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Counsels
of the Holy Elders of Optina
Strive to pay
more attention to yourself and not analyze the affairs, actions and
appeals made to you by others. If you find no love in them, it is
because you yourself have no love within you.
Where there
is humility, there is also simplicity and innocence, and this Divine
branch will not experience God’s judgment.
God does not
disregard the prayers of the faithful. Yet He sometimes does not fulfill
their desires, only in order to better arrange everything according to
His Divine purpose.
Those who
live without paying attention to themselves will never be made worthy to
be visited by grace.
Know that
when you do not possess calm, you do not have humility within you. The
Lord revealed this in the following words, which indicate as well where
to seek after calm. He said: “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
Should you
exercise mercy toward another, you will receive mercy for it.
Should you
pray, even a little, from the heart for salvation, you will be saved.
Should you
accuse and condemn yourself before God for the sins on your
conscience, you will be justified for doing so.
Should you
be sorrowful over your sins, or be moved, or shed a tear, or sigh,
your sighing will not be hidden from Him. St. Simeon tells us,
“Nothing is hidden from Thee, my God, my Creator, my Redeemer,
neither a teardrop, nor a part of a drop.” St. John Chrysostom
states, “If you only lament over your sins, He will take it as a
reason for your salvation.”
Each day
examine yourself: What have you sown for the age to come: wheat or
weeds? Having tested yourself, arrange to become better the next day,
and spend the rest of your life in that manner. In the event that you
spent today badly, did not honestly pray to God, did not feel even
once contrition in your heart, did not become humble in thought, gave
no alms and did no act of charity, but instead did not refrain from
anger, from words, from food and drink, or if you sank your mind in
unclean thoughts, honestly examine all of this, condemn yourself for
it, and firmly resolve that tomorrow you will be more careful to do
good and to avoid evil.
Do not be
ashamed to reveal your scabs to your spiritual director. Be prepared
as well to accept from him disgrace for your sins, so that by being
disgraced, you might avoid eternal shame.
Let us love
the Church and be devoted to it.It is our joy and comfort both in
sorrows and in joys.
If you feel
that hatred has overwhelmed you, remain silent.Say nothing until, by
ceaseless prayer and self-recrimination, you have calmed your heart.
It is
better for your soul that you confess yourself as guilty in everything
and as being the least of all, than to run to self-justification,
something that comes from pride. God opposes the proud, and renders
grace unto the humble.
If we
abandon our own desires and opinions, and endeavor to fulfill God’s
wishes and understanding, we will save ourselves, no matter what our
position, no matter what our circumstance. But if we cling to
our own desires and opinions, neither position nor circumstance will
be of help. Even in Paradise, Eve transgressed God’s
commandment, and life with the Savior Himself brought the unfortunate
Judas no good. As we read in the Holy Gospels, we require patience and
an inclination to pious living.
It is
useless to accuse those around us and those who live with us of
somehow interfering with or being an impediment to our salvation
and spiritual perfection… Spiritual or emotional dissatisfaction
comes from within ourselves, from inexperience and from poorly
conceived opinions we do not want to abandon, but which bring on
doubt, embarrassment, and misunderstanding. All of this tires
and burdens us, and brings us to a sorry state. We would do well
to comprehend the Holy Fathers’ simple advice: If we will humble
ourselves, we will find tranquility anywhere, without having to
mentally wander about many other places, where we might have the same,
or even worse, experiences.
One who
wants to be saved must remember, must never forget, the Apostolic
commandment: “Carry one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the
Law of Christ.” This commandment is of great significance; one
we must first and foremost strive to obey.
Many desire
good spiritual life in its simplest form, but only a very few actually
fulfill their good intentions. These are people who steadfastly
obey the words of divine Scripture that we must enter the Kingdom of
Heaven by way of many sorrows, and who, calling upon God’s help,
strive to endure without complaint the sorrows, ills, and discomforts
they encounter, always keeping in mind the words of the Lord Himself
that whosoever wishes to enter into life, must obey the commandments.
The
Lord’s most important commandments are “Judge not, and ye shall
not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive,
and ye shall be forgiven.”. Moreover, those desirous of
salvation should always keep in mind the words of St. Peter Damascene,
that creation takes place between fear and hope.
The work of
our salvation demands that wherever a person may live, he must fulfill
God’s commandments and submit to His will.. Only thereby does
one acquire spiritual peace, by no other way. As it is says in
the psalm “Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing
shall offend them.” And yet you continue to seek after internal
peace and spiritual calm by way of external circumstance. You
still seem to think that you are not living in the right place, that
you have not settled down among the right kind of people, that
you have not ordered your affairs correctly and that others apparently
have not behaved properly. In Divine Scripture it states “His
[i.e. God’s] dominion is in every place.” and that for God the
most precious thing in the whole world is the salvation of a single
Christian soul.
As in all
things to the good, God is prepared to help man acquire humility.
Yet man himself must take care of himself. The Holy Fathers say
“render up blood and receive spirit.” This means, struggle
even to the point of giving up your blood, and you will receive a
spiritual gift. While you seek after and ask for spiritual
gifts, you are unwilling to shed your blood. That is, you want
everything, but do not want to be bothered or disturbed by anyone.
But can one ever acquire humility living a life of tranquility?
Humility consists of seeing oneself as the worst of all, not only of
people, but even of dumb beasts, even the evil spirits themselves.
And then, when people disturb you, you are aware that you cannot stand
it, and that you become angry with people; involuntarily, you then
will consider yourself to be a bad person… If in the process
you regret being bad, and reproach yourself as incorrigible, if
you truly repent of this before God and your spiritual father, then
you will already be on the path to humility. But were no one to
bother you, were you live in tranquility, how could you become
conscious of your badness? If they are trying to demean you,
they want to humble you. You yourself are asking God for humility.
Why then should you lament over people?
One who has
an evil heart should not despair, for with God’s help, one can
correct his heart. He must only remain vigilant and miss no
opportunity to help his neighbors. He must open himself up before his
elder, and must be as charitable as possible. This, of course cannot
be accomplished all at once, but the Lord is very patient. He brings a
person’s life to an end only when He sees him ready to depart into
eternity or when he sees no hope for his correction.
In teaching
that in one’s spiritual life one must not disregard even the most
seemingly insignificant matter, the Elder sometimes repeated,
“Moscow was consumed by the flames of a tiny candle.”
Batiushka
[affectionate term for Father] said regarding condemnation and
criticism of other’s faults and sins: “You need to pay such close
attention to your own internal life, that you not focus on what is
happening around you. Then you will not condemn.”
Pointing
out that man has nothing of which to be proud, the Elder added
“Actually, what does man have to crow about? A ragged, wretched
beggar cries out for alms: ‘Have Mercy! Have Mercy!’ But as to
whether he will be shown mercy, who knows?”
Why do men
sin? Either because they do not know what they should do, or, if they
do know, they forget; and if they forget, they are slothful and
despondent... This is why we pray to the Queen of Heaven: O
all-holy Theotokos, my Mistress ... drive from me, thy servant
despondency, forgetfulness, negligence, and all vile and wicked and
evil thoughts... Why is man bad? Because he forgets that God is
above him.
Recite the
Jesus Prayer unceasingly, and no one will interfere with you. Even
when there are many people around you, you will not notice them.
One should
pray to God so that between God and the soul of the one who prays
there is nothing and nobody, only God and the soul: and that the one
who prays senses neither heaven nor earth, nor anything else beside
God.
Stand in
church like an angel: do not indulge in talking, do not look around
you Church is an earthly heaven. When you leave the Church, recite, Virgin
Theotokos rejoice . . . and speak to no one: then you shall be like
unto a vessel so full that it overfloweth upon the way.
If you say
in your heart, "Even though I am only a piece of dirt, still the
Lord cares for me. Let the will of God be accomplished in me" you
rely upon the Lord with the firm intention to submit without complaint
to submit to the will of God, whatever it might be--the clouds will
part before you, the sun will emerge and shine upon you and warm you
and you will know the true joy of the Lord.
Of course,
it would be easier to get to paradise with a full stomach, all
snuggled up in a soft feather-bed, but what is required is to carry
one's cross along the way, for the kingdom of God is not attained by
enduring one or two troubles, but many!
Sometimes
on a day on which you intend to receive Communion, you may experience
a feeling of heaviness, but you should not pay any attention to this,
nor should you become despondent, since on such a day the devil will
particularly attack a man.
The six
psalms (Matins) are a spiritual symphony, life for the world, which
embraces the whole soul and imparts to it the most sublime light.
Reprimand
without feeding thine own self-love, considering whether thou wouldst
be able to bear what thou demandest of another . . . It is of greater
benefit for the soul to acknowledge itself to be guilty of everything
and the last of all, than to resort to self-justification, which hat
its origin in pride: God opposeth the prideful, but giveth grace unto
the humble
For us the
church is heaven on earth, where God Himself is invisibly present and
watcheth over those whose stand before Him there. For this reason, one
must stand in church in an orderly manner, with great reverence. Let
us love the church, and let us be zealous therein, for it is a delight
and consolation for us amid both sorrows and joys.
[Seclusion]
is a dangerous path. The passions grow in seclusion. It is better to
be among the people. Out away from where people walk, the grass grows
high; but where they walk, the path is bare. Sometimes people go in
for solitude out of intolerance. But it is good for us when we are
jostled. The tree that the wind blows most against has the deepest and
strongest roots: but that tree which grows undisturbed is more likely
blown over.
How may one
acquire complete dispassion? By complete humility.
The example
of God's long suffering must curb our impatience, which gives us no
rest. Nothing so calms us and reconciles us to the doings of others as
silence, prayer and love. To each, this or that manifestation of the
behavior of one's neighbor seems to be a great thing that accuses him
of something.
One of his
disciples asked the Elder, "Batiushka! how have you acquired the
spiritual gifts we see in you?" The Elder Leo answered,
"Live simply, and God will not forsake you and will show you His
mercy."
When ye
shall have the security of humility in your hearts, remembering your
own wickedness, then ye shall find the help of God in your works.
According to the measure of our acquisition of humility shall we
obtain eternity here on earth, shall we acquire the kingdom of God
within ourselves, of which we are informed by the Savior Himself, Who
says: "The kingdom of God is within you."
If you
suffer with one who is suffering you will be reckoned among the
martyrs.
If you
forgive one who offends you, you will receive not only the forgiveness
of your sins, but will become child of your heavenly Father.
If you
confess your sins before God, you will receive forgiveness and reward.
If you pray for salvation with your heart -if only a little- you will
be saved.
One must
not demand of a fly that it do the work of a bee. Every man should
give according to his won measure. Everyone cannot do the same thing.
In times to
come the world will be girded about with iron and paper. The days of
Noah were a prefiguration of our days. The ark is the Church; only
those who are on it will be saved. We must pray. By prayer, by the
word of God is every defilement washed away.
God not
only permits, but demands of a man that he grow in knowledge. However,
it is necessary to live and learn so that not only does knowledge not
ruin morality, but that morality ruin not knowledge.
It is
dangerous to live on charity. It is too easy to fall into the habit of
begging. It is one thing to ask for others, another for oneself.
The Lord is
the Creator of both physicians and medicines. One must not reject
medical treatment."
If you wish
to be delivered from grief, do not become attached in heart to
anything or anyone."
The Lord
Jesus Christ, while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, is to a
certain degree a model for every spiritual father in regard to his
spiritual children, for he also takes their sins upon himself. What a
great thing this is, and what a thing it is to experience!
The Lord
helps us amid sorrows and temptations. He does not free us from them,
but imparts to us the power to bear them easily, even to ignore them.
Complete
freedom from cares lies in complete obedience, in faith in one's
spiritual father.
One must
look upon blasphemers as upon sick people whom we ask not to cough or
spit.
Reproduced
from the website of
St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington
www.stjohndc.org
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