Steadfastness in the Experiences of the Saints

Protopresbyter Dionysios Tatsis | September 25, 2026 | Orthodoxos Typos

 

 

Many Christians possess knowledge about Christ the Savior, about His commandments, about the obligations that arise from them, about the way of spiritual life, about the lives of the saints, and so forth. They are satisfied and take joy in what they know. Yet this knowledge is put to the test by the influence of the passions that lie hidden within them. It is unstable knowledge, because it has never been put into practice, and the necessary vigilance is lacking.

Saint Justin Popović likens knowledge to a small island in the ocean of human existence, which is often flooded by raging waves. In other words, the passions affect a person’s knowledge and reveal it to be shallow, without deep roots. “For example, the passion of anger momentarily clouds this small measure of knowledge within a person; the same is true of the passion of avarice, sensual pleasure, envy, gluttony, and so forth.”

The passions are contrary to the commandments of God, which people know only superficially, and for this reason they are easily influenced by them. The saints, by contrast—who should be the shining example for Christians engaged in the spiritual struggle—had deepened their knowledge of the mystery of salvation through Christ, had acquired spiritual roots, and were therefore able to combat their passions with ease. They remained in continual watchfulness of soul and heart and, for this reason, never relaxed in their struggle, Saint Justin points out. He also exhorted Christians to study the Lives of the Saints, because they are “the dogmas translated into life.” And when asked what dogmas are, he would answer that “they are the Lives of the Saints put into practice.”

This phenomenon that we are discussing is also encountered among clergy and well-known theologians. They may be brilliant in theory and theological analysis, yet the little candles of their wisdom are extinguished by the fierce wind of their passions. In their spoken and written words, they are excellent, but in practice they fall so far short that they scandalize those who know them and have dealings with them. Saint Justin feared this kind of fall, and for this reason he would ask his spiritual children, as well as those who followed what he said and wrote, to pray for him that he might never sin in his mind. He would say, in a confessional spirit: “I always strive to verify my thoughts by the writings of the Holy Fathers. I therefore ask you as well to verify whatever you receive from me by this steadfast adherence to the Holy Fathers, lest my soul should sin in thought, lest my mind become attached to some sin and thereby sin against the sacred mystery of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, do not cease praying for me, that my mind may always be a joyful servant of holy humility and of sacred prayer, unceasing and tireless.”

 

Greek source:

https://orthodoxostypos.gr/%cf%83%cf%84%ce%b1%ce%b8%ce%b5%cf%81%cf%8c%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%b5%e1%bc%b0%cf%82-%cf%84%ce%ac%cf%82-%e1%bc%90%ce%bc%cf%80%ce%b5%ce%b9%cf%81%ce%af%ce%b1%cf%82-%cf%84%e1%bf%b6%ce%bd-%e1%bc%81%ce%b3/