Photo: vk.com
Preface
In the Gospel story, there’s a parable about ten virgins, five of whom, according to the Savior, were wise and five of whom were foolish. These foolish ones were also virgins in the flesh, relying on this virtue alone. They hoped to enter the bridal chamber of the Heavenly Bridegroom, taking no care for all the other virtues. For this reason, they weren’t permitted to enter the bridal chamber of the Heavenly Bridegroom. According to the ancient Fathers, the word chastity doesn’t mean some private virtue, but sobriety throughout a man’s life and activity, when he protects himself from every deed, word, and thought that is displeasing to God.
To this end have we drafted the proposed discourse, forming a kind of wall or fence on all sides to help a man against his own negligence and enemy attacks.
Note: It is the moral duty of man to remember God, and the small details mentioned here serve as the ultimate reason for remembering Him.
A short rule for every Orthodox Christian
about how to lead a God-pleasing and salvific life
“Remember God by prayerfully invoking His name and fulfill His commandments, which are not burdensome.”
Many people want to be saved, but many don’t know where salvation begins. We must begin with the last thing, that is, the remembrance of death.
The Lord says: For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Gen. 3:19)! An Orthodox man who upholds the laws established by the holy Church must, beyond dogmatic truths, also believe in the Triune God, pray to Him, do good works, love and remember his Creator, cling to Him with his spirit, and fulfill His commandments concerning even the smallest details, which serve as the ultimate reason for remembering God in the life and works of an Orthodox Christian.
It’s these little things with which our present word is concerned. Without observing these little things, it’s impossible to observe the great saving commandments, and this places our salvation in doubt.
Such is the danger of inattentiveness to the small things we encounter in our lives and work! These little things consist mainly in the following four points:
First: How to begin any small work of activity
Second: How to turn it to the glory of God
Third: How to offer God repentance for being inattentive to the offenses committed throughout the day, against God, against our neighbor, and against our conscience
Fourth: About the remembrance of death, that is, our exodus from this life to eternal life.
On beginning any deed or the slightest occupation
Don’t begin any undertaking, even one seemingly small and insignificant, until you call on God to help you bring it to fruition. For the Lord said: For without Me ye can do nothing (Jn. 15:5), that is, neither speak nor think. In other words: “Without Me, you have no right to do any good deed!” Therefore, it’s necessary to invoke God’s grace-filled help either in words or thought: “Lord bless me, Lord help me!” with the conviction that without God’s help we can do nothing useful and salvific; and if we do something without entreating God’s grace for this work, we only reveal our spiritual pride and resist God. But by invoking the name of God, we receive a blessing from the Lord, Who will say on that day: Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34).
And to those who won’t have the seal of God’s blessing on them it will be said: I never knew you: depart from Me (Matt. 7:23)… This is how important it is to call upon the name of God and receive a blessing from Him for all our deeds and undertakings (and especially before reading Holy Scripture, and even more so before prayer!). Thus, with every smallest deed and the beginning of this work, whether we’re walking on a flat place or along a rough road (meaning our various types of works and occupations in all forms and types), let us ever call on the Lord for help—otherwise it won’t work out, not only with the ordinary affairs of everyday life, but even with a holy deed. It’s end will be sorrowful and even sinful, as St. John Chrysostom says. In every case, in the absence of invoking the help of God, we show ourselves to be despisers of the providence of God and reveal our spiritual pride before God, which comes from forgetting God. And the Holy Scriptures tell us: Let sinners be turned away unto hades, yea, all [who] are forgetful of God (Ps. 9:18).
Our forgetfulness doesn’t allow us to remember God and invoke His grace-filled help for our infirmity, not only in important saving deeds, but even in the slightest deed, word, and thought. What a terrible judgment awaits us who forget God!... But the Lord comforts those who remember and call upon His name through the prophet Jeremiah, saying: I will remember with remembrance those who remember My name! Remembrance of God means prayerful invocation, not simply remembering the name of Jesus.
Demons contribute to our negligence and forgetfulness. They’re everywhere: They dwell on earth, in the air, in the aerial realm, and in the abyss, and they watch every man, looking for ways to seduce him astray from the true path.
Due to our forgetfulness of God, the demons are as close to us as the air around us; they touch our body and even our brain by God’s permission. But through faith in the power of the Cross of Christ and by the sign of the cross, we can extinguish all the arrows of the evil one.
How to turn our deeds to the glory of God
The holy Apostle Paul said: “Pray without ceasing and do everything for the glory of God, for this is good and pleasing in the sight of our God and Savior” (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17, 1 Cor. 10:31, 1 Tim. 2:3). Thus, praying incessantly doesn’t mean standing before the holy icons and praying all day. It’s necessary to pray at certain times, but this doesn’t constitute the incessant prayer that is characteristic of those who have devoted themselves to God and especially to the monastic order. For all other people of God, as St. John Chrysostom says, can and should pray during any activity—even sitting at a spinning wheel, raising their minds to God during any task.
Thus, while engaged in the everyday handiwork that no man can avoid, we can and should pray: that is, move from the visible object (that we’re currently holding) to the invisible Divine name. For example, if you look at fire—whether in a stove, lampada, or anywhere else—say to yourself mentally: “Lord, deliver me from the eternal fire!” And by doing so, you humble your thoughts and unconsciously sigh, drawing to yourself the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who at that moment is imperceptibly working our salvation within our soul. For Holy Scripture says: In sighing shall ye be saved (Is. 30:15).1 And again: “Every soul is enlivened by the Holy Spirit and is exalted in purity,” that is, in purity of heart, which comes from purity of thought. This is how important it is for us to observe our thoughts and imagination, for from them come life and death! That is, either eternal life or eternal torment!
Then, in a similar way move from visible objects to invisible ones. In all situations and activities, such as washing or cleaning any object, say to yourself: “Lord, cleanse the filth of my soul!” Also, when you begin eating or drinking water, or tea, or whatever else is necessary, think about how the Lord God tasted gall and vinegar for the sake of our salvation yet offers us all good things. In this way, you will humble your proud thoughts and sigh and thank the Lord Who suffered for us! When lying down on your bed or cot, say to yourself: “Our Lord God had nowhere to lay His head, yet He has given me every comfort.” When awakening from sleep, cross yourself, and when you arise from your bed, say mentally: “Glory to Thee Who hast shown us the light!” When you go to put your shoes on, say: “Lord, bless! Lord help!” When putting on clothes that are appropriate and proper for you, say with your mind to God: “Lord, enlighten the garment of my soul and save me!” And when you begin to tidy the hair on your head, remember how the Roman soldiers tore at our God and Savior’s most pure hair when they dragged Him to crucifixion—and then say: “Glory to Thy Passion, O Lord!” When you begin to wash yourself, be sure to cross yourself to drive away the enemy’s temptations through the nature of the water. If you see a beautiful object worthy of our Creator and Him Who provides for His creation, glorify the Creator of all! When leaving a room and when returning to it, mentally recite “It is truly meet.” When grasping a door handle, say to yourself mentally: “Open unto us the doors of mercy, O Blessed Theotokos...” Thus, always with every visible object, move (mentally) to the invisible name of God.
We have only given partial examples here, but whoever zealously undertakes to fulfill them will be taught by the grace of the Holy Spirit how to treat every object (without exception) and do everything for the glory of God, with appropriate thoughts and feelings, i.e. movements of the soul: either glorifying, or grateful, or repentant, or self-abasing. Such movements of the soul are prayer, according to St. Basil the Great. Thus, in acting this way, man is in a state of unceasing prayer, according to the word of the holy Apostle Paul, and therefore in union with God Who said: He that is not with Me is against Me (Mt. 12:30). And therefore, always, in all matters and undertakings without exception, accustom yourself to the memory of God; and to accustom yourself to this, you must entreat the help of the Lord’s grace and a blessing for the strengthening of your will, in order to mentally move from visible objects to the invisible name of God, Who bestows upon us grace-filled help in the work of the salvation of the soul and on all our affairs and undertakings. In doing so, you will do everything for the glory of God, according to the teaching of the holy Apostle, and at the same time you will have God-pleasing and salvific prayer, to which we are prompted, so to speak, by every object before our eyes.
But when despondency and hardness of heart attack us and prevent prayer, then to drive away such a demonic temptation, we must say inwardly: “Lord, I have neither the compunction, the zeal, nor the contrition to pray to You worthily!” With such contrition of heart, God will give us God-pleasing and salvific prayer; for God does not despise a contrite and humble heart; that is, He won’t leave us helpless. With such concern for God’s glory and with an awareness of the weakness of our nature, the power of God’s grace will dwell in you, and you will be numbered among those of whom the Holy Apostle said: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you… (Gal. 4:19).
The Kingdom of God does not open for those in whom Christ has not come to dwell here on this earth (according to their faith). And wherever there is Christ, there the light never sets and there is no darkness; and you will have peace and joy in your soul because of the presence of the grace of the Holy Spirit in your heart as a pledge of our salvation and eternal joy, which is in Heaven.
On repentance before God
In fulfilling the commandments of God in general and the relatively little things mentioned here in particular, man, due to the weakness of his nature, necessarily sins by not fulfilling the virtues, being persecuted by our enemies, namely, the demons. Then correcting our fall, from which no one is free, requires repentance before God. Everyone without exception must repent—both great sinners and people of God who think there’s no need for them to repent of small everyday sins such as sinful words, thoughts, desires, and intentions, and similar trifles. But those who think this way are mistaken, the poor things! For by their example, the Holy Apostles also encourage us to repent. Thus, the Apostle St. John the Theologian writes: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1 Jn. 1:8); that is, in the very thought that you have no sin, there is already sin. The holy Apostle James said: For in many things we offend all (Jas. 3:2), and the holy Apostle Paul said: … of whom I am first (1 Tim. 1:15). Thus, if such universal luminaries repent like this, then how can we dare to say that we have no sin for which to repent before God? Such egotism is spiritually destructive, for those who think this way reject God as Judge, but become their own judges. God save us from such insensibility!
Without God’s help or the grace of the Holy Spirit we can’t do anything good and salvific, and we can’t even think of something good; we must of necessity entreat the help of God’s grace for all our deeds and undertakings. However, in carrying out his every deed and undertaking, due to the infirmity of his nature, man will certainly fall, being persecuted by the enemies of our salvation. Then we must rise and amend ourselves. But how? Through repentance before God. For example, as soon as you notice within yourself (in light of your conscience and the law of God) sins of word, or mind, or thought, or some other sinful passion of habit that can torment you at any time and place, repent to God that very minute (at least mentally): “Lord, forgive and help me!” (that is, “Forgive me that I have offended You and help me not to offend Your majesty”). These five words—“Lord, forgive and help me”—must be said slowly several times, or rather, until you sigh. This sigh signifies the coming of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which has forgiven us the sin for which we’re repenting at that moment. Then every demonic action in our thoughts, and especially in our imagination, will fall away from us. And if this demonic action comes again, then say this repentant prayer again.
This is the only way a man attains purity of heart and spiritual peace. With such repentance, no passion (i.e., a disordered thought) or sinful habit can resist, but will constantly diminish and finally completely disappear according to the measure of purity of heart. For the Lord says: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Mt. 5:8)—and above all, in their hearts, filled with spiritual peace; for Holy Scripture says: His place has been in peace (in a peaceful disposition of the heart) and His dwelling-place in Zion (Ps. 75:3). But in order to have such a good habit of repenting before God, we must seek a firm determination for this saving work and entreat God to strengthen our will for this work; and to begin this when the day has turned to evening and night is approaching, and then before going to bed, you must think about how the day was spent.
Remember where you were, what you saw, what you said, and what evil you committed against God, against your neighbor, and against your conscience; and if you see anything sinful, then repent to God for the entire day. And if you don’t see anything, you don’t remember anything, it doesn’t mean nothing happened, but that you’ve forgotten everything due to your scattered thoughts. Then you must repent to God for forgetting about Him, saying: “I’ve forgotten You, Lord! Woe is me! O Lord, don’t forget me, who forgets you!” And these words should be expressed (at least mentally) several times in a drawn-out tone, because with such a tone, not with rapid speech, the heart becomes contrite and humble; then a sigh will come, as a sign of the coming of the grace of the Holy Spirit, without Whom man himself is nothing! Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build (Ps. 126:1), sings the Holy Church.
The evening practice of repentance before God will move to the middle of the day, and later you’ll catch yourself at the very moment of your sinful transgression (in small things). Such repentance before God leads to perfection or to holiness without any special ascetic labors, as the Holy Fathers have said. God doesn’t require extraordinary feats from us, but only small and constant ones, says St. John Chrysostom.
To be continued…
