During the years of persecution of the faith of Christ, Priest Constantin Sarbu (1905–1975) went through the most horrible Communist prisons in Romania and suffered severe torture, for which he was canonized as a hieromartyr on July 11–12, 2024.
The Betrayal of Judas. A fresco fragment. Vatopedi Monastery, Mt. Athos
The Devil Put a Thought into Judas’ Heart
The devil acts insidiously first through the heart, then through the mind.
First, he incites a person to give free rein to the lusts of his heart, and when the heart is filled with impure joys, the mind follows it, helping the heart defile his life (cf. Mk. 7:21–23).
The devil does not put the most evil and cursed thoughts into a person’s mind, but into his heart. After all, if he put them into his mind, then no matter how bad a person is and how darkened his mind, he would still be horrified when thinking about them, and maybe he would see their fatal consequences. Therefore, the enemy puts these thoughts into his heart, and the heart never thinks about the aftermath. The heart is eager to jump up and instantly fulfill any impulse that enters it, because the heart has no eyes, while the mind has. And when out of the abundance of a defiled heart the mouth speaks, or the hand writes, or other body parts act, the tongue becomes a source of iniquity (cf. Mt. 15:11–20). It defiles the whole body and inflames our whole lives, being set on fire by Gehenna itself (cf. Jas. 3:6).
Hieromartyr Constantin Sarbu Oh, we must keep vigilant watch over our hearts! After all, satan tries to disrupt our salvation through the gates of the heart, because here we are always weaker and more readily yield to temptations.
When the enflamed arrow of a seductive gaze is aimed directly at the heart, when the lust of an alluring sin looms before the heart, when the thought of a shameful deed is thrown over the walls into the heart, the heart is set ablaze instantly, like a dry forest. And Who can save anything in it then, when the flames are spreading and rapidly engulfing everything, violently destroying every good fruit in it?
Oh, my brothers and sisters! I don’t have the necessary power of words to convey to you how soberly you must always maintain alert vigilance over your hearts—not only when dark thoughts crowd into you, but also when, especially when, only one thought comes. Only some of the many thoughts can stay and dwell in your hearts, or they can all fly away, but when only one thought comes, it will surely stay and begin to nest in your heart.
You can’t stop crows from flying over your house, but you can prevent them from building a nest there. Similarly, you can’t forbid bad thoughts from coming to you, but you can drive them away so that they won’t take root in your heart.
Therefore, let the eyes of your minds always be watchful. When a thought pounces on your like a wolf to bite your heart, or hovers like a hawk over your heart, looking for a place to perch, fight it with all your might and chase it away! It’s often too late even after five minutes. Once a burning arrow breaks through the armor of your hearts, God alone knows when it will go out and what devastation it can cause in your hearts, and through it, in so many more hearts.
O Lord our God, the Creator of the human heart, Thou knowest how weak are our hearts, for Thou hast created them so that love for Thee and for our fellow human beings, kindness, mercy, and faithfulness, can easily enter them! But Thou also knowest how insidious is the enemy of our salvation, and with what cunning he uses the weaknesses of our hearts to penetrate them and destroy us with the poison and flame of sin. So, we beseech Thee: Put a guard over our hearts and give us vigilant minds that will never allow thoughts coming from the devil to enter into us; so that he would not lead us to murderous deeds and eternal perdition, as he did with Judas, whose mind was not wakeful.
He That Eateth Bread with Me…
The Lord was sitting at the table with His disciples at the Last Supper… It was an amazing hour! He always revealed great and unexpected truths to His disciples, but never things like that. The Lord had already told them about His future Passion on another occasion, but even if they believed, they viewed it as something postponed to an unknown time. He had also spoken about the traitor, but now the light of the Lord’s words was getting closer and closer to a specific person and stopping at the one sharing the same dish and breaking the same bread with Him.
Anyone can denounce you, but only the one who eats bread with you can sell you out. Anyone can do you harm (regardless of distance or how alien they are to you), but the greatest evil can only be inflicted by the one who is closest to you. Therefore, no one in the world can cause the most profound heartbreak like the one from whom you have the right to expect the greatest joy.
Dear soul, which has found the grace to have a teacher of whose bread you are nourished! Be vigilant and don’t let any satanic thoughts against your teacher enter your heart! Regardless of how immense the happiness you can “buy” for betraying your benefactor may seem to you—don’t desire it!
However tremendous the evil he has supposedly inflicted on you may seem to you, never desire to take revenge on your father, your teacher, or your benefactor. For, the price for which you will sell him out and the arrow with which you will pierce him will burn your hands and heart forever and ever.
One of You shall Betray Me
How dreadful that moment must have been for the Lord’s disciples when the Savior said to them at the Last Supper: One of you shall betray Me (Jn. 13:21)!
These words must have overshadowed all their joy like a bolt from the blue. Such a deep sacred bond had been developed in their hearts to each other and to the Lord that it was inconceivable that anyone could ever fall away from them. On hearing these words, the innocent disciples started looking at each other with suspicion for the first time, and at that moment, like a most precious vessel, the boundless trust and harmony of their unity shattered. A dark and cold avalanche of distrust fell into the heart of each of them, destroying everything on its way.
How broken their hearts must have been when they first looked at each other with heavy and gloomy eyes! Oh, what thousands of desperate thoughts were tearing their souls apart! And satan rejoiced utterly to see a small and faithful community of Christ disintegrating. And he must have been whispering tempting ideas to each of the eleven disciples, telling them to abandon everything, go home, and return to their former trades. He must have been whispering to them how good it would have been if they had done it a long time ago or hadn’t taken this path in the first place, because “this is what it has come to”! This is Who they loved, trusted, and had been united with! How nice it would have been if they had heeded the warnings of their wives, parents, or friends and stayed at home! Satan was tormenting their souls with such thoughts.
Oh, what a great evil is inflicted not only on God’s cause, but also on fellow human beings by those wicked people who sell out their neighbors and betray love, friendship, brotherhood, honor and their word. They destroy the most precious good for human hearts—trust in our neighbor.
As long as there is trust, the bond between believers and spouses, and harmony between people are sacred. But when the devil puts the thought of treachery and deception into a person’s heart, it all falls apart. And how much regret and sorrow remain in his heart! What a bitter taste appears on the lips and then become harshest words about the traitor!
My dear one, who is listening to these bitter words, take care to watch yourself! Pray to God and stay focused on internal vigilance so as not to betray Christ. Because this will separate you from Christ and your brothers, and your sin will poison not only your eternity, but also the fellowship of others, since everyone will begin to fear each other and doubt everybody else. And this misfortune is more serious and far-reaching than any other.
Bless, O Lord, Thy pure and steadfast disciples and comfort their hearts!
God! Who Is It?
How many times the Lord must have looked into Judas’ eyes as He spoke to His disciples about betrayal with profound sadness, being troubled in spirit! And how hard the Lord tried to see in the traitor’s eyes if only a shadow of remorse for what he had done! A shadow of regret for the thought he had been harboring in his heart, looking for an opportunity to implement it; regret for the silver that he already had in his pocket and which he touched with hidden avarice and love…
But guilty eyes either look aside or become insolent when they don’t want to be lowered. At first, Judas’s eyes most likely avoided the Lord’s meekly reproving look of love. But then, when the thought turned into action, they became insolent, firmly and with bold complacency, “repulsing” every gaze of the Lord’s eyes, thereby showing that he would not allow himself to be defeated, but was determined to fight the spirit of Jesus fiercely and bitterly.
In the final days they were spending together, and especially in the final moments they were experiencing now, this evening—with what anguish the Lord was most probably coming to terms with this final loss of one of His beloved disciples, whom He had chosen to forever become His friend, and not His murderer!
But when neither tears, nor prayer, nor the manifestation of the most patient love can touch someone’s heart, then there is not a single bridge to his heart. Then being together becomes something scalding, like ice, and both want to put an end to it as soon as possible.
Son of Simon Iscariot…
The traitor of Christ was Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son.
In such an amazing way, the Holy Word of God once again tells us about the responsibility that parents bear for their children’s deeds and the consequences of these deeds, good and bad, because the way their parents brought them up in the first seven years of their lives and the example that their children saw in them over those years have a lasting impact on their entire lives.
Simon Iscariot might have passed into eternity long before his son began to show in practice what kind of upbringing he had received in his parents’ home. But even there, in the realm of the departed, he was haunted by his son’s deeds. The wretched life that the father had apparently lived was now being continued by his wicked son. Judas was Simon Iscariot’s son, and in the Gospel narrative of his son’s deed, his father’s name was also mentioned as an accomplice who bore equal responsibility for the severity of the crime. And it will be like this forever and ever.
Rare and blessed are instances when bad parents raise good and helpful children. Most often, the children of such bad parents prove to be those who, in the course of their lives, also become wretched: robbers, murderers, traitors and other cursed doers of all evil, poisoning the lives of other people on earth and blaspheming the holy name of the Lord and His holy will.
Dear brother or sister, if you are someone’s parents or if you want to become parents of children who will remain on earth after you! Have great care and pay close attention to how you raise your children! And, above all else, take care for the example you give them in the life that your children see in you! Make efforts right away, because soon your child will fly from the nest, and then you will weep in vain!
If the mother is frivolous, promiscuous, shrewish, or a heavy drinker, what kind of daughter will grow up close to her? If the father is a smoker, a gambler, a seducer and a thief, what will become of his son, who every day hangs out in pubs with his father as he grows up? And when they become adults, such children will get married, and what will happen to the soul of the future spouse of such an alcoholic son or a dissolute daughter? What will become of the children who will be born in such a family? What will become of all their descendants?
Dear parents, struggle with all obstacles and strive to raise your children in the fear of God, faith and love. Set them only a good example; for both on earth and in the afterlife you will be haunted by the deeds of your children—either as a blessing or as a curse.
If your accursed son torments his wife or your depraved daughter torments her husband, do not side with the one who is guilty against the one who is innocent—otherwise you will participate in sin and receive even greater condemnation.
That Thou Doest, Do Quickly
Once a morsel of bread was given to him, satan entered Judas, and then Jesus said only this to Judas: That thou doest, do quickly (Jn. 13:27).
For when you see that you can’t avoid something, you don’t want anything but for it to happen sooner. Any delay is painful for him who waits. Procrastination is often more painful than the suffering itself, which it prepares.
Judas had long harbored the intent to betray Christ. The Lord’s terrifying warnings did not touch his heart. Instead of stopping on the dangerous path he had embarked upon, Judas followed it with even greater boldness.
And here is the most horrible thing: After the satanic thought, satan himself enters Judas’ heart, which remained open. A hidden thought, a hidden sin, is an “ambassador” that prepares the way for satan who enters the heart and takes total control of it. After that, the individual is just an absolutely possessed and powerless companion, a cursed tool in the hands of the spirit who was a murderer from the beginning (cf. Jn. 8:44).
That’s where the evil thought you have accepted into your heart leads! The thought of fornication, theft, betrayal or revenge, which you (and maybe another as well) have accepted into your heart and still harbor, waiting for the perfect moment to act on it, can lead you to hell. Maybe you’re waiting for your husband to leave the house? Or for the night to come when there will be fewer passersby? Or for the convenient moment that satan will prepare for you, after blinding you and clouding your mind, so that you may not understand what you are doing? Then, with great ease, he will suddenly push you into the abyss, and then the question will arise: How will you get out of that abyss?
When God places a good thought into your heart, be sure to take action on it as soon as possible, before satan comes to take it away from your heart (cf. Lk. 8:12), since you are slow to fulfill it. And when a dubious thought is placed into your heart, do not rush to put it into action, because a sword is tied to the thread of this thought, with which satan can kill you and many others.
O soul listening to these warnings, stop here for a moment, next to Christ, and hear what He is asking you:
“What do you want to do? What thought is in your heart? What thought have you put into your heart to implement it?”
Have you ever thought of completely breaking with satan in your heart and in your life? For God’s sake, make up your mind and do it quickly, as soon as possible! Listen to the Lord, come and stay with Him until you die. And you will be happy forever. Or maybe satan has put some evil thought into your heart and keeps bringing it to your mind so that you can act on it? Oh, my dear, don’t obey him, because everything he promises you is a lie, and he will make you unhappy forever and ever!
O Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior, cleanse my heart from all evil thoughts and implant only Thy thoughts in my whole being—the humble thought of obeying the will of the Father, the pure thought of walking in holiness, the loving thought of clinging to Thee and my brothers, the valiant thought of patience and suffering for the faith, and the sacred thought of holding on to these blessed thoughts steadfastly, always trying to ensure that they come to good fruition in my life day after day, until the end of my earthly journey.
And It Was Night
He [Judas] then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night (Jn. 13:30)... It is always night when the devil’s thought gets the better of the soul of a believing disciple. There is always clouding of the mind when sin takes power over the heart, and the devil manages to snatch it from brotherly fellowship, making it an instrument of betrayal. It is always night when the brotherhood breaks up, when the disciples scatter, when the first vow is broken, and when hatred and anger incite a person to revenge.
How terrible such a night is, and what great destruction it can cause when it penetrates the place where the light should never disappear!
How wonderful is family life, when there is harmony, care for children, love and concord between spouses! But suddenly, an alien arrow strikes the heart of one of the spouses. The mind is clouded, the heart is full of venom, life is poisoned, and the souls are broken. And the first love can never be restored—not to its original state at least.
How wonderful is the life of the soul with Christ! Its obedience to the brethren is humble and sincere. Its love for its own and for everyone around it is amicable and compassionate. Its gentleness is soft and warm. Its words are respectful and sweet, and its face is radiant and full of kindness. Its heart is open and pure; everything in it is pure! But once some hidden sin, an alien spirit, or an enemy instigation enters the soul through another door instead of this holy one, all the sweet light suddenly fades, and an eerie night reigns everywhere.
And when, alas, night suddenly falls in broad daylight, there is always crucifixion and innocent death: Sometimes faith dies, sometimes hope, and sometimes love. The worst thing is when they all die together.
Lead us not, O Lord, into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one!
When Judas Was Gone out
When a traitor leaves, horror remains; when an adversary leaves, danger remains; when a brother leaves, mental anguish remains; when a spouse leaves, a bitter emptiness remains—not only in the house, but also and especially in the soul; and when an avenger leaves, a threat always remains.
Judas departed alone and returned with a crowd, because hatred is able to gather people faster than love; but it hardly manages to keep them.
After Judas had left, Jesus said: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him (Jn. 13:31).
Resurrection cannot be achieved except through the Cross. Eternal glory cannot be attained other than by suffering, just as Heaven cannot be achieved except by earth.
From the book: Lacrima şi har: Preotul martir Constantin Sârbu [Tears and Grace: Hieromartyr Constantin Sarbu] (Editura Bonifaciu, 2011).
