Give to every man that asketh of thee. (Luke 6:30)
This is one of the first Christian commandments. The Lord and His holy Apostles often remind us of it, and in order that we may be the more earnest to act upon it, they encompass it with the most moving incentives and the most striking admonitions. There is no one who is not familiar with this commandment, and everyone should act in accordance with their conscience to help the needy as far as they are able. If we examine our actions more closely, however, we shall not find any other area of Christian duty which is so shamefully neglected. Certainly, we do a little here and there -- just enough to get rid of the tiresome suppliant; sometimes we refuse altogether -- which is, in fact, more often the case. Our conscience somehow remains calm; it is silent and does not reprimand us for not helping -- or for extending such meager help. Why is this? Our sinful soul has adopted a calculated understanding of poverty which comes to mind in situations calling for our help. It frustrates our good intentions to the extent that not only does our conscience remain silent at our refusal -- or feeble beneficence; we even convince ourselves that we do better in evading the petitioner.
What have we not thought up, in our selfishness and avarice, to justify our coldness and hardheartedness towards those in need! We attribute ulterior motives to the one asking for help; we suspect his needs are not genuine; we think of what we lack, of hard times and the need to store up for a rainy day…All of these thoughts wander through the minds of those who are careless towards their obligations as Christians; they even enter the minds of those who are mindful and often throw them off the right path of action. Do we want to give freedom and space to feelings of tenderhearted compassion, not to allow them to be darkened by falsehoods? Then let us tear away these prejudiced thoughts and restore a healthy Christian attitude towards the giving of alms. Planting this firmly in our mind and keeping it clearly before us, especially when our assistance is called upon, we shall perfect the carrying out of this duty. Then we shall be able to hear the words: “Thou good and faithful servant.” Let us do this now, so that once and for all, having rejected what is wrong, we shall settle upon what is right.
The moment we find ourselves called upon to give help, the thought strikes us: Is this person really in need? who knows him? Perhaps this is a routine practice and he isn’t needy at all. We believe these thoughts and - either we turn aside altogether, or we help only minimally. Is this right? It’s true; there are cases which support our skepticism. But are we sure that the person standing before us with his request is a case in point? If we do not know this for a fact, why do we jump to conclusions and, even worse, act upon our unfounded suspicions? In fact, this may be a mother who has hungry children at home, or a husband whose wife is ill and his children in rags; perhaps it is the eldest of several homeless and helpless orphans; of a similar unfortunate soul. In such cases, of course, we would be willing to give help We must regard everyone, who approaches us for the first time, in like manner, and not grieve them with our suspicions. What if the person, whose heart is already burdened, should read in our eyes such distrustful thoughts? This would only add to his misery, and instead of being consoled, he would walk away from us with an even greater burden.
Today there is a widespread attitude of suspicion towards the poor. We must react to this with the following resolve: to make certain about those who have no cause to ask for help, and not to give to such a person; but to deny help to everyone simply because there are those whose demands are unjustified -- this is a sin.
When faced with an opportunity to give, we sometimes ask ourselves: with what? We can barely make ends meet ourselves. When there’s nothing to give, how can we feel obligated? The Apostle says we are to give out of our abundance: “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened” (II Cor. 8:12). But is it really true that we have nothing left after our own needs are satisfied? And are we being honest in defining what it is we cannot do without? What we consider to be “essential” may easily be reduced or expended. If we eliminate those “needs” which arise out of habit, whim, vainglory, the empty demands of the world, our passions…how much we shall have left for the use of charity. Even if we have already cut down on nonessentials, where there is a desire to give, good will always find means to set aside something for Christ.
One also often hears the criticism: Why are they uselessly loafing about? They should work and earn their daily bread.” A reasonable demand. Even the Apostle enjoins us to work with our hands so that we might satisfy not only our own needs but also have something to give away (Eph. 4:28). With this rationale we can easily dissuade ourselves from offering charity. Are we so certain, however, that whoever asks for help is able to work, or can find work? He may work and still be unable to meet his needs, especially if he has many mouths to feed…
People give all sorts of reasons to excuse their lack of charity, their hardheartedness! Some say, “hard times.” But if the times are hard for those who have a sufficiency, how much harder are they for the poor?! This pretext alone should lead one to give all the more generously. Another says, “I have to save for a rainy day.” Even so, this must have its limits. Otherwise our projected future needs will never allow us to help the poor in their immediate and very real distress. Furthermore, does the future depend on our prudence or on God’s Providence? Of course, on Providence. Let us, then, draw upon ourselves God’s mercy through extending mercy towards those in need; thereby we shall have real security for the future…Yet another says, “Someone else will meet his needs,” and he sends away the suppliant. But will another meet his needs, or will he also say, “Someone else…” and a third, “Someone else…” and so on? This is to leave the poor to the mercy of fate. No. The Lord sent this needy person to you; it is you who should help him. Do not miss an opportunity which may never repeat itself…
You see how many cunning rationales the devil has devised to deter even well-meaning people from charitable deeds. We have to admit that we have all, to a greater or lesser degree, succumbed to them at times. Let us resolve in our hearts not to give in to them anymore… How will these weak excuses hold up before God’s righteous judgment? The Christian mind and the Christian heart should not look upon poverty and the poor in this way. A true Christian adopts the mind of Christ…and carries the law of God in his heart to guide him in his actions Such a one regards the poor as Christ’s “lesser” brethren, or as Christ Himself Who draws close to us through them and accepts what is offered to them as being given to Him…
Let us maintain a charitable disposition and chase away all unkind thoughts. Then our heart will not allow us to break God’s commandment, Give to every man that asks of thee, and it will always urge us to be gracious, to love our brothers, to be courteous (I Peter 3:8), to be filled with compassion and kindness (Col. 3:12), and zealous to be merciful, even as our heavenly Father is merciful.
St. Theophan the Recluse
Emperor Nicephorus (Botaniates) of Constantinople reigned from 1078 until 1081. He had decided to build a cathedral that would be almost as grand as St. Sophia. When it was ready, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Alexandria as well as the patriarch of Constantinople were all invited to consecrate the beautiful new church built by the emperor. Announcements had been made about the consecration for several months in advance so that everyone would have time to travel to the great city of Constantinople; remember that during that time there were no cars, planes or trains. Everyone had to travel either in carts pulled by oxen, horses or donkeys, and those from great distances had to cross the sea in boats.
When Nicephorus’ cathedral was ready to be consecrated there were three patriarchs, forty metropolitans, and thousands of priests present, since this was an imperial cathedral. Thousands of carts and wagons converged on the city as the faithful came from all around. Everyone brought something for the new cathedral: rugs, barrels of wine, oil, flour, candles, etc. Each person wanted to offer something!
At that time there was a widow named Anastasia who lived in Constantinople. For fifty years she had lived faithfully, going to church regularly and praying to God. She lived on the edge of the city, right along the road on which all the carts and wagons of people had to travel to reach the new church. But Anastasia was very poor. Her house was a dilapidated shack, she had no money, no oil, no flour, nothing that she could offer to the new church. As she saw so many oxen pulling wagons of people toward the new church, she decided to give an armful of grass to the poor animals, since she did possess a small sickle and a pitchfork.
The widow was poor in material things, but very rich in faith! During the winter months she would spin flax and wool for the people of the town, and in the summer she would take her sickle and glean in the fields after the harvesters had left, then she would wrap the wheat in a rug and beat it to make a little flour for herself. Thus, little by little, she was able to provide herself with some flour for her own meager needs. That is how poor this widow, Anastasia, was!
Poor though she was, she had a very merciful heart! What went through her mind as she saw the oxen pulling such heavy loads of goods for the celebration of the new church?
-I don’t have any money, or rugs, or oil, nothing. But I can give the animals a little grass.
Still, she was afraid because she did not own land, so where would she get the grass without doing something wrong?
She took a big sack and went into a field where there was a kind of wild grass growing, called “couch-grass” (a perennial grass that many consider a weed, Ed). She cut a lot of this grass, being careful not to damage the other crops that were growing, and put it into her sack, saying to herself,
- I will give the oxen some grass, even if it is not from my own land.
She took a walking stick and set off with the sack of grass toward the area near the church where many people had gathered. She found a pair of oxen who had finished eating the little bit of feed that had been set out for them; they were looking about for more food, still hungry, but there was none that they could reach.
Anastasia opened her sack of grass and put it in front of the oxen, saying,
- Lord, accept this bit of grass, and forgive me, for I have nothing to bring to the church consecration, and even this is not from my own land!
She wept as she said these words; then when the oxen had finished eating, she also went to the church for the consecration.
She was astounded at what she saw in the church: so many people and such rich adornments for the new temple! The church was prepared like a bride for a wedding with all the embellishments ready for the consecration that was to take place the following day. Anastasia went to an icon in the rear of the church, where women generally would stand; there the poor old woman, her face wrinkled with age, an old scarf on her head, the poorest of sandals on her feet and wearing a raggedy dress, knelt and prayed to the Lord, saying,
- Lord, forgive me, for I have not brought any kind of offering for the church! I have nothing. The emperor is a king on earth and will be great in heaven, but I am so poor and have no money, nothing to offer.
And as she prayed, her tears dropped to the ground.
Then Emperor Nicephorus, with all his entourage and servants, came into the church. His chief minister, Peter was his name, pointed to the dedication plaque—since in churches and monasteries that are historical monuments there are dedication plaques over the doors—and drew the emperor’s attention to it. The plaque was made of marble and the golden inscription read “To the glory of the all holy Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, this holy church was built and provided for by me, the Emperor Nicephorus.” The emperor fully approved of the way the inscription had been executed, since he was the one who had ordered it.
Thus, the emperor, empress and a crowd of generals and other officials went into the church to see how it was prepared for the big event of consecration the following day. Everything was in order: beautiful frescoes on the walls, icons with golden risas, fine covers for the icon stands and curtains at the royal doors, gold-embroidered vestments, chandeliers, holy vessels for the altar, Gospel book, everything was in perfect order.
While the dignitaries were inspecting everything in the church, the elderly widow Anastasia, who had given an armful of grass to the oxen, was weeping before the icons in the rear of the church. As she prayed, the angel of the Lord changed the inscription on the dedication plaque. The inscription, even more beautifully executed now read, “To the glory of the all holy Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, this holy church was built and provided for by me, the widow Anastasia.”
The people in the rear of the church saw the inscription and froze with fear. Before they had clearly read the emperor’s name on the inscription. There were people all around, no scaffolding was in the church for someone to reach the plaque and change the writing; thus, no one could explain how this change had happened. The men read the inscription and began to talk among themselves.
- What! What does that say?
- What’s there?
- Look, it says that a widow built this church!
- But just a moment ago when the emperor came in, it had his name on it.
- What will the emperor say when he sees this?
Those present were afraid to tell the emperor, so they called the head minister, Peter, and showed the inscription to him. Peter read the inscription and said,
- But this is a miracle! It’s all right. I will tell the emperor!
The emperor listened to Peter. What a sight it was: the emperor and empress both had shining gold crowns on their heads and were dressed in all their royal garments, surrounded by soldiers.
- Your Majesty, come into the vestibule a moment.
The emperor came and looked at the plaque in amazement.
- But, when we came into the church, it was my inscription.
- I know that it was yours, Your Majesty. Everyone knows it was yours. But look at what is written there now!
- Oh! What a sinner I am! This is a great miracle! No one could have done this except God Himself! This is a wonderful miracle. I lost the church because I made it in my own pride. Now it has been given to a widow!
The emperor then called all his chief servants and told them,—This church is not to be consecrated until we find this widow! Once she is found, we will do the consecration in her name because she is greater before God than I am.
Then he gave the order to search throughout his entire empire for the widow Anastasia.
Now, it was God’s will to reveal this mystery quickly, and He did so through another widow who was about the same age as the blessed Anastasia. This woman was in the crowd, but was not aware that Anastasia was also there. In all the commotion that was going on in the rear of the church, she asked
- What is the matter?
When someone told her that they were looking for a widow by the name of Anastasia, she said,
- I know Anastasia. She lives at the edge of town.
- What! You know her! Come here to the emperor!
The old woman told the emperor where the widow Anastasia lived, and he then immediately sent servants to find her and bring her to the church.
Servants, riders and horses quickly headed off to the edge of Constantinople to find Anastasia and bring her to the emperor. When they reached the place that the old woman had told them, they found some children playing.
- Do you children know where an old woman by the name of Anastasia lives?
One of the older children pointed and said,
- Anastasia lives over there, near the garden.
The men went to the house in the untilled garden. What did they find at the widow Anastasia’s door? No lock. No bolts. No latch. When someone has nothing, they are not afraid of thieves. The door was held shut by a string tied onto a nail. It was obvious that the old woman was not home. The few belongings that she had were in plain sight, but there was nothing worth stealing. She had gone to the church for the consecration. The servants said to the children,
- The old woman, Anastasia, is not home.
- No. Anastasia left with an armful of grass to the farm market, the children answered, not knowing that she had gone to the church.
The generals and other men all returned to give their report to the emperor.
- Your Majesty, we went and found the small house on the edge of town. There were some children playing and they said that Anastasia is here, in this crowd, somewhere.
Someone who knew Anastasia heard this and said that she was in the church,
- She is praying to the Savior!
- If she is in church, tell her not to be afraid, since she has never met me, said the emperor. Send some elderly women to her to tell her that at the consecration of the church the emperor is going to make a gift of a cow to all the old women.
Following the emperor’s order, they found the elderly Anastasia and brought her before the emperor who said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Anastasia. You have been found worthy of a great blessing from God! What offering did you bring this morning for the consecration of the church?’
- I did not bring anything, Your Majesty, because I am so poor! She did not consider the armful of grass that she’d given the oxen as any kind of offering.
- ‘Please, think, dear Anastasia. You must have brought a great gift because my church has been given to you!’
- I didn’t bring any gift because I have no money. I have nothing! All I have is a sickle and a pitchfork. During the winter I spin wool for people, and in the summer I use the sickle to glean after the harvesters. I manage to get a little wheat from what I glean. Aside from that, I have nothing.
- This is an imperial church and I spent a fortune from my own gold and silver to build it; but look at the inscription that says it was made by Anastasia! What did you give to this church?
- I didn’t give anything except for an armful of grass to a yoke of oxen.
- Don’t be afraid, Anastasia. The inscription was done by God, not you. God Himself wrote that this church is yours!
And there it was on the inscription, To the glory of the all holy Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, this holy church was built and provided for by me, the widow Anastasia. The men had to read it to her, since she was illiterate.
- You see, dear woman, you say that you did not bring any thing, but remember that you did bring an armful of grass!
- I did bring that, but it was not a real offering from me since I cut it from someone else’s field.
- Look, Anastasia, your armful of grass was more precious than all the treasures that I gave. See, the angel of the Lord has put the church in your name and it will remain yours forever. We will consecrate the church with all these patriarchs, with all the pomp and celebration as we planned, but the church will be Anastasia’s forever. The church will be consecrated with your name since the angel has written that both in heaven and here.
The poor widow was astounded and exclaimed,
- What a miracle!
When the blessed Anastasia from Constantinople died, the emperor buried her in the holy altar, with an inscription above her tomb, Here, in the church that God miraculously gave her, is buried the widow Anastasia.
An armful of grass, given in the name of the Lord with humility and a sorrowful heart far surpasses all the wealth of the Emperor Nicephorus. That is what God desires!
St. Ephraim the Syrian says, God does not look upon the quantity of offerings that you make, but the heart with which you bring these offerings. However small your offering may be, give it with humility and a sorrowful heart that you cannot offer more. That is true almsgiving.
Source: “Elder Cleopa of Sihastria: In the tradition of St. Paisius Velichkovsky,” by Ioanichie Balan.
I wish to remind you, O brethren, about lying, for I see that you do not strive very hard to restrain your tongues and from this we are easily drawn into much evil. Make note my brethren that in every matter, as I constantly tell you, one may acquire a habit either for the good or for the evil; and so one needs great heedfulness so that we will not be robbed by lying, for one who lies has no union with God. Lying is foreign to God. In the scripture it is said that Lying is from the evil one, and for he is a liar, and the father of it (Jn. 8:44). See how the devil is called the father of lies, while truth is God, for He Himself said, I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6). Therefore you see from whom we separate ourselves, and with whom we join ourselves by lying: evidently with the evil one. And so if in truth we wish to be saved, we must with our whole soul and all our striving love the truth and keep ourselves from every lie, lest it separate us from truth and from life.
There are three forms of lies: one lies in thought, another lies by word, and another lies by his very life. He lies by thought who takes for truth his own suppositions, that is, vain suspicions against his neighbor; when he sees someone conversing with a brother, he makes his own conjectures and says, "He is speaking about me." If they stop talking he again supposes that it is for his sake that they have stopped. If someone says a word, he suspects that it was said in order to insult him. All the time and in every matter he takes note of his neighbor, saying, "He did this for my sake, he said this because of me, he did this for such and such a reason. A man like this lies in thought, for he says nothing true, but everything out of suspicion alone, and from this proceed: curiosity, evil speaking, eavesdropping, enmity, condemnation. It might happen that one supposes something and this by chance turns out to be true; after this he claims the desire to correct himself, and then begins to constantly take note of everything, thinking, "If someone is speaking about me, I should know what transgression he condemns me for, so that I can correct myself." In the first place, the very beginning of this is already from the evil one, for he began with lie: not actually knowing what was said, he thought up what he did not know; and how can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit (Matt. 7:18)? But if he really desires to be corrected, then when his brother tells him, “Do not do this,” or, “Why did you do that?” he should not be disturbed but should bow down and thank him, and then he will correct himself. For if God sees that such is his good will, he will never let him to go astray, but will send him someone who can correct him. But to say: "I believe my guesses in order to correct myself, and with this aim I eavesdrop and am curious.” This is self-justification inspired by the devil, who desires to make snares for us.
Once when I was living in the coenobium, a diabolical temptation came upon me. I began to draw conclusions concerning a person's state of soul from his movements and the way he walked. And then the following thing happened to me. Once when I was standing, a woman passed by me carrying a pitcher of water. I myself do not know how I was drawn away and looked her in the eyes, but immediately the thought was suggested to me that she was a harlot. However, no sooner had this thought come to me than I began to grieve heavily, and so I told the elder Abba John about it. "Master, what should I do when I involuntarily notice someone's movements and walk and the thought speaks to me concerning the state of this person’s soul?" And the Elder replied to me thus: "What is this? Doesn't it sometimes happen that a person has a natural inadequacy, but just the same corrects himself through great effort and labors? Therefore you must not draw any conclusions from this about his state of soul. So never believe your conjectures, for a crooked rule makes crooked even that which is straight. Human opinions are false and harm the one who surrenders himself to them." And thus from that time on, whenever a thought tells me of the sun that it is the sun, or of darkness that it is darkness, I have not believed it, for there is nothing more onerous than believing one's own opinions. If this becomes rooted in us, it can lead us into such a deleterious state that we think to see things which do not and cannot exist. And I will tell you in this regard about a remarkable incident which occurred in my presence when I was still in the coenobium.
There was a certain brother there who was very troubled by this passion, and he so heeded his own conjectures that he was convinced of the veracity of every one of his suppositions. It seemed to him things were happening precisely as his mind imagined, and that it could not be otherwise. The evil increased with time and the devils led him into such a state of delusion that once, when he entered the garden and looked around (he was always looking around and eavesdropping), it seemed to him that he saw one of the brethren stealing and eating figs, and it was Friday, and not even the second hour yet. And so, convinced that he really saw this, he hid himself and went away in silence. Later during the Liturgy, he again began to watch what this brother who had just stolen and eaten the figs would do during the time of Communion. When he saw that he was washing his hands so as to go and receive Communion, he ran and told the Abbot, "Look, that brother is going to receive Communion of the Divine Mysteries together with the brethren, but do not allow them to give him the Holy Gifts, for I saw this morning how he stole figs from the garden and ate them." Meanwhile that brother was already approaching Holy Communion with great reverence and contrition, for he was very devout. But when the Abbot saw him, he called him over to himself before he could go up to the priest who was distributing the Holy Gifts, and leading him away to the side asked, "Tell me brother, what did you do today?" The brother was astonished and told him, "Where O Master?" The Abbot continued, "When you went in the morning into the garden, what did you do there?" The brother, astonished, again replied to him; "Master, I did not even look at the garden today, and I was not even here this morning in the coenobium, but I have just now returned from a journey, for immediately after the All-Night Vigil the steward sent me on such and such an obedience." Now the place to which this obedience he described took him was very far away, and the brother managed only with difficulty to arrive in time for the Liturgy. The Abbot called the steward and asked him, "Where did you send this brother?" The steward repeated the same thing that the brother had said, that is, that he had sent him to such and such a village. The Abbot asked, "Why did you not call me to receive a blessing from me?" The steward, bowing down replied: "Forgive me Master, you were resting after the Vigil and therefore I did not make him go and receive a blessing from you." When the Abbot was thus satisfied he allowed this brother to receive Holy Communion, and calling the other one, who had trusted his own suspicions, he placed a penance on him and forbade him to receive Holy Communion. Moreover he also called all the brothers at the end of the Liturgy and with tears related to them what had happened, accusing the brother before all, desiring to thus achieve a three-fold purpose: firstly to shame the devil and rebuke the sower of such suspicion; and secondly, so that by putting the sin of that brother to shame, he might thereby be forgiven and receive help from God in the future; and thirdly, in order to convince the brethren never to trust their own opinions. Having instructed both us and the brother concerning this he said that there is nothing more harmful than suspicion, using this incident as an illustration. And the Holy Fathers have spoken much in the same vein, warning us against the harm of believing our suspicions. Therefore let us strive, O brethren, never to trust our own selves. For in truth nothing so removes a man from God and from heedfulness to his own sins, and so arouses constant curiosity over what is not expedient for him than this passion. Nothing good can come from it, only a multitude of disturbances; it never allows a man the opportunity to acquire the fear of God. If by reason of our infirmity evil thoughts are sown in us, we should immediately turn them into good thoughts and they will not harm us; for if we believe our conjectures, there will be no end to them and they will never allow the soul to be peaceful. This is lying by thought.
One lies in word who, for example, from slothfulness is too lazy to get up for the Vigil, but does not say, "Forgive me but I was too lazy to get up." He says instead, "I had a fever, I was completely exhausted from work, I had no strength to get up, I was unwell"; and he utters ten lying words to as not to make a single prostration and be humbled. And if he does not reproach himself in other like circumstances, he will ceaselessly change his words and argue, so as not to undergo reproach. Or if he happens to have an argument with his brother, he will not cease to justify himself and repeat, "But you said… but you did… but I did not say… but so and so said…" and this and that, so as not to be humbled. Again, if he wants something but does not wish to say, "I want this," and instead constantly deviates in his words saying, "I have such and such a disease and I need this; this has been prescribed for me," lying until he satisfies his desire. Just as every sin proceeds either from love of pleasure, love of money, or love of glory, so are lies generated from these three reasons. A man lies either so as not to reproach himself and be humbled, or so as to fulfill his desire, or for the sake of gain, and he does not cease to twist and sophisticate his words until his desire is fulfilled. Such a man will never be believed, and even should he speak the truth no one can give him credence, and his very truth will prove unbelievable.
Sometimes it happens that there is a need under extreme circumstances to conceal something small, and if this small thing were not hidden, the matter would produce great disturbance and grief. When one encounters such extraordinary circumstances and sees himself in need, he may therefore obfuscate his words so that, as I have said, a great disturbance and grief or offence might not ensue. But when such great need arises to depart from words of truth, even then a man should not continue without being saddened over this, but should repent and weep before God and consider the incident a time of temptation. He should not frequently decide upon such deviation—only once out of many occasions. If one takes snake-poison antidote or laxatives often they will harm him; but if he takes them once in a year out of great need, they bring him benefit. So also you should act in this manner: One who wants to modify his word out of great need should not do it frequently but only under exceptional circumstances, once over the course of many years, when he perceives, as I have said, a great necessity; and let that which is allowed infrequently be perpetrated with fear and trembling, showing to God one's good will and the necessity, and then he will be forgiven; but he will receive an injury from it nonetheless. And so we have said what it means to lie by thought, and what it means to lie by word. Now we would like to say what it means to lie by one's very life.
One lies by his life if, being given to fleshly passion, he pretends to be continent; or, being covetous, he speaks of almsgiving and praises mercy; or being arrogant he marvels at the humility of wisdom. And he is amazed at virtue not because he desires to praise it, for if he had spoken with this intention he would have first of all acknowledged his own infirmity with humility, saying: "Woe to me the wretched one, I have become a stranger to every good". Then after acknowledging his infirmity, he would begin to praise virtue and be amazed at it. And again, he does not praise virtue with the aim of guarding others from temptation, for if that were his intention he should have reasoned thus: "In truth I am wretched and passionate, but why should I tempt others? Why should I cause harm to someone else's soul and lay another heavy burden on myself?" Then even though he has sinned by this, he has also touched on some good; for to condemn oneself is a deed of humility, and to spare one's neighbor is a deed of mercy.
But as I have said, a liar is amazed at virtue not for any of the above-mentioned reasons, but either so as to steal the name of virtue in order to hide his own shame, and speak of it as if he himself perfectly possessed it, or often in order to harm someone and deceive him. For not a single ill will, not a single heresy, nor the devil himself can deceive anyone under any other pretext than that of virtue. The apostle says that the devil himself transforms himself into an angel of light, and therefore it is never surprising that his servants should be transformed into the servants of righteousness (cf. II Cor. 11:14-15). So also a lying man, either because he fears shame and does not want to be humbled, or, as we have said, because he desires to deceive someone and harm him, speaks about virtues and praises them, and marvels at them as if he himself behaves accordingly and knows them by experience. Such a man lies by his very life. He is not a simple man but a double-minded one, for he is one way within and another way without, and his life is duplicitous and malevolent.
And so we have spoken about lying, that it is from the evil one; and we have spoken about truth, that truth is God. And so brethren, let us flee lying so as to be delivered from the lot of the evil one, and let us strive to make truth our own, so as to have union with God, Who said, I am the truth (Jn. 14:6). May the Lord God enable us to have His truth; for to Him belongs glory, dominion, honor, and worship unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Abba Dorotheos
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/07/lying.html
From a lecture delivered by Hieromonk Seraphim Rose at the 1979 St. Herman Summer Pilgrimage Platina, CA
It is well known that Protestants spend a great deal of time on Holy Scripture, because for them it is everything. For us Orthodox Christians the Scripture also holds an essential place. Often, however, we do not take advantage of it, and do not realize what importance it has for us; or if we do, we often do not approach it in the right spirit because the Protestant approach and Protestant books about the Scriptures are widespread, while our Orthodox approach is quite different.
The fact that Scripture is an essential part of our Faith can be seen in our Orthodox services. There are daily readings from the New Testament from both the Epistles and Gospels. In one year we read through almost the entire New Testament. In the first three days of the week before Pascha--the feast of Christ's Resurrection, the four Gospels are read in church, and on Thursday night of Passion Week twelve long selections from the Gospels are read concerning the Passion of our Lord, with verses sung in between, commenting on these passages. The Old Testament is also used in the services. In the vespers for every great feast three parables are read prefiguring the feast. And the Divine services themselves are filled with Scriptural quotations, Scriptural allusions and inspiration coming directly from Holy Scripture. Orthodox Christians also read the Scripture outside the services. St. Seraphim, in his monastic life, read the entire New Testament every week. Perhaps it is because we have such a richness of Scripture in our Orthodox tradition that we are often guilty of taking them for granted, of not valuing and making use of the Scriptures.
One of the leading interpreters of Holy Scripture for us is St. John Chrysostom, an early 5th century Holy Father. He wrote commentaries on practically the whole of the New Testament, including all of St. Paul's epistles and also many Old Testament books. In one sermon concerning Scripture, he addresses his flock:
'I exhort you, and I will not cease to exhort you to pay heed not only to what is said here, but when you are home also you should occupy yourselves attentively with the reading of Holy Scripture. Let no one say to me such cold words-worthy of judgment---as these: 'I am occupied with a trial, I have obligations in the city, I have a wife, I have to feed my children, and it is not my duty to read the Scripture but the duty of those who have renounced everything.' What are you saying?! It is not your duty to read Scripture because you are distracted by innumerable cares? On the contrary, it is your duty more than those others, more than the monks; they do not have such need of help as do you who live in the midst of such cares. You need treatment all the more, because you are constantly under such blows and are wounded so often. The reading of Scripture is a great defense against sin. Ignorance of the Scripture is a great misfortune, a great abyss. Not to know anything from the word of God is a disaster. This is what has given rise to heresies, to immorality; it has turned everything upside down."
Here we see that the reading of Holy Scripture provides us with a great weapon in the fight against the worldly temptations surrounding us – and we do not do enough of it. The Orthodox Church, far from being against the reading of Scripture, greatly encourages it. The Church is only against the misreading of Scripture, against reading one's own private opinions and passions, even sins into the sacred text. When we hear that the Protestants are all excited about something that they say is in the Scripture--the rapture, for example, or the millennium--we are not against their reading the Scripture but against their misinterpretation of the Scripture. To avoid this pitfall ourselves we must understand what this sacred text is and how we should approach it.
The Bible --the Holy Scripture, the Old and New Testaments---is not an ordinary book. It is one that contains not human but divinely revealed truths. It is the word of God. Therefore, we must approach it with reverence and contrition of heart, not with mere idle curiosity and academic coldness. Nowadays one cannot expect a person who has no sympathy for Christianity, no sympathy for the Scriptures to have a proper attitude of reverence. There is, however, such power in the words of Scripture--especially in the Gospels-that it can convert a person even without this proper attitude We have heard of cases in communist countries; the police go out in special squads to persecute believers and break up their meetings; they confiscate all their literature: Bibles, hymn books, patristic texts---many written out by hand. They're supposed to burn them, but sometimes either the person who is assigned to bum them or the person collecting them gets curious and begins reading the condemned materials. And there have been cases where this has changed the person's life. All of a sudden he meets Jesus Christ. And he's shocked, especially if he has been raised with the notion that this is a great evil; here he discovers that there is no evil here but rather something quite fantastic.
Many modern scholars approach the Scriptures with a cold, academic spirit; they do not wish to save their souls by reading Scripture: they only want to prove what great scholars they are, what new ideas they can come up with; they want to make a name for themselves. But we who are Orthodox Christians must have utmost reverence and contrition of heart; i.e., we must approach the word of God with a desire to change our hearts. We read the Scripture in order to gain salvation, not, as some Protestants believe, because we are already saved without the possibility of falling away, but rather as those desperately trying to keep the salvation which Christ has given us, fully aware of our spiritual poverty. For us, reading Scripture is literally a matter of life and death. As King David wrote in the Psalms: Because of Thy words my heart hath bee, afraid. I will rejoice in Thy sayings as one that hath found great spoil.
The Scripture contains truth, and nothing else. Therefore, we must study the Scripture believing in its truth, without doubt or criticism. If we have this latter attitude we shall receive no benefit from reading Scripture but only find ourselves with those "wise" men who think they know more than God's revelation. In fact, the wise of this world often miss the meaning of Scripture. Our Lord prayed: I thank Thee, O Father ..that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes (Luke 10:21). In our approach we must not be sophisticated, complicated scholars; we must be simple. And if we are simple the words will have meaning for us.
Father Seraphim Rose
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2014/12/how-to-read-holy-scriptures-father.html
Just as with the other events of Jesus Christ’s
life, the prophets also spoke about His baptism in
the Jordan River. The Holy Scriptures foretold
the following:
Baptism would bestow forgiveness:
And he brought me out by the way of the northern gate, and he led me round by the way outside to the gate of the court that looks eastward;
and, behold, water came down from the right side,
as the coming forth of a man; and there was a measuring line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits with the measure.
And he went into the water, the water of for
giveness(Eze. 47:2-3).
Christ would sanctify the waters:
And he said to me:
This is the water that goes forth to Galilee that lies eastward, and it is gone down to Arabia, and has reached as far as to the sea to the outlet of the water; and it shall sanctify the waters.
And it shall come to pass, that every animal of
living and moving creatures, all on which the river shall come, shall live:
and there shall be there very many fish; for this water shall go thither, and it shall sanctify, and everything on which the river shall come shall live
(Eze. 47:8-9).
Christ would come out from the Jordan with glory:
Behold, he shall come up as a lion from Jordan (Jer. 27:44).
The Jordan would turn back when it saw Christ:
The sea beheld and fled, Jordan turned back. The mountains leaped like rams, and the hills like lambs of flocks. Why did you flee, O sea? And why did you turn back, O Jordan?
Why did you leap like rams, O mountains, and like lambs of flocks, O hills? From the face of the Lord the earth was shaken, from the presence of the God of Jacob (Ps. 113:2-7).
The waters saw Thee, O God. The waters saw Thee and became afraid; the abysses were troubled ... In the sea are Thy ways, and Thy paths in many waters; and Thy footsteps shall not be known
(Ps. 76:17-20).
Christ would crush the head of the devil in the water:
Thou didst establish the sea by Thy might. Thou didst break the heads of the dragons in the water. Thou didst crush the head of the dragons, Thou gavest him as food to the Ethiopian peoples
(Ps. 73:13-14).
The voice of God would bear witness as Christ is baptized:
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory hath thundered, the Lord is upon the many waters (Ps. 28:3).
The desert of Jordan would spring forth water of life:
Be glad, thou thirsty desert: let the wilderness exult, and flower as the lily.
And the desert places of Jordan shall blossom and rejoice; the glory of Libanus has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel; and my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of God ...
for water has burst forth in the desert, and a channel of water in a thirsty land.
And the dry land shall become pools, and a fountain of water shall be poured into the thirsty land; there shall there be a joy of birds, ready habitations and marshes.
There shall be there a pure way, and it shall be called a holy way; and there shall not pass by there any unclean person, neither shall there be there an unclean way; but the dispersed shall walk on i
t, and they shall not go as tray ... but the redeemed and gathered on the Lord's behalf, shall walk in it, and shall return, and come to Zion with joy, and everlasting joy shall be over their head; for on their head shall be praise and exultation, and joy shall take possession of them:sorrow and pain, and groaning have fled away (Isa. 35:1-10).
St. John the Forerunner would appear before Christ:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.
And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all
flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken it(Isa. 40:3-5).
Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in. Behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty (Mal. 3:1).
And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes, who shall turn again the heart of the
father to the son, and the heart of a man to his
neighbor, lest I come and smite the earth grievously (Mal. 4:5-6).
http://www.stnektariosmonastery.org/
