St. John of Kronstadt · 30 of 49

Part II · Part 6

Lord! grant that T may ever pour forth my supplications to Thee for the whole world and for the fulfilment of the requests of the whole Church, with all comprehensive, unfeigned love, for by Thy grace I have to pray for the sins of all and for mine own. Grant, O Lord, God the Father, that I may contemplate Thine unspeakable love unto the world, manifested in giving unto us Thy beloved, Only-begotten Son. Grant, O God, Son of God, that I may contemplate Thine exhaustion in the world and on the cross for the sake of our salvation; grant, O God, the Holy Ghost, that I may contemplate Thy grace, abundantly outpoured and still being outpoured upon the world, for the sake of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so often filling even my sinful heart; O Holy Trinity, grant that I may continually glorify Thee with my heart and mouth, and above all by my deeds!

Those who reject fasting forget from what the falling into sin of the first men proceeded (from intemperance), and what means against sin and temptation were indicated to us by the Saviour, when He Himself was tempted in the desert (He fasted forty days and nights); they do not know, or do not wish to know, that a man most frequently falls away from God through intemperance, as was the case with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with Noah's contemporaries—for intemperance is the cause of every sin in men; those who reject fasting take away from themselves and from others the arms against their flesh, with its manifold passions, and against the Devil, both of which are especially powerful against us through our intemperance; therefore they are not soldiers of Christ, for they throw down their arms and give themselves up willingly as prisoners to their sensual and sin-loving flesh; lastly, they are blind and do not see the connection between the causes and the consequences of acts.

We should never forget that we are fallen, impure, corrupt creatures, guilty before the God of righteousness, and that we ought always to humble ourselves deeply before Him and before one another. This is instilled into us by the daily prayers of the Church, such as: God, be merciful to me a sinner . . . . O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God . . . . O Heavenly King .... Holy God .... Most Holy Trinity .... Our Father .... the morning and evening prayers, and nearly all the prayers. Accordingly, let all young people who are learning know and remember that they come from a sinful root, and are themselves subjected to every kind of sin, and lay this knowledge as a foundation for all other knowledge, and, knowing much, let them not pride themselves upon this, but strive above all for the cleansing of their soul and body.

Love your earthly country and the Father of this country, for it has educated you, enlightened you, distinguished and honoured you, and has provided yon with everything; but especially love the heavenly country, the Father of the future life; that country is incomparably more to be honoured and dearer than this one, for it is holy and righteous, immovable, infinite, incorruptible, beautiful, blessed; because it has given and gives you incomparably greater advantages and blessings than this earthly one; because the Father of that country is not a mean mortal man, but the Eternal God, Who has created everything; it has given you the name of a child of God, of an inheritor of God, and a joint-heir with Christ; because the heavenly Father will make you a partaker of all the blessings of His kingdom, which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man." That country has been gained for you by the priceless blood of the Son of God. But in order to be a member of it, respect and love its laws, as you are obliged to respect, and do respect, the laws of your earthly country, for otherwise you cannot become a citizen of so sublime a country; love also that spiritually-educating school (the Church), which makes us into members and citizens of that country.

The bodiless enemy fights vigorously against us during Divine service, because at this time, by God's grace, through our intermedium, regeneration of our souls is accomplished; therefore, do not let be us be depressed by the calumnies of the Devil, but let us take courage and be strong, looking with our spiritual eyes upon Christ, the Founder of all great deeds, invisibly standing before us, and mysteriously accomplishing the regeneration of our souls.

God's Saints are—beautiful, incorruptible, fragrant flowers. Do not touch these flowers with lips defiled by sins—that is, pray to them with a pure heart and pure lips, not carelessly, not with distracted thoughts, but with reverence, and without haste. They are speaking heavens; they led a heavenly, wonderful life on earth, doing great deeds, they lived in great love, in deep humility, gentleness, patience, self-denial, loving God above all things.

In the Church are all our sweetest hopes and expectations, our peace, our joy, together with cleansing and sanctification. It is there that the truth of the future resurrection, of the victory over death, is so often announced. Who that loves life would not love the Church with all his heart! Everything that is best, most exalted, most precious, holy and wise, is found in the Church. In the Church—is the ideal of mankind; the Church is—heaven upon earth.

In the Church we are freed from worldly enchantment, and from the intoxication of worldly passions and desires; we become enlightened, sanctified, cleansed in our souls; we draw near to God, we are united with God (" Who, by Thy glorious Childbirth, hast united God the Word with men"). How worthily reverenced and loved should the temple of God be! How God's Saints loved it!

We ought not to grieve or become irritated at anything because, by frequent vexation and irritability, we form the morally and physically very injurious habit of irritability, whilst by bearing opposition with equanimity we form the good and useful habit of enduring everything calmly and patiently. Many occasions for vexation may arise in this life through our innumerable mutual imperfections, and if we were to become irritated upon every such occasion, our life could not last more than a few months. Besides, matters cannot be set right by vexation and irritation, but, on the contrary, only become worse. Therefore, it is better to be always calm, even always full of love and respect for morally sick humanity, or to speak more particularly in regard to our friends, relatives, and subordinates. For man is not an angel, and, besides, our life is so constituted that we sin daily, and almost involuntarily, even though we do not wish: " For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil, which I would not, that I do." And the Lord taught us to look indulgently upon the frequent negligences and falls of men, having said: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." And who of us does not wish that others should behave indulgently and patiently to him in his needs, stumblings and falls, negligences and omissions ? This is why the apostle also teaches us long-suffering and indulgence: " Charity," says the Apostle Paul, " suffereth long, and is kind .... is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, beareth all things .... and never faileth."

Free-thinkers and atheists say that religion, the Church, the Divine service, the sacraments and rites, were invented by men in order to keep people in fear and submission, and to maintain morality, and, perhaps, also in order to collect revenues from them. This is how God's mercy and His wonderful ordering for our salvation, the very incarnation, sufferings and death of the Son of God for our sakes, are blasphemed by the ignorant and free-thinkers who have lost the fear of God. But look upon their life; how do they live, and do they live long? Having lost their strength and health in dissipation and drunkenness, they become prematurely aged, decrepit, dull, fall ill and die.

Christian love prefers rather to endure all the outward discomforts of life, narrowness, want of fresh air, losses, than to allow impatience, vexation, irritation, anger, murmuring, through these outward and similar discomforts, against those who inconvenience us by living at our expense and at the expense of our tranquillity, either through need or out of caprice. Love endures everything and bears everything to its own detriment, to the detriment of its own material and bodily life: for where love is, there is God's grace and every good thing, there is tranquillity, there is sufficiency. A Christian suffers everything so long as he is not deprived of God's grace, which is the greatest blessing to him.

What spiritual storms, hurricanes, fearful, fiery, sudden whirlwinds often occur in the life of man, in the life of those who endeavour to lead a Christian life, and to serve God by prayer, interceding for themselves and others before His unspeakable mercy! It is only by God's mercy that the bark in which our soul travels over life's sea towards the eternity awaiting it, is not entirely wrecked and lost!

A priest ought to endeavour by every means to maintain within himself courage, boldness, daring, in spite of the bodiless enemy, who continually sows in him his illusive fear, his foolish dread; otherwise he cannot be a reprover of human vices, nor a true celebrant of the sacraments. Daring is a great gift of God and a great treasure of the soul! Courage or boldness plays an important part in earthly warfare, for it simply works wonders; but in the spiritual warfare it does far more.

The source of every true joy, of all true tranquillity and peace of conscience, of cleansing, of spiritual and bodily healing, the source of spiritual power and boldness, flows in the temple, whilst theatres and various worldly distractions and consolations can never replace that which a true Christian receives in the temple, where God Himself comforts the souls of believers and those whose hearts are turned to Him, as a mother comforts her child. It is from the temple, too, that our departed ones receive consolation and solace, with the cleansing from their sins and forgiveness. How ardently we should love the temple, how we should adorn it! And so do all those who recognise its value; and the Church prays for them, saying: Let us pray for them that, with faith, piety, and fear of God, enter in; and further: Let us pray for them that bring forth fruit and do good deeds in this holy and all-venerable temple; or, Hallow those that love the beauty of Thine house. Glorify them in return by Thy Divine might.

The world is immeasurably great, there are incalculably many beings inhabiting it, but what order there is in all its course, in all the life of the world (of nature)! Immeasurably great is the world of celestial spirits, of Angels, but what order there is in the angelic world, what strict fulfilment of the will of God! Great is the human world, too, but how much disorder, self-will, how many deformities and misfortunes proceeding from these there are in it, misfortunes of maladies, of deaths of various kinds—of wars, famine, inundations, fires, disasters through storms and bad weather, disasters through drunkenness, gluttony, covetousness, falsehood, perjury, suicide, murder! They are innumerable! Woe unto us! But how will it be there—beyond the grave, in eternity?

Man is a wonderful, grand, most wise, artistic production of the most perfect Artist, God; he was not originally defiled, but incorruptible and pure; only sin, that monstrous breed of the spirit of darkness, that foul, foolish, and evil power, made him defiled, sickly, impure, and corruptible, both in spirit and body, in accordance with his double nature. However, the most wise and almighty, the all-merciful Artist did not allow His and our enemy to entirely destroy His beautiful and grand creation, and made Himself a body like unto ours, and borrowed a soul in the womb of His Most Pure Virgin-Mother; by His incarnation, His teaching, miracles, sufferings, death and resurrection, by His wonderful and most wise orderings, He again restores to the work of His hands its former and even greater beauty and glory; He again bestows upon it incorruptibility, holiness, and wonderful Divine beauty, and raises it to the highest bliss, making human nature godly, and setting it with Himself on the throne of the Godhead. Glory be to Thee, most merciful, the most wise and almighty Artist!

O, my invisible Benefactor, by Whom I unceasingly live! Thou who hearest me, Thou Who fulfillest for my good all my heart's desires, Thou Who savest me from my sins, from the malice of my invisible enemies, Thou Who mercifully orderest my destiny, my enlightenment, my succour, my glory, my power, my strengthening, when shall I see Thee? When shall I see my Benefactor and Creator face to face ? And thou, mine enemy, thou Devil, who continually fillest my soul with sin, thou who art crafty, flattering, evil, who continually slayest me, darkening, weakening me, covering my face with shame and dishonour, when shall I entirely free myself from thee, through the grace, bounties, and love to mankind of my Lord Jesus Christ ? When will every possibility of pouring the poison of thy malice into my heart be taken from thee?

"What do I need?" I need nothing upon earth besides the indispensable. What do I need? I need the Lord, I need His grace, His kingdom within me. On earth, in this place of my journeying, of my temporary instruction, I have nothing of mine own; everything is God's, and everything is transitory, is destined for my temporary use; my abundance is—the inheritance of my poorer brethren. What do I need? I need true, Christian, living, active love? I need a loving heart, compassionate towards my neighbours; I need joy at their welfare and abundance, sorrow for their sorrows and sickness, for their sins, infirmities, disorders, deficiencies, misfortunes, poverty; I need warm and sincere sympathy for them in all the circumstances of their lives, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep. It is time that we ceased to give place to our self-love, to egoism, to live only for ourselves, to draw everything to ourselves only— riches and pleasures and worldly honours. We ought not to live, but to die; we ought not to rejoice, but to suffer, we who bear within ourselves the poison of self-love—for self-love is a poison continually poured into our heart by the Devil. O, may I exclaim with the Psalmist: " Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Lord, Thou knowest my heart and all its movements, and of the writing of these lines—grant me that which I ask of Thee! With me this is impossible, but " with Thee all things are possible." Grant me the true life, disperse the darkness of the passions, destroy their power by Thy power!

What is the relation between the word and the deed? The word of God called the visible and invisible world from non-existence into existence; the word in the mouth of God— the word was deed. Therefore the word and the deed ought to be inseparable from each other, as the soul and body are inseparable in their being. He who faithfully and continually fulfils the word of Christ, with Whom the word is the deed, can even now accomplish great and wonderful deeds, and everything obeys His word: the demons obey Him, maladies are cured, and human morality is taught.

The cross is in Christ, and Christ is on the cross; the cross is the image of the crucified Christ, the Son of God, and therefore the sign of the cross and even its shadow are terrible unto the demons, as the sign of Christ Himself, as the shadow of Him, crucified. Therefore it is very important to sanctify the water by immersing the cross in it; through this it becomes healing, and drives away demons.

A Christian is—the vessel of God, the temple of God, the house of God. O, how worthy of honour is the true Christian, how zealously he ought to shun every sin, and how greatly Christians ought to respect one another!

The most abominable enemy endeavours to destroy love by love itself: love for God and our neighbour—by love for the world, for its fleeting blessings and its corrupt, impious habits, by carnal love, by the love of riches, of honours, of pleasure, of various amusements. Therefore let us extinguish every love for this world in ourselves, and let us kindle in ourselves, by self-denial, love for God and our neighbour. Every beauty in this world (personal beauty) is only a faint, insignificant shadow of the uncreated beauty, of the unspeakable goodness of God's face; every earthly enjoyment is nothing in comparison to future delights. I pray, Lord, that the faith of Christ may penetrate into the depths of my heart, that Christ's Gospel may penetrate all my thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds, into all my bones and my brains, and not me only, but all men, as the universal truth, the highest wisdom, and the life eternal. " And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent."

How fragrant are the bones of the Saints! What a wonderful perfume the relics of God's Saints emit! What a great blessing it is to gain the sweet-smelling grace of the Holy Ghost and the life eternal! Why do we run after corruption? Why have we loved the stink of sins, of poisonous passions?

Lord in our prayers to Thee, we ask the intercession of the Saints, these spiritual sweet scents, that fragrance of Thy perfumes! Accept their prayers for us, fragrant with love and purity, and save us from the evil odour of sins, for our hearts are unclean and our mouths impure, and we are unworthy of most sweet converse with Thee. Everything in us is—earthly, corrupt, impure, and evil, whilst they, Thy Saints, are the purest fragrance; and, above all, Thy Most Pure Mother, Thy living, light-bearing abode, She is purer than all the brightness of the sun, more fragrant than all perfumes, for heaven and earth are full of the fragrance of Her holiness and of Her Divine virtues.

Pronounce the Name of God with the deepest reverence, remembering, that everything was brought by God from non-existence into existence, and that everything which exists is maintained in good order solely by His mercy, omnipotence, and wisdom. Pronounce with the deepest reverence the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, " by Whom all things were made, and all things are governed; Who, until now, upholds all things by the word of His power"; Who produces times and seasons — summer, autumn, winter, and spring; Who brings forth all the fruits of the earth, peoples the earth with men and animals, the air with birds, the sea, the lakes, and rivers with fishes; Who multiplies the human race and provides it with all blessings—saves it from sins and evil spirits, and prepares an abode for those who love Him in the Kingdom of Heaven; Who, until now, makes the luminaries light the earth or moderate the darkness of the night; Who diffuses such vivifying air for all living creatures to breathe; Who has given such wonderful properties to fire, that it warms, burns, and lights; Who created the earth, capable of easily revolving round such an immense planet as the sun, as well as on its own axis; capable of generating innumerable sorts of plants; water, capable of being turned into an innumerable variety of juices in an innumerable multitude of fruits, trees, shrubs, and grasses. "Our God doeth wondrous things." He is all-good and almighty, most wise, the God of mercy, bounties, and love to men. "There is none like unto Thee, O Lord!" Reverently pronounce also the Name of the Most Pure Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Ever-Virgin Mary, Who gave birth to Him for our salvation; through Her, by the Lord's grace, we were found worthy of innumerable blessings: of the forgiveness of sins, of sanctification, of enlightenment, of renewal, deliverance from eternal death, of elevation to heaven, of becoming the sons of God, of being made godly, and of inheriting life eternal. Reverently pronounce the names of Christ's Apostles, who were His eye-witnesses and His servants, who carried His Divine teachings throughout all the world, who implanted and spread throughout the earth the saving faith and Church of Christ — faith in renewal and salvation; also the names of the martyrs, who were born by their blood into eternal life, of the venerable Fathers, who, by the mortification of their flesh, mortified in themselves the sins and passions, and attained blessed renewal and eternal life; also the names of the un-mercenary, who, by their disinterestedness, obtained for themselves the priceless treasures of the spirit and of eternal life; and the names of all the Saints.

This very flesh which we cherish, rest, gratify, and adorn so much, is—the enemy of our soul, a very crafty and dangerous enemy; it continually resists the love of God, the will of God, the commandments of God, and longs to fulfil its own will, and nearly always succeeds in doing so; unless the Lord God, in His merciful and wise providence for our salvation, opposes a powerful obstacle to this. We must ever crucify this flesh with its passions and lusts, and not cherish it; we must mortify it by fasting, by watchfulness, prayer, work; and exercise the soul by reading the Word of God, by pious meditation and prayer.

I feel bright, warm, and tranquil, when I turn with my whole soul to the mental sun, the Sun of righteousness, to Christ my God. Then the ice of my heart melts, all its darkness, impurity, and corruption, vanish; spiritual death flees, heavenly life reigns in its stead, and nothing earthly occupies me any longer.

"Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." The holy, Divine, most heavenly Christian faith requires a pure heart in order that it may act beneficially upon man's whole being, for it cannot dwell and produce beneficial changes in an impure heart if the man does not correct himself of his vices. This is also why, in Christianity, many are called, but few are chosen. Many call themselves Christians, but few are really such; few bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom of God; this is why, even amongst Christians, there are so many atheists, free-thinkers; so many who are superstitious, covetous, sensualists, fornicators, drunkards, thieves, and so on. It is not the fault of the religion that some Christians are such, but it is those who bear the Name of the Christ that are guilty in their carelessness for their religion and its rules, in their impurity and attachment to earthly things, owing to which they cannot find room in their impure hearts for the purest heavenly treasure—the faith of Christ— and are lost at the very source of salvation. Woe unto us, ungrateful, evil-natured, sophistical, vain, sensual, and slothful creatures! Lord, what shall we do? Conquer us by Thy mercy, by Thy love, by Thy great wisdom; destroy the subtility of our flesh, vanquish our malice by the power of Thy goodness!

Every man on earth is sick with the fever of sin, with the blindness of sin, is overcome by the fury of sin; and as sins mostly consist in malice and pride, it is necessary to treat everyone who suffers from the malady of sin with kindness and love. This is an important truth, which we often forget. We often, very often, act in opposition to this truth; we add malice to malice by our anger, we oppose pride to pride. Thus, evil grows within us and does not decrease; it is not cured, but rather spreads. Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon mankind!

It was through the eating of the forbidden fruit in Paradise that mankind acquired the cruel sickness of the soul, attachment to this transitory life, to earthly blessings and pleasures, that most destructive division of the heart between God and the world, between good and evil. And as earthly blessings cannot satisfy the soul, created for delighting in spiritual, eternal, infinite blessings, and they are not equally distributed amongst all—so that through passion or blind attachment some gain possession of very many of them, whilst others have very few, and some even, none at all—therefore, from this proceeds eternal sin, enmity and death for possession; hence the envy and ill-feeling between separate individuals and nations, hence wars and bloodshed, hence the luxury of some and the extreme poverty of others, the surfeiting of some and hunger of others, the seeking for conspicuous, advantageous places by some and the oppression of others, hence thefts, extortion, and every kind of evil. This is what the eating of the forbidden fruit has done; it has occasioned so much evil that it is impossible to escape from it. And if the Son of God had not been incarnated, and had not suffered and died for our salvation, then all mankind would have remained in endless, inconsolable, and unimaginable woe; for all would have been lost in their sins, and everlasting wailing and gnashing of teeth in hell, without any hope of salvation, would have been their lot, to which everlasting torments impenitent sinners are even now doomed.

Being occupied with vanity and vain pleasures, you have neither the time nor the desire to penetrate into the spirit of the Christian religion, of the Christian Divine Service, and to know the rules of the Church, the purpose of the festivals of the Orthodox Church, of the fasts, and, in particular, the signification of every week of the great Lent, or of the historical reminiscences connected with each week. You sometimes know by heart a play that is given at a theatre, of how many acts or scenes it consists, what are its contents in general and in particular; yet you do not know the essence of the sacraments, although they give eternal life, and the unspeakable blessings of that life to those who receive them worthily. You do not know the essence of the Divine Service of the holy Orthodox Church—your Mother, who nourishes, warms, purifies, sanctifies, and strengthens you upon her holy, maternal bosom. You do not know the nature and signification of the Evening and Morning Services, nor the Liturgy, the usual psalm-singing, the readings and rites of the Church. Some people justify play-acting, and call it instructive and moral, or harmless, or at least a lesser evil in comparison with drunkenness and profligacy; and with this object they endeavour to organise theatrical performances everywhere. It is wonderful that Christians have not found any better way of spending their precious time than the theatre, which both by its origin and meaning preserves, even up to now, a heathenish, idolatrous character; a character of vanity, frivolity—a character showing in itself, in general, the fullest reflection of all the passions and deformities of this world: of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and of the pride of life; and only seldom, very seldom, represents the valour of the sons of their country, and even then, of course, of an earthly country, and not of the heavenly one. Everything heavenly, holy, bearing the stamp of Christianity, is foreign to the theatre; and if it does sometimes appear on the stage, then it is made the subject of ridicule. The very name of God, terrible to every creature, is only pronounced there heedlessly, with derision and scoffingly; the sacred calling—for instance, the monastic calling, the angelic calling—is turned into ridicule; the respect for authorities, for parents, and the clergy is prejudiced when any reprehensible actions of such persons are publicly turned into ridicule, and this before the whole of society, before thoughtless young people, even before children, to whom the names of their parents and superiors ought to be sacred. One disrespectful or unbecoming word concerning their elders is sometimes sufficient to prejudice the respect due to them. Have Christians become so thoughtless that they can find no better means of spending their precious time than in the theatres, for which they leave even the God's temple, the Divine Service? And the precious festival time, given by God for instruction in the Holy Scriptures, in salutary reflections, and in virtuous actions, they fritter away in laughter and stupid applause in the theatres. No; say what you like, theatres are an ungodly institution. Only penetrate into their spirit and you will agree that they are schools of incredulity, mockery, of the insolent ridicule of everything, and that they are depravity. Woe unto that society in which there are many theatres, and which loves to frequent them! Occasionally, it is true, the theatre is the lesser evil for those who love evil. Lend an ear to popular opinion, to the opinion of those who have visited the theatre many times; they do not hesitate to say that theatres lead to depravity. Only the blind, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not," say that a theatre is moral. No; Christians ought to perseveringly study their religion; they ought to read the Gospel more frequently, to study the Divine Service, to fulfil the commandments and the rules of the Church; to read the writings of the Holy Fathers, religious publications, in order to become imbued with the spirit of Christianity, and to live in a Christian manner. Such should be your occupations and recreations.