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On the remembrance of death
Death is the end of everything! Every man must remember it. The remembrance of death isn’t about imagining a coffin, a grave, a funeral setting, and the like, but only having the assurance that sooner or later we won’t be here anymore and will be relocated to eternity, which, according to St. John Chrysostom, is more terrible than hell itself! There is no stronger means of arousing us to virtues than the remembrance of death, which detaches the spirit from the temporal visible creation and attaches it to God; it’s especially necessary in the morning to attune yourself to the thought of eternity, because your morning mood will remain throughout the day. When he was dying, St. Anthony the Great left a kind of testament about the importance and benefits of the remembrance of death (in the morning, and also in the evening before going to sleep), telling those monks standing around his bed: “My children, don’t forget about your departure from this temporal life to eternal life.” Saying this, he found that there was no virtue more powerful than the remembrance of death for pleasing God and saving the soul—an immortal thing!
And St. Dmitry the Metropolitan of Rostov said: “Whoever does not remember torment will not avoid torment.” It is not without reason that the Holy Scripture says, Remember thy end and thou shalt never sin (Sir. 7:36)! And St. John Climacus said: “As it is impossible for a starving man not to think of bread, so it is impossible for a man eager to be saved not to think of death and judgment”1 and eternity! Thus, the beginning of the salvation of the soul arises from the thought of eternity, or to put it another way, from the mind’s immersion in eternity and the heart’s wounding with the fear of God. From this, a contrite spirit is born; a contrite heart and humble spirit attract the grace of the Holy Spirit, imperceptibly building salvation in our soul to the glory of our God and Savior. The Kingdom of God doesn’t come with observance, that is, not in a noticeable way. God is pleased with an inner disposition, faith, the fear of God, devotion to God, a heartfelt attachment to Him and hope.
As for external activity, almost all of it involves contact with our neighbors (in monasteries with brothers and sisters), and here’s the main thing: “not to please yourself and not to seek your own” when comparing yourself with others (when there’s a need to help someone else). This is an indispensable law in relation to God and man. Thus, from small things is formed our moral character, according to which we’ll either be condemned or justified (at the Dread Judgment). However, observing the rules regarding the small things, we must keep God’s help in mind and expect it, otherwise we won’t have any success. Lips are sealed at the remembrance of death—which is especially important and valuable for monastics—for verbosity robs a man of the thought of eternity, which is so valuable in the salvation of the soul! The enemy of our salvation, satan, especially wages battle against us to rob us of the remembrance of death. He’s ready (according to the Holy Fathers) to give us the treasures of the whole world, if only to take from us the thought of death, for he, the accursed one, knows that such a thought leads us to the salvation of the soul, which is immortal, and to the blessedness from which he fell; on this basis and because of envy, he managed to divert Eve from the remembrance of death in Paradise, telling her: Ye shall not surely die … ye shall be as gods (Gen. 3:4–5).
And so now the enemy of our salvation in every way and with all kinds of baits and plausible pretexts approaches our soul, always occupied with vanity and cares, and distracts us from the saving remembrance of death and eternity! Ending this moral teaching, we pray to the God of wisdom, as infinitely Good, to give us understanding about everything and send down upon us the grace of the Holy Spirit or the saving power of God to help the infirmity of our nature, to please our Creator and His Most Pure Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary, for the salvation of our soul, an immortal thing!
Amen.
August 3–16, 1934
I have read and approve of this beneficial discourse. Metropolitan ANTHONY
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Our life is in Heaven! Where our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to, awaiting us there. The Apostles went to the place from whence the Lord ascended , and the Most Pure Mother of God and many others were there. The Lord Jesus Christ suddenly appeared before them, and seeing Him, they worshiped Him, while others doubted (in His Divinity) and didn’t worship Him. The Lord Jesus Christ said to the Apostles: All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit… I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28:18–20). After that, He began to ascend to Heaven before the eyes of all, while blessing them until He disappeared (on high) from the sight of the Holy Apostles.
So what does His blessing mean for the Apostles in fulfilling the will and commandments given to the Apostles, and through them to all of us? It means that without God’s blessing, our every undertaking in good and useful deeds is spiritual pride, resisting God, like not recognizing His Divine commands; or doubt, like those who doubted and didn’t worship when seeing Him on the Mount of Olives. The Apostles personally received a blessing from the Lord, and we should entreat blessing from Him for ourselves, according to His commandment, invoking His name in word or thought: “Lord bless, Lord help me!” For He said: Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. And again: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (Jn. 20:29), and this also applies to us, the people of the last times.
And as the Holy Apostles, with the blessing of the Lord, successfully spread the preaching of the Gospel throughout the universe, so we must have care or concern to fulfill the commandments given by the Lord through the Apostles, for the glory of the Lord and for the salvation of the soul, an immortal thing. Thus, according to His commandment, we should entreat a blessing from Him—in other words, the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit for all our good deeds and undertakings. If we begin something good and useful without asking the Lord for the help of His grace, then even if our deed is holy in and of itself, its end will be mournful and even sinful, as St. John Chrysostom said about it. Moreover those who don’t have God’s blessing on themselves, as having turned away from it and having doubted His Divinity, will go into eternal torment; for the Lord will say at the Dread Judgment: Come, ye blessed … inherit the Kingdom. And whoever doesn’t have a blessing from Him will hear: Depart from Me … into everlasting fire (Matt. 25:34, 41).
And Holy Scripture tells us: Let sinners be turned away unto hades, yea, all … that are forgetful of God and entreat not the help of His grace (Ps. 9:18). Those who aren’t in unity with God through prayer, that is, by calling on the name of God for help, are separated from God. For the Lord Himself said: He that is not with Me is against Me (Matt. 12:30). That is how important it is for us to hold onto the blessing of God, and whoever doesn’t want a blessing, it turns away from him as from a proud spirit, for God resists the proud but gives grace or saving power to the humble who need God’s help. Therefore, don’t start any business until you call upon God to help you bring it into reality. For the Lord Himself said: For without Me ye can do nothing (Jn. 15:5), neither speak, nor think.
Therefore, with every slightest movement and undertaking in necessary and useful matters, we must entreat the Lord’s blessing either in words or thought: “Lord bless, Lord help me,” and in this way we will always remain with the blessing of God—in His memory of us, for He said through His Prophet Jeremiah: For because My words are in him, I will surely remember him (Jer. 31:20). With the memory of God and the invocation of His name for every good endeavor, with a living consciousness of the omnipresence of God, let us do everything for the glory of God, lifting our minds and hearts to the Lord, Who ascended from us to Heaven, and with this sense and understanding, let us do not only our great, but even smallest deeds without neglecting them as small, but let us treat them according to our conscience and the Law of God; because our moral character consists of small things and it’s according to this character that we’ll be judged at the Dread Judgment. Thus, without God’s blessing, even a good and useful undertaking is our resistance to God’s providence. Then God will resist us and say on that day: I never knew you: depart from Me (Matt. 7:23).
May 24, 1935
A teaching for all who desire the salvation of the soul
Sacred Scripture points us to one of the fundamental virtues: blessed silence. If it’s good for everyone in general, then it is especially so for monastics. And therefore the Holy Fathers said: Every virtue must begin with the tongue; if a man doesn’t hold his tongue, then don’t look for virtue in him, for his soul is empty—the whole spirit of piety has evaporated. It’s better to fall from a height than from the tongue… It’s not without reason that the Holy Church makes us daily repeat throughout the year, and in Great Lent even sing in the middle of the church: Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of enclosure round about my lips (Ps. 140:3). Why? Firstly, because we sin with nothing so often and so much as with the tongue; secondly, because extreme moderation and caution in words is not only a high Christian virtue, but also the best means for a wise and happy, peaceful life, both in society and especially in the monastic life.
If any man offend not in word, says the holy Apostle James, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body (Jas. 3:2). The tongue is a fire, as the same holy Apostle calls it. It ignites instantly, and before you know it, it scorches someone, either by reproach, or slander, or judgment and insult. The tongue is an unrestrainable evil: With it we bless God the Father, and with it we curse man. From the same mouth comes both blessing and cursing. But the Word of God thunders against such people: Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment… Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away (Matt. 12:36, 24:35), says the Lord.
