Power and Meaning of Holidays

December 12, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[II Tim. 2:20-26; Luke 19:37-44] The people cry out: “ho­ sanna!” — while the Lord weeps. Does not something similar occur at our church celebrations? In those days, there was a solemn resem­ blance; but the Lord looked at what was in the souls invisibly, and saw it to be worthy of weeping. For us also, the holiday is always visibly festive; but is everyone’s inner mood this way? One has no under­ standing at all of the power and meaning of holidays; another grop­ ingly feels something darkly, but sees nothing clearly; while another remains almost unnoticed, but his feeling and mood are worthy of the festive occasion. Our holidays take many sacrifices. But how many of them are intended for the Lord and one’s brothers and sisters? Either none, or the most insignificant bit; one’s belly and vain rushing around take almost all. This cannot be con­ cealed from the Lord, and it is not surprising if, to speak in a human way, He weeps when we utter fes­ tive exclamations. These are those redeemed, justified, adopted as sons!… They gave a promise, took on an obligation to walk in the spir­ it and not commit fleshly lusts, while here what goes on among them? The sons of the Kingdom are worse than the basest slaves!…

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The Lord’s Mercy Towards Sinners

December 1, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Tim. 1:18-20, 2:8-15; Luke 15:1-10] The parable about the stray sheep and the lost silver piece. How great is the Lord’s mercy to­ ward us sinners! He leaves all those who are proper and turns to the im­ proper to correct them; He seeks them, and when He finds them, He Himself rejoices and calls all the heavens to rejoice with Him. How is it that He seeks them? Does He not know where we are who have step­ ped away from Him? He knows and sees all; but if it were only a matter of taking and transferring them to His own, all sinners would immedi­ ately reappear in the same ranks. But one must first dispose them to repentance, so that their conversion and return to the Lord would be free; and this cannot be done by command or other external order. The Lord seeks a sinner by guiding him to repentance. He arranges ev­ erything around him so that the sin­ ner comes to his senses, and, seeing the abyss into which he has been rushing, returns. All the circum­ stances of life are directed in this way, all meetings with moments of sorrow and joy, even words and looks. And the inner actions of God through the conscience and other right thoughts lying in the heart never cease. How much is done to convert sinners to the path of vir­ tue, while sinners still remain sin­ ners!… The enemy covers them in darkness and they think that every­ thing is all right, and all will pass. If worries arise they say, “Tomorrow I will stop,” and remain in their for­ mer state. Thus day after day pass­ es; indifference to their salvation grows and grows. A bit more and it will harden into sin. Who knows if conversion will come?

Saint Theophan the Recluse

God Pleasing Deeds

November 28, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Tim. 1:1-7; Luke 14:12-15] As an indicator of whom to in­ vite to a dinner take for yourself a rule: do not do anything for your neighbor with a view to recompense from him here. But this does not mean that you will spend every­ thing in vain. In due course all will be returned to you. In the Sermon on the Mount about all God-pleasing deeds —prayer, fasting, and alms —the Lord commanded to do them se­ cretly. Why? Because the Heavenly Father will reward you openly. Therefore, a Christian should pre­ pare future bliss for himself through all his labours in life; he should build himself an eternal home, and send provisions there in advance for all eternity. This is not being mercenary, because one’s own material interests as such are limited to this life, while [the fu­ ture] life is to detriment of these in­ terests. Furthermore, it is impossi­ ble to live this way without faith, hope and love towards the Lord. Acting according to the command­ ments in hope of recompense is also an abstract action. And yet it is clos­ er and more distinct for the heart than anything else which is too un­ real, as for example to do good for the sake of good. You will not find the latter anywhere in Scriptures. The higher incentive is here: do ev­ erything for the sake of the Lord and do not fear loss.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Lord Hear My Prayer

November 28, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[Eph. 2:14-22; Luke 8:41-56] Jai­ rus openly, in front of everyone, fell to the Saviour’s feet beseeching the Lord to heal his daughter, and was heard. The Lord, saying nothing, immediately arose and went to his house. On the way to Jairus’ house a woman with an issue of blood was healed, of course also not without prayer on her part,although she did not appeal in word and did not fall down at the Lord’s feet — she had a heartfelt prayer of faith. The Lord heard her and gave her healing. It all occurred secretly. The woman with the issue of blood turned to the Lord in her heart; the Lord heard this wail of the heart and granted her petition. Both this woman and Jairus had essentially the same prayer, although we can discern certain degrees in them. Such pray­ ers full of faith, hope and devotion never go unheard. People some­ times say, “I pray and pray, but my prayer still is not heard.” Labour to ascend to a measure of prayer that cannot be refused, and you will see why it was not heard. Whether you are in a prayerful situation like Jai­ rus, or in a simple, ordinary one, like everyone around him, such as the woman with the issue of blood, when true prayer arises in your heart it will undoubtedly reach the Lord and incline Him towards mer­ cy. The question is how to attain such prayer. Labour, and you will attain it. All prayer rules have as their object to lift up those who pray to such a measure of prayer, and all who sensibly follow this course of prayer reach their goal.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The Good Seed

November 23, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Cor. 1:1-9; Matt. 13:24-30] The good seed was sown, but the enemy came and sowed tares a­ mong the wheat. The tares in the Church are heresies and schisms, and in each of us they are bad thoughts, feelings, desires, and pas­ sions. A person accepts the good seed of the word of God, decides to live in a holy way, and begins to live in this way. When such a person falls asleep, that is, when his atten­ tion toward himself weakens, then the enemy of salvation comes and places evil ideas in him, which if not rejected at the start ripen into desires and dispositions, introduc­ ing their own spheres of activity, which mix themselves in with good deeds, feelings and thoughts. Both remain together this way until the harvest. This harvest is repentance. The Lord sends the angels — a feel­ ing of contrition and the fear of God, and they come in like a sickle, then burn up all the tares in a fire of painful self-condemnation. Pure wheat remains in the grain-house of the heart, to the joy of the man, the angels, and the most Good God wor­ shipped in the Trinity.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The work of the Lord is our first priority

November 14, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgement with the men of this generation, and con­ demn them. For what? For indiffer­ ence to the work accomplished by the Lord before their eyes. That queen, upon hearing about Solo­ mon’s wisdom, came from afar to hear him, but these men,having be­ fore their face the Lord Himself, did not heed Him, although it was obvi­ ous that He was higher than Solo­ mon, as the sky is higher than the earth. And the queen of the south condemns everyone who is indiffer­ ent to God’s works, because the Lord always, even among us, is as obviously present in the Gospel ac­ counts as He was then. Reading the Gospels we have before our eyes the Lord with all of His marvellous works, for they are as doubtless as the testimony of one’s own eyes. Meanwhile, what is more attentive to the Lord as that which is im­ pressed upon our souls? We have closed our eyes or turned them the other way; this is why we do not see; and not seeing, we do not de­ vote ourselves to works of the Lord. However, this is no excuse, but rath­ er the reason behind our unheed­ fulness, which is as criminal as what comes from it. The work of the Lord is our top priority — that is, the salvation of the soul. Further­ more, we should heed what comes from the Lord even if it is not direct­ ly related to us; ever more so should we heed what is directed at us for the accomplishment of our essential work, the significance of which ex­ tends throughout eternity. Judge for yourselves how criminal it is to dis­ regard such a matter!

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The Rich man and Lazarus

November 13, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[Gal. 6:11-18; Luke 16:19-31] The parable about the rich man and Lazarus shows that those who do not live as they should will suddenly wake up to reality, but they will no longer have the opportunity to cor­ rect their state. Their eyes will open and they will clearly see where the truth lies. Remembering that on the earth there are many who are blind as they were, they would like some­ one to be sent from the dead for the assurance that one must live and understand things only according to the indication of the Lord’s Revela­ tion. But they will be denied even this, because for those who desire to know the truth, Revelation alone is a witness. But for those who do not desire it, and do not love the truth, even the resurrection of the dead will not be convincing. The feelings of the rich man in this parable are probably felt by everyone who de­ parts this life. Consequently,accord­ ing to the conviction of that world which will be the conviction of us all, the only guidance for us on the path of life is the Lord’s Revelation. But there, for many, this conviction will have come too late — it would have been more useful here, but not everyone had it. We will believe, at least, the testimony of those there, putting ourselves into their state. Those who are in torments do not lie; pitying us they want our eyes to be opened, that we not come to the place of their torment. We cannot say of this subject as we often do of current affairs, “Maybe somehow things will go all right.” No; it will not just go all right somehow. We must be fundamentally certain that we will not find ourselves in the place of the rich man.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest

November 12, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[II Cor. 8:1-5; Luke 8:16-21] Nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Therefore, no matter how much we hide of our bad deeds, a record of them is made in­ dependently of us, which in its time will be presented. What is the parchment on which this record is written? Our conscience. We some­ times force it to be silent — and it is silent. But although it is silent, it does its work, keeps a most precise chronicle of our deeds. What is one to do if many bad things are written there? One must wipe out what is written there. With what? With tears of repentance. These tears will wash away everything and not a single trace will remain of these bad things written. If we do not wash them away, then at the judgement we ourselves will have to read ev­ erything written. But since then the truth will reign in our conscious­ ness, we ourselves will pronounce our judgement, and the Lord will confirm it. Then there will be a deci­ sion which cannot be appealed, be­ cause each person will condemn himself, and will have nothing to do with anyone else. All of this will oc­ cur in the twinkling of an eye: you will look and see what you are. You will immediately hear from the Lord, Who is omnipresent, a confir­ mation of the judgement; and then it will be the end of everything…

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Why our prayers are left unanswered

November 10, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Thess. 2:1-8; Luke 11:9-13] The Lord convinces us to pray with the promise of His hear­ ing, explaining this promise as the soft-heartedness of a natural father, favourably disposed to the petitions of his children. But here He hints at the reason why sometimes our prayers and petitions are not heard or are not fulfilled. A father will not give His children a stone instead of bread, or a serpent instead of a fish. If a natural father does not do this, how much more will the Heavenly Father not do it? And yet our peti­ tions not infrequently are similar to petitions for a serpent and a stone. It seems to us that we are asking for bread and fish; while the Heavenly Father sees that what is requested will be for us a serpent and a stone — and does not give us what we ask for. A father and mother pour out before God heartfelt prayers for their son, that He arrange for him what is best, but in addition they ex­ press what they consider to be bet­ ter for their son, that is, that he be alive, healthy and happy. The Lord hears their prayer and arranges for their son what is best, not according to the understanding of those ask­ ing, but as it is in reality for their son: He sends a disease from which their son dies. Those who think that everything ends with the present life will feel that the Lord has not heard them, but rather did the op­ posite of what they asked, or left the person about whom they pray to his own fate. But those who believe that the current life is only a prepara­ tion for the other life have no doubt that the son for whom they prayed fell sick and died precisely because their prayer was heard and because it was better for him to leave here than to remain here. You will say: then why pray? No, you must pray; but in prayers for specific things you must always keep in mind the condition: “if, O Lord, Thou Thyself deem this to be saving.” Saint Isaac the Syrian advises to shorten all prayer to this: “Thou knowest, O Lord, what is needful for me: do un­ to me according to Thy will.”

Saint Theophan the Recluse

No man knoweth… who the Father is, but the Son

November 7, 2011 | Saint Theophan, Uncategorized

[I Thess. 1:1-5; Luke 10:22-24] No man knoweth… who the Fa­ ther is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. The Son was on the earth and revealed every­ thing necessary for us Himself and through the Holy Spirit which acted in the apostles. Consequently, what you find in the Gospels and the ap­ ostolic writings is all you will and can know about the Father and Godly things. Do not seek more than this, and do not think to find apart from this anywhere else the truth a­ bout God and God’s plans. What a great treasure we possess!… Every­ thing has been said already. Do not rack your brains, just accept with faith what has been revealed. It has been revealed that God is one in es­ sence and triune in persons — the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; accept this with faith and uphold it. It has been revealed that the thrice-hypo­ statical God created all through the word, preserves all in His right hand, and is providential toward everything; accept this with faith and uphold it. It has been revealed that we were in a blessed state and fell, and that for our restoration and redemption the Son of God, the sec­ ond person of the Most Holy Trinity, was incarnate, suffered, died on the cross, was resurrected and ascend­ ed into heaven — accept this with faith and uphold it. It has been re­ vealed that one who desires to be saved must believe in the Lord, and accepting divine grace in the holy mysteries, live, with its help, accord­ ing to the Lord’s commandments, struggling with the passions and lusts, by means of corresponding spiritual endeavours — accept this with faith and do it. It has been re­ vealed that whosoever lives accord­ ing to God’s direction enters after their death into bright dwelling places, the pre-beginning of eternal bliss; while whosoever does not live thus, upon death will pre-begin to experience the torments of hell —accept this [revelation] with faith and thus give yourself understand­ ing, and inspire yourself for good and spiritual endeavours. Thus ac­ cept all with faith and keep it faith­ fully. There is no need to rack your brains over your own invented things. Do not listen to those who show off their intelligence — they do not know where they are going.

Saint Theophan the Recluse