Saturday, March 28, 2020

The Fast and Fight on the way to Resurrection.
Saint Sophrony the Athonite.


Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

In the example of Christ Who withdrew into the wilderness, our Tradition has appointed Great Lent.
          «Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said: "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written He shall give His angels charge over you, and In their hands they will shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Jesus said to him: "It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him: "All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him: "Begone, Satan! For it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve."

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.»[1]
          I don't consider it possible today to approach all the contents of this temptation, but from all aspects we can see that it was a temptation at the highest level. The devil didn't know yet with Whom he was speaking. But the Man, with Whom he was speaking, was giving rise to these temptations: "If You are the Son of God, do this miracle..."; "if You are the Son of God, then throw yourself down and the angels will protect you..."; leading Him to the High mountain and showing Him all the wealth of this world, he said: "I have been given authority over this entire world. Worship me and I shall give it to you...". And the Lord vanquished all these three temptations and said: "Get behind me, Satan!". In this way the Man Christ[2] vanquished the world. And afterwards, at the end of His earthly course, He said to His disciples: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."[3]
          What is characteristic about this temptation? The Lord was fasting forty days remaining in a state of constant spiritual tension. When however, He became exhausted and His physical powers naturally became weak, precisely then the devil approached Him. And this means, that when we fast and consequently become exhausted, we are easily prone to the enemy's temptations.
          We cannot compare ourselves with Christ. His knowledge of the world was absolute, divine. But even in His human nature, in His Incarnation, He was not a simple man, as can be seen by His conversation with the devil: "If You are the Son of God, make miracles... fall down... worship me... I shall give you authority". We however, are tempted by the enemy with lesser things, which nonetheless shake us, even if we experience undoubtedly a lighter war than the Lord. The cosmic laws and energies are everywhere the same; they pass through us. When the Lord said: "I have overcome the world", it means that these temptations "touched" Him also, but He rejected them and vanquished them. The same spirit of the world however comes to us also and shakes us. Thus then, this fight is cosmic, as well as supra-cosmic... Since the Lord says "I have overcome the world", this means that He has become supra-cosmic.
          Now, I would like to speak to you related to this, also about something else, very important: It is possible to live this Great Lent, without blaming ourselves about anything. And then, as regards noetic knowledge, the Fast will pass without any benefit. I am referring to "noetic knowledge", because Great Lent is a fight with the passions. And this fight is not without benefit or result...
         
The Fast constitutes certainly
a trial on all the levels. 
According to my knowledge - and I know very little of what passed between you-, I say to you: On my consciousness there remain two unfortunate cases, out of all your ascetic struggles during the period of this Great Lent. Through my prayer for you I felt that there have been two cases of loss of patience. You have however to be very careful, because this internal clash is very dangerous... Patience touches all the aspects of our life: not only the physical illnesses but also our noetic struggle and our psychological state. All the three levels are affected, because the Fast, which is undertaken in memory of that of Christ, constitutes certainly a trial on all the levels. For example, we don't understand why the pleasures of the flesh steal our boldness in prayer and even its energy. Fasting however, is a type of struggle against the passions. When we fast, begins a period of deep awareness of our entire constitution. The weakest component in us is the body; it very quickly gives in and is unable to endure. The Lord determined as the human measure the forty days. This then is the perfect measure. In other ascetic traditions there are ways for a person to live even more than forty days... But there however the fight is governed by other laws and at another level. There are even also other ways.
          We are never free of the fight against the passions. Due to the war of the flesh we should remain constantly in an intense state of vigilance, so that the body does not demand from us that which obstructs our ascent towards God. Thus the approach of thoughts is possible then also for us, at almost the same level at which Christ was tried in the Gospel. However, in our case such trials are a very rare phenomenon. Different also is our reason for coming into the world. The Lord came to save the world[4], vanquishing all cosmic energies and guiding all of us, who have already escaped from the influence of the powers of the world, to the level of divine life. We live at a lower level, but nonetheless we are trained gradually for this life. And when- if God extends our life- Great Lent comes again, pay attention to this. The problem does not concern the body only, but primarily our eternal soul...
          ... Finally, through fasting and prayer we prepare ourselves for what has been promised to us, that is Resurrection. We arrive at Easter with "Christ is Risen" and we celebrate our common resurrection and not only the Resurrection of Christ. As says St. John Chrysostom in his homily on Easter: "Christ is Risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb"[5].
          Forgive me, for allowing myself to speak about this. Mindfulness of death was granted to me, during which the entire cosmic being is subject to death, awaits its end. When however the mercy of God visited me and I felt within me the potential for eternal life, then for me the entire world was resurrected. And the negative experience of mindfulness of death was suddenly converted to the knowledge that for us there is no death.
          We are created "in the image and resemblance" of the beginning-less and immortal God. When we speak about the Resurrection, we turn our attention to the last words of the Creed: "I await the Resurrection of the dead...". This waiting in hope constitutes that energy within us which will raise us in an unknown way. Those who have turned away from Christ[6] and are totally under the power of death cannot achieve this. They do not believe in the Resurrection.
          I wanted to say to you these few words, in order for you to pass Great Lent in a fruitful way not only on the sphere of knowledge but also on the sphere of awareness. For there to be a successful conscious strive on all levels: the fight with the passions of the flesh, on the level of the spiritual weapon of patience, on the level of the trial of our faith. And the temptations can be of various intensity; they can really lead us to the boundary of perdition. When we come out of this state and experience the Resurrection, then we shall feel this victory: "Christ has overcome the world[7] and He is Risen from the dead[8]".
(To be continued)

Reference:
BUILDING THE TEMPLE OF GOD WITHIN US AND IN OUR BRETHREN by Archimandrite SOPHRONY (Sakharov), Vol. 1-3, Translation from Russian to Greek by Archimandrite Zachariah, St. John the Baptist Monastery, Essex, England, Third Edition, 2014.
Translation of the above extracts of HOMILY 65 from Greek to English by Holy Trinity Family, Douma, Lebanon.





[1] Mt. 4,1-11
[2] See 1Tim. 2,5.
[3] Jn. 16,33.
[4] Jn. 12,47.
[5] St. John Chrysostom, Catechismal Homily on the Holy and Glorious Day of the Resurrection, See Penticostarion, Matins of Easter Sunday.
[6] See Jn. 6,66.
[7] See Jn. 16,33.
[8] See Mt. 28,7.