St. John of Kronstadt · 18 of 49

Part I · Part 18

Say inwardly, from your whole heart: " The Lord is everything to me; I myself am nothing; I am powerless, I am infirm." " For without Me ye can do nothing," says the Lord Himself, for it might be added: " I am everything to you." Be heartily convinced of this every moment of your life, and have recourse to the Lord absolutely in everything, trusting to obtain from Him everything necessary for your salvation, and even for this temporal life besides.

If the Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, through Her union with God, and through Her unprecedented service to the Lord of all, most speedily becomes everything to all those who ask with faith and love for Her intercession, delivering them from every evil, and bestowing upon them everything which leads to their salvation, in accordance with their prayer, then will not the Lord Himself do still more? Only do not be unbelieving; do not be cold to Him in your soul and insensible as a stone, but stir up within you your faith, your gratitude for God's benefits, the sincere recognition of your sins, and your great love for your Saviour, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, Who loves you with an immeasurable love.

When praying to the Lord, to the Mother of God, or to the saints, always remember that the Lord will give you according to your heart. He will "grant thee according to thine own heart." Whatever the heart is, such will be the gift. If you pray with faith, sincerely, with all your heart, not hypocritically, then a gift will be given you by the Lord in accordance with your faith, in accordance with the degree of the fervour of your heart. And, on the contrary, the colder your heart is, the more incredulous and hypocritical it is, the more useless will be your prayer; not only this, the more it will anger the Lord, Who is a Spirit, and seeks to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Therefore, whether you call upon the Lord Himself, or His Mother, or the angels, or saints, call upon them with all your heart; whether you pray for anyone living or departed, pray for them with your whole heart, pronouncing their names with heartfelt fervour; whether you pray that any spiritual blessing may be granted you or anyone else, that you or anyone near to you may be delivered from any misfortune, or from sins, passions, or bad habits, pray for this with your whole heart, desiring for yourself or others with your whole heart the blessings you pray for, being firmly resolved to forsake, or desiring others to free themselves from sins, passions and sinful habits, and the Lord will grant you the gift according to your heart. "Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." You see, therefore, that it is absolutely necessary to wish and long for that which you ask; for then only you will obtain it. "Pray one for another that ye may be healed."

Be kindly disposed in heart, word, and deed, ready at every time to serve others without the slightest vexation or irritability, remembering the words of the Saviour: "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant."

Firmly believe that the Lord is at all times everything to you. During prayer He is the power and the fulfilment in the Holy Ghost of each of your words. During pious conversation He is your living water, the ardent flow of your words at all times—He is everything to you. Be free from care in the presence of your Lord. He has enclosed you with Himself upon all sides. He penetrates you wholly and knows all your thoughts, all your needs and inclinations, and if you live in Him with faith and love, then no evil shall befall you. "The Lord is at hand; be careful for nothing."

God, Who alone is, Who is omnipresent, incomplex, can create or transform everything in a single instant, as it was with the wonders of Egypt. The Almighty can do all things.

3">Through masterful, or rather through mercenary pride and incomprehensible wickedness, we often do not deign to speak to those whom we feed and support, often behaving inimically to them, instead of rather humbling ourselves before them as their servants, in accordance with the words of the Lord. "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant," so as to redouble our recompense of the Lord by sincerely and unfeignedly serving Him in the person of the least of His brethren. O, meek and humble-hearted Creator, Giver of Life, Redeemer, our Nourisher, and Preserver—Lord Jesus! teach us love, meekness, and humility through Thy Holy Spirit, and strengthen us in those virtues which are most pleasing to Thee, so that Thy rich gifts may not make our hearts proud, so that we may not deem that it is we ourselves who feed, provide, and support anyone. Thou art the universal Nourisher. Thou feedest, providest, supportest, and preservest all; under the wings of Thy mercy, bounty, and loving kindness all are provided for and are given rest—not under ours, for we ourselves have need of being covered with the shadow of Thy wings at every moment of our life. Our eyes are fixed upon Thee, our God, as "the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress: even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until He have mercy upon us." Amen.

Be firmly convinced that every word, especially those pronounced during prayer, is realisable, remembering that the author of the word is God the Word, that our God Himself, worshipped in the Holy Trinity, is expressed by the three words or names: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; that each word has a corresponding being, or that every word can become being and deed. Therefore reverence the word and value it. Remember that the Son of God, as the Personal Word of God, is always united with the Father and the Holy Ghost, in the same manner. as the Father, as the Supreme Wisdom, participates, by His omnipresence, His creative Word, and the Holy Ghost the Accomplisher in the words of Holy Scripture, or in the prayers or in the writings of the most wise Fathers. This is why no word is vain, but has or should have power in itself. Woe to those who speak idly, for they will have to answer for their idle speaking! "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Power and accomplishment are, in general, the properties of the word. Such should it also be in the mouths of men.

The Holy Ghost accomplishes all wonders and miracles. By the same Spirit power is given to one, and to another works of power. You have only to speak with faith, and need have no anxiety as to the fulfilment of the word; the Holy Ghost will care for this.

Believe firmly that you always think, feel, speak, move, and act in God—so to say, in His bosom: "Dwelleth in Me and I in him." He has enclosed you upon all sides; He penetrates and knows you. "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me," says the holy prophet and king David. The Mother of God, all the holy angels and all the saints are also in God. What is, therefore, nearer, who can, therefore, be more closely associated with believing Christians than the angels and saints? Therefore, call upon God Himself, the Lord of everything, as well as upon His saints, with faith, hope and love, asking them to intercede before God for you; ask the angels and saints to pray to God for you as you would ask living persons anything for yourself—standing face to face with them, firmly believing that they too stand face to face with your heart.

Always think that you are accursed, poor, needy, blind and naked without God, that God is everything to you: He is your righteousness, your sanctification, your riches, your raiment, your life, your breath—everything.

The Body and the Blood of Christ are pre-eminently body and blood, because in each smallest particle of the Body and the Blood rests the entire Christ-God, filling every part. It is not so in the human body. In the Body and the Blood of Christ every particle, every drop is Christ entire, ever indivisible, One and the Same.

What is mercy? Mercy is to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to do good to those who hate us, who do us harm, who drive us away, to defend those who are persecuted, and so on.

God is the most easily approachable and most communicative of Beings in His bounties to all His creatures, especially to reasonable beings. If air and light, owing to their rarity, move and communicate themselves easily to everything that is capable of absorbing or receiving them, then shall not the Lord of all things, the Omnipresent Spirit, All-merciful, Infinite, Almighty, move and communicate Himself infinitely more easily than these inanimate, unintelligent material created things? O! how quickly the Lord helps all those who believe in Him and seek Him! "The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." If human nature is communicative, then how much more so is God's nature? If a father and a mother give what is needful to their children, they being men, evil by nature, "then how much more shall your Father, Which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him!" "To do good and to communicate forget not."

If Christ is in you through the frequent communion of the Holy Sacrament, then be yourself wholly like unto Christ: meek, humble, long-suffering, full of love, without attachment to earthly things, meditating upon heavenly ones, obedient, reasonable. Have His spirit unfailingly within you. Do not be proud, impatient, partial to earthly things, avaricious, and covetous.

See God clearly with your spiritual vision, and when thus contemplating Him, ask of Him anything you wish, in the name of Jesus Christ, and it shall be given to you. In one single moment God will be everything to you, for He is an incomplex Being, above any time and space; and in the moments of your true faith, of your heartfelt union with Him, He will accomplish everything for you that is necessary for your own salvation, or for that of your neighbour, and you yourself will at that time be a participant of the divinity, through most sincere union with Him: "I have said ye are gods." At such a time there is no interval between God and you, there will be no interval, either, between your word and the realisation of it: as soon as you speak it will be realised, just as God Himself "spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." This is equally true both in regard to the sacraments, as in general in regard to spiritual prayer. Besides this, in the sacraments everything is accomplished for the sake of the grace of the priesthood with which the priest is invested, for the sake of the great High Priest Himself --Christ, Whose image the priest bears upon himself. Therefore, although some priests are even unworthy of their office, though they may have weaknesses, though they may be suspicious, incredulous, or distrustful, nevertheless God's Mystery is speedily accomplished, in the twinkling of an eye.

God the Father—acting in our mind and heart through His Personal Word (expressed in our word by the Holy Ghost, resting in the Personal Word), and through our word of faith, trust, meekness, and love proceeding from our lips--accomplishes in an instant, once for all, the wonderful acts predetermined since the creation of the world, of our regeneration, sanctification, strengthening, spiritual, nourishment, and healing in Christ; although the preparatory rites for these actions are very prolonged, for God is an incomplex, Almighty Being. For instance, the change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is accomplished immediately after the utterance of the words: "Make this bread the precious Body of Thy Christ, and that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Thy Christ, changing them by Thy Holy Ghost." After these last words, and after the blessing, with the sign of the cross with the hand, the bread and wine are instantaneously changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but not before; for the divine Omnipotence awaits the word of the priest co-operating with It. "For we are labourers together with God." The blessing at this time, by the sign of the cross in the name of the Lord, signifies that the mystery is accomplished by the Holy Ghost in the name of Jesus Christ, and for the sake of Jesus Christ, at His intercession, by the favour of God the Father.

During the celebration of divine service and the sacraments the servant of God should be firmly convinced that whatever he thinks and says will be accomplished. It is so easy for the Lord to fulfil our requests, to create or to change anything in accordance with our words. Let this conviction be as easy and natural to you as your breathing the air, as seeing with your eyesight, as hearing with your ears. You have a thousand times experienced upon yourself that this is really so; you have yourself experienced that there is no interval of time between the words: "Spake, and it was done; commanded, and it stood fast;" that they are true in all their power. Absorb this conviction into yourself with your food and drink--with your breathing.

The Liturgy is the supper, the table of God's love to mankind. Around the Lamb of God upon the holy disc all are at this time assembled--the living and the dead, saints and sinners, the Church triumphant and the Church militant.

There is nothing impossible unto those who believe; lively and unshaken faith can accomplish great miracles in the twinkling of an eye. Besides, even without our sincere and firm faith, miracles are accomplished, such as the miracles of the sacraments; for God's Mystery is always accomplished, even though we were incredulous or unbelieving at the time of its celebration. "Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Our wickedness shall not overpower the unspeakable goodness and mercy of God; our dulness shall not overpower God's wisdom, nor our infirmity God's omnipotence.

The Church is the eternal truth, because she is united with the truth, with Christ, and is animated by the spirit of truth: "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "His Body . . . which is the Church," says the Apostle.

You who are full of iniquities must thirst to suffer every iniquity from other people, so that "the judgment of God according to truth" may be manifested upon you in your present life. "With what measure ye mete," to your Lord and your neighbour," it shall be measured to you again." Bear always in mind the example of that most righteous man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, being righteous, yet suffered every iniquity from men, was lifted up upon the cross, and died the most shameful death.

Do not be faint-hearted, and do not despair when men hate you for revealing their ways, but rejoice the more, remembering the words of the Saviour: " Blessed are ye when men shall hate you."

Man builds himself a house, and lives in it; the animal a lair, and lives in it; the bird a nest, and hatches its young ones; the bee a hive with honeycomb, and lives in it, preparing honey for itself; the spider weaves a web, and, living in it, catches food for itself by means of it. Was it not, therefore, fitting that the Creator should build Himself a house not made with hands—His Body—as He built it in the womb of the Virgin Mother, as He even now creates temples for His Body in the life-giving mysteries—the Creator, Who has built and continues to build bodily houses for all sentient or sentiently-spiritual creatures?

The priesthood, or in general holy men, are sacred reservoirs, from which the beneficial water is communicated to other believers. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

How pure and spiritual should be the lips of priests, who so often pronounce the most holy name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost! How still more spiritual and pure should be their hearts to contain and feel in themselves the sweetness of this most precious, glorious, and justly-worshipped name! O, how far a priest should withdraw himself from carnal delights, so as not to become flesh, in which the spirit of God cannot dwell! What carnal delights can there be for a priest, when he must absolutely delight in the Lord alone, so that He may grant him the petitions of his heart? What carnal delights can there be for a priest when he has so many spiritual children disclosing to him their various spiritual or bodily infirmities, with which he must heartily sympathise, concerning which he must give sincere and wholesome advice; when he must each day wrestle in prayer for them with his whole heart and with tears before the Lord, that the mental wolf may not fall upon them and ravish them, that God may grant that they may prosper in life and faith, and in spiritual wisdom? What carnal delights can there be for a priest when he must often perform the services in the church and stand before the altar of the Lord; when he has so often to celebrate the divine and most-wonderful Liturgy, and to be the celebrant and partaker of the heavenly, immortal, and life-giving Mysteries; when, in general, he has so often to celebrate sacraments and prayers? The heart that loves carnal delights is unfaithful to the Lord. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."

"Ye shall know them by their fruits." By the most sweet, most blessed, and life-giving fruits of the Liturgy—the most pure Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord—you will recognise that it is from God, the inspiration of the divine Spirit, and that this most holy, life-giving Spirit breathes in all its prayers and sacred rites. What a wonderful living tree is this divine Liturgy! What leaves it has! What fruits it bears! Not only the fruits, but even "The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." For who has not received great spiritual benefit, peace, and blessedness into his soul from only devoutly assisting at the divine Liturgy! And that which brings forth good fruits must be in itself good; such is the law of creation.

One of the most powerful wiles of the Devil is to weaken the heart through slothfulness, and with it all the spiritual and bodily powers. At such times faith, hope, and love are dried up in the heart; we become faithless, despondent, insensible towards God and men: the salt has lost its savour.

Only feel sincerely the need of that for which you pray and believe that every good and perfect gift comes from God and not from men—not by chance, not through circumstances nor fate; that God sees and hears all your needs, every movement of your heart and of your thoughts; that He is all-good, Almighty, most wise, and that He can easily accomplish in an instant, by a single movement of His thought, through the Son in His Holy Spirit, everything that you need—and you will obtain everything. For although many things are impossible with men, they are not so with God: "For with God all things are possible."

Trust in prayer consists in uttering the petitions, thanksgivings, and praise with faith in the presence of God, and of His hearing them; and with the fear of God, not doubting, nor being in the least uneasy as to their acceptance and fulfilment, but in absolute assurance that God has heard them and accepted them upon His heavenly and mental Altar; and that, in accordance with the desire of our Mother the Church (if we pray in the name of the Church), as well as of our own heart, He will give us, as the all-good Almighty and most wise, all that we ask, and more abundantly than we ask or mean. But the heart that has a partiality for food and drink, that is greedy for these, and is weakened by them, has not such trust; neither the heart in which hatred and animosity are concealed, nor that is bound by avarice, covetousness, and envy, until it puts away its infirmities and amends itself.

In signing ourselves with the sign of the cross, with the three fingers we lay the upper end of the cross upon the forehead as an emblem of God the Father, Who is the uncreated Wisdom; the lower end of the cross upon the bosom as an emblem of the Son Who was begotten of the Father before all worlds, and which is in the bosom of the Father; and the transverse part upon the shoulders as an emblem of the Holy Ghost, Which is the arm or the power of God, or the band of the Lord, as has been said: "To whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed;" or: "The hand of the Lord was there upon me;" that is, the Holy Ghost. There is, besides, an image of the Holy Trinity in man himself. The thinking mind is the image of God the Father; the heart, in which wisdom dwells and expresses itself, is the image of God the Son, the Personal wisdom of God; the lips, through which that which is in the thoughts and in the heart proceeds, are the image of the Holy Ghost. " He breathed on them, and said unto them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. . . ." When "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications . . . blasphemies. . . ." then it is the evil spirit nestling in man's heart which comes forth; but when "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good," then that is the image of the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father through the Son. How great, therefore, is man! It has not been said in vain: "I have said ye are gods, and ye are all children of the most Highest." "If He called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken [that is, if it has been said, then it must be true, immutable], say ye of Him Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God." O, the dignity! O, the greatness of man! Do not look upon any man, especially upon a Christian, otherwise than as upon the son of God, and receive him as the son of God, converse with him, behave with him as with the son of God, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A certain person who was sick unto death from inflammation of the bowels for nine days, without having obtained the slightest relief from medical aid, as soon as he had communicated of the Holy Sacrament, upon the morning of the ninth day, regained his health, and rose from his bed of sickness in the evening of the same day. He received the Holy Communion with firm faith. I prayed to the Lord to cure him. "Lord," said I, "heal Thy servant of his sickness. He is worthy, therefore grant him this. He loves Thy priests, and sends them his gifts." I also prayed for him in church before the altar of the Lord, at the Liturgy, during the prayer: "Thou Who hast given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplication unto Thee," and before the most Holy Mysteries themselves. I prayed in the following words: "Lord, our life! It is as easy for Thee to cure every malady as it is for me to think of healing. It is as easy for Thee to raise every man from the dead as it is for me to think of the possibility of the resurrection from the dead. Cure, then, Thy servant Basil of his cruel malady, and do not let him die; do not let his wife and children be given up to weeping." And the Lord graciously heard, and had mercy upon him, although he was within a hair's-breadth of death. Glory to Thine omnipotence and mercy, that Thou, Lord, hast vouchsafed to hear me!

The heart can change several times in one moment—to good or evil, to faith or unbelief, to simplicity or cunning, to love or hatred, to benevolence or envy, to generosity or avarice, to chastity or fornication. O, what inconstancy! O, how many dangers! O, how sober and watchful we must be!

Do not rejoice when your countenance is bright from pleasant food and drink, because then the inward face of your soul is hideous and deadly, and at that time the words of the Saviour Christ are applicable to you: "For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which, indeed, appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones"—that is, of hypocrisy and iniquity.

How many times already, O Master, Lord Jesus, hast Thou renewed my nature, heedlessly corrupted by my sins! There is no measure and number to this. How many times hast Thou saved me from the furnace burning within me, from the furnace of many and diverse passions, from the abyss of despondency and despair! How many times hast Thou renewed my depraved heart, when only I have called upon Thy Name with faith! How many times hast Thou accomplished this through the life-giving Holy Sacrament! O Lord! in truth there is no number and measure of Thy mercies unto me, a sinner. What shall I offer to Thee, or what can I render unto Thee for Thine innumerable benefits to me, Jesus, my life and my lightness? May I be prudent in my ways, according to Thy grace; for " blessed are those that are undefiled in the way," as Thou hast said, through the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our forefather, David. I will endeavour to be faithful unto Thee, to be humble, meek, not irritable, gentle, forbearing, industrious, merciful, generous, not covetous, obedient.

Alms-giving is good and salutary when to it is united the amendment of the heart from pride, malice, envy, slothfulness, indolence, gluttony, fornication, falsehood, deceitfulness, and other sins. But if the man is not careful to amend his heart, trusting only to his alms, then he will obtain but little benefit from them, for he builds with one hand and destroys with the other.

The children Paul and Olga, by the infinite mercy of the Lord, in accordance with mine unworthy prayer, have been cured of the spirit of infirmity by which they were attacked. In the case of the child Paul, his malady passed away through sleep, and the child Olga became quiet in spirit, and her little face grew bright instead of dark and troubled. Nine times I went to pray with bold trust, hoping my trust might not be shamed; that to him that knocketh it would be opened; that even on account of my importunity, God would fulfil my requests; that if the unjust judge at last satisfied the woman who troubled him, then still more the Judge of all, the most righteous Judge, would satisfy my sinful prayer for the innocent children; that He would consider my labour, my intercession, my prayerful words, my kneeling, my boldness, my trust in Him. And the Lord did so; He did not cover me, a sinner, with shame. I came for the tenth time to their home, and the children were well. I gave thanks unto the Lord and to our most speedy Mediatrix.

"That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." What separates us from God and each other? Money, food, and drink—this dust, this dross, this corruption. Why? Because we have not living Christian trust and faith in God. We do not know, or we forget, that man's true life is love for God and his neighbour. Setting our life upon dust and trusting in it, we do not render to the Heavenly Father the glory that is due to Him, by putting our whole trust in Him, by casting all our care upon Him, as His faithful children in Christ should do. "If then I be a Father, where is Mine honour? Where is your trust in Me ? Where is your love for Me? Where is your detachment from earthly, corrupt things, and your hearty desire for the heavenly, spiritual, and eternal ones?

While I live, then the flesh is mine own, because my spirit lives in it; but when I die, the flesh is no longer mine, but belongs to God and to the earth: "The earth is the Lord's and all that therein is." "For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." "Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood." These words also signify that I myself wholly dwell in these two forms of the Communion—in the flesh and blood; that they are mine by their close association with me, as the flesh and blood of the man, with the soul of the man dwelling in them; for the soul penetrates all the body and all the blood.