Shall the righteous shine forth

July 12, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Thursday. [I Cor. 3:18-23; Matt. 13:36-43] And shall cast them (those who offend and do iniquity) into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Thus will be carried out the division of good and evil, light and darkness. Now is the period of time in which they are mixed. It pleased the Lord to arrange that the freedom of crea?tures should grow and be strength?ened in good through the struggle with evil; evil is tolerated within the vicinity of inward freedom, and in contact with a person externally. It does not determine anything, only tempts. One who feels a temptation must not fall, but enter into battle. He who conquers is freed from one temptation, and advances forward and upward to find new temptation there — and so on, until the end of his life. Oh, when will we compre?hend this meaning of the evil which tempts us, so we might arrange our lives according to this understand?ing! The strugglers are finally crowned, and pass on to the other life where there is neither sickness nor sorrows from the outside, and where they become inwardly pure like angels of God, free from the sting of tempting inclinations and thoughts. This is how the triumph of light and good is being prepared, and it will be revealed in all of its glory on the last day of the world.

Saint a Theophan the Recluse

Spiritual Content

July 8, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Saturday. [Rom. 8:14-21; Matt. 9:9-13] When someone, by his fear of God and the demands of his con?science already has an awakened thirst for spiritual things, he pos?sesses a certain sense enabling him to understand the meaning of words relating to the spiritual sphere, although they might be clothed in the form of a parable. For such people a parable does not hide the truth, but rather reveals it even more clearly. But he who is not of this disposition does not understand any spiritual content described in the form of a parable. Even if one were to offer him a word on these subjects that was not in the form of a parable he would only understand the words, and not comprehend the essence of the matter. It would go a?gainst all of his notions, and seem to him to be an absurdity which he would not hesitate to mock. This is precisely why the Lord talked to the people in parables. Whoever is spir?itually inclined will understand a parable, whereas someone with no inclinations will not understand no matter what you say. Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand… For this people’s heart is waxed gross (Matt. 13:12-15). Meanwhile, the parable did not deprive of needed instruction those who were capable of seeing the hidden truth: For who?soever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The Parable of the Sower

July 6, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Friday. [Rom. 16:1-16; Matt. 13:4-9] The parable about the sower depicts various relationships of souls to?ward the word of God. In the first group stand those who do not heed the word at all. They hear, but what is heard does not enter into their soul; it lies on its surface, like the seed by the wayside. The word does not fit in them because they have another way of thinking, other prin?ciples, other tastes. That is why it soon disappears from memory, is forgotten as if it was not heard at all. The second group is of those who hear the word willingly and re?ceive it quickly, but do not want to bear any labour to fulfil it. There?fore, they delight in the word — es?pecially its promises — until a sacri?fice is required. As soon as the ne?cessity arises to sacrifice something for faithfulness to the word, they betray it, renouncing both the word and its promises in order to cater to their attachments. The third group is of those who receive the word and begin to live according to it, but then give themselves over to many cares and sorrows of the world, to earthly concerns, which suppress all the good undertakings which had just formed under the influence of the word of God. The fourth group is of those who receive the word with full faith and resolve to live according to its requirements, with a readiness for all sacrifices and labour, and do not allow their heart to be tied to anything earthly. Sit and decide each of you, to which of these groups you belong.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Spiritual Kinship

July 5, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Thursday. [Rom. 15:17-29; Matt. 12:46-13:3] For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother. By this the Lord gives us to know that the spiritual kinship which He came to plant and raise up on the earth is not the same as fleshly kinship; although in the form of its relationships, the spiritu?al is the same as the fleshly. The spiritual also contains fathers and mothers — they are those who give birth to people with the word of truth or the gospel, as the apostle Paul says. And it contains also brothers and sisters — they are those who are born spiritually from one person and grow in one spirit. The connection between [spiritual] relatives is founded on the action of grace. It is not external, not superfi?cial, but as deep and alive as the fleshly connection, only it has its place in another much higher and important sphere. This is why it predominates over the fleshly, and when necessary, it brings the fleshly as a sacrifice to its spiritual interests without regret, in full certainty that this sacrifice is pleasing to God and is required by Him.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

He who is not with Me is against Me

July 3, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Tuesday. [Rom. 14:9-18; Matt. 12:14-16, 22-30] He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Who is with the Lord? He who lives and acts in His spirit; he who allows himself neither thoughts, nor feelings, nor desires, nor intentions, nor words, nor deeds, which would be unpleasing to the Lord and in opposition to His revealed command?ments and determinations. He who lives and acts otherwise, is not with the Lord and consequently does not gather, but scatters. What does he scatter? Not only energy and time, but also what he gathers. For example, one who gathers riches not with the Lord, amasses only riches, not sharing with others, while depriv?ing himself even of necessary things; or another gathers them, spends a part on his own luxurious lifestyle, part on donations made out of vainglory, and saves part for his heirs. In the other world he will appear with nothing — and there he will be the poorest of the poor. On the contrary, one who gathers riches with the Lord passes on what is gathered through the hands of the poor and needy, unto eternal treasuries. When such a person dies, he will find in that world all his riches intact, not scattered, although he spent them throughout his life. The same applies to the gathering of knowledge. Here scattering is even more obvious, because it can be seen how one who is intellectual not in the Lord gathers a seeming mountain of knowledge, but it is no more than rubbish — a phantom of the truth, and not the truth. They not only lack knowledge, but even loose human sense. They become delirious, like one who is asleep. Read the systems of the materialists and you will see that this is so.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Good deeds on the Sabbath

July 2, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Monday. [Rom. 12:4-5, 15-21; Matt. 12:9-13] It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. This is what the said Lord after healing a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day as a reproach to the Pharisees, who took the command?ment about the Sabbath rest so far that they even measured the num?ber of steps they could make on that day. But since it is not possible to do good deeds without movement, they would sooner agree to neglect good deeds than to allow any extra move?ment. The Saviour denounced them for this time and again, because the Sabbath required rest from worldly cares and not from deeds of piety and brotherly love. In Christianity instead of the Sabbath day, Sunday is celebrated with the same goal —rest from all worldly affairs and de?votion of that day solely to deeds of God. Christian good sense never reached the pharisaic pettiness con?cerning not doing things on Sunday; but nevertheless the permissible al?lowance for doing things on this day has been set far beyond the proper limits. Not doing things alienated the Pharisees from doing good deeds, whereas the things which Christians allow themselves are what lead them away from good deeds. On the evening before Sun?day they go to the theatre, then some other entertainment as well. In the morning they oversleep and there is no time to go to church. There are several visits, lunch, and in the evening again entertainment. Thus all time is relegated to the bel?ly and pleasing the other senses, there is no time to even remember God and good deeds.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Merciful Heart

June 29, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Friday. [Rom. 11:25-36; Matt. 12:1-8] If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guilt?less. Thus, in order to be saved from the sin of condemnation, we must obtain a merciful heart. A merciful heart not only does not condemn a seeming infringement of the law, but neither will it condemn an obvi?ous one. Instead of judgment it feels pity, and would sooner weep than reproach. Truly the sin of condem?nation is the fruit of an unmerciful, malicious heart that takes delight in debasing its neighbor, in blackening its neighbor’s name, in trampling his honor underfoot. This is a mur?derous affair, and is done in the spirit of the one who is a murderer from the beginning [John 8:44]. Here there occurs much slander as well, which comes from the same source — for that is what the devil is, a slanderer, spreading slanderousness everywhere. Hurry to arouse pity in yourself every time the evil urge to condemn comes over you. Then turn in prayer to the Lord with a compassionate heart, that He might have mercy upon all of us, not only upon the one whom we wanted to condemn, but upon us as well — perhaps even more so up?on us — and the evil urge will die.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

I Will Give You Rest

June 28, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Thursday. [Rom. 11:13-24; Matt. 11:27-30] Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. O divine, O dear, O sweetest voice of Thine! Let us all follow the Lord Who calls us! But first we must feel something diffi?cult and burdensome for us. We must feel that we have many sins, and that these sins are grave. From this feeling is born the need to seek relief. Faith will then show us that our only refuge is in the Lord and Saviour, and our steps will direct themselves toward Him. A soul de?siring to be saved from sins knows what to say to the Lord: “Take my heavy, sinful burden from me; and I will take on Thy easy yoke.” And it happens like this: the Lord forgives the sins, and the soul begins to walk in His commandments. The com?mandments are the yoke, and sins are the burden. But comparing the two, the soul finds that the yoke of the commandments is light as a feather, while the burden of sins is heavy as a mountain. Let us not fear readily accepting the Lord’s easy yoke and His light burden. In no other way can we find rest unto our souls.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Falling Away

June 27, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Wednesday. [Rom. 11:2-12; Matt. 11:20-26] The Lord showed many signs in Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin; yet the number of those who believed did not correspond to the power of the signs. That is why He severely denounced these cities and sentenced them: in the Day of Judgment it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Go?morrah, than for these cities. We need to judge ourselves according to such a model. How many signs has the Lord shown to Russia, saving it from the most powerful enemies and subduing peoples to it! How many treasures has He granted it, pouring out unceasing signs — in the holy relics and miracle-working icons scattered throughout all of Russia! And yet in our days Rus?sians are starting to turn aside from the faith: one group is falling into total unbelief, another group is fall?ing away into Protestantism, a third group is secretly weaving their own beliefs, thinking to combine spirit?ism and theological ravings with Di?vine Revelation. Evil is growing; evil beliefs and unbelief are raising their head, while faith and Ortho?doxy are weakening. Will we not come to our senses?… We will end up like the French, for instance, or others… But if that happens, how do you think it will be for us on the judgment day, after God has shown so many mercies to us? O Lord! Have mercy and save Orthodox Rus’ from Thy just and righteous threat?ening!

Saint Theophan the Recluse

We do not hear

June 26, 2012 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

Tuesday. [Rom. 10:11-11:2; Matt. 11:16-20] The Lord says that we, not heading the Gospels, are like those to whom merry songs are sung, but they do not dance; sad songs are sung, and they do not cry. You can?not do anything with them. We are promised the heavenly Kingdom, most bright and joyous, but we are unmoved, as if they were not speak?ing to us. We are threatened with impartial judgment and unending torments, but we are not alarmed; it is as if we do not hear. Downtrod?den, we have lost all feeling of true self-preservation. We move as ones being led directly to destruction, and haven’t a care for our destiny. We have lost heart, given ourselves over to carelessness — what will be, will be! Look at our state! Isn’t this why suicides are so frequent? It is the fruit of modern teachings and views on man and his [in]significance! There is progress for you! There is enlightenment! It would be better to be totally igno?rant, but save your soul with fear of God, than, having attained the title of an enlightened person, to perish unto the ages, never thinking your entire life about what will happen after death. Not a single jot shall pass from the word of God, which describes both the heavenly king?dom and hell — all will be as it is written. Take this to heart, every?one, as something which touches you personally; and take care for yourself, with all your strength, and as long as time remains.

Saint Theophan the Recluse