The Royal Path to Salvation

Schema-Archimandrite Elder Kirik (Maksimov) of Mount Athos (+1938)

 

 

A Brief Rule for an Orthodox Person on How to Conduct Life in a God-pleasing and Salvific Manner

Remember God by prayerful invocation of His name, and do His commandments, which are not burdensome.

Many in the modern world desire to be saved, but not many know where to begin salvation. One must begin with the last, that is, with remembrance of death.

For the Lord said: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return!” (Gen. 3:19).

For an Orthodox person who fulfills the rules established by the Holy Church, in addition to dogmatic truths—the belief in the Triune God, prayer to Him, and the doing of good works—it is required to love and remember his Creator, to cleave to Him with his spirit, and to fulfill His commandments, which concern even the smallest matters.

It is about these small matters that our word will be. Without observing these small things, it is impossible to observe the great salvific commandments. These small things are contained in four points: how to begin a work or occupation; how to turn our deeds to the glory of God; how to offer to God repentance for inattention to the transgressions committed during the course of the day—against God, against one’s neighbor, and against one’s conscience; and the last—about remembrance of death, that is, about departure from this life into eternal life.

On Beginning Every Work

Do not begin any work, even the smallest and most insignificant, before you call upon God, that He may help you. For the Lord said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5), that is, neither to speak nor to think.

In other words: without Me you have no right to do any good work!

Therefore, it is necessary to call upon the gracious help of God, either in words or mentally: Lord, bless! Lord, help! Without God’s help we can do nothing useful and salvific; and if we do something without asking God for gracious help for our work, then by this we only reveal our spiritual pride and oppose God. By calling upon the name of God, we receive a blessing from the Lord, Who will say on that day: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt. 25:34). But to those who will not have upon themselves the seal of God’s blessing, He will say: “Depart from Me, I do not know you” (Lk. 13:27).

Thus, this is how important for us is the invocation of the name of God and the receiving of blessing from Him for all our works and undertakings (and especially before reading Holy Scripture, and even more so before prayer!).

Therefore, in every smallest matter and in every beginning of a work—whether we go along a level place or along a rough road (by this are meant all kinds of our labors  and occupations in every form and type)—always cry out to the Lord for help; otherwise there will be no prosperity, not only in ordinary everyday occupations, but even in a holy work, and its end will be sorrowful and even sinful, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom.

Our forgetfulness of God does not allow us to remember God and to call upon His gracious help for our weakness, not only in important and salvific works, but even in the very smallest deed and word and thought.

What a fearful judgment awaits us who forget God!... But those who remember and invoke the name of God, the Lord consoles through the prophet Jeremiah, saying: “With remembrance I will remember those who remember My name”! Remembrance of God means prayerful invocation, and not a simple recollection of the name of Jesus.

Our negligence and forgetfulness are assisted by demons; they are everywhere: they dwell on the earth, and in the air, and in the heavens, and in hell, and they watch every person, in order to lead him astray from the true path.

Because of our forgetfulness of God, demons are close to us, like the air surrounding us; they touch our body and even our thoughts by God’s permission; but by faith in the cruciform power of Christ and by the sign of the cross we can extinguish all the arrows of the evil one.

How to Direct Our Works to the Glory of God

The Holy Apostle Paul said: “Pray without ceasing,” and “Do all things to the glory of God,” “for this is good and pleasing before our Savior God” (1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Tim. 2:3). To pray without ceasing does not mean to stand before holy icons and pray all day, although one must pray at appointed times. One can and must pray during every work, as St. John Chrysostom says: “One can pray even while sitting at the spinning wheel and raise the mind to the God of minds, Who looks upon our mind and heart.” Thus, while engaging in everyday work (without which no one can manage), one can and must pray, and from the visible, perceptible, material world transfer one’s thought to the invisible name of God.

For example: looking at fire, whether in a stove, or in a primus, or in a lamp, or anywhere, say to yourself mentally: Lord, deliver me from eternal fire! And by this you will humble your thought, and imperceptibly a sigh will appear in your breast, and by this you will draw to yourself the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who at the moment of that sigh, in an imperceptible manner, builds your salvation in your soul.

For Holy Scripture also says: “When you sigh, then you shall be saved” (Isa. 30:15). And again: “By the Holy Spirit every soul is enlivened and is raised by purity,” that is, by purity of heart, and this purity is from purity of thought.

Thus, how important it is for us to watch attentively over our thoughts and imagination, for from this come “the issues of life and death,” that is, either eternal life or eternal torment!..

One must pass from the visible object to the invisible name of God in all cases and in all our occupations without exception: whether you are washing clothes, or something else, or cleaning some object—say to yourself (mentally): Lord, cleanse the filth of my soul! Also, when you begin to drink or eat, after the usual prayer, think of how our Lord God tasted gall and vinegar for our salvation, while He offers us every good thing! In this way you will humble your proud thought, and you will sigh and give thanks to the Lord Who suffered for us!

When lying down to sleep, say to yourself mentally: Our Lord and God had nowhere to lay His head, yet He granted us every comfort.

Upon awakening, cross yourself, and when you rise from sleep, say to yourself: Glory to Thee, who hast shown us the light!

When you begin to put on your shoes, say mentally: Lord, bless! Lord, help!

When you dress, say to yourself (mentally): Lord, enlighten the garment of my soul and save me!

When you begin to wash yourself, be sure to make the sign of the cross for the driving away of hostile activity that comes through the nature of water.

When you begin to comb your hair, remember how the Roman soldiers tormented our Savior by His most pure hair when they were leading Him to crucifixion, and then say: “Glory to Thy Passion, O Lord!”

If you see a beautiful object, worthy of our Creator and Provider for His creation—glorify the Creator of all!

Before leaving your room, read mentally: “It Is Truly Meet…” to the end, and also when you return, read this same prayer.

When, upon leaving the room (or cell), you take hold of the door handle, read mentally the prayer: “Open to me the doors of mercy…” to the end.

Thus, always, with every visible object, pass (mentally) to the invisible name of God.

Here only examples are given; but whoever zealously undertakes to fulfill this, him the grace of the Holy Spirit will teach how one ought to relate to every (without exception) object and do everything to the glory of God, with corresponding thoughts and feelings, that is, movements of the soul: either glorifying, or thankful, or penitential, or self-abasing. Such movements of the soul are already prayer, as St. Basil the Great said.

Acting in this way, a person will be in a state of unceasing prayer, according to the word of the holy Apostle Paul, and consequently in union with God, Who said: “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Mt. 12:30).

Therefore, always, in all undertakings and beginnings without exception, accustom yourself to remembrance of God; and in order to become accustomed, one must ask the Lord for gracious help and for blessing to strengthen our will, so as to pass mentally from the visible object to the invisible name of God, which brings down upon us gracious help in the work of saving the soul and in all our works and undertakings.

Acting in this way, you will do everything to the glory of God according to the teaching of the holy Apostle, and at the same time you will have God-pleasing and salvific prayer, to which, so to speak, every object before our eyes impels us.

And when despondency or hardness of heart attacks us and does not allow us to pray, then, in order to drive away such demonic temptation, one must say to oneself: “Lord, I have neither compunction, nor zeal, nor contrition, to pray to Thee as is fitting!”

After such heartfelt contrition, God will grant God-pleasing and salvific prayer, for a heart that is contrite and humble God will not despise, that is, He will not leave it without help.

With such care on our part for the glory of God and with awareness of the weakness of our nature, the gracious power of God will dwell in you, and you will be among those of whom the Apostle of Christ said: “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19)!

The Kingdom of God is not opened to one in whom Christ has not yet dwelt here on earth (according to his faith); and where Christ is, there is unsetting light and no darkness; and there will be in your soul peace and joy because of the abiding in your heart of the grace of the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our salvation and eternal joy, which are in heaven.

On Repentance Before God

Without God’s help, or without the grace of the Holy Spirit, we cannot do anything good and salvific; we do not even have the right to think about good, but of necessity we must ask God for gracious help in all our works and undertakings.

However, in carrying out every work and in beginning it, because of the weakness of his nature, a person will of necessity fall, being pursued by the enemies of our salvation… Then one must rise and correct oneself. But how? Through repentance before God.

For example: as soon as you notice in yourself (in the light of conscience and the law of God) a sin of mind, word, thought, or some sinful passion or habit that struggles against you at every time and place—at that very moment repent before God (even if only mentally): Lord, forgive and help! (that is: forgive that I have offended You, and help me not to offend Your majesty). These words—Lord, forgive and help—must be pronounced slowly and several times, or rather, until you sigh; a sigh signifies the coming of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which has forgiven us the sin for which we are at that moment repenting before God. Then every demonic action in our thoughts, and especially in our imagination, falls away from us.

If demonic action comes again, then again perform a prayer of repentance; only by this means will a person attain purity of heart and peace of soul. With such repentance, no passion (that is, a disordered thought) or sinful habit can stand, but it will constantly diminish and finally completely disappear according to the measure of purity of heart. For the Lord said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8)—and first of all in their own heart, filled with peace of soul, for Holy Scripture says: “His place is in peace (in peaceful disposition of heart), and His dwelling is in Zion” (Ps. 75:3).

But in order to acquire the habit of repentance before God, one must desire firm resolve and ask God to strengthen our will for this work; and begin it at the time when the day inclines toward evening and night approaches, and then, before going to sleep, one must think: how was the day spent?

Remember—where you were, what you saw, what you said, and what evil you did: against God, against your neighbor, and against your conscience.

And if you notice anything sinful, then repent before God for the whole day; and if you notice nothing, remember nothing, this does not mean that nothing happened, but means that through distraction of thoughts everything was forgotten; then one must repent before God even for the very forgetfulness of God, saying to oneself: I forgot Thee, O Lord! Woe is me! Do not forget me, O Lord, who has forgotten Thee! And these words must be expressed (even if only mentally) several times in a prolonged tone, for with such a tone, and not with hurried speech, the heart becomes contrite and humble; then a sigh will come, as a sign of the coming to us of the grace of the Holy Spirit, without Whom man by himself is nothing! “Unless the Lord builds the house of the soul, we labor in vain” (Ps. 126:1), sings the Holy Church.

The evening habit of repentance before God will lead further to the middle of the day, and then you will catch yourself at the very place of sinful falling (in small things). Such repentance before God will lead to full perfection (or holiness)—without special feats! Thus taught the ancient holy Fathers.

God does not require extraordinary feats from us, but small ones, only constant ones, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom.

On Remembrance of Death

Death is the end of everything. Every person must remember it.

Remembrance of death is not the imagining of a coffin, a grave, a funeral, and so on, but the knowledge that today or tomorrow we will no longer be here, and we will be transferred into eternity, which, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom, is more fearsome than hell itself!

There is no stronger means of incitement to virtue than remembrance of death. From the very morning one must attune oneself to thoughts of eternity, for whatever the morning disposition is, such it will remain for the whole day.

On the importance and benefit of remembrance of death (in the morning, and also in the evening before going to sleep), St. Anthony the Great, when dying, left, as it were, a testament, saying to the monks gathered around his bed: “Children, do not forget the departure from this life into eternal life!” He knew that nothing so moves one to virtue as remembrance of death!

And St. Dmitry of Rostov said: “He who does not remember the torment, the torment will not pass him by.”

It is not without reason that Holy Scripture also says: “Remember your last things, and you will never sin” (Sirach 7:39).

And St. John Climacus said: just as it is impossible for a hungry man not to remember bread, so it is impossible to be saved for one who does not remember death and the Last Judgment and eternity!

Thus, the beginning of the salvation of the soul arises from thought about eternity, or, what is the same, from the immersion of the mind in eternity and the wounding of the heart with the fear of God.

From this is born a spirit of contrition; and by a contrite heart and a humble spirit the grace of the Holy Spirit is attracted, which builds our salvation in our soul in an imperceptible manner, to the glory of our Savior God.

The enemy of our salvation—Satan—struggles with us especially in order to take away from us remembrance of death. He is ready (according to the words of the holy Fathers) to give us the treasures of the whole world, if only to take away from us thoughts of death, for he knows, the accursed one, that such thought leads us to the salvation of the soul, an immortal thing, and to blessedness, from which he fell; on this basis of envy, he even in paradise turned Eve away from remembrance of death, saying to her: “You will not die by death, but will be like gods”… So now also the enemy of our salvation approaches our soul in every way and with every lure and plausible pretext, vain and always occupied with cares, and distracts us from the salvific remembrance of death and eternity!

And in concluding this moral instruction, we beseech the God of minds, that He, as infinitely Good, may grant us understanding in all things and send down to us the grace of the Holy Spirit, or the salvific power of God, to help the weakness of our nature, for the pleasing of our Creator and His Most Pure Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary—for the salvation of our soul, an immortal thing!

Instruction to All Who Desire the Salvation of the Soul

Holy Scripture points out to us one of the primary virtues—it is called “prudent silence.”

The holy Fathers said: every virtue must begin with the tongue; if someone does not restrain his tongue, then do not look for virtue in him, for his soul is desolated, all the spirit of piety has evaporated. It is better to fall from a height than from the tongue… Not without reason does the Holy Church make us repeat daily throughout the whole year, and in Great Lent even sing in the middle of the church: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, and a door of enclosure over my lips.” Why? First, because in nothing do we sin so often and so much as with the tongue; second, because extreme moderation and caution in words is not only a high Christian virtue, but also the best means to a wise and happy peaceful life, both in society and especially in monastic life.

“If anyone does not sin in word,” says the holy Apostle James, “he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body” (Jas. 3:2).

The tongue is a fire, as the same holy Apostle calls it—it is instantly kindled, and before you have time to come to your senses, it scorches someone—either by reproach, or by slander, or by judgment and insult. The tongue is an unrestrainable evil: with it we bless God the Father, and with it we curse man. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. But the word of God thunders against such people: “For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of it in the Day of Judgment. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Mt. 12:36; 24:35), says the Lord.

Restrain your tongue at the time when strong distress has agitated you—and you will prevent a quarrel, perhaps cruel and dangerous—you will extinguish enmity, perhaps long-lasting and endless.

Will one accustomed to idle talk have any desire to pray? From where will a good word of prayer come to him, when his tongue is accustomed to pouring out only empty and idle words? Restrain your tongue when neither time nor place allows idle speech, for example, in the church of God, and you will not reveal, at least before others, your extreme frivolity and foolishness; you will protect yourself from a grave sin—the offense against the Sanctity and the majesty of God—and you will not give harmful temptation to the soul of a brother or sister.

Thus, “is there a man who desires… to see good days” in his life?—“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit” (Ps. 33:13–14).

And first and above all, raise your mind to God and sigh to Him with your heart: that He may guard your hearing from empty and soul-destroying conversations; that He may protect your soul from evil imaginings and thoughts; that He may preserve your heart in the fear of God; that He may grant you to see your own sins and not judge your brother or sister; that He may restrain your tongue from every idle word, for which men will give account in the Day of Judgment.

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, and a door of enclosure over my lips” (Ps. 140:3)!

Thus, along with care for this virtue, one must also have reverent fear of God, that is, to have constant concern lest one offend the majesty of God, neither in thought, nor in word, nor in deed anger His goodness, ever present with us, and lest one depart from the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And if we remove the Holy Spirit from ourselves, then of necessity we shall fall into the hands of the enemy of our salvation, who drags us to where he himself dwells, that is, into the infernal hell.

But may the Lord God deliver all of us from such misfortune, for which we must also flee to Him for help in the work of salvation, remembering His words: “For without Me you can do nothing” good and salvific.

Amen.

 

Source: Царский путь ко спасению: Как жить по-православному в соврем [The Royal Path to Salvation: How to Live in an Orthodox Manner in the Modern World], Schema-Archimandrite Kirik (Maksimov) of Mount Athos, Moscow Metochion of the Holy Trinity Lavra, Publishing House “Novaya Kniga,” Moscow, 1996.

Online: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Kirik_Afonskij/tsarskij-put-ko-spaseniju/