Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Holy Abba Anthony the Great: The Life in the SPIRIT is in the Desert, Not in the World
Once Abba Antonios received a letter from Emperor Constantine the Great which requested him to go to Constantinople. He wondered about what to do. So he said to his disciple, Abba Paul: "What do you say? Should I go?" And the Abba answered him: "If you go, you will be called 'Antonios'; however, if you do not go, 'Abba Antonios.'"
St. Isaac the Syrian: The Blessing of Humility
Be despised and rejected in your own eyes, and you will see the Glory of GOD within yourself, for where humility blossoms, there GOD's Glory bursts forth.If you strive to be slighted openly by all men, GOD will magnify your honour. If you are humble in your heart, then in your heart, HE will show you HIS Glory.
Learn how to be despised, while being filled with the LORD's honour, rather than how to be honoured, while you are smitten within.
Blessed is he who who has humbled himself in all things, for he will be exalted in all. For someone who for GOD's sake humbles himself and thinks meanly of himself, is glorified by GOD.
The person who hungers and thirsts for GOD's sake, GOD will make drunk with HIS good things, with the wine whose inebriation never leaves those who drink it.
He, who goes naked for GOD's sake is clad by HIM in raiment of glory. He who becomes poor and in need for GOD's sake is strengthened in consolation by HIS true riches.
Despise yourself for GOD's sake, and without your being aware of it your glory will become great. --St. Isaac the Syrian
The Shepherd of Hermas: First Parable
...[Y]ou who are the servants of GOD are living in a foreign country, for your city is far from this city. If, therefore, you know...your city in which you are destined to live, why do you prepare fields and expensive possessions and buildings and useless rooms here?
The one who prepares these things for this city, therefore, does not plan to return to his own city. Foolish and double-minded and miserable man, don't you realize that all these things are foreign to you, and under someone else's authority? For the lord of this city will say, "I don't want you to live in my city; instead, leave this city, because you do not conform to my laws." So you have fields and dwellings and many other possessions, what will you do with your field and your house and all the other things you have prepared for yourself when you are expelled by him? For the lord of this country has every right to say to you, "Either conform to my laws, or get out of my country."
So what are you going to do, since you are subject to the law of your own city? For the sake of your fields and the rest of your possessions, will you totally renounce your own law and live according to the law of this city? Take care: it may not be in your best interest to renounce your law, for if you should want to return to your city, you will certainly not be accepted, because you have renounced the law of your city, and will be shut out of it.
So take care, as one living in a foreign land, do not prepare for yourself one thing more than is necessary to be self-sufficient, and be prepared so that whenever the master of this city wants to expel you because of your opposition to his law, you can leave his city and come to your own city, and joyfully conform to your law, free from insult.
Take care, therefore, that you serve GOD and have HIM in your heart. Work GOD's works, remembering HIS commandments and the promises that HE made, and trust HIM to keep them, if HIS commandments are kept.
So, instead of fields buy souls that are in distress, as anyone is able, and visit widows and orphans, and do not neglect them, and spend your wealth and all your possessions, which you receive from GOD, on fields and houses of this kind. For this is why the MASTER made you rich, so that you might perform these ministries for HIM. It is much better to purchase fields and possessions and houses of this kind, which you will find in your own city when you go home to it. This lavish expenditure is beautiful and joyous: it does not bring grief or fear, but joy.
So do not practice the extravagance of the heathen, for it is unprofitable to you, the servants of GOD. But do practice your own extravagance, in which you can rejoice, and do not imitate or touch what belongs to another, nor covet it, for it is evil to covet someone else's things. But do your own task, and you will be saved. --The Shepherd of Hermas: Parable 1 (mid second century AD)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Interview With Elder Paisius (Olaru) Of Sihla Skete
Counsels from Contemporary Romanian Elders To Laypeople, Monastics, and Clergy.
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THE FAME of the recently reposed Elder Hieromonk Paisius (1897-1990) was spread through all Moldavia, as is that of his disciple, Archimandrite Cleopas (Ilie). They both had the same zeal for Christ, for the protection of the Orthodox faith, for prayer, fasting, love, silence. Through their ascetic lives and great personal experience they attained to a spiritual stature rarely seen today. By their holy lives, sermons, and wise counsel they refreshed Christians of all ranks and ages who eagerly have recourse to their cells for a word of salvation. Fr. Paisius was a father-confessor of the heart. He would begin first with prayer, and then he heard the confession and gave fatherly advice from whatever words sprang from his heart. He would weep when penitents confessed their sins, and seeing him they were humbled and began to weep for their own sins. He rarely spoke about hell; his consoling words more often dealt with the mercy of God and the blessedness of the righteous. Thus he bade farewell to his spiritual children with the words: “We will meet again at the door of Paradise!” He is the father of forgiveness, love, and paradisal joy.
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1. EARLY REMINISCENCES
—Father Paisius, tell us something about your birthplace.
I was born in the village of Stroie¸sti in Boto¸sani County in 1897, and my parents were called John and Catherine. I was the youngest of the five children in our home. My parents lived in peace throughout their whole lives, and taught me to love Christ by taking me frequently to the divine services in the church.
—What advice did your parents give you when you were a child?
They taught me mostly by their life, for they were simple people. I never heard them quarreling or abusing each other. My father knew the Paraclesis to the Mother of God by heart, as well as other prayers, and he prayed so loudly that we also could hear him. He used to say like the priest, “Let us pray to the Lord!” and he would weep and strike his chest with his fist. And my mother was the friend of everyone, and she said to us many times, “My children, be good, so as not to shame our honor!”
—Who drew you to the monastic life?
The lives of the saints urged me to monasticism, and my love for the Lord. At first I went to the skete of Cozancea, after the war, in 1921. My spiritual father was Fr. Callinicus ¸Su¸su, a great struggler and laborer of prayer. He used to wake me up at midnight every night, saying to me, “Come on, let’s go to church, because the harvest is great and the laborers are few.” It’s true that it was a hardship for me to get up so early, but when I went to church I often found him waiting for me in the exonarthex....
I had within me the desire to live in silence. I wanted to go to Sihastria Monastery, where there was more silence, but the abbot then, Fr. Ioanichie [Moroi], would not accept me without my abbot’s blessing. Therefore I stayed at Cozancea, where with the blessing of my Elder I built a little house and a chapel next to it in a meadow, where I struggled in silence and prayer, without abandoning my obedience in the church. I lived there for eighteen years, until 1948, when I came to Sihastria Monastery.
—Which were the most outstanding disciples you had when you lived in silence?
I had several, but the most advanced was the brother of Fr. Cleopas, named George Ilie. I remember that he lived in a cell with another older brother who didn’t know how to read. He was always silent, forcing himself in prayer and fasting. Once, when they were praying together in the evening, Brother George gave himself two slaps on the cheeks to drive away sleep. Then that elder was frightened and ran away from prayer. He came to me agitated and said that George had gone mad and they could not do their cell-rule together. I went and reconciled them. The next day I was working in the vineyard with the brothers. In the evening we sent the novice George to prepare the food. When we came, we found a sign on the table on which he had written, “Forgive me, Father Paisius, I am going into the forest for five days to weep for my sins.” We ate, said our evening prayers, and went to bed. At midnight I heard someone knocking on the door. “Who is it?” I asked. “Bless, Father Paisius, it’s Brother George the sinner.” “Brother George went off into silence for five days to repent!” I replied. Then he came into my cell, frightened and exhausted. “What happened?” I asked him. And he said to me, “I went to a hollow in the forest and decided to remain there for five days with prayer and fasting. But when I was reading the evening service with the Akathist to the Archangels, I heard a terrible voice: ‘What are you doing here?’ It was satan! Then I was scared and took the Horologion of the Church, and I don’t know how I got here. Please forgive me, Father Paisius.’’ “May God forgive you, Brother George,” I answered. “This is what happens to those who do any work without the blessing of their elder.”
After Brother George left for Sihastria Monastery, God sent me another good disciple, also named George. He came from the village of Flaminzi, was very old, with a beard and white hair, and his whole life he had been a shepherd. Our first meeting was on a winter evening, after Vespers. He appeared before me outside the threshold of the church, barefoot and with a serene face. He shook his feet to get the snow off. He stayed with me as a disciple for eight years. All I have to say is that he surpassed me in everything, in fasting, prayer, humility, and he never did anything without a blessing. He always remains in my memory as a true hermit. He did not count his prostrations, and he prayed almost the whole night long. Once he asked me: ‘’Father Paisius, about how many prostrations should I make for one lei [about one cent], when someone gives it to me and asks me to pray for him?’’ “About ten prostrations are enough,” I said. “No, Father,” he said, “I make a hundred prostrations for a lei....” I cannot remember and note down everything that I saw and was profited by in the eight years I lived with this beloved and saintly elder.
—What spiritual counsels did you give your disciples?
Before I became a priest and confessor, I didn’t counsel laymen much. I used to urge those who came to me to pray much, to read the Psalter, make prostrations, fast, be at peace with each other, and I would bring them to the priest of the Skete for confession. And with my disciples, I was obliged to instruct them more by deeds and less by words. When they saw me get up for prayer, fast, be silent, and conduct myself towards them with meekness, they also were constrained to do even greater things. After I was ordained, I was obliged to try to benefit them by words, because my life did not correspond with my teachings. But by the grace of Christ I strove to pacify everyone and send them back to their cells calm.
—Since you loved to care for the sick, tell us something about the good repose of certain monks or disciples of your holiness.
Yes, I loved to help the sick, not from love of God, but from human duty. If I were to write about the good deaths of all the monks whom I took care of, I would have to write a whole book. But I can give a few examples. I remember one brother, named George Cosmanciuc, a great struggler. When he fell ill he called me to his bed and asked me to tonsure him a monk. On the third day after his tonsure, he received communion of the Spotless Mysteries, asked forgiveness of all, and while in my arms gave up his soul into the hands of God. A certain hierodeacon named Gerasim Vieru, when he became sick, asked me to read the Paraclesis to the Theotokos. When I had come to the middle, he gave over his soul into God’s embrace. Another hierodeacon, Nicon Draguleanu, a great laborer, called me one day and told me to lock his cell and come again tomorrow at eight, “so we can sing Alleluia with the angels.” When the next day came, I was delayed by people and could not be at his cell at the appointed time. I went at nine, but Fr. Nicon had just reposed, because his body was still warm. I wept and lamented much that I had not come an hour earlier and sung Alleluia with the angels! I also knew a wonderful elder, the monk Herman Conturachi, who was almost ninety years old. He was a pure soul, and had been a shepherd his whole life. He had a great devotion to St. Nicholas, and would pray to him like this, “St. Nicholas, bear with me, a sinner. I am an old man and you are an old man—have mercy on me!” I found him dead in his cell one summer, and I brought him to the flower-filled church to the ringing of the bells. Nor can I forget Monk Gennadius Avatamani¸tei, who was my cell-attendant for eight years. Even though he was old, he made prostrations next to my bed when I was sick, so that I might be made well and not die before him. He said to me many times, “Fr. Paisius, in my whole life I have never slept in a bed or taken medicines.” When the hour of his death drew near he asked me to take him out of his cell. I left him on the grass facing the east, and so he fell asleep on the bare earth as he had been accustomed to do in his youth, as a shepherd. May God forgive them. Their humility and simplicity remain indelible in my memory, for they were not educated men with many books, but they fulfilled with piety those things they received from their predecessors—namely, the cell-rule, church services, and handiwork. They were also, I believe, very advanced in mental prayer.
—When did you arrive at Sihastria Monastery, Fr. Paisius, and what was the fathers’ spiritual life like then?
I came to Sihastria in 1948. The abbot then was Fr. Cleopas. There was a true coenobitic life then. I knew fathers who didn’t have anything in their cells except a bed and a few books. Fr. Dometian, a virtuous old monk, was never absent from the church services, and he always punctually began the midnight service. Another humble monk, Fr. Christopher, who cared for the sick, at night used to bring Fr. Michael, who was paralyzed, to church on his back. All the brothers had to come to Matins. When they didn’t come, they didn’t eat the next day. Everyone was grateful for the peace and quiet that reigned in the holy monastery of Sihastria.
—Fr. Paisius, when did you move to Slatina Monastery, and what was the spiritual life there like?
I moved to Slatina in the autumn of 1949 with a community of twenty-three brothers from Sihastria, headed by Fr. Cleopas. I met spiritual monks there too, such as Archimandrite Paisius Cosma. Before his death, Fr. Paisius called all the fathers and was forgiven by all. I also came next to him and urged him to say the Jesus Prayer. Then he answered me: “Fr. Paisius, I am a sinful man, a great sinner, but I have never known any other God. I have supplicated Him my whole life, and I believe that He will care for me!” And saying this, he gave over his soul before us.
I also knew a holy monk whom I took under my mantia to be made a schemamonk, Juvenal Birsan. He always read the Psalter, loved obedience and silence. He was the ecclesiarch and kolyva-maker, and never made a mistake. He also loved poverty and had nothing in his cell except two monastic garments, a small rug for prostrations, and a Psalter, and he was always content. More brethren came to Slatina at that time, and there was obedience and harmony among us. For what on earth is more good and beautiful than love!
—You also lived for a while at Rarau Skete. What spiritual remembrances do you have from there?
I lived for about one year in Rarau Skete, which was a dependency of Slatina Monastery. Several monks struggled there, of which the most outstanding, it seemed to me, was a blind monk named Nicodemus. He was strong in faith and skilled in spiritual counsel. One time the abbot of the Skete asked me if I had acquired mental prayer. I answered him that I had not heard anything about it. Then he locked me in a small cell with the windows blocked up, and ordered me to say the Jesus Prayer continually. I stayed closed in there for a week. Afterwards he examined me to see if I had acquired the prayer. I replied that I had not been able to become accustomed to it. When he heard that, he was upset and said, “You are a small and empty vessel! Stay one more week in the same cell to learn mental prayer.” I stayed there another week, and on Saturday, when he came to ask me the same thing, in order not to upset him again I told him that I had acquired the prayer. Then he was happy and ordered me to teach it to others. But even now I have not gained the habit of mental prayer, because I don’t have spiritual life and I don’t love God as I ought....
—What other profitable memories do you have from your time in Rarau?
Once when I was going with my disciple to Rarau, we passed through a village in the mountains called Slatioara. A woman came to me there and told me that in a certain house there was an old woman who was not able to die because she was at odds with one of her neighbors. I went to the house, called the neighbor, read the prayer of absolution over them, reconciled them, and when I left the house that woman gave up her soul in peace. Her soul was waiting to be at peace with everyone, for without forgiveness we can’t be saved.
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2. ON SPIRITUAL FATHERHOOD
—As a father-confessor in Sihastria Monastery for thirty years, what do you have to tell us about that difficult obedience?
Spiritual fatherhood is the most difficult obedience in monastic life. On the spiritual father depends the salvation or punishment of each soul entrusted to him, the monastic tonsure of the brethren in the monastery, permission for laymen and monks to receive Communion, as well as giving surety for the worthiness of candidates for the priesthood. A spiritual father has a great responsibility, and therefore it is much more difficult for him to be saved than for a monk or layman. As the confessor of Sihastria Monastery I had many spiritual joys, but also temptations and some disappointments. Most of the fathers and brothers came to me for confession. The more zealous ones, which were the greater number, took account of my blessing, confessed sincerely, and entrusted their souls into the hands of the abbot and spiritual father. These gave me the most joy, for I received them as my spiritual children. I comforted them, calmed them down when there were temptations, and advised them to have greater love for obedience, church services, silence, humility, and prayer in their cells. Some of them, however, came rarely to confession, were slow to forgive others, grumbled at their obediences, and were sometimes very dissatisfied. With them I had more work to do. Much patience and skill was needed to gain them spiritually. Sometimes I went to their cells. Sometimes I gave them an easier prayer-rule, encouraged them, and I prayed for them very much. Some of them were benefited, while others I at least kept from falling into worse things and leaving the monastery. But how much I succeeded, how many I gained or lost, God alone knows. I only know one thing, that I will have to answer for all those I confessed and counselled before the judgment of Christ.
—Does it seem easier to you to be a spiritual father of laymen or of monks?
It’s harder to pastor monks and priests than laymen, because they have given vows and have a great responsibility since they know the word of God and the sacred canons, but still do not do their duties. That is to say, they sin with their will and knowledge. Laymen have less responsibility, and many sin from ignorance. Here is fulfilled the Gospel saying, “To whom much is given, of him much will be required, and to whom little is given, of him little will be required.”
—A priest-confessor asked the Elder for advice, and he said to him:
The most difficult work for a priest is Divine Liturgy and confession. Some priests have been harmed and have even fallen because of confession. A spiritual father should be a light for all and a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit. If he has the Holy Spirit he will not be harmed by men’s weaknesses, because he has divine grace upon him which can heal the souls of Christians. But if he is passionate, the Holy Spirit does not work in him and he will easily be injured when he hears men’s sins. Such a priest should not confess the people. According to the canons, spiritual fatherhood is given only to those who are old and tested in virtue. A spiritual father should be a light for all, a father for all, a good counselor and skilled guide of souls. He should be a true pastor, and not a hireling who serves the holy things for money and earthly gain. He must be as a candle on a candlestand to enlighten all, and not under a bed. The spiritual father, even if he is sometimes upset during confession by the sins of men, should never scandalize the faithful, for thus he loses all his labor. Whenever we are going to hear confessions, we must first pray and have meekness, and then by appropriate discernment and the grace of God we can gain many for salvation.
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3. ON PRAYER-RULES
—What rule do you give a novice, a monk, a schemamonk, and a hieromonk?
I don’t give a rule with numbers. Usually I give the brothers who confess to me a cell rule, such as the Akathist to the saint of the day, the Paraclesis to the Theotokos or another saint, and if they are able, a kathisma of the Psalter. Furthermore, I tell the novices in the monastery to make forty prostrations, the monks to make a hundred, and for schemamonks I double the rule, because they have received five talents and have to increase them. How I suffered once from a prayer-rule! After I was tonsured a monk, I went to my confessor and asked him what rule I should do. He told me: “As you are in obedience, do whatever you can.” But I was not satisfied with this answer and went a second time and asked him. Then my confessor said to me somewhat sternly, “Since you’re asking me for a second time, from now on do what you can’t!’’ For obedience in the monastery and the labor of the coenobium cover a part of the rule.
—What rule do you give to the sick who cannot make prostrations?
To the old and sick I give a rule according to their strength. If they cannot labor with their body, I tell them to double their prayer with the Jesus Prayer. At one time a schemamonk, Nicanor Bitica, lived at Sihastria Monastery. In his old age he could not make full prostrations, but he made bows from his stool. After he fell from his bed he could no longer make either bows or the sign of the Cross; he could only mark the Cross on his chest, and thus he fulfilled his rule. So everyone should do what he can, with the counsel of his spiritual father, because “God loves a cheerful giver.”
—A sick woman, after confessing to the Elder, asked him for a rule. He told her:
The rule for a sick person is the bed of pain. Endure your illness with gratitude, and you will be saved. As much as you can, say the ‘’Our Father,’’ the Jesus Prayer, the Trisagion, and the Creed, and if you refrain from murmuring and go regularly to confession, you will soon gain eternal life.
—What rule do you give to laymen, to parents with children, and to young people who want to get married?
To laymen I give a rule according to their circumstances. For those who have many children, the most important rule is to raise their children in the fear of God and to not murder them by abortion or injure them. Those who don’t have children must give alms if they can; if they are poor, their rule is to not steal and to attend church. I tell young people to preserve their sobriety and honor before marriage, and after marriage to have children, as many as God gives them. I tell them to not have abortions, to not avoid childbearing by artificial means, to have a good spiritual father they confess to, and to follow the laws of the Church regarding fasting, temperance, and frugality.
—What penance do you give those who have denied the faith and then repented?
Those who don’t believe in God and don’t go to confession, I don’t receive either. But if they sincerely repent, I have them first recite the Creed three times. Then I tell them to venerate in the church, to venerate the holy icons and the relics of the saints. Afterwards I confess them, give them a rule according to their strength, and if in the future they love and venerate the church and obey her laws, I give them permission to have Communion. This depends on their faith and repentance. If they still have doubts about the faith, I give them appropriate books to read to strengthen their faith.
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4. ON MONASTICISM
—What is the most important work of monasteries and monks?
To pray unceasingly for themselves and for the whole world. To glorify God always, to teach and console the faithful. In the monastery Martha should obey Mary, and not the other way around, and live harmoniously with her. If we will do this, ‘’nothing will destroy our city.’’
—Why have zeal for prayer and good works weakened today, both in the monasteries and among laypeople?
Because faith has diminished in the whole world. Today every layman and monk confesses that he cannot pray as they did in the past. Only with great labor and pains can some good monks and laymen maintain pure prayer day and night. We others are always surrounded by cares, people, and weaknesses, and when we pray our minds are scattered and full of thoughts. Consider the three attacks the Savior passed through when satan tempted him—first by gluttony, second by pride, and third by unbelief. In each case he conquered by ‘’I will worship the Lord my God, and Him alone will I serve.’’ Today there is a great quarrel between “Martha” and “Mary,” over who has chosen the good part. In the monasteries, as everywhere, Martha dominates Mary and does not let her pray much, while Mary weeps inconsolably. If we would put the church and the praise of God first (Mary) and obediences and handiwork second (Martha), then all our monasteries and churches would be spiritually reborn and the devil would flee from men. Spiritual progress begins with the saying: “Lord, help me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother....’’
—What kinds of alms should monks give?
Monks who have something to give must help those in need. I believe that those who help strangers and their enemies will have the greater reward. But the highest almsgiving of monks is to be always poor in all material things and to pray for everyone. As the Psalmist says, “If riches come unto thee, set not your hearts thereon” (Ps. 61:11). Those who have nothing must feel as if they had everything, and those who have must live as if they don’t, and must give to others. The Savior teaches us, make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. That is to say, if I acquire something not proper to our state, I should give it to the poor in the name of the Lord. Almsgiving certainly has great power, but for monks poverty and pure prayer are higher.
—A beginning monk said to the Elder: ‘’What should I do, Father? I can’t endure the obedience I was given.’’
If you can do it but don’t want to, it’s a sin. But if you can’t do it because it’s too burdensome or you’re sick, it’s not a sin. Only ask the abbot and he will arrange another obedience for you, as God will enlighten him. You should do nothing in the monastery without a blessing. If we live under obedience and the cutting off of our wills, we will surely be saved.
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5. ON HUMILITY
—“What is humility, Father Paisius?” some of his disciples once asked him.
Humility is the thought and conviction of our heart that we are more sinful than all men and unworthy of the mercy of God. Reviling ourselves doesn’t mean that we have true humility. True humility is when someone shames and abuses us publicly, and we endure it and say, “God ordered that brother to shame me for my many sins.” We should receive everything as a command of God. When someone shames you, say that God commanded him to do it. When someone takes something of yours, God commanded him to take it, in order to make you a monk. When you are removed from a higher place, God changed your place so that you would change from your passions and bad habits. This is true humility. And pride is when we trust in ourselves, in our mind, our strength, when we think we are more capable than someone else, better, more beautiful, more virtuous, more pleasing to God. Then it is certain that we are overcome by the ugly sin of pride, from which may God, who humbled Himself for our salvation, preserve us. Let us humble ourselves, brethren, because a proud man cannot be saved. Let us weep for our sins here, so we can rejoice forever in the next life, for after we leave this world everyone will forget us. Let us not hope in men, but only in God. A man changes. Today he gives to you and tomorrow he asks from you. Today he praises you and tomorrow he condemns you. Let us place our hope in the mercy of God, and we will never go astray.
—A layman asked the Elder for a profitable word, and he told him:
Brother, often animals are wiser than men. Let us learn obedience and patience from the ox, humility and meekness from the lamb, cleanliness and industry from the ants and bees. We can learn a lesson for our life from all the animals.
The Elder also added: “It’s best for a man to become a clay vessel, which is useful to all people and for all kinds of daily work, for food, water, and so on. But golden vessels are put in safes and locked up in cupboards. For fear of thieves they are seldom used, maybe only once a year. A clay vessel has its daily use and service to man. So also is a humble man who does not seek honors and rank. He remains insignificant even amid men of lower rank, but he benefits, counsels, and helps everyone, and all seek him out and rejoice with him. Humility is a great gift to monks and all Christians!"
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6. THE BEASTS OF THE APOCALYPSE
—“What can you tell us about the heretics, Father Paisius?” the monks of Sihastria Monastery once asked him.
The Apocalypse says that two beasts will deceive the world. One will come from the earth and the other from the sea. The first is the heretics, who say: “Behold, Christ is here, Christ is there, Christ is anywhere!” The second beast from the sea is the unbelievers and blasphemers of God. The sea is the world, while the earth is the Holy Scriptures, from which are born the distorted teachings of the heretics. The first beast, the heretics, serve the second, namely the unbelievers. But who knows by what ways and means God will save His Church and the world! It was He who said: On this rock will I build My Church, and the gates of hell (that is, the mouths of the heretics) will not prevail against it (Matt 16:18). Let us pray to our good God and Savior Jesus Christ to deliver the world and His Church from these two great beasts of perdition.
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7. COUNSELS ON TROUBLES
—A sorrowful Christian asked the Elder for a word of comfort, and he said:
Listen, Brother. Without temptations and griefs we cannot be saved. But we should not be disturbed or grow weak in faith, because now the devil attacks men more cruelly than in the past, for he knows that he has only a little more time to rule over the modern world. Let us pray, endure, and remember the words of the Lord, who said that He will be with us until the end of the ages. We should not despair in the time of our trials, because God has not abandoned us. As in the time of the Prophet Elias the Tishbite, when God still had 7000 of His elect who had not bent the knee to Baal, so also today the Lord still has many elect Christians with strong faith who have not bent their souls to the service of the passions. God has His just ones, in the villages and the cities, who glorify Him day and night and live in virginity and temperance, showing mercy to the poor and widows. But God alone knows their names.
—How can we reconcile those who are quarrelling?
First we should pray for them. Then we should urge them to confess to their spiritual father, and we should counsel them with the words of the Gospel to make peace, according to the Lord’s saying: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). As much as we can, we should strive to make peace, for we are sons of God and bear in ourselves the peace of the Holy Spirit. Those who are not at peace cannot have Communion. If one of them dies unreconciled to his enemy, then the living one must go to his grave for forty days and beg him to forgive him. Of course this is rather difficult. But we urge the living to make a prostration to the dead with whom they quarreled in life, and we hope in the mercy of God, that He will forgive them.
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8. ON ABORTION
—A certain woman who did not want to have many children went to the Elder and asked his advice about what she should do. He said to her:
If you avoid having children, you avoid salvation. One child is not enough, because you might lose it. Many children in a home are usually healthier than one or two, because they often become spoiled and sickly. Here is fulfilled the word of the Lord: He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully (II Cor. 9:6).
A little while ago an old woman came to me for confession, and I asked her: “Sister, how many children do you have?” “Father, I’ve borne eighteen! God took eight of them when they were little, and the other ten are the first citizens in the village!” Another woman came from far away, and I asked her: “How many children do you have, my Christian?” “None, Father.” “And how many abortions have you had up to now?” “Father, I’ve had forty.” “Go and confess to the bishop, my child, and repent while you still have time, because God’s judgment is terrible!” After denial of the faith, the greatest sin in the world is the murder of babies by abortion. These two sins quickly bring God’s wrath and punishment upon men.
—What penance do you give those who have had abortions?
The punishment for abortion and murder in general is life-long repentance. The penance consists of daily prostrations, fasting until evening every Wednesday and Friday, complete avoidance of this sin in the future, and the birth and baptism of other children in place of those killed. Also in such circumstances they are forbidden to receive Communion for seven years, except in the case of a pregnant woman, who can receive Communion as a special allowance.
—Certain Christians asked the Elder, ‘’What will happen to the souls of infants killed by abortion?’’ and he answered with a sigh:
I believe that these infants are martyrs. They will complete the number of the martyrs in the last times, as the Apocalypse says. In dying through abortion they receive the baptism of blood, but the Church does not commemorate them in her prayers in order not to encourage abortions, which for the parents is an act of infanticide.
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9. SPIRITUAL CONCORD
—A disciple asked : ‘’What kind of spiritual tie do you have with Elder Cleopas?”
In the autumn of 1935 Fr. Cleopas returned from the army and visited me at Cozancea Skete to receive a blessing. As I was accompanying him a while through the woods to see him off, I asked him: ‘’Well, now what are you thinking of doing, Brother Constantine?’’ (For he was not yet a monk.) “Will you stay at Cozancea or go back to Sihastria?’’
‘’I will go back to Sihastria, Fr. Paisius, where I lived before for five years, by the graves of my two brothers. I will also have more silence there....’’
Then we both took off our skoufias [hats], knelt down and made three prostrations, and I said the prayer: ‘’Lord, bless our vow that we will be together both in this life and the future one. If I die first, he will be at my head, and if he dies first, I will be at his head! Amen.’’ Then we embraced and parted. With my heart I am bound to Fr. Cleopas as much as it is possible to be in this life....
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From The Orthodox Word, Vol. 28, No. 1 (#162—Jan-Feb, 1992).
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THE FAME of the recently reposed Elder Hieromonk Paisius (1897-1990) was spread through all Moldavia, as is that of his disciple, Archimandrite Cleopas (Ilie). They both had the same zeal for Christ, for the protection of the Orthodox faith, for prayer, fasting, love, silence. Through their ascetic lives and great personal experience they attained to a spiritual stature rarely seen today. By their holy lives, sermons, and wise counsel they refreshed Christians of all ranks and ages who eagerly have recourse to their cells for a word of salvation. Fr. Paisius was a father-confessor of the heart. He would begin first with prayer, and then he heard the confession and gave fatherly advice from whatever words sprang from his heart. He would weep when penitents confessed their sins, and seeing him they were humbled and began to weep for their own sins. He rarely spoke about hell; his consoling words more often dealt with the mercy of God and the blessedness of the righteous. Thus he bade farewell to his spiritual children with the words: “We will meet again at the door of Paradise!” He is the father of forgiveness, love, and paradisal joy.
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1. EARLY REMINISCENCES
—Father Paisius, tell us something about your birthplace.
I was born in the village of Stroie¸sti in Boto¸sani County in 1897, and my parents were called John and Catherine. I was the youngest of the five children in our home. My parents lived in peace throughout their whole lives, and taught me to love Christ by taking me frequently to the divine services in the church.
—What advice did your parents give you when you were a child?
They taught me mostly by their life, for they were simple people. I never heard them quarreling or abusing each other. My father knew the Paraclesis to the Mother of God by heart, as well as other prayers, and he prayed so loudly that we also could hear him. He used to say like the priest, “Let us pray to the Lord!” and he would weep and strike his chest with his fist. And my mother was the friend of everyone, and she said to us many times, “My children, be good, so as not to shame our honor!”
—Who drew you to the monastic life?
The lives of the saints urged me to monasticism, and my love for the Lord. At first I went to the skete of Cozancea, after the war, in 1921. My spiritual father was Fr. Callinicus ¸Su¸su, a great struggler and laborer of prayer. He used to wake me up at midnight every night, saying to me, “Come on, let’s go to church, because the harvest is great and the laborers are few.” It’s true that it was a hardship for me to get up so early, but when I went to church I often found him waiting for me in the exonarthex....
I had within me the desire to live in silence. I wanted to go to Sihastria Monastery, where there was more silence, but the abbot then, Fr. Ioanichie [Moroi], would not accept me without my abbot’s blessing. Therefore I stayed at Cozancea, where with the blessing of my Elder I built a little house and a chapel next to it in a meadow, where I struggled in silence and prayer, without abandoning my obedience in the church. I lived there for eighteen years, until 1948, when I came to Sihastria Monastery.
—Which were the most outstanding disciples you had when you lived in silence?
I had several, but the most advanced was the brother of Fr. Cleopas, named George Ilie. I remember that he lived in a cell with another older brother who didn’t know how to read. He was always silent, forcing himself in prayer and fasting. Once, when they were praying together in the evening, Brother George gave himself two slaps on the cheeks to drive away sleep. Then that elder was frightened and ran away from prayer. He came to me agitated and said that George had gone mad and they could not do their cell-rule together. I went and reconciled them. The next day I was working in the vineyard with the brothers. In the evening we sent the novice George to prepare the food. When we came, we found a sign on the table on which he had written, “Forgive me, Father Paisius, I am going into the forest for five days to weep for my sins.” We ate, said our evening prayers, and went to bed. At midnight I heard someone knocking on the door. “Who is it?” I asked. “Bless, Father Paisius, it’s Brother George the sinner.” “Brother George went off into silence for five days to repent!” I replied. Then he came into my cell, frightened and exhausted. “What happened?” I asked him. And he said to me, “I went to a hollow in the forest and decided to remain there for five days with prayer and fasting. But when I was reading the evening service with the Akathist to the Archangels, I heard a terrible voice: ‘What are you doing here?’ It was satan! Then I was scared and took the Horologion of the Church, and I don’t know how I got here. Please forgive me, Father Paisius.’’ “May God forgive you, Brother George,” I answered. “This is what happens to those who do any work without the blessing of their elder.”
After Brother George left for Sihastria Monastery, God sent me another good disciple, also named George. He came from the village of Flaminzi, was very old, with a beard and white hair, and his whole life he had been a shepherd. Our first meeting was on a winter evening, after Vespers. He appeared before me outside the threshold of the church, barefoot and with a serene face. He shook his feet to get the snow off. He stayed with me as a disciple for eight years. All I have to say is that he surpassed me in everything, in fasting, prayer, humility, and he never did anything without a blessing. He always remains in my memory as a true hermit. He did not count his prostrations, and he prayed almost the whole night long. Once he asked me: ‘’Father Paisius, about how many prostrations should I make for one lei [about one cent], when someone gives it to me and asks me to pray for him?’’ “About ten prostrations are enough,” I said. “No, Father,” he said, “I make a hundred prostrations for a lei....” I cannot remember and note down everything that I saw and was profited by in the eight years I lived with this beloved and saintly elder.
—What spiritual counsels did you give your disciples?
Before I became a priest and confessor, I didn’t counsel laymen much. I used to urge those who came to me to pray much, to read the Psalter, make prostrations, fast, be at peace with each other, and I would bring them to the priest of the Skete for confession. And with my disciples, I was obliged to instruct them more by deeds and less by words. When they saw me get up for prayer, fast, be silent, and conduct myself towards them with meekness, they also were constrained to do even greater things. After I was ordained, I was obliged to try to benefit them by words, because my life did not correspond with my teachings. But by the grace of Christ I strove to pacify everyone and send them back to their cells calm.
—Since you loved to care for the sick, tell us something about the good repose of certain monks or disciples of your holiness.
Yes, I loved to help the sick, not from love of God, but from human duty. If I were to write about the good deaths of all the monks whom I took care of, I would have to write a whole book. But I can give a few examples. I remember one brother, named George Cosmanciuc, a great struggler. When he fell ill he called me to his bed and asked me to tonsure him a monk. On the third day after his tonsure, he received communion of the Spotless Mysteries, asked forgiveness of all, and while in my arms gave up his soul into the hands of God. A certain hierodeacon named Gerasim Vieru, when he became sick, asked me to read the Paraclesis to the Theotokos. When I had come to the middle, he gave over his soul into God’s embrace. Another hierodeacon, Nicon Draguleanu, a great laborer, called me one day and told me to lock his cell and come again tomorrow at eight, “so we can sing Alleluia with the angels.” When the next day came, I was delayed by people and could not be at his cell at the appointed time. I went at nine, but Fr. Nicon had just reposed, because his body was still warm. I wept and lamented much that I had not come an hour earlier and sung Alleluia with the angels! I also knew a wonderful elder, the monk Herman Conturachi, who was almost ninety years old. He was a pure soul, and had been a shepherd his whole life. He had a great devotion to St. Nicholas, and would pray to him like this, “St. Nicholas, bear with me, a sinner. I am an old man and you are an old man—have mercy on me!” I found him dead in his cell one summer, and I brought him to the flower-filled church to the ringing of the bells. Nor can I forget Monk Gennadius Avatamani¸tei, who was my cell-attendant for eight years. Even though he was old, he made prostrations next to my bed when I was sick, so that I might be made well and not die before him. He said to me many times, “Fr. Paisius, in my whole life I have never slept in a bed or taken medicines.” When the hour of his death drew near he asked me to take him out of his cell. I left him on the grass facing the east, and so he fell asleep on the bare earth as he had been accustomed to do in his youth, as a shepherd. May God forgive them. Their humility and simplicity remain indelible in my memory, for they were not educated men with many books, but they fulfilled with piety those things they received from their predecessors—namely, the cell-rule, church services, and handiwork. They were also, I believe, very advanced in mental prayer.
—When did you arrive at Sihastria Monastery, Fr. Paisius, and what was the fathers’ spiritual life like then?
I came to Sihastria in 1948. The abbot then was Fr. Cleopas. There was a true coenobitic life then. I knew fathers who didn’t have anything in their cells except a bed and a few books. Fr. Dometian, a virtuous old monk, was never absent from the church services, and he always punctually began the midnight service. Another humble monk, Fr. Christopher, who cared for the sick, at night used to bring Fr. Michael, who was paralyzed, to church on his back. All the brothers had to come to Matins. When they didn’t come, they didn’t eat the next day. Everyone was grateful for the peace and quiet that reigned in the holy monastery of Sihastria.
—Fr. Paisius, when did you move to Slatina Monastery, and what was the spiritual life there like?
I moved to Slatina in the autumn of 1949 with a community of twenty-three brothers from Sihastria, headed by Fr. Cleopas. I met spiritual monks there too, such as Archimandrite Paisius Cosma. Before his death, Fr. Paisius called all the fathers and was forgiven by all. I also came next to him and urged him to say the Jesus Prayer. Then he answered me: “Fr. Paisius, I am a sinful man, a great sinner, but I have never known any other God. I have supplicated Him my whole life, and I believe that He will care for me!” And saying this, he gave over his soul before us.
I also knew a holy monk whom I took under my mantia to be made a schemamonk, Juvenal Birsan. He always read the Psalter, loved obedience and silence. He was the ecclesiarch and kolyva-maker, and never made a mistake. He also loved poverty and had nothing in his cell except two monastic garments, a small rug for prostrations, and a Psalter, and he was always content. More brethren came to Slatina at that time, and there was obedience and harmony among us. For what on earth is more good and beautiful than love!
—You also lived for a while at Rarau Skete. What spiritual remembrances do you have from there?
I lived for about one year in Rarau Skete, which was a dependency of Slatina Monastery. Several monks struggled there, of which the most outstanding, it seemed to me, was a blind monk named Nicodemus. He was strong in faith and skilled in spiritual counsel. One time the abbot of the Skete asked me if I had acquired mental prayer. I answered him that I had not heard anything about it. Then he locked me in a small cell with the windows blocked up, and ordered me to say the Jesus Prayer continually. I stayed closed in there for a week. Afterwards he examined me to see if I had acquired the prayer. I replied that I had not been able to become accustomed to it. When he heard that, he was upset and said, “You are a small and empty vessel! Stay one more week in the same cell to learn mental prayer.” I stayed there another week, and on Saturday, when he came to ask me the same thing, in order not to upset him again I told him that I had acquired the prayer. Then he was happy and ordered me to teach it to others. But even now I have not gained the habit of mental prayer, because I don’t have spiritual life and I don’t love God as I ought....
—What other profitable memories do you have from your time in Rarau?
Once when I was going with my disciple to Rarau, we passed through a village in the mountains called Slatioara. A woman came to me there and told me that in a certain house there was an old woman who was not able to die because she was at odds with one of her neighbors. I went to the house, called the neighbor, read the prayer of absolution over them, reconciled them, and when I left the house that woman gave up her soul in peace. Her soul was waiting to be at peace with everyone, for without forgiveness we can’t be saved.
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2. ON SPIRITUAL FATHERHOOD
—As a father-confessor in Sihastria Monastery for thirty years, what do you have to tell us about that difficult obedience?
Spiritual fatherhood is the most difficult obedience in monastic life. On the spiritual father depends the salvation or punishment of each soul entrusted to him, the monastic tonsure of the brethren in the monastery, permission for laymen and monks to receive Communion, as well as giving surety for the worthiness of candidates for the priesthood. A spiritual father has a great responsibility, and therefore it is much more difficult for him to be saved than for a monk or layman. As the confessor of Sihastria Monastery I had many spiritual joys, but also temptations and some disappointments. Most of the fathers and brothers came to me for confession. The more zealous ones, which were the greater number, took account of my blessing, confessed sincerely, and entrusted their souls into the hands of the abbot and spiritual father. These gave me the most joy, for I received them as my spiritual children. I comforted them, calmed them down when there were temptations, and advised them to have greater love for obedience, church services, silence, humility, and prayer in their cells. Some of them, however, came rarely to confession, were slow to forgive others, grumbled at their obediences, and were sometimes very dissatisfied. With them I had more work to do. Much patience and skill was needed to gain them spiritually. Sometimes I went to their cells. Sometimes I gave them an easier prayer-rule, encouraged them, and I prayed for them very much. Some of them were benefited, while others I at least kept from falling into worse things and leaving the monastery. But how much I succeeded, how many I gained or lost, God alone knows. I only know one thing, that I will have to answer for all those I confessed and counselled before the judgment of Christ.
—Does it seem easier to you to be a spiritual father of laymen or of monks?
It’s harder to pastor monks and priests than laymen, because they have given vows and have a great responsibility since they know the word of God and the sacred canons, but still do not do their duties. That is to say, they sin with their will and knowledge. Laymen have less responsibility, and many sin from ignorance. Here is fulfilled the Gospel saying, “To whom much is given, of him much will be required, and to whom little is given, of him little will be required.”
—A priest-confessor asked the Elder for advice, and he said to him:
The most difficult work for a priest is Divine Liturgy and confession. Some priests have been harmed and have even fallen because of confession. A spiritual father should be a light for all and a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit. If he has the Holy Spirit he will not be harmed by men’s weaknesses, because he has divine grace upon him which can heal the souls of Christians. But if he is passionate, the Holy Spirit does not work in him and he will easily be injured when he hears men’s sins. Such a priest should not confess the people. According to the canons, spiritual fatherhood is given only to those who are old and tested in virtue. A spiritual father should be a light for all, a father for all, a good counselor and skilled guide of souls. He should be a true pastor, and not a hireling who serves the holy things for money and earthly gain. He must be as a candle on a candlestand to enlighten all, and not under a bed. The spiritual father, even if he is sometimes upset during confession by the sins of men, should never scandalize the faithful, for thus he loses all his labor. Whenever we are going to hear confessions, we must first pray and have meekness, and then by appropriate discernment and the grace of God we can gain many for salvation.
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3. ON PRAYER-RULES
—What rule do you give a novice, a monk, a schemamonk, and a hieromonk?
I don’t give a rule with numbers. Usually I give the brothers who confess to me a cell rule, such as the Akathist to the saint of the day, the Paraclesis to the Theotokos or another saint, and if they are able, a kathisma of the Psalter. Furthermore, I tell the novices in the monastery to make forty prostrations, the monks to make a hundred, and for schemamonks I double the rule, because they have received five talents and have to increase them. How I suffered once from a prayer-rule! After I was tonsured a monk, I went to my confessor and asked him what rule I should do. He told me: “As you are in obedience, do whatever you can.” But I was not satisfied with this answer and went a second time and asked him. Then my confessor said to me somewhat sternly, “Since you’re asking me for a second time, from now on do what you can’t!’’ For obedience in the monastery and the labor of the coenobium cover a part of the rule.
—What rule do you give to the sick who cannot make prostrations?
To the old and sick I give a rule according to their strength. If they cannot labor with their body, I tell them to double their prayer with the Jesus Prayer. At one time a schemamonk, Nicanor Bitica, lived at Sihastria Monastery. In his old age he could not make full prostrations, but he made bows from his stool. After he fell from his bed he could no longer make either bows or the sign of the Cross; he could only mark the Cross on his chest, and thus he fulfilled his rule. So everyone should do what he can, with the counsel of his spiritual father, because “God loves a cheerful giver.”
—A sick woman, after confessing to the Elder, asked him for a rule. He told her:
The rule for a sick person is the bed of pain. Endure your illness with gratitude, and you will be saved. As much as you can, say the ‘’Our Father,’’ the Jesus Prayer, the Trisagion, and the Creed, and if you refrain from murmuring and go regularly to confession, you will soon gain eternal life.
—What rule do you give to laymen, to parents with children, and to young people who want to get married?
To laymen I give a rule according to their circumstances. For those who have many children, the most important rule is to raise their children in the fear of God and to not murder them by abortion or injure them. Those who don’t have children must give alms if they can; if they are poor, their rule is to not steal and to attend church. I tell young people to preserve their sobriety and honor before marriage, and after marriage to have children, as many as God gives them. I tell them to not have abortions, to not avoid childbearing by artificial means, to have a good spiritual father they confess to, and to follow the laws of the Church regarding fasting, temperance, and frugality.
—What penance do you give those who have denied the faith and then repented?
Those who don’t believe in God and don’t go to confession, I don’t receive either. But if they sincerely repent, I have them first recite the Creed three times. Then I tell them to venerate in the church, to venerate the holy icons and the relics of the saints. Afterwards I confess them, give them a rule according to their strength, and if in the future they love and venerate the church and obey her laws, I give them permission to have Communion. This depends on their faith and repentance. If they still have doubts about the faith, I give them appropriate books to read to strengthen their faith.
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4. ON MONASTICISM
—What is the most important work of monasteries and monks?
To pray unceasingly for themselves and for the whole world. To glorify God always, to teach and console the faithful. In the monastery Martha should obey Mary, and not the other way around, and live harmoniously with her. If we will do this, ‘’nothing will destroy our city.’’
—Why have zeal for prayer and good works weakened today, both in the monasteries and among laypeople?
Because faith has diminished in the whole world. Today every layman and monk confesses that he cannot pray as they did in the past. Only with great labor and pains can some good monks and laymen maintain pure prayer day and night. We others are always surrounded by cares, people, and weaknesses, and when we pray our minds are scattered and full of thoughts. Consider the three attacks the Savior passed through when satan tempted him—first by gluttony, second by pride, and third by unbelief. In each case he conquered by ‘’I will worship the Lord my God, and Him alone will I serve.’’ Today there is a great quarrel between “Martha” and “Mary,” over who has chosen the good part. In the monasteries, as everywhere, Martha dominates Mary and does not let her pray much, while Mary weeps inconsolably. If we would put the church and the praise of God first (Mary) and obediences and handiwork second (Martha), then all our monasteries and churches would be spiritually reborn and the devil would flee from men. Spiritual progress begins with the saying: “Lord, help me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother....’’
—What kinds of alms should monks give?
Monks who have something to give must help those in need. I believe that those who help strangers and their enemies will have the greater reward. But the highest almsgiving of monks is to be always poor in all material things and to pray for everyone. As the Psalmist says, “If riches come unto thee, set not your hearts thereon” (Ps. 61:11). Those who have nothing must feel as if they had everything, and those who have must live as if they don’t, and must give to others. The Savior teaches us, make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. That is to say, if I acquire something not proper to our state, I should give it to the poor in the name of the Lord. Almsgiving certainly has great power, but for monks poverty and pure prayer are higher.
—A beginning monk said to the Elder: ‘’What should I do, Father? I can’t endure the obedience I was given.’’
If you can do it but don’t want to, it’s a sin. But if you can’t do it because it’s too burdensome or you’re sick, it’s not a sin. Only ask the abbot and he will arrange another obedience for you, as God will enlighten him. You should do nothing in the monastery without a blessing. If we live under obedience and the cutting off of our wills, we will surely be saved.
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5. ON HUMILITY
—“What is humility, Father Paisius?” some of his disciples once asked him.
Humility is the thought and conviction of our heart that we are more sinful than all men and unworthy of the mercy of God. Reviling ourselves doesn’t mean that we have true humility. True humility is when someone shames and abuses us publicly, and we endure it and say, “God ordered that brother to shame me for my many sins.” We should receive everything as a command of God. When someone shames you, say that God commanded him to do it. When someone takes something of yours, God commanded him to take it, in order to make you a monk. When you are removed from a higher place, God changed your place so that you would change from your passions and bad habits. This is true humility. And pride is when we trust in ourselves, in our mind, our strength, when we think we are more capable than someone else, better, more beautiful, more virtuous, more pleasing to God. Then it is certain that we are overcome by the ugly sin of pride, from which may God, who humbled Himself for our salvation, preserve us. Let us humble ourselves, brethren, because a proud man cannot be saved. Let us weep for our sins here, so we can rejoice forever in the next life, for after we leave this world everyone will forget us. Let us not hope in men, but only in God. A man changes. Today he gives to you and tomorrow he asks from you. Today he praises you and tomorrow he condemns you. Let us place our hope in the mercy of God, and we will never go astray.
—A layman asked the Elder for a profitable word, and he told him:
Brother, often animals are wiser than men. Let us learn obedience and patience from the ox, humility and meekness from the lamb, cleanliness and industry from the ants and bees. We can learn a lesson for our life from all the animals.
The Elder also added: “It’s best for a man to become a clay vessel, which is useful to all people and for all kinds of daily work, for food, water, and so on. But golden vessels are put in safes and locked up in cupboards. For fear of thieves they are seldom used, maybe only once a year. A clay vessel has its daily use and service to man. So also is a humble man who does not seek honors and rank. He remains insignificant even amid men of lower rank, but he benefits, counsels, and helps everyone, and all seek him out and rejoice with him. Humility is a great gift to monks and all Christians!"
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6. THE BEASTS OF THE APOCALYPSE
—“What can you tell us about the heretics, Father Paisius?” the monks of Sihastria Monastery once asked him.
The Apocalypse says that two beasts will deceive the world. One will come from the earth and the other from the sea. The first is the heretics, who say: “Behold, Christ is here, Christ is there, Christ is anywhere!” The second beast from the sea is the unbelievers and blasphemers of God. The sea is the world, while the earth is the Holy Scriptures, from which are born the distorted teachings of the heretics. The first beast, the heretics, serve the second, namely the unbelievers. But who knows by what ways and means God will save His Church and the world! It was He who said: On this rock will I build My Church, and the gates of hell (that is, the mouths of the heretics) will not prevail against it (Matt 16:18). Let us pray to our good God and Savior Jesus Christ to deliver the world and His Church from these two great beasts of perdition.
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7. COUNSELS ON TROUBLES
—A sorrowful Christian asked the Elder for a word of comfort, and he said:
Listen, Brother. Without temptations and griefs we cannot be saved. But we should not be disturbed or grow weak in faith, because now the devil attacks men more cruelly than in the past, for he knows that he has only a little more time to rule over the modern world. Let us pray, endure, and remember the words of the Lord, who said that He will be with us until the end of the ages. We should not despair in the time of our trials, because God has not abandoned us. As in the time of the Prophet Elias the Tishbite, when God still had 7000 of His elect who had not bent the knee to Baal, so also today the Lord still has many elect Christians with strong faith who have not bent their souls to the service of the passions. God has His just ones, in the villages and the cities, who glorify Him day and night and live in virginity and temperance, showing mercy to the poor and widows. But God alone knows their names.
—How can we reconcile those who are quarrelling?
First we should pray for them. Then we should urge them to confess to their spiritual father, and we should counsel them with the words of the Gospel to make peace, according to the Lord’s saying: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). As much as we can, we should strive to make peace, for we are sons of God and bear in ourselves the peace of the Holy Spirit. Those who are not at peace cannot have Communion. If one of them dies unreconciled to his enemy, then the living one must go to his grave for forty days and beg him to forgive him. Of course this is rather difficult. But we urge the living to make a prostration to the dead with whom they quarreled in life, and we hope in the mercy of God, that He will forgive them.
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8. ON ABORTION
—A certain woman who did not want to have many children went to the Elder and asked his advice about what she should do. He said to her:
If you avoid having children, you avoid salvation. One child is not enough, because you might lose it. Many children in a home are usually healthier than one or two, because they often become spoiled and sickly. Here is fulfilled the word of the Lord: He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully (II Cor. 9:6).
A little while ago an old woman came to me for confession, and I asked her: “Sister, how many children do you have?” “Father, I’ve borne eighteen! God took eight of them when they were little, and the other ten are the first citizens in the village!” Another woman came from far away, and I asked her: “How many children do you have, my Christian?” “None, Father.” “And how many abortions have you had up to now?” “Father, I’ve had forty.” “Go and confess to the bishop, my child, and repent while you still have time, because God’s judgment is terrible!” After denial of the faith, the greatest sin in the world is the murder of babies by abortion. These two sins quickly bring God’s wrath and punishment upon men.
—What penance do you give those who have had abortions?
The punishment for abortion and murder in general is life-long repentance. The penance consists of daily prostrations, fasting until evening every Wednesday and Friday, complete avoidance of this sin in the future, and the birth and baptism of other children in place of those killed. Also in such circumstances they are forbidden to receive Communion for seven years, except in the case of a pregnant woman, who can receive Communion as a special allowance.
—Certain Christians asked the Elder, ‘’What will happen to the souls of infants killed by abortion?’’ and he answered with a sigh:
I believe that these infants are martyrs. They will complete the number of the martyrs in the last times, as the Apocalypse says. In dying through abortion they receive the baptism of blood, but the Church does not commemorate them in her prayers in order not to encourage abortions, which for the parents is an act of infanticide.
+++
9. SPIRITUAL CONCORD
—A disciple asked : ‘’What kind of spiritual tie do you have with Elder Cleopas?”
In the autumn of 1935 Fr. Cleopas returned from the army and visited me at Cozancea Skete to receive a blessing. As I was accompanying him a while through the woods to see him off, I asked him: ‘’Well, now what are you thinking of doing, Brother Constantine?’’ (For he was not yet a monk.) “Will you stay at Cozancea or go back to Sihastria?’’
‘’I will go back to Sihastria, Fr. Paisius, where I lived before for five years, by the graves of my two brothers. I will also have more silence there....’’
Then we both took off our skoufias [hats], knelt down and made three prostrations, and I said the prayer: ‘’Lord, bless our vow that we will be together both in this life and the future one. If I die first, he will be at my head, and if he dies first, I will be at his head! Amen.’’ Then we embraced and parted. With my heart I am bound to Fr. Cleopas as much as it is possible to be in this life....
+++
From The Orthodox Word, Vol. 28, No. 1 (#162—Jan-Feb, 1992).
Monday, June 18, 2012
Arise, O GOD, And Judge The Earth - Boston Byzantine Choir
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Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations! (Psalm 82:8)
The Boston Byzantine Choir:
http://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/multimedia/bbc.php
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Wisdom From Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, Mt. Athos & Arizona
Compel yourselves in the JESUS Prayer: this will become everything to you -- food and drink and clothing and light and consolation and spiritual life. This prayer becomes everything for him who possesses it. Without it, the emptiness of the soul cannot be satisfied. Do you want to love CHRIST? Long for the Prayer and embrace humility, and then you will realize that the Kingdom of GOD is within us.
+++
The Christian struggle is glorious, for the prize is not something ephemeral, but it is eternal glory up in heaven! Blessed is he who is wise in GOD, for no account will be demanded of him, and he will not find himself in a difficult position when GOD calls him to give an account for his time on earth.
+++
May the grace of CHRIST be with you, within your soul, my child, to enlighten and increase your love for HIM, so that you may be kept near HIM and not be swept away by the current of worldliness and fall away from GOD and lose your immortal soul, which is more than the entire world. The amount of grace that came to you is small; the saints, though, had much grace. In order to increase it, you must humble yourself. If you become proud it will leave, and then you will weep. So be very careful to bear in mind your sins and passions, so that vainglory will not sprout in you and drive away the JESUS Prayer.
+++
"Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid (Gospel of St. John 14:27)." My children, trust that GOD will not let us be tempted beyond our strength; along with the temptation will come the help of GOD. Our CHRIST tells us that if they hated ME they will also hate you (Gospel of St. John 15:18). If they persecuted and blasphemed and cursed ME, they will also persecute and blaspheme and curse you. And they will do these things to you because they do not know GOD and "they know not what they do (St. Luke 23:43)." We, my children, know GOD, and because we love HIM and are HIS, the world hates us, since it does not agree with HIM. Therefore have courage, my children; we are followers of the ONE WHO was crucified by them; so too we will be crucified by trials and temptations. Just as HE was resurrected, we too will be resurrected and glorified together with HIM unto the ages of ages.
+++
Do not grieve your Elder or your brother monk, for immediately your peace of soul stops, the JESUS Prayer ceases, and you are full of thoughts. The cure is: Confession, burning tears, and sincerely grieving others. Be careful, if you have something against your Elder, be careful, for the devil will crush you and mislead you easily.
+++
Man is easily corrupted; he falls easily; he is changeable, mutable, prone to fall. GOD knows this because HE formed us. HE made us human. But HE also gave us the grace to repent; HE has given us the power to arise. Why didn't you do this? When HE reproves you through your conscience and exhorts you through the Scriptures to repent, and you do not do so, then the condemnation and punishment begin.
+++
The remembrance of GOD is an all-powerful weapon, a mighty suit of armor against satan and the various sins. When the mind ceases to remember GOD and meditate upon divine things, man is overcome by negligence, indolence, forgetfulness, and then by evil desires! If you see your mind rushing towards the world, know that your soul lacks divine consolation, which is why it turns to the world for consolation. When a person's soul is warm towards GOD, he is enlightened and feels compunction, and it is impossible for his mind to incline towards the world at the same time. The soul inclines towards the world when it is united, in a sense, with GOD.
+++
Do not be disheartened; do not lose courage. Sometimes the holy nurse -- the grace of GOD -- leaves us, and we fall into ridiculous and indecent thoughts, and sometimes even words, so that we might be humbled and not think highly of ourselves, but rather become aware of our weakness, that we are unable to do any good without the grace of GOD.
+++
We owe thousands of thanks to the sweetest HEAVENLY FATHER, WHO providentially allows painful events to occur in our lives, so that we will not find ourselves in the other world incapable of showing that we endured something for the sake of HIS Love.
--Elder Ephraim of Philotheou
Saturday, June 16, 2012
St. Peter the Aleut Martyr
Saint Peter the Aleut is mentioned in the Life of St Herman of Alaska (December 13). Simeon Yanovsky (who ended his life as the schemamonk Sergius in the St Tikhon of Kaluga Monastery), has left the following account:
"On another occasion I was relating to him how the Spanish in California had imprisoned fourteen Aleuts, and how the Jesuits (actually Franciscans) were forcing all of them to accept the Catholic Faith. But the Aleuts would not agree under any circumstances, saying, 'We are Christians.' The Jesuits argued, 'That's not true, you are heretics and schismatics. If you do not agree to accept our faith then we will torture all of you to death.' Then the Aleuts were placed in prisons two to a cell. That evening, the Jesuits came to the prison with lanterns and lighted candles. Again they tried to persuade two Aleuts in the cell to accept the Catholic Faith. 'We are Christians,' the Aleuts replied, 'and we will not change our Faith.' Then the Jesuits began to torture them, at first the one while his companion was a witness. They cut off one of the joints of his feet, and then the other joint. Then they cut the first joint on the fingers of his hands, and then the other joint. Then they cut off his feet, and his hands. The blood flowed, but the martyr endured all and firmly repeated one thing: "I am a Christian.' He died in such suffering, due to a loss of blood. The Jesuit also promised to torture his comrade to death the next day.
But that night an order was received from Monterey stating that the imprisoned Aleuts were to be released immediately, and sent there under escort. Therefore, in the morning all were sent to Monterey with the exception of the dead Aleut. This was related to me by a witness, the same Aleut who had escaped torture, and who was the friend of the martyred Aleut. I reported this incident to the authorities in St Petersburg. When I finished my story, Father Herman asked, 'What was the name of the martyred Aleut?' I answered, 'Peter. I do not remember his family name.' The Elder stood reverently before an icon, made the Sign of the Cross and said, "Holy New Martyr Peter, pray to God for usl"
We know very little about St Peter, except that he was from Kodiak, and was arrested and put to death by the Spaniards in California because he refused to convert to Catholicism. The circumstances of his martyrdom recall the torture of St James the Persian (November 27).
Both in his sufferings and in his steadfast confession of the Faith, St Peter is the equal of the martyrs of old, and also of the New Martyrs who have shone forth in more recent times. Now he rejoices with them in the heavenly Kingdom, glorifying God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, throughout all ages.
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Troparion (Fourth Tone):
Today Alaska rejoices and America celebrates, For the new world has been sanctified by martyrdom. Kodiak echoes with songs of thanksgiving, Iliamna and Kenai observe the festival of faith. The Apostle and martyr Juvenaly is glorified, And Peter the Aleut is exalted by his voluntary sacrifice, In their devotion and love for the Lord, They willingly endured persecution and death for the Truth, Now in the Kingdom of Heaven they intercede for our souls!
+
Kontakion (Fourth Tone):
Today Valaam joins Alaska In celebrating this joyous feast, As her spiritual son Juvenaly Embraces the new martyr Peter with love. Together they suffered for the Lord in America And united the old world with the new by their voluntary sacrifice. Now forever they stand before the King of glory and intercede for our souls.
+
Troparion (First Tone):
O Peter, upon the rock of thy faith hath Christ built His Church, and in the streams of thy blood hath He hallowed our land. In thee thy people hath been sanctified, O Aleut; from the farthest islands of the west hath He raised thee, a light unto all. Glory to Him that hath glorified thee. Glory to Him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee.
+Holy New Martyr Peter, pray to God for us!
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The Historical Background of the Martyrdom of St. Peter the Aleut
by Marina D. Ilyin
The holy martyr Peter Tchounagnak was an Aleut Indian converted to Orthodoxy in the late 18th or early 19th century by Russian Orthodox missionaries. He departed this life in San Francisco, California on Sept. 8, 1815, martyred for refusing to become Roman Catholic at the hands of Padre Abella at Dolores Mission. Little or no public interest was accorded him until quite recently. How is it that he has attracted the public's attention, and why so late? When the Russian Orthodox Church began to compile information on the first missionaries sent to Alaska, and particularly when considering the canonization of St. Herman of Alaska, an account by one of Peter's fellow prisoners was found among the notes of St. Herman's devoted spiritual son, Simon Yanovsky (who was later to become Schema-monk Sergei), which relates the Aleut martyr's death.1 Yanovsky, in turn, told Father Herman in 1819, at St. Paul's Harbor on Kodiak Island, later relating their conversation in writing as follows:2
Once I told him how the Spaniards in California had taken fourteen of our Aleuts captive, and how the Jesuits had tortured one Aleut to death, trying to force them all to accept the Catholic faith, to which the Aleuts did by no means consent, answering: "We are Christians, we have been baptized," showing them the crosses on their necks.
But the Jesuits retorted: "No, you are heretics and schismatics, and if you do not agree to accept the Catholic faith, we will torture you to death." And they left them in the prison until evening, two to a cell, to think it over.
In the evening they came with lanterns and lighted candles and began again trying to persuade them to accept the Catholic faith. But the Aleuts, permeated with Divine Grace, firmly and decisively answered that they were Christians and would not change their faith. Then these fanatics began to torture them. At first one, with the other as witness. At first they cut off one joint of his toes, one toe at a time, then the next joint; he endured everything and kept on saying: "I am a Christian, and will not change my faith." Then they cut off one joint from each of his fingers, then the next joint; then they chopped off his hands, then his feet – the blood flowed. But the martyr endured to the end and repeated unchangingly this one phrase. He died from loss of blood.
The next day they wanted to torture others, but the same night an order came from Monterey that all captive Russian Aleuts be sent at once under guard to Monterey; and so on the next day all, except the deceased, were sent off. This was told to me by an Aleut who was an eyewitness, a comrade of the martyred one; he later escaped captivity by fleeing. Upon hearing this report I reported it to the Central Administration in St. Petersburg.
When I finished relating this to Fr. Herman, he asked me, "And what was the name of the martyred Aleut?" I answered, "Peter, but I don't remember his last name." Then he got up and stood before the icons, piously crossed himself and pronounced these words: "Holy New Martyr Peter, pray to God for us!"
The only other information given about Peter was Yanovsky's introduction:3
The Russian-American Company founded Fort Ross, not far from San Francisco, in 1812. There climate and soil favored agriculture, stock raising, a vegetable garden and the like; all this was to be of use to the Company. This required manual labor. Some Russians and Aleuts, coming from the northern regions to work, were settled there. But the new colony of Russians, being situated at the border of California, which then belonged to Spain, aroused suspicion in the Spaniards concerning the aims of the Russian-American Company. Fearing that the Russians meant to take possession of the town of San Francisco, the Spanish government began to demand that they abandon Fort Ross, and it began to cause various unpleasant incidents. Finally in 1815 the Spanish arrested some twenty or thirty Russian Orthodox Aleuts. Some of those arrested were held in San Francisco, while others were deported to other places. They were forced to labor and were badly treated. It is known how fourteen Russian Orthodox Aleuts ended up in prison in San Francisco and for some reason fell into the hands of the Jesuits.
Despite its brevity and sketchiness, both as proof of Father Herman's merits as a missionary and to inform Orthodox Christians about the first Orthodox martyr on American soil, this account was translated from the Russian and reprinted in Vol. III No. 3 (issue #14, June-July 1967) of The Orthodox Word. Thereafter, Peter's fame and veneration grew so rapidly that when his cultus spread beyond the boundary of private prayer into public worship, he was added to the list of candidates awaiting solemn glorification.4 As a result, and following St. Herman of Alaska's canonization in 1970, as people continued to inquire about the history of Peter's life, I was asked by my Church to see what information could still be unearthed concerning him and to answer the puzzling questions surrounding the circumstances of his death. How did Peter get from Alaska to California and what was he doing prior to the time he was captured? Since Peter's last name was not known at the time, the place and time of his birth or baptism would be helpful in supplying clues to his life in Alaska. I had to concentrate on tracking down the name of the ship on which he sailed and why he was on it. These are my findings:
The fur trade in Alaska was initiated by Russian promyshlenniki5 who travelled eastward from Siberia in search of fur-bearing animals. As the news spread of unchartered lands rich in furs, and competition grew stiffer, rivals consolidated in 1799 to form the Russian-American Company. By so doing, the trappers hoped to maximize their pelt profits, as well as solve the chronic problem of a reliable food supply. While trade was flourishing, the problem was largely ignored; but when it came to a standstill, belts were tightened until ships could bring needed supplies from Russia. Unfortunately, because the vessels were often delayed overseas, or if shipwrecked, the Russians had to buy what little visiting foreigners could spare. If foodstuffs could not be had, a ship or two was purchased at great cost to enable them to attempt a trading expedition to Spanish California.
This is precisely what occurred in 1806, when Rezanov sailed to San Francisco. He saved the Alaskan colonies from famine which was at that time afflicting them, but the supplies he obtained were not sufficient. Since the establishment of permanent trade relations was contrary to Spanish law, an alternate, long-term solution was needed. Soon, the Russian-American Company having faced the fact that pelt profits were directly proportionate to well-fed employees and that satiety depended upon adequate agricultural crops, new settlements for farming founded in California, at Bodega Bay and Fort Ross.
Soon after, the fur trade rapidly gained the heights it had achieved in its infancy, but this advance was short-lived. By 1813, Alaska's prosperity just as rapidly changed for the worse, because fewer pelts were available and because of problems with marketing, unemployment, and equipment. Not only were the sea otters heading south towards California, but larger ships were needed to keep up with this migration. As Russians in Russia were losing interest in fur commodities and Asian ports continued to be closed to Russian merchants, stored furs could not be easily sold, nor were there enough large vessels to keep every promyshlennik hunting as before.
In the eyes of Alexander Baranov, Alaska's governor and the Company's manager, the immediate solution to these problems was again to buy foreign ships and have the Americans market the pelts for them in Asia through the establishment of a contract system. The major drawback to this plan was the danger of conflicts with Spanish authorities, rules, and regulations regarding foreigners in Spain's California territorial holdings; but despite these risks, Baranov decided to proceed with the purchase of two American ships, named the Atahulapa and the Lydia, which were renamed, respectively, the Behring and the Ilmen.
At this point, finding himself short-handed, Baranov had to hire non-Russians to command his ships, as well as additional Aleut Indians to hunt. An American named Vodsvit (Wodswith or Wadsworth) was appointed captain of the teakwood, East Indies built brig Ilmen.
He was then ordered to go to the new Fort Ross with goods and supplies, and then go on a sea otter hunt, down the coast of California. For this latter purpose an Aleut bidarka fleet was attached to the brig under command of Tarakanoff.6
Peter was one of the Indians on board, with forty-nine other Aleuts and half-breeds. Vasily Petrovitch Tarakanov also took charge of the twenty-five bidarkas, or canoes, needed for each pair of hunters.7 Doctor John Elliot d'Castro, "supercargo and pilot," was another American commissioned by the Russian-American Company. Because of his long years of previous dealings, both in trade and hunting, with the California missionaries and inhabitants, it was hoped that he would be able to act as agent, diplomat and translator should any difficulties arise.8 The other men known by name were Antopatro, son of Baranov, Boris Tarasov, and the sales clerk Nikiforov, who was in charge of trade goods.9
One can imagine the excitement and hopes of the people aboard ship as it left Sitka.
This expedition started out in December, 1813. Elliot remained at Fort Ross, trading and afterward did good service in the same capacity at San Francisco harbor. He brought their breadstuffs and other provisions, and forwarded them to Kuskoff, the agent at Ross, and then went along the coast selling his goods for cash, sending over 10,000 piastres to Kuskoff for transmittal to Sitka. All this time the party of Aleuts were hunting sea otter.10
Hunting above Cape Mendocino proved unsuccessful due to the hostility of the natives. Since no others could be found north of San Francisco in Drake's bay, or "Great Bodego" Bay, the vessel sailed down the coast to allow the Aleuts to hunt for two days in the vicinity of the Farrallone Islands. A short while later, Captain Vodsvit ordered the natives to enter San Francisco Bay illegally at night. Tarakanov tells what happened:
That Aleuts did so, and hunted all day, killing about 100 sea otter, but when we went to the beach on the south side to the camp for the night, we found soldiers stationed at all the springs who would not allow anyone to take any water. At this, the Aleuts became frightened, remained outside. It was dark and some wind was blowing, and two bidarkas were capsized, and the men, being tired with their day's work could not save themselves.11
These capsized Aleuts must have fallen into Spanish hands, for in a letter to Luis Antonia Arguello, the San Francisco Governor, dated June 9, 1814, Kuskoff petitioned for the release of the hunters held at the Presidio, explaining that "they [had] done no wrong, but had been only compelled to save themselves from the surf in the bay at the Port of San Francisco where they were captured."12
Learning a new lesson, the crew became more cautious as the Ilmen continued down the coast, to hunt around the Santa Barbara Channel Islands.13 They took 150 sea otters and some fur seals there, but trouble soon awaited them. As the brig passed cattle grazing on the hills of San Pedro, several Russian sailors were ordered to take Tarakanov and eleven Aleuts ashore to obtain fresh meat. Almost as soon as the party landed, they were surrounded by Spanish soldiers on horseback, while the frightened Russians pushed off as quickly as possible to avoid the same fate. Taken prisoner, Tarakanov and the Aleuts were bound together with ropes and forced to march, first to Santa Barbara, and then to Los Angeles.14
While imprisoned, most of the captives were compelled to labor in the fields.15 In his journal, Tarakanov states that in a year's time most of the Aleuts were sent away to another mission, probably San Francisco.
By October, 1815, before they were transferred to Monterey, Tarakanov was reunited with those of his men who were still alive. Unfortunately another year was to pass before they were released.
Early in 1815, because Taraknov was still a prisoner, Tarasov was appointed the new commander of the Aleut Indians on the Ilmen. Meanwhile the Ilmen continued on its journey stopping only for seven months to permit Tarasov and his men to hunt sea otters on the Santa Barbara Islands before heading back to Fort Ross to deliver 400 of the 955 pelts they had taken.16 The remaining pelts were either hidden or retained for trading purposes, since the commandant of San Francisco and the superintendent of the Missions unofficially maintained friendly relations with the Russians, as did the Governor Arillago.17
Unfortunately, with the untimely death of the governor in mid-1815, California's new governor, Pablo Vicente de Sola rapidly altered the laissez-faire policy of cordial diplomacy to one of open hostility. In attempts to keep the marine wealth of the coast from the Russians, Madrid issued orders to limit trade with them to agricultural and manufactured products. Sola was only too happy to comply by enforcing this and every other law on the Spanish books.18 In fact, so zealous was he in his duties that he spent an inordinate amount of time denouncing the settlement at Fort Ross as an illegal encroachment upon Spanish territory. This had the effect of making negotiations for the release of the Russian and Aleut prisoners well-nigh impossible, for Sola would agree to nothing short of a total withdrawal of the Russians from New Albion (California) as the Russians irritatingly called it.19
Completely unaware of this drastic change in the political climate, the Ilmen resumed its hunting and trading mission southward after first stopping in San Francisco in June to buy supplies. In July, the vessel operated between San Luis Obisbo and Santa Barbara, since it was a common practice to move from place to place as the furs were caught and collected.20 The following month, Boris Tarasov disembarked at San Pedro with eight kayaks. He was apprehended, brought for questioning to the Comisionado, Sergeant Guillermo Cota, and asked to explain his intentions and his presence in Spanish waters. As soon as Tarasov made known that his purpose was none other than otter-hunting, he was forbidden to trade, and ordered to depart and not return. After such successful hunting on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, however, the arrogant Tarasov was not the least perturbed by threats or warnings. So sure of himself was he that he appeared again in San Pedro on September 17th, asking to speak to Cota. This time the sergeant, on orders from the commander of Santa Barbara, made full preparations to seize the intruders. The following day, as dawn broke, Cota ambushed Tarasov and 26 Aleuts, as the men approached land in their bidarkas. There was an exchange of blows, and many Aleuts were stunned and wounded. Twenty-five of them, including Tarasov, yielded to the Spaniards' superior force and were taken to prison.21
At the trial, Tarasov stated first that he only wanted to talk to Cota concerning the return of those of his companions who were being held at Los Angeles, but he later gave other reasons for his return. According to Bancroft:22
It is amusing to read the transparent excuses the Russian prisoners always made when taken red-handed at smuggling or poaching. They were "driven by excesses of weather" or had "lost their way," and if suddenly cornered by cross-examination, they suddenly became profoundly ignorant of every language but the simplest Russian. When captured, Tarasov had some silk goods in his bidarka which he had the impudence to declare were intended for his own use! When asked if he had not been warned to quit the coast, he could not understand the question.23
The day after Tarasov and his men were captured at San Pedro, the ship put in at San Luis Obispo for water but was refused assistance. Two days later, Dr. Elliot d' Castro was ordered ashore for water just north of Santa Barbara, but was turned back by Sgt. Juan Ortega. On the 22nd, Jose de la Guerra y Noriega, Commander at Santa Barbara, sent five soldiers to that part of the coast to apprehend as many of the Russians' party as possible, but they arrived too late. After reporting that the vessel had sailed, Noriega quickly dispatched nine additional men farther up the coast to seize them and their boats if possible. At Refugio, the Ilmen rested quietly in the cove. The Spaniards bided their time, awaiting an auspicious moment to ambush the foreigners. When 22 Russians and Aleuts came ashore to kill some cattle, the Spaniards attacked. All but Elliot, four Russians, one American, and one Aleut regained the ship.24
Elliot tried unsuccessfully to bribe his way out of jail, but he and Tarasov were liberated only after a trip to Tepic, Mexico. Two or three more years were to pass before the other captives were returned home. After Elliot's capture, Captain Vodsvit sailed the Ilmen on to Bodega Bay, then to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, in 1816, and thereafter back to Sitka, before returning again to Hawaii. It is unclear how this brig was used for the next four years, but in 1820 the Ilmen under Kiril Khlebnikov sailed again from Sitka, to Monterey and back before being scrapped.25
It was not hitherto known during which raid Peter was captured. Examining Yanovsky's account and research contained in a doctoral thesis by Michael George Kovach (University of Pittsburgh), we can deduce that he was among the second group of Aleuts and Russians taken prisoner, and suffered an undeserved, cruel and bloody death about one year later, in 1815. Why did he die so tragically? Possibly the answer lies in Spanish attitudes towards foreigners classified as heretics, the general pattern of missionary work carried out among Indians by California's Spanish missionaries, and the atmosphere at Francisco de Asis Mission itself. The missionary techniques employed in Spanish California must also be explained by Spanish attitudes towards Indians of all types. They were generally viewed as pathetic, savage, primitive and barbarous people incapable of any intelligence above that of children and so were treated with paternal condescension.26 The basic tactics of the Spanish Franciscans' missionary work can be described as follows:
By gifts of trinkets, food and clothing they attracted the simple people, whose timidity they overcame by making a display of the friendliness of other Indians they had brought along for that purpose. When necessary, even a double portion of food was offered to those willing to accept the little understood but apparently harmless rite of conversion. And surely the soft-voiced kindly padre would do no harm by speaking strange words while sprinkling a few drops of water on the heads of their wondering children... In return for the favors, the gullible natives gave vent to their gratitude by joining in the construction of the settlement... Only after the rude chapel, barracks, and dwellings became enclosed within a stockade did it dawn on the trusting natives that they had built themselves a prison, walled and guarded. Once a convert, always a convert, even though the confinement was mitigated by the benevolence of their captors... In time, the poor natives discovered there was no legal escape from their new homes, for every enterprising runaway was caught and severely punished.27
Each time a mission was built, so was a presidio, or fort, to billet three to five soldiers to catch runaways and protect the padres, whose only protection, other than a cross and a breviary, was a deerskin mantle, scant protection from flying arrows.28 Unaccustomed to "civilized" life which demanded continual work, many mission Indians longed for their past of free nomadic hunting and fishing, while others simply longed for their families. After several months, many Indians grew fretful and thin, gazing constantly with sadness toward their homes which were visible in the distance.29 Those who could be trusted were permitted to return to visit their tribes for a short while once a year, but due to a high escape rate few were granted this permission. Usually the only change in their daily environment occurred when they worked at the pueblos or presidios nearby, work for which they were not paid, since the "fathers took it for the benefit of the community, so it was said, although we do not know what part of these products reached the community."30
Of the Indians that did escape, most were recaptured in short order and punished. On account of the enmities between the different tribes, fugitives were never given refuge in any other tribe but their own, and thus it was not easy for them to resist for long the armed soldiers who pursued them, knowing exactly where to find them.31
Punishments were brutally calculated to inflict smarting pain and embarrassing humiliation rather than any long-term privation or permanent injury. They consisted of working shackled, imprisonment in chains, or sitting in stocks. For grave offences or sins the condemned was tied to a cannon or post to receive twenty-five or more lashes. If the culprit pleaded for pardon, the severity of the blows might be lessened, but never the number.32 Men were punished in public as an example, while women were punished in private, so as not to excite the men to revolt. The most painful punishment of all, however, was called "a la ley de Bayone," where a musket was passed under the knees so that the feet and hands could be tied around it.33 All such punishments were inflicted by the padres, though at times they were compelled to call upon the aid of the soldiers who acted as escorts, or the three Indian magistrates, referred to as "caciques" by the people. These magistrates, or "caciques," had no choice but to fulfill the will of their superiors blindly and passively, both when it came to administering lashes and in maintaining orderly conduct among their fellow Indians in church.34 If faults were especially serious, the priest had to investigate the case, arrest the culprit, and inform the presidio commandant of the fort who handled the case. The missions had no qualms about administering these punishments because they believed that they were acting in the Indians' best interests as "wise and prudent fathers," which to their minds implied that authority possessed by all parents to educate their children by exhorting, rebuking and chastening them when necessary. Thus they justified their guardianship over the Indians, which they felt had devolved upon them because they had baptized them.
Corporal punishments are inflicted on Indians of both sexes who neglect pious exercises, and for several sins, the punishment, of which in Europe is reserved only to divine justice, are punished with chains or the stocks. In a word... from the moment a new convert is baptized, he becomes the same as if he had pronounced eternal vows. If he makes his escape for the purpose of returning to his relations in the independent villages, they cause him to be summoned to return three times; and if he refuses, they claim the authority of the governor, who sends soldiers to force him away from the midst of his family and conduct him to the missions, where he is sentenced, to receive a certain number of lashes of the whip... and this custom, against which reason so forcible objects, is mentioned because theologians have decided that baptism could not in conscience be administered to men so fickle unless the government in some measure, become responsible for their perseverance, but officiating as god-father...37
When they were not dealing with discipline problems, the padres' principal duties were to oversee the neophytes' morals, to instruct them in the basics of the Roman Catholic faith, as well as to civilize them by teaching them useful trades. Most men worked as laborers in the fields, but some were trained as mechanics, stonemasons, cattle, horse, and sheep herders, butchers, shoemakers and blacksmiths. Generally the women were trained as weavers, cooks and seamstresses. In addition to the regular cleaning they were under obligation to fulfill duties in various mission buildings.38 Strictly enforced segregation of both sexes was maintained, and girls and widows in particular were put to work under lock and key to prevent them from any sort of "mischief." Only marriage allowed a couple the freedom to live in a separate house within the mission walls or on a rancho, and to cook their own meals. All other unmarried mission inhabitants over the age of 9 or 10 ate their meals in the community kitchen. Sundays and certain prescribed holidays were the only days of rest from their appointed tasks, such rest commencing after fulfillment of the mass obligation, since no age group was exempt from church worship. The best-treated Indian boys (those either born to converts or who had been kidnapped by Spanish soldiers at an early age to be raised as houseservants) were usually the ones privileged to learn to read, sing and play musical instruments so as to keep up the interest of their newly-converted tribal peers and elders in a service that was virtually unintelligible to them.40
While this formed the general pattern of California Franciscan missionary work, Peter's death must also be understood within the context of the historical atmosphere peculiar to the Mission of Francisco de Asis at which he died in 1815, for this Mission was quite different from all others in California, because it had one of the lowest records for baptisms and one of the highest for runaways. Cruelty was part of its early heritage, bequeathed by such persons as Father Dani, Father Landeta, the useless and unbalanced Fernandez, the violently demented Antonio Horra of San Miguel, Governor Borica, and Ensign Moraga. Its reputation further suffered because epidemics took high tolls, as did venereal disease. In the face of all these problems, together with the lack of agricultural security, it is no wonder that sheer force was employed in attempts to replenish lost numbers and to hold the few it still had.41
It is by no means of their noise that they endeavor to stir the imagination of the Indians and to make men of these savages. It is, indeed, the only means of producing an effect on them. When the drums begin to beat they fall on the ground as if they were half-dead, no one dares move; all remain stretched upon the ground without making the slightest movement until the end of the service, and even then, it is necessary to tell them several times that the mass is finished. Armed soldiers are stationed at each corner of the church. After the mass, the superior delivers a sermon in Latin to his flock.42
What a contrast to the Spanish ways was the Russian philosophy of missionary work and the Russian pattern of missionary activities in Alaska! Although native peoples everywhere were regarded as mere children in need of conversion, protection and guidance, Russian missionaries never extended the idea of guardianship to any legal or civil areas which would adopt people and confine them to any specific place to live, nor did they use soldiers for protection or to bring back the lapsed. If generalizations could be made, one could say that Spanish monks subscribed ideologically to "conversion by force or sword," while Russian monks subscribed ideologically to "conversion by example." In fact the precept "save your own soul first, and thousands will be saved around you" early formed the basis for all missionary activity undertaken by the Orthodox Church. This in turn kept conversion figures low, causing many people to chastise the Russian Orthodox Church in particular for "failures" in evangelizing the non-Christian world. Yet when one reflects on the fact that Siberia, the abode of wild pagan tribes, was only first crossed in 1582, it is a real credit that by 1817, approximately 70% of all people living within Russia's borders were Orthodox Christians! Primarily this was achieved by monks in search of places suitable for ascetic endeavor, who went into forests and settled near rivers and lakes, using hollow trees, mud huts, or cabins as habitations while struggling in unceasing prayer, fasting and manual labor to save their souls. In the process, the surrounding heathens were not only gradually enlightened spiritually but also in a "civilized fashion," being transformed from nomads to settlers. When conditions were favorable, these early individual habitations grew into monasteries with settlements around them which grew into towns. Under less favorable circumstances these habitations remained small churches. The monks that left the Monastery of Valaam on Lake Ladoga in Russia to convert the Aleuts and other Indian tribes in Alaska began to establish Christianity using the time-tested Russian method of incipient monastic foundations. Some went on to teach the Aleuts trades, to establish churches and schools, and to instruct them in their native language and in Russian; and although this carefully laid groundwork did not result in the foundation of monasteries, the life of these first monastic missionaries, examples of evangelical simplicity and holiness, were seeds which yielded a bountiful harvest of those converted to faith in Christ, as Peter's life bears witness.43
The site of St. Peter's grave is not known, for the bodies of most Indians at Dolores Mission were cast into unmarked graves. Thus, we are deprived of his relics, unless an act of God reveals them.
1. Goldier, F. A. Father Herman – Alaska's Saint: A Preliminary account of the life and miracles of Blessed Father Herman (Willits, 1972), p. 5.
2. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. "A Pilgrimage to the Orthodox Holy Places of America. The Seventh Pilgrimage." The Orthodox Word (Platina, 1967), pp. 111-112.
3. Ibid.
4. Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church (Baltimore, 1964), p. 260.
5.Promyshlenniki were men who left their homes to hunt, mine or trade, etc. in order to make big profit. The term promyshlenniki was a word that went back to Old Novgorod, signifying freelance exploiters of natural resources. Cf. Chevigny, Hector. Russian America – the Great Alaskan Venture, 1741-1867 (New York, 1965), p. 10.
6. Khlebnikov, Kiril. Biography of Alexander Andreivich Baranoff. (Transcript and translation in Bancroft Library) Vol. IV, part 4, p. 135.
7. Ogdin, Adele. The California Sea Otter Trade 1784-1848(Berkley, 1941) p. 165.
8. Khlebnikov, p. 135.
9. Ogdin, pp. 165 and 61; Bancroft, H. H. History of California (San Francisco, 1890), vol. II, p. 307.
10. Khlebnikov, p. 136. Russian sources use the Julian Calendar to establish their dates. At that time the Gregorian Calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian, which explains the small discrepancy of dating used by American historians who obviously did not use the calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
11. Ogdin, p. 60; Tarakanov, "Statement." Russian America, vol. II, pt. 2, p. 5.
12. Ogdin, p. 61.
13. Tarakanov, p. 7.
14. Ogdin, pp. 61 and 62.
15. Bancroft, p. 307.
16. Ogdin, p. 61.
17. Tikhmenev, P. "Historical Review of the Russian American Company," Russian America (Bancroft Library, Univ. of California), p. 274. Bancroft, p. 307.
18. Ogdin, p. 61.
19. Tikhmenev, pp. 280-281.
20. Ibid. p. 274.
21. Ogdin, p. 61-62.
22. Bancroft, p. 307-308. Ogdin gives the same quote but proved that Bancroft had confused Tarakanov with Tarasov, p. 198.
23. (Incidentally, these excuses are not too different from the ones given by Soviet poachers who are caught fishing or whaling illegally off our coasts today. Since Russians haven't changed much, in the Soviet language of the underworld, Tarasov would have been known as a "blatnoi" or a "zhouk" - a "big operator" or "beetle," for the way he ran his hunting operation.)
24. Ogdin, p. 62.
25. Ogdin, p. 169.
26. Berger, John A. The Franciscan Missions of California (New York, 1941), p. 77.
27. Ibid., pp. 78-79.
28. Englehardt, Father Zephyrin. The Missions and Missionaries of California (San Francisco, 1912) pp. 636-637.
29. Ibid. p. 640; Choris, Louis. San Francisco One Hundred Years Ago (San Francisco, 1913), pp. 4-6.
30. Dutton, Davis. Missions of California (New York, 1972) p. 61.
31. Englehardt, p. 640.
32. Dutton, p. 55.
33. Ibid., pp. 24-25.
34. Ibid., p. 55.
35. Weber, Rev. Francis J. The Pilgrim Church in California (Los Angeles, 1973) p. 153.
36. Ibid., pp. 142-143, and 153-154.
37. Dutton, p. 52.
38. Berger, pp. 346-348.
39. Englehardt, p. 637 and Dutton p. 59-61.
40. Dutton, p. 61.
41. Berger, pp. 346-348.
42. Choris, Louis, pp. 8-9.
43. Smirnoff, Rev. Eugene, Russian Orthodox Mission. A Short Account of the Historical Development and Present Position of Russian Orthodox Missions (Willits, reprint of 1903 edition), pp. 6 and 73.
Friday, June 15, 2012
New Atheists, Old And Effete Arguments
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Notre Dame Debate New Atheist Sam Harris Debates Dr. William Lane Craig:
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What's So Great About God? Atheism vs. Religion - Hitchens vs. D'Souza:
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O Vos Omnes: de Victoria
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Composer: Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Choir: 19th Choral Summer School 'Camerata ad Libitum' workshop in Pontevedra, Spain)
Conductor: Tamara Brooks
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O vos omnes is a responsory, originally sung as part of Western liturgies for Holy Week, and now often sung as a motet. The text is adapted from the Latin Vulgate translation of Lamentations 1:12. It was often set, especially in the sixteenth century, as part of the Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday.
+++Lamentations 1:12 English:
O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow: for he hath made a vintage of me, as the Lord spoke in the day of his fierce anger. [Lamentations 1:12]
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Latin:
O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite et videte:
• Si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
V. Attendite, universi populi, et videte dolorem meum.
• Si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
English:
O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
• if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
V. Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
• if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Chrismation: The Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit
All Orthodox Christians have been chrismated. Yet how many of us know the significance and the great obligation implied in this profound and ancient spiritual Mystery? The manner of preparing Holy Chrism, and the meaning of this "seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit" glean to every Orthodox Christian, should be known to all of us, for in our daily lives this is too often a forgotten aid to spiritual growth.
The first chrism was made by the prophet and Law giver, Moses, according to directions given him by God, and used by him to consecrate the Tabernacle and anoint Aaron for the service of the High Priest. All subsequent prophets, high priests and kings over Israel were likewise chrismated, as was anything or anyone reserved exclusively to the service of God or to a life of holiness. We find in the Old Testament scriptures many references to this special rite: "I have found David My servant, with My holy oil have I anointed him" (Ps. 88:19); "Touch not Mine anointed ones" (Ps. 10l:15).
The word "chrism" or "anointment" is directly related to "Christ" as "the Anointed One" (Ps. 2:2; John 2:41). It is in Christ that the first anointing given under the old Law was fulfilled: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit" (Acts 10:38). As followers of Christ, we receive anointing in token of our true adoption as sons of God; through Chrismation we become Christians, "anointed ones". This is prefigured in the Old Testament; as Moses consecrated the Tabernacle wherein the tablets of the old Law were kept, so also all Orthodox Christians, tabernacles of a new Law, are anointed and sanctified in order to make them fit dwellings of God. As kings are set apart, by anointing, to be rulers over their subjects and conquer their enemies, so we are set apart, by chrismation, to become with God's help masters over our passions and conquerors of the spiritual enemies who war against us.
The Mystery of Chrismation
Just as the ring is a token of the seal of Holy Matrimony, the anointing with chrism is the seal of the Mystery of Baptism, and it takes place immediately following the water baptism. Although Baptism is a new birth, a release from the bondage of sin and death, Chrismation is the breath of life in the soul of the newly-born, the vivifying inbreathing of the Holy Spirit upon the soul and body of the babe in Christ. After the anointing the the priest tells the newly received member of the Church: "Thou art washed, thou art sanctified, thou art justified, thou art illumined'' (cf. I Cor. 6:11), signifying that he has been baptized both by water and by the Spirit.
In the earliest days of the Church, this "baptism of the Holy Spirit" (misunderstood by sectarians) was performed by the laying on of hands by the Apostles(Acts 8:17). As the Faith spread, it became physically impossible for the Apostles to lay hands on all who desired baptism. Although it is not expressly stated in the New Testament, it is very probable, as Fr. Michael Pomazansky suggests, that the Apostles "changed the visible sign of the Mystery (the laying on of hands), perhaps in the beginning in cases where they themselves were absent, replacing it with another visible sacred act (the anointment with myrrh) [Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p 272]. Through the Chrism, which the Apostles alone (and their successors the bishops) were allowed to consecrate, the apostolic invocation of the Holy Spirit was transmitted to each and every new Christian, a practice which has continued unchanged to our own times.
The Preparation of Holy Chrism The care and purity with which holy Chrism has been prepared since Apostolic times, is the marker the reverence and awe we should feel for this Mystery. Made according to an intricate and ancient formula, Holy Chrism is only made during Great Week, and is usually prepared and kept in a patriarchal or monastery cathedral.
...According to the rule, the preparation of Holy Chrism begins on the third Sunday in Lent, the Sunday of the Cross, when all the ingredients are brought together and made ready--chiefly olive oil, white grape wine, and the great number and variety of incenses and other aromatic substances needed for the Chrism. (St. Dionysius the Areopagite, in his Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, elaborates on the mystical significance of the large number of ingredients used.) On Holy Monday the Bishops and clergy gather in church and bless the water, the already-prepared ingredients, and the cauldron in which the Chrism will be "boiled" for the next three days. The bishops prepare the fire under the pot themselves, and having lit the fire with the flame from the trikiri, they begin to heat the mixture of olive oil and white wine. This is boiled until the morning of Holy Wednesday, and during this time members of the clergy keep a continuous vigil, reading aloud the Gospel of St. Matthew, while the chrism is stirred by deacons.
On Holy Wednesday the bishops bless the incenses again and these are poured into the boiling oil and wine; the chrism is kept over a flame until the evening. In the evening the clergy sing the Pentecost troparian, "Blessed are Thou, O Christ our God..." while the new Chrism is poured into containers and sealed in the presence of the hierarchs, to await its blessing during the Liturgy on Holy Thursday. Portions of the Chrism are then sent out to all the dioceses, and each priest is given some by his bishop. ...
The large number and variety of ingredients in Chrism signifies the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Metropolitan Platon of Moscow (t1712), preached a sermon in which he elaborated on some of these "gifts of the Holy Spirit," which are available to all Orthodox Christians who will stretch out their hands for them. Since the Holy Spirit is indeed the "Spirit of God ," the "Spirit of adoption ," the "Comforter," the "Spirit of Truth." as we acknowledge Him to be everyday in prayer, Metropolitan Platon told his flock to labor to make themselves capable of receiving the gifts the Comforter has to give--first of all the gifts of piety, of fear of God, and of strength, for without these three it is impossible to progress. Next, if we ask for the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, we must understand that the three are truly different and that together, with God's mercy, they will brine enlightenment to the soul: "the anointing which ye have received... teacheth you of all things" (I John 2:27). The gift of wisdom teaches us to understand what is truly good for us and what is only harm disguised as good. The gift of understanding preserves within us a due sense of balance and order. "Without (this) man's thoughts will be confused and disordered, and will dangerously stray from the correct course." The gift of knowledge is the "ability to gain knowledge of necessary things and preserve a clear conception of them"--to understand and cling to the "one thing needful." The gift of counsel is high among the gifts of the holy Spirit, preserving us from falling at the urgings of our own pride and self-will. Those who act without counsel seldom act in accordance with the will of God.
Like Baptism, the sacrament of Chrismation is granted only once in the lifetime of each Orthodox Christian [Unless one has to be received back into the Church after a lapse in Faith, Fall into schism or heresy or in Penance]. When we are chrismated the seeds of perfection are implanted in our souls, giving us the potential to grow "to the stature of men in Christ." The doorway to all the "fruits of the Spirit" mentioned in Scripture is opened to us. Whether we go through that doorway into the inheritance prepared for us in Christ depends only on our willingness to labor over ourselves, to bring alive, through prayer and repentance and spiritual struggle, the promise given us by God at Baptism. --Orthodox America
http://www.roca.org/OA/56/56H.htm
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