St. John of Kronstadt · 20 of 49

Part I · Part 20

When you partake of the immortal food and drink, the Body and Blood of the Lord, raise your grateful heart to the Lord and say: I thank Thee, Lord, Bread of Life and source of immortality, for giving unto us Thy Body and Blood for our food and drink, so that we, cleansed and sanctified here by them, may enter into Thine eternal kingdom—may eternally delight in the contemplation of Thy countenance and Thy blessed life! Do not suffer me, Lord, to care only for bodily food and drink; do not suffer me, Lord, to become attached to them, but grant that I may cleave to Thee alone. When you partake of perishable sweet things, thank the Lord, saying: I thank Thee, sweetness eternal, incomparable, infinitely surpassing all earthly sweetness, which are carnal and gross. Thou art the sweetness imperishable, life-giving, holy, tranquil, light, most peaceful, most joyful, inexhaustible; I thank Thee also for granting me these perishable sweet things to partake of and enjoy, so that through them I may learn, although only in part, how sweet Thou art, Thou who art all sweetness, and how greatly Thou art to be desired. Enlightened by the material light, say: Glory to Thee, light that never sets, most sweet, and giving joy to everything, for this perishable but beautiful light, for lighting us by this image of Thine inaccessible Divine light, so that from this material light our thoughts may unceasingly pass to Thee, the eternal Light that never sets, and may aspire to attain through purity of life to the most blessed contemplation of Thyself. When you breathe the air with your lungs, that vivifying and refreshing element, constantly necessary for the support of our perishable life, again raise yourself in thought to the life-giving Lord, the Holy Ghost, with the Father and the Son, by whom we live, move, and exist, thanking Him for uninterrupted breath, and know, that as the body cannot live without air, so your soul cannot for an instant lead the true life without the Holy Ghost, and by pure and temperate living strive constantly to be in communion with God Himself, for without Him the soul dies. Thus from every created thing or being raise yourself continually to the Creator; thank Him for everything, and do not cling to any creature, do not serve any creature more than the Creator Himself, for service or slavery to creatures and attachment to earthly things is idolatry.

Bring your heart in sacrifice to God, give it wholly to the Almighty, renounce yourself, and all sinful inclinations: malice, hatred, pride, disobedience, and self-will, envy, malevolence, malignancy, avarice, covetousness, gluttony, fornication, uncleanness, stealing, deceit, fulness, slothfulness, and others; and continually force yourself to be kind when others exasperate and offend you, to pray for your enemies, for meekness, humility, gentleness, truer benevolence, generosity, disinterestedness, abstinence, chastity, alms-giving, truth and righteousness, industry, obedience, and others. It is difficult to conquer the passions, which become as though our natural members ("Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth"), but by being continually watchful over yourself, by constant fervent prayer and abstinence, with the help of God you will be able to conquer and eradicate them. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." I reverence even two or three praying together, for in accordance with the Lord's promise He Himself is in the midst of them. I reverence still more a numerous congregation. Collective prayer is speedily fulfilled, and bears much fruit when it is united, unanimous ("gathered together in My name"). The assiduous prayer of the Church for the Apostle Peter immediately ascended before the throne of the Lord, and the Lord sent his angel to miraculously deliver Peter from the prison, whom Herod wished to destroy. The unanimous prayer of the Apostles Paul and Silas brought down upon them wonderful heavenly help from the Holy Ghost.

What darkness, what madness, what infirmity, and what a terrible deadly power is sin! Gazing upon faces because they are beautiful, we inwardly commit adultery; or we hate a man because his character does not agree with ours, because he has different passions to ours, because he has not the same disposition of spirit as ours, which is often not sinless, but passionate and vicious. Is the beauty of a face a reason to commit adultery—to sin? Should it not rather be a reason for praising the Creator, Who hath created man so beautifully? Is the fact of a man's character or temper not agreeing with ours, of his not showing much indulgence to our pride and in general to our passions, of his not having the same disposition of spirit as ours, a reason for us to hate him? Has not everybody his own freewill, his own character, temperament, habits, passions, and ways? Ought we not to be indulgent to everyone, to respect everyone's personal freedom, which even the Lord Himself does not violate?

It is unpleasant for a proud man when it is required of him to be humble to others; for an envious man when it is required of him to wish his enemies well; for a vindictive one when forgiveness and reconciliation are required of him; for one who loves money to be reminded of paying his debts; for a glutton when he is reminded of fasting and of the salvation of his soul. But they should conquer their feelings, their passions, and joyfully fulfil that which is required of them, or which is required by the Gospel: otherwise, by giving themselves up unrepentingly, irremediably to their passions, they will be eternally lost.

Glory to the power of Thy grace, Lord! Nothing, no effort of sin, can resist it in those who call upon it with faith. Thus, when subjected to the violence of the enemy of everything good—the Devil—and tempted by passions, I made the sign of the cross upon myself, saying inwardly, " Nothing can resist the power of Thy grace," and the violence ceased, the trouble and oppression passed away, and were replaced by tranquillity and peace. Glory to Thy power, Lord!

"I am only the witness that I may bear witness before Him of all thou tellest me." The priests will be witnesses before the Saviour on the terrible day of judgment concerning sinners, whether they repented or did not repent of these or those sins, and they who were penitent will be forgiven. But why is it necessary for God to have witnesses when He Himself knows everything? As has been said: "He needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." For God they are not necessary, but they are necessary for us. It will be pleasant for us to see how the priests will bear witness concerning us, before the angels and men, that we repented of our sins, condemned ourselves, expressed our loathing for sin, took the firm resolution not to sin. Remember the Saviour's words to the Apostles: "Ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them;" or, "His Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations."

Grant me, Lord, grace to renounce myself, this devil that I have become by inheritance from Adam. Lord Jesus, the New Adam, change me; make a new man of me; let me be clothed in Thee.

"Every valley" and dale "shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight . . . and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." The valley and dale are humble hearts. The mountain and hill shall be brought low—that is, proud men who think highly of themselves, and despise the lowly and humble. So it is: the Lord unceasingly acts through the spirit of righteousness and mercy in the hearts of men, humbling the proud by various worldly circumstances—by maladies, losses, humiliations from other people, and exalting the humble.

Flatterers are our greatest enemies. They blind our eyes, do not let us see our many defects, and thus hinder us upon the way to perfection, especially if we ourselves are self-loving and not far-seeing. This is why we must always stop those who natter us, or avoid them. Woe unto him who is surrounded by flatterers! Happy is he who is surrounded by simple-hearted people who do not hide the truth, although it may be unpleasant! For instance, when they detect his weaknesses, faults, passions, and mistakes.

He that is joined to God unfailingly, and as if naturally, loves his neighbour, because his neighbour is the image of God. And if he is a Christian, then he is also a child of God, a member of Christ, the God-man, and his own member besides. "For we are members one of another." "We are members of His Body, of His Flesh, and of His Bones." But he who loves God is indifferent to everything earthly—to food, drink, dainties, to earthly beauty, dress, fame. For he cannot serve two masters, for his heart is joined to the Lord; he is absorbed by Him, by his love for Him, and in the Lord everything earthly seems to vanish for him. Every worldly charm, even his own old sinful, passionate heart vanishes, and becomes united to God in one spirit. "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit," because he becomes enlightened in God, and sees the true value of all things earthly and heavenly, sees especially the vanity, the uselessness of everything earthly; the truth, the immeasurable superiority, and the eternity of spiritual blessings. He finds in God the cleansing from sins, and the holiness, peace, lightness, true freedom, and joy in the Holy Ghost which are natural to our spirit, but which we have lost. He also finds in God his natural spiritual food and drink, spiritual sweetness, spiritual raiment, shining, adorned, and white as snow, and unspeakable beauty, which will eternally enrapture him, inaccessible light which shall eternally light him, and an abode corresponding to his soul in like manner as he himself will be the abode of the Holy Trinity.

Lord! let my heart cling to Thee alone, and do not let it cling to anything earthly; for in earthly attachments there is sorrow, oppression, and torment. Let nothing earthly be dear to my heart, but grant that I may value Thee, the one Lord, above all, as well as everything heavenly, and the soul created after Thine image, immortal, reasonable, speaking, free, the breath of Thy mouth. Let nothing earthly--money, food, dress, rank, signs of distinction, etc.--become the idol of my heart. We must accustom ourselves to the simplest, least dainty of food, in order that the heart should not be allured by it, and even that in moderation, only for imparting strength.

The Lord was crucified for us on the cross. This is the reason why it, as well as the sign of the cross, has such power. This is why it is life-giving. This is why even in the Old Testament its symbol had such great power. The pole upon which the serpent was set cured those who were bitten by serpents; the cross, traced by Moses's rod, separated the waters; Moses's hands uplifted in prayer, and forming the cross, conquered Amalek, and so on.

As quickly as the pleasure of eating and drinking passes away in those sitting at table dining, for instance, so quickly shall pass, and passes away the present life, with all its pleasures, joys, sorrows, and sickness. It is like morning dew, vanishing at the appearance of the sun. Therefore the Christian, who is called to a heavenly country, who is only a stranger and a sojourner upon earth, ought not attach his heart to anything earthly, but should cling to God alone, the Source of life, our resurrection, and the Life eternal.

We must not look with wonderment and malice upon the various sins, weaknesses and passions of humanity, because they form the old enticement, the infirmity of all mankind, and men themselves, by their own strength, cannot anyhow free themselves from them, and therefore a Saviour of men was necessary, not an intercessor, not an angel, but the Lord Himself incarnate. May He save me wholly! This is why we should despise human passions, even when directed against us; for instance: envy, malice, pride, avarice, extortion--and must not be exasperated with those who are subjected to them, but must behave gently to them, and act upon them by words, persuasion, and secret prayer, as did the Lord and His Saints in relation to their enemies. This is what the worldly wisdom of a Christian consists in.

Strive by every means constantly to rejoice the Heavenly Father by your life; that is, by your meekness, humility, gentleness, obedience, abstinence, right judgment, love of peace, patience, mercy, sincere friendship with worthy people, kindness to everybody, cordial hospitality, universal benevolence, accuracy in business, simplicity of heart and character, and by the purity of all your thoughts. Teach and strengthen us, O God, to live in accordance with Thy Will, for Thou art our Father, and we are Thy children, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Everyone must bear in mind that every man possesses, besides his animal nature, a spiritual nature also; that as the animal nature has its requirements, the spiritual one has its own requirements too. The requirements of the animal nature are: drink, food, sleep, breath, light, clothing, warmth; whilst those of the spiritual nature are meditation, feeling, speaking, communion with God through prayer, Divine service, the sacraments, instruction in the Word of God, and fellowship with our neighbour through mutual conversation, charitable help, mutual instruction and teaching. We must also bear in mind that our animal nature is temporal, transitory, perishable, whilst the spiritual one is eternal, not transitory and indestructible; that we must despise the flesh as perishable, and care for the soul, which is immortal, for its salvation, its enlightenment, its cleansing from sins, passions, and vices for its adornment with such virtues as meekness, humility, gentleness, courage, patience, submission, and obedience to God and men, purity and abstinence. Grant wisdom, O Lord, to every man that he may ever bear this in mind!

O Lord! let not Thy gifts, both spiritual and material, lie idle in us and for us; grant that they may be exercised salutarily and usefully. Fulfil this in all. May the number of Thy talents be increased by the personal activity of each one of us.

Look upon a spiteful, proud, presumptuous man as you would upon the wind, and do not be offended at his malice, pride, and presumption, but be calm in yourself. The enemy purposely irritates you, kindling the fire of the human passions, or arousing in your heart various suspicions of an evil nature and imaginary fancies.

Do not pay attention to the words of an arrogant man, but rather to their power. It often happens that words that appear harsh at first sight, do not proceed from any harshness of the heart, but only from habit. How would it be if everyone paid strict critical attention to our words, without Christian love, indulgent, sheltering, kindly, and patient? We must have died long ago.

Ought a holy and chosen flock, that is, orthodox Christians, to live, as we live? Are we walking by faith, are we living soberly in expectation of the second coming of Christ and of the terrible day of judgment? Do we tremble at the thought of everlasting torments? Do we thirst for eternal bliss? Do we not cling to this transitory life. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation!" Keep a strict watch over yourselves. Much will be required of you. Is this how those should live, who hope for the resurrection and the future life? Is this how those should live, who have received warning and sure testimony--from the true and veritable Head of their faith--of the truth and certitude of future torments?

How insignificant is the earth and earthly life in comparison with heaven, with Christ's eternal kingdom! And yet we attach ourselves so much to the earthly things, and are so careless of the salvation of the soul, of eternal life!

Luxuries, money are worse than ordinary dust and dirt, because they sully the soul; ordinary dust only sullies the body, clothing, or room. O, how necessary it is to despise luxuries, money, and dress besides!

Our life is incomplex: because our life is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the most incomplex eternal Being, having no beginning. "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." Why, then, do we seek life in men, in enjoyments, in money, in honours, in dress, etc.? There is no life for the heart in these things, but only affliction, straitness, and spiritual death. Why do we forsake the Fountain of living waters--the Lord, and hew out "cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water"? Why do we toss about, and trouble about trifles ? Why are we so greedy after enjoyments, money, honours, dress, and various other things? All these are dead, perishable, transitory. The Devil, who has the power of death, is also incomplex, and catches us in his snares, wounding us unto death; this is why we must be on our guard, and not attach ourselves to anything, so that we may not be hurt by him.

Avoid such a mode of life as tends to living for carnal motives and desires only; that is, only to sleeping, eating, dressing, walking, then again, to eating, drinking, and walking. Such a mode of life at last completely kills a man's spiritual life, making him quite earthly, and a creature of the earth; whilst the Christian, even during his life on earth, ought to be heavenly. "For the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "Our Father, which art in heaven!" We ought to read the Word of God more frequently, pray more often at home and in church, and in every place, of course more inwardly than outwardly; to meditate more often on God, the creation, the calling and predestination of man; on God's providence, the redemption, God's unspeakable love to mankind, the lives and glorious deeds of the Saints, who pleased God by their manifold virtues, and on other subjects; also to fast, to examine our conscience, to repent sincerely and deeply of our sins, and so on!

God's Wisdom, Mercy, and Omnipotence may be observed above all in the fact that the Lord places each one of us in such a position, that if we wish we can bring to God the fruits of good works, and save ourselves and others, and that out of the greatest sinners He makes righteous men, obeying His grace, which leads to salvation, and wonderfully saves us from all misfortunes, rescuing us even from destruction itself.

You wish others to speedily correct themselves of their faults, but do you speedily correct yourself; do you not suffer from the same, as others? Is it not through you, through your not correcting yourself, that others linger in their sins and passions?

Do everything in opposition to that which the enemy suggests to you: he suggests to you to hate those who offend you-- you must love them; bless those who curse you, and do not torment those who take away your property, but give it away willingly; when you want to laugh--weep when you feel despondent--endeavour to be glad ; when you feel envious--rejoice at the prosperity of others; when you are inclined to contradiction and disobedience--immediately submit and agree; when impure thoughts occur to you--be zealous of the purity of your heart, represent to yourself the high destiny of the Christian, made godly in Christ Jesus, and remember that our members are--the members of Christ; when you feel proud--humble yourself; when spiteful--be specially kind; when irritable--preserve calmness; when avaricious--be generous; when distracted-- immediately close your feelings to all outward things, and meditate on the "one thing needful" ; when you feel doubt, little faith, unbelief--then especially call firm faith to your help, remind yourself of the examples of faith, or of believers in the Old and New Testaments, as well as the miracles accomplished by faith, and so on. Do thus, and do not succumb to the enemy: for all passions, partialities, and fancies are of his imagination.

You will spend the festival well, to the glory of God and the salvation of your soul, if you refrain from such passions as: malice, pride, cupidity, envy, avarice, intemperance, slothfulness, inattention, carelessness in pleasing God, and neglect of your soul; and if you practise the virtues opposite to these sins, and other good works. You will be devoting the festival not to God, but to Satan, if you are allured on such a day by your passions and vices. You will spend Sunday well (the day of Resurrection), if with your soul you will rise from the dead to God, forsaking unrighteous acts, if you are regenerate and renewed by grace. But you will spend the day ill, fruitlessly, if you do not rid your heart of your malice, cupidity, or your attachment to earthly things, and if your soul is not inflamed by heavenly love, by the love of God, by the love of the heavenly country, and of the life that never grows old, which is prefigured by Sunday, the day of Resurrection--the day of the Sun of righteousness.

Beggars every day pursue you: this means that--God's mercy continually pursues you. " Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." And who will flee from God's mercy?

God's Saints value more than any of us the great act of the redemption of mankind by God, the descent of the Son of God from heaven, His teaching, likewise His sufferings, death, burial, resurrection, and Ascension into heaven; for they spent all their lives in working out their own and others' salvation, sincerely, firmly, infallibly, with their whole hearts; for the sake of their own and others' salvation, they renounced themselves, fasted, prayed, watched, wrestled, laboured in deed and word with their intellect and pen. But we do not understand how to value such great acts; we are cold, distracted, heedless, and are more occupied with the visible world and of its goods, which are but smoke.

I commit my whole life and everything, by which a man lives, my spiritual and bodily requirements, unto Christ my God, the Provider, the Ruler, and the Saviour: for, everything is in His hands. As for me, I have only to zealously fulfill His commandments.

Do not suffer, Lord, that even for an instant I may do the will of Thine and mine enemy--the Devil, but grant that I may continually do Thy Will, alone the Will of my God and my King: Thou alone, my true King by Whom all kings reign, grant that I may ever obey Thee, reverence Thee truly and firmly. "O come let us worship, and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker; serve the Lord in fear and rejoice unto Him with reverence."

How must we look upon the gifts of intellect, feeling and freedom? With the intellect we must learn to know God in the works of His creation, revelation, providence, and in the destinies of men; with the heart we must feel God's love, His most heavenly peace, the sweetness of His love, we must love our neighbour, sympathise with him in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in poverty and in wealth, in distinction and in low estate (humiliation); we must use freedom, as a means, as an instrument for doing as much good as possible, and for perfecting ourselves in every virtue, so as to render unto God fruits a hundredfold.

All the Saints in heaven and all true Christians upon earth are "one body and one spirit," this is why the prayer of believers is heard so easily and speedily and truly in heaven, and why there is so much hopefulness in calling upon the Saints; but in order that our prayers should be always easily and speedily heard by the Saints, we must have the same spirit as them, the spirit of faith and of love for God and our neighbour, the spirit of meekness, humility, abstinence, purity and chastity, brave, valiant, thirsting after righteousness, the spirit of compassion, heavenly and not earthly.

Consider yourself worse and more infirm than all others in spiritual respects, and despise, hate yourself for your sins,—this is pious and right—and be indulgent to others, respect and love them in spite of their sins, for God's sake, Who commanded us to respect and love all men, and also because they are created after His image—although they bear the wounds of sin, and because they are members of Jesus Christ.

The Lord sometimes suddenly sends bountiful material gifts, such, for instance, as: money in payment for some very easy work, and thus rewards you for the expenditure you have incurred in affording help to your neighbour; in general He freely bestows upon us the bountiful gifts of His mercy, in order that we should not grudge His gifts to those whom He sends to us, or whom He allows to take our property, which He has given us in order that we should not be at enmity amongst ourselves, but should live in love and harmony; should our neighbour rob us of our property, even then we ought not to be disquieted, but should bear it meekly, trusting to God to punish for the offence. You know, that the Lord Himself meekly allowed even His garments to be taken from Him, and His body to be tortured upon the cross—for your sake, to teach you meekness and gentleness in all misfortunes and offences.

God is good and all-goodness, and you, His image, must also be good. He is bountiful to all, and you too must be generous, and avoid avarice and grudging your neighbour anything material, perishable, as the greatest calamity and foolishness.

"Who or what are our idols?" They are—some persons, and after these our transitory life; our mortal body full of passions and the things relating to it: food and drink, dress, ornaments, distinctions, money, house furniture, etc. When the tempter attacks you through attachments to visible things by trust in visible things, bread, money and so on, then steadfastly lift up the eyes of your heart towards the invisible and eternal: first to the invisible and eternal God—the Source of our life; secondly towards the invisible life that has no ending, towards the eternal bliss of the righteous after this transitory life. When he inspires you to seek life in corruptible things, you must strive after life in the incorruptible; when he attracts your eyes to the human body, disregarding its immortal soul, you must turn your mental gaze still more steadfastly upon the soul of the man, created after God's image and likeness, redeemed by the suffering and death of the Son of God upon the cross, made to inherit eternal blessings, affiliated by God, the temple of the Holy-Ghost, and the Bride of the Holy-Ghost. Avoid duplicity, that is, do not let your heart be divided between attachment to God and attachment to earthly things, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon"; cling to God alone, put your trust in Him alone; for the Devil, by inciting us to duplicity, seeks himself to gain possession of our heart, which, is single and indivisible. And remember, that to attach yourself to God is always good, blessed, whilst to attach yourself to the world and its blessings is evil, painful, sorrowful, oppressive: for " attachment" to the world is a delusion of the Devil, and is his spirit.

The end of everything on earth—of my body, of enjoyments, of dress, of all treasures is—destruction, corruption and disappearance, but the spirit lives for ever. May my soul remember this, and not grieve at the loss of anything temporal, perishable, but be zealous about eternal, imperishable matters: concerning God, concerning the fulfilment of His commandments, the unity of love, a peaceful condition, patience, temperance, chastity, self-denial, the heart's indifference to all earthly beauties and enjoyments, not greedy of gain (only striving to gain the Lord Himself), seeking the one thing needful; endeavouring not to imitate the crafty, and not to envy those that work iniquity. Let others take away your dross—do not mind this and do not be exasperated at it.

The Lord has made us His Own (O, highest honour and dignity!) whilst through our sins, we alienate ourselves from our Master, Who has given us birth by water and the Spirit. The Lord has most truly joined Himself to us by His Flesh and Blood, which are united with His soul and Divinity—whilst we, through our sins and vices, join ourselves in the closest manner to God's enemy and our own.

When praying with people, we sometimes have to pierce through with our prayer as if it were the hardest wall—human souls, hardened and petrified by earthly passions—to penetrate the Egyptian darkness, the darkness of passions and worldly attachments. This is why it is sometimes difficult to pray. The simpler the people one prays with the easier it is.

If God had not been incarnate upon earth, if He had not made us godly, if He had not taught us in His Own person how to live, what to hope for and expect, if He had not pointed out to us another perfect and eternal life, if He had not suffered and died and risen from the dead—then we should still have had some reason to live, as we all now live—that is to mostly lead a carnal, earthly life. But, now, we ought to meditate upon higher things, and count all earthly things but dung, for, everything earthly is nothing, in comparison with heavenly things. Meanwhile, the Devil, the father of lies, in spite of the Saviour's teaching and His spirit, teaches us to attach ourselves to earthly goods, and forcibly nails our sensual heart to them. The heart naturally seeks happiness—and the Devil gives a false direction to this tendency, and allures it by earthly happiness, that is—by riches, honours, splendour of dress, furniture, silver, equipages, gardens and various amusements.