Elder Nazarius of Valaam (+1809): On Not Judging One’s Neighbor

 

It is fitting to mention here somewhat more at length and more clearly the question of judgment: how everyone who desires salvation should look at himself alone, and not judge his neighbor. I suppose that it is sometimes better to fall oneself and rise, than to judge one's neighbor; because one who has sinned is incited to self-abasement and repentance, while he who judges one who has sinned becomes hardened in an illusion about himself and in pride. Therefore, everyone must guard himself, as much as possible, so as not to judge.

Examine yourself closely, beloved; can you boast that you have never had part in any sin? Even one who has just been born and has lived a single day in the world - even he has participated in sin, according to the prophecy of David: we are conceived in iniquity and born in sins from our mother's womb. Test yourself and your conscience carefully, beloved, whether you be not guilty, if not in one then in another sin, if not in a great then in a small one, if not in deed, then in word and thought. Reflect ceaselessly also on this: that no one can be justified before the Lord by his deeds, and no one can be pure before his Creator; all are sinful, all infirm, all in need of God's aid and mercy. And as we are all created by God alone, and He is the Judge of all, how do you presume to take the Creator's judgment upon yourself? How do you judge your brother before God's judgment, before the coming of Christ? Being the same kind of sinner, how do you judge your brother who has sinned, whose deeds you cannot know exactly, not seeing his thoughts or his contrition of heart? Inasmuch as you cannot either give eternal punishment for sin, or forgive and deliver him from eternal torment, how can you judge?

Keep in mind always these words of Christ the Saviour: Judge not, that ye not be judged. For with what judgment, ye shall be judged. (Matt. 7:1-2). And likewise, the words of the Apostle: And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practice such things. And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practice such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? (Rom. 2:2-3)

Pay heed also, O beloved brother, to this deed of God's Providence, done to make us cautious, so that we might in every way guard ourselves from judging; it is described in the Prologue, under September 27. There was a certain man of holy life. Having heard of a certain brother that he had fallen into a serious sin, he sighed and uttered these words: Oh, this brother has done an evil thing. And for these words, what a terrible vision was given to him! A holy Angel, at God's command, presented to the one who had judged the soul of the one who had sinned, and said to the former: See, he whom you have judged is dead: where, then, do you command that he be placed, in the Kingdom or in torment? The elder was astonished. Again, the Angel said to the elder: Since you are the judge of the righteous and sinners: speak, what do you command concerning this humble soul; do you have mercy, or do you give it over to torments? This he said and became invisible. This was so terrible, and so difficult for the conscience of this holy man that he condemned himself to remain the whole duration of his life in sorrow and inconsolable lamentation. Falling to the feet of the holy Angel, he begged forgiveness and was scarcely forgiven; but later, too, he spent his whole life in lamentation.

In the Prologue under October 22 there is another similar story. A man of holy life, John the Sabbaite, speaking of himself, says: I heard a bad word about a certain brother and I said, Oh! And beloved, I was transported in terror in sleep; and seeing myself standing on Golgotha and the lord Jesus Christ between two thieves, I strove to bow down to Him. And when I approached, behold, I saw Christ turned toward the Angels who were present and saying to them: Cast him out, for he is an antichrist to Me; before My judgment he judged his brother. And being cast out, when I came to go out the doors, my mantle was held and remained there. And I awoke and said to the brother who came: Evil is this day to me. The brother said: Why? Then I told him all my vision, how I had been deprived of God's protection and grace; and from that day, according to the Lord's word, for seven years I have wandered about the desert, not eating bread or going under a roof or speaking with man; until I saw my Lord and he returned to me my mantle.

Know, O sinner, that it is given to God Alone to justify and to judge His own creation. He sees the deeds and thoughts of everyone and judges each in accordance with his strength and reason: He judges in one way kings and princes; in another way hierarchs, priests, abbots, hieromonks and monks; in another way ordinary people; in one way old people; in another way those of mature years; in another way young children; in one way the healthy; in another way the infirm. And if it is thus: then who can scrutinize the unfathomable decrees of God and condemn his neighbor? It is the Lord Alone Who has created everyone and established everything, Who tests the hearts and thoughts. Therefore, examine carefully, whether it be not your own vice that you judge as a sin in someone else, as if you yourself were sinless and without guilt? You torment your neighbor for a small sin, but you do not see and do not feel your own many transgressions. Is this not terrible? The Lord Creator endures for a time your iniquities, while you condemn your brother in a sin and do not reflect that you yourself are arousing the Lord to cease His patience toward you, and to condemn you forever!

O sinner! Restrain yourself from judging your neighbor, even if you have seen him sinning with your own eyes. Strive as much as possible not to judge your brother; for there is one Judge of all, the Son of God. Leave your neighbor's burden to the Almighty, and take care for the burden of your own sins; for you shall give an answer for your own. Do not reject the commandments of God which have been given you; judge not, and you will not be judged. Justify your neighbor and do not judge him, lest you be as a bath which reveals and removes everyone's filth but remains itself always full of filth. Do not rejoice over the fall of your neighbor: for it is only the demons, the enemies of our salvation, who have joy over this, because they themselves have already perished and cannot rise. Strive not to judge, but rather to pray, to weep and lament over him who falls, and to rejoice over him who is rising from a fall and is being saved, lest you yourself be judged by the terrible judgment of the just Judge. Strive to receive justification before the Almighty, saying ever these words to yourself: who am I to judge my neighbor! I am a sinner and a lawless man. And therefore, you should accuse yourself, and not others, according to the saying: Do thou first confess thy transgressions, that thou mayest be justified (Isaiah 43:26).

 

Source: Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. II: Abbot Nazarius of Valaam, translated by Fr. Seraphim Rose, Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 1983, pp. 63-66.