Simplicity Of Faith

December 22, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Friday. [Heb. 11:8, 11-16; Mark 9:33-41] The Saviour sets forth a child as a model of faith and life. Simplicity of faith gives birth to simplicity of life; from both of these comes a model moral system. Let philoso‐phizing in here, and it will make disorder within; under the appear‐ance of better arranging affairs, it will throw one’s entire life into dis‐order. Philosophizing always cries, “This is not so, that is not so; let me establish everything in a new way; the old is worthless, boring.” But it has never yet, in any place, ar‐ranged anything good; it only throws things into confusion. The mind should obey what is com‐manded by the Lord. True, the mind is called “the tsar in the head”; how‐ever, this tsar is not given legislative power — only executive power. As soon as it starts making laws, it con‐structs it knows not what. Moral, re‐ligious, worldly, and political orders are thrown into confusion, and ev‐erything goes upside down. It is a great misfortune for society when the mind in it is given freedom to soar, with no restraint by Divine truth! This is God’s wrath. About it is said, hide thyself a little for a mo‐ment, until the indignation pass a‐way (Isaiah 26:20) During this apo‐gee of mental self-wilfulness it is best to wrap oneself in simplicity of faith. Just as during a storm it is bet‐ter to sit at home and not step out to fight self-assuredly with it, so dur‐ing stormy self-mindedness it is bet‐ter not to step out into battle with it, or to seize the weapon of philoso‐phizing, or resist it. Simplicity of faith is stronger than philosophiz‐ing; clothe yourself in it, like in ar‐mour, and you will withstand.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Watch ye and pray always

December 20, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[Heb. 7:1-6; Luke 21:28-33]

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. “That day,” which means the last day of the world or of each of us, comes like a thief and captures like a net; that is why the Lord says: Watch ye therefore and pray always (Luke 21:36). While since satiation and vain fussing are the top enemies of vigil and prayer, one is forewarned not to permit oneself to be weighed down by food, drink and worldly worries. For one who has eaten, drunk, made merry; who has slept enough but does it again what vigil can there be? Is one who is occupied solely with worldly things, day and night, up for prayer? “What should I do?” you say. “It is not possible to go without food; and we have to procure it. So we have to concern ourselves with this.” But the Lord did not say, “do not work, do not eat, do not drink,” but rather, let not your heart be weighed down with this. Work with your hands, but keep your heart free; if you must eat—eat, but do not burden yourself with food; drink wine when necessary, but do not let it lead to disturbance of your head and heart. Divide your outer from your inner and make the latter your life’s work, and the former a sideline; keep your attention and heart in the latter, and only your body, arms, legs and eyes in the former. Watch ye and pray always, that you may be made worthy to stand fearlessly before the Son of Man. In order to be made worthy of this, it is necessary to establish yourself before the Lord while you are still here in your life; there is one means for this—vigilant prayer in the heart performed by the mind. He who is in such a state of mind will not be taken unawares on “that day”.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Follow Me

December 19, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Wednesday. [Heb. 10:1-18; Mark 8:30-34] Having invited people to follow Him with the cross, the Lord shows also shows this path, elimi‐nating the main obstacles to it, which are not outer, but inner, root‐ed in the human heart. It is as though He is saying, “If you want to follow Me, first of all do not pity yourself, for he who pities himself will destroy himself; second, do not have anything to do with self-inter‐est, for, What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul (Mark 8:38)? Third, do not be embarrassed by what peo‐ple will say or how they will look at you: Whosoever therefore shall be a‐shamed of Me and of My words, in this adulterous and sinful genera‐tion, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy an‐gels. Self-pity, self-interest, and em‐barrassment are the main chains by which a person is held in a life not pleasing to God, on the path of pas‐sions and sin. They are the main ob‐stacles to a sinner’s conversion; they are the main object of spiritual struggle in a person who repents and who already has begun to bring forth fruits of repentance. As long as these threads are not cut, the Christian life in us is unreliable, full of stumbles and falls, if not always outer, then inner. Let everyone look attentively at himself; if there is anything in you of what is said a‐bove, take care to give it up: other‐wise you can not hope to rise to per‐fection in Christ, although you may outwardly be very proper.

Saint Theophan the recluse

God will take care of everything

December 18, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Monday. [Heb. 8:7-13; Mark 8:11-21] The Lord and the disciples sailed to the other side of the sea. The disci‐ples had forgotten to bring bread; they had with them only one loaf, and were beginning to wonder what they should do. Knowing their thoughts, the Lord reminded them about the filling of the four thou‐sand, and then five thousand peo‐ple, thus uplifting them to the firm hope that with Him, they will not die of hunger, though they have not a single loaf of bread. How much anxiety people get from thoughts a‐bout an unknown future! There is only one relief from this anxiety —hope in the Lord; a sensible exami‐nation of what has already occurred with us and with others enlivens and strengthens. There is not a sin‐gle person to be found who has nev‐er in his life experienced some un‐expected deliverance from misfor‐tune, or unexpected turns of his life for the better. Revive your soul with remembrance about these instances when gloomy thoughts begin to weary it about what to do. God will arrange everything for the better now, as before. Rely upon Him. He will send you good humor even be‐fore your deliverance, and you will not even notice your misfortune. Mercy shall encircle him that hopeth in the Lord (Ps. 31:10) Examine ex‐periences of this in holy Scripture, in the lives of saints, in your own life, and in the lives of your ac‐quaintances, and you will see, like in a mirror, how The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him (Ps. 144:19). Then fears about your fate will not trouble your soul.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

House of Prayer

December 11, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[II Tim. 3:16-4:4; Luke 19:45-48]

My house is the house of prayer. And indeed, just enter into a church, and it already calls you to prayer. Everything there is disposed and done in order to dispose one to and assist prayer. Therefore, if you want to stir up prayer in your heart, go more often to the church of God. At home you will not pray as you can in church. There are those who pray warmly at home too, but if they pray this way at home, how much higher is their prayer in Church? But when you are in church, be there not only in body, but rather in spirit. Stand where it is quieter, and beholding the Lord before you with your mind, pour out before Him your soul. Chase away daydreams, do not allow concerns, and heed only one job—the job of prayer. Lift up your heavy soul on high and break up its coarseness through contemplation of Divine things. If you have some [sin on your conscience], remove it from yourself through repentance and a promise of correction. If your conscience is not satisfied, add deeds of self-denial and love. Standing in church, prepare for how you will be outside of church for the rest of the time, prepare yourself to never step away from the Lord in thought, but always to see Him before you, so that your steps would not stray from the right path to the wrong one. Then, when you come to church it will be easier for you to be as you ought to be there. By standing appropriately in church it will be easier for you to hold your attention before the Lord when you are outside of church.… Thus your [state of] abiding in the Lord will grow higher and higher. What more could one desire?

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Death Awaits

December 9, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[Eph. 1:16-23; Luke 12:32-40]

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. We must be ready at every hour — one does not know when the Lord will come, ei‐ther for the Last Judgment, or to take you from here; they are the same for you. Death decides every‐thing. After it comes the results of your life, you can be content with what you have sought to gain for all of eternity. If you sought what is good, your lot will be good; if you sought what is evil, then your lot will be evil. This is as true as it is true that you exist. All of this could be decided this moment — here at this very moment, as you read these lines, and then — the end to all: a seal will be set to your existence, which nobody can remove. This is something to think about! But one never ceases to be amazed at how little people think about it. What is this mystery wrought over us! We all know that death is around the corner, that it is impossible to es‐cape it, but meanwhile almost no‐body thinks about it — and it will come suddenly and seize us. Even then… Even when a fatal disease seizes a person he still does not think that the end has come. Let psychologists decide this from a sci‐entific aspect; from the moral aspect it is impossible not to see here an in‐comprehensible self-delusion, alien only to one who is heedful of him‐self.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Judgement of the Faithful and Unfaithful

December 7, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[II Tim. 1:1-2, 8-18; Luke 19:12-28]

The parable of the ten pounds portrays the entire history of mankind until the second coming of Christ. In it the Lord speaks of Himself, of His sufferings, death, and resurrection to the Heavenly Father, to reign over mankind—all of which is His birthright. Those who remain on the earth are divided into two parts: servants, serving the Lord through obedience to the faith, and those who do not want to have Him as king and serve Him, because of their unbelief. To those who approach the Lord through faith, with a readiness to serve Him, are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the holy mysteries: this is a pound—and every person numbered amongst the believers receives it for serving. When everyone from the human race capable of submitting to the Lord submits to Him, then He will come again, as One who has received the Kingdom. His first job will be to judge among the servants: who acquired what with the grace given. Then will follow judgment also over those who did not want to have Him as king; that is who either did not believe, or who fell from faith. Imprint these truths in your mind and do not lose attention to them, for then there will be a decision—do not expect any changes. Flee unbelief, neither believe idly, but bring forth the fruits of faith. Finding you faithful over a few things, the Lord will make you ruler over many things (cf. Matt. 25:21).

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Understanding the Mysteries

December 6, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Tim. 6:17-21; Luke 18:31-34]

The Lord told the disciples about His suffering, but they did not understand anything He was saying; This saying was hid from them. Later, the faithful determined not to know any thing, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (I Cor. 2:2). The time had not come, they did not understand any of this mystery; but when the time came—they understood, and taught everyone, and interpreted for everyone. This happens with everyone, not only with relation to this mystery, but to all the other mysteries as well. What is not understood in the beginning, with time becomes understood; it is as if a ray of light enters the consciousness and brightens what was formerly dark. Who elucidates it? The Lord Himself, the grace of the Spirit that lives in the faithful, one’s guardian angel—only in no way the person himself. He is a recipient, and not the cause. On the other hand, another thing may remain incomprehensible for one’s whole life—not only for individuals, but for all of humanity. Man is surrounded by things he does not understand—some are explained to him in the course of his life, while others are left until the next life, where it will be seen. This applies even to minds enlightened by God. Why is it not revealed here? Because some things are incomprehensible, so there is no point in talking about them; others are not told out of considerations for health— that is, it would be harmful to know prematurely. Much will become clear in the other life, but other subjects and other mysteries will be revealed. For a created mind there is never a surplus of inscrutable mysteries. The mind rebels against these bonds: but whether you rebel or not, you cannot sever the bonds of mystery. Become humble, proud mind, beneath the strong hand of God—and believe!

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Receive the Kingdom of God as a little child

December 5, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Tim. 5:22-6:11; Luke 18:15-17, 26-30]

Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. How is one to receive it as a little child? Here is how: in simplicity, with full heart, without a moment’s thought. A rational analysis is not applicable in the realm of faith. It can have place only on its threshold. An anatomist divides the whole body into its details, but does not see life. So also reason, no matter how much it reasons, does not comprehend the power of faith. Faith itself provides the contemplations which taken together show that faith completely satisfies all the needs of our nature, and obliges our consciousness, conscience, and heart to receive the faith. They receive it, and having received it, do not want to fall behind. Then, it is like tasting pleasant and healthy food. Having tasted once, we know that it is suitable, and we rank it amongst the nourishing substances. Chemistry does nothing to force this conviction, neither before nor after the tasting. Our conviction is founded upon direct, personal experience. Thus, the believer knows the truth of the faith directly. Faith itself instils in him the unshakeable conviction that it is faith. How, then, could faith be a faith of reason? In this lies the reasonableness of faith, to directly know that it is faith. Reason only ruins things, cooling faith and weakening life according to faith; but the main thing is that it is arrogant, and chases away God’s grace—an evil in Christianity of the first degree.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Pitying Yourself

December 4, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Tim. 5:11-21; Luke 17:26-37]

Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. One must understand it this way: to save your life means to pity yourself, while to lose your life means not pitying yourself—that is, on the path of the Lord’s commandments, or in working for the Lord. So, it is like this: he who works for the Lord, fulfilling His commandments without pitying himself, is saved; but he who pities himself, perishes. If you pity yourself you will unfailingly be found as a transgressor of the commandments and, consequently, an unprofitable servant; and what is the sentence for an unprofitable servant? Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30). Make an effort to watch yourself if only for a single day, and you will see that self-pity distorts all of our [good] deeds and kills the desire to do them. Without labour and effort, you will not be able to do anything; but if you regret forcing yourself—it all stops there. There are things which you must do, whether you want to or not. Such things are done without fail, difficult as they may be. But here self-pity is overcome by self-pity. If you don’t do them, there will be nothing to eat. But since what is required by the commandments are not of such nature, they are always omitted out of s elf-pity. You make condescensions to yourself when it comes to bad deeds, also out of self-pity. You hate to refuse yourself what you want and so the desire is fulfilled, even though it is either outright sinful, or will lead to sin. Thus it always goes with one who pities himself—what he should do, he does not, and what he should not do, he indulges himself in doing; and he ends up good for nothing. What salvation can there be here?

Saint Theophan the Recluse