Chapter 9 – On Humility
Fr. Zacharias On “Keep Thy Mind in Hell, and Despair Not”
• As a young priest he was teaching this to everybody until he gave the word to a young pious woman. At first it was beneficial to her but then she fell into despair. She became dissatisfied and sought out council from Fr. Sophrony. Fr. Sophrony called him to himself and said, “Are you stupid? Don’t you realize that this word is not for that girl? This word is above all for those who are psychologically healthy. Its an extreme form of self-accusation, self-condemnation.” Afterwards he returned to Fr. Sophrony and told him he thought a better way of presenting that teaching, in a more accessible way. “We must thank the Lord for all things he has done for us, adding at the end, ‘Lord we are unworthy’… ‘That’s good keep that’ (said Sophrony)
This was a particular charismatic gift given to St. Silouan. He was able to perceive the flames of Hell to kill the passions. This is not for everybody, not even for all monks.
Understanding “self-accusation” is the result of a divine encounter
o Abraham considered himself as dust after a visitation of an angel; Isaiah the Prophet – ‘Woe unto me for I am a sinful man’; St. Paul – caught into the third heaven, Christ came into the world to save me who am worst chief sinners.
o The more clearly they see Christ and come into communion with Him, the more they see their unworthiness, and createdness, otherness
o The Pre-communion prayers ‘a great education for us – double movement : going down first to humble ourselves and crush our arrogance and then with confidence we start to go up presenting our petitions to God.’ This is the path of Christ himself.
o We must hate the sin and passions within us – “He who hates his soul”
o Unless we blame ourselves before God for our unrighteousness, we cannot get our hearts to have converse with God, are able to reproach ourselves for our wretchedness, the heart gets involved in the prayer.
“There are many kinds of humility. One man is obedient and has nothing but blame for himself; and this is humility. Another repents of his sins and considers himself loathsome in the sight of God; and this is humility. But there still another humility in the man who has known the Lord by the Holy Spirit.” (pg. 97)
“It is the same thing as acknowledging that God is absent from my life, this is Hell. To you be the glory, to me be the shame. In a moment everything will change and the heart will start being alive and participating in the converse with God”
Q. “How can I desire something of which I have no idea? All of us have some small idea of Grace, and the Holy Spirit moves every soul to seek God. (pg. 89).”
Chapter 10 – On Peace & Grace
Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have had access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. [Rom. 5:1,2]
“The Church is the continuing presence of Pentecost as power of sanctification and transfiguration of all life, as grace which is knowledge of God, communion with Him and, in Him, with all that exists. The Church is creation as renewed by Christ and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, new being, the kingdom, the world to come” (Schmemann)
Saint Chrysostom, “What does ‘let us have peace’ mean?...To me he seems to be discoursing to us concerning our conduct of life. For having discoursed much concerning faith, and setting it before righteousness by means of works, in order that they not suppose what he said was a proposal to be idle, he says, ‘Let us have peace,’ that is, ‘Let us sin no more, nor go back to our former estate.’ For this is to have a war against God.”
Saint Chrysostom: “What kind of grace is this, tell me? It is being counted worthy of the grace of God, the being set free from error, the coming to the knowledge of the truth, the attaining to all the good things that come through Baptism. For to this end He brought us near in order that we might receive these gifts....And well did he say, ‘in which we stand.’ For such is the grace of God: It has no end, knows no bounds, but is ever on the advance to greater things, which is not the case in human things.”
Grace is the gift of the presence of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God
“The Lord takes His Grace from the soul and thus His mercy and wisdom does He school the soul for whose sake His arms were stretched out upon the cross in agony, that she might be humble.” (pg. 108)
“When grace is present it is easy to love God and pray day and night; but the wise soul will bear arid periods too, trusting firmly in the Lord… (pg. 110)
The presence of the Holy Spirit inspires prayer for the whole world,
“The holy Apostles and all the saints desired the salvation of the world and, dwelling among men, they prayed ardently for them. The Holy Spirit gave them strength to love mankind. As for us, if we love not our brother we cannot have peace. Let every man think on this.” (pg. 100)
Our actions are reciprocated in our hearts
“If you give peace to your brother, the Lord will give you incomparably more; but if you injure him, affliction will inevitably fall upon your soul. (pg. 103)
On Ascetical Practices
“To possess Grace a man must be temperate in all things: in his gestures, in speech, in what he lets his eyes look upon, in the thoughts of his mind, in the food he takes…We should train ourselves to eat as little as possible, yet within reason, as our work permits. After meals we should feel like praying. That is the measure of moderation.” (pg. 109)