Praying for the sick.St. Sophrony the Athonite

 

Jesus heals the Canaanite's daughter.

It is not at all easy for a monk to bear the burden of being a confessor. On the one hand it is beneficial for him personally when people think poorly of him, since censure fosters humility. More urgent prayer rises to God from the ailing heart. It is easier for him to cry to God for the salvation of the world, since he himself exists by suffering, like the suffer­ing of the great majority of the inhabitants of the earth. On the other hand, if he is engaged in the work of a spiritual father, every negative word about him instils distrust in him on the part of people in need of exhortations, comfort and support. His sorrow is twofold: for himself as being unworthy of his calling, and then for the harm brought on the whole Church, on all mankind, when the authority of the priest is undermined. Unheeding a spiritual father's injunctions is tantamount to rejecting the word of Christ Himself. (He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiserh you despiseth ... him that sent me,")

The Word of the Father.St. Sophrony the Athonite

 

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

        “He that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father” (john 14:9). “He that hateth the Son hateth the Father also” (cf John 15:23). “He that believeth on the Son hath ever­lasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (john 3:36).

Through the Holy Spirit, “Which proceedeth from the Father” and reposes in the Son, we know the Son in His Divinity and in the nature of man that He assumed. It is in the Holy Spirit that we live the Father.

“Lovest thou me.?!.”Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

The Old Rectory

 20th September 1977

 

 

      

         

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

You say that you are getting old. So what can I say? I am 81 ! Incredible, but still a fact. In no way can I understand this strange situation. So many times I have been really seri­ously ill. So ill that those around me never supposed that I would recover and get up. So many times I was in danger in the mountains, in the desert, on journeys, in stormy weather at sea, and also from many tribulations and spiritual wounds, which perhaps no one can escape in our time. And what a wonder! I pray that you too will remain longer among the liv­ing. 'Old age is no joy', they used to say at one time, but still it can be a period of exceptional importance. On the one hand, it can make possible many deep experiences, and on the other, it can be a preparation, full of both fear and exultation, for our departure from here: from temporal things to things im­mutable and eternal.

True Christian “poverty”.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

       Experience shows every man that in order to arrive at pure prayer it is essential to free the mind from burdensome preoccupation with material possessions.

At first one argues: 'How can I liberate myself com­pletely from things? Through my body I am a material thing myself, and the life of this body of mine is inevitably bound up with the material. So does it mean that I must let myself die?' ... No, it is not like that. Wise ascetic effort consists in reducing to a minimum the material needs without the sat­isfaction of which it would be impossible to keep alive. But the measure of these needs differs in every case."?

Contemporary man has not been able to organize his life in such a way as to allow himself sufficient leisure - free time - for prayer and the contemplation of Divine Being. The reason for this is covetousness, that passion which St. Paul called 'idolatry' and St. John Climacus 'the daughter of unbelief ... blasphemy against the Gospel, a turning aside from God' .

On icons and contemporary culture.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

The Old Rectory

 17th March 1969

 

 

 

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

     Winter this year has been dreadful. It has probably never been like this so far in the twentieth century. Here, of course, there is not a vestige of the cold there is in your part of the world, but the prolonged 'autumn', damp and foggy, doesn't favour good health or inspiration for physical labour. And just now I could precisely do with a lot of physical strength, because we are under obligation to fulfil the huge amount of orders for icons. I would like at the same time to be free from every other occupation, so as to go deeper into the 'spirit' of the icon. You see, the power of the icon is truly a transfiguring power, especially in our century, when this spirit has been lost, when the feeling for beauty has been lost, when the very notion of 'beauty' has become vague, elusive - due, of course, to the cult of ugliness. In our time, strangely, the more dreadful the ugliness, the nearer it is to the soul of the one viewing it or hearing it. The past homage to beauty and harmony has become indigestible for 'new' people.

On Departure.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

        I think I have lived long enough, that there is no sense in prolonging this particular life, that I must 'depart'. Naturally, you have all grown old and like me are subject to illnesses; you too are getting ready for the in­evitable. But prepare with a sense of occasion, as if for the greatest moment of our earthly existence, and not with a feel­ing of despair and ingratitude.

 All of us must bear suffering in such a way that we live it not just as our own personal suf­fering, but as that of the human world. Through the experience of our sufferings we come to know cosmic life, we live the tragedy of all humanity, we widen our knowledge to the point where it reaches the limits of this world, where it surpasses these limits, where it attains to Infinity.

The tragedy of the Fall.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

Saint Sophrony in his youth.

    Question: You said that when man turns aside towards evil, he loses union with God - that's to say, a break takes place. But surely, this break is one-sided: doesn't man break with God, but not God with man?

Fr Sophrony: Yes. That's where the tragedy of the Fall lies - that God came and showed that He does not want to be separated from us, but man separates himself. What this means is that God does not coerce man.

So now we live through such dreadful events: war in Viet­nam, war in Nigeria, war in the Near East, famine in the world striking dead thousands and thousands of people. Logically it's clear to me that if man would live according to a different principle, it would be possible to sustain everyone. The re­sources expended for war, even when there is no war, surpass the resources required for the needs of all those who are per­ishing. In this connexion - I asked a man in England, 'If you had absolute power, what would you do to the people who seem to you to be guilty of this evil?' His answer was: 'If I had such absolute power, I couldn't act: this power would paralyse me.'

Great Is The Name Jesus.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

Tomb of Saint Sophrony.
 Saint John the Baptist Monastery. Essex.

        Great is the Name I AM. Great the Name of the Holy Trinity. And great, too, the name JESUS. Much can be said of this Name of His. It is inexhaustible in its content. It belongs to Him to Whom everything that is owes its exist­ence. “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”. He was 'in the beginning' - that is, He is the principle of all the universe. In the inner life of the Trinity He is turned towards the Father; in the Act of creation that Logos addressed Himself to the creature in His image.

My soul sings hymns of praise to God.!..Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

Russian icon of the Nativity of our Lord.

        All that is preposterous and frightful in the outside world, everything that is banal and tedious in daily life, resolves into a contradictory yet grandiose tableau. Both the noble and the ignoble somehow or other find their reflection in each of us. The manifold contrasts - of evil and good, ignorance and light, grief and joy, folly and wisdom, love and hatred, weak­ness and strength, construction and destruction, birth and death - all go to form the all-embracing vision of Being. The innumerable multitude of vexations and insults imposed on us degrade and put us to scorn. The soul despairs before such a spectacle. And suddenly the meaning of Christ's words, 'A MAN IS BORN INTO THE WORLD' becomes clear in their eternal significance, eternal even for God. And for this joy all previous ills and sorrows are remembered no more.

A Christian perspective.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

  

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

What a misfortune to live in such unstable times. Millions and millions of people suffer all their lives. The whole history of mankind is a nightmare of ceaseless fratricidal wars. And up to this time this humanity remains - forgive the expression - as savage and bloodthirsty, as violent and criminal, as ever. The holy words "the meek [ ... ] shall inherit the earth", will undoubtedly come true at some as yet undefined moment, but thus far it is horror upon horror. This horror has grown in our time, because at each moment all the earth knows about more or less every event, and the events are for the majority gloomy and criminal. But let's hope against all hope that our meeting will take place, now that we are at the end of our sojourn here [on earth]. 

I can tell that your meeting with M. was both joyous and important for all of you. Of course she knew that you are living in poverty, and from that point of view she was not ex­pecting anything. The main thing is the peaceful communion, in love and confidence, between open souls. For our times that is a great thing. As long ago as the thirties Berdyaev was saying that to the degree that the social system is being im­proved, personal communication between people becomes more and more rare, and therefore more precious."Almost everywhere communication takes place on a political footing, or a business footing (for trade, industry, and suchlike), and more rarely on a basis of common spiritual interests, and even more rarely, simply as communion between one person and another.

A simple prayer.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

 

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

    I am a little afraid that you tend, like very many people, to understand prayer as standing before the icons and pronouncing formulas which have been established for centuries (morning and evening prayers or psalms and suchlike). Of course, one can get used to this form of prayer from childhood and fulfill it every day. But this is by far not enough, and this kind of prayer generally does not exhaust the theme of prayer.

Don’t be anxious about your 'inability to concentrate' when you 'stand at prayer'. Above all keep the remembrance of God and peace in your heart. This latter is particularly im­portant for you because your heart is not strong. Watch that you do not overtax the little strength of your body unnecessarily.

In order to find the true path, it is best of all to ask God about this in prayer:

Lord, do Thou Thyself teach me all things ... Give me the joy of knowing Thy will and Thy ways ... Teach me to love Thee truly with all my being, as Thou hast commanded us ... Establish my life according as Thou didst plan for me in Thy Pre-eternal Council?' ... Yea, even for me, for Thou hast forgotten no-one, and Thou didst create no man unto perdition ... I have wasted foolishly the strength Thou gavest me, but now, before the end of my life, do Thou correct all things and Thy­self teach me all things ... that Thy will may indeed be accom­plished in my life, whether I understand it now or not yet... Leave me not to walk along alien paths, which lead to dark­ness ... but before I fall asleep in death, grant me, O Light of the World, unworthy as I am, to see Thy Light.

In such words, pray always about these matters. Some time will pass, and the power of these words will penetrate your inner being, and then life will flow on by itself just as the Lord wishes. Whereas as if we try to discern from outward things, we solve nothing.

All the purpose of our life, then, is that our mind and heart live God; that God becomes our life. That alone is what He seeks. We were created so as to live His life, and what is more, His life in all its unlimitedness. This idea can scare us, when we see our truly pitiful state, but it is so, and we must not lose our belief in this. One of the greatest dangers is to lower or diminish God's idea for mankind. All our suffering, even un­deserved suffering, is known by God. He knows and He suf­fers with us. It is essential to establish personal - almost 'human' - relations with Him ... I hope that you understand me. You understand that by this I mean interior intimate union with God. For every man is called to life in Him, that is, not only in man's highest capacity for contemplation - his spirit - but in his feelings - his soul, and even his body.

Here is another prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, Only-Begotten Son of Thine Unorigi­nate Father, open the eyes of my darkened soul, that I may knowingly behold Thee, my Creator and God.

I pray Thee: cast me not away from Thy Face, but disre­garding all my vileness, all my baseness, reveal Thy light to me, O Light of the World, and grant me to know Thy love to­wards mankind.

O Sweetest Christ, Who didst send down from the Father upon Thy disciples and Apostles the Holy Spirit, send down, o Thou who art Good, the Same also upon us who are unwor­thy, and thus teach us Thy knowledge, and open unto us the paths of Thy salvation.

O God, my God, shine upon me Thy true Light, that in Thy Light I also may behold Thy Glory, as of the Only-Be­gotten of the Father, and that within me Thine incomprehen­sible likeness may be formed, after which Thou didst create man.

O God, my Saviour, the Light of my Heart and the Strength of my Soul, may Thy goodness abide in me. May I also remain without ceasing in Thee, ever bearing within me Thy Holy Spirit, that He may grant me to be like unto Thee, my only Lord, as all Thy saints were like unto Thee through­out the ages.

Yea, Lord Jesus Christ, according to Thine unfailing promise, come and make Thine abode in me, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit." { ...}

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

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

 

 

“Find a way to save the world”.Saint Sophrony The Athonite.

         

Saint Sophrony with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Orthodox monastery of all Celtics Saints. England.

What I want to write of now happened over half a century ago. It was a period of strain. Much - practically everything - was a puzzle to me. And life is so short! And God so immeasurably great and far off! Who will show me the straight way to Him, prevent me from wasting time on alien paths? Of course I sought such a guide, or guides - preceptors who might help me. But the fact that I was caught up by a hitherto-unknown force in the form of prayer which stayed with me day and night naturally made prayer my constant prop. And there were times when prayer, so I believe, brought enlightenment from God.

Unable to glimpse the divine truth in the destinies of mankind, of people in general, and tormented by my own dark ignorance, I was like a small, utterly helpless child. Feeling that there was something that I had to understand, I writhed impatiently and looked to God for help. And the Lord took pity on my ignorance and was not angry at my temerity but like a mother had compassion on me and was quick to respond. And this not once but over and over again. In like manner He had handled Job who suffered so much and protested so stormily.

I remember one such happening, which occurred in France, in the early twenties - before my departure to Mt. Athos in 1925. I wept and prayed to God: “Find a way to save the world - to save all of us, we are all defiled and cruel.” I would pray with particular fervor for the “little ones”, the poor and oppressed. Towards morning, with my strength waning, my prayer would be disturbed by the thought that if I grieve for mankind with all my heart, how is it that God can look on indifferently at the pain and torment of millions of beings whom He Himself had created? Why does He allow the innumerable instances of brute force in the world? And I would turn to Him with the insane challenge, “Where art Thou?” And in my heart I heard: “Was it you who was crucified for them?”… The gentle words uttered by the Spirit shook me to the core - He Who was crucified had answered me as God.

Towards Resurrection.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

          

The Resurrection of Lazarus. 
Fresco in the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Monastery of Saint John the Baptist. Lebanon.

I await a word from God, in order to speak to you today also. The days are drawing near, in which we are preparing to celebrate the resurrection of man. I do not say the Resurrection of Christ, because it is something unique. In reality, in a sense, His Resurrection is a unique event, but in general it refers to ourselves, to our personal resurrection.

The Fight Against the Passion of the Flesh.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

       

There are people who resist the passions once or twice during the time of the enemy's attack. Let's say, the passion approached the man one hundred times, and in two cases he resisted and he thinks he is an ascetic monk! And he decides to speak to others about the virtues, whilst he himself gives in ninety eight times! Because, when we speak about "the darkness in which the world lives", we have in mind that the world lives in the passions and does not understand our life. People turn away from Christ and from the true revelation of what man is.

          From the Gospel case, in which the devil approached Christ and said: "If you are the Son of God...", it is obvious that we are all children of God, Who said: "Let us create man in our image and resemblance". And the enemy spoke with Christ immediately about the utmost!

          There are people who strive, resist in their ascetic struggle, and out of the one hundred times of contact with the passion of the flesh, they successfully reject it ninety eight times, whilst once or twice in the one hundred they somehow give in against their will. For the ascetic monk however, these once or twice times are experienced as a nightmare. For this reason he does not think to teach others, because he does not consider himself a victor over the passion.

          But once again I am obliged to remind you: Please say each time, as much as possible, in a conscious way: "Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin!".

Heavenly justice is nailed on the Cross.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

           

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

Yesterday our Abbot said to a certain visitor that for us monks theology is life; life without "external expression" of words; life in silence and internal self-concentration. If it is so, then it is always difficult to find the words to speak about the way of Christ which leads to salvation; the way through which one is led to the Heavenly Father.

                Yesterday, in this small church of St. Silouan, we lived a foretaste of heavenly life. It was, if you like, a triumph of our faith. And perhaps for this reason precisely, we must remember today that, according to the word of Christ, our way is to carry our cross and follow Him to Golgotha.

          In the mind and heart of many people there is a thirst for justice and truth. I opened thus, by chance a booklet with the title Hope, which circulated in the form of a pamphlet during the persecution in Russia. A certain Abbess writes there about those who follow a single aim, that if they were to see justice practiced on earth, they would never come to know what Divine justice is.

          You will hear this translated from Russian: "The man who does not seek anything but righteous judgment or human justice will soon find the end of his way; whereas the widening of the soul in order to grasp and to know the justice of God has no end; just as the Lord, Who is the aim of this lifting of the soul, has no end. If man acts according to human justice, it means that he does not recognize heavenly justice, because there is a difference between them. On earth, Divine justice is nailed on the cross."[1]...

Sunday of Forgiveness.Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

We must say a few words about Sunday of Forgiveness. This day, when we sincerely ask forgiveness from one another, is extremely important. When forgiveness is granted from both sides, the soul then feels free and full of peace. Of course this state of freedom and peace exceedingly softens Lent. Prepare yourselves beforehand then, so that you may toss away from your heart and mind every trace of a negative stance against our brother.

          Already from the beginning of Lent we shall chant about Adam who was chased out of Paradise, and this is important. According to historical order, we shall also later remember the fall of Adam into sin and Christ's decision to blot out the curse. In this ingenious composition of the entire cycle of services, in this amalgamation of theology, prayer and doctrine, which is presented in the books of Great Lent, is written down the entire Tradition. To everything however has been given the form of prayer, so that theology can become the content of all our prayers.

          Forgive me. I have spoken now about the details of our life. Our principle aim I stated in my will. I ask you please to forget my nothingness and to keep that will. I said there that is not about something easy. Nevertheless, each time in such days, as the coming Sunday of Forgiveness, we shall realize this practice and forget all the wounds which were inflicted on us during our life! And when we forgive, from our heart all our brethren, for everything which has piled up in our full of toil, misunderstandings, sorrows, deprivations daily life, then all these are cast off, and our spirit is redeemed and obtains the liberty of the forgiven man, the redeemed from all the consequences of sin and inspired with new hope.

          We should not be surprised that misunderstandings in our life occur, especially during the period of Great Lent. We should however learn to overcome these difficulties, in order to fulfill the law of Christ Who said: "Forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father Who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses"[1]. Through the same act, forgiving the sins of our brother, we enter the process of salvation of the entire mankind. Every time temptations or some difficulty appear- because it is impossible to avoid frictions, the consequences of the shortcomings of our flesh-, we must without fail overcome these, and in this will show wisdom.

"I am Yours, save me".(Ps: 118: 94)Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

Saint Sophrony with his spiritual father
Saint Silouan the Athonite.

Blessed be this hour which our good Lord grants us. In peace and calm we can speak about various aspects of our long journey.

          How wondrous is this way! It is beyond our mind. Our spirit is unable to follow the "example" of Christ[1], our God, Who brought down to earth the fire of the Father's love[2].

          Today I will refer to the subject of repentance and filial adoption. Despite the fact that these states in their perfect form are beyond every human description, we, in our foolishness, will speak in the measure of our capacities about these things, which are infinitely and inexplicably great and sublime.

          How many times have we repeated that we begin our journey from the small step of repentance... The end however of this way, according to our understanding, is the deification of man. When we dare speak about these matters, many faint-hearted persons become troubled and annoyed. O, if only they knew with what fear is filled our soul, lest we be mistaken in any of our words, when we refer to the most Holy of all and everything, Father's love!

          How can we however approach this subject? Leaving behind for the time-being some details, we will speak about the most essential.

God’s Distancing From Our Times.Saint Sophrony The Athonite.

         

Saint Sophrony the Athonite.

It is impossible for us to explain every time to new faces that these gatherings are for us a feast.

          Our wish is to live with the Holy Spirit: to live where His Name is called upon. When we come into contact with the Word of God, we cannot of course avoid the fear but neither the joy. How many times have we said, and we will repeat it, that every day and every season and every hour we try to live on holy ground, and this ground is the Church.

        Through what is the Church sanctified.?!.

       Through our effort, struggling not to grieve the Holy Spirit, in trying to grasp every one of His words. These words are written in our hearts: "Christians should speak always from what is given to them by the Spirit and not to philosophize".  If you examine how the Church and the crowds of people reacted to the preaching of the holy Apostles, you would undoubtedly wish to keep that joy and compassionate love for the world.

          Why do I speak with fear about the Word of God.?!.

          Because the Gospel begins with the words: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God"[1]. Those who have the ability of discerning the spiritual state of a person, will confirm, according with the prologue of the Gospel of St. John, that man does not speak thus. It is therefore useless to seek in philosophical works - as some have tried- the origin of this statement of St. John the Theologian.

          Even the most brilliant of men would not be able to speak thus. The meaning of these words is not revealed through human interpretations, but with the perception of the life enclosed in them.

Anecdotes About St. Joseph the HesychastHieromonk Ephraim, St. Nilus Skete, Alaska.

 Saint Joseph the Hesychast.

Elder Sophrony of Essex heard about Elder Joseph and found him on his own. Elder Sophrony visited him frequently because he had great reverence for him. He later said that Elder Joseph was one of the greatest ascetics of the Holy Mountain he had ever met. In a letter of his, Elder Sophrony wrote the following about their meeting: “I wanted to hear the words of this bearer of great grace. He spoke to me primarily about the hesychastic life of a hermit and that he himself had seen the Uncreated Light several times. My discussion with Geronda left a deep impression on me.... I had the impression that I had in front of me a spiritual general.” Indeed, he was “the teacher”—which is what pious monks of the wilderness of the Holy Mountain would call him out of reverence and respect.

Saint Sophrony (Sakharov).Worship and Prayer. by Mother Mariam (Zacca)

Excerpts from the video presented in the international symposium "Meeting with the Confessor - Elder Sophrony (Sakharov)" that was held in Neamt Monastery, Iasi, Romania - November 2016.