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| Saint Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia. |
Saint
Porphyrios always gave prominence to sickness of soul, regardless of whether
the physical illness was serious or not. Many sick visitors insisted that he
only pray for the cure of their physical sicknesses. They could not bear them.
They thought that if their bodily illness spread it would shake their faith in
Christ and would finally lead them to be sick in soul. According to the Saint,
exactly the opposite took place, "The sickness of the soul, that they were
oblivious to, i.e. sin, blinded their eyes and they could not see the higher
educational meaning of their physical sickness. A sickness that was allowed by
God's love. The Saint knew that if he only prayed for the cure of their body he
wouldn't help them, because in essence they would be incurable. He always tried
to link the healing of their bodies with the healing of their souls.
At a religious
gathering a Christian psychiatrist was heard to say, "As a psychiatrist I
am not a healer of the human soul, but of the nervous system." He was
actually speaking literally, because someone who has psychiatric illness, in
the literal sense of the term, is the unrepentant sinner. The soul is only ever
sick when it sins without repenting. The only true doctor of the soul is
Christ. Also, through the Grace of Christ the saint, knowing the soul, has
acquired self-knowledge and knowledge of others. How can a person who is not a
saint, a person with passions, who is ignorant of the soul, both his own and
that of others, be a doctor of souls? Christ, and, by Christ's Grace, the
saint, can do the easier thing that is healing the body, insofar as they can do
the more difficult thing, that is, heal the soul. This occurs when the former
helps the later.
Physical
sicknesses serve a wide variety of purposes for God's overabounding love. The
simple view that physically sick are punished by God for their sins and those
who are physically healthy are rewarded by God for their virtues is reminiscent
of superstition. In reality, the exact opposite can happen, as in the case of
many saints who are sick in body for life, and many unrepentant sinners who are
healthy in body all their life. Of course, nobody can deny that a soul
disturbed by sinful passions is ripe ground for physical illnesses to develop
and grow. Whereas, a peaceful soul, full of devotion to God, creates suitable
conditions for the cure of those illnesses and for physical health to flourish.
However, the particular fluctuations between physical health and sickness in
each person, in the final analysis are a secret expression of the fatherly care
of God that only He and his saints know.
With his
healing gift Saint Porphyrios diagnosed and cured the sicknesses of many
people. However, he himself was sick throughout his life and confessed, "I
don't even know how many sicknesses I've got." He had shingles, which was
the crown of all his sicknesses, and like a "thorn in his flesh". In
the last few years of his life, it slapped him in the face, and he said,
"I feel like they've stuck a frying pan with burning hot oil to my
cheek." The Saint taught that, "Sicknesses are due to demonic
activities, to sin. But when Christ dwells throughout the soul, then the devil
leaves, sin leaves and the sickness leaves." At the same time,
regarding himself, he said, "I feel that I am most sinful person in the
world." A superficial look at his illness would probably lead to
questions like the following:
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The Lord Jesus healing
the paraclytic of Betesda.
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The saint cured
the sicknesses of so many people, why couldn't he cure his own? He recognised
his own great sinfulness, perhaps that was the reason why Christ did not dwell
within him and did not cure his illness?
However, the
fact that the saint confessed that he was "the most sinful person in the
world" shows his great humility, in Christ. The unrepentant sinners
arrogantly believe that they are sinless. Just like the Pharisees did. All the
saints, starting with St. Paul the Apostle, declared, "Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Tim 1: 15) And the Saint
was a saint, as was obvious from his life in imitation of Christ. Yet, someone
could still ask: "If he was a saint, then why didn't Christ cure him of
his illness?" In fact, the exact opposite occurred: Christ did cure the saint
of his illness. He cured him from what really is illness, sin, the illness of
the soul, while he lived through physical sickness.
The first
created, Adam and Eve, did not know sickness of the body before their fall
into sin by the devil's entrapment, that is, before their illness of soul.
After their fall, the whole of nature became ill, and all suffering came about,
including bodily sickness. Christ became Man in order to "destroy the
works of the devil" (1 In. 3:8), to cure us from Adam's illness, from sin.
He told us that, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance" (Mk. 2: 17)
Realizing that
we are sick, through our baptism and continuous repentance we receive, from the
one and only Physician, the cure of our soul from sickness, that is from sin.
Bodily sickness remains, through God's concession, as a penance for sins
forgiven, as a healing discipline, as a stage of further purifying athletic
exercise of the soul fighting against sin, to the shame of the devil, and to
the glory of God. This is what happened with poor Lazarus, who gained Paradise
through his uncomplaining perseverance. It also happened to a wealth of
saints, who, by their patience, repentance, their glorification of God, in
their illness, were purified like gold in a furnace.
St. John
Chrysostom testifies that bodily health becomes a soul saving blessing only
when it leads to the increase of gratitude and obedience towards God. But how
many people are grateful? One in ten? Like the ten lepers of the Gospel? A lot
less? The health of the body often becomes a trap for the soul, a illusory
narcotic, like the rich man in the parable, who "fared sumptuously every
day," ended up in the "place of torment".
The Saint
revealed mysteries of God to us, not only in his teaching, but in the way he
lived. It is a fact that through his physical illness the power of the Lord was
perfected, His miraculous works came to light, and His name was glorified. It
is also true that the devil was shamed by the affliction of these illnesses,
and it proved that the Saint was faithful to God until the very end. This was
not from self-serving personal advantage, but wholly from love. Just like Job,
who was "blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil" (job
1:1). With his noted patience and obedience to God he stopped Satan's boasts
and confirmed the superiority of God's love, that "never fails". God
allowed the devil to provoke the Saint and place him in temptation, with his
bodily sickness. The Saint accepted this temptation with loving self-denial.
This self-denial of his helps us understand, even if only slightly, the
articulation of his own experience, which we find so amazing. "I was in
deep pain. It was wonderful."
Reference:
With Elder
Porphyrios. Constantine Yiannatsiotis. (2001)