Self Interest

August 7, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Tuesday. [I Cor. 15:29-38; Matt. 21:23-27] When the Lord asked the question about John the Baptist, the chief priests and the elders thought, “If we answer this way or that, ei?ther way is disadvantageous for us,” and that is why they decided it would be better to use ignorance as a cover. Their self-interest tied their tongue and did not enable them to witness to the truth. If they loved truth more than themselves, there would be different words, and dif?ferent deeds. Their interest covered up the truth and would not let it reach the heart, interfered with forming a sincere conviction, and made their heart indifferent to it. And it is always this way: egotistical strivings are the original enemies of truth. All other enemies follow them and act due to them. If one investi?gates how all delusions and heresies arose, it turns out that the source of all of them is precisely this. In words we want nothing but the truth; but in fact the truth is a hin?drance which must be eliminated, and a lie set in its place which is more favourable for us. Why, for example, are there materialist-nihilists? Because the idea of God the Creator, Provider and Judge, to?gether with the idea of the spiritual?ity of the soul, hinders those people from living more broadly according to their inclinations, so they push the idea aside. It is clear from the worthlessness of their premises that the nihilists are not guided by the truth — it is desirable for them that everything be just as they think, and every phantom that reflects their thoughts they put out for show as witness to the truth. If they would sober up but a little, they would im?mediately see their lie. But they pity themselves, and therefore they re?main as they are.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Christ’s Call

August 1, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Wednesday. [I Cor. 13:4-14:5; Matt. 20:1-16] In the parable about the hirelings, even he who worked only one hour was rewarded equally to the others by the master of the house. The hours of the day in this parable is an image of the course of our life. The eleventh hour is the fi?nal time in this life. The Lord shows that even those who lived without working for Him up to that moment can start to work and please Him no less than others. Therefore, old age is no excuse; let no one despair, sup?posing that there is no point in start?ing to work. Start, and do not be cowardly; the Lord is merciful; He will give you all that He gives oth?ers, here, according to the measure of grace, and there, according to the rank of truth. Just have more fer?vour, and grieve more contritely a?bout the carelessness in which al?most all of your life was spent. You will say, the master of the house called those in the parable. So, let the Lord call me. But isn’t He call?ing? Could it really be that you do not hear the voice of the Lord in the Church, saying, come unto Me all ye, and the Apostles’ call, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20).

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Ye Shall Be Hated

July 31, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Tuesday. [Heb. 4:1-13; Luke 21:12-19] And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake. He who breathes even a little of the spirit of the world into himself becomes cold to Christianity and its demands. This indifference turns into dislike when one remains in it a long time without coming to one’s senses, and especially after picking up some?where a particle of some false teaching. The spirit of the world with its false teachings is a spirit of disliking Christ: it is of the anti?christ. It is the spread of hostile atti?tudes toward the Christian confes?sion and Christian traditions. Ap?parently something like this is hap?pening around us. So far only hol?low roars are sounding everywhere; but it will not be surprising if soon the Lord’s prophesy will begin, that, they shall lay their hands on you… and persecute you… ye shall be be?trayed… and cause you to be put to death. The spirit of antichrist is al?ways the same; what was in the be?ginning will be now, perhaps in an?other form, but with the same meaning. What should we do? In your patience possess ye your souls. Be patient, with a firm word of con?fession of the truth in your mouth and in your heart.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Envy

July 27, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Friday. [Eph. 6:18-24; Luke 4:22-30] The people of Nazareth marvelled at the word of the Lord, but never?theless they did not believe: envy prevented them as the Lord Himself revealed. Every passion opposes truth and goodness, but envy most of all, because falsehood and spite make up its essence. This passion is the most unjust and poisonous both for the one who bears it and for the one against whom it is directed. It occurs on a small scale with every?one when someone equal or inferi?or gets the upper hand. Egoism gets irritated, and envy begins to gnaw away at the heart. This is still not so tormenting if the road is still open to you; but when it is blocked off, es?pecially by the one you already en?vy, then its aggression is unstoppa?ble, and peace is impossible. Envy demands the overthrow of one’s en?emy from his place on the peak, and will not rest content until it some?how attains this, or until it ruins the envier. Good natured, well-wishing people, whose kindly sentiments prevail over egoistical ones, do not suffer from envy. This is also the way to extinguish envy for any per?son tormented by it. You must has?ten to inspire good will, especially towards the one whom you envy, and manifest it in deed; then envy will immediately abate. If you re?peat this several times, with God’s help it will entirely subside. But if you leave it the way it is, if you do not overcome yourself and force yourself to do good to the one you envy, it will torment you, dry you up, and send you to your grave.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Deny Yourself

July 26, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Thursday. [I Cor. 10:28-11:7; Matt. 16:24-28] The Lord demands deci?sive self-denial of those who want to follow Him: Let him deny himself, He says. It could be expressed like this: Cast aside your interests and pursue only the interests of the Lord. You will be fulfilling this when you al?ways do what is pleasing to Him. How can one do this? Mind careful?ly what is in you, and what around you on the outside, and discern strictly in one or another situation, be it internal or external, how to act in the way that is most pleasing to God — then, not pitying yourself and not inserting your own calcula?tions, act accordingly, with com?plete self-denial. You say, “It is hard to determine this.” No, it is not hard. We have been given clear and fixed commandments — they express what we can do to be pleasing to the Lord. All that remains is to apply them to the given situation, and this does not present any great problem. Having common sense is enough. If you cannot figure something out, ask your spiritual father or some?one else whose words you respect, and act according to his directions. But it is always better to sharpen your discernment through reading the word of God and writings of the fathers, so that you will always have a decision-maker with you.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

I Must Suffer

July 26, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Wednesday. [I. Cor. 10:12-22; Matt. 16:20-24] When the Holy Apostles confessed the Saviour to be the Son of God, He said, I must… suffer… and be killed. The work had ripened; it remained only to complete it through the death on the cross. The same thing occurs in the course of a Christian’s moral progress. While he is struggling with his passions, the enemy still hopes somehow to tempt him; but when passions have settled down and the enemy no longer has enough power to awaken them, he presents external tempta?tions, all sorts of wrongful accusa?tions, moreover, the most sensitive. He tries to plant the thought: “So what did you work and struggle for? No good will come of it for you.” But when the enemy thus prepares a war from without, the Lord sends down the spirit of patience to his struggler, thereby preparing a lively readiness in his heart for all sorts of suffering and hostility before the enemy can manage to stir up trou?ble. As the Lord said about Himself, I must suffer, spiritual strugglers al?so feel a sort of thirst for sorrows. And when the suffering and hostili?ty come, they meet them with joy, and drink them in like a thirsting man drinks cooling water.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Beware of the leaven of the Phar?isees and of the Sadducees

July 24, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Tuesday. [I Cor. 10:5-12; Matt. 16:6-12] Beware of the leaven of the Phar?isees and of the Sadducees, said the Lord. The Sadducees are a model of carelessness; the Pharisees repre?sent people who are outwardly zeal?ous. The former do nothing, where?as the latter, although they look very busy, nothing really comes of them. Similar to these are members of our modern society who are en?ticed by the ideas of humanism. You hear them talk only about the good of the people, but no good ever comes to the people, for it is all talk and no action. Their humanism is feigned; they make only the appear?ance of humaneness, but in reality they are egoists. Speech does not re?quire sacrifice — they speak lavish?ly; but when the matter touches sac?rifices, they retreat. Nowadays al?most everyone is an actor; some show off in front of others as being zealous for good, and particularly for enlightenment, and they are all quite satisfied when their own ver?bal testimony portrays them as be?ing really this way. Therefore, as soon as some charitable undertak?ing comes up among us, talk is ev?erywhere, but deeds do not come to fruition. Do not expect sacrifices from them; they have no need to help others, as long as their affairs are going well. But it also happens that, without any particular mental effort over real plans to help their neighbors, they give alms in order to be left alone. The Lord has con?demned both categories, and has commanded us to be filled with sin?cere love for one another, which does not love to show off.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

No sign will be given

July 23, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Monday. [I Cor. 9:13-18; Matt. 16:1-6] The Pharisees and Sadducees de?sired of the Lord that He would show them a sign, but they did not see the sign before their very eyes. The Lord Himself was the sign —His teaching and deeds clearly showed who He was; no additional evidence was needed. The works that I do… they bear witness of me (John 10:25), He said to the Jews. The Lord denounced them, saying, Ye can discern the face of the sky, but the signs of the times ye cannot dis?cern. Why did this happen with them? Because they lived an out?ward life, and did not enter within themselves. Without collectedness, without attentiveness and without self-searching it is impossible to no?tice or comprehend the works of God. This has continued until this day. Christianity is before every?one’s eyes as the true sign of God; but those who look at it do not see this, are shaken in faith and step a?way. Their eyes lose the ability to see the stamp of divinity in it, and they are ready to ask for special signs from heaven, like the Jews. But a sign is not given and shall not be given, because those who seek this do so only to tempt, and not in order to walk the path of Christ. Just enter onto this path, and from the first step you will see that it is di?vine, that it leads to God and brings God nearer to you. The Lord said to the Jews: “there shall no sign be giv?en… but the sign of the prophet Jo?nas.” The Lord foresaw today’s un?believers as well, and prepared for them an answer: Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn… (Matt. 24:30).

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts

July 19, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Thursday. [I Cor. 7:24-35; Matt. 15:12-21] Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. From whence in the heart? Their root lies in sin which lives within us, and their branching out, multiplying and particular ap?pearance in each person come from that person’s own will. What should one do? First, cut off all that comes from your will. This will be like someone tearing off leaves from a tree, cutting off branches and twigs, and chopping the trunk almost to its roots. Then, do not allow new sprouts to come up, and the root it?self will dry up; that is, do not allow evil thoughts to proceed from your heart, and repel and drive off those that do, and the sin which lives in us, not receiving sustenance, will slacken and completely grow weak. In this lies the essence of the com?mandment: be sober, be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8). Take heed unto thyself (1 Tim. 4:6). Gird up the loins of thy mind 1 Peter 1:13.” Together with at?tentiveness one must have discern?ment. From the heart not only bad things proceed, but also good things; yet, one should not fulfil every good thing suggested by the heart. What one should truly fulfil is determined by discernment. Discernment is a gardener’s knife; some branches it cuts off, while others it grafts in.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Simplicity of Faith

July 13, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Friday. [I Cor. 4:5-8; Matt. 13:44-54] Arriving in Nazareth the Lord found no faith there. His visible simplicity hindered the Nazarenes from seeing His invisible glory and divinity. Does not the same occur with a Christian? Christian dogmas are very simple in appearance; but for the mind which enters into them, they represent an all-embracing harmonious system in and of them?selves, which were not, nor ever could be generated by any crea?ture’s mind. Proud-mindedness, casting a fleeting glance at the sim?plicity of the Gospels, is repelled by it and begins to build its own house of knowledge, which it deems enor?mous and full of broad horizons. It is in fact no more than a towering house of cards, and the horizons are no more than mirages, phantom products of a heated imagination. But there is no point in telling him. He and his brothers are ready with their critical attacks to immediately cast anyone from the mountain into the abyss who tries to dissuade them; but the truth always passes unharmed through their midst and goes on to other souls capable of re?ceiving it.

Saith Theophan the Recluse