For Lent

From the Book “Reflections of a Humble Heart”

Before beginning to read this monastic text, I would like to say that though it was originally intended and written for a monk, everything about what this elder writes could be applied to a layperson. Simply replace, if you will, the word “monk” with “Christian” and “monastic vows” with “baptismal promise” and one can see how perfectly we can follow the elder’s counsel. “There is no time like the present.” -Fr. Photios

Beloved Brother, accept this brief reflection, the fruit of my humble heart. I know that you will not refuse it, knowing that each person who loves his brother, according to the command of the Lord (John 15:12) wishes him spiritual consolation on his journey to the Kingdom of Heaven, the desired goal of our earthly sojourn. You probably know that monks in ancient times, when they met one another along the road, greeted one another in the following manner: one would ask “Brother, how goes your work of salvation?” To which the other replied, “By your holy prayers, father.” Truly, we have need of spiritual strengthening from one another, because our path is difficult and it is easy to perish. That is why the Apostle exhorts us: See that ye walk circumspectly…redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Eph. 5:15-16); and further, While we still have time, let us do good to all men, especially to them that are of the household of the faith (Gal. 6:10).

Yes, brother, we have many adversaries along the way. There is an enemy within the heart of each one of us - this is our sinful desires, despondency, faintheartedness, carelessness, and laziness. Our enemy without is the devil, who attacks us from all sides and never leaves us in peace against whom we must always be on guard. Another enemy, constantly nipping at our heels and overtaking us, is the cares, anxieties, afflictions, dangers, evil circumstances and evil people in the world that surrounds us.

We have an enemy in time itself, which eats away our life, leading us to old age and its infirmities, so that we have essentially very little time to work on the salvation of our immortal souls. Therefore, brother, ask yourself, ask yourself frequently, “My soul, how goes your work of salvation?” And ask the Mother of God to save you by her intercession. Ask the holy God-pleasers and your guardian angel to pray to God for you.

Now, beloved, despite all the adversities and dangers that our spiritual life is subject to, I greet you and say to you “Rejoice! Rejoice, because you are a Christian and you bear the name of Christ. Rejoice, because, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, God has numbered you with His sons, and you daily turn to Him with the words, “Our Father.”

Rejoice, because the Son of God and your Savior calls you His brother (John 20:17, Heb. 2:11-12). Rejoice, because you are redeemed (Gal. 3:13, 1Tim 2:6). Rejoice, because from the foundation of the world the Kingdom has been prepared for you (Matt 25:34), if only you apply yourself in the course of this life to inherit it in eternity. Rejoice, because you are already numbered among those who are saved (Eph. 2:5), and your name is already written in the Book of Life (Rev. 3:5), and of you is required only that you confirm this and that you hold to this great height. Rejoice, because God has called you to please Him in the monastic life. He has clothed you with the robe of salvation (by which you are to understand your baptismal robe) and He has covered you with the garment of joy (Is. 61:10), which is how you should revere your monastic habit. Likewise, know and rejoice that the Mother of God herself and the hosts of saints protect and watch over you, if only you do not fall into despondency and do not become careless or indifferent towards your calling. If you should stumble, they will help you up, if only you are determined to continue your path and to avoid the mire from which there is no salvation. If we have many enemies along our path to salvation, we also have many friends and helpers. My brother-monk, as soon as God heard from your lips your monastic vows, He gave you wings in order that you might fly freely towards heaven above this world and with unblinking eyes gaze upon the sun of glory. Watch, be vigilant; jealously guard your wings and do not allow the enemy either secretly or overtly to clip them, for is there anything more miserable than an eagle crawling on the ground?! No, brother, I know that with God’s help this will not happen to you, and that you will rise up above all the snares and nets and fly up to heaven, to God, Who has called you with a holy calling (II Tim. 1:9). And so, hearken to the words of the Apostle, Rejoice always in the Lord; and again I say, Rejoice (Phil. 4:4).

Know that time does not wait for you. Love the time of your life, for this is the time that the Lord has entrusted to you in order that you labor on the salvation of your soul, and there will not be another time. You recall your past. There will come a time when your whole life will be in the past, and there will no longer be an opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past. I remember how there once came to us in the sixth week of the Great Fast an eminent archpastor of holy life, who said in a talk he gave to us, “Not so long ago we were in the first week of the Great Fast, full of intensified prayer and ascetic effort, and here we are already in the sixth week, at the end, one might say, of the holy Quadragesima. (Forty days of the Fast) The time has flown by so quickly! Our whole life flies by in the same way.” 

I remember this blessed archpastor, I remember his voice and the expression on his face as if it were yesterday, while in fact many years have passed since the day of his repose. Truly, the time of our life flies by so quickly! Have you not had the feeling on coming to the end of the Great Fast - if you did not keep it with due strictness, or made allowances for yourself, or even broke the Fast - to regret bitterly the time of the Fast has ended and that you did not manifest to Christ that love which you could have and thereby you squandered the beneficial time of the Great Fast, remaining on the sidelines, as it were, of this auspicious time? 

Rejoice, that you are alive and that you are given the opportunity to manifest love for God, to please God, to labor, to show yourself His faithful servant -  and not merely a servant but a son, according to the Gospel (John 1:12). And if you are called to such an honor, to such a joy, well then, endure all trials and misfortunes steadfastly and courageously. In no case hang your head in sorrow, because you have no grounds for doing so.

Imagine a certain man was promised that on finishing school he would receive the rank of a dignitary at the king’s court, wealth and glory, provided only that he complete the full course of his studies. Tell me, what do you think, would not this man diligently apply himself to his studies with joy? Certainly he would. He would dit whole nights in front of his textbooks, he would never put down his pen, and he would try to memorize as much as he could. Look at students, at the effort they make in school, how they strive, how they submit to the discipline of strict instructors. Sometimes they shed tears over a particularly difficult assignment, but they do not give up because they know that this is necessary for their future. Hope for the future makes them industrious and inspires their best efforts. You, brother, do not have simply hope for some kind of well being in this life but a direct guaranty from God that it will be very well with you if you try now to learn, and for this you will be given -just think!- a whole kingdom, and not just any kingdom but the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal, permanent, infinitely more glorious, felicitous, and exalted than an earthly kingdom. And God almighty, all wealthy, and all-merciful has Himself promised this to you! What grounds, then, do you have to become despondent?

What excuse, what reason to become weak and to draw away from this felicitous lot is offered to you? Perhaps you will say: I am weak and feeble and I do not show any success in heavenly teachings. Regardless, brother, you must study, you must make an effort. When I was young we had a teacher who was very strict. But if a pupil tried, if he did not miss his lesson and did his homework, then, even though the student had no aptitude whatever, this teacher condescended to him and gave him opportunity for further study, regarding not his success but his efforts. If that strict teacher acted in this way, what shall we say about the all-merciful God, Who is so forgiving of our failings?

Brother, I advise you to read over from time to time the rite of monastic tonsure, in order that you remember those soul-stirring moments, your vows, and your first love. Test yourself: has your ardor cooled, have you abandoned your first love? (Rev. 2:4). If so, Remember…from whence thou art fallen and repent, and to the first works (v.5). Brother, read likewise the rite of burial for a monk. Read it, and reflect upon it. This will be your burial service. Listen how those brothers who will bury you will call to the Lord: I am Thine, save me (Ps. 118:94). They call out frequently and prayerfully on your behalf, you who are now without voice and without breath. Therefore, my brother, let your whole life now, and throughout its duration, call out to the Lord: “I am Thine, save me!” Call out with your lips, call out with faith in your heart, with your entire being. Call out like a pauper before the king’s gates: “I am Thine, save me!” Call out like a son to his loving father: “ I am Thy son, although I have strayed. I am the work of Thy hands, although I have become worthless. I am a sheep of Thy flock, although I have become lost. I am a star in Thy sky, although I have become dimmed. I am Thine, save me!”

Brother, my eyes fill with tears and I have difficulty speaking when I think of what a joy it is, what blessedness to be a slave of Christ! After death you will see Him. And in ineffable happiness and blessedness you will fall to His feet and exclaim: “I was Thine, and Thou didst save me. Glory to Thee, my benefactor, unto the ages!” Brother, can there be any greater happiness?!

You write that you have been visited by misfortunes, that you have suffered offense, and that you have no support from any side. Do not be despondent. See that ye be not troubled (Matt. 24:6). In the words of the Apostle: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able (I Cor. 10:13). The waves beat at the cliff, the wind brings wave upon wave, but the rock stands because - it is a rock. You must endure temptations in order to become a tried soldier of Christ. Think of the retinue that surrounds a king. Among the officials you have generals, tribunes, centurions; all of them are soldiers of the king. But how pitiful is that general or tribune or centurion who hears the title, the uniform, and the armor of a warrior, but who in fact has never been to war, has never experienced a single battle, has never been exhausted in a march, has never been subject to the slightest danger, has never experienced a real thirst or hunger, who has not even heard the trumpets signaling for battle. But this is not so. Each one of them has demonstrated his courage, has suffered wounds, has gone through battles, and has been prepared, if necessary, to lay down his life for the king. As a monk, you are a soldier of Christ. Show yourself to be brave and worthy of this calling. Slay the passions with the spiritual sword, defend your heart with the armor of love for Christ, protect your mind with the helmet of faith, and with the shield of the fear of God deflect the arrows of temptations. And may the love of God accompany you! Pray for me, the wretched one!