The newly departed servant of Christ,
Elder Justin (Pârvu) of Romania and his Words of Wisdom
Motto:
“If we would be willing to descend into our selves to correct a bit this
avalanche of wrongdoings, then our prayer will be heard, the world
would be more at peace and our life would suit more the Lord’ liking.
We have
become increasingly hostile towards each other by our own selfishness,
we see no one but our selves… and when we reach this state of no longer
caring for those near us, we encounter the greatest fall”.
Man’s freedom is at the measure of his genuine love
Freedom becomes precious only when it is
lost. Or at least, this is how we think. All his life man seeks to be
free, but does not appreciate the gift of his freedom until it is too
late. Freedom is in our body but also in our heart. Freedom is in action
but also in the mind and the intellect. Man is free by how genuinely he
loves and is attached to the values of the faith.
We are free when we accept God’s plan for
our life, and when we strive to achieve it. Being free does not mean
lethargy and bliss, but the fulfillment of your human condition.
Freedom does not mean to do what I always
wish, as many times by doing what I like I do the will of the devil.
Freedom is at the measure of man discernment, and his capacity to choose
between good and evil. Man must realize that only in Truth he can live
freely and with so much confusion in this world, he should avoid
deception. It was what Communists did not understand, that only on the
Cross the human soul gains true freedom, that all their methods of
torture and psychological pressure to re-educate us, have made more
saints than slaves, have sanctified our land by the martyrs blood.
Freedom is hard to understand when one
has not lived in those times [of persecution], and our Christians today
barely reflect of this past.
The thirst for God and the love for all people
The thirst for God directs us towards the
love of our neighbor and vice versa. So great is the power of love that
one who reaches a genuine love for all people denying oneself, receives
the gift of healing.
This is the true “follower” of Christ!
Such man loves with the love of Christ all those fallen, thus partakes
in Christ’ mission on earth and save himself.
Man is half love, half struggle
(Excerpt from an interview given by the Elder Justin in 2007)
Q: – Father Justin, from your experience
of “burying yourself in man suffering”, what do you think, does man
need: to be understood or to be loved?
Elder Justin: – Man needs to be loved.
But to love him, you must first understand him. If you see him fallen
down, then you must give him your hand. The love of neighbor is one’
measure of the love for God. If you cannot love the one near you, if you
do not help him, you cannot say you love God.
The love of neighbor is the first step
towards salvation, on this step one must labor until he reaches the
greatest love for God.
Q: – During the communist regime, we have
been [spiritually] poised by the slogan “new man”. Do you think we
ended up with this “new man”?
Elder Justin: – You mean, in a
materialistic sense? Maybe how the communists had imagine a man freed
from the “bondage” of faith and of the Holy Spirit…! But a new man
purified and renewed… not so.
But I want to speak more of the new man
reborn in Christ, a man that’s quite rare in our present times. The
renewal of man and of the world can happen only through the Resurrection
of Christ, in its profound meaning. This is the new man, whom every
mother preparing to bring babies into the world, must dream of modeling.
Q: – Einstein once said that “the progress made by man, compared with the development of his character, is enough to terrify …”
Elder Justin: - Yes… for a soul that’s
at peace with itself can fit the whole world within; while in the soul
that’s bitter, soured and distressed, nothing can enter…
Q: – How do you think man should be?
Elder Justin: - Man is – or should be! – Half love and half sacrifice, struggling to keep love undefiled.
Q: – A great thinker of the last
century, Carl Gustav Jung said: “For a young man is almost a sin or at
least a risk to be too much preoccupied with himself, while for the
elder man, it is a duty and a necessity to commit to a more serious self
study.” How do you see this?
Elder Justin: - At the end of this
search man must find God. God made man in His own image, and God dwells
in everyone. Young or old, man must clean up the inside of his being,
for no one knows when the end comes…
Q: – Someone said that “in an empty mind, the devil finds shelter”…
Elder Justin: - He is speaking of the
man who has the basket always full, for he cares for the wheat needed to
be milled. And this wheat is our constant cry to God: “Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, save us.” If the enemy finds our mind wandering in
useless things, he will enter and find shelter directing it at his
pleasure (…)
Q: – Is there a question that man is rendered to never find the answer in this life?
Elder Justin: - It depends on what
someone wants to know. Man has all the answers within himself. About his
birth, his life and the meaning of his salvation. But if he wants to
find answers to meaningless questions, then he will be constantly
miserable. If he seeks answers to questions related to his faith, his
purpose in life, he will find happiness.
Q:- Is doubting a sin for the Christian?
Elder Justin: - Yes, but there are
“permitted” doubts. A doubt that you’re still alive after a fervent
prayer, when your whole being had burned in prayer… This kind of doubt
is allowed.
Q: – Father, what is humility?
Elder Justin: - Humility is a fair
self-assessment of our human dimensions in relation to the [universe]
infinite. Humility accompanied by patience move mounts, that’s how
powerful can become for any Christian…
Q: – What is Golgotha [Calvary] for today’ Christian?
Elder Justin: – Man’ unbelief makes every day into a Golgotha.
Q: – Man today is more skeptical than
fifty years ago? What can you say to encourage him to go forward, to
cope with the trials of life?
Elder Justin: – Our modern man puts too
much heart into trifles and details, is assaulted by a lot of false
things and does not know how to choose. If you choose wisely, things
will become easy and the life beautiful. If you choose wrongly, you are
struggling. If you doubt that you have chosen well, your heart is also
troubled. Our contemporary man has become too materialistic, a subject
to the new tyrant: money. Everywhere we look, we hear that money is
everything, the master of this world. He, who makes money his master,
makes himself a servant to the devil.
Today, many dramas arouse not from
differences in ideas, but from the battle with money, with all that is
material. Man bought by it losses his faith and his values and becomes a
mare currency.
Q: – How do you define the word happiness? … What advice would you give to Christians who come to you and say they are unhappy?
Elder Justin – Happiness is when you meet with the love of Christ humbly in prayer.
People understand happiness differently.
Some who want much may not get it, and feel unhappy. While others may
desire less, receive it and are content….
Q: – So happiness is at the measure of man…
Elder Justin: – Happiness is the faith
that dwells in us. We have seen people that have many riches, great
social positions and they’re still unhappy, because they lock faith!
Q” – There is a story in the Egyptian
Paterikon: it happened that a wise elder once sat at the table with
several brothers; as they were eating, the elder saw in the spirit how
some ate honey, others bread, and some others dung. And the elder
marveled and prayed to God, saying, “Lord, reveal to me this secret, how
is that the same food is on the table before all, but they seem to eat
different food.” And a voice came, saying, “They who eat honey are those
who with fear, trembling and spiritual joy sit at the table and pray
unceasingly so their prayers go up to God as incense. Those that eat
bread give thanks to God for the food, and they who eat dung, are those
who complain: “this is good, this is rotten”….
Elder Justin: – Yes, gratitude for what one has received is after all, a measure of man’ faith.
We need to pray with our hearts
• We must honored with much gratitude the sacrificial love of our martyrs.
• It is very important to know how to
pray. And often, we monks in monasteries do not pray, but we just seem
to be praying. It’s not enough to go to church and to sit there like you
did your duty or obligation. We must insist on inner prayer. In vain we
say many prayers with our mouth or our mind, if we do not sail deeply,
if we do not live what we pray.
• In our times, even the laity need to
deepen the Jesus prayer, as it will become our only salvation – prayer
into the heart; the heart is the root of all passions and there we must
labor. In the past we were able to go by in a more easy – superficial
way, but for the times awaiting us, this will not be enough. If
we will not have the prayer rotted in our hearts, we will not resist the
psychological persecution awaiting us, because soon they will come with
[hidden] methods to re-educate our minds. (the elder had the gift of prophesy/ clairvoyance, tr. note).
• Today I find that indifference [acedia]
is the hardest sin. Our hearts no longer move in prayer, we have no
tears of repentance. There will come a time when only those who feel the
grace of the Spirit will be able to distinguish good from evil, for on
its own, the human mind cannot discern. There will be times of great confusion and only the Holy Spirit can save us.
So, pray my beloved, pray so you may not enter into [temptation] deception!
For only through prayer we can receive God’s grace. If we do not pray
and continue in laziness and carelessness, then it is possible to lose
the instinct of repentance. God forbid that we may not lose conscious!
(Translated by EC)
