St. John of Kronstadt · 33 of 49

Part II · Part 9

Remember that if you do not speak idly during prayer, but say the words of the prayer with feeling, then your words shall not return to you void, without power (like the husk without the grain), but shall unfailingly bring you those same fruits which are contained in the word, as the fruit is enclosed in the shell. This is a most natural thing, as natural and common as the fruit and its shell in nature. But if you scatter the words to no purpose, without faith, without feeling their power, like the shell without the kernel, then they will return to you empty, in the same way as if you were to scatter the shell, the shell would return to you; but if you scatter seed, the full ears of corn will return to you; and the better, the richer are your seeds, the fuller shall be the ears of corn. It is the same with our prayers: the more sincerely, the more heartily each word is pronounced, the greater will be the fruit of the prayer. Each word, like a grain, shall bring you spiritual fruit, like a ripe ear of corn. Which of those who pray has not experienced this? It was not without reason that the Saviour compared the seed with the word, and the human heart with the ground. The same applies to the words of the prayer. Also, who does not know that the rain moistens the ground and plants and waters them? Likewise, the word of God, and even our own word spoken with faith, shall not return to us without watering our own soul or the souls of others who are obedient and believing. This is just as natural as it is natural for rain to water and fructify the ground and plants, and to assist their growth.

He who becomes irritated against another on account of something material, places a material object above his brother. But what can be higher than man ? Nothing on earth is higher.

When you pray, endeavour to pray more for others than for yourself alone, and during prayer represent to yourself vividly all men as forming one body with yourself, and each separately as a member of the Body of Christ and your own member, "for we are members one of another." Pray for all as you would pray for yourself, with the same sincerity and fervour; look upon their infirmities and sicknesses as your own; their spiritual ignorance, their sins and passions, as your own; their temptations, misfortunes, and manifold afflictions as your own. Such prayer will be accepted with great favour by the Heavenly Father, that most gracious, common Father of all, with Whom "there is no respect of persons," "no variableness," that boundless Love that embraces and preserves all creatures.

It is a wonderful thing! Our soul, upon coming into contact with one who is unbelieving and cold towards God, feels an aversion to him, and the Devil endeavours to turn this just dislike and indignation into a feeling of malice. In order not to cherish malice, and not to serve the Devil by it, we must say to ourselves: "I feel a dislike and coldness towards my brother for his aversion and coldness to God, but I do not feel hatred or malice against him, for I bear with him as my own sick member, and I wish to cure him in meekness, instructing him that opposes himself, 'if God peradventure will give them [him] repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.' If he turns to God, I shall turn to him, also, with heartfelt love; if he becomes compassionate towards others, and does not think of himself alone, of his own advantage and pleasures, then I, too, shall sympathise with him." Besides this, bear lovingly with everybody, and look more upon yourself, what you yourself are; are you not cold and indifferent to God and your neighbour yourself? If so, then there is no reason for you to cast a stone at your brother, when this stone should be directed against yourself.

"God came upon earth in order to raise us up to heaven." It would seem, after this, that even when living upon earth we must live as if in the heavenly kingdom, dwelling there in anticipation by hope. But in reality, for the greater part, the contrary is the case. Men cling with their whole being to the earth and everything earthly. Wherefore 1 Because our common enemy, the Devil, endeavours with all his might to oppose the intentions of the God-man, Christ. He endeavours to do everything in opposition to what Christ did and does. Christ wishes to raise men up to heaven, and has given them all the means to attain this; whilst the Devil, who himself for his pride was cast down from heaven into the dominions of the air, wishes by every means to attach men to earthly,- sensual, transitory things, and, in order to attain this end, he employs the most powerful, most prodigious means. Christ taught us truth; the Devil teaches us falsehood, and strives in every way to contradict every truth; devising various calumnies against it. The Devil endeavours by every means to keep men in error, in the enticement of the passions, in darkness of mind and heart; in pride, avarice, covetousness, envy, hatred, wicked impatience and irritation; in evil despondence, in the abominations of fornication, adultery, theft, false-witness, blasphemy, negligence, slothfulness, and sluggishness.

Bear in your heart continually the words "Christ is Love," and endeavour to love all, sacrificing for the sake of love, not only your possessions, but even yourself.

The root of every evil is a self-loving heart, or self-pity, self-sparing; it is from self-love, or from excessive and unlawful love for oneself, that all the passions proceed: coldness, insensibility, hard-heartedness towards God and our neighbour, wicked impatience or irritability, hatred, envy, avarice, despondency, pride, unbelief, incredulity, greediness after food and drink, or gluttony; the love of money, vanity, slothful-ness, hypocrisy. Never pity yourself in anything, crucify yourself—your old man, nestling chiefly in the flesh—and you will strike at the root of all your passions. Bear patiently all that is unpleasant to your flesh; do not spare it, go against it, and you will become a true follower of the Christ. The whole wisdom of a Christian consists in his wisely going against his flesh in everything during his lifetime. "For I know that in me [that is, in my flesh] dwelleth no good thing," says the Apostle.

The heart of a perfectly healthy man becomes weakened for faith and love to God and his neighbour, and easily gives itself up to carnal desires: to slothfulness, negligence, coldness, gluttony, avarice, fornication, pride; whilst the heart of a sick man, or a wounded, oppressed, weary heart, is strengthened in faith, hope, and love, and is far removed from carnal passions. This is why the Heavenly Father, Who careth for our salvation, chastises us by various sicknesses. The oppression and afflictions of sickness make us turn again to God.

To love your neighbour as yourself, to sympathise with him in his joy and sorrow, to feed, clothe him, if he is in need of food and clothing; to breathe, so to say, the same air with him—look upon all this as the same thing as feeding and warming yourself, and do not count these as virtues or as works of love to your neighbour, lest you grow proud of them. "For we are members one of another."

I marvel at the omnipotence and wisdom of God—how He has created out of the one same earth and water the many and diverse parts of my body: flesh, blood, skin, bones, hair, lungs, liver, veins, eyes, ears, everything. How He set into motion this matter, inert and motionless in itself, and how the regular movements of the blood, juices, and liquids, separation of food, etc., are now uninterruptedly accomplished within me. Wonderful are Thy works, O Lord, "in wisdom hast Thou made them all." You have no words to declare the wisdom, goodness, and omnipotence of God the Creator and Provider— ask them of the Word of God. And what a variety there is of heavenly and earthly creatures, animate and inanimate, created from the four elements! "Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me, I cannot attain unto it."

I think; but for God to think and to create or change is one and the same thing, because He is That Which Is, an in-complex and almighty Being. Owing to His very incomplexity, everything is possible to Him in a single moment. The Lord has spoken—and this is sufficient for one to believe without any doubt that a certain thing is precisely what He has said. Doubt is impossible. The Godhead would not be Godhead, if It were not almighty. "As for our God, He is in heaven: He hath done whatsoever pleased Him." He wishes, and it is. He wished that water should flow from the rock, and it flowed; He wished that there should be a world out of nothing, and it appeared. His works prove that He is almighty. Come and see.

Try to turn your whole life into service to God; if you are reading anything at home, begin this work by a short fervent prayer that God may teach you and make you wise in faith and piety and in the careful accomplishment of your duties; never read idly, in order to pass the time; by thus doing you lower the word, which should serve entirely for our salvation, and not for idle words, nor as a means for pleasure and spending time agreeably. If you talk to your neighbour, speak reasonably, prudently, instructively, edifyingly; avoid idle speaking as the poison of a serpent, remembering that "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment"—that is, they shall hear the just sentence of the Judge. If you are teaching children, your own or those of others, turn this work into God's service, teaching them zealously, considering beforehand the best means of making the instruction clear, comprehensible, complete (as far as possible), and fruitful. Conquer by the name of the Lord and by the sign of the cross the snares of the enemy, who endeavours to disturb, darken, oppress, and weaken you. Even when you eat, drink, or do anything else lawful, "do all to the glory of God."

In every word is God the Word, an incomplex Being. How carefully we must therefore pronounce the words, with what humility, how prudently, in order not to anger God the Word, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost!

My Master, Lord Jesus Christ! my swift, most speedy Intercessor, Who never lettest me be ashamed! I thank Thee from my whole heart for having mercifully heard me when I called unto Thee in my darkness, straitness, and when I was in the flames of the enemy; for having delivered me most speedily, mightily, and graciously from my enemies, and for having given unto my heart graciousness, ease, light! O, my Lord, in what distress I was from the snares of the enemy! how opportunely hast Thou shown me Thy help, and how manifestly and almightily hast Thou succoured me! I glorify Thy mercy, Master, speedy to hear us; Hope of the despairing, I glorify Thee, that Thou hast not let my face be ashamed, but hast mercifully delivered me from the darkness and ignominy of hell. How after this can I ever at any time despair of Thy hearing me and having mercy upon me a sinner? I shall always, always call upon Thy sweetest name, my Saviour; Thou, O incalculable Bountifulness, save me as Thou hast ever done before in Thy immeasurable compassion, for Thy name is Lover of men and Saviour!

Do not believe your flesh when it grows weak and refuses to serve you on the pretence of not being sufficiently strengthened by food. This is a delusion. Overcome it; pray fervently, and you will see that the weakness of your body was false, imaginary, not real: you will see in truth that " men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Do not put your trust in bread.

It is said: " Christ on earth, be lifted up." This signifies that he who believes in Christ's coming upon earth, in His incarnation, and in all His loving care for our salvation, does not cling to the earth, but continually raises himself up to heaven in mind and heart; his will continually aspires upwards to God, to heavenly blessings, and is not allured by earthly delights, by earthly splendour, riches, and honours. Unfortunately, we have but little faith in Christ, and try to combine our love for the world with love for Christ, earthly attachments with love for God. These things are incompatible! "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself" of everything he is passionately attached to in the world, and let him hate his own sin-loving soul. (December 24th, 1869.)

My God! how the love and sincere sympathy of our neighbour towards us rejoices our hearts! Who shall describe this blessedness of the heart, penetrated with the feeling of others' love towards me, and my love to others? It is indescribable! If here on earth mutual love so rejoices us, then with what sweetness of love shall we be filled in heaven, when we shall dwell with God, with the Mother of God, with the heavenly powers, with God's saints? Who can imagine and describe such bliss, and what earthly temporal things should we not sacrifice in order to obtain the unutterable bliss of heavenly love? God, Thy name is Love! Teach me true love, strong as death. I have most plenteously tasted its sweetness from my communion in the spirit of faith, in Thee, with Thy faithful servants, and have obtained plenteousness of peace and life through it. Strengthen, O God, that which Thou hast created in me. O, had it ever been thus all the days of my life! Grant that I may oftener be in the communion of faith and love with Thy faithful servants, with Thy temples, with Thy Church, with Thy members!

My sweetest Saviour! having come down from heaven for the service of mankind, Thou didst not only preach the Word of Heavenly Truth in the temple, but Thou wentest through the towns and villages; Thou didst not shun anyone; Thou visitedst the houses of all, especially of those whose fervent repentance Thou didst foresee with Thy Divine gaze. Thus Thou didst not remain sitting at home, but wert in loving intercourse with all. Grant to us, too, to be in such loving intercourse with Thy people, so that we pastors should not shut ourselves up in our houses away from Thy sheep as if in castles or prisons, only coming out of them for services in the church or to officiate in the houses of others, only out of duty, only with prayers learned by heart. May our lips be freely opened to discourse with our parishioners in the spirit of faith and love. May our Christian love for our spiritual children be opened and strengthened by animated, free, and fatherly conversation with them. O what sweetness, what bliss Thou hast concealed, Lord, our boundless Love, in the spiritual converse warmed by love of a spiritual father with his spiritual children! And how is it possible not to strive upon earth with all our might after such bliss? Yet it is only a faint beginning, only a faint likeness of the heavenly bliss of love! Especially love the communion of good works, both material and spiritual. " To do good and to communicate forget not."

When the Devil disturbs you by unbelief in the Holy Mysteries, saying, "It is impossible that bread and wine should be the Body and Blood of Christ," say to him, "Yes, it is impossible for you and me—you are right—but not for God; 'for with God all things are possible.'" With God the thought itself is deed. "Said . . . and it was so." He speaks, and it is. Short and clear. And all the worlds stand by the Word of God. "Upholding all things by the word of His power." Do not the feet wish to stand above the body and, strange to say, teach the Creator of all things? Is it possible to doubt in the existence of that of which our own experience and the visible and invisible world assure us? In what does the mystery of the existence of all creatures consist? In the Word of the Creator. " Said . . . and it was so." Everything proceeded from the Word, all the infinite different varieties of creatures from the almighty, most-wise, all-merciful Word of God, not from anything else. Examples are also given to you in the Scriptures as to how rapidly everything was created by the sovereign word of God: the waters were turned into blood at the voice of Moses, the dust of the earth into lice, a rod into a serpent; his hand was covered with leprosy, and then suddenly cured or restored; light was turned into a darkness that might be felt; Moses only stretched forth his hand, and in an instant the Lord changed the substance of things; the land of Egypt was covered with frogs when Aaron stretched forth his hand over the waters at Moses's bidding; again Moses took ashes in his hand and sprinkled it towards heaven, and men and beasts were covered with blains; Moses only stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Come and see. How easy it is for the Lord to create and to change everything! Does not the same Lord act through us priests, and with us as well? The Lord Himself is here, the Lord Who was incarnate for us, and Who is the Mediator and the Accomplisher of all "For Thou art He that offerest and art offered, and receivest and art distributed." The priest only says the words, stretches forth his hand, and the Lord changes everything.

Remember that the intellect is the servant of the heart, which is our life; if it leads the heart to truth, peace, joy, and life, then it fulfils its destination, it is the truth; but if it leads the heart to doubt, disturbance, torment, despondency, darkness, then it does not fulfil its destination and is absolutely false ("science falsely so called.") If the heart feels peace, joy, ease from faith in anything, this is quite sufficient; it is unnecessary, then, to require from the reason proofs of the truth of such an object; it is undoubtedly true the heart asserts it by its life, for the purpose of all investigations is truth and life.

In ministering the sacrament of penitence, one feels one's own most miserable sinfulness before God, and all the misery, ignorance, and sinfulness of human nature. Confession is a cross, truly a cross! O what a debtor before his spiritual children a priest feels himself to be during confession! He truly feels himself to be an insolvent debtor, a debtor guilty before the heavenly truth, and deserving of thousands of the fires of Gehenna! One sees and feels at people's deep ignorance, at their ignorance of the truths of religion, and of their sins, at their stony insensibility, that a confessor must pray for them most fervently, and teach them day and night, early and late! O what ignorance! Some do not even know the Holy Trinity; they do not know who Christ is; they do not know why they live upon earth! And what a multitude of sins! Yet meanwhile we seek enrichment, rest; we dislike labour, we become irritated when there are more of them than usual! We seek spacious abodes, rich clothing! Let us not love earthly rest, let us not become slothful, let us not be negligent in the performance of our spiritual duties, and let us not deprive ourselves of heavenly blessings and rest, for having tested the worldly rest in abundance here, what rest can we look for there?

The most Holy Trinity is the most perfect union of three Persons in one Being, because it is the most perfect equality.

He truly bestows charity who gives from his heart, and with a loving heart. He is truly merciful who converses with everyone heartily, and not only with the intellect and lips, who renders sincere, hearty respect to everyone, who preaches the Word of God and serves God with a true heart, not hypocritically—in a word, who embraces all, and carries all in his heart by love, despising everything material that may become a hindrance to love between himself and his neighbour— such a one is truly merciful.

In order to prevent our corrupt nature from being allured by the temporary sweetness of sin, the Lord has so ordained that the most agreeable sensual pleasures upon which we greedily throw ourselves are injurious to us, both by their nature and through our own greediness and intemperance; such are almost all dainty dishes, all agreeable drinks, all sensual pleasures. Glory to the mercy and great wisdom of the Heavenly Father, Who uses every means to prevent us from falling into sensuality or the coarse pleasures of sensuality. Who hath spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear all this, let him see and hear. Thus, Christian, the very injuriousness of sensual pleasures which are destructive to our body shows that we are not created and do not live upon earth for them, but for higher, spiritual, and eternal pleasures. And, therefore, my soul, rejoice and find peace in God. This is thy perfect, harmless, true and eternal enjoyment; this thou hast already experienced many times; whilst all earthly pleasures are delusive, injurious, fleeting, and bear in their very origin the germs of corruption the moment we approach them. Suffering and maladies are proofs of this.

Brother, you feel a deadly malice in your heart against your neighbour; you are tormented by evil thoughts from the offences he causes you. Here is a means of saving yourself from inward straitness. Represent to yourself the multitude of your own sins, countless in their number, and vividly imagine how the Master of your life bears with them in you, how He daily and endlessly forgives you your sins if you pray to Him sincerely, whilst you yourself do not wish to forgive your neighbour a few fits of passion excited in him by the Devil. Sigh, weep if you can, at your own foolishness, condemn yourself only, and not in any way your neighbour, and the forgiveness of the Lord will be ready for you. Your inward straitness will vanish like smoke, your thoughts will become clear, your heart will become calm, and you will again walk in freedom of heart. Train yourself to meekness, be as though you did not hear reproaches, calumny, affronts, as if they were heard by somebody quite different, or by your shadow. Do not allow any suspiciousness. "I have walked innocently." "While the ungodly is in my sight I held my tongue and spake nothing: I kept silence." "I became even as a man that heareth not: and in whose mouth are no reproofs."

Christ is the Bread of life, therefore let us lay aside our care about other bread. The God Who gives us the Body and Blood of His Son for our food and drink will likewise give us natural bread. He Who clothes our soul in Christ will likewise give us material clothing. He Who deigns to dwell in us will not deprive us of a perishable dwelling.

To doubt in the Divinity of the Holy Ghost means to doubt in our own life, for the Holy Ghost gives life, and spiritually feeds all—serves as a spiritual sun, as air, food, and drink to our souls; it means to reject prayer, for we pray through the Holy Ghost; to reject truth and holiness, for the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth and of all holiness; to reject every spiritual consolation and comfort in sorrows and sicknesses, for the Holy Ghost is the true and only Comforter, together with the Father and the Son; to reject faith, for faith is given by the Holy Ghost; to reject hope and love, for hope and love are likewise bestowed upon our hearts by the Holy Ghost: " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us"; to reject spiritual and bodily power, for the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of power and strength; to reject wisdom and understanding, the fear of God, our own breathing, for He is the breathing, the air of the soul; in a word, it means to doom ourselves to moral nothingness and destruction. Do not pay attention to doubts in the truth, for they are the breathing of the evil spirit, of the spirit of falsehood—the destroyer; " Ye shall know them by their fruits." Doubt in the truth is always destructive to the soul. Every truth is the breathing of the Holy Ghost: the Word of God, the writings of the Holy Fathers and of the teachers of the Church, the words and works of every pious person who loves the truth.

Love for God and our neighbour, in our present corrupt state is impossible without self-sacrifice; he who wishes to fulfil the commandment concerning love for God and his neighbour, ought to devote himself in good time to great deeds and privations for the sake of those that he loves. (Amen.) " Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He (the Christ) laid down His life for us." "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

God is eternally watchful; and therefore we must always pray to Him with a watchful and sober mind and heart: "Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer," it is said, and drive away any self-forgetfulness and slothfulness from ourselves. Do not let your prayer evaporate and only dry words remain from it, but let it breathe with the warmth of the Spirit, like moist hot bread, just taken out of the oven.

Many people pray hypocritically, and their hypocritical prayer becomes a habit with them; they do not even observe themselves, and do not wish to observe, that they pray hypocritically, and not in spirit and truth, so that if anybody were to accuse them of praying hypocritically, they would be angry with those who dared to say, in their opinion, such an absurdity. Men do not suddenly become hypocritical, but gradually. At first, perhaps, they prayed with their whole hearts, but afterwards—for always to pray with the whole heart is a difficult work, to which we must force ourselves, and " the kingdom of heaven " (it is said) "suffereth violence"— they begin to pray more with their lips superficially, not from the depths of the soul, which is much easier, and finally at the increased assaults of the flesh and Devil, they only pray with their lips, without the power of the words of the prayer reaching the heart. There are very many people who pray thus. The Lord said of them: " This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth and honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." What is said concerning prayer equally applies to the communion of the Holy, immortal, and life-giving Mysteries. At first, a man communicates with lively faith, with a feeling of love and devotion, but afterwards, at the continual opposition of the flesh and the Devil to the truth of God, he lets them get the victory over him and communicates hypocritically, not of the Body and Blood, but in accordance with the thoughts of his heart, of bread and wine. The essence of the Mysteries, "the spirit and life," as the Saviour said, " hath no place" in him; he is thus inwardly robbed by Satan. May God preserve us all from such communion, from such blasphemy against the Lord! It is the same also with the sacrament of penitence.

Confession is a school of self-denial for a priest. How many occasions there are in it for impatience, irritation, slothfulness, negligence, inattention! It is truly the touchstone of the priest's love for his parishioners. A priest ought not on any account to live in softness and ease, and especially must not indulge himself with sleep and pleasant food and drinks, otherwise the Devil will strike his heart with some passion or other, and will cast him into straitness and prostration. It is necessary to crucify, absolutely to crucify, the flesh. Confession for a priest is a labour of love for his spiritual children; it must be without respect of persons, long-suffering, compassionate; for charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, seeketh not its own (its tranquillity or gain), is not easily provoked, rejoiceth not in iniquity, or does not connive at iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, covereth all things, endureth all things, never faileth. Then it is evident—then the priest himself sees and his spiritual children see, whether he is a shepherd or an hireling, a father or a stranger to his children, whether he seeks his own or Christ Jesus. My God, how difficult it is to confess people properly! How grievously one sins before God by not confessing them properly! How weak the word grows! How many hindrances the enemy puts in our way! How obstructed the source of the word becomes in the heart! How the tongue and intellect fail! O, how much preparation is required for confession! How one must pray for the successful accomplishment of this great work! And what ignorance one meets with in the spiritual children! It is necessary to be with them day and night, calmly, gently, and most patiently teaching each one of them. What a cross confession is for a priest, being conscious of the ignorance of those who confess to him, of their coldness, of their sinfulness of every kind, and having at the same time the consciousness of his own sinfulness, of his own infirmity, languidness, the inertness of his heart to sympathy, and to zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of his neighbour, as for his own. And how many crosses the Devil lays upon one during confession! He turns the work of love, the work of the discourse of a father with his children, into the work of an hireling with slaves, unwillingly reckoning with them.