Blessed Elder Philotheos Zervakos: Humanity Pays the Price for Sin

 

 

Precisely today, humanity, and Europe in particular, is paying the price of sin, of disobedience toward God, of the transgression and contempt of the Divine commandments—and Greece even more so.

God gave laws, commandments, and rules through His Holy Apostles that Christians should fast on Wednesdays, Fridays, and during the Forty-day fasts. Men, however, having disregarded God and treated His commandments with contempt, ate without conscience and without discrimination; and some who were utterly impious did so even during Holy Week—not only laymen, but also certain clergymen. Now God has become angry with us, and we fast against our will, not only from meat, fish, cheese, milk, and oil, but also from bread, legumes, and fruit. Yet it is not only fasting that men have treated with contempt; with few exceptions, they have generally become contemners of all the commandments of God. Impiety, unbelief, blasphemy, avarice, injustice, hypocrisy, deceit, falsehood, slander, and especially licentiousness have multiplied exceedingly and abounded beyond measure.

For all these sins, the all-good and greatly compassionate God bore with us for a long time, giving men time for repentance; but men disregarded the riches of the Lord’s goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, supposing that the Lord was asleep or that He did not see, while some, utterly foolish, imagined that God did not exist and turned aside from the straight path. But God is everywhere present; He sees all things, knows all things, even the hidden things of the heart, and chastens those who sin and transgress His Divine commandments. Many times He is slow to punish, but He never forgets…

All the afflictions, distresses, privations, and fears that humanity experiences are the wages of sin. And if there were not also a few righteous and elect persons, perhaps God would cast down fire, as upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and burn up the world. I hope that sufferings will become lessons, that humanity will come to its senses and repent; and then the wrath of the Lord will cease, peace, tranquillity, and happiness will prevail throughout the whole world, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. May we be deemed worthy for this to happen in our days…

 

Greek source: Πνευματικές Συμβουλές και Υποθήκες, Elder Philotheos Zervakos, Vol. 1, Orthodox Kypseli, Thessaloniki, 1997, pp. 39-41.