Archpriest Gregory Dyachenko (+1903)
Many people sometimes say: “How
can we be saved? We are worldly people, sinners; all our lives we bustle about
and sin: cares and concerns have overwhelmed us.” It is sad, brethren, to hear
such words from an Orthodox Christian. Pagans who lived before the coming of
Jesus Christ into the world, who did not know His teaching, had not been
baptized into the Orthodox faith, and had not partaken of the Holy Mysteries,
might have spoken in this way. But we, the beloved children of Christ, ought
neither to think nor to speak thus, for the path to salvation has been shown to
us. It is spoken of, for example, in the Gospel that you heard today during the
Liturgy. Let us read it once more and reflect upon what we have read:
“Therefore whoever confesses
Me before men, him I also will confess before My Father who is in heaven; but
whoever denies Me before men, him I also will deny before My Father who is in
heaven” (Matt. 10:32–33).
Do you hear? The Lord requires of
the one who seeks salvation that he be His confessor before men. But what does
this mean? To understand this, listen to how the Holy Apostle Paul speaks of
the same thing: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
This, first of all, is what it means to be a confessor of Christ: not only to
believe in Him in your soul, but also openly to declare with your lips that you
believe in Him; not to conceal your faith from others, not to be ashamed of it,
but boldly and openly to show yourself to be a Christian. We speak plainly and
fearlessly that our earthly fatherland is Orthodox Russia. In the same plain
and fearless manner, confess that you believe also in another Fatherland—the
Heavenly One—and that you walk under the protection of the Lord who is in
heaven. Yet this alone is not enough to be a true confessor of Jesus Christ. He
Himself said elsewhere: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter
the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt.
7:21). Therefore verbal confession alone is not enough for the Lord—He also
expects from us confession in deed, so that all our actions may accord with His
will, and so that we may likewise openly and boldly show ourselves everywhere
and always to be Christians by our deeds. Judge for yourselves: if one of you
had a son who praised his father with words but offended him by his actions,
would not his father say to him, “My son, your affectionate words are not
enough for me; prove by your deeds that you love me”? So too we say: “We are an
Orthodox people; we are not Jews or Tatars,” but we must demonstrate by our
deeds that we are an Orthodox people, enlightened by the light of Christ’s
gospel. A living example for us in this regard is the holy confessors of
Christ. They lived long ago, in those centuries when the Church of Christ was
still persecuted by pagan emperors. These pagan emperors searched everywhere
for Christians and brought them before their tribunals. “Who are you?” they
asked the Christian. “What is your name?” “I am a Christian,” the holy champion
of the faith of Christ courageously replied, and fearlessly went to the most
cruel tortures and to death itself for his Orthodox faith. This is what it
means to be a confessor of Christ.
“I also will confess him before
My Father who is in heaven.” Such is the reward that the Lord promises to His
confessors. He Himself will bear witness before His Heavenly Father to the love
of His confessors for Him. For love He promises love; for our earthly
confession, His heavenly confession. If in earthly life you sometimes say, “You
may ask anyone about me; everyone will tell you that I am an honest man”; if a
servant proudly displays a written commendation given to him by his master,
should we not all the more seek and desire heavenly testimony concerning
ourselves—the testimony of Jesus Christ regarding our virtues before His Father
who is in heaven? And if we believe human promises, can we doubt the promise of
the Lord? “Where I am,” He said, “there My servant will be also” (cf. John
14:3); “I go to prepare a place for you” (cf. John 14:2). That is why we should
never lose heart if good is repaid with evil, truth with falsehood, or love
with malice. Only remember always that we have in heaven a true Witness of our
good, who sees everything and hears everything, and who has prepared blessed
dwellings for those who love Him. The holy martyrs who shed their blood in His
name placed their hope in Him, and He wondrously helped them during their
sufferings. Recall the sufferings of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. He was
thrown to wild beasts, but they fell at his feet; he was cast into the sea, yet
he walked upon it as upon dry land. The Holy Martyr Boniface had molten tin
poured down his throat by his tormentors, yet he remained unharmed; he was
thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch, yet he emerged from it safe and sound.
Thus even on earth the Lord glorifies His confessors. What joy, then, awaits
them in the Kingdom of Heaven!
But just as one may confess the
Lord by word and deed, so one may deny Him by word and deed. If a man does not
live according to the commandments; if foul language never leaves his lips; if
he indulges excessively in wine; if he sows discord within his family; if he
drives the poor away from his windows; if he oppresses orphans—then all such
people deny Christ, and He will deny them before His Heavenly Father. But
consider what could be more grievous than this. If it is bitter for a man, even
a criminal, when all people reject him and send him away in chains to Siberia
and beyond, how much more bitter will it be for us when the Lord Jesus Christ
renounces us? What shall we feel when we hear His terrible voice: “Depart from
Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire” (Matt. 25:41)? We shall stand before
the Lord and Judge, tormented by conscience, with all the evil we have done set
before our eyes, down to the smallest detail. A fire caused by arson will
reveal who the arsonist was; a theft in a church will reveal the thief; if
someone accepted a false oath for money, to the ruin of an innocent person,
that too will be revealed. Every evil deed will be exposed before the whole
world to our shame. Then the gates of Paradise will be closed to us, and the
torments of hell will receive us. Let us therefore strive to amend our lives
while the sentence has not yet been pronounced and the eternal gates have not
yet been closed behind us.
“He who loves father or mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me
is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37).
Here is yet another commandment
that the Lord gives. For us He must be dearer than what is dearest to our
hearts: children, wives, and parents. Love Him more than you love your family;
think of Him more than of your family; submit to His laws more than you submit
to the feelings of parental and family affection. Listen to how holy people
fulfilled this commandment.
You have probably heard that the
relics of Saint Theodosius the Abbot repose in the Kiev Lavra. When this Saint
was still a youth, he already loved God more than anything in the world. His
mother loved him dearly, made beautiful clothes for him, and tried to feed him
the finest foods. But, to his mother's sorrow, he gave his clothes to the poor,
fasted, and wore chains. In vain she urged him to associate and play with
children his own age—he knew only the road to the church. Several times, to his
mother's alarm, he disappeared from home, departing with pilgrims for
monasteries. But his mother would find him and bring him back. At last he
received the monastic tonsure in the Kiev Caves Monastery. There too his mother
found him and long implored him to return home, but the Saint refused even to
see her, having loved Christ more than her.
You may think: “But a saint could
overcome himself in this way; how can we possibly stand as firmly?” Yet the
saints were people just like us. They had the same weak bodies, endured greater
temptations from Satan than we do, and at times even fell into sins, just as we
sinners do. For example, the Venerable Erasmus, another Saint of God from Kiev,
had formerly been a merchant. Later he entered a monastery and devoted all his
wealth to the adornment of the monastery church. But the devil began to suggest
to him that he had wasted his riches to no purpose, that it would have been
better to distribute them to the poor. Erasmus fell into despondency and even
became seriously ill. But the Lord had mercy on him: in a dream the Venerable
Anthony and Theodosius appeared to him, together with the Most Holy Theotokos,
and assured him that he had not used his wealth in vain, but for the benefit of
his soul. So you see that the saints also fell, just as we do; only they wept
over their sins and did not remain indifferent as we do. And God, seeing their
sorrow and repentance, manifested His power in them. Therefore we should not
say: “Those were holy people; we can never attain to them.” Such despondency is
inspired by the devil. No, with God's help we too can accomplish much.
Do not allow your heart to grow
cold. Struggle against the temptations of the devil, call upon the Lord for
help, cleanse yourself more often from sins through confession, and nourish
your soul with the Body and Blood of Christ—and then you will become an
imitator of the saints.
The Venerable Theodosius placed
his love for Christ above his love for his mother. In our own lives there are
often occasions when we too should follow his example. Let me point out first
an ordinary situation that may seem hardly worth mentioning. Your children,
while playing outside, quarrel with the children of your neighbor. Has it never
happened that you, as a father, or you, as a mother, without first looking into
the matter, immediately rush upon the neighbor's children, scold them in anger,
and perhaps even rebuke their parents: “Just look at the rascals they are
raising,” and so forth? What can come of this? A quarrel between you, the
parents. But if you wish to act as a Christian, then calmly reconcile the
children, examine their dispute, and if your own children are at fault,
instruct them, require them to ask forgiveness from those they have wronged,
and correct them. This will not be a humiliation either for you or for them; it
will simply be justice, the fulfillment of God's law, and in accordance with
Christ's commandment you will have preferred love for Him above love for your
children. Perhaps you think this is a small matter, unworthy of attention, but
consider that always indulging children means corrupting them; secondly,
disputes such as these often give rise to quarrels among parents; and thirdly,
it is from such small things that our entire life is formed.
I think you have seen how beads
are strung on a thread: one small bead after another is threaded onto it, and
in the end a large necklace is formed. So it is with our lives: day after day
passes through countless little incidents, and blessed is the one who watches
over his soul in all these small things.
Yet there are also not
infrequently more serious situations in which love for God must be placed above
family affection. Your father, your brother, or another close relative has
fallen, through human weakness, into wrongdoing and asks you to testify that he
is innocent; or he is selling some object to an inexperienced person and asks
you to praise it; and how many similar situations arise in life! Do not become
accomplices of sin and deceit. Remember that the Son of God loved us to such an
extent that He did not spare Himself for our salvation; and therefore He
requires from us a love that is whole and undivided—with all our soul and with
all our mind.
“And he who does not take up
his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:38).
To be a confessor of Christ means
to show oneself everywhere by word and deed to be a keeper of His law; it means
to love Him above everything in the world. But this is often difficult and
painful. These very sorrows, which are always inseparable from a virtuous life,
are what the Lord compares to the cross that a man bears upon himself. In the
time of Jesus Christ, criminals were crucified upon crosses. Christ Himself was
crucified among criminals. The cross was then an instrument of shame, and
carrying it was both humiliating and burdensome, since crosses were made very
heavy. For the follower of Jesus Christ, it is necessary to overcome love of
self; sometimes even love for family, parents, and children. It is not uncommon
for a Christian to incur the hostility of neighbors or even of an entire
community; or to forgo an obvious advantage, even great wealth that could
easily have been acquired by dishonest means. Mockery, reproaches,
persecutions—all these must be endured. One must carry upon his shoulders this
sorrowful cross in order to remain a confessor of Christ.
But as the Teacher is, so also
should His disciples be. Jesus Christ, though guilty of no sin, endured for our
sake spitting, beatings, blows, and crucifixion upon the Cross. We, His
followers, must likewise courageously endure temporal afflictions for His
name's sake. “Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts
14:22). But will we have the strength to bear these sorrows? you may ask.
Brothers, the Lord sends every trial according to our strength, for He is
longsuffering and abundant in mercy. He does not desire that the affliction He
sends should crush a person’s strength as a hammer shatters glass, but rather
that, by enduring sorrows, a person may grow stronger in love for God, just as
iron is strengthened when it is forged. And by overcoming temptations and
courageously bearing afflictions, we shall find them increasingly light, thus
proving true in ourselves the words of the Lord: “My yoke is easy, and My
burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). Remember the story of the righteous Job. At first
the Lord struck him by taking away part of his possessions: raiders carried off
his oxen and donkeys. Job endured this loss courageously. Then further losses
followed: his sheep and camels perished, and Job endured this as well. Then his
children died, yet even then Job did not murmur against God. Finally, a
terrible disease afflicted his body, and at the same time his companion in
life, his wife, lost heart, leaving him alone in his struggle with grief. Yet
Job remained steadfast in his love for God. The same happens in our lives.
Misfortune may come upon a person: a fire, a failed harvest, theft, or some
other calamity. But do not lose heart—this is the hand of God. God sees that
you are able to bear all these things; otherwise the righteous Lord would not
have tested you in this way, but would have sent a trial suited to your
strength.
Then Peter answered and said to
Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”
Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the
Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:27–28).
Up to this point we have spoken
about what the Lord requires of us; now He points to the reward we shall
receive if we are His confessors. It was the Apostle Peter who asked Him about
this reward, and therefore the Lord first speaks of the reward of the apostles.
He promises them great glory and honor: when He comes to judge the world, they
too will judge the universe together with Him. Great is the reward, but great
also were the labors borne by the holy apostles! When the Lord called them, He
promised them no earthly joy—neither wealth, nor human honor, nor rest—but
rather labor, afflictions, persecutions, sufferings, and death. “In the world
you will have tribulation” (John 16:33), He told them; “If they persecuted Me,
they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). “The time is coming that whoever
kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 16:2). Yet the apostles
were not afraid of the world. They left everything behind, because they loved
Christ more than their wives and children. They followed Him and courageously
endured every sorrow and persecution for His name's sake. As with them, so with
us: a great reward awaits us in heaven if we walk in their footsteps. Listen to
what the Lord says next.
“And everyone who has left
houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands,
for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life”
(Matt. 19:29).
Perhaps you may think that,
according to these words of the Lord, one can be saved only by entering a
monastery and renouncing everything—family, possessions, acquaintances, and the
like. But this is not how we should understand them. The path to the Kingdom of
Heaven is one, yet each person walks it in his own way. These words of the Lord
can be fulfilled while living in the world, within a family, and possessing
property. Each of us undertakes only the work that he is capable of performing.
So it is in the spiritual life: take upon yourself only those labors and vows
that are within your strength. The Lord Himself teaches this: “Not all can
receive this saying, but only those to whom it has been given... He who is able
to receive it, let him receive it” (Matt. 19:12). That is, whoever recognizes
himself to be strong enough in spirit to bear all the labors of the celibate
life may take such a vow upon himself; but from one who is unable to do so, it
will not be required. Live in the world, live in a family, acquire
possessions—but do not imitate those people who forget God because of these
things. There are people who know neither fasts nor feast days; there are those
who, when the church bell rings for the Divine Liturgy, set out for work
instead. But you must place God's law above everything else. Do not concern
yourself with excessive gain—the Lord feeds even the birds. Love God, as we
have already said, more than wife and children. Visit God's house more
frequently, read the Holy Gospel more often, do not begrudge alms to the poor.
By purifying your soul through repentance and nourishing it with the Body and
Blood of Christ, you will fulfill the Lord's words by preferring love for Him
above love for the world.
One can be saved everywhere, and
one can perish everywhere. David was saved while seated upon a royal throne;
Judas was an apostle, and he perished. The Great Martyr George the
Trophy-Bearer and the Martyr John the Soldier were soldiers; Saints Vladimir, Boris,
and Gleb were princes; the Righteous Philaret the Merciful was a farmer—all of
them were laypeople, and they were saved. Saint Macarius of Egypt was a great
desert ascetic and a saint of God, yet once the Lord revealed to him that two
women living in the world surpassed him in virtue. Macarius went to them in
order to learn from them. Having found them, he asked what good works they
performed that had so pleased God. They answered that they were sisters-in-law
who had desired to enter a monastery, but their husbands would not allow it;
therefore they had resolved to serve their husbands until death, and they never
quarreled or engaged in idle talk. Thus, even while living in the world, one
can become a great ascetic.
“But many who are first will
be last, and the last first” (Matt. 19:30).
We shall receive a hundredfold in
heaven for what we endure on earth, and this reward will be given without
distinction to all who fulfill the law of Christ. On earth there are rich and
poor, noble and common, educated and uneducated. But beyond the grave there are
only the righteous and sinners. There the rich man, to whom everyone flattered
on earth, goes to hell, while the beggar despised on earth rejoices in the
Kingdom of Heaven. Truly, we shall take nothing there with us except the good
and evil we have done.
This is the path that leads to
the Kingdom of Heaven. Be everywhere and always a Christian not merely in name
but in deed, and you will be saved. The true Christian loves God above all
things in the world and gladly bears the Cross of Christ. Rank does not save;
only a virtuous life saves, and such a life will be rewarded a hundredfold in
heaven for all the righteous without distinction. May God grant that the doors
of His glorious Kingdom may not be shut against us.
Parental Love for Their
Children Through Love for God
“He who loves son or daughter
more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37). Parental love for children
often, without any intention on the part of father and mother and unnoticed
even by themselves, loses its Christian character. While exercising the rights
of lawful love for their children, it can at the same time become hostility
toward God and His holy law, making Christian parents with such feelings toward
their children unworthy and deceitful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. To
love a son merely out of natural affection, without paying attention to who is
growing up and maturing under the shelter of parental love—whether an honorable
man or a libertine, a faithful servant of his country or a rebellious agitator
and enemy of all order, a true Christian or a man without faith and good
convictions, a defender of the gospel and truth or a betrayer of the faith and
a traitor to the truth—is such love worthy of a Christian father? Is it the
kind of love that the duty of a Christian father and the clear law of the
gospel require of him? No. This is to love only the flesh and blood of one's
son, while failing to love his soul and rational life. It is an animal love,
not a human one, and still less a Christian love, which acts according to the
spirit of Christ's love and the law of the gospel. Such love is contrary to
love for the Lord and to the demands of His holy law; such love is enmity
against God. Amid examples of this kind of paternal affection, it is
refreshing, for its rebuke and correction, to encounter in the history of the
ancient Christians examples of true parental love—parents who selflessly
sacrificed every natural attachment to their children for the sake of love for
the Lord and His holy faith whenever the former became sinful in relation to the
obligations of the latter.
Here is one such example. The
apostasy of the Roman Emperor Julian found many followers among Christians who
were weak in faith and fainthearted. One such follower of the apostate was a
young man, the son of a noble citizen of the city of Beroea, a high-ranking
state official who was pious and devoted to the Christian faith. When the son
revealed to him his unbelief and his fall, the pious father, for the sake of
Jesus Christ, spared neither his son's honor nor his name nor even his own
affection for him: he deprived him of all rights of inheritance and publicly
disowned him.
The ambitious young man went to
the apostate emperor seeking his protection, defense against his father, and
rewards and honors for renouncing Christianity in order to please the emperor,
an enemy and persecutor of the name of Christ. Julian, who dreamed of
converting the whole world back to the ancient pagan idolatry that was then in
decline, was greatly pleased by every example of apostasy and spared no rewards
or favors to increase the number of people like himself. He welcomed the young
man, reassured him, and promised through his own mediation to restore his
father's favor and his inheritance rights.
Upon arriving in Beroea, Julian
invited many of the city's distinguished citizens to dine with him, including
the pious father and his apostate son. During the meal Julian addressed the
father of the rejected son with these words: “It seems to me unjust to use
force against people who think differently and to compel someone against his
will to adopt another's opinions. Therefore, do not force your son to follow
your teaching when he does not wish to do so. After all, I do not compel you to
follow mine, though it would be very easy for me to do so!” “Are you speaking,
O Emperor, about that lawless man who preferred falsehood to truth?” the pious
father replied, filled with indignation against his apostate son.
There was such unconquerable zeal
in the Christian father's defense of the holy faith of Christ, and at the same
time such fearless indignation at his son's apostasy, even though the son stood
under the protection of the emperor himself, that the traitor to faith and
conscience could find no boldness within himself to defend falsehood against
truth. Realizing his own helplessness before the holy zeal of Christianity's
defender, Julian assumed an appearance of feigned gentleness and, turning the
matter into a joke, said to the young man: “I myself will take care of you,
since I could not persuade your father to do so.”
Indeed, the father of the young
apostate did not abandon his righteous anger toward his lawless son. Neither
the flatteries nor the threats of the wicked emperor had any effect upon him.
For him there was nothing more fearful than the judgment of the Lord Jesus: “He
who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
One Can Please God in Every
Calling
Many people, especially among the
common folk, complain that with their occupations it is impossible to please
God. Such a complaint is unjustified. The Lord God, in His boundless mercy,
calls everyone to salvation, provided only that there is a desire for it on our
part. The lives of the saints contain many examples of this.
Many are probably familiar with
the Holy Unmercenary Martyrs Florus and Laurus, who lived in the fourth
century. They were simple stonemasons, yet their profession did not prevent
them from living pious lives and benefiting others. The Lord rewarded these
laboring brothers with the gift of working miracles. In a neighboring province,
it was decided to build a magnificent pagan temple, and the governor sent
Saints Florus and Laurus there because they were known to all as the finest
craftsmen in their trade. While they were cutting and shaping stone, the son of
the chief pagan priest approached them. Suddenly, a fragment of stone flew into
his eye. The injury was so severe that it threatened to cost the boy his sight.
When the father angrily cried out and reproached them, the Saints calmly
replied that they would heal the innocent child’s eye if his father would allow
the boy to stay with them for a time. With the father's consent, they took the
boy to their humble hut, prayed for him throughout the night, and instructed
him in the Christian faith. In the morning they made the sign of the Cross over
him. Immediately the child's eye was restored, and he could see as before. This
miracle affected the priest so deeply that he and all his household believed in
the One True God and joined the Orthodox Church. For their miracles and
virtuous lives, the holy unmercenary physicians Florus and Laurus were granted
the crown of martyrdom—they were thrown into a dry well and buried alive under
earth. Many years later, the bodies of the Holy Martyrs were found incorrupt
and were transferred to Constantinople. The Lord granted their relics the power
of healing.
Here is another remarkable
man—Saint Mark of the Caves. The most astonishing thing about him was the
simplicity of his ascetic struggle. He did not lead a lofty contemplative life.
His occupation was very ordinary: he dug the earth. Living in a cave, Mark dug
out many caves with his own hands and carried away the soil on his shoulders,
laboring day and night for the Lord. He dug many graves for the burial of the
brethren and accepted no payment for it, except what someone might voluntarily
offer, and even that he distributed to the poor. Through such labor Mark
attained a high degree of spiritual perfection, one achieved by only a few. He
is the most convincing example of how, in the midst of physical labor, the soul
can advance spiritually when the spirit labors for the Lord, drives away all
impurity from the soul, fills it with holy thoughts and sighs, and carefully
guards it through humility and meekness.
One Saint, in order more surely
to attain the Kingdom of Heaven, became a stonemason. This is what we know
about him from the life of Saint Ephraim, governor of the city of Antioch.
Ephraim had been entrusted with rebuilding the city after an earthquake. Many
laborers were hired, and the work proceeded energetically, but among all the
day laborers one man stood out: his clothing was worn and tattered, his face
gaunt, and he worked more diligently than anyone else. One day Saint Ephraim
saw a vision in which a pillar of fire rose above this laborer while he slept.
Astonished by the vision, the blessed Ephraim asked the remarkable worker who
he was, from what city he came, and what his name was. The man replied, “I am a
poor resident of Antioch and support myself by daily labor.” Not believing him,
Saint Ephraim urged him to reveal the truth. “Believe me,” said the governor,
“I will not let you go until you tell me the whole truth.” Unable to conceal
himself any longer, the supposed laborer replied: “I was a bishop, but for the
Lord's sake I left my episcopate and came here to a foreign land, where I work
and earn my daily bread through my labor.”
These examples clearly show that
no occupation—provided it is honorable—prevents a person from pleasing God.
Therefore, it is a poor excuse to say that one cannot please God while engaged
in difficult labor. On the contrary, in such labors it is easier to be saved
than to perish. Labor is a great and good thing; labor is a blessing, while
idleness is a misfortune for man. “There is nothing,” says Saint John
Chrysostom, “truly nothing in human affairs that idleness does not ruin. Water,
if it stands still, becomes corrupted; but if it flows, it retains its nature.
Iron, if left unused, becomes covered with rust; but when it is forged into
something useful, it benefits others and shines like silver.” It is not without
reason that people say, “God loves labor.” Why does God love labor? Because
labor leads to goodness and happiness, whereas idleness—the mother of all
vices—destroys a person and makes him miserable. The Apostle Paul says that “if
anyone is not willing to work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Yet while
you labor, ask God to bless your undertaking, and when it is completed, give
thanks again to God the Creator and Benefactor, for every perfect gift and
every good gift comes from Him. When you are free from work—on a Sunday or
feast day, for example—go to the church of God. There you will receive both
sanctification and enlightenment for your soul. And when you return home, do
not give yourself over to revelry, drunkenness, quarrels, or, even worse,
fighting. If you fear being bored, read some spiritually beneficial book. If
you spend your time in this way, you will rise the next day with renewed
strength and easily return to your ordinary labor. Is it not possible to please
God while living in such a manner? Of course it is. Our righteous saints are
living proof of this.
Therefore, no occupation, however
humble it may seem, can prevent us from pleasing God if there is a sincere
desire for it in our souls. Follow the command of Christ's Apostle: “Let each
one remain in the calling in which God has assigned him, and in which the Lord
has called him” (cf. 1 Cor. 7:17).
All Christians Are Called to
Holiness
If a citizen or a peasant were
told: “Do this and that; become a close servant of the king, who grants you the
right to this privilege and calls you to it,” with what eagerness and zeal
would he undertake the tasks required of him, even if the undertaking were
difficult and the labor prolonged! But now the herald of the will of the
Heavenly King says to us, who are unworthy even in the smallest degree of
citizenship in that Kingdom: “Be holy”—be morally holy, and afterward you shall
be blessed; live piously and virtuously, and you shall become close to the
Heavenly King, who permits you not only to draw near to Him but even to abide
in Him, and who Himself desires not only to draw near to you but to dwell
within you. What then? How is this calling received? Do all—or at least
many—follow it with readiness, fervent zeal, unflagging devotion, and complete
self-surrender? Do we not more often think and say: “How can we be saints? We
are sinful people; it is enough if somehow we are saved through repentance.”
“How can we be saints?” But have
we considered what we shall be and what will become of us if we do not strive
to become holy? There are higher degrees of holiness in which especially chosen
and grace-filled souls shine brightly, but holiness in general is not merely a
special distinction among Christians, commendable for some to possess while
others can easily do without it. According to the apostolic teaching, everyone
called by the Holy God into the Kingdom of God—that is, every Christian—must
find in this very calling and in the thought of the God who called him both a
law, a duty, and a motive compelling him to be, or to become, holy. “As He who
called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is
written: ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15–16). If, however, you live
without striving and without hope of becoming holy, then you do not live in
accordance with the Holy One who called you, nor do you correspond to the
dignity of those called by God and made sons of His covenant—you are Christians
in name only. Where such a life leads can be seen from another apostolic
saying: “Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see
the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). More plainly: have peace with all, possess holiness;
for without peace and without holiness no one will see the Lord, that is, no
one will attain eternal blessedness.
Therefore, if we carelessly and
thoughtlessly assume that we are not meant to be saints, we are in effect
writing our own sentence—that we shall not see the Lord and shall remain
strangers to eternal blessedness.
“We are sinful people,” some say.
This seems undeniable. For, on the contrary, “If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But if we call
ourselves sinners without contrition of heart, without hatred of sin, with
indifference, slyly implying that everyone else must admit the same thing and
therefore there is no shame in confessing it and no danger in remaining after
the confession exactly what we were before it, then such an acknowledgment of
sinfulness will certainly not lead to holiness. In that case, even while
speaking the truth that we are sinners, we deceive ourselves, because there is
no truth in our hearts and in our lives, though our lips may confess our
sinfulness. “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). But we deceive
ourselves if we imagine that we shall be saved while remaining the same kind of
sinners. Christ saves sinners by giving them the means to become holy.
“We shall somehow be saved
through repentance,” people say. Yes, repentance belongs among the means of
salvation that Christ gives to sinners when He proclaims: “Repent and believe
in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). But if we think we can somehow repent and somehow
be saved, then we judge too lightly a matter of the highest importance. Would a
servant please his master if he performed his work carelessly rather than as
well as possible? Certainly not. How much less will a person please God if he
performs the work of God—which is our salvation—in a careless manner. Moreover,
the perfect teacher of repentance, John the Baptist, says that true repentance
requires something further. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8), he
says. Repentance clears the soil of the heart of thorns, cultivates it, and
softens it; faith sows within it the heavenly seed; the growth of this new
plant is the keeping of the commandments and the doing of good works; its
blossom is spiritual inner illumination; and its ripe, perfect fruit is
holiness. Wheat must reach maturity before it can be gathered into the granary.
A person must attain holiness before he can be brought into the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Indeed, if we were required to
attain holiness by merely human and natural powers, it would be reasonable to
say that it lies beyond our ability. But when we possess the grace of God,
which goes before us, enlightens us, strengthens us, assists us, and guards us,
no one should lose hope of attaining that for which “the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ... chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” And
He chose us “that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love” (Eph.
1:3–4).
Examples of the Intercession
of the Saints
Who among you, Orthodox
Christians, doubts that the saints of God can obtain from God this or that gift
for us sinners? Here is the teaching of the Eastern Church: “We invoke the
saints as mediators between God and ourselves, that they may pray to Him for
us. We do not invoke them as gods, but as His servants, who glorify, praise,
and worship Him. We seek their help not because they can aid us by their own
power, but because through their intercession they obtain for us grace from
God... Although the saints do not of themselves know or understand our prayers,
they know and hear them through divine revelation... Therefore we rightly honor
them and seek through them help from God... We do not render to them divine
worship, but entreat them as our brethren and fellow servants, that they may
obtain help for us from God and intercede for us before Him.” Nor are our
prayers to the saints of God sometimes offered in vain. Here are examples.
In the Life of the Holy Apostle
Bartholomew it is related that Saint Joseph the Hymnographer held the memory of
the Apostle Bartholomew in special honor. He obtained a portion of the
Apostle’s relics, built a church in his monastery in honor of the Apostle, and
placed the relics in the newly constructed temple. He was often granted the
grace of seeing the Apostle in dreams. Saint Joseph desired to adorn the feast
of the Apostle with special hymns, but he did not know whether this would be
pleasing to Saint Bartholomew. Therefore he began to pray fervently to God and
to the Apostle that he might receive an answer concerning it. Forty days of
earnest and tearful prayer passed, and on the eve of the feast of Saint
Bartholomew, Joseph saw him in the altar clothed in white garments. The Apostle
drew back the altar curtain and called Joseph to him. When he approached, Saint
Bartholomew took the Gospel from the Holy Table, placed it upon Joseph’s
breast, and said: “May the right hand of the Almighty God bless you, and may
the waters of heavenly wisdom flow upon your tongue. May your heart become the
dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, and may your hymns delight the whole world.”
Having said this, the Apostle disappeared. Filled with inexpressible joy, Saint
Joseph began composing church hymns and canons. He composed not only canons in
honor of the Holy Apostle Bartholomew, but also in honor of the Mother of God,
Saint Nicholas, and other saints, for which he received the title “the
Hymnographer.”
Here is another example from the
life of Saint Theodore of Sykeon. Once this Saint fell gravely ill and
despaired of life itself. He already saw the holy angels who had come for his
soul, and therefore he wept and lamented, considering himself unprepared for
death. Above his head hung an icon of the Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian.
They appeared to him in a dream and, feeling his pulse, conversed for a long
time with one another, as though uncertain of the outcome of his illness. Then
the holy physicians asked him: “Brother, why do you weep and grieve?”
“Because,” answered the Saint, “I have not sufficiently repented before God,
nor have I properly ordered my flock.” Then the Holy Unmercenaries asked him:
“Would you like us to entreat God to prolong your life?” The sick man replied:
“If you do this, you will become the cause of much good and will receive a
reward for my repentance.” Turning to the angels, the Saints asked them to wait
a little while as they went to the King and God to plead on Theodore’s behalf.
The angels agreed to wait, and Saints Kosmas and Damian went to Christ God, the
Almighty King, and obtained from Him an extension of years for Saint Theodore.
Soon they returned, bringing with them a youth who resembled the angels but was
far more radiant than they. This youth said to the angels: “Leave Theodore
alive. The Lord and King of Glory, Master of all, has been entreated concerning
him.” Immediately the holy angels and the radiant youth departed into heaven,
while Saints Kosmas and Damian said to Theodore: “Rise, brother, and attend to
yourself and to your flock, for our good and merciful Master has accepted our
prayers for you.” Theodore arose from his bed, and the Holy Unmercenaries
disappeared.
Finally, who among us does not
know and honor Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, our fervent intercessor and
mighty helper in every affliction? How many times has he appeared to those who
sought his help, sometimes in dreams and sometimes openly? One such instance
concerns a Greek military commander named Peter, who was once captured by the
Saracens and imprisoned. There he lamented not so much his bitter fate as his
own conduct. “A similar thing happened to me before,” he said, “and I prayed to
Saint Nicholas to deliver me from my enemies, promising to receive the monastic
habit in Rome. He fulfilled my request and freed me from captivity, but I,
ungrateful man that I am, forgot my promise. For this I now suffer here. O
Saint of Christ, save me, and I will certainly fulfill my vow!” Saint Nicholas
appeared to him in a dream and said: “I have heard your prayer, but God has not
yet appointed the time for your deliverance. Nevertheless, do not lose heart
and do not cease praying. ‘Knock, and it shall be opened unto you’ (Matt.
7:7).”
After some time, the Saint of God
appeared to him again and said: “I have prayed to God for you, but I do not
know how He will dispose of the matter. However, I shall point you to a most
worthy intercessor—Saint Symeon the God-Receiver. Pray to him continually. He
is powerful before God and, together with the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint
John the Baptist, stands nearest of all to the Throne of God.”
At last Saint Nicholas appeared
to him openly, together with the righteous Symeon, and both said: “Take
courage, Peter, and call upon the Lord in your affliction.” Then they made him
swear that he would fulfill his promise. Afterward, righteous Symeon touched
his chains with his staff, and they fell apart. He led Peter out of the prison,
and Peter received complete freedom. At that same time Saint Nicholas appeared
to the Bishop of Rome, holding Peter by the hand. He recounted Peter’s story,
instructed the bishop to tonsure him a monk, and then disappeared. When Peter
arrived before the Bishop of Rome, the latter immediately recognized him and
related what Saint Nicholas himself had told him. Having received the monastic
habit, Peter spent the remainder of his life on Mount Athos in great ascetic
labors.
Another account is told
concerning Saint Bassian. Into the city of Ravenna, where the man of God lived,
there came an imperial order commanding the execution of an official named
Vithimnius, who had been falsely accused. He was immediately seized, bound in
chains, and brought to the place of execution. Knowing himself to be innocent,
Vithimnius remembered the holy servant of God, Bassian, and, bowing his head
beneath the executioner’s axe, prayed: “Saint of God, by the grace given to you
by God, be my helper this day.” And what happened? The moment the executioner
raised his axe, it slipped from his hands and fell to the ground. Taking hold
of the deadly weapon again, he attempted to strike, but the axe fell from his
hands a second time. The same thing occurred a third time. The governor,
suspecting deliberate negligence on the executioner’s part, summoned another
man to carry out the sentence. Yet the axe likewise slipped from his hands
three times. The people, witnessing so extraordinary an event, recognized in it
the invisible protection of God and demanded the prisoner’s release. When the
emperor was informed of what had happened, he ordered a thorough investigation
into Vithimnius’ case. It was discovered that he had indeed been the victim of
slander. The emperor commanded that he be freed and restored to all his offices
and honors. Vithimnius publicly glorified the servant of God, Bassian, through
whose prayers he had been delivered from an unjust death.
Therefore, as we listen with
living and heartfelt faith to these ecclesiastical accounts of the heavenly
intercession of the saints of God on our behalf—saints who are always ready to
help and console us in the sorrows and trials of life—let us give thanks to the
all-merciful God, who grants to us earthly creatures, through the mediation of
the saints, greater boldness and strength in prayer.
"O Lord! If we did not have
Your saints as intercessors and Your goodness showing mercy toward us, how
would we dare, O Savior, to sing unto You, whom the angels glorify
unceasingly?"
Because of the multitude of our
sins, both our body and our soul are weakened. As grievous offenders, we would
not dare lift our eyes to the throne of God the Judge were we not encouraged by
faith in the intercession of the saints, who, being near to God as His friends
and initiates of His grace, possess great power before the Heavenly King. At
the same time, they can fully sympathize with our infirmities, since they were
human beings like ourselves and experienced the whole burden of life in its
struggle against sin.
Let us therefore not grow cold in
our prayers to the saints of God, especially to those whose names we bear and
to whom the churches in our own communities are dedicated. “The fervent prayer
of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).
Russian
source:
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Grigorij_Djachenko/prostoe-evangelskoe-slovo/9
English
source:
https://www.mystagogyresourcecenter.com/2026/06/first-sunday-after-pentecost-sunday-of.html
