The Person :Divine and HumanHieromonk Nikolai Sakharov.

 

Saint Sophrony with Father
"Nikolai"(left) and "Seraphim".

    “What does it mean to be a person?”—this question lies at the heart of Fr Sophrony’s theology. It comes to the forefront of his theological attention particularly in his later years—so much so, that the notion of person became the axis of his last book, We Shall See Him as He Is .

Les mystères célestes. Saint Sophrony l'Athonite.

Saint Sophrony l' Athonite.

Dieu révèle les mystères du salut

Malgré toute la différence et toute la distance qu’il y a entre Dieu et nous, le Seigneur a trouvé le moyen de nous sauver de notre état misérable. Comment pouvons-nous nous préparer à être avec un Dieu aussi grandiose, aussi absolu ? Pendant la Liturgie de Saint Basile, durant la Grande entrée nous disons cette prière :

« Ô Toi qui Es,

Ô Dieu le Père, Maître et Seigneur,

Qui nous as créés et nous as introduits dans cette vie,

Qui nous as montré la Voie du salut,

Qui nous as donné la révélation des Mystères célestes… »

C’est de ces mystères célestes que nous parlerons.

The unconquerable victory.St. Sophrony the Athonite

 

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

          Several people have begun to wonder whether peace can be possible on earth when every day millions of animals are slain so as to satisfy the bellies of millions of people. Food with blood stirs up the passions, clouds one's thinking powers, makes the heart insensitive, brutal. And if you add to this the hundreds of thousands, or rather millions, of innocent people who are suffering over the whole face of the earth from the senseless violation of the human conscience- how can you expect blessed peace to descend upon such an earth? Millennia of experience throughout history have shown with irrefutable evidence that all violence lasts only for a certain time before revenge gathers force. Al­ready so many empires have been toppled which considered their position unassailable. It is a true saying: 'All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword', and even more, that all the blood shed upon the earth shall be avenged. So the ancient commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' remains unkept throughout the course of the centuries. And now we are seeing the retribution for this.

'Without me ye can do nothing.'!" And when people cease to pay attention to these words, all their efforts are di­rected towards creating what seems to them a better life; but the result of their creation is banal and tedious to the point of deadliness. Man's spirit cannot be confined within such com­pressed limits; we will have to 'smash plates' to realise that we are after all humans and not puppets. Now we see that everywhere 'plates are being smashed' senselessly and just because of this senselessness the understanding is born that if this absurdity lies at the foundation of being, then this ex­istence would be simply impossible. The way is created for the comprehension of absolute truth, for the perception of the deepest meaning of life; confidence in the final victory of Love is established within us.

With me it happened like this: from the vision of what was taking place in the world my soul was brought to a fear­ful, mortal, state of doubt. The ground was taken from under my feet; my whole being was sick with grief. And when what I saw as the absurdity of all human activity reached the limit, in my soul- in a strange fashion - the certitude was born that the eternal victory of reason and truth was inevitable.

Notice: all the great religions arose in the East, where so­cieties live at an unbearably low level. The contemplation of such a fallen state of man gave rise to repentance in the depths of the spirit, and beyond expectation a supernatural power touched the heart, and the heart contemplated the transfigu­ration of the world. So, so many times have I noticed a change in a person's face from the touch of this Heavenly Light. There is great wonder at this: he or she was so dreadfully de­formed, and now - from whence is this beauty?

This is a weighty matter. It is not for speaking about in letters. My prayer for you and for all those with you is: 'May the Lord reveal to your deep heart His Mysteries, His Wisdom hidden from all ages! May the Holy Spirit teach you the knowledge of these Mysteries through Love, which He puts into the heart!'

And when the heart is touched by this eternal Spirit, the only natural feeling of the heart is an indescribable pity for all creation. Then love for one's enemies becomes normal. And this is the sign that man has passed from death to eternal Life. And this is the way to peace, this is unconquerable vic­tory. And this is what the soul prays for at all times. May the mercy of the God of Love be always present with you. And may you share what God sends you with other people, who are ready, and even thirsty, to receive salvation.

 

 

Reference:

Letters to his family. Archimandrite Sophrony(Sakharov).2015.

The World Does Not Need a Political Church.St. Sophrony the Athonite

    

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

    Every international or class war is associated with violence: "Strike the enemies." But Christ commands: "Love your enemies" (Matt. 5:44). The latter does not deteriorate at all the Gospel at the level of the fratricidal division of material goods. When bishops, theologians and faithful Christians in general enter the ranks of militants, they consider those who avoid participation in these kinds of activities as petty and cowardly. The more dangerous the clash with the oppressors, the more this humanitarian mission is considered as "martyrdom" for Christ.

Our evasion is dictated by the consciousness that any change of status in social relations with a revolutionary, namely blackmailed, manner will ultimately prove to replace one violence with another. The historical experience demonstrates this in many cases. Already we have seen during our life how the idea of justice inspired people to war against despotism and exploitation, for freedom and full rights for all. However, the revolutions ended or converted into terrorist regimes with the suppression of huge masses of populations, depriving them of the most basic rights and the like. As agitated as we are for the injustices of a certain system, its change must be associated with long procedural processes of the moral standards of people in general. We have no right to carry out acts of blackmail - even towards extortioners - in the name of Christ. However, to rebuke injustice, in a lively and intense way, to guard justice for all, we can do, when we see the benefits from our reason.

The celebration of the Liturgy itself, which is a sacrifice for the salvation of all people, is the highest of all participations in the difficult ministry to humanity.

We are not allowed to deviate from our aim of remaining in the light of the Lord's commandments.

If we become one of the dark forces fighting for predominance over our brethren, we will overshadow the light which God brought to earth. This crime is more damaging to us than any other.

The world does not need a "political Church". The deprived character of the Church of Christ in the last centuries led to the departure of a large number of faithful from it. We can only recover the great brilliance of the Church with the extreme effort to live as Christians, evangelically, without turning our attention towards how our contemporaries will behave towards us. If Christians do not acquire the genuine spiritual gifts, and primarily holiness, preaching with words will remain as "a clanging symbol".

The complete turn towards the earth will not allow people to see the Church in its authentic essence, as the Kingdom of Paternal Love, as the place where the Holy Spirit shines, as the path where we assimilate with the All-Merciful God-man Jesus Christ.

We must not fear the temporary distancing of people from the Church. May the example of Christ, who was completely abandoned on the day of His Golgotha, help strengthen us to walk in His footsteps. He stood alone condemned by the Roman State of justice, by the Lawful Sanhedrin, and even by the mob of people. Therefore, if everyone abandons us, even then it would not be worth overstepping the true dimensions of the New Testament revelation given to us with the Passion of Christ at the level of "morals", the level of "atheistic humanism", the level of "every manner and type of entertainment". The distance may even take larger dimensions. None of us are excluded from standing firm in faith, to be ready to resist the whole world.

 

 

Reference:

 

Elder Sophrony: "The World Does Not Need a Political Church" | ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY THEN AND NOW (johnsanidopoulos.com)