Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) sermon in St. George's Church
Howell, New Jersey - February 1, 2014

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

How do we know if the Holy Spirit lives in us or not?

For the Holy Spirit to live in us, we must toil greatly, because the Holy Spirit is not given freely, for "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). "How can we achieve the cleaning of our soul and that it is clean?" I asked Metropolitan Joseph of Almaty, who for 25 years was cell attendant for a bishop of St. Petersburg and was imprisoned for 25 years for his faith – of course, the Lord gave him a clean heart and clairvoyance. This is a divine gift. This means that the Holy Spirit lives in him. And so I asked him.

As it turns out, the Holy Spirit lives in a person when that person has suffered much in life: persecution, slander, gossip. For this, the Lord gives purity of heart and the Holy Spirit lives in that person. I met in Siberia (I lived there for 27 years) with many such people who were exiled by the Communists, the enemies of the Church, and there I often went to one settlement, where there lived a quiet woman named Matryona, who finished high school with honors, and when she was 17 years old received great gifts from God. The Jesus Prayer was unceasing in her heart. She went unnoticed by all, but her sister birthed seven children and travelled among the holy places. Matryona did not marry: she reared those seven children. She cared for chickens, geese, a cow, and a whole farm: nobody even noticed her, but she gave all of the children a good education.

Thus 30 years ago I came to where she lived. She asked to confess to me. I’ve been confessing for 45 years and she said to me, "Father, at seven years old they put me on the kliros and said, ‘Matryona, this is your place.’ And so my whole life I’ve lived in the Church: I read and sang. I know all the prayers, yet when I’m communing, I don’t know what to make of myself. When I start reading everything through, the Jesus Prayer is interrupted in my heart. Then I don’t understand this prayer or understand the Jesus Prayer. What do I do?"

I said, "Mother, pray as you’ve always prayed! The most important thing is to incline yourself!" "That is how I live." She was already 97 years old. I had never seen that she became annoyed or raised her voice, though I saw her often. She was a discreet old woman, and she preserved all of the churchly treasures of the priest: chalices, books, vestments, and none of this was known by the government. She was covert and lived in such simplicity. And so she left to the next world, the world of bliss… I believe that she is a saint. The Holy Spirit lived in her.

For the Holy Spirit to enter into us, we must have experienced many tragedies and sorrow in our life. The Lord does not give the Holy Spirit so simply. The man who has achieved such a condition has neither envy nor vanity nor narcissism nor annoyance nor wrath nor annoyance nor shouting nor noise: he keeps complete tranquility in his soul. In such a person the Holy Spirit lives, although attacks come upon this person from all sides. Yet the man who is prideful, narcissistic, annoyed, upset, who judges everyone and everything – of course the Holy Spirit does not live in such a person. Blessed Silouan the Elder said, "When a person prays and finishes prayer, he has love for his enemy, which means that the Holy Spirit lives in him. If we have an enemy, and when we pray for that enemy, then he is no longer for us an enemy." In such a person the Holy Spirit lives.

Of course, it’s never that easy. The Lord is not frugal with the Holy Spirit, but He prudently knows to whom to give it and to whom not to. I again repeat that nothing is so easily given. In our lives, we must temper much, and when a person has been so vexed, to the breaking point, and at that point wants to say something biting to the other person, he must smile and step outside of himself to say to that person, "Let’s go drink a cup of tea!" Or cook up some blini to the one who vexed us so, and give them ourselves or through someone else, if suddenly they won’t accept them from us. But most important is that the enemy sees that he is not an enemy to us. We must love everyone. Thus Archdeacon Stephen the Protomartyr of Christ, when being stoned for his faith in Christ, prayed, "O Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" He looked to the heavens and saw the Lord Christ the Savior, Who was not sitting, but standing at the right hand of God the Father. Why? Because this was the first martyr for Christ! And of course our example is Christ Himself, because He was crucified on the Cross; He also prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" (Luke 23:34)

But who showed the example of humility? The thief! He hung on the cross and look! On the left side, the thief berated Christ: "If You are the Son of God, come off the cross and save us!" (Luke 23:39). Yet on the right side, the thief said, "You shouldn’t speak like that, for we are here for our deeds, but He is not guilty of anything," and said, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom," that is, "I’m not worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom, You simply remember me. After all, I am a great sinner." And the Lord said to him, "Today you will be with me in Heaven" (Luke 23:40-43).

This means that we must think of it this way, as one Holy Father Gabriel said: "If one of us enters the Kingdom of God, we will be surprised at three sights: one whom we thought, guessed, would definitely be in Heaven and isn’t; one whom we didn’t guess, didn’t even consider, but is in Heaven; and the third miracle, by what miraculous path did I end up here in Heaven?”

Amen!

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese