When he’d been defeated by the mother, the emperor ordered that her three daughters be brought before him. When this had been done, he looked at them charmingly and with enticing flattery and promises attempted to exploit the fact that they were so young in order to find out whether, because of their tender years, they had accepted the teaching of scorning the material goods which were offered to them. The tyrant was defeated again because he realized that, despite their age, the young girls believed, with total awareness, in Christ.
After this, the ruler wished to examine each of them separately. First they brought n Faith, who was then twelve years old. After she had boldly confessed, she bravely criticised and rejected the tyrant’s machinations. He then ordered that she be subjected to terrible, unheard of tortures. First the executioners stripped her, and having tied her hands behind her back, beat her mercilessly with rods. Then they cut off her breasts with a knife, though, -what a miracle!- milk flowed from them instead of blood, which caused awe and astonishment among the impious and criminal executioners. Thereafter they laid her on a red-hot grill. The girl didn’t suffer anything at all and remained unburned by the fire, to the frustration of the tyrant and the glory of Christ. Then they smeared her with pitch and asphalt and again laid her on the red-hot grill. But she remained unharmed even after his torture and raised thanks to God.
The tyrant had now been well and truly shamed by the young great martyr. He literally became frenzied and ordered that she be decapitated by the sword. Immediately the executioners took her away to the place where her beheading was to take place. Her mother, Sophia, went before her and encouraged her to accept her death for Christ with joy. As soon as they reached the spot, the executioners decapitated her with swords. And so the great martyr Faith gained the crown of martyrdom from Christ and humbly elevated herself to sainthood, since she became an example of faith in Christ to the death.
When this had happened, impiously on the part of the tyrant and in a Godly manner on the part of the first young girl, the second daughter, Hope, who was ten years old, was brought before him.  But she, too, despite her young age, was unshakeable in her faith in Christ and categorically rejected the flattery and enticements of the tyrant. Utterly put to shame by a little girl, he ordered them to lash her with cowhides and then to throw her into a red-hot furnace. The orders of the tyrant were carried out, but the girl, with the power of God and the invisible presence of Christ, remained completely unharmed.
After this, the tyrant ordered that Hope be subjected to new tortures. They hung her up on a piece of wood and scoured her whole body with iron nails. Thereafter, drenched with her own blood as she was, they threw her into a boiling cauldron full of pitch and resin. But although Hope suffered not in the least from this hellish torture, the boiling liquids spilt out over the cauldron and dropped onto quite a few of the idolaters who were there and some of them died from the unexpected burns. This completely enraged the executioners and they immediately beheaded the tender Great Martyr. And so this ten-year-old angel of Christ, Hope, was murdered- but entered the heavenly kingdom of God wearing a crown.
After this the third and youngest of the sisters, Love, was brought before the insatiable tyrant. She was a mere nine years old, but with an unusually strong mind of her own for such a young girl, and so with indescribable boldness she declared that Christ is the only true God and with child-like glee derided the religion of the idols. This declaration astonished and goaded the tyrant to such a pitch that he ordered the executioners to hang her up and beat her. They did so brutally, with such heavy lashes that her limbs were ripped to bits and her joints were dislocated. But, by the grace of God, her health was immediately restored and, at first the tyrant was astonished and speechless. Later, however, overcome with furious rage, he ordered that she be cast into a furnace too, this one full of every type of combustible material. But Love was saved miraculously by the intervention of a protecting divine angel, whereas the flames, which had left her untouched, half-burned the tyrant and the other pagans who were there. The most brutish and inhumane tyrant then ordered the executioners to pierce her body right through with an iron pin. But she withstood this torture, too, and was unharmed. The tyrant then ordered her decapitation by the sword. And so this nine-year-old little angel, Love,  was murdered, but endowed by the Lord with  the everlasting garland of martyrdom, as her two sisters had been before her.



 The Martyrdom of Saint Sophia and her 3 daughters, Byzantine illumination, 11th Century


Their mother, Sophia, rejoiced greatly that she had nurtured this trinity of her offspring, so blessed by God, and extended her praise and thanks to the Lord for her angelic little mites. She then buried, with all maternal honours, the precious relics of her much-beloved daughters. Afterwards she remained at the gravesides for three days, then begged God to take her from this fleeting life. And, indeed, God heard her prayer and called her overjoyed soul to Himself. Her precious relics were buried next to the graves of her three daughters, as an eternal testimony of the unified love of all four of them for Christ in the heavens, Who crowned them and to Whom belongs glory unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Source: Georgios Papadimitropoulos, Με τους Αγίους μας, Συναξαριστής Σεπτεμβρίου, pubd. by Apostoliki Diakonia pp. 113-8.

Note: Although we in the West are accustomed to accounts of martyrdoms such as those suffered by the three children-saints, the last paragraph, describing Saint Sophia’s sentiments is something with which were are perhaps not so comfortable today. We should remember, however, that not long ago, i.e. only twice the life-time of someone now in their 70s or 80s, the Victorians would have understood Saint Sophia very well and applauded both her feelings and the manner of her demise. Any of Charles Dickens’ novels will confirm this – Dombey and Son especially so. And, of course, somewhat earlier, in Hamlet, Horatio meets his friend’s death with the words: “Goodnight sweet prince and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”. So it may be that our present attitude, influenced as it is by the materialistic society in which we live, is out of tune with that of earlier generations. (WJL)

Source-Pemptousia.com

Μή διώχνετε τό Θεό ἀπό τά παιδιά σας...


Αγίου Νικολάου Βελιμίροβιτς
Τά παιδιά καί οἱ ἅγιοι ἀφοσιώνονται σέ Σένα Κύριε. Οἱ ἄλλοι ἐπαναστατοῦν ἐναντίον Σου. Τά παιδιά καί οἱ ἅγιοι εἶναι ἡ διαχωριστική γραμμή ἀνάμεσα στή βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν (ἡ φωτεινή ὕπαρξη) καί στό σκόταδι τῆς ἀνυπαρξίας (Ματθ. 18. 2-5).
Οἱ φύλακες τῶν παιδιῶν ὀνομάζουν τούς ἑαυτούς των, γονεῖς καί ἐγκαταλείπουν τά παιδιά Σου στό χάος.
Οἱ φύλακες παρουσιάζονται ὡς γονεῖς καί γι᾽ αὐτό καθοδηγοῦν τά παιδιά Σου σάν νά εἶναι προσωπική τους ἰδιοκτησία. Ἀκριβῶς γι᾽ αὐτό παρεκτρέπονται καί διασποῦν τό ρόλο τους.
Τά παιδιά πού ἐσεῖς οἱ φύλακες ἔχετε ἀπαγάγει ἀνήκουν σέ κάποιον ἄλλον καί σεῖς εὐθύνεστε γιά κλοπή καί ληστεία.
Δέν σᾶς ἀνήκει οὔτε ἡ δική σας ζωή, οὔτε ἡ ζωή τῶν παδιῶν σας γιά τήν ὁποία ἐσεῖς ἔχετε μόνο τό ρόλο τοῦ ἀγωγοῦ. Ὅλα ἀνήκουν σέ κάποιον ἄλλον, ἐκτός ἀπό τήν ἐσωτερική κακία σας καί τήν ἀδυναμία πού εἶναι μόνο δική σας. Γιά ὅτι ἄλλο κατέχετε θά θεωρηθεῖτε ὑπεύθυνοι κλοπῆς. Δηλαδή εὐθύνεστε γιά ληστεία γιατί οἰκειοποιηθήκατε αὐτά πού στήν οὐσία δέν εἶναι δικά σας ἀλλά ἀνήκουν σέ κάποιον ἄλλον. Θά εὐθύνεστε γιά ληστεία ἐπειδή ἔχετε ἀκρωτηριάσει ἐκεῖνα πού ἀνήκουν σέ ἄλλον.
Πάνω στή γῆ, ὑπάρχουν μόνο φύλακες, ὄχι δημιουργοί. Φύλακες τῆς δημιουργίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί αὐτό εἶναι μέγιστη τιμή.
Ὁ Θεός σᾶς ἔχει ἐμπιστευτεῖ τήν προστασία, τήν κηδεμονία τοῦ πολυτιμότερου θησαυροῦ Του.
Καί αὐτό εἶναι ἀνυπολόγιστη τιμή.
Ἐκεῖνος πού δέν ἔχει γεννηθεῖ καί ἑπομένως δέν τοῦ ἔχουν ἐμπιστευθεῖ τήν προστασία κανενός θά εἶναι ποιό εὐλογημένος ἀπό σένα, ἄν ἡ κηδεμονία πού ἀσκεῖς εἶναι βδελυγμία καί ἀπονέκρωση τῶν ψυχῶν (Ματθ. 18. 6).
Γιατί ἄλλο νά χαίρεστε πού ἔχετε παιδιά παρά μόνο γιά νά ἀγρυπνεῖτε γι᾽ αὐτά καί νά τά φυλάγετε σάν νά εἶναι ἄγγελοι, ἀπό τόν οὐρανό; Γιατί νά λυπᾶστε γι᾽ αὐτά ὅταν φεύγουν νωρίς καί πετοῦν μέ τούς ἀγγέλους στόν παράδεισο; Ἀπολαμβάνετε ἤ στεναχωρεῖστε γιά κάτι πού ἀνήκει σέ ἄλλον.
Μή φροντίζετε μόνο νά διατηρεῖτε τό σῶμα τῶν παιδιῶν σας ἀσφαλές γιατί ἀκόμα καί οἱ ἀλεποῦδες τό ἴδιο κάνουν γιά τά μικρά τους. Ἀλλά βασικά ἐνδιαφερθεῖτε γιά τήν παρουσία τοῦ Θεοῦ στή ζωή τῶν παιδιῶν σας. Ἐάν ἐσεῖς ἐνδιαφέρεστε γιά τήν παρουσία τοῦ Θεοῦ, Ἐκεῖνος θά φρόντισει γιά ὅλα τά ὑπόλοιπα. Καί ὅ,τι ἐσεῖς συσσωρεύετε μέ πόνο καί κόπο γιά τά παιδιά σας Ἐκεῖνος τούς τά παρέχει ἄνετα καί ταχύτητα. (Ματθ 6: 33).
Μή διώχνετε τό Θεό ἀπό τά παιδιά σας, γιατί θά τούς στερήσετε τήν εἰρήνη, τήν εὐτυχία, τήν ὑγεία καί τήν εὐημερία τους.
Σέ ἀνθρώπους πού ἔχουν ἐγκαταλείψει τό Θεό, καί ὁλόκληρο τόν κόσμο νά τούς ἀφήσετε, εἶναι σάν νά τόν ἀφήνετε σέ πεινασμένους πού θά τόν καταβροχθίσουν ὁλόκληρο καί ἀκόμη θά πεινοῦν καί θά πεθάνουν ἀπό τήν πεῖνα.
Πολλές φορές κάνετε τό πᾶν γιά νά ἐξασφαλίσετε ἕνα κομμάτι ψωμί γιά τά παιδιά σας ἀλλά ἀδιαφορεῖτε τελείως ἔστω καί γιά τήν παραμικρή ποσότητα τροφῆς τῆς ψυχῆς καί τῆς συνειδήσεώς τους. Μόνο μ᾽ αὐτή τήν τροφή ἐξασφαλίζετε ἀπόλυτα τό μέλλον τῶν παιδιῶν σας καί ἐσεῖς ἐλκύετε τήν εὐλογία τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Ὁ Βασιλιάς Θεός ἐμπιστεύετε τά παιδιά Του στήν κηδεμονία σας. Θά ἀνταμείψει δέ βασιλικά ἐκείνους πού ἀληθινά προστατεύουν τήν «πριγκιπική γενιά» καί δέν σβύνουν μέ τόν τρόπο τους τό Ὄνομα τοῦ Πατέρα ἀπό τή μνήμη τῶν παιδιῶν Του.
Μέσω τῶν παιδιῶν Του ὁ Βασιλιάς παρακολουθεῖ ἐσᾶς πού τά φροντίζετε καί περιμένει τήν ἀνταπόκρισή σας. Ἄν ἡ ἀπάντησή σας εἶναι «νεκρή» αὐτό θά σημαίνει ὅτι φροντίζετε....πτώματα!.
Τά παιδιά – πολύτιμες ὕπαρξεις γιά τό Θεό – μαζί μέ τούς ἁγίους εἶναι στραμένα ἀπόλυτα καί εἰλικρινά πρός τό Θεό... Τά παιδιά καί οἱ ἅγιοι θά κρίνουν τόν κόσμο.
Ἐμεῖς οἱ ἄλλοι εἴμαστε ἐπαναστάτες....
Πρόσεχε, ψυχή μου, πρόσεχε καί μήν κάνεις λάθη.
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