St. John of Kronstadt-On Consolation in times of need and material hardship

by St. John of Kronstadt.

Many Christians experience times of need and material hardship throughout their life. It can be said that the majority of true Christians do not possess a great surplus of material goods - they should not even have them. The Lord has commanded us: “Sell that ye have and give alms” (Luke 12:33). Thus Christians should act according to the words of the prophet King David: “He has given away to the poor; his truth remains unto the ages.”

The Lord usually refrains from showering His servants with riches which pose danger for them (“a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”). Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”

As St. John of Kronstadt says: “God could have made everyone well-off, even wealthy, but then most people would have fallen away from God, and pride, envy and other sins would have increased. If God had made you a saint, you would have thought highly of yourself. But in the same way that sin humbles you, showing you your great frailty, iniquity and constant need of God and His grace, so a poor man is humbled by his poverty and need of other people. If beggars were to be made rich, many of them would forget God and their benefactors, would lose their souls amid the luxuries of this world. So destructive is wealth and so it blinds the spiritual eyes. It makes the heart coarse and thankless.”

"Testimony from Mount Athos"-Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi-On the state of grief

“Grief in the Lord(or grief for the sake of the Lord- Πένθος κατα Θεόν) is the state in which the soul feels gloomy; it is the disposition of the aching heart, which does not cease fervently seeking that for which it feels thirst. The longer it takes for it to attain to this goal, the harder the heart struggles chasing after it and runs after it with painful lament”.( Saint John of the Ladder, 7th Word on On the joy-producing grief”)

            Grief and  what follows from it, are the most valuable tools and spoils of repentance. Without them our repentance is doubtful. What other means or tools could the penitent show when he is called upon to appear at the gate of the courts of repentance? What alternative posture is available to the convict and the condemned if not his sad, mournful and tearful attitude? That is the reason why grief not only is set as a prerequisite of repentance but is also blessed: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” ( Matthew 5,4)

            The factors which make up the state of grief are well known and I do not think that there is any man on this earth who has never been acquainted with them. If by ‘grief’ we generally mean ‘common grief’, definitely most or rather all the descendents of the first man have experienced this pain because “your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted”( Isaiah, 1,5). We are endorsing grief in the Lord (κατά Θεόν πένθος) as the state of mind which every penitent must acquire if he is to succeed in his goal. Tears stemming from social grieving and the hardships of life are of no value. On the contrary, they corrupt  their victims since “a crushed spirit dries up the bones” ( Proverbs 17,22). Tears in the Lord (or tears for the sake of the Lord- κατά Θεόν δάκρυα) freshen and comfort man like good envoys sent to our Lord and introduce us to His heaven, just as He promises: “Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh”( Luke 6,21).

            The comprehensive love for hard work (φιλοπονία) is the main cause of grief. However, all the other tasks for which one is struggling also create this mournful state which conveys grief and lament. “Thirst and lack of sleep coerce the heart. When the heart is pressurized tears sprout”(Saint John of the Ladder, Word 6th, On the memory of death, paragraph 14). Every labour the body undertakes gives reason for grief and lament, if the penitent realises that this hardship reflects his effort for repentance.

            When we speak to the people today about grief, they think it is weird since they believe that crying is a shame. Of course it is not worth crying about transient and vain things. This kind of grief is part of the social convention. Our spiritual grief ( πνευματικόν πένθος) has more to do with our relationship with God and is a product not so much of our choice but of the grace of the Holy Spirit. The heart is coerced and causes the mournful state of grief when we recognise our responsibility for our trespasses. However, the spiritual grief which caused the Lord’s blessing is not the product of our invention but a gift from grace. God’s love approaches the heart and this causes spiritual joy, which is derived from the experience of the rejuvenation of our transformation or rather of our resurrection.

When the penitent is found at the state of “becoming” (γίγνεσθαι), whereby he is trying to intensify his cry towards our Savior, his tears become “his daily bread”. Similarly, “I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears”( Psalm 102,9). However, the divine power of the Father does not delay in sheltering and in advancing the mourner from the state of purification to that of illumination on which our entire hope rests. “You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light..With your help I can run through a barricade” (Psalm 101,10).

            The humiliated heart, which has first been pierced by the arrows of the devil and then by the fatherly love of our Saviour after its repentance, has no other means of expressing itself than by tears. One is naive if one thinks that he can follow in the footsteps of Christ without shedding these double tiered (διπλά) tears. No matter how much the unfeeling heart has turned to stone by its demonic selfishness or by its monstrous self-love, the divine fire of Christ’s fatherly love is capable of softening it and making it as tender as a child’s. It is difficult for one to understand what we are talking about if one has never felt the flame of such love. But even at this latter stage, let one try to heed the first phrase of the gospel: “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ( Matthew 4,17) and he will experience this warmth reviving him.

            Grief, which we are describing as ‘spiritual’, has nothing to do with psychopathological phenomena. It is inexorably connected to the memory of God and thrives in the fire of divine love. Grief increases more and more when the fear and anxiety that it may retreat intensifies in the mind. This heavenly fire, while refreshing the heart, consumes passions and illuminates the mind; “our God is a consuming fire” ( Hebrews 12,29). When the mind perceives grace’s alliance, it regains its strength but it specifically empowers the soul to defend itself and stand up and fight. The four forces of the soul: wisdom, prudence, bravery and justice ( φρόνησις,  σωφροσύνη, ανδρεία και δικαιοσύνη), which had been enslaved by passions and darkness are hence being restored and the mind is able with their help to rout the strangers “as if they are one man”. The deeper our cry of repentance, the more decisively we are set free from the many, apparent needs. Hence frugality is advanced to actual indigence(ακτημοσύνην). The irrational fear for the need of self-preservation ceases while the second faith, that of contemplation becomes our property.Then, as our ever-memorable elder used to stress, man is able to breath an air of freedom.

During this state there is nothing which resembles the elements of this world. The air we breath, the light we see, the weight we feel, and generally speaking this body, are all transfigured to become heavenly and godly. More specifically, the light is the uncreated light which surrounds the “divine being” and pours out from none other than our God. It is the food of the immaterial angels, the joy and garment of the godly and our own expectation.

“I was trying to examine it”, our blessed elder was confiding “and it was becoming inconceivable. It was the purest white, immaterial. And funnily enough it seemed to be inside the body, outside and everywhere”. God “dwelling in the light”( A Timothy 6,16) wishes to approach the grieving soul with the fire of His love and abridge the length of our separation. For its part, the soul moved by the enormity of the award, expresses itself through whole-hearted tears, which are the measure of its own love, since it has nothing else to offer, because our Lord is in need of nothing (απροσδεής) and all-perfect (υπερτέλειος). “What God is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles”(Psalm 77,13-14).

The painful and bitter tears of repentance have been transformed into tears of love. This means that our prayer has been received by Christ, who has opened the inner sanctuary behind the curtain for us to enter, “where he went before us, has entered on our behalf”( Hebrews 6,20) through His tears at Gethsemane. “For all of you who were baptised in Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ”( Galatians 3,27)says the Church. And those of you who have been baptised in the divine and uncreated light, you have been clothed with it for ever. It is in this way that the God of all( ο επί πάντων Θεός), becomes everything to everyone in favour of the humilitated and grieving soul. “And in my prosperity I said I shall never be moved. Lord by your favour you have made my mountain stand strong, but when you hid your face and I was dismayed” ( Psalm 30,6-7). The more we take care to preserve this state of grief, the longer grace remains with us, since it is rather from grace that the total energy is derived. Several times however despite our vigilance, this blessing is interrupted and then the following verse of the psalm is applicable: “You hid your face and I was dismayed”. Such conditions are inevitable during our lives, but remain hidden from the masses. Our Fathers call these conditions “changes”, which always accompany man in his practical struggle until such time as he transcends the second stage, i.e the illumination with the help of grace, and enters the deification or final stage, where total spiritual love reigns and the divine promises are absolutely accomplished.

Loving hard work willingly and continuously proves the practical presence of humility. Here God “gives grace to the humble”( James 4,6). And again: “I humbled myself and the Lord did save me”(Psalm 114,6?) When the energies of passions cease and divine grace assesses that the soul has made enough progress, it will certainly permit temptation to enter. Here again, changes will appear. If temptations present themselves before the cessation of passions, then this means that there was some carelessness which needs to be rectified and the spirit crashed so that “the lame may not be disabled but rather healed”( Hebrews 12,13). Natural temptations, through which all the devout have been tested, will show up only in their appropriate place, as we have said before, and all of them are invaluable. That is the reason why our Fathers stress: “remove the temptations and no one will be saved”. If according to the scriptures “things that cause people to sin are bound to come”( Luke 17,1) who can swim through these seas in calm waters? The saying: “We went through fire and water but you brought us to a place of abundance”(Psalm 66,12) will also be applicable on us, because it is only through this path that the countless martyrs and confessors and all those who loved God, have travelled.

We have spoken about changes which, after our fall, are the inseparable companions of our lives, just like parasites. They also show up together with the various temptations, and they will also have to be targeted during our continuous fight. Temptations, which test our faith in God, are not just external and neutral, but also internal, through the natural changes which have to do with our physical world. According to our fathers, the changes have four causes. They transform the body’s constitution and convey either good or bad thoughts to the mind. These are: the angels, the demons, the environmental climate and diet. Because of such effects, the natural laws of our constitution change and convey the relevant thoughts to the mind. When the Lord wishes, the angels change man’s thoughts and disposition through words; when the Lord permits either to educate or to test man, demons affect man by contact; while the environment and diet upset man’s health and alter his disposition and intentions. There are also some acquired influences which come from memory or hearing or sight and are caused by bizarre, horrifying, distressing or pleasant events. This whole irregularity, which takes place  unexpectedly, especially if there are some passionate inclinations of the soul which alter a man’s state, is and is described as ‘temptation’. These are more or less the temptations caused by the various changes. But the ‘labyrinth’ under examination is immeasurable. David was justified when he was lamenting “Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand”( Psalm 139,18), And again this is what he was writing on the dire causes of temptations: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you” (Psalm 91-7)

After the fall, since man lives in the valley of tears because he has shown preference for the passionate knowledge (or flawed knowledge-εμπαθή γνώση), ought from now on to engage in a constant fight against evil as if he is a prisoner on death row, in order to practically confess his opposition to evil and restore his obedience and his dependence on God, whose grace has been given as a present through his baptism.

The whole meaning of our life in this world is none other than to be constantly confessing since we have fallen because we have denied God’s wishes. The incarnate Word God, concerned about our salvation, has granted us the absolution of our guilt through the shedding of His blood. However, He has left it to us to chose the way with which we are to reverse our treason, so that we may replace the willing denial with the willing confession. He did not give an order for the way this was to be done, but gave a practical example of the perfect submission and obedience to the Father, by His presence, “nothing is similar to the greatness of the father”(μηδέν ων ήττον τής πατρικής μεγαλωσύνης). “So that every mouth be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” ( Romans 3,19).

 Since God created everything as “very good”, man could not render imperfect the creation through his own trespass. Therefore, the cause and the restoration of the trespass belongs to the very carrier of the disorder. In his incomparable love however, the Lord’s only begotten Son has set Himself as the model, becoming man, in order to reveal the fullness of His love to the creation and practically teach  obedience as a cure for disobedience and rebellion.

source: Translated by Olga Konari Kokkinou from the Greek edition: Γέροντος Ιωσήφ Βατοπαιδινού, Αθωνική Μαρτυρία, Ψυχοφελή Βατοπαιδινά 2, Έκδοσις β΄, Ιερά Μεγίστη Μονή Βατοπαιδίου, Άγιον Όρος 2008.

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The Passions of Avarice, Anger, Sorrow and Sloth

Avarice

The passion for the acquisition of wealth, said the Fathers, is not part of human nature and is due to a lack of faith and people’s sick way of thinking. This is why it requires no small effort to combat this passion, if, with the necessary vigilance over ourselves, we wish to achieve real salvation and the fear of God in our lives. If this passion takes root in us it becomes the most tyrannical of all. And if we become subject to its encouragement and habits, then we’ve lost everything, because Saint Paul says “For the love of money is the root of all evil” (I Tim. 6, 10), that is of anger, sorrow and everything else.

Indeed, the Fathers also called it idolatry, because, through avarice, many people have fallen away, not only from the Christian life, but have been damaged in body and soul, as Holy Scripture tells us. And the Fathers tell us that people who hoard  gold and silver and trust in themselves, do not believe in God, Who is actually looking after them.

            So let us guard ourselves against this passion, which brings the soul to perdition and destruction, and let us pray to God to expel far from us this evil spirit of avarice. And may we guard against not only gold and silver, but against every external and necessary object, since these lead to greed, when we ask for more than we need. Such as, for example, the acquisition of lots of clothes, shoes, residences, gadgets and so on. Everything we need for our lives shouldn’t be luxurious and expensive, because then we fall into worldly habits. The real rejection of avarice, of ownership of lots of things and the desire for them is not that we shouldn’t have any possessions at all, but that we shouldn’t attach ourselves to the transient and vain things of this present life. Emancipation from the things of this world assists us in the purification of our souls.

 Anger

If we’re troubled by anger and it urges us to consider an injury and to return with interest the damage that someone has inflicted on us, then we should think upon the words of the Lord, Who said: “For unless you forgive people their trespasses, Your Father will not forgive you yours” (Matth. 6, 15). It follows, therefore, that people who want their sins to be forgiven are obliged first and foremost to forgive others with all their heart. Because this is how God has taught us to seek forgiveness for our own transgressions. And if we don’t forgive, it’s obvious that our sins won’t be forgiven. It’s in this sense that we should understand the saying of the Fathers that the prayer of angry people isn’t accepted, even if such people have the power to raise the dead.

The Fathers said this not to indicate that irate people can’t raise the dead, but to show the extent to which their prayer is repulsive to God. This is why we should never become angry, nor do any harm to our fellow human beings, not only with words and deeds, but even by changing the way we look at them. Because we can disdain others merely by a look, according to the Fathers. The perfect victory over thoughts of anger is to pray for the person who has provoked them, as Abba Dorotheos advises when he says: “God, help my brother, and through his prayers have mercy upon me, sinner that I am. Because to pray for other people means love and affection, and to ask for their prayers means humility”. We should even do them good, as far as we can, because then we’ll be carrying out the commandment of God that says: “Love your enemies… do well to those who hate you and pray for those who trouble you and persecute you” (Matth. 5, 44).

To those who live by this, the Lord has promised not only the Kingdom of Heaven, some sort of rest or a gift such as those we have in the present, but the very inheritance of adoption, because He says: “Thus you will become children of your father who is in heaven” (Matth. 5, 45). And our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who instituted this commandment and promised this great recompense, carried out everything He taught, giving us Himself as an example, so that we might imitate Him, insofar as we can. How many punishments did He endure from the Jews for us sinners, and not only did He refrain from anger, but prayed for them to His heavenly Father saying: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke, 23, 24). In the same way, all the saints walked this path and acquired divine grace, returning good to their persecutors instead of evil. They also prayed for them and covered the sins they saw them committing and taught them with sincerity and affection.

Sorrow

We have a great struggle to wage against the evil spirit of sorrow, which brings the soul into despair and perdition. If the sorrow is occasioned by other people, we have to suffer it with joy, and pray for those who have saddened us, as I said before, bearing in mind that whatever befalls us does so with God’s sanction. Whatever the Lord sends us, He does only for the benefit and salvation of our soul. It may be that, in the beginning, it doesn’t seem to bring us any benefit, but later we’ll realize that what God has allowed us to go through has been better for us than what we ourselves would have wanted to happen.

So we shouldn’t think in human terms, but should believe with certainty that the unsleeping eye of God sees all things and that nothing happens without His will. It’s from the wealth of His mercy that these situations and temptations happen to us, so that we can earn our heavenly reward through our patience. Because without temptations, no-one has ever been crowned. This is why we should offer glory to God for everything, because He is our Dispenser and Saviour, as Saint Isaac the Syrian says: “The mouth that glorifies God is acceptable to God, and grace dwells in the heart which thanks God from its depths”.

Besides, we should avoid complaints and judgements against those who’ve saddened us and should pray for them, as the same saint says: God puts up with all the weaknesses that people have, but those who continually censure other people won’t go without correction. Though we must have the soul-saving sorrow over the sins we commit, with hope in our repentance to God and in the knowledge that there’s no sin which defeats God’s love for us, since He forgives everyone who repents sincerely and prays to Him.

This sorrow is linked to joy (joyful sadness) and kindles in people the desire for everything spiritual and gives them patience in their trials. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death”, says Saint Paul (2 Cor. 7, 10). So we should seek godly sorrow, because it brings internal repose, whereas the grief that proceeds from Satan should be expelled from our hearts, together with all the other passions, through prayer, the study of sacred texts and the receiving of Holy Communion. Grief which is not from God and for the love of God is the cause of all evils, and, unless we free ourselves from it, despair will overcome us and our soul will be devoid of grace, overwhelmed with sloth and won’t even want to pray or read our sacred books.

Sloth

            If sloth is the passion that has a greater hold on us than the others, we face a stern struggle. This evil spirit is terrible. It’s closely related to the spirit of sorrow and particularly defeats those who are living alone. When the enormous waves of thoughts and passions rise up against the soul, people feel at that moment that they’ll never be redeemed from them. The spiritual enemy visits upon them all sorts of thoughts and reflections such as that, if things are like this today, they’re only going to get worse tomorrow and the day after.

So the thought buzzes around their head that God has abandoned them, that this is happening because God isn’t looking after them, that this has happened only to them and never to anyone else. But things really aren’t like this at all. Because it’s not only to us that these things occur, but also to His saints, who, throughout the centuries have pleased God and have recognized that He is a loving God and Father and that He chastises us with His spiritual rod out of love and so that we’ll acquire virtues. But after that, there quickly comes an alteration, a restoration of the soul and the mercy of God.

At the most difficult moment, people have the impression that they can’t overcome the pandemonium of their thoughts and passions. All the virtues seem unattainable and hateful, because of the machinations of Satan, but then comes a divine change. Everything seems pleasant and the grievous situations are nothing compared to the peace and blessedness of the visitation of divine grace. Besides, they become more open to the virtues, they’re astonished by this spiritual adjustment and take the decision not to deviate from the path of the virtues under any circumstances. People also realize that, in His great mercy, God has disposed these things for their benefit and testing.

Thus it is that they feel surrounded by the love of God, that He’s always close to faithful Christians and will never allow them to be tried beyond their bent, because without God’s permission, the spiritual enemy cannot do us any harm whatsoever. Since it’s not up to the will of our soul whether we’re tempted a little or a great deal; it’s God’s will and His decision.

With these experiences, striving Christians become wise through temptations and, when they see these alternations of grace in their soul, persevere resolutely in their various trials. With these, a monk expresses his love for God, when he bears them and gradually makes spiritual progress. Because, as John of the Ladder saying, nothing brings the monk so many crowns as the struggle against sloth, provided it’s undertaken without any loss of time.

 During the period of relentless warfare, we must arm ourselves against the spirit of ingratitude and blasphemy, because it’s with those weapons that the enemy attacks us at that moment. Satan defeats people with doubt and fear and directs wicked thoughts at them like arrows: that God won’t have mercy on them; that they’ll never be forgiven; never be redeemed and saved from the tortures of eternal perdition. Indeed, they’re also under fire from other thoughts which I can’t write about, and aren’t able to work or read because the temptation won’t let them. This is why, at moments like this, we should forcefully cast despair away from us, and shouldn’t be indifferent to our prayer life.

We should fall down in prayer, with our faces to the ground, because this attitude of the body is very beneficial in assisting us to pray, as Barsanuphius the Great says: “Lord, help me, sinner that I am. Lord, behold my grief and have mercy on me”. As we’re taught by Saint Symeon the New Theologian: “Lord don’t allow me to be tempted beyond my strength. Not with grief nor with pain of the soul. But redeem me and give me strength so that I can withstand everything with gratitude”. Or, as we raise our eyes and hands to heaven, let us pray over these passions, sloth and immorality, as the blessed Gregory the Sinaite teaches us, because he considered them to be the worst of all. It this way we shall strive to force ourselves, insofar as we can, to read and to do our handiwork, both of which are of great assistance in the time of warfare. It sometimes happens that Christians engaged in the struggle don’t allow even a single passion to get near their soul. Then there’s a great need and opportunity to devote themselves entirely to prayer, with all the strength they have.

In order to defeat the spirit of ingratitude and blasphemy we say: “Get behind me, Satan. I worship my Lord and God and I serve Him alone. I accept all pain and sorrows gratefully, because they’re sent from Him, in order to relieve me of my sins. The Prophet Micah says: ‘I will bear the wrath of the Lord, for I have sinned against Him’. But ingratitude and blasphemy will come back to haunt you, as you’ll find out soon enough. So get away from me. May the God Who made me in His image and likeness destroy you”.

If he continues to bother you, even after those words, busy yourself with something outside- material or spiritual work, that will strengthen your patience and hope, because that’s what your soul has to cling on to, if it wants to please God, as Saint Makarios says. But you need to be careful in your choice of outside work, because the devil often uses it to entrap us in his snares, to bring us into sloth and to distance our soul from hope in God. But God will never allow a soul that hopes in Him to be tested beyond its powers, since He knows what we are capable of. People know what a mule or a donkey or a camel can carry and so they load each one accordingly. A potter is in something of a similar position: he knows the temperature  at which to fire each of his clay vessels, because too fierce a heat would shatter them. Equally, he knows not to take them out of the oven too quickly, because that would render them useless. If people have this much awareness, how much greater and immeasurable is the wisdom of God, Who knows exactly what temptations and how much of each every soul needs to overcome in order to be made worthy of the Kingdom of God. Not only will we be worthy of enjoying the good things to come, but here, too, we’ll receive the comfort of the Most Holy Spirit.

When we know all of this well, we can be steadfast with courage and silence in our cell. Though sometimes people benefit more from conversation with others, as Saint Basil says: “Often, when we’re slothful, a blameless visit to our fellow brethren, at an appropriate time, and conversation with them can, up to a point, dispel the passion of sloth”. And so, people who strive, if they’re gradually strengthened by divine grace,  and their personal experience, devote themselves with even more desire to the good fight for the virtues. But the Fathers, who know this from their personal struggle, say that patience in quietude is more beneficial.

Blessed Nil Sorsky, Περί νοεράς εργασίας, Orthodox Kypseli, pp. 64-74.

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"Sorrows" Why they are sent and how to endure them

Sometimes sorrows are sent to us for the purpose of testing our faith and loyalty to God, and for strengthening us in this faith and loyalty. Many people, when living peacefully, think that they love God with all their hearts. Apostle Peter declared that he would never renounce his Lord; the other disciples wanted to follow Him unto death. But when the time of tribulation came - Peter renounced his Lord and Master; the disciples dispersed. And it was at this point that they realized, despite their heart- felt grief, that they had not yet reached the state in which they would find themselves later on, when they joyously suffered martyrdom and disgrace for Christ.

Without testing even iron looks like steel, pewter looks like silver, bronze looks like gold and plain glass looks like crystal, but tempering shows their true worth. The same happens with people: many appear to be meek and humble, simple and good, religious, etc., while tribulations often reveal them to be malicious, and proud, and cruel-hearted, and greedy, and envious, etc. Tribulations come in the form of loss and deprivation, grief, illness, disgrace, and those who endure the trials are found to be dependable candidates for the Kingdom of God, while those who are unable to endure are not dependable, because they still contain a large admixture of evil. Through suffering and woe in their lives, virtuous people become even more fortified in their virtue.

“Like a goldsmith, upon throwing gold into the furnace, leaves it to melt in the fire until he sees it attain the greatest purity, - says St. John Chrysostome, - so does the Lord allow the souls of men to suffer tribulations until they become pure and shining, and until they acquire great benefit from these temptations. If the goldsmith knows exactly how long he must keep the gold melting in the furnace and when to take it out, and never allows the gold to remain until it is spoiled or burned; even more so does God know, and when He sees that we have become purer, He delivers us from our tribulations, lest we stumble and fall. Let us not grumble and be faint of heart when something unexpected occurs, but let us allow the Lord to purify our soul as long as He wants; for He does it with great mercy and for our benefit.”

Suffering causes us to take stock, to look around, to ponder: are we living properly or have we, perhaps, wandered far away from the life prescribed to us by the Lord in His Gospel? St. John Chrysostome says: “When you see your woes multiplying, do not despair, but take heart. God allows them in order to shatter your indifference, to wake you up from sinful slumber. Because in times of woe everything that is extraneous is cut off, all earthly things are forgotten, man becomes more ardent in his prayer, more earnest in his charity, and passions are more easily vanquished as they flee in the face of sorrow.” “Moreover, - St. John notes elsewhere, - through the punishment and the tribulations which God sends us in this life, our future torment is greatly alleviated. Do you see how God uses all possible means so that we, even though we sin, would suffer a lighter punishment than we deserve, or would be delivered from it altogether?”

Thus, no matter how numerous and varied are the tribulations and sufferings in life, we see that not one of them is sent by chance, without a special purpose known only to Divine Providence. This makes it clear to us that we should endure all the vicissitudes of life patiently, because only in that case will our sorrows be beneficial for us and lead us to salvation. “Let us be thankful to God in all cases, - says St. John Chrysostome, - because that constitutes true gratitude. It is easy to be thankful in times of happiness, but it is noteworthy to be thankful in dire circumstances. If we give thanks for that which others blaspheme, from which others despair, - see the great wisdom in this: firstly, you have made God rejoice; secondly, you have put the devil to shame; thirdly, you have shown that what happened is not a burden to you. And at the moment in which you give thanks, - God takes away your sorrow, while the devil retreats. In other words, if you despair, then the devil, having received what he wants, stand next to you, while God, seeing your blasphemy, leaves you and your woes consequently increase. If, on the other hand, you give thanks, then the devil, not having had any success, leaves you, while God, having been honored by you, rewards you with even greater honor. There is nothing holier than the tongue which gives thanks in misfortune. It truly does not differ from the tongue of martyrs and receives the same crown as the latter. For next to this tongue stands an executioner, forcing it to renounce God through blasphemy, next to it stands the devil, who torments it with painful thoughts and darkens the heart with sorrow. Thus, whoever suffers tribulation and gives thanks to God, receives a martyr’s crown.”

Besides, we must always remember that no matter how great our suffering, it is never sent beyond the scope of our endurance. And even in the throes of the greatest suffering, an Orthodox Christian will find comfort in church and in the Holy Writ. St. John Chrysostome says: “Whatever the sorrow that disturbs our heart, it can easily cease when we come to church, for Christ Himself is present here, and everyone who approaches Him with faith can quickly be comforted.”

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says: “When a father leaves his son without punishment and lets him live according to his will, then it is seen that the father has rejected his son; thus, when God leaves a person without punishment, this is a sign of his rejection from God’s mercy. One of the holy fathers told the following story: how, when he was in Alexandria, he once came to church to pray and saw a pious woman there. She was dressed all in black and, praying before an icon of the Saviour, she wept and tearfully repeated over and over again: “Thou hast abandoned me, o Lord! Have mercy upon me, o Merciful One!” Why is she crying so? - I thought. She is a widow and is probably being persecuted by someone. I will talk to her and comfort her. Waiting until she had finished praying, I came up to her and said: “Is someone causing you trouble that you are crying so?” - “Oh, no, - she said and began weeping anew, - no, father, you do not know my sorrow. I live among people and am not persecuted in any way. It is for this reason that I am crying: that God has forgotten to visit me and it is already three years that I have not been sent any tribulations. During all this time I myself have not been sick, my son has not been sick, I have not even lost a single chicken from my home. I therefore think that God has abandoned me for my sins, does not send me any woes, and so I am crying before Him, asking Him to have mercy upon me.” So do God-fearing people reason when they are not sent any sorrows for a long time: they think that God has forgotten them; they look upon sorrow as a special mark of attention from God, as a special mercy.”

Thus, dear brothers and sisters, remembering all of the above, let us not despair when we are visited by trials and tribulations.

“Spiritual instruction,” Moscow, 1906.

Our relationships with our neighbour and on the meaning of sorrows..

An admonishing epistle on our relationships with our neighbour and on the meaning of sorrows.

By monk Markellos Karakallinos

Nothing makes the way for the approach of God easier as does the mercy that is offered from the depth of the soul for those who are in need. The Lord said: "Inasmuch you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me" (Matt 25:40).

The one who heals the needs of the others like God, imitates God, through philanthropy and demonstrates that he bears within himself in analogy with God, the power of providence for the salvation of his brother.

Who therefore is so indifferent that does not wish to be like God, in other words, wishing to approach that which is in His likeness while the manner of doing good and of sympathy towards his neighbor is so easy? Without compassion and love towards the neighbor, no virtue can remain undefiled.

Let us learn the habit of observing and examining only ourselves, and never bother ourselves with the actions of the others. We should recognize only one judge, wise and just, the Holy God, who judges with wisdom and justice, everything that happened and even for the reason they happened.

Let us limit ourselves by severing every connection to the external and not allow our eye to see, nor our ear to hear, not even the tongue to talk about the things of others. Let us use more sympathy than empathy towards others.

Let us listen to the divine preacher Paul who advises us: "I beg you to behave with all humility and meekness, and longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Eph 4:2). "If therefore different and varied gifts and not the same were given to others, there should be absolutely no reason that this distribution should be the cause of enmity between you. For this distribution was not done by chance but was done by Christ Himself. "But for every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph 4:7).
"Put away the old man of your earlier way of life who is corrupted by the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man who is created according to God in the holiness of truth" (Eph 4:22-24). For if we endeavour this with ourselves then we shall succeed "that we walk worthy of God who calls us to His Kingdom and glory" (1Thess 2:12)
Holy God grants us His grace, but we have to recognize that whatever good we may do it is not done by us but by God. We must sympathize with the one who lacks and do not believe that he is a sinner, such as lazy, evil, chatterer, thief, liar. If we acquire this awareness, we shall never criticize anyone even when we see him sinning mortally.
We shall think thus: "He does not have Your grace my Christ that is why he sins. If you leave me, I too will do the same and even worse. You help me and I can stand on my feet. The brother sees that much and he does that much".
You ask from your brother what God has not given him. If you'll understand well what I tell you, everybody will not be responsible but only you. If you therefore wish your neighbour to be always good as it pleases you, remove his offenses with the grace (gifts) you have.....".


"It is just to pray for God to remove his offences so that he may see and act correctly. If however you will ask differently to receive your justice, you will appear unjust and would be necessary therefore for the gift (grace) to keep going back and forth until it finds comfort in your soul. For that much grace one is entitled to have as he agreeably endures the offense. As much weight your neighbor patiently bears (Elder Joseph the Spiliote).
Other faster way does not exist for one to persist in the offences that visit us whatever they may be.

The spiritual condition of a person and the grace he possesses is demonstrated by the patience he has. The proof of the existence of this virtue is the tolerance, longsuffering, patience. These are the jewels of every struggling Christian.

For this, my dear soul, during periods you struggle and get burnt by the fire of sin, do not fall asleep, do not neglect to struggle and hope on the non-combative power of God with which you will put out the fire of sin, overcoming thus the devil. Sing with joy and contentment together with the melodic Theodore Studite: "With Your right hand oh Word protect me, that the fire of sin not burn me" (5th antiphone, 1st tone).

You should know that the devil is useful to all of us, if we use him appropriately. He owes us a lot and we succeed from him not with small profit, as happened with the just Job.
If you do not become negligent and if you do not betray yourself, neither could the devil harm you. The weak becomes harmed everywhere while the strong benefits everywhere. For the spiritual inclination is always very important and man's intention always succeeds.

Let us therefore not blame the responsibilities of our sins on the devil nor on others. What is appropriate for us to do? To do just this. To introspect ourselves and our wounds for then we shall be able to apply the medicine necessary for our healing, for he who ignores his disease will not tend to his healing.
Holy Chrysostom prompts us to bless those that disturb us and to consider them benefactors and not curse them as enemies. "This we should always consider that the one who blesses his enemy blesses himself and he who curses the enemy curses himself and the one who prays for the enemy prays for himself and not him".
Elianos praised the tax collectors of Sparta because they did not revenge the Klazomenes who dishonoured them. They had gone to Sparta and painted the thrones of the tax inspectors where they sat while in judgment. The inspectors when they learned this, they did not become angry nor did they delve evil for evil. They ordered however the speaker to declare the following famous words: "It is allowed for the Klazomenes to act ugly".
These tax collectors we should imitate, us Christians, And if they curse us or do us evil or swear at us, we should not revenge but let us hear what Chrysostom advises us in his sermon on repentance: "He who does not treat himself unjustly, no one else can make him suffer loss... and if you do everything you can do, the help of God will surely follow....., however if one suffers loss and is wronged, it certainly derives from himself, not from the others, even if they were innumerable all those that wronged and harmed him. For if he did not suffer this by himself, all those living on the whole earth, even if they hit him, they could not in the least harm him who walks and is attentive in the Lord....."
The sorrows and the diverse temptations always are spiritually beneficial. Holy Adelphotheos Jacob considers the sorrows as a cause for spiritual joy, and for this he observes: "Count it all joy my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the test of your faith works patience" (Jam 1:2-3). You will rejoice in your sorrows and temptations knowing that the test of your faith through the sorrows will certainly result in a safe and completely steady patience. This patience then being unshakeable will produce the fruit of your perfection, that you may be perfect and complete, that you will thus lack nothing.
Apart from the temptations that God permits, there are temptations that are produced by our sinful passions. No man who suffers from sin, say that God is the reason he is tempted and pushed into sin. Everyone becomes disturbed and pushed into sin by his own bad intentions, which bring him down and with the bait of pleasure draws him in.
Most happy is the man that maintains himself with patience and looks forward to the test of sorrows. And he is most blessed for when through this test he becomes unshakeable, tested and fit, he will receive the bright and glorious crown of eternal life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. 

By monk Markellos Karakallinos
Publication Orthodox Kypseli

Elder Ephraim of Arizona-On Sin, Repentance, Mourning, and Tears

To fall and be injured is human, since—even if a man’s life lasted for only one day—his mind is inclined to evil from his youth (cf. Gen. 8:21 ). But to fall and remain fallen is not human. Repentance recreates man; it was given to us to cure the soul after baptism. If it did not exist, rarely would a person be saved. That is why, the virtue of repentance is unending as long as man is alive, for only the perfect do not err. My children, every time you see your thoughts reproaching you for some sin, immediately take the medicine: repent, weep, go to confession, and behold, you return to your former and better state.

2. After Judas the traitor dedicated himself to the Lord and became a partaker of grace, he performed miracles along with the rest of the Apostles, yet in the end he shipwrecked; whereas the thief who had done impious, evil, immoral deeds, by crying out for mercy, was granted repose in the calm haven of eternal bliss. The Jewish nation, which had received the promises of God and was called by Him special, chosen, and holy (vid. Ex. 19:5, 1 Pet. 2:9 ), was blinded and lost Him forever. The barbaric nations, on the other hand, which were like the harlot in their works, received the gospel and inherited what Israel had rejected: God. Therefore, away with despair and hopelessness! No matter how sinful we may be, we should always turn the eyes of our soul to God and entrust ourselves to Him as servants entrust themselves to the hands of their master. In this manner let our eyes be fixed on the Lord, always trusting in His mercy until He has mercy on us (Ps. 122:2 ).

3. The fall of man into physical mortality and the consequences of exile and alienation from our good Heavenly Father, brought about the law of sin, which wars against the law of God (cf. Rom. 7:23 ). From his youth, man is subject to the law of sin as a tendency, as an inclination, and as wickedness (cf.Gen. 8:21 ). And this tendency towards evil—as an ancestral inheritance and as a mark, product, and remnant of the ancient severance from the fountain of happiness—naturally took on substantial proportions in human nature, thus drawing it to evil. Thereafter, it was only natural for grievous calamities to befall the children of Adam and Eve. The restoration to the sonship of old by means of the Lord Jesus’ death on the cross led to eternal salvation. However, this did not remove the law of sin existing within man: not that God was unable to—for just one drop of the awesome and holy blood of Jesus Christ could transform everything—but providentially He let it coexist in man so that by means of it He could not only instruct him, but also make manifest the intentions of each person. The Scriptures say that God did not permit Joshua the son of Nun to destroy all the surrounding idolatrous nations, but he left some so that through them He could teach the art of war to the sons of Israel
(vid. Josh. 17:13 ). So when this law of sin does not find a brave adversary (that is, one with good intentions and with the divine commandments and precepts as weapons ), then it vanquishes and captures the spiritual struggler; it strips him of his divine weapons and then drags him to the life of sin. From all these and many other things, we reach the truthful conclusion that all the distressing events and things in human nature are a consequence of its fall from its original immortality to mortality. Furthermore, we see that the salvific sacrifice of the God-man Jesus providentially did not remove the law of sin existing within man in order to instruct him, as well as for many other reasons pertaining to our salvation, so that by them He may make him a wise heir of His eternal blessings.

4. “As I find you, I will judge you” (cf. Ez. 33:20 ). Behold, the value of a moment. Did He find you in repentance? Did He meet you in confession? Did He reach you saying “I have sinned against heaven and before you”? (Lk. 15:18 ). Did He approach you when you had tears of genuine repentance and self-reproach in your eyes? Behold, it is in one moment that God makes his decision. “The Lord is faithful in all His words” (Ps. 144:13 ). However, if He finds you otherwise, O man, then the eyes of your soul will open, and you will see what you have lost—but what is the use? If God condemns a person, repentance is futile; when the “fair” of life ends, words are pointless. It is all over! Oh, what a great mystery this is! O my God, my Sweet Jesus, open the eyes of my soul that I may see very clearly this great mystery of my eternal salvation, so that, helped by Thy grace, I may prepare provisions and not repent at the end of my life to no avail. As Thou dost see, I do absolutely nothing and am entirely leprous with passions. Grant me tears and complete repentance before the last hour comes, when I shall hear Thy voice, “Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live” (Is. 38:1 ).

 5 . Repentance is endless. All the virtues, by the grace of God, may be perfected by man, but no one can perfect repentance, since we need repentance until our last breath, for we err in the twinkling of an eye. Therefore, repentance is interminable. Oh, how good God is! Justly will my fellow sinners be punished, for they have ignored the infinite compassion of the heavenly Father. Although we err as humans, we are sluggish to say, “I have sinned!” But how can we say this, since we (and I, above all ) are forgetful and lazy and proud, too—mighty obstacles on the road to humility! Christ showed this road to us through His Cross, but unfortunately we voluntarily turn a deaf ear to Him, to our great regret. Time flies, the years roll by, and we are drawing nearer and nearer to eternity. We see this, yet a mental numbness has bound us until we (and I, first ) are thrown into hell! My God, Who has delivered the human race from the enemy’s slavery, deliver us also from the future condemnation when You come to judge the world and render to each according to his works (cf. Rev. 22:12 ). Through your prayers, may I find mercy when my wretched soul is judged, for I am afraid to meet the fearsome Judge because my conscience reproaches me.

 6 . Obedience, cutting off one’s will, self-reproach, and patience in general are what lay the foundations of the soul, while fervor and zeal preserve one’s tears. If you want to be zealous until the end of your life, diligently pursue constant tears. If you have such tears, do not be afraid; the zeal of yearning for your salvation will remain. Water normally quenches fire; the water of God, however, which streams from the eyes of the repentant, lights not a physical fire—as we know—but a divine fire burning up the enemy’s weeds!

 7 . Let us sincerely repent; let us confess frankly and in detail. Let the tribunal of God and His decision preoccupy us continuously, and let us say, “I wonder, shall I be saved or shall I face the torments of hell?” Now is the time we must shed tears of repentance—in fact, constantly. Ah, how much we should be preoccupied by the question of how white and clean our soul is! We must purify it; otherwise, we shall be unable to present ourselves before Christ as we are now. Meditation on death should not escape us at all during our monastic routine.

 8 . How precious is the time of this life! Every minute has great worth, for within one minute we can think so many things, either good or evil. One godly thought raises us to heaven, and one diabolical thought lowers us to hell. So then, behold how valuable every minute in this present life is. Unfortunately, though, we do not think about this, and hours, days, and years pass with no profit—but is it merely with no profit? How much damage we have all suffered—and I, first—without realizing it! But some day, when our soul is about to depart from our body, we shall realize it. But, alas, it will be too late; there is no room for correction then. We must realize this now when we can still make a start. We should take advantage of the precious time of our life. Truly blessed is he who compels himself and makes a start, because some day he will become spiritually rich. It is never too late, for the Lord awaits each one of us to awaken so that He may give us work. He waits until the eleventh hour (cf. Mt. 20:6 ). He tries with every means to awaken us. I pray that all of us will awaken, light our lamps, and with a vigilant eye wait patiently for the Lord to come, so that we may enter the resplendent bridal chamber of eternal bliss, the festival of the bright angels, to chant with them the resurrectional canticles, which will elevate us from theoria to theoria and to divine ascents! Then—oh, then!—we shall fully realize what a great work it is to compel ourselves in everything and that our superiors did well to push us and grieve us, for we shall say, “Behold what we see now!” Then our thanks to God will have no limits. Then we shall really render thanks worthily to God!

 9 . Let us not lose our time in vain. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who force themselves (cf.Mt. 11:12 ). Bear in mind the departure of our souls, the final hour and moment of that difficult separation. Keep in mind how the demons seek to snatch the poor soul at this final hour and lead it to Hades. Oh, what grief! What pain of soul! How the soul sighs then! Alas, what a sorrowful situation it is in at that moment! How many promises a person will make to God that he will change his life, that he will walk the path of repentance and hardship, as long as he does not die! All of us shall reach this hour and encounter the above and much more, and we shall then promise much more earnestly that we shall take the path of repentance and spiritual warfare. Let us imagine that this has already happened and that God has heard our request. Now what is left for us to do? To fulfill our promises by showing true repentance and the struggle to correct our soul. Behold the appropriate time for repentance and spiritual warfare! Little by little the time of our life is cut short, and without even realizing it, we are led to the end and to the grave! A tribunal and a Judge await us, as well as entire books in which the deeds of each one of us are written. Who is able to escape these things? No one. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ “naked and open” (Heb. 4:13 ) for each of us to give an account of his deeds, words, and thoughts. Let us bear in mind these and many more such things night and day, so that we may bring our souls to mourning and tears!

10 . Sin, as a hook camouflaged with the suitable pleasure, comes craftily as something sweet and charming to the tongue in order to attack the soul. However, he who has been lured by the momentary pleasure and its comfort will find it more bitter than poison and more destructive than a pestilent disease in his soul.

 11 . No matter what happened with your parents, confession forgives and erases everything, my dear brother in the Lord. Recall how much the prodigal son sinned (vid. Lk. 16:19-31 ), and how much he grieved his father with his reckless life. But when he repented, at once his father’s arms opened and the past was wiped out as if it had never happened. So the cure for your sad parents has already occurred, for the change of your life to a spiritual life has rectified everything. Now that they are in the true life, they are informed by God about the change of your lifestyle and your repentance, for them. If, when we sin against our true Father, God, He forgives us no matter what we have done, how much more so will our parents be pleased, there in the true life, where they see things clearly. They know human weakness and how easily youth slips, and they are aware of the great master of evil, the devil, who was the cause for all the troubles. Instead, they will be thankful to you that through you they receive aid from God. Remain fully at peace, my brother. Walk the path of repentance with a peaceful mind, and do not let the past trouble you. “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” (Phil. 3:14 ), we should look to the goal of our salvation. As soon as man says, “I have sinned!” God forgives him immediately and overlooks his sins. How much did blessed Augustine grieve that holy mother of his! Nevertheless, what sanctity and eros of God he attained later! With repentance everything is corrected. There is nothing that overcomes the compassion of God. “He is merciful to the last and provides for the first; to this one He gives, and to that one He shows kindness” (Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom ). The love of God covers and corrects everything. No one is sinless except for one-God.

 12 . [The Elder writes to one of his spiritual daughters in the world (“In the world” means not in a monastery. ]:
All that you suffered, my daughter, was because of your self-reliance. Didn’t I advise you to have humility and self-reproach? What did you trust in? don’t you know that if one boldly leans on a bamboo rod, it will break and pierce his hands? So what did you trust in? Don’t you know the saying: “Without Me you can do nothing”? (Jn. 15:5 ). Don’t you know that many Fathers fell by trusting in themselves? Humble yourself, blame yourself, weep, my daughter, wash your wedding garment. Your Bridegroom, Who is more beautiful than the sons of men, is calling you, is seeking you, and has prepared an abode for you in the heavens. The spiritual bridal chamber is extremely luxurious! Angels are serving; do not be sluggish. Arise; get some water and wash your wedding gown well, for you do not know when He will come. The time of death is unknown; it comes to us all. We do not know at what moment it will come. Repent. See how the harlot washed the immaculate feet of the Master. She shed tears more precious than myrrh, and they attracted God’s mercy and forgiveness. Then she heard, “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace” (Lk. 7:48,50 ). Repent, my daughter. Fall before the fearsome feet of the Master with mourning. Weep; cry out, “I have sinned, my Jesus. Accept me in repentance and save me. Overlook not my tears, O joy of the angels. Abhor me not, cast me not away. Thou Who hast bent the heavens by Thine ineffable abasement”. With these and many other such words importune Christ, resting assured that you will find His love three times as strong. Your repentance will give limitless joy to the angels, and exuberantly they will exclaim, “She stopped! She stopped! She stopped!” That is, she stopped short of falling. You were caught out of the flow, and now you are ascending again.

 13 . Pray for me, my brother, so that the Lord may grant me repentance before I depart on the great journey from this world—for we were not created for this earth, but for heaven. There, God has prepared a place for His children who are obedient to Him in everything He tells them. On the contrary, for all who are deaf to His divine commandments, He has prepared a place of eternal imprisonment—may God keep us from going there. Now God cries out through the Holy Scriptures, the preachers, the spiritual father: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt.3:2 ). Unfortunately, though, those who think they are smart and strong turn a deaf ear to Him with various excuses. But the all-good God, wanting to distribute His riches to man, calls “all the feeble, the weak, the things that are not” (cf.1 Cor. 1:27,28 ). “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind, that my house may be filled” (Lk 14:21,23 ), says God through the Holy Gospel. By calling the useless, His compassion is glorified more, and man is led to gratitude, for what leper counted worthy of purification would not render thanks to his benefactor? What person condemned to an eternal imprisonment would not be grateful to his Savior? Unfortunately, my brother, I do not thank God, because forgetfulness—the offspring of pride—has made me lose my head.

 14 . Beloved brother, may God, Who has visited our humbleness, grant us genuine repentance, through which God’s tribunal is propitiated. Sincere repentance is repentance that displays regret for sins committed, mourning, burning tears that break down the strongholds of sin, and sincere and frank confession. Repentance leaves nothing unhealed. If man had not been given repentance, no one would be saved. Triumph and victory are given to man through the weapon of repentance. Glory to the only wise God, Who gave man such an effective medicine that cures every kind of illness, as long as it is taken properly. Let us struggle, my brother; let us live in simplicity and innocence of heart like small children, as the Savior said: “Unless you become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.18:3 ). With simplicity and faith we are freed from evil day-dreaming, which destroys the good seeds of the Holy Spirit. Things will happen according to our faith. What you sow is what you reap. Let us ask God for compunction and mourning, and He will grant them to us so that a stream of life-giving tears may follow. Then our heart will produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Taken from  "Counsels from the Holy Mountain" Selected from the letters and homilies of Elder Ephraim

St. Theophan the Recluse-On Sickness and Sorrows

                   Consolation in Sickness and Sorrow

                              From the letters of St. Theophan the Recluse 

On sorrowful circumstances of life

Our spiritual blindness and egoism are the cause of our sorrows - the fact that we become too upset under unfavorable circumstances. You, of course, understand all this perfectly, and are able to contain your feelings within the framework of Divine Providence. I wish you inner tranquility. A heart faithful to God is always able to find peace! May the Mother of God warm you with motherly comfort in your soul!

…Everyone has to keep in mind the law in accordance with which the Lord measures our fate on earth. Everything here is from the Lord, from small things to large, and is the means of preparing us for future life. Such is the significance of illnesses and health; such is the significance of the illness of your N. On her way to a future life of bliss, she must, in accordance with God’s wise and merciful judgment, endure that which she is enduring. Come to this realization and inspire her with the same, and then all that is difficult in her illness will cease to burden her soul and will calm her. Faith is the healer of the soul, flying on the wings of hope and warmed by love.

Standing firm in this conviction, continue having your usual care for medical treatment, but with inner tranquility and giving yourself over entirely to the will of God. Let N. be of similar disposition. Earthly happiness is a good thing in its own right. But if the Lord finds that it is better for me not to have that part of such happiness which constitutes health - may the will of God be done! It suffices for me to have the love of a husband, mother, father, relatives. I offer thanks to the Lord for the former and for the latter, for what is given and for what is not given. May the Lord only grant me goodwill and patience, and such a state of mind, with which it would not be shameful to appear before the Lord.

…The Lord sent you an illness. Thank the Lord, because everything that comes from the Lord is for your good. If you see and feel that you are to blame, then begin with repentance before the Lord and regret for not having safeguarded the gift of health which He had given you. And afterwards return to the fact that the illness has come from the Lord, for all constraint of circumstances comes from the Lord and nothing happens by chance. And consequently give thanks to the Lord. Illness humbles and mollifies the soul, and eases its usual burden of many concerns.

…Everything is from God: both illness and health; and everything that comes from God is given to us for our salvation. Thus should you look upon your illness and thank God for being concerned about your salvation. In what manner that which God sends us works for our salvation - we do not know, and perhaps it is not for us to know. God sends us one thing for the sake of punishment, as a form of penance; another thing for instruction, so that a person may regain his right mind; another to deliver a person from misfortune, which would befall him were he in good health; another for a person to show his patience and thus earn a good reward; another to purify us from passions, and many other reasons… But you, as you think of your sins, should say: “Glory to Thee, o Lord, for having subjected me to penance in punishment!” When you remember that formerly you have not always thought of God, you should say: “Glory to Thee, o Lord, that Thou hast given me a reason to think of Thee more often!” When the thought comes into your mind that if you were healthy, you would do things that were not so good, then say: “Glory to Thee, o Lord, that Thou restrains me from sin,” and so on in everything… Thus be of good cheer!

…Through illness learn humility, patience, goodwill and gratitude to the Lord. That impatience overcomes you is very human. When it comes - you should chase it away. For this reason we feel the heaviness of our condition, so that there would be something to bear. If you do not feel any difficulty, then you do not need any patience. But when the feeling of oppression comes and is accompanied by a desire to be rid of it, there is nothing sinful in that. It is a natural feeling! Sin begins when, as a consequence of this feeling, the soul yields to intolerance and begins to grumble. When such a feeling comes, it must be repelled and thanks must be offered to God.

Consolation to family members on the illness of those close to their heart

In afflictions good is often concealed beneath the heart’s sorrow - for this reason it is not felt or seen, although it is truly there. It is now active in your case, too, both for N. and for yourself. What would you wish for N. - temporary well-being or eternal salvation? It is difficult for you to chose? The natural choice would be “both one and the other.” But if one cannot combine the former with the latter, then, without any hesitation, you will choose the latter, rejecting the former. Thus become convinced in your mind and in your heart that for N., due to the circumstances of her life and yours, which you do not see and do not know, it has been found necessary to cut off the enjoyment of earthly goods - either temporarily or forever. And the Lord has made it thus. Having allowed her to succumb to a difficult illness, He has thus shielded her from everything that could have had an ill effect on her condition. When the dangers pass - her health will return. If they do not pass - so will it remain. You have no reason to fear for her eternal salvation. Now she is in a sickly condition. Consequently, she will go to the Lord in that condition, in which the illness struck her. Such is her eternal fate. It can increase through your cheerful patience and faith, and placing her into God’s hands. I am, moreover, of the opinion that although the soul becomes disordered as a result of the disorder of the body, the spirit remains whole, and it increasingly matures in the depths of consciousness in the same direction, in which it was headed when the body became disordered. So summon within yourself good faith in God’s merciful providence - and use it to repel all attacks of sorrow that upset your mind and heart.

It is impossible not to sorrow; but what sense is there in killing oneself with grief? She will ail for a while and will then become well. Not all sick people die. Why should you send your daughter off to the other world when she has just become ill? The fact that she has worsened reflects the general course of illnesses. Of course, we are all in the hands of God, - and death can come to any of us at any moment. The sick person has the distinguishing characteristic that death, if it is fated to come, will not come unexpectedly. This is the advantage of your ill one. She can reflect upon herself and can prepare for her departure in a Christian manner.

It is about this that you should now be concerned much more that killing yourself with grief.

Let us assume that she dies. What’s wrong with that? All of us will die. She dies today, we will die tomorrow. What difference does it make? It is not she who dies… The body will die, while the soul will remain alive. And she will be much better off without her body than within her body.

Thus you see that not only because of illness, but also because of death, if it should come, we should not grieve. You should now get up immediately, take heart and be tranquil… and you will thus comfort all others. And your ill one should use this beneficial time to reflect upon the saving grace of death. A healthy person can seldom think of it… For this reason the Lord sends us illnesses, in order to remind us of death… and from this remembrance to lead the ailing person to concern himself, finally, with preparing oneself for death.

Consolation to the ailing

…Your thoughts about a supposedly desperate situation are not to be tolerated. They are the enemy’s work. Who can say what will happen? God alone. But the enemy, brashly declaring himself to be God, pops up everywhere with his malicious prophecies, and upsets our faith and takes tranquility away from our heart. Do not listen to him, but when he finishes his work and leaves, - you will become well again and will serve the Lord.

Whatever will be - is in God’s hands. Therefore, all our steps should be accompanied by the cry: may God’s will be done! Having given ourselves over to the will of God, we should no longer rush hither and thither, but should be in internal agreement with whatever the Lord gives us. This is the source of peace for all, but especially for the sick.

…Do not look upon ailments gloomily. They indicate God’s mercy and attention to you, rather than His inattention.

…God has entirely different thoughts about ill and healthy states than we do, and they are as far away from ours as heaven from earth. It happens that God uses illnesses to protect people from misfortunes that would have befallen them were they in good health.

…How can we say that your illness has not been sent by the Lord to prevent a misfortune occurring to you? The course of life is hidden from us, and its chance events are so incomprehensible that nothing else is left to us but to cry out: may Thy will be done, o Lord! For we know that only good comes from the Lord.

If everything comes from the Lord, the illness comes from Him also. If everything from the Lord is for our benefit, then so is your illness. Accept it all as a curative medication, though bitter, but beneficial.

…Endure your illness good-naturedly and thank God for it, because, were it not for the illness, perhaps you would have walked around topsy-turvy, while now you do everything as you should. Another advantage is that, if you were in good health and had wanted to actively work on your salvation, you would have had to keep strict fasts, say lengthy prayers, attend long church services and engage in other spiritual labors. Now all of this is replaced in you by the endurance of ailments. Bear them patiently and do not worry about anything else. Only keep your soul in good order. Your spiritual side is hale. Consequently, you should serve the Lord with it in full measure: be spiritually attentive and on guard, keep a penitent and humble spirit, remain in prayer, repel temptations, refrain from judgment, think of God and the hour of death, etc… Therein lies salvation!

…You are in failing health. Failing health can lead to failing salvation when grumbling words and cries of despair issue from the lips of the sick person. May the Lord deliver you from both misfortunes! On the basis of your thoughts and feelings you are uttering such words that the matter of your salvation is losing power. Make sure to rectify that. Good and ill health are in the hands of God’s providence for us and are the means of our salvation, whenever both the one and the other are used in a spirit of faith… But they can also lead to perdition when they are treated in a willful manner. You are in great need of patience, good-natured and submissive to God. As soon as such a disposition appears in your heart, you will immediately step on the path to salvation - into paradise. And then you will be able to take heart!

…You are in pain over your daughter’s illness. Here is what I wish to tell you: as you have already gone through all possible treatments, you are left with only one - to make peace with this grief and bear it in submission to God, having faith that this illness is necessary for the salvation of yourself and your daughter. Having thus come to peace with it, stay tranquil and pass on the same tranquility to your daughter. Remember the martyrs, who, having been tortured, were left in prison for several years, sometimes 5, 10 or 20. But they bore it all patiently and with good will, having paradise before their eyes… for their endurance.

From the letters of St. Theophanus the Recluse

Elder Ephraim Of Arizona(Philotheou)-Behind every test lurks the blessing of God

                                Elder Ephraim of Arizona

  Almost all attribute their conversion to some ordeal.

 

Sorrow is not nice. However, behind it, behind the pain, behind the sorrow, behind the test, lurks the blessing of God, the rebirth, the reforming of man, of family. Almost everyone attributes his/her conversion to some test. They believe everything goes well, then God takes their child, and then there is mourning, pain etc. Then comes the grace of God which overshadows them, making these people calm. They approach the Church, approach the confession, approach the priest. Thanks to that child they go to the Church. Their pain makes them to seek, to pray for repose, to request liturgies.
       Pain relieves the heart and makes it receptive to the word of God, while earlier it was hard and unreceptive. For example, a man during his youthful exuberance thinks, "I am and no one else is". There go the degrees, the glories, the health, the beauty and everything else. However, when he is laid in bed sick, he thinks differently. Vanity of vanity, everything is vanity. I may die, he thinks. What is the benefit of all these and he starts to think differently. It is like a man approaching him and tells him, "read this book and check what it says". He hears a word of God and then he listens to it. And if you give him a book, his pain has already made his heart suitable and he opens the book and the Bible and reads it and thus starts the repose of man. And when he is healed, immediately then he stands up and lives carefully his life and does not live like before with pride and with the fantasy he had.

Sickness and sorrow is by and large medicine of the providence of God to bring man closer to Him and increase his virtue.

       The sickness and sorrow is by and large medicine of the providence of God to bring man closer to Him and increase his virtue. Job was the best man on earth but God wanted to make him even better. Before  he was tested, Job was not famous. As soon as he was tested and fought, struggled, crowned and became rich, after that began his glory to this day. His example is the most brilliant one and empowers every man that is being tested. If he was tested being a saint, so much more us who are sinners. The result was he was made holy and was given again years of life and blessed him doubly and thrice with what he had, thus becoming a bright example throughout the centuries and for him to relax and say: "As the Lord wished so it happened. May the name of the Lord be blessed". He lowers his head and says: "God gave and God took" And even if He took my child, hasn't God given him to me? He took it. Where is my child? In heaven? So what happens there? He reposes there.

       Behind every test lurks the will of God and the benefit which naturally he could not see at that time, but with time he will know the benefit. We have many such examples.

       Like also the Saints Andronicus and Athanasia. They were a couple. He was a jeweler of great wealth etc. Part of his profit from work was used to feed his family. Another part of his profit he gave to the poor and a third of his profit was lent to people who had no money, interest free. They had two happy daughters. One day both died from sickness. Both parents went to bury them. Athanasia, the unfortunate one, would cry inconsolably over their graves. So did Andronicus. With great pain he started for home. Poor Athanasia stayed behind to mourn over their graves. "My children" and "My children" she cried. The sun was setting and the cemetery was closing. In her sorrow she saw a monk coming to her and telling her: "Lady why are you crying?"

      How could I not cry Father?" (She thought he was the priest of the cemetery). "I buried both my children, my two angels, I laid them in their graves and I and my husband are left alone. We have no more freshness anymore.

       He tells her: "Your children are in paradise with the angels. They are in the joy and grace of God and you cry? Pity, and you are a Christian.

       "So they live my children? Are they angels?"

       Of course your children are angels"

       He was the Saint of that Church. Finally both Andronicus and Athanasia became monastics and were sanctified.

 Elder Ephraim, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Philitheou.
Tested spiritual admonitions for receiving our spiritual health and salvation.
Publication, "Orthodox Kypseli" Thessalonica.

St.Isaac the Syrian-On The proper way to face sorrows

Just as the eyebrows approach each other, so are the temptations close to men. It was the economy of God to be so, with wisdom that we may receive benefit: namely, through knocking persistently, because of the sorrows, on the door of God's mercy and to enter into your mind, due to the fear of grievous events, the seed of memory of God, so that you may approach Him with supplications and your heart be sanctified through the continuous remembrance of Him. And while you ask Him, He will listen.

• The person walking the road of God must thank Him for all the sorrows that he faces, and to accuse and dishonor his negligent self, and know that the Lord who loves and looks after him, would not have allowed the grievous things to happen to wake his mind up, if he had somehow not been negligent. God may have allowed some sorrow because man has become proud and consequently he should understand and let him not become disturbed but find the cause within himself, so that the affliction may not double up, namely suffer and not wish to be treated. "In God who is the source of justice there is no injustice". May we not think otherwise.
• Do not avoid the sorrows, because being helped by them you learn the truth and love of God well. And do not fear the temptations (negative experiences) for through them you discover treasures. Pray that you may not enter into spiritual temptations, while for the bodily ones, prepare to face them with all your strength, for without them you cannot approach God. Through them comes the divine rest. Whoever avoids the bodily temptations avoids virtue.
• Without temptations the providence of God for man does not manifest itself, and it is impossible without them to receive the boldness in God and learn the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and moreover, it will not be possible to anchor the divine love in your soul. Before the arrival of temptations, man prays to God as a stranger. From the moment however he enters into temptations for the love of God and does not change opinion, let's say, he has God duty bound towards him and God considers him a genuine friend. For he fought and conquered the enemy, to fulfill the will of God.
• God does not grant any big grace without a big temptation preceding it, for according to the severity of the temptations the graces were ordained by the wisdom of God, which however men normally do not understand. By the measure of the great sorrows that the providence of God sends you, you understand the great value that His magnanimity grants you. For according to the sorrow you experience is the consolation you will receive.

• If you ask me what is the reason for all these, I will answer you: your negligence, for you did not bother to find the cure. The cure of all of them is one, and with it man's soul finds immediately the consolation it longs for. But what is the cure? "It is the humility of the heart". Without it, it is impossible to destroy the fence of temptations, in the contrary in fact you will discover that the temptations become stronger and weaken you.....

• According to the level of humility, God gives you the strength to endure calamities. And according to the measure of your patience, the weight of your sorrows becomes light and so you are consoled. And as you are consoled so does your love for God increases. And as much as you love God that much greater joy the Holy Spirit bestows on you. Our compassionate God wishing to bring the temptation of His true children to a good end, does not take but instead gives them the strength to endure. "All these gifts (consolation, love, joy) the strugglers acquire as fruit of their patience" for their souls to arrive at perfection. I wish our Christ and God to make us worthy through His grace to endure the bitterness of temptations for His love and with gratitude of our heart. Amen.

• The saints show their love to God indeed, by their suffering in His name when for example He sends them sorrows without however distancing from them, for He loves them. Through this suffering love their heart obtains Boldness, so that they may approach Him freely and with conviction that their supplications will be heard and realized. The power of prayer that has boldness is great. That is why He allows His saints to experience every sorrow and acquire experience and be assured of His help and how much He provides and cares for them. This way they acquire wisdom and good sense from temptations, that they may not become negligent, that they may not lack spiritual asceticism on both good and bad, and thus receive through their trials, the knowledge of all things they would need. For otherwise they will be swept away by ignorance and will become the mockery of demons. For if they exercised only in the good things and had no experience of struggles with the evil, they would have gone to war totally unprepared......

• Man cannot taste and value the good, if previously he did not experience the bitterness of the temptations....

• Men come to the true knowledge, when God deprives them of His power and makes them to co-experience the human weakness and the difficulty that temptations cause, the cunningness of the enemy, and what adversary they have to fight and how much they have advanced and progressed in virtue and that without the power of God they are weak towards any passion. God does this, that they may receive from all these negative experiences, true humility and to approach close to Him and wait for His certain help and to pray with patience. So where could they learn all these but through the experience of many sorrows which He allows for them to experience? For this way one acquires stable faith through these sorrows while he is assured of the divine help that he many times receives during his struggles.
• The strugglers therefore, are tempted that they may increase their spiritual wealth, the negligent though to protect themselves from whatever hurts them, the slumberous that they may be awakened, the distant ones that they may approach God and the friends of God that they may enter His Holy Abode with boldness. A son inexperienced in life cannot manage the wealth of his father and help him. For this, in the beginning God sends difficulties and hardships to His children and then He reveals His gifts. Like little children become frightened of scary sights and run, grabbing at their dress of their parents and ask for their help, so does the soul; the more upset and saddened by the fear of temptation the more it runs and clings on God and begs Him with unceasing supplications. And as temptations fall on it, one after the other, that much more it prays. However, when they stop and it recovers its comforts, normally it loses touch with reality and distances from God.

• The sorrows and dangers kill sensuality, while good times and indifference feed it. For this both God and the holy Angels are joyful in our sorrows, while the devil and his accomplices are joyful when we are lazy and have a good time.

• Leave your cares to God and in all your difficulties judge yourself, for you, yourself is the cause for all .....

• All the sad occasions and sorrows will torment us doubly if we have no patience. For with patience man turns away the bitterness of afflictions, while pusillanimity gives birth to the despair of hell. Patience is the mother of consolation; it is spiritual power that is born of a broad heart. It is difficult for man to find this power during sorrows, if he does not have the divine grace, which he acquires through persistent prayers and with tears.