Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi: Advice for Monks (VIDEO)

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  She gave us over the incarnate God-Logos (Logos = Word), the radiance of the glory of the Father, she gave Him over to us via her ever-virginity, as the perfect Human to reshape His whole creation. Her fatherly affection did not stop here; she gave us more blessings: Her most-holy garments in which she was enshrouded when she was holding in her arms her Holy Infant. Her motherly affection managed to preserve these garments complete and alive as a blessing for Christians and all people. But, as the Apostle (note from translator: St. Paul) today describes that all these were described in the Old Testament, in the word of the shadow, all these were contained inside the shadow of the Mosaic Law. All these symbolized her (the Mother of God). 

  
  

  The gold goglet of manna, the entrance to the Holy of Holies and the rest that my memory now does not hold. All these symbols symbolized her. It was foreseen since then. The Holy Spirit, the great secret of this Lady, showed us via the formality and the legal shadow that this ever-virgin Lady will become the instrument of the global reshaping. And this was not enough for her. But, she guarded her most holy garments that she wore, and used to enshroude her Most Holy Infant with. She gave them over to us and they exist now, among us, tangible and alive. What else can we say now as an apology for our betrayal and unworthiness? Especially when among us the center of the global motherliness of the great mercy exists! Especially for us here in Mount Athos, and also in our Monastery, in this Holy Monastery, which was founded in the ancient times, and it prays so much for all people and Christianity. 

  
  

  She made us worthy, via her Most Holy presence and Icon, to be here and be spiritually rich via her sympathy and mercy. When she confesses by herself, with her own mouth, the Queen of the Heavens and the earth, that my name is "The Queen of Heaven and earth" and I reside in Vatopaidi. What do we lack? When the Queen of the Heavens and the earth, the Lady of the whole creation, the Mother of God, confesses that she is not on the Heavens but she resides in Vatopaidi! How much consolation should we have! How much joy! How much reassuring hope of our purpose, since she lives with us! Her motherly affection! All these, dear brothers, should remain in our memory, alive, to strengthen us when the dark mazes of deviation and irrationality will confuse and upset us. We should not lose our courage; instead, having a firm hope and faith that she actively resides here among us, the Mother of mercy, the Mother of the God-Logos, the Mother of all Christianity and all Human Race. 

  
  

  She is also the Mother of Vatopaidi. How much courage should we have now? How much hope! How much joy should we feel and how much persistence should we have when fighting the word of deviation that the devil via the fallen human nature and our selfishness will present to us. We will not withdraw. If God is with us, then who can harm us? If God makes us just then who can condemn us? (Romans 8,33-34). He promises us that he will never let us orphans: He will stay with us until He attracts us to Him. 

  
  

  Because He does not want to stay alone. "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am" (John 17:24). In the place of the fatherliness, in the place of Divine agnation, we enter as sons of God, as brothers of Christ, to receive gifts that angels desire to have. The most bright angels that, on their shoulders, hold and glorify the Most Holy Divinity envy, because they are not worthy to receive what we received. And that is because we became His brothers and sons of the Father, while they are servants. My brothers, please don't forget these, because they will be the strongest fortifications in our fight against the irrationality and the deviation.

  
  
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Orthodox Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Mount Athos smiled after his death...

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi: Things which give pleasure

 

‘Pleasures’ are those things which ‘give pleasure’ (ηδονή) and sweeten our lives. They are dual like our human nature. As we possess a body and a soul and each one of us have his senses and his body, in the same way pleasures belong to both the physical and the mental nature. There are the physical pleasures, which are felt through the body; there are the mental pleasures, which belong to our rational and spiritual world.  

The pleasures are mostly the result of our performance and they either console or disappoint us, in accordance with our correct or wrongful deed. If our plan and the goal of our motions is in ‘accordance to God” and His Will, the emotions and the pleasures which result are pleasing and leave a sweet taste. If, however, our inclinations and deeds are irrational and full of passions, then we feel disgust and abhorrence.

The pleasures, however, which most enthrall and seduce us, are the ones which relate to our biological nature and are found in our bodily parts and senses. The senses of taste, touch and smell hold the first position. The taste of sweetness, when we come into contact with material things and motions is called pleasure.

Here one needs to possess the discernment of the ‘correct measure’ to avoid abuse. Our biological essence ofrms the greatest part of our existence and is based on the three senses. It is through these that satisfaction and pleasure occurs.

Once man remembers his destination- and that he eats in order to live- then he can control the pleasures according to the law of “need” or of necessity. If, alas however, he lives to eat and spend- something which these days is the norm- then irrationality prevails, and I am embarrassed even to describe it.

There are also moral and sensual pleasures; mainly those which have to do with the generative instinct and the formation of relationships. Here we have the real labyrinth of perversion, whereby the abysmal Satan wins the most prizes.

The law and the motive to reproduce ourselves- a basic necessity in this exile- becomes the strongest attraction for the copulation of the two sexes. Then the most powerful pretext of illegal hedonism begins, which really crashes the inexperienced youth.

We have described briefly the reasons for the attainment of pleasure. It is now up to us to employ wisdom in denying them, to prevent ourselves from crying over the ruins because of their illegitimate admission and use. These principles refer to the sensual and secular pleasures.

However, there are also spiritual pleasures, which truly relax and encourage us. The spiritual pleasures are the energies and fruits of the divine Grace, which console and ease the efforts in the spiritual realm, enlighten the intellect, pacify the heart and comfort the senses and boost courage and hope at times of difficulty.

What else are joy, peace, patience, tolerance and all that is born out of love and sympathy if not spiritual pleasures? All the fruits and products of self-sacrifice, which love demands, are the sweetest spiritual pleasures which cause the greatest joy in our lives.

However, there are also the supernatural pleasures, which the divine Kindness awards them to us in this life, even though they belong to the metaphysics of the future world, as a preamble to the bliss which awaits us. Such pleasures, as beyond nature, are neither controlled nor are they programmed by us in this world, but are the trophies of the divine, consummate Love to encourage and comfort those who are fighting in the good struggle. Some of such pleasures are: the quietness of thoughts, liberation from the fight against passions, the total necrosis in relation to secular things and motions as well as the ascent of the divine Grace to those who have accomplished their purity of heart. 

These people are said to be “experiencing the divine” and are extricating themselves from the ways and experiences of this world. Such people are those for whom our Lord has given His testimony and has declared that He will reveal Himself to them and will “reside inside them” together with His Father. All those who wish to enjoy all these supernatural trophies and virtues, let them strive to adhere to the commandments. Our Lord “keeps His promises”.

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question: Elder, you mentioned Peter’s imperfection before Pentecost. Was this the reason for denying our Lord?

Answer: According to our holy Fathers, Peter denied our Lord because it was God’s concessionary Will to do so ( κατ’ οικονομία θέλημα). It was not like Peter who was with our Jesus the whole time and had shown such zeal and such humility, to deny our Lord three times. This is not reasonable. Remember Peter’s declaration? When Jesus asked them: ‘Who do you think I am?’ Peter declared: ‘You are Christ, the Son of the Living God’. Our Jesus turned to him and said: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16, 17). Peter was by nature very zealous and uncompromising. After his declaration, the Lord in His All-Wisdom made him the foundation of the Church. 

However, since the Church was going to encompass the entire human nature, not just the zealous and the strong-willed, but also the weak and the ailing, the Lord permitted this triple denial to take place. There is not even one person in five who will be so strong that he will love the Lord totally and show such self- denial because of the fervor of his love. Therefore the Lord has made a concession for the rest of us who are weak. However, Peter, who was zealous and strong and had no sense of concession in him, would not have understood the weak. Therefore the Lord makes a concession and permits Peter to deny Him. Then, He Himself heals him. He approaches him and says: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”(John 21, 15), ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me? (John 21, 16) Peter was grieved because he did not understand Him. Nevertheless, the three questions meant to heal the triple denial. By his triple confession, Peter had eradicated his quilt. He also learnt through experience that even zealous people were in need of clemency.

The Lord does the same thing to Paul. Because Paul was to become the backbone of the Church, He let him become a persecutor and an enemy at first; afterwards He caught him. And Paul, in true humility says: ‘I am not worthy to be called an Apostle since I have persecuted the Church of Christ’. However, I do have an excuse, ‘I have done it out of ignorance’.

Did you see how the Lord’s wisdom acts in order to console us as well? Had these leaders entered the Church with the force of their initial zeal, how would they have known that we, the weaklings, could not bear it? Divine Mercy condescends in the face of human weakness, so that we may reach Divinity. The Lord comes down to us, so that we may rise.

Question: Elder, sometimes when we get tired from our assignments we may squabble amongst ourselves. What are we to do in this case?

Answer: When you are tired you must be more careful. The love you have for one another must always come before anything else. Nevertheless, if some disagreement arises, you must try to convince your brother in the spirit of genuine and not pretentious love that you have inadvertently made a mistake. ‘Forgive me, my brother, I lost my temper’. When there is solidarity amongst you and you pray for each other and generally speaking you are cultivating unity and love this will make Satan powerless, because you will create a very strong bond.

          There are many examples from the lives of our Holy Fathers which show that those who have been struggling with the grace of love for the sake of others became the reason for their release from their weaknesses. Let me remind you the example of the brother who faced a fierce struggle of the flesh and could not take it. He was living with his spiritual brother and one day he told him: ‘Forgive me my brother; I cannot remain here any more.  I have tried as much as I could but I cannot do it any more. I am going outside to the world to get married’. His co ascetic tried to dissuade him to no avail. When the time came for him to leave, he told him: ‘I will join you. Since we have lived so long together as spiritual brothers, I do not think that it is wise to let you leave you alone now’.

-‘Are you crazy? I am going to find a woman to commit a sin with and you want to join me?’

-‘I will not sin with you, but I will come with you. I will not leave you alone’.

Indeed he followed him and when they reached the place of sin, his brother went inside to satisfy his desire. The other monk remained outside and was praying to the Lord. ‘Lord, even though it is the last hour, You are the only one who can still help him’. Indeed, when the monk went inside, he changed his mind. The Lord had stopped the onslaught of the temptation and he came to himself and said: ‘What am I doing? All these years in the desert I never had enough bread or water and now for a brief moment of pleasure I am about to forsake my Lord, taint myself, abandon all those efforts and join the devil in Hell!’ And he turned back. He did not commit a sin. He went outside to find his brother and said: ‘I have changed my mind. I will not sell short my salvation for such a trivial thing’.

They returned to their dwelling. One of the Elders revealed to them that the Lord stopped the temptation for the sake of his brother’s effort. See what happens? When there is love between you, it becomes a safety net for your rescue. The love we have for other people protects, shields, and covers whoever is away and whoever is weak. Thus the enemy can not realize his evil schemes.  Love is such a significant issue. Indeed it ‘never gives up’.

Elder Joseph of Vatopedi: The Lord’s gifts are irrevocable

To my dearly beloved in Christ for whom I wholeheartedly pray,

I found your letter upon my return, and I am sending my reply, even if it is brief, until such time as we meet again in Christ. I will immediately get to the point, especially since it has to do with my dearest daughter.

You were correct in saying that a person alone cannot get on top of temptation. But the same happens with the Lord, Who also “finds it difficult” to intervene without one’s consent. God’s powerlessness is not natural. God willingly stands back so as not to infringe upon man’s will; respecting his personal freedom, with which He had initially endowed him in His creation, since “the Lord’s gifts are irrevocable”.

When God’s Will unites and cooperates appropriately with the will of man in order to do good, then what is impossible becomes possible according to the saying “What is impossible for man to do, it is possible for God”. A man’s will is tested practically by his ability to choose. If this choice coincides with God’s Will, then Divine Grace intercedes, accepting the correct decision and strengthens man to win over the force of sin.

The Spiritual Law is the comprehensive Divine Justice and Concession, which controls and governs Creation, but especially human beings. “A man’s life is not his own” say the Scriptures. And again: “Whatever one sows, this he will reap” and “we must marvel at Lord’s Justice”.

In the writings of Saint Marc the Asketic and St Maxim the Confessor we found a good explanation of what the Spiritual Law is. Saint Marc’s words are found in the Filokalia in the chapter: “On the Spiritual Law and on those who think they can be justified by their work”. Saint Maxim’s teaching is also found in Filokalia in “Hundred chapters on Love”. People’s intentions are finely tuned by the application of the Spiritual Law; people move and act on these intentions even though they think otherwise. Here we note that “Every violation and disobedience receives its just punishment” and with“Honest scales and balances” He will punish or commend every human act.

You may rightly say that this is the only thing which does not happen, for we see exactly the opposite. Some do evil and live happily and some suffer and live in misery, many times unfairly. The situation seems like this, but this is not the reality. We do not know what causes this neither the reasons behind this state of affairs nor as to their timing, position or quantity. These issues are varied and numerous and very difficult to differentiate; we will talk about them face to face.

Now onto your question: When you keep your penance, that is, your spiritual regime, you find yourself in touch with the divine Grace and Help. The reason is that this dependence keeps both parties, the Divine and the human, together and therefore, “you find strength in Christ’s ability to give you His own”. If, however, you do not keep your penance and disobey, you break the tie. When alone, you hear:”Without Me you can do nothing!”

Similarly with selfishness; when it is practiced, it rebukes God’s Assistance and Grace, since God “opposes haughtiness”. This means that God not only deserts the haughty but also pushes them away. Therefore, they are heading for a crash. It is not just haughtiness which insults the divine Grace but any wickedness, which is called a “sin”. A sin has the same destructive result. When the demons cooperate with each other, intellectual and carnal passions are linked. One devil gives way to the other in order to bring about our demise and distraction.

Various illnesses progress and have a variety of complications; if one is neglected it can become more serious. In the same way, if various passions take hold on the soul they may fasten on to relating vices in order to ruin the human personality. The onslaught of carnal desire is, of course, not always the result of selfishness but it has many other causes. Again, one thing is to speak about carnal desire, another thing about the natural movement of the flesh and entirely different about dispassion. However, we will discuss all these face to face; write them down somewhere so that we do not forget.

We have received the goods and we reciprocate with many thanks.

 Yours,

 Humble, elder Joseph.

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi intervenes through the Radio and during the Holy Liturgy

The following incident refers to a friendly family of mine, and it took place on the 2^nd of July 2009, a day after the blessed repose of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi.

            A. and her husband were going through some very tough times for the last few years and particularly since last May. It has to do with how her parents in law view her and how they behave towards their own son. In effect they are trying to separate the couple, who already have four kids, one newly-born- through quarrels, slurs, and malicious behaviour with appalling letters full of vile and slurs. They even managed to turn other relatives against the couple. However, being the spiritual children of Elder Efrem of Vatopaidi, the couple does not return the fire but shows patience and perseverance in trying to protect their family.

            Nevertheless, being human, they are suffering. The wife reached the point where she thought that it is all her fault since everybody had turned against her and was desperate. Elder Efrem told her to forget about it and that it is not her fault. However, she cannot get rid of this thought.

            The day after Elder Joseph reposed to the Lord, while she was driving her children to school with her husband’s car, she heard on the radio a faint, husky voice saying quickly: ‘Do not allow Satan enter your house. You must get rid of him. He particularly likes to dissolve marriages and families. What is happening is not your fault. It is Satan who makes you believe it is your fault and gives you a hard time unnecessarily’.  When she returned home she told her husband that she had listened to a wonderful speech by an elder with a faint, husky voice, talking about their specific problem. When the husband got into the car, he listened to an interview which Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi gave to the reporter of the Metropolis of Limassol Radio, Mr Louka Louka. It was a very good interview but it was referring to irrelevant to their problem issues. 

He thought to ask for the CD to listen to it with his wife. They made a copy of Elder Joseph’s interview, broadcasted on the 2^nd of July 2009.  The following night he drove to the Machaira monastery to attend an all night vigil. He turned the CD on but at no time did the Elder talk about Satan and the need to drive him out of our homes. The husband thought it was weird. Then he remembered that the radio station broadcasts the Holy Liturgy live from the Holy Monastery of Asomaton Petraki at 7.30am everyday. He confirmed this with those working at the radio station. Indeed, the previous day the radio was broadcasting the Holy Liturgy at 7.30 and not anything with Elder Joseph speaking. What had happened was inconceivable in our logic. Elder Joseph spoke to his wife during the Holy Liturgy!

            This proved without any doubt that Elder Joseph, having found favour in the face of our Lord, intervened miraculously to calm down a devout soul which was unjustly suffering from slanders and slurs.

            This event astounded us very much and proved that not only Elder Joseph had gained favour in the face of the Lord but also the fact that there is life after death and that Our Lord is a Living God. Our Lord is neither a theory nor some man-made fiction. However, we, His creations, doubt Him.

            I mentioned this event to the Abbot of Vatopaidi, Elder Efrem. He was not surprised since he knew very well how his elder lived. The Metropolitan of Limassol Athanasios was also informed and confirmed again that at 7.30 every morning the station broadcasts the Holy Liturgy.

I have received the permission of the couple to reveal this astonishing ‘intervention through the radio waves’ by Elder Joseph, without mentioning their names.

NEARCHOS PANAGI

Dentist

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Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi: THE FAITHFUL HUSBAND AND HIS UNFAITHFUL WIFE

I will tell you of another characteristic of a proper spouse, which is extremely difficult to find in our day. But we did encounter one such person.

 

He was in every way a perfect character, a Christian, and completely social. He married late, around thirty years old, not because he was averse to marriage, but because he thought that was how it should be. So he said his prayers with faith, and found himself a young girl and married her. The girl was young, ten years younger than him. 

Soon after he married her, she began her mischief. He pretended not to notice; he regarded her as his daughter and himself as her father. However, they had important business interests overseas and they had to go there, even if only temporarily. So he took her and they went abroad. When they arrived, she became very obstinate, and would say to herself: "He did this on purpose, to estrange me from my environment. 

I will desert him." So she abandoned and left him. She came back to Greece, and where do you think she went? To one of those "casino" places, and began to live the life of a free woman—one who is paid.

The husband however, from the day that she left him, never stopped praying with tears and insisting, in fact exhorting God: "All Good One, I will not retreat, I will not leave You alone; You were the One who gave me my wife. 

'By the Lord is a man and woman harmonized' (according to the Bible). I want my wife. If the young girl has been deceived, must she be lost? Why did You come down to earth? Didn't You come to find the lost ones, to heal the sick, to resurrect the dead? I will not retreat. I will not let You rest. I want my wife; bring her back to me." He wept for two whole years.

His prayer was eventually heard and the young woman came to her senses. "Oh my," she confessed, "God will have to create another Hell, because this one is too small for me!" So she sat down and wrote him a letter, saying: 

"I dare not address your name; I have no such right. If I return, will you accept me as your servant?" He replied: "My love, why did you mention that word and hurt my feelings? Wasn't it me who sent you on a vacation and I was longing for my love to return to my open arms?"

So, he went and waited for her at the airport, as they had arranged. When she arrived, she fell down and began to beat herself and cry. He took her in his arms. "My love, why are you like this and hurt my feelings? I was longing to see you again. Let's go home now; we never parted—I was always with you." And this young girl proved herself to be a faithful wife from then on.

And that is the stance that a man—a husband—should take.

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Elder Joseph of Vatopedi for IMF and Turks (english)

Joseph of Vatopaidi: St Athanasios the Athonite, hard work and sociability

St. Athanasios of Athos

St Athanasios is not just a Saint amongst so many others, but is the exceptional spiritual father to all hagiorite monks. Throughout the generations each one of us may find what he needs by studying his personality, his fatherly affection and providence, his illuminating intellect and his discretion and may be fortified to pursue his goal, preserving the blessed hope that he will eventually succeed in his monastic life.

Two exceptional elements single out this great beacon. One is his absolute love for hard work (φιλοπονία), the continuous carrying of one’s cross. He regarded this as the most essential aspect and the spinal cord of monastic discipline. He engaged his love for hard work mostly as part of his hesychastic discipline which he began and continued until the time he assumed his important duties. He was so attracted to hesychasm that he used to complain that he had assumed great social responsibilities inherent in the monastic life against his wish. He fervently wished to be absolved of all duties and get on with his hesychastic life which he had so many times enjoyed in his cave on the southeastern outskirts of Lavra, the so-called Vigla region.

The second element was the issue of love, of sociability and solidarity. Even though he imposed very austere asceticism and hardship on himself, he was very loving and affectionate towards others. We believe that his abundant love and affection which has truly united monks in the context of Athonite monasticism will continue to connect them unto the end of ages, as divine providence determines through the ceaseless mediation of this great beacon. Nonetheless if we try to extol him, we will demean him. These meager facts were mentioned as a necessary duty so that each one of us is roused in imitation of some of his various and numerous virtues. He was so determined to strengthen his flock that even during the liturgy he would sit on the left of the Holy Altar and receive the confession not only of monks of his own brotherhood but also of many others.

Prompted by the most free (πανελεύθερο) spirit of his fatherly affection to comfort and pacify all different personalities from the weakest to the strongest, he didn’t refrain using even his secular knowledge in an effort to adjust and ease the monastic discipline to enable even the weakest to boast about their monastic capacity without being discouraged. In his broad fatherly providence, he had improvised a regime which was not only unheard of but also objectionable compared to the isolated monastic customs of the Holy Mountain. 

He had constructed ports, roads, cellars, vineyards, gardens and anything else which within limits could provide some comfort to the people who could and wished to become monks. This effort had created grievances. As it is mentioned in his biography, he was regarded as ‘the introducer of innovation’. He was then slandered and had the Administration of Mount Athos rally against him. They were about to pass judgment against him on charges that he had violated the regime and the type of hesychasm which the fathers followed, but the Mother of God intervened personally and pacified them. She also encouraged him to continue his task boldly without discouragement. On any occasion, when he was financially hard up and could not continue his immense task, our Lady would personally console him. 

Her promises and her presence were so real and perceptible that when the storage rooms and the cellars were empty once, she presented herself and told them: ‘I am the Provider (ikonomos- οικονόμος) and have concern no more’. Indeed on several occasions when the numerous labourers, monks and lay people could not be fed, the storage rooms were filled with provisions at her command. Ever since, this holy monastery does not have an official Provider, like other monasteries, but only a deputy Provider. Her icon, the so called Ikonomissa, which was the one performing this miracle is still at the Ikonomeio and performs even more miracles. The monks show their particular veneration to the icon and express their gratitude to the Mother of God. Several times she was seen to bless and increase the provisions in the cellars according to the monastery’s needs.

This is what I wished to remind you of tonight. Most of you are already aware of it. But you must now pay more attention and direct your respect to this fact: Namely that even though there are now several different regimes and various pious elders, the Great Elder, Abbot, spiritual Father and protector for each one of us is the most holy Father St Athanasios, who is also inexplicably the continuator of the order and the provider of this place, if not of the entire eastern monasticism.

With his mediation and the mediation of the Most Immaculate Lady Mother of God, Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord, have mercy on us and deliver us from our sins. Amen.

Source: Translated by Olga Konari Kokkinou from the Greek edition: Γέροντος ΙωσήφΒατοπαιδινού, Διδαχές από τον Άθωνα, Εκδόσεις ‘Το Αγιον Όρος’, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1989.

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PRAYER FOR THE MOTHER by Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

For his mother please. Mine. And others. One is, itself, valuable, irreplaceable, unique mother. Our life. Our affection.Is our concern. The guardian angel us. Our joy. Recourse us. And baby. And child. And youthful. And in men. And in old age! Mother sweet always and forever! 

My heart and soul and mind and hands and feet and eyes and ears and all night and day for us. Holy and sacred person!Certainly, this is a man and make the effort. On upset or difficulty. On the chagrin bad thing in our head. On illness sickens us the poisons of death of children.So this beautiful existence, ideally, the blood donor of life and love, for this please. Add strength to strength.Lighting in children. 

Thanks to her grandchildren.Bless, O God, my mother, my, other, black, the red man, the Chinese, the peasant, the city, the illiterate,It's their scheduled, all mothers, rich and give to tech your grace and all good.And me increased appreciation, reputation, respect, love, understanding, obedience, sympathy, cooperation, thanks, gratitude for the mother.For the mother to please, this hour. Which the value of a mother. Same and like are each mother. Dear. Blessed. Pilgrim.

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The Elder Joseph - Danger of Spiritual Presumption and Diakrisis of the Divine will

Danger of Spiritual Presumption

 

Read, if you want, the Ecclesiastical History by Meletios of Athens, and see how many teachers Origen and thousands of others were at first great luminaries of the Church possessing extensive learning. But since they gave themselves over to the sea of knowledge before receiving in hesychia the purification of their senses and the peace and tranquility of the Spirit, they sank in the ocean of the Holy Scriptures. They thought that their scholarly learning was sufficient. Thousands were lost and anathematized by the Councils, of which they had previously been champions. Read and you will see.

Diakrisis of the Divine will

… diakrisis [discernment] of the Divine will is one of the most delicate and complex matters in our lives. Especially for those who try to discover it through prayer – even though this is required, according to the saying ‘knock, seek, ask and it will be given you’ (Mt. 7:7) – it must nevertheless be preceded by patient endurance, trials and tribulations and experience so as to remove the passions and the individual will, which the exceeding subtlety and sensitivity of divine grace abhors. Anyway, whether it is arduous or whether it requires patient endurance, the method of prayer remains a requirement as the only means whereby we communicate with God, and by which we shall also know His Divine will.

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