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| Father Arsenie Boca. |
Arsenie Boca (29 September 1910 – 28 November 1989) was
a Romanian Orthodox monk, theologian, mystic, and artist. He was
persecuted by the Communists and named among the 100 greatest
Romanians. He was born in Vața de Sus, Hunedoara
County, Romania, died at Sinaia M Father Arsenie has not yet been
canonized as a saint. Nonetheless pilgrims from all over Romania flock to pray
at his grave which is located in Prislop Monastery, Romania.
In October 2015 the Romanian
Orthodox Church announced that it was considering the cause of his recognition
and proclamation as a saint.
In an
old book from the Holy Mountain, a confessor skilled in giving advice left the
following lesson contained in this story:
''A
priest fearing God and caring greatly for his flock was daily struggling by all
possible means to turn around those lost on the way to perdition, keeping them
steadfast in His word. However, he saw with grief that the fruits of his labor
were in vain. His flock had dispensed with their hypocrisy but they were still
rotting in the .same sins he had found them in. His work, made up of useless
sermons, daily counsels or confessions, proved to be in vain. Nothing moved
them from the swamp of their sins.
"What
was the poor priest to do? How could he set them straight?
Enthusiastic
in his labor for God, tormented every day knowing he was responsible for their
souls, he entreated God to tell to him why he was incapable of attracting
people to repentance.
"One
Saturday evening after Vespers, he was resting with sad countenance on a rock
in the garden, overwhelmed by his priestly duties, disappointed that his labor
bore no fruit. As he was sitting there lost in meditation, behold, God opened
the eyes of his troubled soul onto a dreadful vision: a fearsome, armored mob,
black as coal, appeared before him in a dark cloud of evil spirits. It was a
council of demons led by Satan, the overbearing, frowning master of darkness.
Suddenly, from the midst of the council, a devilish voice shrieked, causing the
sky to vibrate:
-You,
crowds of demons, give me some advice, use your cunning mind and tell me: how
can you deceive people more easily and safely, so as to fill the kingdom of
darkness and the hungry belly of Hell with them?
"At
this commandment of their satanic master, the horned throngs of darkness put
their stinking, demonic heads together.
"Before
too long, one of the chief council of devils came before Satan, shining like
black oil and said: Your darkness, let us sneak the satanic thought that there
is no God into people's minds; then having no one to fear, he will fall easily
into our claws, will do whatever we want and we will stuff the Hell with people
like him.
"Listening
to him and thinking, Satan replied:
- We
will not be able hook too many people with this lie; for His creation from
above, heaven and earth with their adornments all witness to His glory and
prove He is the One. Let the next one come up with a brighter idea.
"Then,
from the darkness of the crowds, another horned leader stepped to the front,
saying:
- Your
darkness, my opinion is to tell people that even if God exists, there is no
soul after death, nor judgment or payment, and therefore there is no punishment
or reward. Tell them there is no heaven, no hell, and therefore they are free
to eat, drink and satisfy all their desires of flesh to their heart's content,
because if they die tomorrow and there
is
nothing after death, they will be sorry they did not satisfy all their
pleasures while they still had the power to do so.
"Satan
weighed these words and said:
- Even
with this stratagem we will not attract too many to our side because among them
are some bright-minded people who know there is God and at His right hand is
standing the reward or punishment for deeds done.
"Many
people know the soul lives on after death and will go to the Last Judgment, as
Scripture teaches. With this trick, we can get some of them in our world, but
not very many. I want to snare as many people as there are sands of the sea and
lock them up like a crowd of fools in all the caves of hell, roared Satan, who
hit the ground with his hooves so forcefully that the whole legion of devils
thrilled in horror.
"Then
another leader from the throng leapt to the front and uttered the following
proposal from his stinking mouth:
- Master
of darkness and father of lies, praised be your concern in flooding Hell with
the fools and depraved of the earth! I have listened
 |
| Fresco in Rila monastery depicting devils trying to seduce people and angels helping them. |
(carefully
to our comrades' cunning schemes so dear to us, all your demons concerning the
perdition of men, and seeing that they are not pleasing to your darkness, I
have invented a trick even more cunning: why not praise those who believe in
God, in the immortality of the soul, in the Day of Judgment and in rewards for
their deeds? Why should we not also tell them there is a heaven and hell that
will last forever and ever? Then we will whisper in their ear -what they
already know very well - once, twice, a thousand times: do not hurry with
repentance friends! There is plenty of time. Experience whatever you want to
first. Leave repentance for later on! Not so fast!
"Listening
to him, Satan eyes glittered with devilish joy. He stood up proudly from the
tar chair of fire, tapping the shoulder of the devil who invented this
stratagem. His voice thundered instantly, shattering all the darkness of Hell:
- You,
stinking spirits of my kingdom, scatter, bearing this thought all over the face
of the earth and, as a sweet poison, whisper in their ears in our name,
slipping in these words: «Do not hurry with repentance or with true confession.
There is plenty of time: tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, when you are getting
old. Until then do your duty to God merely soul for the eyes of the world. Look
first after your earthly worries just as before. You have time for true
repentance, as you will not die tomorrow»!
And at
Satan's command, the spirits of Hell scattered throughout the earth with the
speed of thought to deceive people in lies leading them to perdition, delaying
their repentance until tomorrow, the day after, when they will reach old age ..
:'
"The
vision faded away and finally the priest understood through his faith the
reason for people's delay in deciding to come to repentance. Mesmerized by the
beguiling spell of the Evil One, they met their Christian duties merely for the
eyes of the world, considering the priest's advice better suited to older
people. As for themselves, they still had plenty of time to confess: tomorrow,
the day after tomorrow, when they were older. Such is the dangerous advice that
entangles people in wickedness, taking them into all manner of troubles and
darkness, so that the day after tomorrow, when their' power is squeezed out,
they are good for nothing. God forgives ignorance, but not "cleverness:'
The
"clever" man is the one who gives his entire youth over to the
demons, leaving to God an old age in ruins. Will not his old age too be thrown
in together with his youth?
Reference:
Path to The Kingdom. Father Arsenie Boca. 2014.