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.