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.'

Trouve le moyen de sauver le monde.!!.Saint Sophrony l’Athonite.

         

Saint Sophrony l'Athonite.

«Dieu, tu connais ma folie, et mes fautes ne te sont pas cachées» (Ps 68, 6). Maintenant, je vis dans un état de déchéance mais toi, Christ, tu m'appelles à croire et à accepter la révélation que le Père nous aime, comme il t'aime, toi, son Fils unique: «Le Père lui-même vous aime, parce que vous m'aimez. [ ... ] je ne prie pas pour eux seulement, mais aussi pour ceux qui, grâce à leur parole, croiront en moi, afin que tous soient un. Comme toi, Père, tu es en moi et moi en toi, qu'eux aussi soient en nous, afin que le monde croie que tu m'as envoyé [...] et que tu les as aimés comme tu m'as aimé» (Jn 16,27; 17,20-23).

Notre foi en Christ nous rend démesurément audacieux. Ce n'est pas pour rien que le bienheureux Paul dit que «la folie de Dieu est plus sage que les hommes». Ce qui semble pure folie pour l'entendement charnel est, pour les croyants, sagesse et force, vie et lumière (voir 1 Co 1, 18-30 ; 2, 14; 3, 18-19). 

Notre foi en Christ nous rend démesurément audacieux. Ce n'est pas pour rien que le bienheureux Paul dit que «la folie de Dieu est plus sage que les hommes». Ce qui semble pure folie pour l'entendement charnel est, pour les croyants, sagesse et force, vie et lumière (voir 1 Co 1, 18-30 ; 2, 14; 3, 18-19).

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.

Le monde devient un zoo géant.!..Saint Sophrony l’Athonite.

 

Saint Sophrony avec le monastère
Saint Jean-Baptiste. Essex.

    Vous savez bien que nous sommes souvent obligés de dire beaucoup moins que nous le voudrions, surtout dans notre situation actuelle. Nous sommes tous habitués à retenir ce qui nous vient aux lèvres. C'est très bien quand les gens retiennent le mensonge, la calomnie, l'offense qui amènent ruine et désolation dans le monde entier, et détruisent, souvent de manière irréparable, les vies humaines. Mais malheureusement il n'y a pas que cela à être refoulé: les choses bonnes, constructives et vivifiantes le sont aussi.

Que la joie d'attendre la venue du Jour sans Déclin du Christ ne vous quitte pas, et que la véritable inspiration, qui n'est autre que l'Esprit Saint lui­-même, demeure constamment avec vous et vous enveloppe plus encore que l'air terrestre. Ce souhait est d'autant plus ardent maintenant que dans le monde entier naissent et se multiplient les «préhommes», des brutes trop souvent incapables d'ac­cepter la naissance donnée par l'Esprit, donnée d'en haut: ils restent des «préhommes» jusqu'à la fin de leurs jours et sont privés de la conscience d'être des fils de Dieu, incapables de dire comme il faut la prière du Seigneur, le « Notre Père ...» Le monde devient un zoo géant. Et nous devons constamment élever nos voix vers Dieu pour qu'Il envoie à ce monde, qui périt dans l'étau du désespoir et de l'absence de sens, une nouvelle révélation - ou plutôt de nouveaux miracles (pas d'ordre technique, bien sûr), afin de réveiller la conscience de ces «préhommes» et qu'ils naissent à une vie humaine authentique. Le Starets et beaucoup d'autres ascètes ont prié pour le monde pendant des décennies, et cette prière est sans fin. Mais le Christ a vaincu, et sa victoire demeure pour l'éternité.

    Nous observons tous, non sans étonnement, la rapidité avec laquelle l'humanité s'est mise à s'éloigner de l'Église, s'éloigner du Christ. Pour moi, ce phénomène s'explique par le fait que depuis déjà plus d'un demi-siècle (depuis 1914) la terre entière vit dans une atmosphère de lutte fratricide inces­sante sans que personne ne se repente de ce péché. Dans cet état, il est naturel que les gens n'osent pas regarder la grande Lumière du Christ. Croire que nous tous sommes les enfants du Créateur Éternel du monde, ce qui est la Bonne Nouvelle du Christ, croire en notre éternité promise par la résurrection des morts, croire que l'homme est l'image du Dieu Vivant, c'est à présent au-dessus de leurs forces: c'est pourquoi ce mouvement d'éloignement général s'accélère et s'amplifie tant.

Quand j'étais en Grèce pendant la guerre et que je confes­sais, je disais aux gens: «Vous avez oublié de me parler d'un grand péché ... - Lequel ? - De ce que vous êtes un meur­trier. .. - Non, je ne suis pas un meurtrier, comment aurais-je pu vous parler de ce péché-là ? .. - Mais dites-moi, pendant la guerre, quand vous appreniez que, lors de telle ou telle opération contre le soi-disant ennemi, vous lui aviez causé de lourdes pertes, est-ce que vous étiez content? - Bien sûr, ce Sont eux qui ont commencé la guerre, c'est leur faute, c'est bien qu'on les batte. - Eh bien voilà, mon cher, on a beau regarder cela du point de vue habituel, humain - sur le plan de l'Evangile vous êtes moralement complice de meurtre et vous devez vous confesser de ce péché. »

Cela, d'après ce que je constate, les gens ne le comprennent pas comme ils le devraient, et c'est pourquoi il ne leur reste plus qu'à refuser de vivre selon l'Évangile, à s'éloigner du Christ, à oublier leur véritable origine spirituelle et à se changer en animaux condamnés à mourir. Dans ces conditions, édifier une église pour le Christ n'est vraiment pas chose facile.!!.

Mosaique de l'arche de Noé.
Monastère Saint Jean-Baptiste. Essex.

 

 

Référence:

Lettres à des amis proches. Archimandrite Sophrony. Cerf(2013).

 

For church Truth and TraditionMetropolitan Cyril of Kazan.

Commemorated January 26 (+ 1937 ?)

The Lord preserved for his chosen people a bishop who did not agree to yield his faith for the sake of peacewith the enemies of Christ 's Church. May his name be blessed from generation to generation. 

Sergei Nilus

Hieromartyr Kirill 

(Smirnov)

    Before his death Patriarch Tikhon left a document concerning his temporary successor, the Locum Tenens, who was to occupy the Patriarchal Throne until a new Patriarch could be freely elected for Russia. The Communist program which was being imposed upon much-suffering Holy Russia, and which was not actually atheistic but rather anti-theistic, had already made it extremely unlikely that such a free election could be held. In his choice of three successor hierarchs, the Martyr-Patriarch indicated the path for the Church to follow: these men were above all noted for their strict Orthodoxy of faith and boldness in confessing it, qualities which prepared them to become great confessors such as the Church had in the early catacomb times. The first of these pillars of firmness in unadulterated Orthodoxy was Metropolitan Cyril of Kazan, a towering figure in the Russian Church and an inspirer of the Catacomb Church.

Hieromartyr Kirill 

(Smirnov)

    Born Constantine Smirnov on April 26, 1863, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy in 1887. After marriage he was ordained priest, but soon he became a widower and was tonsured a monk and appointed head of an Orthodox Mission in Urmia. In 1904 he was consecrated Bishop of Gdov, a vicar of the Petersburg diocese, where he became spiritually very close to the great luminary of the 20th century, St. John of Kronstadt. Theholy pastor was greatly attached to the young hierarch, and in his last will St. John asked that his funeral be served and that he be buried by none other than the young Bishop Cyril. When the Saint died in 1908, Bishop Cyril fulfilled this request with great love and care, placing the body in the coffin and being the chief celebrant in the funeral services that followed, even though there were many elder hierarchs present. St. John knew well and greatly respected the high spiritual caliber of Bishop Cyril. 

Hieromartyr Kirill 

(Smirnov)

    During the celebration of Theophany in Petersburg in 1909 Bishop Cyril revealed himself as an outstanding fighter for church truth and tradition. Under the influence of worldly "scientific" elements it was officially decreed that all water which was to be blessed for the feast in the Petersburg diocese must be boiled beforehand, and thus the great Agiasma had to be performed over steaming pots. One outspoken church organ of the time noted that: 

    "More faith was shown in the firewood necessary to boil the water and kill the germs, than in God. Fortunately, however, not everyone stepped away from the anchor of our salvation, and in the same Petersburg the lord preserved for his chosen ones a single bishop who did not agree to yield his faith for the sake of peace with the enemies of Christ's Church. If these notes ever see the light of print, let them preserve the name of this loyal servant of God and archpastor, for the strengthening of faith and piety in my overburdened brethren. Cyril of Gdov is the name of this bishop. May his name be blessed from generation to generation." Defying the warnings of the police. Bishop Cyril blessed the water of the Neva River at the St. Alexander NevskyLavraright through a hole in the ice. The local police, however, took measures to ensure that no one was allowed to take water from the "Jordan." 

Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov), 

photo from the 1934 file

    In 1924, when Metropolitan Cyril had refused to join the Living Church. The head of the secret police,

Tuchkov, had promised him that he would "rot in prison"; and indeed, for the rest of his life he went from prison to exile to yet more remote exile. Being in exile in 1925 when Patriarch Tikhon died, he was unable to undertake the responsibilities of Locum Tenens, and this position fell to the Patriarch's third choice, Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsa. When the latter's Substitute, Metropolitan Sergius, issued his infamous "Declaration" in 1927 Metropolitan Cyril was in exile in a remote village in Turukhan in the far north, beyond the Arctic Circle, suffering from a kidney disease. From there he sent outspoken letters both to Metropolitan Sergius and to Bishop Damascene of Glukhov (who was in exile in the same region) breaking off communion with Metropolitan Sergius, declaring his acts null and void, and stating that he had overstepped his authority by instituting a whole new church policy without even consulting the Locum Tenens. Bishop Damascene's secretary at that time. E. Lope. who recently published one such letter, also states that "in 1931 all the bishops in exile recognized Metropolitan Cyril, and not Metropolitan Sergius, as the head of the Orthodox Church" (Bishops Confessors, p. 3')). 

    According to information received from the Soviet Union in 1937, Metropolitan Cyril was killed in exile at that time on direct orders from Moscow. at the beginning of the Ezhov purges, as a "chief inspirer" of the Catacomb Church. 

The assassination of St. Cyril, Metropolitan of Kazan 

November 7, 1937

Reference:

 Excerpts from the book "Russia's Catacomb Saints" by Ivan Andreyev

A healthy new year.!!.Athonite elders.

12 Thoughts of Athonite Elders on How to Stay

 Healthy and Defeat Your Diseases.

 

    

Saint Porphyrios.

    1-When we give ourselves to Christ, then our spiritual organism is in peace, which allows our organs begin to function naturally. They all depend on our condition. Then we recover and stop suffering… It can also be so in case of cancer: if we trust in God and our soul is calm, then the Divine Grace together with this world can work in such a way that cancer and any other illness will go away. If you do not know, I can tell you that neurosis is the reason of stomach ulcers. The thing is that sympathic nervous system is under pressure; it collapses and suffers, which leads to ulcer. The same we can say about cancer. Both diseases depend on our nervous system. When everything is confused in our soul, it affects our body and undermines our health. (St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia)

“Answer To A Witness”...Mother Mariam Zacca

 

Dear Mother Mariam!

Your prayers!

 

Saint Sophrony with Father Touma(Bitar)
and Mother Mariam (Zacca). Essex. 1990.

Greetings from Austria.  I am a Greek Catholic priest in Salzburg and I simply wished to write to thank you for your powerful testimony about Elder now Saint Sophrony Sakharov. 

Some fourteenth years ago an Athonite monk advised me to read Father Sophrony’s book WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS.  Unfortunately, I waited a long time and only read it in 2019.

 This book has had a tremendous impact on my life.  Thank you for your blog and your witness to Fr. Sophrony in your life.

Your blog has been a great blessing!  Forgive me for writing so spontaneously, but I wish to thank you for sharing this.  In a strange way I feel that Fr. Sophrony has truly become part of my life and life of my wife and our little family. 

May the Lord uphold your monastery and grant His blessing to beautiful Lebanon and all the nations of the world.  I humbly ask for your prayers.

 

With greetings in the Lord from the city of Salzburg, Austria,

Father John Reves

 

“The action on man's spirit of the Light of which I write bears witness to its Divine Nature. It is uncreated, unnameable. It is mysterious, imponderable, inviolable.

I do not know how to describe it. By nature it is otherworldly, supranatural. Its coming down on us is no less than the manifestation of God to man, the revelation of heavenly mysteries.

By the gift of this Light at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor was knowledge of God confirmed. From the moment it shone there on the three Apostles it entered into the history of our world, to become the inalienable inheritance of generation after gener­ation of those who believe in Christ-God.

Without this Light the earth would have for ever lacked true knowledge of God. Judging by my own experience I would call it the Light of resurrection. Its coming introduces the spirit into the sphere where there is no death. Without its irradiation it is impossible duly to apprehend the ways of salvation. The world - people - would remain in the darkness of ignorance. Even the most exquisite abstract theological formation does not mean salvation since it merely provides intellectual understanding without lifting one to the realm of Divine Being.

Sometimes this Light can be likened to a mountain-cloud over the heights where you stand. The cloud itself is saturated with light but you cannot see anything but cloud - all the rest of the world has disappeared.

Thus the Divine Light, bringing a new image of spiritual being, screens from our eyes the sight of the material world. This Light is steady, entire. It is full of profound peace. In it the soul contemplates Divine Love and Goodness. In its rich outpouring man ceases to be aware of his surroundings, even of his own body. Furthermore, he sees himself as light. This Light approaches softly, tenderly, so that one does not notice its embrace. Such a condition is like the gentle falling asleep of an ordinarily healthy person; but, of course, it is by no means sleep but fulness of life.

With the departure of this Light, as quiet as its advent, the soul slowly returns to her usual awareness of the everyday world. In the softened heart there is a deep peace.

The spirit continues to dwell at one and the same time on the divine plane and the earthly. The former, however, gradually recedes and a certain sadness invades the soul - a feeling of regret that with return of physical sensibility the inexpressibly benign touch of the Divine Spirit is fading away.

The fragrancy of the vision fades but does not altogether disappear. However, the very fading away begets a gentle longing for God; but prayer flows peacefully and from the whole being. Dwelling with the Lord destroys the passions - there is no more hankering after renown, riches, power or anything else of this world, all of which are connected with the passions, marked with tragedy and of short duration”..!!

(“We Shall See Him As He Is”, Archimandrite Sophrony(Sakharov), Essex 1988)

Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov)

We Shall See Him As He Is.

... And I ask myself.!..

Does anyone dare put down an answer to this affirmative title... “We Shall See Him... As He Is”.!..

Who dares say that.?!...

The Heart of God Is the answer.!!..

Who carries God’s Heart.?!..

God Himself.!!!.

We can’t but say: This book of “We Shall See Him... As He Is”, remains a very different and difficult book that was written by “Saint Sophrony Sakharov”...

And the answer, which is No answer is:

It Is only God who “dares” give an answer.!!!.

This is how and why a human soul gives an answer.!!!.

It is not a “Human Soul” that carries the Breath of “Saintliness”...

It is only:  The Heart of God The Lord, Creator of Humanity and Saintliness that dares says:

Yes.!!. I Am Who I Am.!!!.

I Am Who Is.!!!.

GOD LORD CREATOR.!!!.

AMEN.!!!.

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.