St. John Maximovitch- ON THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE

 

THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE

By St. John Maximovitch.

Many people believe that to live according to the faith and to fulfill the will of God is very difficult. Actually—it’s very easy. One needs only attend to details, to trifles, and try to avoid evil in the slightest and most trivial things. This is the simplest and surest way to enter the world of the spirit and draw near to God. 

A man often thinks that the Creator demands great things of him, that the Gospel insists on complete self- sacrifice, the abolition of one’s personhood, etc., as a condition of faith. A man is so frightened by this that he begins to be afraid of becoming acquainted with God, of drawing near to God, and hides himself from God, not even wishing to look into God’s Word. “If I can’t do anything important for God, then I’d just better stay away from things spiritual, stop thinking about eternity, and live ‘in a normal way’.”

There exists at the entrance to the spiritual realm a “hypnosis of great deeds:” one must either do some big thing or do nothing. And so people do nothing at all for God or for their souls! It is very strange—the more a man is devoted to the little things of life, the less he wishes to be honest or pure or faithful to God in those same little things. And, moreover, each one must adopt a correct attitude toward little things if one wishes to come near to the kingdom of heaven.

Wishes to come near: In this is summed up all the difficulties of the religious life. Often one wishes to enter into the kingdom of heaven quite unexpectedly, in some miraculous and magical way, or, by right—through some kind of great feat. But neither the one nor the other is the right way to find the higher world. One does not enter God’s presence in some wondrous manner while remaining indifferent on earth to the needs of the kingdom of God and its bright eternity, nor can one purchase the treasures of the kingdom of God by some kind of eternal act, however great that act might be. Yet good deeds, holy deeds are necessary for one to grow into a higher life, a bright will, a good desire, a heavenly psychology, a heart that is both pure and fair.

A glass of water: Verily, verily I say unto you that whosoever offers one of the least of these but a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, shall not lose his reward. In this saying of the Lord is the highest expression of the smallness of the good. “A glass of water”—this is not much.

Communicating in good spirit: In every communication between people there must without fail be a good spirit: this spirit is Christ, openly manifest or hidden. “In the name of a disciple:” this is the first step in communicating with another person in the name of Jesus Christ Himself.  Many people, not as yet knowing the Lord and the wondrous fellowship in His Name still have among themselves an unselfish, pure and human fellowship which brings them ever closer to the Spirit of Christ.

The lesser good is necessary: As a matter of fact, the lesser good is more necessary for mankind than the greater. People can get along with their lives without the greater good; without the lesser they cannot exist. Mankind perishes not from a lack of the greater good, but from an insufficiency of just this lesser good. The greater good is no more than a roof, erected on the brick walls of the lesser good.

The lesser, easier good was left on this earth for man by the Creator Himself, who took all the greater good upon Himself. Whosoever does the lesser, the same creates—and through him the Creator Himself creates—the greater good. Of our little good the Creator makes His Own great good. For as our Lord is the Creator who formed all things from nothingness, so is He more able to create the greater good from the lesser.

Through such lesser, easy work, done with the greatest simplicity, a man is accustomed to the good and begins to serve it with his whole heart, sincerely, and in this way enters into an atmosphere of good, lets down the roots of his life into new soil, the soil of the good. The roots of human life quickly accommodate themselves to this good earth, and soon cannot live without it... Thus is a man saved: from the small comes the great. “Faithful in little things” turns out to be “faithful in the greater.”

Our moral sense: Lay aside all theoretical considerations that it is forbidden to slaughter millions, women, children, and elderly; be content to manifest your moral sense by in no way killing the human dignity of your neighbor, neither by word, nor by innuendo, nor by gesture. Do not be angry over trifles against your brother vainly (Mt 5:22) or in the daily contacts of life speak untruth to your neighbor. These are trifles, small change, of no account; but just try to do this and you will see what comes of it.

Prayer: It is hard to pray at night. But try in the morning. If you can’t manage to pray at home than at least as you ride to your place of employment attempt with a clear head the “Our Father” and let the words of this short prayer resound in your heart. And at night commend yourself with complete sincerity into the hands of the Heavenly Father. This indeed is very easy.

And give, give a glass of cold water to everyone who has need of it; give a glass filled to the brim with simple human companionship to everyone that lack it, the very simplest companionship...

O wondrous path of little things, I sing thee a hymn! Surround yourselves, O people, gird up yourselves with little works of good— with a chain of little, simple, easy and good feelings which cost us naught, a chain of bright thoughts, words and deeds. Let us abandon the big and the difficult. That is for them that love it and not for us for whom the Lord in His Mercy, for us who have not yet learned to love the greater, has poured forth the lesser love everywhere, free as water and air.

Vol. 12, Issue 05-06 Orthodox - Heritage,

St. John Maximovitch- A description of the first 40 days after death.

 

Limitless and without consolation would have been our sorrow for close ones who are dying, if the Lord had not given us eternal life. Our life would be pointless if it ended with death. What benefit would there then be from virtue and good deed? Then they would be correct who say: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

But man was created for immortality, and by His resurrection Christ opened the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom, of eternal blessedness for those who have believed in Him and have lived righteously. Our earthly life is a preparation for the future life, and this preparation ends with our death. "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb 9:27). Then a man leaves all his earthly cares; the body disintegrates, in order to rise anew at the General Resurrection. Often this spiritual vision begins in the dying even before death, and while still seeing those around them and even speaking with them, they see what others do not see. [1]

[1] But his soul continues to live. Not for an instant does it cease to exist. Our external, biological and earthly life ends with death, but the soul continues to live on. The soul is our very existence, the center of all our energies and our thoughts. The soul moves and gives life to the body. After its separation from the body it continues to live, to exist, to have awareness. St. Theophan the Recluse, in a message to a dying woman, writes:

"You will not die. Your body will die, but you will over to a different world, being alive, remembering yourself and recognizing the whole world that surrounds you."

St. Dorotheos (6th century) summarizes the teaching of the early Fathers in this way:

"For as the Fathers tell us, the souls of the dead remember everything that happened here -- thoughts, words, desires -- and nothing can be forgotten. But, as it says in the Psalm, 'In that day all their thoughts shall perish' (Psalm 145:5).

The thoughts he speaks of are those of this world, about houses and possessions, parents and children, and business transactions. All these things are destroyed immediately when the soul passes out of the body. But what he did against virtue or against his evil passions, he remembers and none of this is lost. In fact, the soul loses nothing that it did in the world but remembers everything at its exit from this body." St. John Cassian (5th century) likewise teaches:

"Souls after the separation from this body are not idle, do not remain without consciousness; this is proved by the Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:22-28). The souls of the dead do not lose their consciousness, they do not even lose their dispositions -- that is, hope and fear, joy and grief, and something of that which they expect for themselves at the Universal Judgment they begin already to foretaste."

But when it leaves the body, the soul finds itself among other spirits, good and bad. Usually it inclines toward those which are more akin to it in spirit, and if while in the body it was under the influence of certain ones, it will remain in dependence upon them when it leaves the body, however unpleasant they may turn out to be upon encountering them. [2]

[2] He who departs from this world experiences much consolation when he sees friendly people surrounding his dead body. Such a person discerns in his beloved friends' tears of pain their love and sincere dedication. The greatest earthly joy is undoubtedly the realization that we die honored and appreciated by all who knew us. But just as at the hour of death the dead body is surrounded by relatives and friends, so also is the soul, which abandons the body and is directed towards its heavenly homeland, accompanied by the spiritual beings related to it. The virtuous soul is surrounded by bright angels of light, while the sinful soul is surrounded by dark and evil beings, that is, the demons. St. Basil The Great (4th century) explains it this way:

"Let no one deceive you with empty words; for destruction will come suddenly upon you; it will come like a storm. A grim angel (i.e., a demon) will come to take and drag violently the soul that has been tied to sins; and your soul will turn toward here and will suffer silently, having already been excluded from the organ of mourning (the body). O how you will be troubled at the hour of death for yourself! How you will sigh!"

St. Macarius Of Egypt writes of this:

"When you hear that there are rivers of dragons and mouths of lions (cf. Heb 11:33, Ps 22:21) and dark powers under the sky and burning fire (Jer 20:9) that crackles in the members of the body, you must know this: unless you receive the earnest of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5), at the hour when your soul is separated from the body, the evil demons hold fast to your soul and do not suffer you to rise up to heaven."

This same Father also teaches us:

"When the soul abandons the body a certain great mystery is enacted. If the deceased has departed unrepentant, a host of demons and rejected angels and dark powers receive that soul and keep it with them. The completely opposite happens with those who have repented: for near the holy servants of God there are now angels and good spirits standing by, surrounding and protecting them, and when they depart from the body, the choir of angels receive their souls to themselves, to the pure aeon."

The champion of Orthodoxy against the Nestorian heresy, St. Cyril Of Alexandria likewise teaches:

"When the soul is separated from the body it sees the fearful, wild, merciless and fierce demons standing by. The soul of the righteous is taken by the holy angels, passed through the air and is raised up."

St. Gregory The Dialogist writes:

"One must reflect deeply on how frightful the hour of death will be for us, what terror the soul will then experience, what remembrance of all the evils, what forgetfulness of past happiness, what fear, and what apprehension of the Judge. Then the evil spirits will seek out in the departing soul its deeds; then they will present before its view the sins towards which they had disposed it, so as to draw their accomplice to torment. But why do we speak only of the sinful soul, when they come even to the chosen among the dying and seek out their own in them, if they have succeeded with them? Among men there was only One Who before His suffering fearlessly said: 'Hereafter I talk not much with you: For the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me (John 14:30)."

This truth is confirmed by various liturgical services. For example, in Small Compline we ask THE MOTHER OF GOD to "be merciful to me not only in this miserable life, but also at the time of my death; take care of my miserable soul and banish far from it the dark and sinister faces of the evil demons." In a prayer of the Midnight Service of Saturday (addressed to THE SAVIOUR) we pray:

"Master, be merciful to me and let not my soul see the dark and gloomy sight of the evil spirits, but let bright and joyous angels receive it."

Again, in another hymn to THE THEOTOKOS (from the Monday Matins service) we pray:

"At the fearful hour of death free us from the horrible decision of the demons seeking to condemn us." Similar prayers, addressed to the Lord and to the Holy Angels, are found throughout the service for the Repose of the Dying.

For the course of two days the soul enjoys relative freedom and can visit places on earth which were dear to it, but on the third day it moves into other spheres. [3] At this time (the third day), it passes through legions of evil spirits which obstruct its path and accuse it of various sins, to which they themselves had tempted it.

[3] Here, St. John is simply repeating a teaching common to the Church. St. Macarius Of Alexandria (having received the teaching not from men but from an angel) explains:

"When an offering (i.e., the Eucharist) is made in Church on the third day, the soul of the departed receives from its guardian angel relief from the sorrow it feels as a result of the separation from the body. In the course of two days the soul is permitted to roam the earth, wherever it wills, in the company of the angels that are with it. Therefore, the soul loving the body, sometimes wanders about the house in which its body has been laid out, and thus spends two days like a bird seeking its nest. But the virtuous soul goes about those places in which it was wont to do good deeds. On the third day, He Who Himself rose from the dead on the third day, commands the Christian soul, in imitation of His Resurrection, to ascend to the Heavens to worship the God of all."

St. John Of Damascus vividly describes the state of the soul, parted from the body but still on earth, helpless to contact the loved ones whom it can see, in the Orthodox Funeral Service:

"Woe is me! What manner of ordeal doth the soul endure when it is parted from the body! Alas! How many then are its tears, and there is none to show compassion! It raiseth its eyes to the angels; all unavailing is its prayer. It stretcheth out its hands to men, and findeth none to succor. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, meditating on the brevity of our life, let us beseech of Christ rest for him who hath departed hence, and for our souls great mercy."

St. Theophan, in writing to the brother of a dying woman, says:

"Your sister will not die; the body dies, but the personality of the dying one remains. It only goes over to another order of life. It is not she whom they will put in the grave. She is in another place. She will be just as alive as you are now. In the first hours and days she will be around you. Only she will not say anything, and you won't be able to see her; but she will be right here. Have this in mind."

According to various revelations there are twenty such obstacles, the so-called "toll-houses", at each of which one or another form of sin is tested; after passing through one the soul comes upon the next one, and only after successfully passing through all of them can the soul continue its path without being immediately cast into gehenna. How terrible these demons and their toll-houses are may be seen in the fact that Mother of God Herself, when informed by the Archangel Gabriel of Her approaching death, answering her prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared from heaven to receive the soul of His Most Pure Mother and conduct it to heaven. Terrible indeed is the third day for the soul of the departed, and for this reason it especially needs prayers then for itself. [4]

[4] There is absolutely no doubt that the teaching of the toll-houses is the teaching of the Orthodox Church. We find this teaching in Holy Scripture (cf. Eph 6:12), the writings of all the Church Fathers (both ancient and modern) and throughout the prayers of the Church. St. ATHANASIUS THE GREAT, in his famous life of St. Antony, describes the following:

"At the approach of the ninth hour, after beginning to pray before eating food, Antony was suddenly seized by the Spirit and raised up by angels into the heights. The aerial demons opposed his progress: the angels disputing with them, demanded that the reason of their opposition be set forth, because Antony had no sins at all. The demons strove to set forth the sins committed by him from his very birth; but the angels closed the mouths of the slanderers, telling them that they should not count the sins from his birth which had already been blotted out by the grace of Christ; but let them present -- if they have any -- the sins he committed after he entered monasticism and dedicated himself to God. In their accusation the demons uttered many brazen lies; but since their slanders were wanting in proof, a free path opened for Antony. Immediately he came to himself and saw that he was standing in the same place where he had stood for prayer. Forgetting about food, he spent the night in prayer with tears and groanings, reflecting on the multitude of man's enemies, on the battle against such an army, on the difficultly of the path to heaven through the air, and on the words of the Apostle who said: 'Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of the air' (Eph 6:12; Eph 2:2). The Apostle, knowing that the aerial powers are seeking only one thing, are concerned over it with all fervor, exert themselves and strive to deprive us of a free passage to heaven, exhorts: 'Take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day (Eph 6:13), that the adversary may be put to shame, having no evil thing to say of us (Tit 2:8)."

St. John Chrysostom, describing the hour of death, teaches:

"Then we will need many prayers, many helpers, many good deeds, a great intercession from angels on the journey through the spaces of the air. If when traveling in a foreign land or a strange city we are in need of a guide, how much more necessary for us are guides and helpers to guide us past the invisible dignities and powers and world-rulers of this air, who are called persecutors and publicans and tax-collectors."

St. Isaiah The Recluse (6th century) teaches that Christians should

"daily have death before our eyes and take care how to accomplish the departure from the body and how to pass by the powers of darkness who are to meet us in the air."

St. Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem (5th century) teaches:

"The hour of death will find us, it will come, and it will be impossible to escape it. Oh, if only the prince of the world and the air who is then to meet us might find our iniquities as nothing and insignificant and might not be able to accuse us justly."

St. EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN (4th century) thus describes the hour of death and the hour of judgment at the toll-houses:

"When the fearful hour comes, when the divine takers-away command the soul to be translated from the body, when they draw us away by force and lead us away to the unavoidable judgment place -- then, seeing them, the poor man comes all into a shaking as if from an earthquake, is all in trembling. The divine takers-away, taking the soul, ascend in the air where stand the chiefs, the authorities and world-rulers of the opposing powers. These are our accusers, the fearful publicans, registrars, tax-collectors; they meet it on the way, register, examine and count all the sins and debts of this man -- the sins of youth and old age, voluntary and involuntary, committed in deed, word and thought. Great is the fear here, great the trembling of the poor soul, indescribable the want which it suffers then from the incalculable multitudes of its enemies surrounding it there in myriads, slandering it so as not to allow it to ascend to heaven, to dwell in the light of the living, to enter the land of life. But the holy angels, taking the soul, lead it away."

St Cyril of Alexandria explains this further:

"As the soul ascends, it finds tax officials guarding the ascent, holding and preventing the souls from ascending. Each one of these custom stations presents its own particular sins of the souls. But, by the same token, the good angels do not abandon the soul to these evil stations. At the time of its accounting the angels offer in turn the soul's good works. In fact, the holy angelic powers enumerate to the evil spirits the good acts of the soul that were done by word, deed, thought and imagination. If the soul is found to have lived piously and in a way pleasing to God, it is received by the holy angels and transferred to that ineffable joy of the blessed and eternal life. But, if it is found to have lived carelessly and prodigally, it hears the most harsh word: 'Let the ungodly be taken away, that he not see the glory of the Lord' (Isa 26:10). Then the holy angels with profound regret abandon the soul and it is received by those dark demons so that may fling it with much malevolence into the prisons of Hades."

An early Church catchiest, referring to custom officials who collected taxes, relays to us the common Church teaching:

"I know of other tax collectors who after our departure from this present life inspect us and hold us to see if we have something that belongs to them." The same catchiest goes on to say: "I wonder how much we must suffer at the hands of those evil angels, who inspect everything and who, when someone is found unrepentant, demand not only the payment of taxes simply, but also seize and hold us completely captive" (Origen). This view is upheld by our great Father, St. Basil. Speaking about the courageous athletes of the faith, he teaches that they too will be scrutinized by the "revenue officials," that is, by the evil spirits. The same Father also says that the evil spirits observe the departure of the soul with so much more vigilant attention than do enemies over a besieged city or thieves over a treasury house. St. John Chrysostom likewise calls demons "revenue officials" who threaten us and who are "overbearing powers with a fearful countenance that horrifies the soul that looks upon them." In another place St. John says that these evil spirits are called "persecutors and revenue officials and collectors of taxes in the Sacred Scripture." According to St. John, even the souls of innocent infants must pass through these toll-houses, for the all-evil devil seeks to snatch their souls, too. However, the infants make the following confession (according to St. John): "We have passed by the evil spirits without suffering any harm. For the dark custom officials saw our spotless body and were put to shame; they saw the soul good and pure and were embarrassed; they say the tongue immaculate and pure and blameless and they were silenced; we passed by and humiliated them. This is why the holy angles of God who met and received us rejoiced, the righteous greeted us with joy and the saints with delight said, 'Welcome, the lambs of Christ!'"

Probably the clearest and most comprehensive account of the toll-houses is that given by an angel of the Lord to St. Macarius Of Egypt:

"From the earth to heaven there is a ladder and a each rung has a cohort of demons. These are called toll-houses and the evil spirits meet the soul and bring its handwritten accounts and show these to the angels, saying: on this day and such and such of the month this soul did that: either it stole or fornicated or committed adultery or engaged in sodomy or lied or encouraged someone to an evil deed. And everything else evil which it has done, they show to the angels. The angels then show whatever good the soul has done, charity or prayer or liturgies or fasting or anything else. And the angels and the demons reckon up, and if they find the good greater than the evil, the angels seize the soul and take it up the next rung, while the demons gnash their teeth like wild dogs and make haste the snatch that pitiable soul from the hands of the Angels. The soul, meanwhile, cowers and terror encompasses it, and it makes as if to hide in the bosom of the Angels and there is a great discussion and must turmoil until that soul is delivered from the hands of the demons. And they come again to another rung and there find another toll-house, fiercer and more horrible. And in this too, there is much uproar and great and indescribable turbulence as to who shall take that wretched soul. And shouting out aloud, the demons examine the soul, causing terror and saying: 'Where are you going? Aren't you the one who fornicated and thoroughly polluted Holy Baptism? Aren't you the one who polluted the angelic habit? Get back. Get down. Get yourself to dark Hell. Get yourself to the outer fire. Get going to that worm that never sleeps.' Then if it be that that soul is condemned, the demons bear it off to below the earth, to a dark and distressing spot. And woe to that soul in which that person was born. And who shall tell, holy Father, the straits in which the condemned souls will find themselves in that place! But if the soul is found clean and sinless, it goes up the Heaven with such joy."

Descriptions of the aerial toll-houses may also be found in the following Saints' lives:

St. EUSTRATIUS THE GREAT MARTYR (4th century)

St. NIPHON OF CONSTANTIA in Cyprus (4th century)

St. SYMEON THE FOOL FOR CHRIST (6th century)

St. JOHN THE MERCIFUL (7th century)

St SYMEON OF THE WONDROUS MOUNTAIN (7th century)

St. MACARIUS THE GREAT (4th century)

St. COLUMBA (6th century)

St. ADAMNAN (8th century)

St. BONIFACE (8th century)

St. BASIL THE NEW (10th century)

The Soldier TAXIOTES

St. JOHN OF THE LADDER (6th century)

This very ancient teaching of the early Church Fathers and ascetic Saints is confirmed by the experience and teaching of saints more modern. St. Seraphim Of Sarov relates:

"Two nuns passed on. Both had been abbesses. The Lord revealed to me that their souls were having difficulty getting through the aerial toll-houses. Three days and nights, I, a lowly sinner, prayed and begged the Mother Of God for their salvation. The goodness of the Lord, through the prayers of the Most Holy Mother Of God, finally had mercy upon them. They passed the aerial toll-houses and received forgiveness of sins."

Likewise, St. Theophan The Recluse writes:

"No matter how absurd the idea of the toll-houses may seem to our 'wise men,' they will not escape passing through them. What do these toll-gatherers seek in those who pass through? They seek whether people might have some of their goods. What kind of goods? Passions. Therefore, in the person whose heart is pure and a stranger to passion, they cannot find anything to wrangle over; on the contrary, the opposing quality will strike them like arrows of lightning. To this someone who has a little education expressed the following thought: The toll-houses are something frightful. But it is quite possible that the demons, instead of something frightful, might present something seductive. They might present something deceptive and seductive, according to the kinds of passions, to the soul as it passes through one after the other. When, during the course of life, the passions have been banished from the heart and the virtues opposed to them have been planted, then no matter what seductive thing you might present, the soul, having no kind of sympathy for it, passes by it, turning away from it with disgust. But when the heart has not been cleansed, the soul will rush to whatever passion the heart has most sympathy for; and the demons will take it like a friend, and then they know where to put it. Therefore, it is very doubtful that a soul, as long as there remain in it sympathies for the objects of any passion, will not be put to shame at the toll-houses. Being put to shame here means that the soul itself is thrown into hell."

In another place, St. Theophan (continuing his letter to the brother of the woman who was about to die) writes:

"In the departed there soon begins the struggle of going through the toll-houses. Here she needs help! Stand then in thought, and you will hear her cry to you: Help! This is where you should direct all your attention and all your love for her. Immerse yourself in prayer for her in her new condition and her new, unexpected needs. Having begun thus, remain in unceasing crying out to God to help her, for the course of six weeks, and indeed for longer than that. In the account of Theodora, the bag from which the angels took in order to be separated from the tax-collectors was the prayers of her elder. Your prayers will do the same; do not forget to do this. This is love!"

Significantly, all of this testimony is confirmed by the liturgical prayers of the Church. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov cites over 20 examples of references to the Toll-houses in the Divine service books and this is not a complete list!

Then, having successfully passed through the toll-houses and bowed down before God, the soul for the course of 37 more days visits the heavenly habitations and the abysses of hell, not knowing yet where it will remain, and only on the fortieth day is its place appointed until the resurrection of the dead. [5] Some souls find themselves (after the forty days) in a condition of foretasting eternal joy and blessedness, and others in fear of the eternal torments which will come in full after the Last Judgment. Until then changes are possible in the condition of souls, especially through offering for them the Bloodless Sacrifice (commemoration at the Liturgy), and likewise by other prayers. [6]

[5] According to the revelation of the angel to St. Macarius, the Church's special commemoration of the departed on the 9th day after death (apart from the general significance of the ranks of angels) occurs because up to then the soul is shown the beauties of Paradise, and only after this, for the remainder of the forty days, is sown the torments and horrors of hell, before being assigned on the fortieth day to the place where it will await the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. [6] The Church's teaching on the state of souls in heaven and hell before the Last Judgment is set forth in its clearest fashion by St. MARK Of Ephesus in his dialogue with the Roman Catholics over the Roman doctrine of Purgatory (which the Orthodox reject as false). It is an extensive collection of writings, and much of it is beyond the focus of this limited study. The following should suffice, however, to illustrate the Orthodoxy of St. John Maximovitch's words:

"Those reposed in faith are without doubt helped by the Liturgies and prayers and almsgiving performed for them, and that this custom has been in force from antiquity, there is the testimony of many and various utterances of the Teachers, both Latin and Greek, spoken and written at various times and in various places. But that souls are delivered thanks to a certain purgatorial suffering and temporal fire which possesses such (a purgatorial) power and has the character of a help -- this we do not find in either Scripture or in the prayers and hymns for the dead, or in the words of the Teachers. But we have received that even the souls which are held in hell and are already given over to eternal torments, whether in actual fact and experience or in hopeless expectation of such, although not in the sense of completely loosing them from torment or giving hope for final deliverance. And this is shown by the words of the great Macarius the Egyptian ascetic who, finding a skull in the desert, was instructed by it concerning this by the action of Divine Power. And BASIL The Great, in the prayers read at Pentecost, writes literally the following: 'Who also, on this all-perfect and saving feast, are graciously pleased to accept propitiatory prayers for those who are imprisoned in hell, granting us a great hope of improvement for those who are imprisoned from the defilements which have imprisoned them, and that Thou wilt send down Thy consolation' (Third Kneeling Prayer at Vespers). But if souls have departed this life in faith and love, while nevertheless carrying with themselves certain faults, whether small ones over which they have not repented at all, or great ones for which -- even though have repented over them -- they did not undertake to show fruits of repentance: such souls, we believe, must be cleansed from this kind of sins, but not by means of some purgatorial fire or a definitive punishment in some place (for this, as we have said, has not at all been handed down to us). But some must be cleansed in the very departure from the body (as St. Gregory The Dialogist literally shows); while others must be cleansed after the departure from the body, before they come to worship God and are honored with the lot of the blessed, or -- if their sins were more serious and bind them for a longer duration -- they are kept in hell, but not in order to remain forever in fire and torment, but as it were in prison and confinement under guard. All such ones, we affirm, are helped by the prayers and Liturgies performed for them, with the cooperation of the Divine Goodness and Love for mankind. And so, we entreat God and believe to deliver the departed (from eternal torment), and not from any other torment or fire apart from those torments and that fire which have been proclaimed to be forever."

St. MARK further explains the state of the departed in this way:

"We affirm that neither the righteous have as yet received the fullness of their lot and that blessed condition for which they have prepared themselves here through works, nor have sinners, after death, been led away into the eternal punishment in which they shall be tormented eternally. Rather, both the one and the other must necessarily take place after the Judgment of that last day and the resurrection of all. Now, however, both the one and the other are in places proper to them: the first, in absolute repose and free, are in heaven with the angels and before God Himself, and already as if in Paradise from which Adam fell and often visit us in those temples where they are venerated, and hear those who call on them and pray for them to God, having received from Him this surpassing gift, and through their relics perform miracles and take delight in the vision of God and the illumination sent from Him more perfectly and purely than before, when they were alive; while the second, in their turn, being confined to hell, remain in 'the lowest pit, in darkness and in the shadow of death' (Ps 87:7), as David says, and then Job: 'to the land where the light is darkness' (Job 10:21-22). And the first remain in every joy and rejoicing, already expecting and only not having in their hands the Kingdom and the unutterable good things promised them; and the second, on the contrary, remain in all confinement and inconsolable suffering, like condemned men awaiting the Judge's sentence and foreseeing the torments. Neither have the first yet received the inheritance of the Kingdom and those good things 'which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man' (1 Cor 2:9); nor have the second part yet been given over to eternal torments nor to burning in the unquenchable fire. And this teaching we have as handed down from our Fathers in antiquity and we can easily present it from the Divine Scriptures themselves."

St. GREGORY THE GREAT, in answering the question, "Is there anything at all that can possibly benefit souls after death?" teaches:

"The Holy Sacrifice of Christ, our saving Victim, brings great benefits to souls even after death, provided their sins (are such as) can be pardoned in the life to come. For this reason the souls of the dead sometimes beg to have Liturgies offered for them. The safer course, naturally, is to do for ourselves what we hope others will do for us after death. It is better to make one's exit a free man than to seek liberty after one is in chains. We should, therefore, despise the world with all our hearts as though its glory were already spent, and offer our sacrifice of tears to God each day as we immolate His sacred Flesh and Blood. This Sacrifice alone has the power of saving the soul from eternal death, for it presents to us mystically the death of the Only-begotten Son."

Many incidents from the Lives of Orthodox saints and ascetics confirm this teaching.

How important commemoration at the Liturgy is may be seen in the following occurrence: Before the uncovering of the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov [7], the priest-monk (the renowned Starets Alexis of Goloseyevsky Hermitage, of the Kiev-Caves Lavra, who died in 1916) who was conducting the re-vesting of the relics, becoming weary while sitting by the relics, dozed off and saw before him the Saint, who told him: "I thank you for laboring with me. I beg you also, when you will serve the Liturgy, to commemorate my parents" -- and he gave their names (Priest Nikita and Maria). "How can you, O Saint, ask my prayers, when you yourself stand at the heavenly Throne and grant to people God's mercy?" the priest-monk asked. "Yes, that is true," replied St. Theodosius, "but the offering at the Liturgy is more powerful than my prayer."

[7] The Apostolic Constitutions (1st/2nd century) teach that Memorials for the dead be served with "psalms and readings and prayers" on the third day after the death of our beloved one, on account of the Lord Jesus "who rose after three days." They prescribe Memorials on the ninth day "as a reminder of the living and the dead," as well as "on the fortieth day after death according to ancient practice." This is how the people of Israel mourned for the great Moses. In addition to these we must have annual Memorials in remembrance of the deceased. This teaching is also given by St. Isidoros Of Pelusium, St. Symeon The New Theolgian and St. Gregory The Theologian. In addition to these Memorials, our holy Church has ordained that the Sabbath (Saturday) be a day of commemoration of the Holy Martyrs and of all the deceased. For the Sabbath, as the seventh day from the beginning of creation, is the day which saw bodily death, imposed upon man by the righteous God. This day is continued, in as much as the death of man is also continued at the same time, Sunday, however, is the "day of the Resurrection, the eighth day, which symbolizes the anticipated age of eternity, the resurrection of the dead and the endless kingdom of God." Our Mother Church has also ordained common Memorials twice a year: on the Saturday before Meatfare Sunday and on the Saturday before the great feast of Holy Pentecost. St. John Of Damascus adds: "the Apostles who speak for God and the spirit-bearing Fathers have decreed this with inspiration and in a manner pleasing to God."

Therefore, panikhidas (i.e., Trisagion Prayers for the Dead) and prayer at home for the dead are beneficial to them, as are good deeds done in their memory, such as alms or contributions to the church. But especially beneficial for them is commemoration at the Divine Liturgy. There have been many appearances of the dead and other occurrences which confirm how beneficial is the commemoration of the dead. Many who died in repentance, but who were unable to manifest this while they were alive, have been freed from tortures and have obtained repose. In the Church prayers are ever offered for the repose of the dead, and on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, in the kneeling prayers at vespers, there is even a special petition "for those in hell."
Every one of us who desires to manifest his love for the dead and give them real help, can do this best of all through prayer for them, and particularly by commemorating them at the Liturgy, when the particles which are cut out for the living and the dead are let fall into the Blood of the Lord with the words: "Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those here commemorated by Thy Precious Blood and by the prayers of Thy saints."
We can do nothing better or greater for the dead than to pray for them, offering commemoration for them at the Liturgy. Of this they are always in need, and especially during those forty days when the soul of the deceased is proceeding on its path to the eternal habitations. The body feels nothing then: it does not see its close ones who have assembled, does not smell the fragrance of the flowers, does not hear the funeral orations. But the soul senses the prayers offered for it and is grateful to those who make them and is spiritually close to them.
O relatives and close ones of the dead! Do for them what is needful for them and within your power. Use your money not for outward adornment of the coffin and grave, but in order to help those in need, in memory of your close ones who have died, for churches, where prayers for them are offered. Show mercy to the dead, take care of their souls. [8]
Before us all stands the same path, and how we shall then wish that we would be remembered in prayer! Let us therefore be ourselves merciful to the dead.
As soon as someone has reposed, immediately call or inform a priest, so he can read the Prayers appointed to be read over all Orthodox Christians after death.
Try, if it be possible, to have the funeral in Church and to have the Psalter read over the deceased until the funeral.
Most definitely arrange at once for the serving of the forty-day memorial, that is, daily commemoration at the Liturgy for the course of forty days. (NOTE: If the funeral is in a church where there are no daily services, the relatives should take care to order the forty-day memorial wherever there are daily services.) It is likewise good to send contributions for commemoration to monasteries, as well as to Jerusalem, where there is constant prayer at the holy places.
Let us take care for those who have departed into the other world before us, in order to do for them all that we can, remembering that "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 

Life After Death
by St. John Maximovitch
A description of the first 40 days after death

Lack of faith vs.God’s Providence

 Saint John (Maximovich) of Tobolsk

None of our own attempts and efforts can save us without the help of God, but neither can God’s help be beneficial to us without our own wish for it. No other subject was brought up by the Lord to His disciples so frequently as lack of faith. He warned everyone against lack of faith not only by His words, but also by the multitude of events which amazingly proved the power of faith and the powerlessness of mistrust or doubt in God’s protection and salvation from danger. Lack of faith comes in different forms: some people have little faith in God because He does not punish His enemies; others doubt they would be able to entreat God to grant them their desires, especially when their conscience bothers them with the thought that God will not forgive them their sins; still others fear that God will deprive them of all earthly goods and subsistence. This triple manifestation of lack of faith estranges many people from God and immerses them in various forms of perdition.

The source of our lack of faith is our excessive conceit, i.e. when we think more of ourselves than of God, rely more on our own powers than on God’s help. What is the reason for God allowing the destruction of such a great number of people, who are injured or killed through sorcery? It is not surprising: lack of faith has become so widespread among the people that it merits punishment. Many do not look for other doctors except sorcerers (extrasensorists), nor other pharmaceuticals except deviltry. God justly punishes us by the same means that we use to sin against Him. As our faith and hope in God increase, so increase His mercy and benevolence to us. But woe unto us, that there are so few of us who believe in God with all their heart! If we analyze human customs and habits, we will see that in all places and at all times lack of faith becomes prominent and widespread, which gives rise to empty and false fears. People often fear a shortage of food supplies; sometimes they fear that they will lack necessary items during an illness; at times they fall into despair over ever-growing rumors of war. All of this occurs because they have an erroneous and doubtful understanding of God’s benevolence and His omnipotent strength: this is also the cause of our mind’s poor and sad concern over temporal things, as opposed to a concern for achieving a blessed eternal life.

God’s Providence manifests itself with the greatest wisdom: not every transgression is normally punished straightaway; however, neither is it left totally unpunished. If God never punished vileness, many people would think that there is no Providence. On the other hand, if every transgression were immediately followed by punishment, it would then be thought that there is no reward or punishment after death. Therefore God, by punishing only some people, reveals His Providence; by not punishing others directly after their transgressions, He threatens them with punishment directly after death, in the next life, if they do not repent in this life. Everything is done by God with great wisdom and forethought.

In a like manner, all the contradictory manifestations that we come across in our lives, are all wisely directed by God’s Providence; all earthly misfortunes are transformed by God into a benefit and advantage for us; even sinful transgressions are tolerated in order to bring us to our senses, and to achieve our salvation through repentance. For to do good deeds and to tolerate heinous ones is characteristic exclusively of divine Providence, since God would never allow the existence of evil were He not as mighty and good as to produce good consequences from all evil deeds.

God’s Providence is concealed from us, unfathomable to us, but it comprises an all-encompassing order for ruling the world rationally and justly. We are usually quite observant of the external order of universal and particular events; however, the wondrous and wise Providence of God, which activates the cosmic mechanism and preserves and directs its activity, is hidden from us, and we cannot see it. It is for this reason that many people, seeing a contradiction – from a human point of view – in the well-being of bad persons and the tribulations of good ones, assert that God’s Providence does not exist, but that everything occurs through man’s will and reason, or through blind luck or misfortune. However, all these things are seen and understood quite differently by those who believe in the great wisdom of God and in His Providence, which directs everything to the good. If, seeing how God-fearing people are often humiliated and insulted, while heinous scoundrels prosper, we think that Providence is sleeping, this is because we are looking upon only one side of God’s Providence, while the other side is hidden from us because of our narrow viewpoint, which is unable to extend itself to fully encompass God’s destinies. Only in the second coming of Christ will we learn of God’s just judgment of everyone and everything.

Saint John (Maximovich) of Tobolsk

 The Decisive Hour

 Our constant mistake lies in the fact that we do not treat the current, passing hour of our life seriously, that we live either in the past or in the future, that we keep expecting the arrival of some unique hour, when our life will unfold in all its significance, and we do not notice that our life is slipping away like water between fingers, like precious gain from a poorly tied bag.

Constantly, daily, hourly God sends us people, circumstances, affairs from which our renewal should begin, while we disregard them and thus continuously resist God’s will concerning us. In fact, how can God help us? – Only by sending us certain people and certain confluences of circumstances in our daily lives. If we were to accept each hour of our life as the hour of God’s will concerning us, as the decisive, most important hour of our life – what hitherto hidden sources of joy, love, and strength would be revealed within our souls!

Priest Alexander Elchaninov

Saint John Maximovich-On The Importance of Commemorating The Departed

Saint John Maximovich

 I Look for the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Life of the Age to Come

Our grief for our loved ones who have died should be inconsolable and boundless, had the Lord not given us eternal life. Our life would be senseless if it ended in death. What benefit would there be from virtue, or from good deeds? Then they would be right who say, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:32). But man is created for immortality, and Christ by His Resurrection threw open the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal blessedness to those who believe in Him and live righteously. Our earthly life is preparation for the future, and our death is the end of that preparation. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Heb. 9:27).

Then, a person leaves all his earthly cares and the body decays, in order to rise again at the general resurrection. But his soul continues to live, and does not cease its existence for a moment. The many dead who have appeared to us allow us to know to some extent what happens to the soul when it leaves the body. When it ceases to see with its earthly eyes, its spiritual sight opens up. This often happens to the dying even before the end, and they see what others do not see, while still seeing those around them and even talking with them. Coming out of the body, the soul finds itself amongst other spirits, both good and evil. Usually it goes toward those who are closer to it in spirit, but if it was under the influence of others while it was in the body, it will remain dependent upon them when it leaves the body, however unpleasant that meeting may be.

For two days the soul is relatively free and it can visit its favorite places on the earth, but on the third day it departs for other spaces. In this process it passes through the hordes of evil spirits who block its path and accuse it of various sins—sins that they tempted the person to commit. According to certain revelations, there are twelve such obstacles, the so-called “tollhouses,” and one or another kind of sin is examined at each tollhouse. Having gone through one, the soul goes on to the next; only after having passed through them all can the soul continue on its path, and not be cast forthwith into Gehenna. These demons and their tollhouses are so horrifying that when the Mother of God herself was informed by the Archangel Gabriel of her coming death, she prayed to her Son to deliver her from those demons. Fulfilling her prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared from Heaven to receive the soul of His Most Pure Mother and carry it to Heaven. The third day is dreadful for the soul of the reposed, and therefore the soul especially needs prayers then. After successfully passing through the tollhouses and bowing down before God, the soul over the next thirty-seven days visits the Heavenly Habitations and the abysses of hell, not yet knowing where it will end up, and only on the fortieth day is its place appointed until the resurrection of the dead. Some souls will be in a state foretasting eternal joy and blessedness, while others will be in fear of eternal torments that will come in full after the Last Judgment. Until then the souls’ condition can change, especially through the Bloodless Sacrifice (commemoration at the Liturgy), and through other prayers.

That the commemoration at the Liturgy is so important can be seen in the following event. At the opening of the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), the priest who was re-vesting the relics grew tired, and sitting down near the relics, dozed off. He saw before him the saint, who said to him, “I thank you for laboring for me. I ask you also to commemorate my parents when you serve the Liturgy,” and he said their names (Priest Nikita and Maria). The priest asked him, “How can you, a saint, ask me for prayers, when you yourself are standing before the heavenly Throne, granting God’s mercy to people?!” “Yes, that is true,” replied St. Theodosius, “but the sacrifice at the Liturgy is more powerful than my prayers.”

Thus, pannikhidas (requiems) and prayers at home for the reposed are beneficial, as are good deeds done in their name—for example alms or donations to the church, but commemoration at the Liturgy is especially helpful. There have been many appearances of the reposed and other occurrences that confirm how beneficent it is to commemorate the reposed. Many who have confessed before death but did not have a chance to manifest their repentance during life have been freed from torments and received rest. Prayers are always said in church for the eternal rest of the reposed, and even on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), during the “kneeling prayers” at Vespers, there is a special prayer “for those held captive in hell.” Each one of us who wishes to show his love for the dead and give them true help can best do this by praying for them, and especially by having them commemorated at the Liturgy. They need this always, but particularly during those forty days in which the soul makes its way to the Eternal Habitations. Then, the body feels nothing, it does not see its gathered loved ones, does not smell the fragrance of the flowers, does not hear the eulogies. But the soul feels the prayers made for it, and is thankful to those who make them and spiritually abide near it.

Relatives and friends of the reposed! Do for them what they need, and what is within your power! Spend money not on the outer adornment of the coffin and grave, but on help to the needy in memory of your reposed loved one, and donate to the church where prayers are made for him. Show mercy towards the reposed, take care for his soul. All of us must make that journey. How we will wish then that people would pray for us! So let us also be merciful towards the reposed. As soon as someone dies, call or send a message without delay to ask a priest to read the “Prayers at the departure of the soul,” which are to be read over every Orthodox Christian just after the moment of their death. If possible, try to have the funeral service in a church, and have the Psalter read over the body of the reposed up to the commencement of the funeral. The funeral service can be without pomp, but must be served in full, without any abbreviating; do not think about yourself and your own comfort, but about the reposed one with whom you are parting forever. If there are several reposed ones in the church, do not demand that the funerals be served separately. It is better that two or more be included in one funeral service than to have them served in turn, and the services be shortened due to lack of time; for every word of prayer for the reposed is like a drop of water to the thirsty. Take care without fail to request a forty-days Liturgy—that is, the daily commemoration for the next forty days at the Liturgy. In a church where the Liturgy is served daily, the reposed who have had their funerals there will usually be commemorated for forty days or more. If the funeral was served in a church where there is no daily service, the loved ones should order a forty-days Liturgy in a place where there are daily services. It is also good to send prayer requests to the monasteries in Jerusalem, where prayers are continually made at holy sites. But the forty-days Liturgy should begin immediately after death, when the soul especially needs prayerful help, and therefore the forty-days commemoration should begin in the nearest place where there are daily services.

We shall take care for those who have departed before us to the other world, and to do everything we can, remembering that Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Mt. 5:7).

From May the Russian Land be Renewed,
Moscow: Sretensky Monastery, 2006

St. John of Shanghai
Translated by Nun Cornelia (Rees)

20 / 02 / 2012

St. John of Tobolsk- On Divine Providence

Saint John Maximovich(Met.Of Tobolsk)

Divine Providence

There is nothing random in the world

 

 

What is Providence? It is one of the basic characteristics of God – to see all that is going on, was going on, and will be going on in the future as though it is the present, and to have omnipotent concern for safeguarding all creation and wisely managing all its manifestations. St. John Damascene describes it thus: “Providence is Divine will which maintains everything and wisely rules over everything.”

If we examine any kind of events and manifestations without looking into their causes and consequences, then many things may seem random to us. If, however, we look at them from a true point of view, i.e. if we judge the things happening in the world from the viewpoint of Divine intelligence, then we will see that there is nothing in the world that occurs randomly, that occurs without the will and the Providence of God. God’s mind is infinite and encompasses everything that we can fathom. The Almighty God penetrates and sees all places in a single moment: the height of the heavens, and the width of the earth, the depth of the sea and the unfathomable abyss.

In all matters of Divine rule His Providence and His care shine forth wondrously, not only directing all creatures by dint of His might, but being inherent in them and essential to them. We, being blind, think that many things in the world happen blindly by chance, whereas everything without exception occurs according to God’s pre-eternal counsel, according to His will and Providence.

The blessed Augustine justly said: “Everything that we, without understanding the matter, believe to occur randomly, chaotically, and without God’s direction, does, on the contrary, take place according to God’s will.” Let us explain this by means of an example: a master sends two of his servants to the same place, but along different routes and without telling either of them of the other. Their meeting at that place is accidental as far as the servants are concerned, for they were not expecting to meet each other, but is not accidental in regard to the master. In like manner a beggar finds a hidden trove (buried treasure or money) accidentally, but for God, Who wished the treasure to be buried there for the beggar to find it and become enriched, this is not an accidental occurrence, but God’s fatherly Providence, providing for the poor man. For God there are no accidental occurrences.

Often we are deceived in calling accidental certain events in which God’s supreme Wisdom and Providence are revealed. It was not by chance that robbers out of fear threw the body of a person they had killed into the tomb of the prophet Elisha, where the dead man, upon touching Elisha’s bones, immediately came alive. It was not by chance that Moses was placed in a tar-covered basket and sent down the river, where the Pharaoh’s daughter found him and adopted him. It was not by chance that the iniquitous Israeli King Ahab was struck by an arrow that flew in between the seams of his armor. Truly that arrow was directed by the hand of God, just as was the one which struck Julian the Apostate; only for the soldier who let fly the arrow was it accidental. It was not by chance that swallows flew into the home of Tobit and blinded the righteous man. This happened at God’s command, in order to hold Tobit up as an example to succeeding generations, as we learn from the Angel who accompanied his son Tobias. Nothing happens by chance. It was not by chance that Caesar Augustus ordered the census to be taken in the year of Christ’s Nativity. It was not by chance that Christ met with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar and spoke with her. All this was foreseen and written down in the books of Divine Providence before the beginning of time.

Often God, in His wise concern for us, leads us along barely passable paths of life, but He knows well the path that will bring us to the celestial paradisiacal gardens. Why should we utter complaints against the wisest and most reliable Guide in our life? Each one of us is accompanied by God’s Providence along our path of life, from the day of our birth to the day of our departure for eternal life, as long as we remain loyal to God’s direction, indicated by our Saviour in His holy Gospel.

Speaking of God’s Providence, it is impossible not to recall the story of the Israeli King Saul, who, being sent by his father to find their lost donkeys, found himself a kingdom. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel, to whom God revealed that Saul was the one who should be anointed to rule over the Jewish people. Everything happened according to God’s unfathomable command, as though in the normal course of events: Saul found both the donkeys and a kingdom, of which he had had no thought. How different are God’s fates from human intentions: Saul had no thought of a royal scepter, but by God’s will was placed upon a throne. Thus, it was not by chance that the donkeys became lost, not by chance that Saul was sent to find them, not by chance that for a long time he was unable to find them, and not by chance did he go to the seer Samuel to learn of their whereabouts: all of this took place in accordance with God’s Providence, in order to enthrone Saul as king of Israel.

At the same time the following question arises of its own accord: why did God wish to anoint Saul to the kingdom, if He knew in advance that the latter would subsequently fall into iniquity and end his life wretchedly?

Instead of a direct answer I will offer you my own questions: why did God create His angels in grace, knowing in advance that some of them would offer resistance to God and would be eternally rejected by Him for their sin? Why did God settle Adam in Paradise, knowing that Adam would not live in Paradise for long, but would be expelled from it? Why did Christ add Judas Iscariot to the circle of the apostles, knowing in advance that the latter would become a traitor to Him? What is the reason for such changes in God’s determinations?

The blessed Jerome responds to such questions thusly: “Would you like to learn the reason for such changes? Here it is: God does not judge future deeds, but present ones, and does not condemn anyone by His foreknowledge, although He knows that a good man may subsequently change into an evil one; at the same time, by His mercy he places man in the situation which he deserves at the present time, and thus gives him strength, in the case of a fall, to return to the true path by means of repentance. Adam did not sin because God foresaw his sin, but the reason God foresaw it was because Adam was to sin on the basis of his free will.”

St. Ambrose says the same: “Adam did not sin because he received the commandment, nor did Judas sin because he was chosen to be an apostle, for God did not lay upon them the need: for one to transgress the commandment and for the other to become a traitor. Both of them, had they faithfully held on to their responsibilities, could have abstained from sin. Those of whom God knows that they will subsequently lead a virtuous life, are often evil in the beginning, while those of whom He knows that they will sin, are often initially good. You are presently standing, but beware lest you fall. The holy Apostle Peter fell – and you should be careful; Judas fell, in order to deter you from falling.”

No effort on our part can protect us without God’s help, but by the same token, God’s help without man’s wish (will) will not bring any benefit either, as we see in the examples of Peter and Judas. We should avoid one-sidedness: we should not remain indolent, placing all care upon God, but equally we should not believe that by dint of our own effort, without God’s help or will, we can do good. For God Himself does not do everything, in order not to leave us in idleness, but equally does not allow us to do everything, in order to protect us from pride and vanity. God leads us away from everything that may harm us, but He urges us towards everything that is beneficial for us and helps us attain it.

God’s Providence is revealed with the greatest wisdom: usually not every transgression is punished right away, nor, on the other hand, is it left without any punishment at all. If God did not subject evildoing to punishment, many people would think that there is no Providence. Yet if punishment followed immediately upon the transgression, in that case they would think that there are neither rewards, nor punishment after death. For this reason God, by punishing only some, thus reveals His Providence; and when He does not punish others directly after their transgression, He then threatens them with punishment after death in the eternal life, if they do not repent in this one.

God turns all earthly misfortunes to our benefit and for our good; He allows actual sins in order to attain the most supreme, unfathomable, and mysterious goals of His Divine rule. For both the doing of good deeds and the tolerance of evildoing is a quality belonging exclusively to Divine Providence. Truly God would never have allowed evil, if He were not powerful enough and good enough to produce good consequences from every evil deed. Tell me in conscience: when did a greater or viler evil appear in the world than Adam’s transgression and the killing of Christ the Saviour, the new Adam? – However, the original sin brought God from heaven down to earth, to take upon Himself the human body, while Christ’s death opened up the heavens to us and gave us back all that we had lost through Adam. The supreme God is also the wisest craftsman, turning all evil actions into a reason for creating the best consequences, just as gold is produced from an amorphous lump. The Magdalene’s sins served as cause for the rectification of many; Peter’s fall served as an example of genuine repentance for a countless multitude of people; and Thomas’s disbelief reassured many of the truth of Christ’s resurrection. God did not sow sins, yet reaps from them a rich harvest of virtues. Truly God distills honey out of rock and oil out of granite, when out of the greatest iniquities He produces the most beneficial consequences.

In a similar manner God’s Providence is vigilant over us, and keeps vigil indefatigably, so that even our most minute discomforts do not go unnoticed. Consequently each one of us, whenever we are subjected to physical discomfort, should reason thusly: this illness or other misfortune, whether it came as a result of my carelessness, or through human malice, or from some other cause, – has not in any case occurred without God’s Providence, which has determined it in accordance with my strength, so that its inception and its weight (weakening or intensification) depend on God. The method of treating and healing it likewise depends on God’s Providence, which instructs the physician and indicates the means of treatment, or counteracts it, for all good and bad things, life and death, poverty and wealth, – all come from the Lord. Similarly, in all things that befall us, we must reason that they have been foreseen and allowed by God. If an enemy maligns or curses you – know that all his abuses and words spoken in malice have been placed from eternity upon the scales of God’s Providence: he will say only as much as has been allowed him and not a word more. Why are you opposing him and getting angry in vain? In like manner look upon all your other misfortunes, whose provenance, number, weight, duration, and end have all been foreseen by God. Therefore, subject yourself to God’s Providence, saying: may Thy will be done, my God! All of this has occurred by Thy Providence and tolerance. And since Thou hast allowed this, I would be an iniquitous sinner if I were to rise against Thee in indignation. Thus I remain in obedience to Thy holy will, my God, and gratefully accept all that Thou sendest me, and will endure everything patiently.

The blessed Augustine says: “The sea of life is turbulent, and Thou, Lord, seest evildoers flourishing and good men being oppressed: this raises a tempest within the heart. O Lord God! Does this constitute Thy truth, that evildoers prosper while good men suffer? – And God replies to you: is such your faith? Is this what I had promised you (i.e. a thriving state)? And is this why you are called a Christian, in order to delight in worldly successes?” Let us humble ourselves before God, and let us soothe our hearts with faith in God’s Providence whenever we see the unrighteous dominating, the righteous being persecuted, righteousness being eradicated, and truth being destroyed. None of this would be happening if the Lord did not allow it, and in truth, He would not allow it, if He did not have sufficient reason to believe that it was better to allow than to forbid. You may say that such tolerance gives rise to a multitude of tribulations and the greatest unrest. One may feel sorry for the situation, but within the bounds of reason, for there were justified reasons for God to wish it so, since out of the greatest evil God may produce the most wondrous good, just as easily as slipping a sword out of its sheath.

Do not be surprised, for God’s judgment is mysterious and unfathomable: at Christ’s second coming, at the dread day of judgment, the entire life of every person will appear as in a mirror; also every reason for which God’s Providence produced one or another event, and why, will be totally clarified: for all kingdoms, cities, families, and each individual. Everything will be revealed. It will be revealed how merciful was the Lord to sinners, and each one of them will remain mute; and also the extent to which the image of God’s rule of the world accorded with His glory and truth will also be revealed, and how right and beneficial it had been for all.

Let us not forget that out of every evil God creates some good. What was more sorrowful than the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, together with all mankind? However, God has so reconstituted them, that the current state of a Christian is higher than was Adam’s state in paradise. Christ’s death on the cross was a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness for the Greeks; however, it became the salvation of the entire world, and for all those who were called – an honor, and glory, and attainment of an eternal life of rapture (1 Cor. 1:23).

God’s solicitude for our needs

 

God is the most solicitous caretaker. In His hands He holds all of life’s great and wealthy resources, and only from Him should we ask for them in fervent prayer. The desert-dweller Mark used to say: Whoever has no hope of receiving temporary necessities from God, would have even less hope of receiving from Him that which leads into eternal life. But if God has given us a body, will He not clothe it? Is not life (the soul) superior to victuals and the body to clothes? Just as He granted us life (without any merit on our part, when we did not even yet exist), so undoubtedly will He give us all that is needful for preserving life and nourishing the body. Even more so will He not deny us this, since He Himself, in His supreme goodness, has wished to grant us existence and life. And if He freely and willingly gave us what is most important for us, then He can give, and wishes to give, and always sends us the less important things too. But He will send them on condition that we do not remain idle: for He has created us and placed us on earth for us to cultivate it and maintain it in order, and not for idleness, and for us to place our hope in Him alone, the All-powerful and All-generous One, and not in ourselves.

Christ Himself teaches us, saying: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them” (Matt. 6:26). The same Heavenly Teacher goes on to say: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father’s will. For the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29). This first argument against our lack of faith is presented to us in the form of living creatures who feed themselves without any care, – so that at least from their example we would learn to recognize the omnipotence of God’s Providence – our sole source of tranquility and inner peace.

The second argument comes in the form of wild flowers. Having pointed out God’s Providence in regard to sparrows, the Lord Christ then says: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matt. 6:28-29). And from this Christ draws the following conclusion: “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (6:30). To this our Saviour adds a third point on the futility of our self-concern, saying: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (6:27). Every self-concern of ours that is not joined with hope in God is futile and vain, of which the Lord goes on to say: “If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?” (Luke 12:26). If God does not bless it, our entire effort is in vain, idle, useless. In your every affair and activity place all your hopes in God, and He (without any effort on your part) will arrange everything for the best by His ineffable mercy.

Thus, if the Lord God concerns Himself with satisfying the basic needs of all creatures in general, for He created both the great and the small and takes care of all equally, why are there so many beggars and deprived people everywhere? Brethren, God’s Providence in regard to poor people is truly wondrous. St. John Chrysostom has rightly said of this, that not only the poor have need of the rich, but the rich have even greater need of the poor. Everything that was and is good and God-pleasing in the world has been created through the effort and activity of poor but hard-working and God-fearing people. Being deprived of comfort and money, they worked diligently and did not forget God, but prayed to their Creator and Caretaker, Who was a benefactor to them even in the midst of their need. Many of God’s saints, living in extreme poverty, loved it much more than wealth and were always the recipients of God’s greatest Providence.

In truth, God is so solicitous of people who have entrusted themselves to Him wholeheartedly, that when they are deprived of human help, He sends them His divine help. Although we often receive the same grace from God in our needs and deprivations, there is still much lack of faith among many of us, who fear to lose sufficient and requisite necessities for maintaining our life here. O, how faint-hearted we are! Our Heavenly Father knows of all our needs: do we think that God’s mercy has now dwindled in comparison with former times?

For 60 years St. Paul, the first desert-dweller, was brought half-a-loaf of bread each day by a raven; however, when the saint was visited by St. Anthony the Great, the raven brought a whole loaf. St. John the desert-dweller did not see any people for 14 years, and all this while he subsisted on a doe’s milk. Many hermits had food and clothes from fig trees. In 603 A.D. Judoc, son of the Breton king, renounced his throne, became a monastic, and later became a hermit. On an island surrounded by water he built a church and founded a monastery. He was so generous to the poor that the monastery once remained with only a single loaf of bread for the working brothers, and even that loaf he ordered to be cut into four parts and the first part given to a beggar. This beggar, changing his clothes, came up four times on the same day to ask for charity and thus received all four pieces of the bread, so that there was nothing left for feeding the brothers. Consequently one of them began to grumble and berate his abbot for latter’s extreme generosity. Judoc then comforted him and told him to wait for help from above. A few hours later, four ships sailed up to the monastery, laden with foodstuffs which abundantly fed the starving brothers. The blessed Augustine rightly said: “Do you think that the one who feeds Christ (i.e. the poor) will not himself be fed by Christ?”

The abbot of a certain monastery sent two brothers out on business affairs. When evening came, the two travelers, exhausted by their labors, being hungry and depressed, began to bemoan the fact that they would soon arrive at a poor town, and not knowing anyone there, they would find no respite or sustenance. A certain stranger met them on the way and asked them about their depressed state, and when the monks revealed their sorrow to him, he said: “You have left everything for the sake of God, placing your entire hope in Him, and now you sorrow as though left without any hope! God feeds the cattle – do you think He will let His sons perish from hunger?” Saying thus, the stranger became invisible. When the monks entered the town and prayed in the church, the mayor himself invited them over for supper, they went to his house, and he fed them abundantly. However, such examples do not eradicate our lack of faith; despite everything that God sends us, we fear privation, and if we do not have everything in overabundance, we are greatly saddened.

Here is an example of our lack of belief: it is said about a certain beggar, that having looked into his basket and seeing it full of loaves of bread gathered from many benefactors, he then declared: now I feel myself well provided for. We ourselves are very like this beggar: only then do we feel assured in our hope in God, when our storerooms are full of all kinds of goods that will last us for many years.

St. John, Patriarch of Alexandria, was not like that at all. Having suffered enormous losses after a tempest destroyed thirteen church ships loaded with grain, each ship carrying ten thousand measures of grain, he placed all his hope in God and in Him alone found his greatest comfort. At that time practically half of Alexandria’s citizens suffered similar losses and, moreover, all the seamen and the passengers who were saved from the storm gathered in Alexandria as in a safe haven. To all of them St. John immediately sent a letter of consolation, in which he wrote words of comfort to all: “The Lord gave, and the Lord took away; as the Lord wished, so it came about; blessed be the name of the Lord! Be patient, children, and do not fear anything!” The next day many of the most prominent citizens gathered at St. John’s residence to comfort him in his losses. But he, however, took all the blame upon himself, saying: “God preserved me from a great sin: if this had not happened, I would have prided myself on handing out so much charity to the poor, and I would have had a high opinion of my own generosity; and for this reason the loving Father justly punished the vain son to prevent his growing pride. God mercifully instructs us by allowing us to suffer some traumas, in order for us to come to our senses and quickly turn to Him. But He is the very same God Who existed in Job’s time, just as omnipotent and just as merciful, and He will not abandon us.” With these words the patriarch comforted those who had come to comfort him. And, in truth, very soon the Lord God replenished St. John’s losses a hundredfold, while the latter continued to give out the most abundant charity to the poor. To entertain doubt or disbelief in such cases is the same as to assert that God is either miserly or forgetful; but such opinions belong to the iniquitous and the godless; they should be totally rejected by us.

St. Amateus the desert-dweller was in his own time like a mirror for all those who understand God’s Providence incorrectly, reject it, or blaspheme against it. After having labored in a monastery for thirty years, Amateus went off into the desert, where he lived on a chosen rock in great abstinence. Every three days one of the monastic brothers brought him a loaf of bread and a cup of water – this was his only sustenance. Such abstinence was not pleasing to the devil: and so a raven flew up, overturned the cup of water with his feet, snatched up the loaf of bread in his beak and flew away. Thus the monastic was deprived of 3 days’ worth of sustenance. How did the righteous man take this occurrence? Perhaps he swore at the raven, or uttered blasphemous words at God’s Providence, or began to curse the demon’s wiles? Not at all! It is we who act thusly in such cases, while he, lifting his hands and his mind to heaven, declared: “I thank Thee, my Lord God, that by Thy holy will Thou wast pleased to retain me in a more prolonged period of fasting. I know that this will be of greater advantage to me in the future, for nothing in the world happens without Thy Providence, and not even a single leaf will fall from the tree without it.” Yet we, sinners, think that the destruction of homes by fire, the drowning of ships, the loss of property, and all personal affronts take place while God’s Providence sleeps or does not keep watch, – in other words, we do not believe in God’s Providence. Even the pagans knew better than we do, for the intelligent ones among them reasoned that everything in the world occurs not by the will of man, nor by blind chance. In fact, everything comes from God, according to His just Providence: so why are we full of indignation and often even protest against it?

Countless examples and images bring us to a realization of the omnipotence of God’s Providence. Nevertheless, we have so little hope in this Providence! If our vessels, caskets, chests, and granaries are not overflowing with all kinds of goods, then our spirit fails; but when our bags are full, when our pockets are bulging with money, then we have hope. O, how blind we are! True hope in God is when we, finding ourselves in great penury, deprivation, and poverty, do not fall into despair, but patiently overcome all our tribulations, for the more suffering we endure, the greater glory and crowns are prepared for us. The ancients had a memorable saying: “If only we did what we should, then God would do for us what we want.” Blessed Jerome, explaining this principle, said: “May man be what he is destined to be, and immediately the One Who created everything will send him everything.” Blessed Augustine rightly exclaims: “O, my God! You have so much concern for a single person, as though You had to take care of only him alone: as much for all, as for each one.” And St. Gregory says: “God takes care of each person individually as much as of everyone together, and concerns Himself over everyone as though over a single person.” Thus God’s Providence takes care of thee, brother, just as though He had no other concerns. The great number of people in God’s care neither awes, nor burdens God’s Providence; for Him the care of a single person is the same as the care of countless millions of people. Just as before God took care of Noah and his family, or of the single Adam in paradise, so now God’s Providence takes equal care of all.

All misfortunes and disasters take place by the will of God

 

Everything in the world, even seemingly evil things (except for sin), occurs by the will of God. Theologians explain it in the following manner. The origin of evil is sin. Each sin contains (1) the cause that led to it and (2) its inevitable consequence – correction through punishment. The cause of sin is the deceit and willfulness of the vain sinner, while the punishments (both correction and execution), being the bitter consequences of their cause, occur by the will of God, and are not the cause of sin, but represent its correction or destruction. Thus, if from the concept of sin we eliminate its cause – deceit and willfulness, then there will not be a single one of its bitter or evil consequences that does not occur by the will of God or is displeasing to Him. Just like the sinful misfortunes of an individual, so the earthly, so-called natural, disasters, such as: famine, drought, plagues, etc., which often bear no direct relation to individual sin, occur by the will of God. Therefore, all human disasters and misfortunes positively occur by the will of God for the sake of achieving the righteous goals of God’s Providence; sin alone is contrary to God (just as evil is contrary to good, or deceit is contrary to truth), but is allowed by God in order not to violate the freedom of man’s will.

Many are deceived, believing in their ignorance that only the evil occurring from natural causes, to wit: floods, earthquakes, crop failures, disastrous atmospheric manifestations, epidemics, unexpected death, etc., – occur by the will of God, for often such misfortunes have no direct relation to sins. But evil deeds, occurring from unlawful human designs, from falsehood, such as: offensive words, mockery, insult, deceit, counterfeiting, abductions, theft, murder, etc. – occur, in the view of these people, independently of the will of God and His Providence, but exclusively due to human malice and the depraved human will, which of its own accord causes all manner of evil for its neighbors. However, such views are unworthy of a Christian.

The subject of which we now speak can be best explained by means of an example. A certain person, intending to deprive his neighbor of all of latter’s property, and wishing to fulfill his evil intention secretly, creeps unnoticed into the neighbor’s house, places lighted fuel under the building, and leaves the house just as surreptitiously. Soon afterwards a fire starts; the flames grow, the wind spreads the fire to other buildings; people run from all sides to extinguish the flames and protect adjacent buildings from the fire. The arsonist also runs up together with the other people, as though to put out the fire, but he has a different intent: under cover of the fire alarm, he takes valuables out of the burning building as though to save them, but in reality he steals them for himself and hides them. Although all these actions of the arsonist represent the direct cause of the owner’s bankruptcy and loss of property, but examined by themselves, without any relation to the arsonist’s evil intent, they appear no different from so-called natural disasters. They stem from God: just as God allows thunder to kill a man, or lighting to ignite a house or a growing tree, a hurricane to sweep away a field of haystacks, so does He control the arsonist: the latter can neither enter the house, nor go out of it, nor ignite the fire without God’s allowance. Moreover, the actions themselves are indifferent – neither evil, nor good, because they can lead to evil just as equally as to good, for God could have prevented their being committed if He so wished. However, the Lord did not impede the committal of the evil intent, but allowed it according to His just judgment. The reasons for such allowance will be explained below.

If God is not and cannot be the source of our moral fall (which alone is genuine evil), then it is quite true that all misfortunes occurring from secondary causes, be they rational or irrational, and occurring no matter how, all occur by the will of God, are sent by His mighty hand, at His discretion, and by His Providence. Often God’s judgment uses iniquitous kings and evil princes as His tools for teaching patience to the righteous and chastising the unrighteous for their crimes and misdeeds. Here is an example: through the prophet Isaiah God threatens the depraved Israeli people with destruction and with the devastation of Palestine through the Assyrians, clearly demonstrating that it is not the will of the Assyrian king, but rather His holy will that is being fulfilled by the Assyrians. God punishes the Israelis with the divine instrument of His wrath and indignation at their iniquities and, consequently, attributes this punishment to Himself. We should regard in equal manner all the other righteous chastisements that are allowed by God for our misdeeds. During the siege of Jerusalem, the Roman Emperor Titus, personally walking around the walls and seeing the ditches filled with corpses, sighed heavily, and raising his eyes and hands to heaven, cried out: “Merciful God! This is not my doing!”

We are asked: if it is true that all misfortunes are sent to us by the will of God, then are we not trying to withstand His holy will in vain? Is it not useless for us to take medicines when we are ill? Why should we lead out armed hosts against an attacking enemy? Here is my reply to the inquirers: it is clear that destructive wars and other woes happen not without God’s will, but it does not follow that we should not arm ourselves against the enemy or not try to treat our illnesses, regarding such actions as opposition to the will of God. For example, if we fall prey to some illness, there is no doubt that such was God’s will. However, the sick person does not know God’s intention in regard to the duration of his illness, and for this reason he is not forbidden to use various medicinal means to return to health or at least to ease the illness. And only if the continuous use of many medications does not result in a cure, the sick person may be sure that such is God’s will for him to endure a protracted illness. Similarly, if a fire starts up and cannot be extinguished by the combined efforts of the people and the fire brigade, then it is clear that God’s judgment has decided not only to have the building burned, but to have it burn down completely, in order to test the patience of God’s friends or to punish His enemies. We should look upon all other events in our life in a similar manner.

“Look, beloved brethren, – instructs us the blessed Augustine, – never say: this has been done to me by the devil, or this misfortune befell me through the perfidious enemy, but attribute to God all that happens to you, both good and bad, knowing that the devil cannot do anything to you if the Mighty God, Who has power over life and death, does not allow him to do something to you for your chastisement or rectification. God allows punishment for the iniquitous, who consciously act against their conscience, openly reject truth, etc., while rectification is allowed for sons who have sinned – ‘for the Lord scourgeth every son whom He receiveth’ (Hebrews 12:6). And you, too, should not expect to remain without punishment, unless you wish to be deprived of the heavenly inheritance.”

When King David was escaping from his insubordinate son Absalom, who had rebelled against him, a certain Semeus from the clan of King Saul ran out in front of David and began reviling Him most cruelly for Saul’s death. Seeing such vilification of David, his military commanders wanted to kill Semeus, but the king, who perceived God’s will in this revilement of himself, said to his attendants: “Leave him be, let him abuse me, for the Lord had commanded him to revile David.” Semeus naturally sinned grievously in cursing David, because although God used him as a tool of revilement, He was not the cause of Semeus’ vile will; He only wisely used it to punish David. Thus each one of us should also look upon the attacks and curses of evil people upon us in a manner like unto David, for the merciful God uses their willfulness to either instruct the innocent or chastise the guilty.

In Constantinople the Greek Queen Irene, who had been dethroned by a despicable slave, turned to God with the following words: “I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast put me, Thy unworthy servant, on the royal throne; but since Thou hast also allowed me to be deprived of my throne, I believe it to be in consequence of my sins; may Thy will be done in me! In all bad and good things may the name of the Lord be blessed.” It is true that no one can harm us, except in that in which we harm ourselves. For this reason the blessed Augustine rightly said: “Believe in the Lord God without any reservation and give yourself over to Him completely: then He will not reject you and will not allow any harm to come to you.” Everyone should know this precept and firmly keep the following in mind: nothing harmful can happen to us without the will or allowance of God: neither the devil, nor any individual can harm us if God does not allow it. We should firmly believe that even though the direst misfortunes befall us by God’s command, they are sent from the most merciful Father for our benefit, for our instruction or rectification, for the sake of our misdeeds and sins. Consequently, no one else, except we ourselves, can harm us.

God allows misfortunes and sins for the good of man

 

Since neither the devil, nor any person can do evil to another without God’s allowance of it, let us examine the following: what God allows, how He allows it, and for what reason does this allowance come about?

We must differentiate between two kinds of allowed evils. The first kind of evil, comprising various misfortunes, burdens, illnesses, insults or dishonor (impoverishment, imprisonment, banishment, exile), death – all of this cannot even be called evil in the strict sense of the word, but only a bitter medicine sent to us by God for our spiritual healing. The second kind of evil, in the exact meaning of the word, is represented by our sins, our transgression of God’s commandments. God allows the first kind of evil in accordance with His wishes, or to punish the wicked, or as a means of rectification for faithful sons and daughters. Concerning the second kind of evil, i.e. sins, one cannot say that God wishes them to be committed, but only tolerates them. Everything that really exists in the world, is present in it by the wish and word of God, by Whose will “all things were made, and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

Sin, however, is not something real, but only an illusory antithesis to genuine being. Sin exists as a result of the imperfection, deceit, and guile of the rational and free, but insubordinate beings created by God; for this reason sin originally occurred and continues to occur against the will of God and not from God, yet by His tolerance. The reason for the tolerance of sin is hidden for the time being within the mystery of God’s absolute and perfect rule over the world, or His Providence. God has absolute knowledge of the future, and He can easily not allow the occurrence of the sinning that is abominable to Him, but He tolerates it in order to produce good out of evil and justice out of injustice for the sake of teaching and rectifying people, so that they would see the consequences of sin both for the sinner and for those around him, and for society. This is what distinguishes God’s tolerance from human tolerance, which cannot by human means avert and curtail evil in its inception, even though the committing of it would be undesirable. On the contrary, in God we see both His power to prevent or curtail the execution of an evil intent, and at the same time we see His will, allowing one or another evil to be committed. This raises the following question: why does God wish to tolerate the committing of sin, or what is God’s motivation in allowing people to sin?

God’s infinite goodness would never have allowed such iniquities to exist on earth, were it not able to produce the greatest good from them and turn into salvation all that had been done with evil intent. God allowed the escalation of brotherly envy against the innocent Joseph, but allowed it for what good reason? – was it not to deliver from a death from hunger not only his parents, brothers, and relatives, but all of Egypt? God allowed the iniquitous Saul to continuously offend the meek David, but was it not for the benefit of David himself, whose descendant was Christ our Saviour? God allowed the unjustly accused prophet Daniel to be thrown into a den with frenzied lions, but for what? – in order to raise him and his friends to the pinnacle of glory and grandeur. But why should I speak of numerous instances in Old Testament history, when by God’s tolerance the envious high priests, Pharisees, and Jewish elders presented for crucifixion the Only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, and this tolerance turned into salvation for all mankind. Thus, out of each instance of tolerance arise and become revealed to us the greatest riches of God’s glory and His benevolence to each individual and all mankind. Each instance reveals to us God’s goodness and mercy, His munificence, omnipotence, and majesty, His foresight and Providence. In each instance His supreme wisdom and truth enlighten us in ways unknown to us, and thus encourage many attentive people to return to the path of virtue and to multiply their laborious yet glorious spiritual feats.

O, how wondrously and majestically does Divine Providence reveal itself in its daily tolerance! It is not difficult to produce good from good, but to turn evil into good is quite amazing. There is a saying that “anyone can be a helmsman on a calm sea.” It is not such a great matter to direct the ship towards harbor when the wind is favorable, the ship is strong, the sea is calm, the sailors know their business, and the harbor is already in view. But it is quite a different matter when a storm stirs up the sea, the ship is damaged, the waves pour noisily onto the deck and inside the ship, or when the night is dark and nothing can be seen, pirates surround the ship, the crew is small and poorly armed, and in spite of all, the captain has the ship under such masterful command, that he escapes danger without any damage – that is truly amazing, and in this case the actions of the ship’s captain have shown his wisdom and his ability to steer the ship. We see a similar situation in God’s rule over the world: some things which are allowed by God’s will and which seem to us not to lead to any good, God brings to the best possible end through His indescribable wisdom and truth. By tolerating illicit actions and harmful adventures, God sometimes turns malefactors into His honorable friends. By God’s Providence, which directs everything towards the best possible end, wicked intents against a person are often turned to the latter’s advantage; the attacks and insults made against someone often increase his inner strength. The evildoers’ greatest iniquities confirm many people in righteousness and virtue, and save them from perdition. Many people already seem to be completely immersed in the abyss of perdition, yet in reality it turns out that this is their way to salvation.

For Joseph his fetters and imprisonment served as a precursor to honors and the greatest glory; his brothers’ envy brought him greater benefit than the goodwill of the entire world; Saul’s malice procured for David the royal crown; the lions’ den led Daniel to greater glory and honor than that of earthly kings; from the cross Christ, together with the repentant thief, went straight into heaven, while from the Mount of Olives He ascended into heaven and sat on the right hand of God the Father.

In God’s allowance both good and evil wills work for God, and no matter their original intent, in the final analysis everything works towards the attainment of the best possible goals.

In truth, the saints ascribed everything that came upon them in life, both pleasant and unpleasant, to the will and action of God, because they did not pay attention to the sins of others, but evaluated all human actions as either a gift from God or as having been allowed by God for their own sins. The saints reasoned thusly: the all-benevolent God would never have allowed anything evil, if He did not know that from this evil He would produce a multitude of great blessings.

The blessed Augustine expressed the same idea: “God acknowledged it more profitable to turn evil into good than not to allow it at all, because, being all-benevolent, He would never have allowed evil in His acts, were He not so omnipotent and good as to be able to turn evil into a blessing.” And again, Theophylus rightly says: “God incomprehensibly interferes in our errors and our sins not in order to participate in them, but, despising them and correcting them, God produces much good out of evil, just as though He were turning fire into water.” In another homily he says: “All those who insult us in some manner or other combine two persons within themselves, one acting consciously, the other unconsciously. Firstly, each such person, out of malice towards us, wishes to act against us with hostility, with the intent to insult us, deprive us of our property, etc., although he is not always necessarily successful in his intent; but in case of success, through God’s allowance he unconsciously becomes a second person who is now acting as a tool in God’s hands, punishing or rectifying our conduct, and thus he unconsciously serves God.” Such unconscious servants of God were the following historically famous people: Nebuchadnezzar, Attila, leader of the Huns, Totila, king of the Italian Ostrogoths, Tamerlan, and other scourges of God.

Dear brother Christian, allow me to ask you who so often rends heaven with your sorrowful complaints. Tell me: what insults you the most – the will and intent of the offender, or only his power, his ability to realize the insult, or both one and the other? You answer: “I am offended by both the one and the other.” In response to this I will tell you that neither offensive will, nor the execution of it (power) can insult you: offensive intent (will) is nothing without the power and does not harm you in any way, while the execution of the intent depends on the allowance or the will of God, which is holy and just. You know that all power is from God, – so why do you sorrow and complain about the offender for having done to you only that which was allowed him by God? Otherwise, without God’s allowance, he could not have offended you. You will say: “My adversary has offended me greatly.” – “Tell me – in what way? – for God is either punishing you for your sins, or teaching you patience, or multiplying your reward for being an innocent victim, – and yet you consider yourself offended?” – “I hate this malicious person and his evil will,” – you say. – “But you always pay attention to other people’s actions, while I advise you to rather raise your eyes towards God and your conscience. Human will, even though it is evil and wicked, what could it do to you? in what lies its success? You do not regret the fact that your adversary wished to harm you as much as the fact that he did harm you. From whence did this come and how could he harm you? Was it not by the power and will of God? And if it was by the power and will of God, then it was always in accordance with just and righteous Providence. Consequently, either you keep quiet or turn your complaints toward Divine Providence, – and at this point bear firmly in mind that God would never allow the evil will of another to harm you in any way that would not be to your benefit, unless you harm yourself.”

And who can harm us if we engage only in good things? Blessed Augustine has put it very well: “Do not fear the enemy: he is able to harm you only to the extent of the power given to him by God. Fear rather the One Who is able to do whatever He wants, and Who never does anything unjust, but whatever He does is always just; and should anything, in our opinion, seem unjust, if it undoubtedly occurred by the will of God, we must believe that it is just and true.” You may ask: “If someone killed an innocent person, is that just or unjust?” – “There is no doubt that it is unjust and deserves punishment.” – “Then why, – you will ask, – “has God allowed such injustice?” – “You wish to argue with God before you have become worthy to ask God: for what reason, O God, hast Thou allowed this? – I am unable, dear brother, to explain to you God’s intentions or the reasons for His allowance, because God’s Wisdom is too infinite for the human mind, but I can only assert that, on the one hand, the murderer of the innocent man has acted unjustly, and on the other hand, this murder would not have occurred had God not allowed it for a reason that is unknown to us, but just. In other words, the murderer committed an iniquitous act, deserving punishment, but God’s allowance is just and wise, for a just reason that is concealed from us for the time being.”

In the same manner blessed Augustine regards the putting to death of Christ our Saviour. “Judas, that iniquitous betrayer of Christ, – says Augustine, – and all Christ’s persecutors are all lawless, all iniquitous, all unjust, all damned; however, the Father did not spare His Son, but gave Him up (allowed Him to be put to death) for the salvation of us all.” Such is the mystic reason for God’s allowance of His Only-begotten Son’s being put to death by malefactors, – a reason that was incomprehensible at the time. Thus do not be surprised that God allows evil. He allows it according to His most-just judgment, and allows it only to a certain measure, number, and weight. There is no injustice in Him, and you only have to put your entire trust in Him.

There is only one sure means of calming oneself when being offended: if someone has insulted or offended you, do not pay attention to the offender’s malice, but turn to the righteous God Who has allowed your adversary to insult you, and do not avenge with evil the evil that has been done to you, for it has been allowed by God for the attainment of good and just aims, even though they are unknown to you for the time being. All of God’s saints kept to this custom: they did not try to analyze who had offended them and for what, but always turned their hearts to God, humbly acknowledging the justice of God’s allowance; for this reason they regarded the offenses given them as a boon for themselves, and their adversaries as benefactors, saying: “here are our true benefactors, for they do not flatter us; those who praise and exalt us to our face are flatterers and damage our inner perfection.“” Thus the saints always inwardly turned to God and in all matters placed their trust in God’s Providence and expected only good things from God.

On the other hand, one can see from all of the above that the sin committed against one’s neighbor by God’s allowance does not yet merit any mitigation of the sinner’s guilt only because his unlawful action gave God cause to produce great good out of evil. For the sinner had only given cause for good, and not of his own accord, but by the grace of God; the sinner’s intent was still evil and remains evil. Thus even the good that God produces from the commission of evil does not in any way mitigate the guilt of the sinner.

The incomprehensibility of God’s judgments

 

Throughout the course of our entire life we must often repeat King David’s utterance: “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, O Lord; Thy judgments are a great deep” (Psalm 36:6). This depth is illustrated in the Bible in the example of the two high-ranking servants of the Egyptian Pharaoh: the cupbearer and the caterer. Both were servants of the same king, both came under his displeasure, both were arrested and imprisoned, and both were remembered by the king during a palace feast; the Pharaoh could have pardoned them both, if such were the will of God, or could have condemned them to execution. However, he ordered the caterer to be hanged, while the cupbearer he returned to favor and his former position. Such was the will of God; some He removes from His presence in accordance with His righteous judgment, while others He covers with great mercy. “And who can search out His mighty deeds? Who can measure His majesty’s power? And who can fully recount His mercies?” says the son of Sirach (18:3-4).

Equally mysterious and unfathomable was God’s will in regard to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the Pharaoh of Moses’ time. The blessed Augustine has rightly said of them: “Nebuchadnezzar was punished by God for his countless iniquities and in this way was brought to salvific and very beneficial repentance. The Pharaoh, on the contrary, became hardened even despite God’s scourges, disdained them, and perished in the Red Sea together with his entire host.” Both of them were pagan kings and both were punished. Why did they reach such an unequal end? – One of them comprehended God’s punitive hand, repented, and rectified his conduct; the other did not submit to the will of God that was announced to him, remained in his sinful obduracy, – and perished.

Here is another example of the incomprehensibility of God’s judgment: one of the best Judean kings was Asa, who did good in the eyes of God and fortified his kingdom, destroyed the idols in the entire Judean land, and eradicated idol-worship. However, this glorious king, who for a long time reigned admirably, lost his initial glory at the end of his reign, having changed for the worse. King Menaces, on the other hand, being most wicked and evil throughout his entire life, and having brought the Jewish people to the very edge of iniquity, recognized the hand of God in his misfortune, returned to God, repented of his iniquity, and was granted forgiveness and God’s mercy. O Lord! Thy judgments are truly a great deep, a deep without measure!

At this point questions such as “why is this so?” and “how is this so?” are inappropriate. Such questions arise at the instigation of the evil spirit and have spiritually destroyed many people. “So, did God truly say: do not eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden?” – the most cunning of all creatures once asked Eve. To this question Eve should have replied thus to the wicked creature: “We know that God commanded us not to eat only the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but why and for what purpose He commanded thus – it is not our place to ask Him.” Such was His holy will, and we must not question the reasons for His willing thus. “For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, for Him to recompense again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:34-36). I am sure there will be people who will assert that it is not forbidden to sometimes ask the reason for one or another commandment. Ask whom? Do they mean God, Who alone knows everything, knows what is good and what is only tolerable? If a servant from his master or a subordinate from his superior demand the reason for such-and-such an order or directive, then the first will look upon it as an insult to himself, while the second will regard it as rebellion and insubordination, and yet you dare to exhibit even greater insolence towards God? God’s Providence needs no other reason except His holy will.

St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, describes the following event in the life of St. Anthony the Great: two monks undertook a journey to visit St. Anthony in his desert. However, traveling through the arid and hot desert, they became completely exhausted from thirst, and one of them already died, while the other was on the threshold of death. St. Anthony was several miles away from them. Sitting on a rock in his monastery, he hurriedly summoned his two monks and said to them: “Run as fast as you can to such-and-such a place in the desert, taking vessels with water with you, for one of the two brothers who were coming to visit us has already died of thirst, while the other is still breathing, but is suffering and has become very weak; if you delay, you will not find the other one alive either: this has been revealed to me by God while I stood in prayer.” Having received such instructions, the messengers immediately and willingly went off, and after finding the travelers, they buried the body of the deceased one, while the other one they revived with water and fortified with food, and then brought him back with them to St. Anthony. In describing this event St. Athanasius wisely remarks that someone may very well ask: “Why did St. Anthony not send his monks earlier to save the travelers, before one of them died?” Such a question is quite inappropriate for a Christian, because it was not St. Anthony’s affair, but God’s judgment: God Himself pronounced a fair verdict in regard to the dying man and the thirsty living one; and He likewise revealed to St. Anthony His will concerning the saving of one of the travelers.

St. Anthony the Great, being in a state of contemplation, was amazed at God’s hidden and unfathomable mysteries and humbly called out to God: “O Lord my God! Thou art sometimes pleased to grant a long life to people who seem useless and immersed in an abyss of iniquity, and yet sometimes Thou deprivest of life people who are very beneficial to society” During such reflections Anthony heard a voice saying: “Be attentive to thine own self. That upon which you are reflecting is God’s judgment, and it is not your place to analyze or question it.”

In the year 1117, when the whole of Italy was being shaken by earthquakes, some of the residents of the city of Milan assembled at a certain home to discuss public affairs. Suddenly a voice was heard from outside, calling upon one of the people present in the house to come out. The person being summoned was unsure of who was calling and for whom, and thus delayed in going out, waiting for a repeat call. Unexpectedly a stranger came up to the door and asked that the person being called come out quickly; no sooner had the latter moved several paces away from the building than the house fell down and destroyed all who were within. This begs the question: why was only one person from all those within the house saved from death, while all the others perished? The Lord’s judgments are a great deep! Who cannot clearly see in this event a repetition of ancient miracles? Thus did the angel of the Lord lead Lot and his children out of Sodom, leaving all the other inhabitants to become victims of fire. In a similarly miraculous manner other people are left unharmed amid multitudes who perish in general catastrophes.

We often see extraordinary upheavals and changes in the universe, unexpectedly-occurring events, and of each of them we say: “Let us see how this will end.” Occasionally we ourselves experience events that amaze us by their unexpectedness, and then we grumble in vain and say: “I could never foresee or think of such a thing happening.” We are poor illiterates in the matter of foreseeing future events! Even in currently occurring events we cannot always easily understand their true cause, except the one that is operative in all events and, moreover, is a genuine and undeniable cause. Such-and-such happened strictly because such was the will or tolerance of God according to His benevolent Providence. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, – saith the Lord. – For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

There are many things in our earthly life which we will never comprehend by means of our intelligence. It is sufficient for us to know, be convinced, and believe implicitly that God is not unjust, and that on the last day of judgment there will not be a single person on trial saying anything to the Lord except the following words: “Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright are Thy judgments” (Psalm 119:137). We must put off gaining complete understanding of the unfathomable judgments and purposes of God’s most-high wisdom until the future life!

Thus, let us cease expanding the wings of our curiosity and judgment of subjects that are above our heads. The waves of the boundless ocean of the Supreme Mind exceed the quick reasoning of all wisdom, not only human, but also angelic. And how could we ever hope to understand the end purposes of God’s profoundest destinies? Who can comprehend God’s determination in the following: why does God’s punishment for sin temporarily pass by some people and strike others? Why are those who are innocent of crime sometimes put on trial, while the sins of some people fall upon the heads of their children and descendants? Why do some die in infancy, while others live to a ripe old age? Why does one person, having sinned only slightly, perish without repentance, while another, mired for a long time in the bog of iniquity, finally rectify himself and become worthy of a Christian end? Why does one person wallow in wealth and luxury, while another does not have a single morsel of bread or a single penny?

O restless and overly curious mind! Why should you brood over this? The Lord allowed, the Lord wished, the Lord created all. We should look upon God’s will as the ultimate truth, and a willing and tranquil adherence to it as the ultimate wisdom.