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Saint Silouan the Athonite
by Saint Sophrony,
pencil on tracing paper.Drawing for a mural in the Refectory, mid/late 1970s. |
We
do not require wealth or learning in order to know the Lord - we must simply be
obedient and sober, have a humble spirit and love our fellow-men. The Lord will
love such a soul as this, of His own accord make Himself manifest to her and
instruct her in love and humility, and give her all things needful for her to
find rest in God.Glory
be to the Lord and His deep compassion in that He endows sinful men with the
grace of the Holy Spirit. Rich people and kings may be ignorant of the Lord,
yet we poor monks and shepherds know the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
We may study as much as we will but we shall still not come to know the Lord unless we live according to His commandments, for the Lord is not made known through learning but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and scholars have arrived at a belief in the existence of God bur they have not come to know God. And we monks apply ourselves day and night to the study of the Lord's command but not all of us by a long way have come to know the Lord, although we believe in Him.
To
believe that God exists is one thing, to know God another.
Here
is an enigma: there are souls that have come to know the Lord; there are souls
that have not come to know Him but believe in Him; and there are others still
that not only do not know God but do not believe either, and among their number
are to be found learned men.
Pride
is at the roof of unbelief. The proud man would acquire knowledge of things
through his mind and his studying, but it is not given to him to learn to know
God, in that the Lord reveals Himself only to the lowly in heart. To the lowly
in heart does the Lord discover His works, which are beyond the understanding
of our minds but are unfolded through the Holy Spirit. With the mere mind we
can only come to know the things of this earth, and then only in part, while
God and all that is of heaven are known through the Holy Spirit.
Some
there are who spend their whole lives trying to find out what there is on the
sun or the moon, or in seeking like knowledge, yet this is of no profit to the
soul. But if we take pains to explore the human heart, this is what we shall see:
the Kingdom of Heaven in the soul of the saint but in the soul of the sinner -
darkness and torment. And it is good to know this because we shall dwell
eternally either in the Kingdom or in torment.
Though
a man be eager to investigate everything he sees on earth and in heaven, if he
is not given to prayer and does not know the Lord, or seek to know Him, then
when he hears other men teaching of God he says:
'Now,
how is it possible to know God? And how is it that you know Him?'
I
would reply, “The Holy Spirit is witness. The Holy Spirit knows, and He
instructs us”.
“But
can anyone see the Spirit?”
 |
| Saint Silouan the Athonite. |
The
Apostles saw the Spirit descending in tongues of fire, and we feel His presence
within us, sweeter far than all earthly thing. The Prophets tasted Him, and
spoke to the people, and the people hearkened unto them. The holy Apostles were
filled with the Holy Ghost, and preached salvation to mankind, fearing naught,
for the Spirit of God was their strength. When St. Andrew was threatened with
death upon the cross if he did not cease preaching, he replied:
“If
I feared the cross, I should not be preaching the cross.” In this manner all
the other Apostles, and after them the martyrs and holy men who wrestled
against evil, went forward with joy to meet pain and suffering. And all
because I the Holy Spirit, sweet and gracious, draws the soul to love the Lord,
and in the sweetness of the Holy Spirit the soul loses her fear of suffering.
Many
holy martyrs came to know the Lord and His help in the time of their
sufferings. Many monks strive much and endure valiantly for the Lord's sake;
they, too, have come to know the Lord, and contend against their passions, and
pray for the whole universe. The grace of God teaches them to love their
enemies, since the man who has no love for his enemies cannot come to know the
Lord, Who died on the cross for His enemies, and gave us an example in Himself with
the commandment to love our enemies.
The
Lord is love; and He commanded us to love one another, and to love our enemies;
and the Holy Spirit instructs us in this love.
The
soul that has not come to know the Holy Spirit does not understand how it is
possible to love one's enemies, and will not accept this commandment; but the
Lord has pity on all, and he who would be with the Lord must love his enemies.
The
man to whom the Lord is known through the Holy Spirit becomes like unto the
Lord, as St. John the Divine said, 'We shall be like him; for we shall see him
as he is, "and we shall behold His glory.
Reference:
Saint
Silouan the Athonite. Archimandrite Sophrony(Sakharov). Essex 1991.