Four Epistles of St Symeon the New Theologian (Part 3)

Epistle 3. By the same author, to one of his disciples, on how one may recognize a holy man, how to find him, what to do to this end, and how, having found him, one ought to relate to him

 

 

We conceived you through teaching, labored to bring you forth through repentance, and gave birth to you through much patience, sufferings, great labors, and daily tears — though you knew nothing of what we endured, and no wonder: for children in the womb feel nothing at all of their mother’s pangs and pains in childbirth, and after birth so naturally and eagerly seize the mother’s breast, are nourished by the milk that flows from her, and, being fed, grow little by little and come to recognize the mother who bore them, honor her and love her deeply; and even if she strikes and disciplines them, they run to her all the more eagerly, never supposing that she hates them from the soul or is turned away from them, but understanding that whatever she does, she does for their upbringing. In just the same way, being taught by others, children come to recognize their own father, to honor him and obey him — not only by natural instinct, but by the laws laid down by the man-loving God. Thus parents show what is proper to them toward their children, and children, showing obedience and submission to their parents, grow up, being brought up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). But if parents through negligence hold back from diligent instruction and upbringing of their children, then “their blood will be required at their hand” (cf. Ezek. 3:18,20; 33:6,8). And if children, in shamelessness and disobedience, despise their parents and exalt themselves over them, and will not bear obedience to, and the carrying out of, what their parents say and command — though they will not be put to a temporal death according to the old Law (cf. Exod. 21:15), yet they will be handed over to eternal fire and darkness. This “all God-breathed Scripture” (2 Tim. 3:16) plainly proclaims, unless we choose to become willfully deaf, and, hearing it, act as though we did not hear.

For this reason I did not wish to say anything at all, nor did I desire to write to those in such a state — especially hearing the words of our Lord and God to His disciples: “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20), and again: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” (Matt. 10:25). But also when He sent them to us, saying, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20), He adds the words: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). For this reason I have desired to write to your love what the grace of the Holy Spirit puts into my mind, and to remind you of what is profitable to you — or rather, as a father full of love, seized with love for you, and unable to bear seeing how you conduct yourself, my son in the Lord. Overcome by love for you, I was compelled to come to this, wishing to write nothing new or foreign, but only what you read every day, and what the divine Scriptures charge us to keep.

Yet perhaps you will say: “If you must say what we already know, and what the divine Scriptures teach us, then these are quite sufficient for us — why do you wish to write and teach the same things all over again?” But hear the reason — or rather, the reasons and the circumstance — on account of which I have been moved to this, driven not by myself, but by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Know, then, that I do this, first, so that I not be condemned as the wicked servant who hid his master’s talent, and so that I not hear, when on the day of judgment the Master demands an account of me: “Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury” (cf. Matt. 25:26-27). Second, wishing, as a father to his lawful and beloved son, to leave you this as a gift and an inheritance, so that you would consider it received not from other ancestors, grandfathers, or great-grandfathers, but as having passed from them first to us by succession — so that you would count their inheritance as ours, and receive and take it up as a father’s legacy, and hold toward us, as a well-disposed son, a greater and firmer love. Third, to show you, my true son, the riches given to me by the great father who begot me in the Holy Spirit through repentance, so that you not, out of ignorance, despise me, your father, as some wretched and rejected beggar, nor exalt yourself over me, thinking that you will inherit and receive nothing great from me. Fourth (and this is the most important), so that, through rejecting me, you not be reckoned as one who has rejected and despised Christ (cf. Luke 10:16; 1 Thess. 4:8), and be found guilty at that dread Judgment. Fifth, so that others also, hearing this now or hereafter, and receiving — if they wish — the word like a seed into their hearts, might “bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, some a hundred” (cf. Mark 4:20); for if not, we shall be innocent of the blood of their souls — they themselves will see to it (cf. Matt. 27:4,24). For just as it is with material things, so also with spiritual: each of us, having an inheritance from our forebears, leaves to some an inheritance, and to others gifts and bequests — to servants, children, and friends — and we also distribute goods to the needy, fulfilling, so far as we are able, the commandment of God; and each one who has received will give an account of how he made use of it. So too all who have received a spiritual gift from God must “impart” it “freely” (cf. Wisd. 7:13), first of all to their spiritual sons, and then to friends and fellow-servants, both rich and poor. And if they have received “the word of wisdom” or “the word of knowledge,” or have been entrusted with “gifts of healing,” the power of “helps,” or the understanding of “governments” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:8-9,28) — every one who speaks or listens knows that he will receive no praise or reward for what he does, but will be tried, condemned, and punished for what he neglects or in what he disobeys.

Therefore do not accept the devil, approaching and telling you that I write this out of a desire to please men outwardly. You know well that one who acts thus not only “hath his reward” already (cf. Matt. 6:2,5,16), but as a seller and trader of Christ will bear punishment there “where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12, etc.). And at the same time, those who condemn such men will themselves be condemned together with them, for you hear the Lord saying: “Judge not, that ye be not judged: for with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (cf. Matt. 7:1-2 / Luke 6:37).

Keeping this in mind, brother, and remembering the apostles, who speak thus: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (cf. Heb. 13:17), and remembering our Lord and God, who cries out daily: “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me” (Matt. 10:40 / Luke 10:16) — “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) by obeying me, and do not think to say within yourself that this was said only to the apostles, and that we ought to listen only to them. Hear what the Savior again says to them: “What I say unto you I say unto all” (cf. Mark 13:37). To whom, “all”? “To those who, through your word, shall believe on me” (cf. John 17:20), “and keep my commandments, as you also have kept them” (cf. John 15:10; 17:6). Attend, I beg you. Our Master and God chose His apostles and disciples, entrusted to them and revealed to them all the mysteries of His dispensation, hidden from ages and from generations, and, having given them the Holy Spirit, sent them, saying: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). So the apostles went out and began to teach, proclaiming the word of God, and great multitudes believed in Christ, and churches of the faithful arose in cities and villages. So then, when each of the apostles intended to leave them and go on from there to other places, villages, and cities, they ordained bishops and presbyters in their own stead, and left them teachers, spiritual fathers, and abbots; and these, in turn, before their death chose others, ordaining men worthy of such a ministry and leaving them in their place. Thus, having come down to us by succession, this order and this ordinance are kept and preserved by the working of the Holy Spirit. In the same way, through them the traditions and teachings of the apostles have come down to us — teachings which they themselves received in turn from our Master and God of all things. And when the flocks of Christ multiplied and His people became innumerable, the grace of the Holy Spirit so arranged matters that, alongside the bishops and priests, monks were also added — men showing forth in deeds a firm faith in Christ, our true God, and who had acquired within themselves the grace of the Holy Spirit, co-shepherding and cooperating toward the salvation of those to be saved.

Now tell me: if someone should dare to disregard or despise even one of all those whom the Holy Spirit has set over us (cf. Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:28) — I mean the abbots, pastors, bishops, and teachers who bring and deliver to us, as a paternal inheritance, the teachings and traditions of the holy apostles — or should refuse to receive him into his house (cf. 2 John 1:10), or should scorn and reject his words and not receive him with all reverence — would he not thereby have driven out Paul himself, Peter, and indeed the whole choir of the apostles? And he who has driven them out — has he not rejected our very Lord and God, and His Father? For we honor the apostles not merely as men, but because they went forth preaching the Son of God, who came down to earth for the salvation of our race, and because they were sent by Him to make us sons of God, “heirs” of “eternal life” (cf. Titus 3:7), and, through the Gospels and holy Baptism, partakers of unspeakable blessings. For if the Master had not given them this to pass on to all, they themselves could in no way have given it to others, and would have been just like all other men.

For this reason we have great need of much diligence, much watchfulness, much prayer, that we not fall upon some deceiver, imposter, false brother, and false christ, but meet a true teacher, one who loves God and bears Christ within himself, who knows with precision the preaching of the apostles, their rules and ordinances, the dogmas of the fathers, or rather, the will and mysteries of the very Master and Teacher of the apostles. One must seek out and find such a teacher — one who has first heard this teaching and been instructed in word, and then, in deed and in experience, has been truly and mystically guided by the Comforter Himself, the Spirit, so that he himself has been counted worthy to hear from the very Guide of the apostles: “My mystery is for me and for mine”, and: “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 13:11). For, seeking, we shall surely find (cf. Matt. 7:8), since “God is not unrighteous” (Heb. 6:10) and “hath no pleasure in the destruction of the living” (Wisd. 1:13); but, as it is written, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (cf. John 3:16). If He gave up His own Son to death, that we might be saved through Him, will He then, when we ask that a true and holy servant of His be sent to us — or rather, be recognized and acknowledged by us — one who will guide us on the way of salvation and teach us His will, hide such a man from us and deprive us of a guide? Certainly not. And we ought to believe this because of the case of the centurion Cornelius.

This man was “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house,” and, since he “gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway,” there appeared to him, “about the ninth hour of the day,” an angel of God, “evidently in a vision,” who came in to him and said: “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side” (cf. Acts 10:2-6). Do you see how rightly I said that we need much watchfulness and much diligence to find a true disciple of Christ? Look at what Scripture says: “Cornelius, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house” (cf. Acts 10:1-2). For he made not only himself but all his household fear God — and “this is good and acceptable” before God (cf. 1 Tim. 2:3), when someone seeks not his own profit only, but that of all who are with him. He fulfilled the apostolic precepts even before he was taught by the apostles, for Paul says: “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth” (1 Cor. 10:24). He gave much alms, praying to God day and night, plainly fulfilling, even before he believed in God, this commandment of our Master and God, which says: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Matt. 26:41), and: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt. 7:7). Do you see how an unbeliever, a pagan, who had never heard the word of God, diligently fulfilled the precepts of the Gospel even before he was instructed by any man? He asked through piety, and received; he sought through almsgiving, and found; he knocked through fasting and prayer, and it was opened to him. “Send,” says the angel, “to Joppa, and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter” — O wondrous gift, O extraordinary kindness! — “he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side” (cf. Acts 10:5-6). Do you see that the angel told him not only Peter’s name, but also the name of the man who was hosting him, and the very place he had gone to? The angel did this so that Cornelius would not be deceived, and would not call for someone else instead of Peter, and would not fall in with a wolf instead of a shepherd.

So then, if you too wish to show yourself a true, faithful, and chosen disciple of Christ, live such a life, do such deeds, approach in such a manner, ask and entreat God through almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, and open the “eyes of your heart” (Eph. 1:18) — and you too will see such a guide, as Cornelius saw the angel. You, who call yourself faithful, imitate the unbeliever. You, called a Christian from childhood, brought up in the teachings of the apostles and exalting yourself above ignorant chatter, imitate the unbaptized pagan. You, who stand at the head only of your own household, imitate the centurion, and with all diligence correct, in every way, at least yourself and those under you. But if you despise not only what is in your own power and will, but even the commandments you yourself know, and do not fulfill them, but neglect them, and correct neither yourself nor those in your charge — tell me, how will God point out to you a teacher who is to tell you something more perfect still? And if He does not point out such a guide to you, how will you be able to find or recognize him, how will you receive him without doubting as a holy man? How then will you receive from above the reward of a holy and righteous man?

In no way. Therefore, to those who took pains, watched over themselves, judged their own actions, sought God, and did good, God revealed, then and now, apostles, prophets, righteous men, and saints; and these recognized them, received them, and honored them as lords, as teachers of piety, as ambassadors of God, and therefore kept their words as though they were divine laws, and themselves received the reward given to them — and even now, if such men are found anywhere, they will receive the same reward as those of old. But the scorners, who consider themselves wise, who abide in carelessness and negligence, and who — unlike Cornelius and men like him — do not seek God with all diligence through almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, especially now, when almost all of us are taught from childhood by the prophets and apostles the will of God and what is profitable for us — such men He leaves in the delusion to which they have given themselves over, covered in the darkness of their own passions, lusts, and desires, and walking in it as in the depth of night, so that they find, naturally, teachers to match. For the prince of darkness undoubtedly has his own servants and disciples, walking in darkness, whom such men gladly receive, finding them to be of like mind with themselves, and learn from them the very things they had already chosen and preferred to do, to their own destruction. Who does not know that from the beginning the devil raised up false prophets against the prophets, false apostles against the apostles, and false saints and false teachers against the holy teachers, trying by his wiles and beguiling words to deceive the most careless, and cast them into the pit of destruction? Alluding to these very men, the apostle also says: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (cf. Rom. 16:17-18). Therefore those who wish to turn away from such men, in obedience to the apostle’s exhortation, must depart from “the works of darkness” (Rom. 13:12), because so long as they wish to remain in their power and walk in their darkness, they cannot turn away from such teachers, nor be able to find themselves in the light of true teachers. So then, you, our spiritual child in the Lord, hearing how the divine Scripture says, “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight” (Isa. 5:21), attend to these words “with fear and trembling” (cf. 2 Cor. 7:15; Eph. 6:5; Phil. 2:12), for it concerns the salvation of your soul; and if you wish to meet a spiritual and holy man, a true teacher, do not suppose that you will recognize him by yourself, by your own understanding, since this is impossible — but first of all strive, as has already been said, through good deeds, almsgiving, fasting, prayer, and diligent supplication, that God may become for you, in this, a fellow-worker and helper. And if, by God’s favor and grace, you are counted worthy to find such a spiritual father, then show all the greater diligence, all the greater zeal, much humility, much reverence, the utmost honor toward him, and a pure and unwavering faith. Why? So that, instead of a reward, you not bring punishment and chastisement upon yourself — for it was to such men that our Savior and God addressed the words: “He that receiveth you receiveth me… and he that despiseth you despiseth me” (Matt. 10:40 / Luke 10:16). We must therefore, brothers, receive such men as Christ Himself, since what is done for them is reckoned to Christ our Master and God, and He takes it to Himself and considers it as though He Himself were undergoing it — just as what is done for false teachers is reckoned to antichrist, and those who receive them receive the devil himself.

And let no one excuse himself by ignorance, saying: “But how shall I be able to recognize such men? I am but a man, and ‘what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?’ ” (cf. 1 Cor. 2:11). Let no one put this forward as a plausible pretext, because if it were impossible, the Lord would not have said: “Beware of false prophets” — that is, false teachers — “which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15). And He adds: “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:16). And since our Master is not a liar — and indeed He is not a liar — it is possible for us to know them by what they do and what they say. Let us, then, speak first of the fruits of the true Holy Spirit, and then describe the fruits of the opposite, evil spirit, so that you may know with precision from this how manifest and clear the true righteous and holy men are, and likewise those who are not such, but only pretend to be. We will say nothing of our own, but only from the words of the Savior and His holy apostles, by means of which I will try to assure your love.

Hear, then, what our Lord and God Jesus Christ says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit… blessed are they that mourn… blessed are the meek” (cf. Matt. 5:3-5). And again: “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Luke 6:26-27 / Matt. 5:44). “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (cf. Matt. 12:36). And again: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). And elsewhere: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). And again: “How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44). “For whosoever exalteth himself,” He says, “shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14; cf. Luke 14:11; Matt. 23:12) — not, He means, to worldly glory, but promising a mysterious elevation to spiritual transformation. With such words our Lord and Master cries out daily to all. But hear also the apostle Paul, who says: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, mercy, meekness, faith, temperance” (cf. Gal. 5:22-23), and also: “Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own” (1 Cor. 13:4-5), but “beareth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth” (cf. 1 Cor. 13:7-8). Hear too John the Theologian, who says: “Little children, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15); “for the love of the world is enmity with God, so that, my brethren, whosoever will be a friend of the world becomes the enemy of God” (cf. Jas. 4:4); and: “whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath” any “part in the kingdom of” our “Lord” and God (1 John 3:15; cf. Eph. 5:5); and: “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil” (cf. 1 John 3:10) — by hatred and by love, because he who loves God loves also those born of Him, that is, his brothers, whereas he who hates any one of his brothers is born of the devil, and the love of God is not in him.

Thus the sons of God and the sons of the devil are recognizable and evident (cf. 1 John 3:10) to those who have discernment — both they themselves and the fruits of the all-holy and good Spirit. And so we must also speak of the fruits of the opposite, that is, of the evil spirit, so that you may be able, as has been said, to distinguish light from darkness, the sweet from the bitter, and good from evil.

Hear again the words of our Master and God: “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matt. 7:18 / Luke 6:43; cf. Matt. 12:33); and again: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil” (cf. Luke 6:45 / Matt. 12:35); and again: “Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven” (cf. Matt. 5:19). And what does He say of the scribes and Pharisees? “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi” (cf. Matt. 23:4-7). So then, when you see someone doing any of these things, seeking human glory and breaking the commandments of God in order to please men, know that he is a deceiver, and not a true teacher. And the apostle says: “For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal?” (cf. 1 Cor. 3:3). For the carnal, the “natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him” (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14), and he who cannot receive the things of the Spirit plainly does not have the Spirit within him; and he who does not have the Holy Spirit is not a servant of Christ, as Paul testifies, saying: “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9).

Have you heard, then, who belongs to Christ, and who to antichrist? Now you know for certain that for the attentive, the good and the evil are easily recognized, while the inattentive know not only other men but not even themselves. Tell me: if someone, as though immortal, cares for and thinks of nothing, and occupies himself day and night with worldly affairs alone, devises ways to grow rich, builds himself lavish houses, amasses horses, mules, and slave-women in abundance, acquiring silver vessels, costly garments, couches, and everything else for the care of the body and for fleshly pleasure — does such a man know himself? No, spiritual child — in truth he does not know himself or what is happening to him, and he both knows and does not know: he knows about himself that he exists, but by his deeds shows that he does not know himself, because he behaves as though he will never die. He says, “Today we are, and tomorrow we are not,” yet he lays up enough to last him many years to come. He testifies that the present is nothing, yet he fights with his neighbor over some small and trivial thing. He philosophizes that he is ash and dust, yet always adorns himself in luxurious garments, and so supposes himself superior to other men. He hears, “Woe to them that… stretch themselves upon their couches” (cf. Amos 6:4), yet strives with all his might to make the couches in his house more lavish, and the beds softer, and the tables more costly and extravagant — and this in full view not only of laymen like himself, but of the monks who visit him, who not only do not admire this, but pity such acquisitive men and lament their folly; for that which they ought to be most ashamed of and conceal — at a time when others, or rather, Christ Himself, go hungry — they boast of and take pride in, not perceiving that by this they bear witness against themselves as lovers of gain and merciless despoilers of the poor.

Tell me, then, in what way does such a man know himself, what he is, and in what state he stands? Indeed, even if he thinks he knows, he does not know himself. And how shall one who does not know himself, or what is happening to him, be able to perceive another man, or that man’s state? How shall a blind man distinguish a blind man from one who sees? In no way. So then, child and brother, as we have said, if a man does not first strive to know himself, and also his own weaknesses, by means of almsgiving, as has been said, fasting, vigil, prayer, and constant supplication, he cannot come to know that, without a father and spiritual teacher, it is impossible for a man to keep the commandments of God, to live well and blamelessly, and to rise above the devil’s snares. And he who does not know this behaves as though he had no need of correction, instruction, counsel, or the help of others, and boasts of the very thing he does not know — for he knows nothing, not even knowing that he knows nothing, and, abiding in the depth of ignorance, or rather of perdition, cannot even see that he is “among them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). For this ignorance generally arises like a kind of film over the mind’s eyes of the soul, from our love of the world and of the things that are in the world: the more our reason withdraws from the remembrance of God, of death, of the coming judgment, of the blessings prepared for the righteous, and of the punishments awaiting sinners — the eternal fire and darkness, the “gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 13:42,50) — and spends its time instead in “the cares of this life” (Luke 21:34), preoccupied with the phantom goods of the world, that is, wealth, glory, and luxury, and grows familiar with all the other such things of this world that are accounted splendid, the more it acquires a coarsened habit, gradually darkens the whole eye of the soul, and produces a total ignorance of the true goods and a forgetting of the commandments of God. David, having sinned and experienced this, said to God: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Ps. 118:18). Do you see how his eyes had been closed? Do you see how he cried out to God that they be opened? Strive, then, child, to do the same, and the Lord will not despise the supplication of your soul, but will hear you and open the “eyes of your heart” (Eph. 1:18); and then, having received your sight, you will first come to know yourself and your own state, and then all that I have told you above. Then you will account, not only devout and virtuous monks, but every man — small and great, righteous and sinful — and even manifest sinners themselves, holy and superior to you, from your whole heart. This will be for you, and for anyone else, a clear sign that you have received the forgiveness of your sins: when you come into this land, for it is in this land that holy humility dwells, and to those who arrive there this gift is given first of all — to consider that of all men there is none more sinful or more worthless than oneself, and to feel with one’s whole soul that one is oneself the only sinner, and that one alone must perish and be given over to punishment.

Strive, then, beloved child and brother, to acquire this humility, and do not say, “This is impossible for me,” or, “This is fitting for monks, not for those who live in the world.” For Christ established His commandments in common for all, and did not separate the laity from monks; rather, they were kept both by men before the Law and after it. Hear how Job says, “I am earth and ashes” (Gen. 18:27, words of Abraham; cf. Job 42:6), and David: “I am a worm, and no man” (Ps. 21:7). Do you see words of humility? Do you see a soul that accounts itself more contemptible than any man, small or great alike? Imitate, therefore, the repentance of David, and then you will attain his humility, because through repentance the darkness of ignorance that covers the mind is destroyed, and “the veil is taken away” (cf. 2 Cor. 3:16). When this happens, then we too begin to know ourselves, we see what has befallen us, we perceive the wounds and defilements of our soul, and so not only do we think and speak humbly, but we become ashamed before the sun, the stars, and all of God’s creation, because they were made for our sake, and we have angered the God who made them, as has been said, for us, and have sinned, transgressing not one but all His commandments; and we do not dare so much as to look upon or behold His creatures, and consider ourselves altogether unworthy to taste of the fruits of the earth, but pronounce upon ourselves the sentence that it is just for us to die of hunger and thirst. Being defiled sinners, we are not able to look upon or behold the icons of Christ and His saints: it seems to us that the icons abhor us and our deeds, so that we do not dare to approach and kiss them, ashamed to touch, with defiled and unclean lips, those pure and holy images. And when we are about to enter the house of God, we hold back, as men unworthily entering, with fear and trembling, lest the floor open and cast us down “alive into hell” (cf. Num. 16:30,33).

Holy humility, ever and constantly teaching us this and greater things still, transforms, changes, and, so to speak, fashions, forms in flesh, and perfects the humble, so that from that time on we cannot, even should we wish it, think or utter anything great about ourselves, but remain, like statues, struck dumb and silent — literally, “like inscribed grave-pillars”. This holy humility teaches us that without a teacher we can learn nothing, and to answer those who ask us, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” (Acts 8:30), “How can I, except some man should guide me?” (cf. Acts 8:31). It teaches us not to set foot, without a guide, upon a path we have never walked, and it urges us not to approach God without a mediator and intercessor (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5). If it makes us ashamed before heaven, earth, and God’s creatures upon them, and makes us feel reverent fear before the icon of the Savior and of His holy servants, and not dare to look upon or approach and kiss them — how much more, then, should we hesitate to approach that very God Himself, the Creator and Master of all? For though He is exceedingly man-loving, He rejoices all the more in our humility and shame, and receives us with greater favor when we consider ourselves unworthy to approach Him on our own.

Yet our Master and God, wishing to teach us that we ought to approach God through some mediator and surety, Himself became for us the pattern and example in this, as in everything else, being called the first mediator and surety of our nature, having brought it to His own Father and God; and He then proclaimed His holy apostles to be ministers of this mediation and suretyship, and they turned to the Master Christ all who believed, and these in turn brought others, and those again still others, and so it is preserved to this day. And God wills that we not transgress His ordinance and tradition, but remain within the bounds He has established, since He says, “No man can come to me, except the Father… draw him” (cf. John 6:44), and again, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6) — so that no one comes to faith in the Holy and consubstantial Trinity unless he is instructed in the faith by some teacher. And no one is baptized without a priest, or without receiving from him the Divine Mysteries. And he who has not partaken of the Mysteries can never obtain eternal life, as the Lord Himself said: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16), and again: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53).

So then, since without Baptism and the partaking of the Divine Mysteries none of the faithful can attain to eternal life, and since these are administered not by the holy apostles, nor by our holy forefathers who came after them, but by the living men now present among us, with whom we converse — it is entirely evident that those who lived then in the world handed on to believers the very same thing that these men now provide to us, and these are equal to those. In what way? Just as those baptized with water and the divine Spirit, so also these do now. Those administered the Body and Blood of Christ, and these administer to us the very same thing; and those former ones had nothing greater, and those who administer to us now lack nothing. Those taught faith in Christ, and in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the undivided and equally-honored Trinity, and our fathers teach us the very same thing.

By this, said briefly (we could not write everything, so as not to lengthen the discourse excessively), it has been shown that the very same things which the apostles then did for the faithful, and taught, our fathers now do wholly and unchangingly, and teach and instruct us in the very same way as those apostles did. Since they are in no way inferior to the apostles, being themselves fully sons of the apostles, and indeed apostles — those who do not receive them, and do not listen to their words (cf. Matt. 10:14), will hear from the Savior, who says: “Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha… than for” you (cf. Matt. 10:15). And when He said to those apostles, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me” (Matt. 10:40 / Luke 10:16), it is entirely evident that He says the very same thing to their present and future successors (ὁμοτρόπους — “those of like manner”), so that those who do not receive and do not listen to them, but reject them, do not receive and do not listen to Christ, but reject Him, and, through Him, the Father who sent Him.

You know well, my beloved child, that no one — neither among laymen, nor monks, nor priests or bishops — honors, fears, or receives anyone as an apostle of God and a disciple of Christ purely for Christ’s sake, for His commandment, or for the sake of the eternal blessings He gives us; rather, we all despise one another, slander one another, revile one another — monks revile monks, priests revile bishops, laymen revile everyone and one another — and nowhere does anyone consider that, just as the apostle says, “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:28), and the others he lists in order — so it is now, likewise, in the Church of God, that those set over it should be received, some as apostles, others as prophets, others as teachers. But we all exalt ourselves over one another, having entirely forgotten all of this. The man who today baptized me, freed me from death and corruption, filled me with the Holy Spirit, delivered me from sins, made me a partaker of the most pure Body and the saving Blood, a communicant of the sacred Eucharist and a son of God (and what greater thing did the apostles and the eyewitnesses of the Word do for their disciples?) — this same man, tomorrow, I receive without so much as saying “welcome,” since I consider it beneath me, and have no wish to meet, honor, or receive him when he comes to me, but say with indignation, “What does he want?” and, “Apologize to him — the master is busy, he has no time.” (I do not wish, at this moment, to bring up far more disrespectful words than these.) And this is done not only toward monks, but also toward priests and bishops, by those who confess to them and entrust their souls to them; and the very man whom someone chose today, through confession, rightly to have as his father and teacher, almost at the same moment that he acknowledges himself as his son, begins to exalt himself over his own father, and, showing himself not as a son and disciple but rather as that man’s father and teacher, begins to introduce contrary rules, to contradict him, and to belittle him, if he should say anything against his own wishes. As time goes on, he supposes he has no father or teacher at all, unless that father comes to him and does his bidding. And if the father does not agree with him — or rather, does not fall and perish together with him — he abandons him and finds another, one who indulges his “fleshly lusts” (Eph. 2:3). So it is that everything among us, as you yourself see and know, has become confused; all order and the divine apostolic tradition has been destroyed, and a rejection of all the commandments of Christ has arisen.

All this horror and ruin come to pass in this generation because everyone supposes himself initiated into divine things, supposes he knows the commandments of God, and can judge and discern for himself what is profitable to him. And also because, while people suppose and consider, as has been said, all men to be sinners, they are nevertheless convinced that the grace of God works even through the unworthy, and think that they themselves receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit working in us, and the pledges of eternal blessings entrusted to us — yet they turn away from the priest through whom these gifts are conveyed to them, as from a sinful and unworthy priesthood. They reason likewise about monastics: they themselves receive the forgiveness of sins through confession, and the pardon given them by such men — yet, considering that these monks possess no virtue or boldness before God, they treat them just the same as they treat everyone else.

Remaining in this state, they suppose that they receive (or rather, that they seize) all those spiritual gifts which Christ granted to the apostles, and which the apostles in turn handed on to those who believed in Christ through them — but without the honor and trust (which the apostles formerly showed to the Master Christ, and their own disciples showed to the apostles, and those under the disciples showed to them in turn) toward those who now convey these gifts to them. They think that God does not require this honor to be paid, even now, to bishops, priests, monks, and our fathers. They think that, since they were baptized in infancy, they are innocent — and that it therefore follows that they need not honor the one who regenerated them, nor feel reverence toward him as their father. They imagine that, for the sake of piety, it is enough for them to have known the Holy Scriptures from childhood (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15), and that therefore nothing will be required of them for having despised the teachers of piety and refused to learn from them. They hope to be justified simply by appearing pious, and by living more piously than others. It seems enough to them for salvation merely to name and confess their sins and receive forgiveness from their fathers, without even having acquired faith, and without showing honor and reverence toward their mediators and intercessors, as toward the apostles of God.

Thus the whole universe has been filled with such error and such evil, and the transgression and rejection of a single commandment has overturned and cast down the whole Church of God, face-first. She has fallen into such disorder and confusion that her structure is almost nowhere to be seen, and in us one cannot recognize the constitution of the Master’s body. As though we did not have Christ for our head, as though we were not joined to one another and fitted together by the life-giving Spirit, and as though we did not grasp that each of us is being built up in his own rank by the builders of the Church — like some soulless, scattered matter — thus we, carried away, led astray, and deceived by our own desires and fleshly lusts, have been dispersed, and, through hatred and prideful thinking, have separated from one another, split apart, and lost the mark of our faith, that is, love, of which the Lord said: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). Having lost this, we are called Christians in vain.

Tell me: if we do not love, do not honor, and do not render due glory to our fathers, who have become for us the cause of so many blessings, through whom God adopts us and shows us to be heirs of His glory and of eternal blessings — and if we do not honor as we ought the man of God sent to us by God — then who will believe us, concerning our neighbors and the rest of our brothers, that we have ever truly acquired love for even one of them? And especially if we receive our mediators and intercessors before God — those who have received from God the authority to grant us the forgiveness of sins and to reconcile us with God — with full confidence as though they were sinners rather than saints, while we ourselves expect for ourselves complete forgiveness of sins: then, since the Lord said, “According to thy faith be it unto thee” (cf. Matt. 9:29), the forgiveness of your sins will be granted you exactly according to the measure of your faith. And if He says, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me” (Matt. 10:40 / Luke 10:16) — I marvel, as I said before, how, in any way whatsoever, those men will be able to see, or acquire within themselves, Christ, who have never even conceived the thought that we ought to love, not only all men, and especially the brethren, but also receive at least one of the present-day saints as an apostle of Christ — so that through him we might receive Christ, and keep all his words as though they proceeded from the mouth of God Himself. Most of us have never even seen the man who baptized and regenerated us; and those who have seen him, as has already been said, condemn and despise him. We do not even know whether we have been baptized. But if we do not know this, how, or on what basis, shall we have faith, or be numbered among the baptized? I am at a loss: we have not acknowledged our father; and even if we have acknowledged him as father, we have not honored him at all. We have no teacher; and even if we wished to have one, we have not done as he taught us, but have gone wherever we ourselves wished.

Therefore I do not even know what to say, since I cannot find any grounds on which to call and name you Christians. Wretched man, why do you not honor your spiritual father as an apostle of Christ? “I do not see,” he says, “that he keeps the commandments of God, and therefore I do not glorify him.” This is an empty excuse. What then — do you keep them better than he does, that you should judge him? Yet even if you kept and observed all the commandments, even then you ought not to judge him, or, on account of his negligence, reject, slander, and blame him — but rather to love him for the blessings God has granted you through him, to be grateful and devoted to him, to make him a partner in bodily goods, and, further, to reward him as much as possible, so that you might not only preserve what has been given to you, but increase it through such actions. But now, as you see, through mistrust, ingratitude, and the rejection of your father and teacher, you have not only destroyed what you received, but, having rejected the very thing on account of which you were a Christian, you have been deprived of Christ.

Imagine that an earthly king sent to you one of his lowliest servants, dressed in plain clothing, riding neither horse nor mule, but carrying with him only a written document bearing the royal seal, signed by the king’s own hand. In the text of this document, the king proclaims you his own brother and friend, and promises to appoint you a little later as his co-ruler; he desires to place a crown upon your head, and will clothe you in royal purple. How ought you to have treated this servant? Should you not have received and honored him as the king’s servant, for the sake of the great promises and the splendor of the future glory awaiting you, rejoiced together with him, and shown him whatever kindness you were able, promising the rest for later? Or, because he was plainly dressed and came on foot, should you have belittled him and sent him back empty-handed and without honor? If you had done this to him, and the king had heard of it, would he have approved your choice, or reproached you — praised you, or accused you? And if you yourself were that king, would you not have counted the insult done to that servant as an insult to yourself? Certainly you would. You would have been indignant with the man, as one who was censuring and reviling you for having such servants, and you would have said, “Who made him a judge” (cf. Luke 12:14; Rom. 14:4) over my servants? He surely was not thinking about my servant’s plain clothing due to his own negligence — no, he was accusing me of being merciless, and of paying no heed to my servants’ shabby garments.” And so, repenting of what you had promised to do for him, you would not have received him at all when he came to you, since he had presumed to pass judgment in your place, condemning your servants, whom it was not his place to judge.

So then, having considered all this, our beloved spiritual child, and having understood the clear and true order of things, hasten, with all the strength you have, not merely in word but in deed itself, to become a Christian. Acquire a father, acquire a teacher, acquire a mediator, an intercessor, and a surety before God. Cling to him as to Christ Himself, with love and faith, with fear and longing, so that through him you may be united also to Christ Himself, and become a fellow-partaker and joint-heir of His eternal glory and Kingdom, singing and glorifying Him together with the Father and His Most Holy Spirit, unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.

(To be continued...)