Κατ' αρχήν το θέμα αυτό είναι καθαρά πνευματικό, πού δεν έχει καμία σχέση με ενδοκοσμικές σκέψεις, φεμινιστικού είδους αντιλήψεις και λογικοκρατικές απόψεις. Το θέμα της γυναικείας αδιαθεσίας ή όπως διαφορετικά ονομάζεται το ακάθαρτον αυτής λόγω ρύσεως αίματος ή της εχούσης περίοδο, ή της γυναικός της ευρισκομένης εν αφέδρω, χρειάζεται αφ' ενός μεν θεολογικό λόγο, αφ' ετέρου δε θεολογική σιωπή.
Οφείλουμε να διατυπώσουμε τη θέση της Εκκλησίας, ότι δεν επιτρέπεται η προσέλευση στη Θεία Κοινωνία των γυναικών εκείνων πού βρίσκονται σε «περίοδο».
Αναφέρουμε τον 2ο κανόνα του αγίου Διονυσίου, Αρχιεπισκόπου Αλεξανδρείας, ο οποίος ορίζει τα εξής: «Περί δε των εν αφέδρω γυναικών, ει προσήκεν αυτάς ουτω διακειμένας, εις τον οίκον εισιέναι τον Θεού, περιττόν και το πυνθάνεσθαι νομίζω• ουδέ γαρ αυτάς οίμαι πιστάς ούσας και ευλαβείς, τολμήσει οντω διακειμένας ή τη τραπέζη τη αγία προσελθείν, ή του σώματος και του αίματος τον Χριστού προσάψασθαι... εις τα άγια και τα άγια των αγίων, ο μη πάντη καθαρός και ψυχή και σώματι, προσιέναι κωλυθήσεται».
Επίσης, αναφέρουμε και τον 7ο κανόνα του αγίου Τιμοθέου Αλεξανδρείας, ο οποίος λέγει να μην προσέρχεται η ακάθαρτος γυναίκα, ένεκα της ρύσεως αίματος, στη Θεία Μετάληψη κατ' εκείνες τις ημέρες. Επίσης, ο άγιος Ιωάννης ο Νηστευτής στον 17ο κανόνα του γράφει ότι «τάς εν αφέδρω γυναίκας μηδενός των Άγιων άπτεσθαι». Το ίδιο λέγει και ο Πέτρος ο Χαρτοφύλαξ και διάκονος της του Θεού μεγάλης Εκκλησίας στην 18η απόκριση του, ότι δηλ. εάν συμβούν τα συνήθη στη γυναίκα, τότε αυτή οφείλει να περιμένει την κάθαρση και δεν πρέπει να προσέρχεται στη Θεία μετάληψη των αχράντων Μυστηρίων. Τέλος, ο άγιος Νικόδημος ο Αγιορείτης λέγει ότι πρέπει να δεχθούμε τους παραπάνω κανόνες, να υπακούσουμε σ' αυτούς και να μη φερόμεθα «ως κριταί και εξετασταί των υπό του Πνεύματος προστεταγμένων, ίνα μη υποπέσωμεν εις τα φρικωδέστατα επιτίμια των παραβαινόντων τους κανόνας».
Επειδή ίσως προβληθεί η αντίρρηση ότι αυτά πού συμβαίνουν στη γυναίκα ανήκουν στη φυσική λειτουργία του γυναικείου οργανισμού, ο ιερός Χρυσόστομος γράφει εν προκειμένω: «Αληθινά, αυτά δεν ήσαν αμαρτία, ούτε συνιστούσαν ακαθαρσίαν. Επειδή όμως είμεθα ελλιπείς στην πνευματική μας ανάπτυξη, ο Θεός, με τη Θεία του Πρόνοια, κάνοντας μας πιο προσεκτικούς, με τις διατάξεις αυτές μας καθιστούσε πιο προσεκτικούς στη θεωρία και την τήρηση πραγμάτων πιο σημαντικών». Όπως γράφει, πολύ ορθά, ο αείμνηστος γέροντας και αξιόλογος ερμηνευτής της Παλαίας Διαθήκης π. Ιωήλ Γιαννακόπουλος, «επειδή δια της γεννήσεως το προπατορικόν μεταδίδεται αμάρτημα, το γονορρυές ανδρός και γυναικός ως υπενθυμίζον την εκ του αμαρτήματος τούτου Αδαμιαίαν και ημών ενοχήν είναι ακάθαρτον, ίνα κρατύνηται (για να μένει ζωηρά) η συνείδησις της ενοχής και η ανάγκη του Λυτρωτού».
Με την απαγόρευση αυτή της Θείας Μεταλήψεως ο βαθύτερος σκοπός δεν είναι η καταδίκη της γυναίκας, όταν βρίσκεται σ' αυτή την αδιαθεσία, αλλά η έμπνευση και η προοπτική του σεβασμού έναντι του ιδίου σώματος, η υπόμνηση του χοϊκού στοιχείου του ανθρώπου και η τόνωση της ηθικής καθαρότητος. Είναι, τελικά, παιδαγωγία πνευματική.
It can be seen clearly in the whole Biblico-patristic tradition that death is a fruit and result of man’s withdrawal from God and that the life in Christ is a transcending of death. Death came about through man’s freedom and self-will, and through life in the Church he can attain freedom from death. I should like to develop the subject of death in the light of two great Fathers of the Church, St. John of Damaskos and St. Gregory Palamas, who wrote down and systematised the whole teaching of the earlier saints.
a) Independence and death, according to St. John of Damaskos
According to St. John of Damaskos, man’s freedom, with which he was endowed by God, gave him the ability to commit sin or not. He writes that God made man “by nature sinless and endowed with freedom of will”. When he says that God made man sinless, he does not mean that he was not open to sin, because only the divine is not open to sin, but that “it is not in his nature to sin, but rather in his power of choice”. This means that man had the power to persevere and progress in the good, with the help of divine grace, as well as having the power to turn from virtue and fall into vice, “God permitting it because of man’s free will.”
Thus man’s nature was sinless immediately after his creation, but his will was free, he had the power to remain good and the power to withdraw from God. This is why death came as a result of the misuse of freedom, because man disobeyed God’s will. So man was created with the possibility of remaining immortal or of dying. And this depended on the right or wrong use of his freedom.
This freedom was related to reason. St. John of Damaskos, explaining why he was created with free will, says: “The freedom of the will is directly connected with the reason”. And everything that is created is also changeable. Being brought from nonbeing to being is a change, and so is being made into something else from an existing material. Now, inanimate things and brute beasts are changed by corporeal alterations, whereas rational beings are changed by deliberate choice. Thus choice, will, selection, which is connected with reason, is necessarily a mark of the created being, which was created out of non-being. Everyone who thinks and elaborates his thought has the possibility of making a choice. Since free will is connected with reason, therefore “a being may be irrational or rational; but if it is rational, it will be the master of its actions and free”. Irrational beings are not free, since, instead of leading nature, they are led by it. This is clear from the fact that they do not deny their natural appetite, but just as soon as they feel an appetite for something, they move to act. However, since man is rational, “he leads his nature rather than is led by it”. And this is clear from the fact that he has freedom to resist the appetite or to obey it.”
Thus man has free will, since he is created and changeable, and this free will is connected with reason. Man committed sin and died, first spiritually and later physically; he became mortal and passible. This is connected with his freedom. God did not create man to die, but man died because he misused his freedom.
I would like next to look at the teaching of St. Gregory Palamas about death and the way in which it came into the world.
b) The entrance of death according to St. Gregory Palamas
Citing the scriptural passage: “God did not make death, nor does He take pleasure in destroying the living” (Wisdom 1,13), St. Gregory Palamas writes that God not only did not create death, but neither is He the cause of the terrible things which followed death: diseases, illnesses and all the other evils. All the terrible things from which man suffers came from the sin which he committed by his free choice. He says: “It was through sin that we were clothed in garments of skin, this sickly and mortal and distressed body, and we have been deported to this temporary and destructible world and condemned to live a life of much suffering, full of disasters.” The garments of skin which we have been wearing, which are mortal and passible, are a result of sin, which came about through our own choice and freedom.
God not only did not create death, but he hindered its coming into the world. Since man had free will and God did not want to abolish his free will — this would mean a disaster — therefore as soon as He had created him and given him life, He gave him an immortalising piece of advice. The advice not to eat of the forbidden fruit is called a life-giving commandment, because it would lead man to life and would keep him from going towards death. He did not give this commandment imperatively, “but forewarned him of what would happen if it was not obeyed”. And He gave the commandment that on the day when they should eat they would die, so that they might take care not to transgress and thus avoid “meeting with death.”
In speaking about the death which man would meet if he transgressed His commandment, God meant both spiritual and physical death. But on the day of man’s sin, spiritual death would come, and then physical death, because on the day when he tasted the forbidden fruit he did not die physically, but spiritually. Spiritual death is forsaking God, precisely as the absence of light creates darkness. When God is present, it is impossible for man to experience death. St. Gregory Palamas writes: “When God, Who is life itself and the life of all the living, especially of those living a godly life, is present to our soul, it is impossible for death to be there as well”. Thus, death comes to our soul “not from God, but because of our abandonment of God, which is sin.” It is clear from this teaching that the cause of death is sin and, naturally, sin is linked with free will, with man’s ability to sin or to keep God’s commandment, to remain in God or to abandon God, where the true enhypostatic life is.
c) Sin and death
From all that we have said so far we can see that death came from sin, but it has to be added that sin also reigns in death. That is to say, sin and death are mutually interdependent. The Apostle Paul writes: “so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5, 21). And in another place the same Apostle advises: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts” (Rom. 6, 12). And again the same Apostle says characteristically: “the sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15, 56).
In these apostolic passages sin is linked with death and it is said that sin is the sting of death, just as sin also reigns in death and in the mortal body. Thus the whole world of the senses, of mortality and the imagination is a prison which tyrannises man. Man cries out for freedom and for individual rights, but in reality he is a prisoner of decay and death. The Apostle Paul expresses this fact in all its tragic character: “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my nous, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7, 23-24).
I think it would be interesting to look a little more broadly at how sin reigns in death, how sin and man’s wretchedness come from mortality and corruptibility through his way of living death. For the sense of death and the certainty of it lead man to commit sins. And we can say with certainty that the way of living and the sense of death are a source of many troubles, both personal and social.
Because of death and the uncertainty of it, but also because of the variety of its consequences, which are illnesses and all the other sufferings, man is possessed of fear and anguish and in general of the instinct of self-preservation. The effort of self-preservation develops selfishness,
whereby man breaks the bonds of love, in fact abandons unselfish love and takes on love of self. He does all these things in the climate of self-love and vanity. Thus many passions develop, such as self-protection, egoism, hatred, jealousy and so many other things.
Therefore riches, private property, injustices, the lack of true love, murder and so many other evils, which are also a source of many other troubles, come from the experience of death.
Because death reigns in him and he sees his mortality in all its “majesty” and sees the sin that is bound up with this mortality and considers his life to be meaningless, therefore he tries in every way to persuade others that he is worthy. Many evils come from this. “He loves adulation and fears insults. He seeks his own and is jealous of others’ successes. He loves those who love him and hates those who hate him. He looks for safety and prosperity in wealth, praise, and bodily pleasures, or perhaps he imagines that he is destined for a personally blessed and placid enjoyment of the presence of God, unrelated to any expression of genuine and active love for others. Because of his anguish and fear, man becomes an individualist. And when he also identifies himself with some ideology of common ownership (not monastic-ascetic) he is again moved by individualistic selfishness, because he mistakenly sees his desire for self-satisfaction and happiness as his true destination. It may even be that some general ideological principles about love for mankind fire him with enthusiasm in some undefined way, in spite of the fact that a deadly hatred for his neighbour is lurking in his heart. These are the works of the ‘flesh’ which is under the power of death and satan.”
Interpreting the apostolic passage: “and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2,15), St. John Chrysostom says “he who fears death is a slave, and submits to all things rather than die”30. A man who is under the influence of death is a slave of sin, of the devil, and of death itself. He is also a slave of the passions and does everything in order to avoid dying, to prolong his life on earth. Referring to the people before Christ’s resurrection, Chrysostom writes characteristically: “ever expecting that they should die, and being afraid of death, could have no sense of pleasure while this fear was present with them.”
The life of the man who is under the threat of death and the law of sin becomes unbearable and tiresome, it becomes a life without meaning and purpose. Man was formed with the possibility of remaining immortal and of living eternally with God. But through sin he lost this calling, with the result that he suffered a terrible experience, that of being sheathed in mortality and corruptibility. Because he knows that the purpose of his creation was different, he becomes unbearable, unsatisfied, hard to manage. He is not satisfied with anything, not pleased by anything, not content with anything good whatsoever. He can enjoy all the material goods, yet without overcoming death he is a tragic man. This is the explanation of why he is constantly possessed by a grievance. The man who is a slave of death has no freedom at all, he is a tragic being, a continually unsatisfied man. The theatre, literature, philosophy and other such things are a small respite in the tragedy of his life. So education, psychology, philosophy, the human activities in general, cannot effectively help him or develop him fully.
In the tragedy of this situation man tries to forget death. This too is a way of escape from the reality and tragic nature of death. But it increases the problem and the tragedy. By repressing and forgetting death man is led to a sensual life, to consumption and a way of living which consists only of material enjoyment. “Autonomised consumption as a basic content of life, corresponds opportunely with man’s need to possess, to have sensual pleasure and to forget his death.” This way of life, which is called the culture of consumption, “this vague and illusory ‘science’ (which certainly has no connection with study and research) solves all the metaphysical problems of the average man, it answers all his questions, and presents death either as a physiological end to biological existence and a plunge into non-existence, or, finally, as the last obstacle to the advance of science, which also cannot but be conquered some day.”
d) Transcending death
The dreadful results of death and its tragic nature arc transcended by Christ’s resurrection and the ecclesiastical life in general Church. As long as sin is the sting of death, it means that when sin is abolished, death too is abolished within the personal life, and so a man in this life enjoyi immortality. For immortality is not simply the natural I “” dition of the soul, it is not the life beyond the tomb, bill il” transcending of death through the life in Christ.
The Apostle Paul, who speaks of sin as the sting of death, writes: “when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin’ (1 Cor. 15, 54-56).
The interpretation given by St. John Chrysostom is characteristic. He says that not only has death been abolished by Christ’s Resurrection, but the power of the devil has been destroyed. “Do you see that in casting out the tyranny of death, he also overthrew the strength of the devil?.” After Christ’s Resurrection death “is no longer terrible, but has been trodden under foot, has been utterly despised; it is vile and of no account.” Therefore anyone who lives the life in Christ “fears no one, he is in terror of no one, he is higher than all, and more free than all.” Therefore true freedom is the transcending of death, it is freedom from death and sin.
The person who lives in the Church by the sacramental and ascetic life is rejecting the sting of death, which is sin. If we think of how in the whole patristic tradition it seems that sin is darkening of the nous, and from this darkening the passions are created, then freedom from death and from sin is the illumination of the nous. This means that man first goes through the stage of purification, casts out of his heart all evil thoughts, rids himself of pleasure and pain, then experiences illumination of his nous. And then he lives a truly free life which transcends death. The Christian’s whole ascetic effort consists in this, and this is the aim of the sacraments and asceticism.
The Christian in the Church first experiences mindfulness of death. Not only does he not seek to forget death and to thrust it into the unconscious, not only does he deny the reality and tragic character of death, but he has it constantly in his mind and in this way acquires a naturalness, because the sense of mortality and decay is truthfulness.
Mindfulness of death, which is the beginning of man’s freedom from its tragic character, is meant in two senses.
The first is mindfulness of mortality and the certainty of the end of biological life. This mindfulness, combined with the existence of the soul after death, the partial crisis after the soul’s departure, and the resurrection of the body at the Second Coming of Christ for the whole man to be judged, creates terror and fear. Man reflects upon the sin and passions which possess his soul, he recalls what Christ and the Apostles taught about the life of sinners, of the unrepentant, and he is possessed with fear and terror. It is the fear and terror of the entry into the spiritual life. This fear, increased by and connected with hope in the love of God and the sense of the Church as a Hospital leads him to a cure and to love, which “casts out fear” (1 John 4, 18). Thus there is the fear of the entry, aroused by the Judgement to come and the reality of Hell, and the fear of the perfect, which is connected with the sense of God’s love. In this second category man fears sin because he realises that it leads him far from God and creates in him the sense of Gehenna/eternal torment.
A second interpretation of the recollection of dotttl I the charismatic state of remembering death. Through the removal of divine grace, man falls into despair and godly hopelessness. Just as Adam’s sin had consequences whole of creation, so also man’s sin, that is to say the darkness of the nous, has cosmological consequences. He himself feels that he is dead to God and, indeed, he sees the whole world as dead, dying. Nothing offers him joy, peace and happiness. Everything is dead. In this way he understands existentially that he is a microcosm within the macrocosm, a summing up of the whole creation. Since the grace of God comes to the heart and is conveyed through it to the body and to the whole cosmos, and the loss of the grace of God has disastrous effects on the whole world, this means that man is the summing up of creation.
It can be said that the sin which we commit is worse than Adam’s sin. St. Gregory Palamas says that many people blame Adam because by following the advice of the devil he disobeyed the advice of God “and thereby brought about our death”. But, he says, it is not the same to want to taste a deadly plant before knowing its destructive effects, as it is to taste this deadly poison when we know its dreadful consequences from experience. It is the same with our own sin in relation to Adam’s sin. Adam sinned without knowing through experience exactly what sin was and what were its dreadful results, whereas each of us commits sin, having this experience. Therefore St. Gregory Palamas says: “Each of us is more worthy of blame and criticism than Adam.”
Mindfulness of death, either as an experience of mortality or as a sense of the loss of the divine life, is a spiritual gift, and therefore an experience of transcending death and of our freedom from its tyranny. For this experience even with the two forms is not independent of the grace of God. It is only through the inspiration of the grace of God
that man can experience such states and only in this way that he can free himself from the tragedy of death. This is why ways of life which embrace mindfulness of death, lives which are “death-centred” are natural and true, they mark the natural boundaries of man’s life. Through the sense of mortality a man becomes more social and transforms his personal relationships.
St. Philotheos of Sinai writes that mindfulness of death embraces many virtues. “Mindfulness of death begets grief; it promotes the exercise of self-control in all things; it is a reminder of hell; it is the mother of prayer and tears; it induces guarding of the heart and detachment from material things; it is a source of attentiveness and discretion. These in their turn produce the twofold fear of God. In addition, the purging of impassioned thoughts from the heart embraces many of the Lord’s commandments.”
Liberation from death is brought about by life in Christ, when the person feels an inalienable peace in his heart, a love for all men, and even for his enemies, release from every tyranny which created things wish to impose, uninterrupted mindfulness of God.
I should like for us to look next at some particular characteristic signs which manifest the transcendence of death, man’s liberation from its dreadful tyranny.
The first is that the person is not afraid of death and the time of death. Not only is he not possessed by the fear of death, but he is also looking forward to it. Of course this anticipation is not from the point of view that he is waiting for his soul’s release and freedom from his body, as the Platonic philosophers taught, but for the possibility of meeting Christ and being liberated from the change and deterioration which constitute the biological life. I may add that he rejoices as the hour approaches. This is expressed by the Apostle Paul: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labour; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Phil. 1,21-24).
The second is foreknowledge of death. There are many saints, old and new, who have been granted by God to see the hour of their death and to prepare themselves for it. They have seen it and waited for it in joy.
The third is the confronting of death when it comes. Athanasios the Great describes the blissful end of St. Antony the Great. After talking with those present, and kissing them, “he lifted up his feet; and with a look as though friends had come to him and he was overjoyed at the sight of them — for, as he lay there, his face had a cheerful look — he passed away and was gathered to his fathers.”
The fourth is the glory of the man who has overcome sin and death by the time of his departure from this life. A characteristic example is that of Sisoes the Great. When he was at the point of death, while many fathers were with him, “his face shone like the sun”. Then he said: “Look, Abba Anthony is coming”. A little later he said, “Look, the choir of prophets is coming. “And again his face shone more brightly… A little later he said: “Look, the choir of apostles is coming”, and the brightness in his face redoubled. Then those present, seeing that he was speaking with someone, asked him to tell them with whom he was speaking. He replied: “The angels have come to fetch me, and I
am begging them to let me do a little penance”. And when the fathers told him that he had no need for penance, he replied: “Truly, I do not think that I have even made a beginning yet”. With that the Fathers understood “that he was perfect”. Then at once his face became like the sun. And he said to those present: “Look, the Lord is coming and He is saying: “Bring me the vessel from the desert”. And at once he gave up his spirit. “Then there was a flash of lightning and all the house was filled with a sweet odour.”
The fifth characteristic sign of the gift of a blessed death is the martyrdom of a saint. Death through martyrdom is really a gift of grace, because it is not a matter of will power, but an experience of deification, which is a clear indication of the transcendence of death. In fact martyrdom is a fruit of seeing God, an indication that the Christian has been united with Christ and received a martyr’s grace. This means that the experience of deification transforms the soul and body. But martyrdom is a gift of a blessed death and a sign of transcendence of death, according to a theological explanation given by St. Gregory Palamas.
Speaking of the Worthy Forerunner, and especially of his beheading, he writes that the Baptist of Christ “did not need to undergo natural death”. It was not necessary to undergo a natural death, because death is a result of Adam’s transgression. But the Worthy Forerunner is not a debtor, because he is a servant of the commandment and subject to God from his mother’s womb. The saints generally give their lives for virtue and devotion “and for this reason a violent death is more suitable for them than a good death”. That is why Christ died in this way. As long as the sting
of death, which is sin, is set aside in the saints, the most natural way of departure from this life is through martyrdom, a violent death.
The saints inspired by the grace of God were freed from the reign of death. This is not an imaginary thing, but a reality, for it is related to man’s freedom from sin and the liberation of the nous from reasoning, the senses and the imagination.
3. The freedom of the nous
Freedom from death and from sin is very closely connected with the freedom of the nous from sin. Freedom is used in this sense in the New Testament, especially in the epistles of the Apostle Paul. Let us look at two characteristic passages.
a) Freedom and nous
The first passage is: “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6,18-22).
Here for the Apostle Paul slavery is linked with slavery to the passions and to the deeds of the flesh, the end of which is death, while freedom is linked with man’s purity from the passions, with holiness, and the end of this freedom is eternal life. In the teaching of the Apostle Paul freedom is in reality the freedom of the nous from attack by the passions, and this brings about illumination of the nous.
St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, interpreting this passage, says: “There are three freedoms according to Koresios: Freedom of nature, the freedom of grace and the freedom of glory and beatitude. Freedom of nature is contrary to force and to the tendency toward a single good and makes one independent. Freedom of grace is opposed to sin and the passions and makes one righteous and holy. And the freedom of glory is opposed to death and to the temptations of the present life and makes one blessed; this is the Apostle’s word concerning freedom and grace.” So it concerns freedom of the nous.
Taken from The book "The person in the Orthodox Tradition" by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos
Saint Theophan says that "Before we can make the soul appeal to God ..., it first must be made to turn everything to the glory of God; to attribute to Him our every activity, large and small. He advises us that whenever we begin something we should say, "O Lord bless us." Then on completing any task we should say, "Glory to Thee O Lord." We do this not just with our tongue but from our heart with real feeling. When we fall into any kind of sin we should say, "Lord have mercy on me a sinner." He says, "do this as often as possible, always trying in every way to be sure that each appeal comes from the heart.... and this persistent repetition will end by forming in you the habit of conscious conversation with God."
This act of continually humbling ourselves by calling on our Creator places us in submission he[ing to repress our proud ego.
Elder Paisios expresses the kind of humility needs when he says that we can pray for others with contrition "only if one considers, from humble-mindedness, that one is the cause of everything that befalls one's neighbor."
We also need to pray for our enemies, for those who hate us. Jesus says, But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matt 5:44-45) Whenever we find our selves judging or condemning another person it is an act of pride. We should immediately do as Jesus commands and pray for that person.
Saint Theophan says,
"Our soul is made to live in the mountainous world of God. That is where it should always dwell, both in thought and in heart. But the weight of worldly thoughts and passions attracts it and draws it downwards."
Prayer demands a pure heart - one that is free of hatred, feelings of guilt from sin, and all forms of pride.
Quotes from The Path of Prayer by Saint Theophan the Recluse pp.13 - 19.
-Elder,how can someone be helped to not fall into the same fault?
-If one truly feels pain for his fault,he will not do it again.There must be an inner contrition with sincere repentance in order for a person to be corrected.This is why Saint Mark the Ascetic says,If one does not feel contrition commensurate to his fault,he will easily fall into the same fault again.In other words,if the mistake is minor,the repentance can also be less severe,but if the mistake is major,then more severe repentance will be required.
When people do not grasp the severity of their sins and do not experience grief commensurate to their fault,then they can easily fall into the same or even greater fault.
-How can we know if our grief is not commensurate to our fault?
-The proof is if you fall again into the same fault.In addition,when you examine yourselves,don't just diagnose your situation.You are constantly carrying out bacterial tests;upon discovering a virus,you assess it and say,"I must kill it"but you don't embark on a healing process.Fine,you have established that you have some disease.At once,you must find a way to treat it.What's the point of constantly
analysing and diagnosing if you don't try to correct yourselves?
You say to yourselves,"I have this ailment,or that ailment,"but you do nothing to cure yourself and you remain idle,lamenting your condition.You only waste your energy and remain useless.You
render your mind and your heart useless.
You get sick from grief over it but do nothing to treat it.
Later,when you get well,you start over again:"Why did i get sick then,and how did i get sick?"Of course,you will carefully observe yourselves; you won't allow your faults to go undetected,but your grief should be contained,only go to a certain point! I'm not suggesting indifference,but you should not go to the other
extreme!
You did something that wasn't right?Did you think about
it?Did you see it?Did you recognise it?Did you confess it?Then
move on.Don't get stuck there.Just keep it in mind so you'll be
careful next time you're faced with a similar situation.
Lamenting over our faults is pointless if we don't also try to correct
them.It's like grieving constantly over someone who's sick without
offering him any help.
-Elder,are we not to grieve even when we rightly suffer because of
our mistake?
-No,you should grieve,but the grief must be commensurate to your
fault.If you do not suffer,you will remain happy-go-lucky and
careless and will again fall into the same mistake;you will not correct yourself.
But if you move from the sadness of repentance into despair,then it
means that you have grieved more than you should have.
In this case,one needs to give himself a little encouragement and face his faults with a little"positive indifference".
Taken from Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, Spiritual Counsels Vol 3"Spiritual Struggle"
Είχε πάει μία κυρία νά εξομολογηθεί σέ έναν πνευματικό, καί αυτή είχε πολύ περιποιηθεί τόν εαυτό της, είχε βαφτεί, είχε πάρα πολύ φροντίσει τόν εαυτό της, αλλά η ψυχή τής διψούσε ακόμα καί δέν ενοιωθε ευτυχισμένη. Καί της λέει ο πνευματικός μέ πολύ αγάπη.
Δέν τήν μάλωσε γιά αυτό πού έβλεπε, γιατί αυτός έβλεπε πιό βαθιά. Καί τής λέει, γιατί βάφεσαι τόσο πολύ; Καί απαντάει αυτή μέ ειλικρίνεια, γιατί λέει πάτερ θέλω νά φαίνομαι ωραία, θέλω νά φαίνομαι όμορφη. Είναι κακό, πάτερ; Καί της λέει ο πνευματικός της καθόλου κακό, πολύ καλό. Άν ήξερες όμως, της λέει, πόσο ωραία είσαι; Εγώ σέ βλέπω πανέμορφη. Έχεις χαρίσματα, έχεις στήν ψυχή σου μία ωραιότητα πού δέν τήν έχεις καταλάβει. Άν τήν καταλάβεις, δέν θά χρειαστεί νά έχεις αγωνία γιά νά γίνεις όμορφη, γιατί είσαι ήδη όμορφη! Δηλαδή αυτό πού πάμε νά πετύχουμε στήν Εκκλησία, είναι ήδη μές στήν καρδιά μας, μές στόν πυρήνα τής υπάρξεώς μας. Υπάρχει! Ποιό δηλαδή; Η χάρη τού Αγίου Πνεύματος πού τήν έχουμε ήδη μέσα μας.
Νά τό καταλάβουμε, νά τό φανερώσουμε στή ζωή μας καί νά τό ζήσουμε στή σχέση μας.
What does it mean to say "we are all in prelest"?
You write, "When I was reading the writings of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov, the following questions came to mind: On page 230 it is written that we are all in prelest; why then, when someone speaks of 'a man in prelest', is this attributed a special meaning? and how should one treat such a person?
In order to understand the expression "we are all in prelest," it is necessary to consider the following. The ancient ascetics regarded "repentance or lamentation of one's sins" as their primary ascetic labor. Many of their sayings concerning this have come down to us. I will cite a few of these in confirmation of [Bishop Ignatius'] writings.
"A brother said to Abba Sisoes: I perceive that the remembrance of God (mental prayer) ever abides in me. The elder said: It is not so extraordinary that your mind is constantly turned toward God; what is extraordinary is when a person considers himself the worst of all creatures" (Ignatius Brianchaninov, Patericon, 4).
"When Abba Arsenius the Great passed away, and St. Poemen heard of his repose, he shed abundant tears and said: Blessed are you, Abba Arsenius, because you wept over yourself during this life! One cannot help but weep, either here according to his own will, or against his will in the torments of hell" (Patericon, 29).
The more advanced a man is in holiness, the deeper is his awareness of his own sinfulness. Conversely, the less refined a man is, the weaker is his awareness of his own sinfulness. In the majority of people Such an awareness is altogether absent. This is why they do not understand the ascetic labor of repentance and do not feel any need for it. Because they do not understand this labor and feel no need to repent, one may say that all such people are in prelest. And inasmuch as we have but a limited awareness of our sinfulness, one may say that we are all in prelest !
Sophia 11/23/1927
What constitutes "prelest proper"?
..St. Isaac the Syrian wrote about this kind of prelest: "The effect of the cross is twofold; the duality of its nature divides it into two parts, One consists in enduring sorrows of the flesh which are brought about by the action of the excitable part of the soul, and this part is called activity. The other part lies in the finer workings of the mind and in divine meditation, as well as in attending to prayer, etc.; it is accomplished by means of the desiring part of the soul and is called contemplation. The part of the soul by dint of its zeal, while the second part is the activity of soulful love, in other words, natural desire, which enlightens the rational part of the soul. Every man who, before perfectly mastering the first part, switches to the second, attracted out of weakness--to say nothing of laziness, is overtaken by God's wrath because he did not first mortify his members which are upon the earth (Col. 3:5). In other words, he did not cure his thoughts of infirmities by patiently bearing the cross, but rather dared in his mind to envision the glory of the cross" (Word 55).
It is evident from these words of Isaac the Syrian that what we call prelest proper exists when a man starts trying to live above his capabilities. Without having cleansed himself of passions, he strives for a life of contemplation and dreams of the delights of spiritual grace. Thus the wrath of God befalls a man; because he thinks too highly of himself, God's grace is withdrawn from him and he falls under the influence of the evil one who actively begins to tickle his vainglory with lofty contemplation and [spiritual] delights...
Briefly, the difference between "general prelest" and prelest in the particular sense of the word can, on the basis of the above. be expressed thus. General prelest is forgetting and not noticing one's sinfulness. That which we call prelest proper is attributing to oneself righteousness when it does not actually exist. If a man thinks he is righteous, then his righteousness is not divine, but diabolical, foreign to the grace of God and to humility. One should recall the famous saying of Abba Poemen the Great: "I prefer a man who sins and repents to one who does not sin and does not repent. The first has good thoughts, for he admits that he is sinful. But the second has false, soul-destroying thoughts, for he imagines himself to be righteous" (Bp. Ignatius, Patericon, 75).
Sophia, 11/24/1927
(Archbishop Theophan's letters translated from the Russian by Antonina Janda)
Κοίτα, πόσα κάστρα και παλάτια βασιλιάδων, ηγεμόνων και αρχόντων είναι σωριασμένα σε ερείπια! Σκέψου, πόση δύναμη και πόσο πλούτο είχαν κάποτε!
Τώρα έχουν ξεχαστεί και τα ονόματά τους. Λέει η Γραφή: «Πολλοί άρχοντες έχασαν την εξουσία τους και κάθησαν στο χώμα" κι ένας άσημος, που κανείς δεν φανταζόταν ότι θα γίνει βασιλιάς, φόρεσε στέμμα» .
Δεν σου φτάνουν αυτά; Συλλογίσου τότε, ποιά είναι η αξία σου όταν κοιμάσαι; Μήπως δεν μπορεί κι ένα ζωύφιο να σε θανατώσει; Ναι, πολλοί πέθαναν έτσι στον ύπνο τους. Αλήθεια, από μια κλωστή κρέμεται η ζωή μας! Κόβεται η κλωστή και τελειώνουν όλα. Έτσι να φιλοσοφείς και να μη σαγηνεύεσαι από την ομορφιά, τα πλούτη, τη δόξα, τις απολαύσεις.
Ένα μόνο να σε απασχολεί: Που τελειώνουν όλα αυτά. Θαυμάζεις όσα βλέπεις εδώ στη γη; Πιο αξιοθαύμαστα, όμως, είναι εκείνα που αναφέρονται στις άγιες Γραφές.
Δείξε μου έναν αγέρωχο άρχοντα ή έναν λαμπροντυμένο πλούσιο, όταν ψήνεται από τον πυρετό, όταν ψυχομαχεί, και τότε θα σε ρωτήσω: "Πού είναι εκείνος, που περνούσε από την αγορά καμαρωτός και περήφανος με ακολούθους και σωματοφύλακες; Πού είναι εκείνος, που φορούσε πανάκριβα ρούχα; Πού είναι η χλιδή της ζωής του, η πολυτέλεια των συμποσίων του, οι υπηρέτες, οι παρατρεχάμενοι, τα γέλια, οι ανέσεις, οι σπατάλες;
Όλα έφυγαν και πέταξαν. Τί απέγινε το σώμα, που απολάμβανε τόση ηδονή; Πλησίασε στον τάφο και κοίτα τη σκόνη, τη σαπίλα, τα σκουλήκια. Κοίτα και στέναξε πικρά. Και μακάρι το κακό να περιοριζόταν σε τούτη τη σκόνη, που βλέπεις. Από τον τάφο και τα σκουλήκια φέρε τη σκέψη σου στο ακοίμητο σκουλήκι της άλλης ζωής, στο τρίξιμο των δοντιών, στο αιώνιο σκοτάδι, στην άσβεστη φωτιά, στις πικρές και αφόρητες εκείνες τιμωρίες, που δεν θα έχουν τέλος.
Εδώ, στη γη, και τα καλά και τα κακά κάποτε, αργά ή γρήγορα, τελειώνουν εκεί, όμως, και τα δύο διαρκούν αιώνια. Και διαφέρουν ως προς την ποιότητα από τα καλά και τα κακά του κόσμου τούτου τόσο, που δεν είναι δυνατό να εκφράσει κανείς με λόγια.
Τί έγιναν, λοιπόν, όλα εκείνα τα μεγαλεία; Τί έγιναν τα χρήματα και τα κτήματα; Ποιός άνεμος φύσηξε και τα πήρε και τα σκόρπισε; Τί θέλει, πάλι, κι αυτή η ανώφελη δαπάνη για την κηδεία, που και τον νεκρό δεν ωφελεί και τους οικείους του ζημιώνει; Ο Χριστός αναστήθηκε γυμνός από τον τάφο.
Ας μη γίνεται, λοιπόν, η κηδεία αφορμή ικανοποιήσεως της μανίας μας για επίδειξη. Ο Κύριος είπε: «Πείνασα και μου δώσατε να φάω" δίψασα και μου δώσατε να πιω" ήμουνα γυμνός και με ντύσατε» . Όμως δεν είπε: «Ήμουνα νεκρός και με θάψατε». Γιατί, αν μας παραγγέλλει να μην έχουμε τίποτα περισσότερο από ένα σκέπασμα, όταν ζούμε, πολύ περισσότερο όταν πεθάνουμε. Ποιάν απολογία θα δώσουμε στο Θεό, λοιπόν, όταν ξοδεύουμε τεράστια ποσά για να κηδέψουμε ένα νεκρό σώμα, τη στιγμή που ο Χριστός, με τη μορφή των φτωχών συνανθρώπων μας, τριγυρνάει πεινασμένος και γυμνός, κι εμείς αδιαφορούμε γι' αυτό;
Όλα όσα σας λέω, βέβαια, είναι ανώφελα για κείνους που έχουν ήδη πεθάνει. Ας τ' ακούσουν, όμως, οι ζωντανοί και ας συνέλθουν, ας λογικευτούν, ας διορθωθούν. Όπου νά 'ναι θα έρθει και η δική τους ώρα. Δεν θ' αργήσουν να βρεθούν κι αυτοί, δεν θ' αργήσουμε να βρεθούμε όλοι μας, μπροστά στο φοβερό Κριτήριο, όπου θα δώσουμε λόγο για τις πράξεις μας. Ας αγωνιστούμε, λοιπόν, να γίνουμε καλύτεροι, εγκαταλείποντας την αμαρτία και ακολουθώντας την αρετή, για να μη χάσουμε τη βασιλεία των ουρανών, για ν' αποκτήσουμε τα άφθαρτα αγαθά, που έχει ετοιμάσει για μας ο φιλάνθρωπος Κύριος.
Αγιος Ιωάννης ο Χρυσόστομος
The greatest testimony of the magnificence of Job's patience comes from the devil himself. Do you remember the first dialogue he had with the Lord when Job was still living in prosperity? "Have you
noticed my servant Job," God asked Satan. "There is no one like him in the earth. He is a perfect and upright man; he fears Me, and he despises evil"
(Job 1:8). What did Satan respond arrogantly?
"Does Job perhaps fear You without a reason? Haven't You protected his house, and all that he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his flocks have multiplied in the land. But stretch Your hand and take away all that he has! Then
You will see that he will curse You to Your face!" (Job 1:9-11).
Do you see the shameless objection that the devil set forth when Job was carrying out so many good works? "Does he perhaps respect you without a
reward?" However, when the righteous man patiently endured these unheard-of misfortunes that came upon him, the devil covered his face in shame and made a run for it, unable to come up with any further argument or counter with even the slightest excuse.
Therefore, when you see a righteous person who has done many good things being tested by innumerable misfortunes, do not be surprised. And when you see someone else who gives alms and does other God-pleasing deeds falling into temptations and dangers, do not be scandalized. He hit the devil hard, and this is why the devil retaliated by tossing him into hardships. "Why does God allow such a thing to occur?" you may ask. The answer is: in order for the righteous man to receive more crowns and for the devil to receive more punishment. Of course, it is good when someone gives alms and struggles with zeal to execute virtue when everything is going his way. It is much greater, however, when someone continues to struggle with fervent zeal and remains unshaken in the face of misfortune. For this reason, just as a sinner will suffer worse punishment in the next life if he does not experience anything bad in this life, similarly the righteous person will enjoy greater honor and bliss in the next life when he endures various sorrows in this life.
Perhaps you will tell me that you live in perpetual poverty and misfortune. Well then, bring Job tο mind, this unshakable pillar of patience. Who ever ended up poorer than him? Even the poorest people find refuge and shelter somewhere; he, however, lived under the open sky. Even the poorest people have a piece of clothing to wear; he, however, was naked. Who ever experienced greater anguish? He had ten children, and he lost them all in a single moment! Who was ever plagued by a worse illness? His entire body became infested with parasites and filled with wounds. Despite the fact that each one of these hardships individually is difficult to endure, how did this man of steel shoulder all of them
simultaneously—especially without even a trace of
human support? You see, all of us have some person to encourage and console us in times of sorrow.
Job, however, had no one. On the contrary, he drank yet another bitter cup that contained the following:the betrayal of his friends; the ungratefulness of the people whom he had helped; the indignation and desperation of his wife; the
sneers and ridicule of his fellow citizens.If you consider all the above, you can begin to appreciate the grandeur of Job's soul; for having suffered more than any other person in the world, he said none of the things that usually come out of the mouth of faint-hearted souls. "Is this why I taught my children to be good and to fear God? So I can
be deprived of them unjustly with their untimely
death? Is this why I gave charity to the poor and
helped them in need? So I can lose all my belongings? Is this why I clothed the homeless and supported the sick? So I can end up sitting on a dunghill, naked and tormented by illness? This is how God decided to reward me for all the good
things I did?" Such statements did not slip out of Job's mouth. Instead of these words, he only uttered the following, which is more valuable than any other sacrifice: "The Lord gave me everything, and the Lord took it away. Blessed be His name!" (Job 1:21).
St. John Chrysostom
Rufinus the Presbyter. "Living of Desert Fathers."
(translated from Russian)
We cannot pass over in silence the inhabitants of the desert adjoining the Porfenian sea and bordering the area of the city Diolk. There we saw one wonderful priest, named Piammon, who was notable for the absolute humility and meek indulgence. He was given the grace of revelation. Once bringing the Bloodless Sacrifice to the Lord, he saw an Angel of the Lord near the Altar: he was holding a book in which he wrote down the names of the monks who approached to the Holy Altar. The elder carefully noticed whose names the Angel missed. After the end of the liturgy, he summoned separately each one of the missed by the Angel and asked him whether he had some secretly committed sin in the conscience. At this confession, he revealed that each of them was guilty of a mortal sin ... Then he persuaded them to bring repentance, and casting himself down before the Lord along with them, prayed with tears day and night, as if he was involved in their sins. And he was in repentance and tears until he saw the Angel again, standing before the Altar and writing down the names of those who were taking the Holy Mysteries. Having written down the names of everyone, the Angel even started to call each one by name, inviting to come to the Altar for reconciliation with God. And the elder, seeing this, understood that their repentance was accepted and happily admitted everyone to the Altar.
Τό «….Ἀμήν»
Τή δοξολογητική ἐκφώνηση τοῦ ἱερουργοῦ στήν ἀρχή τῆς Θείας Λειτουργίας μέ τό: «Εὐλογημένη ἡ Βασιλεία τοῦ Πατρός καί τοῦ Υἱοῦ καί τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, νῦν καί ἀεί καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων», ἔρχεται στή συνέχεια ὁ λαός διά τοῦ ἱεροψάλτου νά τήν ἐπιβεβαιώσει καί νά τήν ἐπικυρώσει μέ τό «ἀμήν». Ἡ λέξη αὐτή εἶναι ἑβραϊκή καί ἀμετάφραστη συχνά ἀπαντᾶται στά ἁγιογραφικά καί λατρευτικά κείμενα. Στόν εὐαγγελικό λόγο ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς κάμνει χρήση αὐτῆς τῆς λέξης στήν ἐπικοινωνία πού ἔχει μέ τό λαό. Ἀρχίζει συχνά τή διδαχή Του μέ τό «ἀμήν» στή φράση: «ἀμήν λέγω ὑμῖν» μέ τή σημασία τοῦ ἐπιρρήματος «ἀληθῶς», πού ἰσοδυναμεῖ μέ τή φράση «σᾶς διαβεβαιῶ». Ὅταν πάλιν ἤθελε νά βγάλει κάθε δισταγμό καί ἀμφιβολία ἀπό τούς ἀκροατές Του καί νά ἐνισχύσει τήν ἐπιβεβαίωσή Του, τό ἐπαναλαμβάνει τό «ἀμήν» στή φράση: «ἀμήν ἀμήν λέγω ὑμῖν». Συνοδευόμενο μέ τό ρῆμα «λέγω» ἀποτελεῖ ἔντονη ἐπιβεβαίωση: «ἀληθινά σᾶς διαβεβαιῶ».
Στά λειτουργικά κείμενα, ὡς λειτουργική ἔκφραση, τό «ἀμήν» ἀποτελεῖ ἀντιφώνηση τοῦ λαοῦ στήν ἐκφώνηση καί εὐχή τοῦ λειτουργοῦ καί ἔχει σημασία βεβαιωτική δηλαδή (ἀληθῶς, ναί, εἶναι) καί ἄλλοτε ἔχει σημασία εὐχετική (γένοιτο, εἴθε νά γίνει). Ἐν προκειμένῳ στήν ἐκφώνηση τῆς ἔναρξης τῆς Θείας Λειτουργίας μέ τή δοξολόγηση τῆς Βασιλείας τοῦ Τριαδικοῦ Θεοῦ τό «ἀμήν» τοῦ λαοῦ, πού σήμερα γιά πρακτικούς λόγους ἀπαντᾶται ἀπό τόν ἱεροψάλτη, κατά τήν ἐκτίμηση τῶν περισσοτέρων ἑρμηνευτῶν ἔχει σημασία ἐπιβεβαιωτική. Ὁ λαός μέ τό στόμα τοῦ ἱεροψάλτη διαβεβαιώνει πώς ὄντως ἡ Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶναι δοξασμένη ἀπό τώρα καί πάντοτε καί στούς ἀτελεύτητους αἰῶνες. Κατά τήν ἑρμηνεία ὅμως ἄλλων αὐτό τό «ἀμήν», συγχρόνως ἔχει καί εὐχετική σημασία. Πάντα, καί στήν ἐποχή μας, ὑπάρχουν ἄνθρωποι μέ ἐναγώνιες ἀμφιβολίες καί ἐπιφυλάξεις σχετικές μέ τήν ὕπαρξη ἤ ἀνυπαρξία τοῦ Θεοῦ καί κατ’ ἐπέκταση τῆς Βασιλείας Του. Ὁ λαός τοῦ Θεοῦ μέ τό «ἀμήν» του ἐπεύχεται καί εἶναι ὡσάν νά λέγει: «Ναί ἀληθῶς, ἡ Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶναι ἀναμφισβήτητη πραγματικότητα γιά τούς πιστούς». Γιά ὅσους προβληματίζονται καί ταλαιπωροῦνται ἀπό μεταφυσικά προβλήματα, χωρίς νά αἰσθάνονται ἱκανοποιημένοι ἀπό τίς ἀπαντήσεις τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τό «ἀμήν» τῶν πιστῶν πέραν τῆς ἐπιβεβαιωτικῆς σημασίας, ἔχει καί εὐχετική σημασία. Εὔχονται οἱ πιστοί νά ἀνοίξει ὁ δρόμος τῶν ἀληθειῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σέ ὅσους, ἔχουν τίς ἐπιφυλάξεις τους ἤ καί τίς ἀρνήσεις τους καί νά γίνει καί γι’ αὐτούς πραγματικότητα ἡ δοξολόγηση τῆς Βασιλείας τοῦ Τριαδικοῦ Θεοῦ.
Στή λατρευτική ζωή τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡ χρήση τοῦ «ἀμήν» ἀπό μέρους τοῦ λαοῦ φανερώνει καί μία βασική λειτουργική ἀλήθεια. Ἀνάμεσα στό λειτουργό καί τό ἐκκλησίασμα ὑπάρχει ἐπικοινωνιακή σχέση σέ μορφή διαλόγου. Ὁ ἱερουργός ἐκφωνεῖ εὐχές, δεήσεις, αἰτήματα, δοξολογίες καί ὁ λαός μέ τό στόμα τῶν ἱεροψαλτῶν ἀπαντᾶ ἀνάλογα. Στίς διάφορες ἀπαντήσεις τό «ἀμήν» μέ τήν ἔννοια τῆς διαβεβαίωσης ἤ τῆς εὐχῆς ἔχει κυρίαρχη θέση. Μάλιστα δέν εἶναι ἁπλῶς μία τυπική καί συμβατική συμμετοχή τοῦ λαοῦ. Ἡ βαθύτερη ἔννοια τοῦ «ἀμήν» ἐκφράζει τήν ἐνεργητική ἀνταπόκριση τοῦ λαοῦ στά ἐκφωνηθέντα τοῦ ἱερουργοῦ. Ἔτσι ἐπισφραγίζονται καί ἐπιβεβαιώνονται οἱ ἐκφωνήσεις τοῦ ἱερουργοῦ καί μέ τή συγκατάθεση τοῦ ἐκκλησιάσματος. Τό λαϊκό στοιχεῖο κατά τήν τέλεση τῆς Θείας Λειτουργίας δέν εἶναι ἁπλῶς «οἱ παρακολουθοῦντες» τά τελούμενα, ἀλλά οἱ μετέχοντες ἐνεργῶς σ’αὐτά. Μέ τό «ἀμήν» ἐπιβεβαιώνεται καί συναποδέχεται τό ἐκκλησιαστικό πλήρωμα τά ὑπό τοῦ λειτουργοῦ ἐκφωνηθέντα καί ὡς δικά του αἰτήματα καί ἀναφορές. Μέ τόν τρόπο αὐτό ἡ ἑνότητα τοῦ Σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πού εἶναι ἡ ζωντανή Ἐκκλησία, γίνεται πιό αἰσθητή στό κοινό ἔργο, στήν κοινή ἱερουργία τοῦ λαοῦ καί τοῦ κλήρου.
Ὁ ἅγιος Νικόλαος ὁ Καβάσιλας, πού ἔζησε τόν 14ον αἰῶνα καί ὑπῆρξε ἕνας ἀπό τούς πιό ἀξιόλογους ἑρμηνευτές τῆς Θείας Λειτουργίας, στό ἔργο του: «Εἰς τήν Θείαν Λειτουργίαν», γράφει: «Εἰπόντος γάρ ἐκείνου καί δοξολογήσαντος, οἱ πιστοί πάντες τό «ἀμήν» ἐπιλέγουσι, καί τοῦτο τό ρῆμα βοήσαντες οἰκειοῦνται πάσας τάς ἐκείνου φωνάς» (1). Δηλαδή, ἀφοῦ ὁ ἱερουργός ἐκφωνήσει αὐτή τή δοξολογία, ὅλοι οἱ πιστοί ἐπιλέγουν τό «ἀμήν», καί ἀναφωνώντας αὐτή τή λέξη, γίνονται μέτοχοι σ’ ὅλες τίς ἐκφράσεις τοῦ ἱερουργοῦ. Δέ συμφωνοῦν τυπικά μέ τόν λειτουργό, ἀλλά ἐκφράζουν μίαν ἐνεργητική καί δημιουργική ἀποδοχή καί ἔτσι ἐπισφραγίζουν καί ἐπιβεβαιώνουν τά λεγόμενά του.
Ὁ μακαριστός Μητροπολίτης Σερβίων καί Κοζάνης Διονύσιος, πού μᾶς ἄφησε, ἀνάμεσα στά πολλά συγράμματά του, καί τόν ἐξαίρετο σχολιασμό του στή Θεία Λειτουργία, ἀναφέρει: «Τό «Ἀμήν» εἶναι λέξη ἑβραϊκή, πού πέρασε στή λατρεία τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Λέγεται πάντα ἀπό τό λαό καί ἔχει μία διπλή σημασία. Ὁ λαός ἀπαντᾶ στήν ἐκφώνηση καί ἤ ἐπιβεβαιώνει πώς αὐτό πού κάθε φορά λέει ὁ ἱερέας εἶναι ἕνα πραγματικό γεγονός ἤ εὔχεται νά γίνει πραγματικό. Φαίνεται ἐδῶ ἀμέσως ἀπό τήν ἀρχή ἡ ἑνότητα τοῦ Σώματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καί ὅτι ἡ Θεία Λειτουργία εἶναι κοινό ἔργο τοῦ κλήρου καί τοῦ λαοῦ. Ἡ σύναξη τῶν πιστῶν, γιά νά τελέσουν τή Θεία Λειτουργία, ἐκφράζει τήν Ἐκκλησία. Δέν συναγόμαστε δηλαδή στό ναό γιά προσευχηθοῦμε ἀτομικά, ἀλλά γιά νά ἐκφράσουμε τό μυστήριο τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Στήν ἀρχαία ἐποχή ὅλοι πού ἦσαν μέσα στό ναό ἀντιφωνοῦσαν τό «Ἀμήν», καί ἦταν σάν καί νά ἀκουγότανε βροντή ἀπό τόν ούρανό» καταλήγει ὁ μακαριστός Μητροπολίτης. (2)
(1) «Είς τήν Θείαν Λειτουργίαν» τοῦ ἁγίου Νικολάου Καβάσιλα. Πατερικές ἐκδόσεις «Γρηγόριος Παλαμᾶς» σελ. 94
(2) «Ἡ Θεία Λειτουργία» κυρός Διονυσίου Ψαριανοῦ, Μητροπολίτου Σερβίων καί Κοζάνης σελ. 15-16
Η ελεημοσύνη και η δικαιοκρισία (δίκαιη κρίση), όταν συνυπάρχουν μέσα στην ίδια την ψυχή, μοιάζουν με τον άνθρωπο που, μέσα στον ίδιο ναό, προσκυνεί το Θεό και τα είδωλα.
Η ελεημοσύνη είναι αντίθετη με τη δικαιοκρισία. Η δικαιοκρισία μετράει και αποδίδει ακριβώς τα ίσα. Γιατί στον καθένα δίνει ό,τι του αξίζει και δε γέρνει προς το ένα μέρος ούτε προσωποληπτεί κατά την ανταπόδοση του δικαίου.
Η ελεημοσύνη όμως είναι λύπη της ψυχής για τον ανήμπορο. Η ελεημοσύνη κινείται από τη θεία χάρη και ξεστρατίζει για να βοηθήσει όλους με συμπάθεια, και στον άξιο τιμωρίας δεν ανταποδίδει το κακό, και τον άξιο του καλού επαίνου τον φορτώνει με αγαθά.
Όπως το ξερό χορτάρι και η φωτιά δεν μπορούν να βρεθούν μαζί στον ίδιο χώρο, έτσι δεν μπορούν να συνευρίσκονται στην ίδια ψυχή η δικαιοκρισία και η ελεημοσύνη.
Και όπως δεν μπορούν να ισοζυγιαστούν στους δίσκους της ζυγαριάς ένας κόκκος άμμου από τη μια, και το πολύ βαρύ χρυσάφι από την άλλη, έτσι και η δικαιοκρισία του Θεού δεν μπορεί να εξομοιωθεί στο βάρος και να ισοζυγιαστεί με την ελεημοσύνη του.
Και όπως μια χουφτιά άμμου, που πέφτει σε μεγάλη θάλασσα, χάνεται, έτσι και τα αμαρτήματα οποιουδήποτε ανθρώπου δεν μπορούν να σταθούν μπροστά στη φιλάνθρωπη πρόνοια και στην ευσπλαχνία του Θεού. Και όπως δεν μπορεί να φράξει κανείς μια πηγή με πολύ νερό με μια χούφτα χώμα, έτσι δεν μπορεί να νικηθεί η ελεημοσύνη του Θεού από την κακία των κτισμάτων του.
Όπως δεν είναι δυνατό να εμποδίσουμε τη φλόγα της φωτιάς να ανεβεί προς τα επάνω, έτσι δεν μπορούν να εμποδισθούν οι προσευχές των ελεημόνων να ανεβούν στον ουρανό.
Άγιος Ισαάκ ο Σύρος
The first and foremost reason why our intention to correct ourselves and lead a holy life remains without result lies in the fact that our intention is often too vague and indefinite.
A certain sinner, for example, says to himself: “It’s high time for me to stop sinning, time to mend my ways! I repent! I’ll stop sinning!” The intention is quite indefinite. And because of this, although it might be sincere, it is unreliable and may not achieve the desired correction.
He who has a sincere desire to amend himself must first of all determine exactly what it is that must be corrected. He must determine what his greatest sin is and what means he must use against it, and what dangers he must avoid so as not to fall into it again, since it has become a habit, a part of his life. All this thought and self-examination must come first and only then should a resolve be made, and that resolve should be specific as, for example: “Enough is enough! With God’s help I am no longer going to fall into such-and-such a sin; I’m going to break this bad habit; I’m no longer going to associate with those particular people who encourage me in this habit; I’m going to break off that unhealthy relationship; I’m going to use such-and-such means against this sin; I’m going to arm myself and muster all my forces against it when it begins again to tempt me.”
The same thing must also be said about the resolution to lead a righteous life. By no means is it enough to content oneself simply by stating the following resolve: “From this time forth I’m going to lead a God-pleasing life.” Such a resolution is not definite enough, and although it may have come from the heart, it is doubtful whether it will have any effect.
He who desires to abandon a life of sin and live a righteous life must first of all examine which obligations he has most difficulty in fulfilling and does not like to fulfill; what exactly hinders their fulfillment; what he must do, what means he must employ to fulfill them more readily. Having done this, he must make a specific resolve, as for example: “Now, with God’s help I will try hard to fulfill this obligation which until now I have done so poorly; I will apply myself to using such-and-such means towards its fulfillment. For example, when someone offends me I will be more patient; I won’t start using insulting and shameful language, or better yet, I won’t answer back at all; in such-and such company I’ll be more careful in what I say; at such-and-such times I’ll try to pray fervently, something I have not done up to now.., and so on.”
In general, the more definite one’s intention to change one’s sinful life and live righteously, the more it will suit the particular circumstances, the state of one’s soul, one’s relationship with others, etc., and the more hope there is of its bringing it into reality. When something is so definite one can more easily direct one’s thoughts and one’s strength to one subject and thus, of course, more easily achieve the desired goal.
Another reason why our good intentions fail, is because we do not hold firmly enough to our resolve. Scarcely two or three days pass by after our having made our resolution and we, in our normal daily routine of life amidst our worldly cares and pursuits, have already forgotten our intention, although at the time it was made with proper firmness of purpose. For this reason, if we truly wish our good intention to be realized, then each of us, every morning after our morning prayers, must immediately bring to mind and renew our resolution, saying in our hearts: “I promised God to turn away from this particular sin; I really wanted to fulfill this obligation; I must keep my promise!” Having renewed in this way our good intention, we must diligently pray to God that He would grant us the necessary strength to carry it out.
Likewise, our intention must be renewed in this way throughout the course of the day. And when evening comes, we should never go to sleep without having first examined our hearts to see how we have spent the day: did we keep our promise to God? And if it happens that we went against our resolve, against our promise, then we must immediately ask God’s forgiveness, and once again renew our resolve and carefully watch over ourselves. This is the way in which those people act who are concerned for the salvation of their souls, and in this way they attain salvation!
The third reason we fail in our intention to lead a better life, is our excessive fear of the difficulties connected with such an undertaking. A holy life is not attained without work, without sufferings and difficulties; it often takes a prolonged and fierce battle. We must withdraw from occasions to sin, of which there are so many. We must sacrifice various enjoyments which are so pleasant, abandon many worldly pursuits which make life interesting, and endure many unpleasant things which because of our self-love are often so difficult to bear.
For example, let us suppose that we resolved to withdraw from our natural inclination to become angry. In order to turn away from anger we must quietly endure a lot of what is to us almost unbearable, and to which our usual response would have been a stream of crude words; sometimes we must not justify ourselves even when we are in the right; often we must be silent when we feel the urge to speak; often we must give in to others even when the occasion does not demand it; we must often bear the offenses of others and not reveal our irritation; often force ourselves to patiently endure when we are slandered or laughed at like fools and cowards. All this we must endure if we truly desire to realize our intention to withdraw from anger.
Amidst all the difficulties of keeping oneself from anger or any other sin which manifests itself as particularly great, our soul often falls into despondency and all our strength seems to evaporate. In such cases we must immediately bring to mind various sacred truths and experiences which are able to restore our former spirit, our former strength, and give us hope of abandoning the sin from which we decided to turn away. Thus we must remember that no matter how weak a man is, with God’s help he can do and endure all things if only he truly desires and uses it; this is accomplished through the strength that is granted by God.
We must remember the millions of righteous ones, who have gone before us and their self-denial, patience and endurance which they left as an example for us and for the whole world. We must remember that, above all, God desires our correction, and because of this, knowing our weakness and our needs, He will unfailingly come to our aid if only we turn to Him with fervent prayer and make use of the means and the power which He has given to us.
We must remember that the difficulties which invariably accompany any important undertaking are intimidating only to the lazy and faint-hearted; that only the first steps along the path of correction are unpleasant and difficult; that the farther one goes along such a path the easier and less painful it becomes; that any victory which we gain over our enemy makes us much stronger and better able to endure any further onslaughts. We must more often remind ourselves of the feeling of peace and satisfaction we shall experience when in the last days and hours of our life we look back at our past, at the difficulties we have heroically overcome, at the many sufferings borne with Christian patience, at the countless temptations conquered by our love for God, at all the noble deeds which we performed in secret before God’s eyes alone, at all the favors which we showed our fellow man, at the faithfulness with which we fulfilled our obligations, often forcing ourselves to the utmost to do this.
Finally, we must more often remind ourselves that for all this we will be rewarded by so much in the life of the age to come that all the difficulties which we overcome here in this life, all the sufferings which we endure in this age for the sake of a righteous life, will appear to us much smaller; in fact, they will appear insignificant, in comparison with the heavenly rewards.
O, Almighty God! Now we count each minute of trial and suffering and we rarely consider the blessed eternity which delights the souls of Thy righteous and faithful servants. Brother! In your striving towards a God-pleasing life, when you weigh your earthly difficulties and grief, place more often on the scale this eternity! It will outweigh all your trials, all the pleasures of worldly pursuits, pleasures and enjoyments.
The fourth reason that our resolution to lead a better life often fails, lies in the fact that we want immediately to become saints. Many people, when they once feel an aversion to their sinful behavior, make a firm resolve to change their ways and place a good beginning towards this reform; but because this doesn’t happen as quickly as they would like, and whether by habit or rashness they often fall into their old sins, they lose heart and come to the conclusion that it’s impossible for them to change their ways.
Brother! Sister! People don’t become saints overnight. Our old man does not easily yield to being transformed into the new man. A big tree is not felled by a single stroke of the ax. So it is with each evil passion which’ is so firmly rooted in us. The way to perfection or to spiritual maturity is almost always unnoticeable, just as are so many things in nature.
A spiritual man passes through various stages of growth, just like the physical man. Much time is spent in childhood before reaching the fullness and strength of manhood. There is a long period of weakness, and only then does one become stronger and stronger, until finally one becomes a man. Only at this age is one capable of doing what is proper to a man. Likewise, a ripened ear of corn is at first only a seed, then a small blade of grass, then a stalk, and finally an ear of corn; but even this ear is not ripe all at once, but grows, then flowers, then it tassels and only then does it become ripe. The same is true of a righteous, life! Even the best man in the world does not suddenly become a saint. His perfection for the most part develops slowly and only little by little. Good earth which accepts into itself a good seed brings forth fruit, says the Lord, in patience. (Lk 8:15).
To fall, of course, is not good, and it were better not to; but he who falls and then quickly gets up, becomes wiser and more careful, renews his good intention, fervently prays to God for new strength to attain a righteous life. Falls are not such a hindrance for such a man on the path to perfection. At the time of his fall, when he falleth, he shall find a stay, i.e., strength (Sir 3:31) and like the Apostle Paul, strikes ahead towards the mark of the prize of the high calling, forgetting those things which are behind. (Phil 3:13).
The above, then, are some of the reasons why our good intentions to turn away from sin and lead a better life are often unfulfilled. Let us avoid these pitfalls; let us try to make our resolution as definite as possible; let us remember more often and continually to renew our decision, and let us not become faint-hearted if we do not at once reach perfection, but let us courageously surmount the difficulties we meet along the way in firm hope of God’s help.
From “The Conversations of Metropolitan Gregory of Novgorod,” translated from the monthly periodical of St. Panteleimon’s Monastery on Mt. Athos, January 1899, pp. 15-19.
Μια χειμωνιάτικη νύχτα του 1701 ένας αγιορείτης μοναχός βρέθηκε ταλαιπωρημένος έξω από την σεβάσμια Μονή των Ιβήρων.
Στη θλίψη του και στην ανάγκη του, ύψωσε τα χέρια του προς την πάνσεπτη εικόνα της Παναγίας, που είναι ζωγραφισμένη πάνω από την κεντρική πύλη, και άρχισε να προσεύχεται.
Και τότε, ενώ προσευχόταν, ένοιωσε στον εαυτό του μία ασυνήθιστη και θαυμαστή αλλοίωση. Αισθάνθηκε, σαν να έσταζε από την εικόνα της Παναγίας στην καρδιά του «δρόσος ουράνιος και θείος γλυκασμός». Και η καρδιά του κατενύγη· και τα μάτια του άρχισαν να αναβλύζουν δάκρυα σαν πηγή. Σκόρπισε το σκοτάδι του νου του. Φωτίστηκαν οι νοεροί του οφθαλμοί. Και είδε πίσω του, τον σατανά να «κρύπτεται ως κλέπτης και ληστής· από τον φόβο της Θεοτόκου». Κρυβόταν γιατί έβλεπε τον μοναχό να προσεύχεται στην Παναγία, και δεν το άντεχε. Και έτρεξε να κρυφθεί από την θεία λάμψη της Παναγίας! Και επήγε και με μορφή σκύλου στάθηκε πίσω από τον μοναχό,
και του δάγκωνε ελαφρά τα πόδια, και του έλεγε:
Να, τώρα θα σε κομματιάσει, τώρα θα σε φάει το σκυλί!
Όμως, η προσευχή του μοναχού τον κατέκαιγε. Και γι’ αυτό προσπαθούσε με τις πανούργες μεθοδείες του να τον αναγκάσει να την διακόψει. Και πράγματι από το φόβο του ο μοναχός όλο και δείλιαζε. Αλλά η Παναγία του έλεγε από την εικόνα της: Μη φοβάσαι!
Και εκείνος έστρεφε προς αυτήν πάλι το πρόσωπό του και ξαναδυνάμωνε τη προσευχή του. Αλλά και πάλι ο δαίμονας τον έκανε να δειλιάζει. Και τότε πάλι, με ήρεμη και γλυκύτατη φωνή, του επαναλάμβανε η Μητέρα του Χριστού:
«Μη φοβάσαι! Εγώ είμαι κοντά σου. Και σε προστατεύω από κάθε κίνδυνο».
Το περιστατικό αυτό μας δείχνει, πόσο ακαταμάχητο όπλο κατά του Σατανά είναι η προσευχή.
* * *
Οι άγιοι Πατέρες θέλοντας να μας βοηθήσουν, να αξιοποιούμε την πάνσεπτη περίοδο της Σαρακοστής για πνευματική μας ανασυγκρότηση και προκοπή, όρισαν, να γίνονται κάθε Παρασκευή βράδυ οι «Χαιρετισμοί της Παναγίας». Στους χαιρετισμούς καταλαβαίνουμε με τον πιό καλό και βαθύ τρόπο τί είναι ο Χριστός για μας, και τί είναι η Παναγία για μας. Τί αξία και σημασία έχει η προσευχή στη Παναγία για μας.
Όμως, η γνώση, χωρίς την αντίστοιχη πράξη, είναι άκαρπη και ανώφελη.
Λοιπόν:
*Ας μάθουμε και εμείς να προσευχόμαστε συχνά και δυνατά στη Παναγία μας.
*Ας μάθουμε να την ζητάμε βοηθό και προστάτη μας στις δύσκολες στιγμές της ζωής μας…
*Ας λέμε και εμείς όσο πιό ταχτικά μπορούμε, μόνοι μας στο σπίτι μας τους «Χαιρετισμούς».
Είναι δύναμή μας. Είναι όπλο μας.
(Αρχιμ. Σάββα Δημητρέα, «Κατεύθυνον τα διαβήματά μου», εκδ. Ι.Μ.Προφήτου Ηλιού, Πρέβεζα 2012)
What is a passion? They are impulses that move us to action by overcoming our will. Because of this we say they enslave us. They are powerful because they are also desires which cannot be satisfied. They act as a force that goes against what we know to be the proper action and lead us to actions which are counter to the commandments of Christ. There is no single list of these passions, but the following is a common list used in early Christian literature: gluttony, unchastity, avarice, anger, dejection, listlessness, self-esteem and pride.
Their ultimate cause is the forgetting of God. Healing begins with faith.
Not all passions are bad. There are both natural and unnatural passions. Our natural passions are our appetite for food, enjoyment of food, fear and sadness. These are necessary for our the preservation of our nature. They are important animal aspect of our being given to by God. But we are more than animals as we are spiritual. Because of this we have an aspiration for the infinite. Often these natural passions which are intended for earthly preservation are transformed into unnatural passions. They are frequently transformed into a mistaken quest for the infinite in things of this material world. The soul loses control and the passions take over. Out task is to control them so they can be limited to their proper purpose. Then they can channeled to seek divine things.
Saint Maximus says,
The natural passions become good in those who struggle when, wisely unfastening them from the things of the flesh, use them to gain heavenly things. For example they can change appetite into the movement of a spiritual longing for divine things; pleasure into pure joy for the cooperation of the mind with divine gifts; fear into care to evade future misfortune due to sin and sadness into corrective repentance for present evil. So the natural passions are not necessarily bad. When we are thinking of God they are kept to their necessary biological functions. Our task is not to eradicate them but to control them, keeping them within the limits necessary for the preservation of the body. They must continually be watched and controlled. This is the basis of asceticism.
Thoughts from Fr. Dimitru Staniloae:
Asceticism means, in the spirit of Eastern thought, the restraint and discipline of the biological, not a battle for its extermination. On the contrary, asceticism means the sublimation of this element of bodily affectivity, not its abolition.... Natural passions can assume a spiritual character and give an increased accent to our love for God.... Now here is the most important point. By controlling them we increase our spiritual blessings.
Fr. Dimitru says,
By putting a bridle and a limit on the pleasure of material things, a transfer of this energy of our nature takes place, in favor of the spirit; pleasure in spiritual blessings grows. ... The challenge we face is not easy. Is difficulty is increased by our tendency to react in the wrong way. Once a pleasure leaves us we feel a loss. This can be painful. Pain or dissatisfaction always follows pleasure. This pain that follows does not lead us to take action to temper the pleasure, but does the opposite. We seek even more pleasure. The cycle continues without satisfaction.
Fr. Dimitru says,
The pain which follows pleasure, instead of making him avoid pleasure, as its source,...pushes his anew into pleasure as if to get rid of it, tangling him even more in this vicious chain. Asceticism is aimed at breaking this dysfunctional cycle of pleasure and pain, liberating us from the unnatural extension of passions that have a proper role in our bodily preservation. This bodily domination through uncontrolled passions is our main block to union with God.
Reference: Orthodox Spirituality, pp77 - 89
By Abba John of Lycus (from “The Lausiac History,” by St. Palladius)
There was a monk who lived in the desert, conducting himself properly and scrupulously for many years. When he was already getting to be quite elderly, he was severely tested by the wiles of the demons. His usual practice consisted of passing his days in silence, with many prayers and psalms and periods of contemplation. He had clear insights into many divine visions, sometimes waking, and sometimes even when asleep, although he actually slept hardly at all, living a life apart from the body. He did not till the ground, he took no thought for the necessities of life, and he cultivated no garden to supply his bodily needs. Nor did he catch birds or hunt any other animal, but full of the faith in which he had abandoned human community, he cared nothing for whether or not his body would be nourished. Forgetful of all else, he was sustained solely by his desire for God, waiting for his call to depart from this world, feeding above all on these things which cannot be perceived with the senses.
Throughout all this time, his body did not waste or show any ill effects, nor was he gloomy in spirit, but he continued to appear his normal attractive self. And God truly honored him indeed, for after a due interval of time He supplied his table with bread for two or three days, not just apparently but actually, for him to use. He would go into his inner room when he felt the pangs of hunger and find this food there. And having praised God and taken some food, he would again sing psalms, persevering in prayers and contemplation, growing daily, giving himself to the pursuit of virtue in hope of the future. He went on progressing more and more, until he almost got to the stage of putting his trust in his own powers of improvement and thereby came to his downfall, almost perishing in the temptations which then came upon him.
His thoughts had arrived at such a pass that he was little by little imprudently beginning to think more of himself than anyone else, and that he possessed much more than other men, and for this reason he began to put his trust solely in himself. Not long after he first thought like this, his vigilance relaxed slightly, but so little that he did not even notice that there had been any relaxation. But his negligence grew until it progressed to the extent that he could not fail but notice it. He was late in waking up to sing psalms, his prayers became shorter, his psalm singing did not last so long, his soul said to him that he needed to rest (and his mind agreed with that), his thoughts wandered and scattered, his secret meditations were spiritless.
But the impetus of his earlier routine still motivated him, and kept him safe for a while, so that when he went in after his usual prayers of an evening, he still found the bread supplied by God on his table and refreshed himself accordingly. But he still did not cut off his unworthy thoughts, he despised the idea that his soul was being damaged; he made no attempt to seek a remedy for these evils. Little by little he fell into omitting many of the things which he ought to have been doing. In thought he began to develop a desire for human company.
The next day he put a temporary restraint on himself, and returned to his usual exercises, but after he had prayed and sung his psalms, he went into the storeroom and found that the bread placed there was not so well baked or wholesome as usual, but was dirty and polluted. He wondered about this and was very sad about it, but nevertheless picked it up and ate it.
Came the third night and with it a third evil. For thoughts suddenly erupted in his mind, activating his memory so much that he imagined there was a woman lying with him. This image persisted in front of his eyes, and he actively encouraged it. But on this third day he went out to his work and his prayers and his psalms, although his mind was not clean anymore, and strayed frequently. He lifted up his eyes to the heavens, turning them this way and that, but the images in his memory prevented his work from being unspoiled. In the evening when he returned feeling hungry, he found that the bread looked as if it had been chewed by mice or dogs, and the scraps left over were dried up as if left outside.
He began to groan and weep, but not so much as to make him want to correct his faults. Having eaten less than he would have wished, he prepared himself for rest, but at once his thoughts went wild, dancing around in every direction, battling for possession of his mind, and taking it captive into uncleanness. He got up and began to walk towards the inhabited regions, walking through the desert by night. Daylight came and he was still a long way off from any habitation. He began to be overcome by the heat and felt very tired. He gazed around him in a complete circle, and saw at some distance what appeared to be a monastery where he might go in and get some refreshment. And so it was. He was accepted in by some good and faithful brothers, who treated him as a real father and washed his face and his feet. They prayed with him, put food before him, and invited him most kindly to partake of what they were offering him.
After he had eaten, the brothers asked him for a word of salvation, and what means there were of being able to be safe from the wiles of the devil, and how to overcome unclean thoughts. Like a father admonishing his sons, he urged them to be strong and constant in their labors in order to arrive quickly to a state of being at peace. He discussed many other aspects of their discipline with them and helped them greatly.
When he had finished he thought for a while and marveled at how he was giving advice to others without looking to himself and trying to amend. He acknowledged he was beaten and straightaway went back to the desert, weeping for himself, and saying, “Unless the Lord had been my helper my soul had remained in hell. (Pss 94:17). I have almost been overcome by evil. They have brought me back to earth.” Thus were fulfilled in him the words, A brother who is helped by a brother is like a city built up on high, whose wall cannot be breached. (Prov 18:19). Whereas before he used to spend all his time without doing any physical work, now he was deprived of the bread provided by the Lord and labored for his daily bread. And when he had shut himself up in his inner room and covered himself in sackcloth and ashes, he did not get up from the ground or cease from weeping until he had heard the voice of the angel saying to him in a dream, The Lord has accepted your repentance and has had mercy on you. From now on live in such a way that you will not be deceived. The brothers you gave advice to will come to you and will show the high opinion they have of you. Accept them, live with them, and give thanks to God always.
I have told you these things, my sons, that you may always cultivate humility and be seen to do so in small things as in great. This was the first of the Savior’s precepts, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3). And do not be deceived by the demons, stirring you up with visions and fantasies. If anyone approaches you, whether brother, friend, woman, father, teacher, mother or sister, first lift up your hands in prayer. If they are fantasies, they will flee. And if either demons or human beings would deceive you by agreeing with you and flattering you, don’t listen to them or get carried away by them. For the demons would often try to deceive me at night also, preventing me from praying, disturbing my peace, presenting fantasies to me the whole night through, and mockingly prostrating themselves in the morning, saying, “Forgive us, abba, for giving you such hard work all night.” I just say to them, Depart from me, all you who work evil, do not put the servant of the Lord to the test. (Pss 6:8).
Do likewise, O my sons, seek peace. Direct your whole self always towards contemplation, begging God that your mind may be purified. Anyone practicing his faith in the world may also be a good workman, engaged in doing good, showing humanity and pity, hospitality and charity, giving alms, blessing those who come to him, helping those in difficulties and avoiding giving offence to anyone.
Such a person is to be commended, for he keeps the commandments and gets things done, even while busy with earthly affairs. But a greater and more excellent thing is to be turned towards contemplation, given not to action but to thought, leaving to others the production of material goods. Denying himself he will contemplate heavenly things, completely forgetful of self, standing before the God of all completely free and unencumbered, turning away for no other consideration whatsoever. Someone like this may not yet enjoy God yet turns always towards God in eager songs of praise.
I know someone in the desert who never tasted earthly food for a space of ten years. An angel fed him every third day with heavenly food, placing it directly into his mouth. To him it was as good as food and drink. I know also that the demons came to this man in the form of fantasies, showing him heavenly armies, chariots of fire, a crowd of followers, as if some king were coming, and saying, “You have done all things well and virtuously, O Man. All you need now is to worship me and I will take you up like Elias.” But the monk replied, “Daily I worship my King and Savior, but if he were here now that is not a demand that he would make of me.” From the bottom of his heart he then cried, “God is my Lord and King whom I ever adore. My king you are not.” And the vision vanished immediately. Unlike some, he strove to keep secret his way of life and the things he did. It was the fathers with him who said that he had seen these things.
These and many other things the blessed John told us, nourishing our souls up to the ninth hour for three days. And as he blessed us, bidding us go in peace, he also gave us a prophecy. “It has been announced today in Alexandria,” he said, “that the most devout Theodosius has won a victory over the tyrant Eugenius, [in the year 394] who has died his own well-deserved death”, which came to pass exactly as he had said.
We were also aware of a great number of monks who were with him in the church, like a great choir of the righteous, dressed in white robes, glorifying God in fervent psalms. After we saw many other fathers some brothers came and told us that the blessed John had died a wonderful death. For he had given orders that no one should visit him for three days, during which he passed away as he knelt in prayer into the presence of God, to whom be glory for ever.
Ένα ζεύγος ευσεβές και πολύ αγαπημένο και μονοιασμένο, που ήδη είχε έξι παιδιά, μάλιστα σε μικρή χρονική απόσταση μεταξύ τους, η σύζυγος- μητέρα πρότεινε στο σύζυγο να μείνουν στα έξι παιδιά ασκώντας εγκράτεια. «Μας φθάνουν», είπε, «έξι παιδιά και στο εξής να ζούμε εγκρατευόμενοι». Ο σύζυγος με ηρεμία και ψυχραιμία άκουσε τη σεμνή σύζυγό του, αλλ’ επιφυλάχθηκε να μη συμφωνήσει αμέσως. Πίστευε πως, για ένα τέτοιο θέμα, σοβαρό και λεπτό, τον πρώτο λόγο είχε ο Πνευματικός τους, που ευτυχώς ήταν ο Γέρων Πορφύριος. «Πριν από κάθε απόφαση για το θέμα αυτό», είπε ο σύζυγος στη σύντροφό του, «θα πρέπει να συμβουλευθούμε το Γέροντα».
Επισκέφθηκαν λοιπόν το Γέροντα και το θέμα έθεσε πρώτη η σύζυγος λέγοντας επί λέξει:
- Όπως ξέρετε, Γέροντα, έχουμε έξι παιδιά και είπαμε να μείνουμε σ’ αυτά ασκώντας από εδώ και πέρα εγκράτεια.
Τότε ζήτησε το λόγο ο σύζυγος , που είναι και ευγενής και διακριτικός, για να εξηγήσει αρχικά μόνο τη λέξη «είπαμε».
- Με την ευλογία σας, Γέροντα, να κάμω μιαν εξήγηση.
Και στρεφόμενος στη σύζυγό του είπε:
- Με συγχωρείς ,αλλά είπες «είπαμε», ενώ έπρεπε να ειπείς «είπα». Δική σου γνώμη είναι, αφού εγώ δεν είπα ακόμη τη γνώμη μου και πρότεινα αυτή τη συνάντηση και συζήτηση με το Γέροντα.
Ο Γέροντας μειδίασε και είπε στο πολύτεκνο και αγαπημένο ζεύγος:
- Το πρόβλημα δεν είναι η εγκράτεια. Το πρόβλημα είναι ότι θα πληγώσετε την αγάπη σας. Ο διάβολος θα ρίξει τόση γκρίνια μεταξύ σας, που για το παραμικρό θα εκνευρίζεστε και θα μαλώνετε, πράγμα που θα επηρεάσει και τα παιδιά σας. Γι’ αυτό καλό είναι να το σκεφθείτε περισσότερο το θέμα αυτό και να προσευχηθείτε και θα σας δείξει ο Θεός το θέλημά Του. [ Περιοδ. Πολύτεκνη Οικογένεια, αρ. φ. 57 (1993), σ. 22]
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Σημ. Το παραπάνω κείμενο έχει δημοσιοποιηθεί με την άδεια των αδερφών του Ιερού ησυχαστηρίου Μεταμόρφωσις του Σωτήρος στο Μήλεσι της Αττικής.
Η επιλογή των κειμένων, έγινε σε συνεργασία με τον κύριο Κωνσταντίνο Καρακόλη, ο οποίος και έχει την επιμέλεια του βιβλίου και τον οποίο ευχαριστούμε θερμά για το ενδιαφέρον του.
