St. John of Kronstadt · 24 of 49

Part I · Part 24

O infinitely great Benefactor, my Saviour! When I represent to myself the infinite corruption of my nature by manifold sins and passions, my spirit is despondent and downcast, but as soon as I remember Thee, that Thou earnest to renew my nature, corrupted by sin, and to bestow upon my dishonour, upon my shame, the nobility of the angels, and even a still higher nobility than that of the angels, the nobility of the Son of God Himself, through faith in Thee, through regeneration by water and the Spirit, and through the communion of Thy Holy Sacrament, then my spirit instantaneously rises up from its despondency, shakes off the infamy of the passions, and is wholly filled with gratitude to Thee. Glory to Thee, O infinite Mercy and Power, Son of God!

Do not, therefore, grow despondent, sinners like unto me, but only believe in the Son of God. Sinners, esteem one another, and do not despise any sinner, for we are all sinners, and the Son of God came to save, to cleanse, and to raise all up to heaven.

"We forgive them that trespass against us." This means not to feel against our neighbour who has been guilty towards us (intentionally, obstinately, or unintentionally) any vexation, enmity, or malice, but to forgive him his fault in all simplicity of heart, vividly representing to ourselves our own infirmities and falling into sin, and maintaining towards our guilty neighbour the same love and the same feelings of kindness which we felt towards him before his fault. What would it be if the Lord were to notice our iniquities as we do the faults of our neighbour? Who could withstand? But as the Lord is long-suffering and merciful, be also long-suffering and merciful (not strictly exacting, but compassionate). "Charity suffereth long, and is kind." Do not reckon the faults of your neighbour, consider them as though they were not; as nothing! We are one body, and his body is a sinful one. What is more common and easier to us than sins? We breathe them like air. But the Lord, the Head of the body of the Church, is the cleansing of them. Leave everything to the Head, Who worketh all things in all; and hold fast to love alone, for it is the only infallible thing in our life (pure love). Do not serve the Devil by the spirit of enmity, malice, hatred; do not increase evil by evil, and do not spread the kingdom of the enemy in the kingdom of Christ." Overcome evil with good." For you cannot conquer evil with evil, just as you cannot put out fire by fire, but only by water. Malice is always an imagination of the Devil. Love is always God's truth and God's child.

Attachment to earthly and carnal things to the oblivion of God, of the soul, proceeds from the Devil, who, through attachments to earthly things, makes our heart carnal, earthly, a shameful vessel of passions, whilst it ought to be meditating upon heavenly things, to be spiritual and the temple of the Holy Ghost. " Ye cannot serve God and mammon;" you cannot serve God and riches, God and the flesh, God and the world, God and earthly delights; therefore, you must rule your flesh and your heart, for this is the science of sciences, the art of arts. I am sometimes flesh, and sometimes spirit. O inconstancy! O ingratitude! O slothfulness! O long-suffering of God! But how long shall I change like the moon, or like a kaleidoscope? Lord, stablish me on the rock of Thy commandments!

The crucified flesh reconciles itself with the spirit and with God; whilst the flesh that is cherished, that is abundantly and daintily fed, fights hard against the spirit and against God, and becomes wholly an abomination of sin. It does not want to pray, and, in general, rebels against God by blasphemy, for instance, and estranges itself from God. This is from experience. Therefore, "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."

Christ "came upon earth in order to raise us up to heaven." Do we aspire to the realisation of the object of our beloved Saviour's coming upon earth? Do we meditate upon heavenly things? Do we long for the heavenly kingdom? Let us ask ourselves these questions, and answer them more frequently. Do we sufficiently value the Saviour's teaching and preaching, His sufferings and death? Do we not trample upon His whole edifice by clinging to earthly instead of heavenly things ? Yea, Lord.

Thou alone knowest the cares, labours, and sweat of Thy saints, in order to purify themselves to please Thee, the Father of all. Thou alone knowest Thy saints. Teach us to imitate them in our lives, so that we too may be in union with all through love.

Why do the children of this world often scoff at that which is truth, light, sweetness, our life—I mean at the Divine service of the Church, the Church-reading and singing, or at Thy saints glorified by Thee? "These speak evil of those things which they know not." "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," and enlighten them!

Love does not reflect. Love is simple. Love never mistakes. Likewise believe and trust without reflection, for faith and trust are also simple; or better: God, in whom we believe and in whom we trust, is an incomplex Being, as He is also simply love. Amen.

Why do we read the Acathistos to Jesus Christ and to the Mother of God? In order that we may enter into the spirit of the Lord and that of His most-pure Mother; in order that we may recognise the greatness of the gift, which was revealed in Christ's incarnation and our redemption, and in bestowing upon us His Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrament, and in order that we may worthily receive this gift.

The Lord is so holy, so simple in His holiness, that one single evil or impure thought deprives us of Him, of the sweet and most sweet, of the pure and most pure peace and light, of our souls. Hence it follows that the saints are all light; they are all one fragrance, like the light of the sun, like the purest air. Lord, grant this simple holiness to me also!

The Lord, before His incarnation, let mankind experience all the bitterness of sin, all their powerlessness to eradicate it; and when all longed for a Deliverer, then He appeared, the most wise, all-powerful Physician and Helper. When men hungered and thirsted after righteousness, as it grew weaker, then the everlasting righteousness came.

For all the many and various snares of the enemy, there is but one name—the Devil. My soul, be persuaded of this and do not be fainthearted, do not despond in the misfortunes occasioned by the enemy and in the storms wrought by the enemy.

"Thine is the power;" that is, Thou holdest all and everything in Thy power and under Thine authority, even the spirits of evil. "Thine is the kingdom." Thou art King over all, even over the spirits of evil. "Thine is the strength." Thou maintainest all through Thy strength, and "Thine is the glory," for Thou hast created everything for Thy glory.

As God is everything good to us, so the Devil is every evil, every abomination of sin. A simple heart, taught by God, knows how to unite itself to God, and how to avoid every connection with the Devil.

It is sometimes necessary to ask a person who prays for himself, or for others, the following question in order to rouse his slumbering heart and conscience: "Are you in need of that for which you are apparently asking, and do you really desire to obtain it ? Do you sincerely desire, for instance, amendment and holiness of life for yourself and others?"

There is only one God of my heart, my Lord and my God, and He is everything to me, as He is also everything to the whole world, visible and invisible, which was created by Him from nothing. Therefore, I ought not to cling to anything but to my God; I ought to part from everything that I have without regret, as from the dust which we trample under feet, and ought only to have in my heart love for God, and my brethren who are received in Christ into union with the Divine nature. "Ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." "Now are we the sons of God." Whilst malice is the child of the Devil, may it never, neither pride, nor self-exaltation, and envy, touch our heart, even for a single moment!

It is a remarkable phenomenon in nature that, if you put a plant into a large, wide pot or tub, it grows very much at the roots; they thicken, they give out many ramifications, but the tree itself does not grow much in height, and only yields few and small leaves and flowers. But if it is planted in a small pot, then the roots are small, but the plant itself grows rapidly in height and yields beautiful leaves and flowers (if it is the nature of the plant to produce flowers). Is it not the same with man? When he lives in full liberty, in abundance and prosperity, then he grows in body and does not grow in spirit, does not bring forth fruits--good works; whilst when he lives in straightness, in poverty, sickness, misfortune, and afflictions, in a word, when his animal nature is crushed, then he grows spiritually, bears flowers of virtue, ripens and brings forth rich fruits. This is why the path of those who love God is a narrow one.

We all, without distinction of our different stations in life, rich and poor, high and low, educated and uneducated, are one body, and must love one another, as we love ourselves. " We, being many, are . . . one body." "Love one another," commanded the Lord. We must crucify, despise our self-loving, proud, scornful, evil, darkened, deadened, rebellious, passionate heart, which violently opposes our acting in accordance with these words in our everyday life; in our worldly relations with our neighbor we must also renounce our self-will, and follow the Will of God in everything.

Our heart, full of passions, loves enjoyment and tranquillity, cannot endure bitterness and afflictions, and does not like anyone to disturb us in any way; for instance, by a request to do something for him. But the Lord commanded us to renounce the sinful rest of the flesh, and to be the servants of all, and Himself showed us an example, for He knew no rest upon earth during His service for our salvation. The Apostles were also an example of this, especially the Apostle Paul.

Our heart often sleeps during prayer; the outer man prays, but not the inner one. We often only flatter with our tongue during prayer.

Having put on Christ by faith and by the Communion of the Holy Sacrament, I become firm and steadfast as a rock. Christ is the fulness of all blessings to me, and, above all, most sweet life, and the peace "which passeth all understanding."

When the flesh flourishes, the soul fades; when the flesh has full liberty, the soul is straitened; when the flesh is satiated, the soul hungers; when the flesh is adorned, the soul is deformed; when the flesh overflows with laughter, the soul is surrounded by misfortune; when the flesh is in the light, the soul is in darkness--in the darkness of hell.

Modern, false education estranges from the true Light "which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," and does not approach It. But without Christ all education is vanity.

Our old man, with the old works of the Devil, is constantly present with us, and acts mortally within us. This is why we occupy ourselves in the pulpit with this old man and his works, in order that all who hear us may learn to know themselves and the enticement of the passions, and, with the help of God's grace, may slay the old man within them; while we do not occupy ourselves with the news of this world, as it does not concern us. Thus we teach all to know God, to love Him with the whole heart, and to love their neighbor as themselves. And as self-love is incompatible with love for God and our neighbor, we teach men, in accordance with the precepts of the Saviour, to renounce themselves, and to crucify the flesh, with its passions and lusts. This is an old discourse, but yet it may be a new one, according to how it is turned, whether the preacher directs it against the human passions and lusts of the present day, or speaks in general, without special indication, of the necessity of crucifying the old man.

Blasphemy against holiness, or thoughts of carnal impurity, proceed from the Devil. When this stink from the abyss of hell disturbs and suffocates you, only be convinced, only believe sincerely, that it is the work of the Devil, and this abomination will leave you. May the Lord enlighten and strengthen us!

The history of the choosing and the rejection of the Hebrews shows the truth, that God shall exalt and honour those who are faithful to Him, and shall abase and reject the ungrateful. It also shows the truth that He is faithful in His promises and threats.

He Who has adorned the heavens with stars, could He not still more beautifully adorn His mental Heaven, the most pure Virgin, His Mother? He Who has adorned the earth with various and many-coloured flowers, and poured fragrance upon it, could He not adorn His earthly Mother with all the various flowers of virtues, making Her fragrant with all spiritual perfumes? Truly He could. And our Lady has become "Heaven and the Temple of the Godhead, adorned with all beauties, and more fragrant than all earthly perfumes. O, if God in His mercy, through the prayers of His most pure Mother, would adorn me, disfigured by sin; if He would make me, the unclean, fragrant! For with God nothing shall be impossible. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and gave life to the fallen. O abyss of humility! Adam and Eve lost themselves through gluttony, the Lord fasted and died for them, in order to give them life. They were disobedient, Christ fulfilled obedience.

"Having seen the wonderful birth of Christ, let us shun this vain world and set our minds upon godly things. God came down from heaven in order to raise us up to heaven," whilst the Devil and the flesh drag us down to earth. Christ calls and draws us to the life eternal, whilst the Devil allures us by the temporal life, and attaches us to temporal things, concealing the eternal in darkness, or making men disbelieve in eternal life. Observe his snares, and do not be allured by the earthly life.

Man, in his present state, is wholly permeated with pride, wickedness, unbelief, doubt, incredulity, disobedience, heedlessness, malice, fornication, envy, covetousness, avarice, slothfulness, sometimes cowardice, despondency, theft, falsehood, and blasphemy. What a great labour lies before every Christian man to cleanse himself from all the impurity and corruption of the passions!

The Devil generally enters into us through one single lying imagination, or through a single false thought and sinful desire of the flesh, and afterwards he works in us and disturbs us, so incomplex is he. Cannot, therefore, the Lord of all spirits enter into us through one single thought and through true and holy love, and abide with us, and be everything to us? And therefore pray undoubtingly; that is simply, in the simplicity of your heart, without a doubt: it ought to be as easy to pray as to think.

Leave all human injustices to the Lord, for God is the Judge, but as to yourself, be diligent in loving everybody with a pure heart, and remember that you yourself are a great sinner and in need of God's mercy. But in order to deserve God's mercy, we must forgive others in every way. So be it! So be it! The Lord is everything to all: He is the Judge as well as the generous Giver of gifts, and mercy and the cleansing from sins, and the light, the peace, the joy and the strength of the heart.

Grant, Lord, that I may ever love each of my neighbours as myself, and not be angry with them for any cause, and not serve the Devil in this way. Grant that I may crucify my self-love, pride, covetousness, incredulity, and other passions. Let mutual love be our name; grant that we may believe and trust that the Lord is everything to us all; that we may not be careful nor anxious for anything; that Thou, our God, may truly be the sole God of our heart and nothing besides Thee. Let there be union of love between us as there ought to be, and let everything that divides us from each other, and prevents us from loving one another, be despised by us, like the dust trampled under foot. So be it! So be it! If God has given us Himself, if He abides in us and we in Him, according to His own true words, then what will He not give me, what will He spare for me, of what will He deprive me, how can He forsake me? "The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing." "Shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" And therefore, my soul, be perfectly at rest and know nothing but love. "These things I command you, that ye love one another."