The first part of the book.
“Every human soul is characterized by the desire for joy and happiness, every person seeks the path to them. How to find them? And what do we mean by perfect joy?..."
CD1 12 hours 25 minutes
01 Biography of N.E. Pestova
Part 1. Fundamentals of the Christian Faith
01 Preface
02-03 The purpose of Christian life and the “path of salvation”
THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE IS THE HOLY TRINITY
04-05 God and knowledge of God
06-07 Communion with God. Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ
8 Holy Spirit
9 Kingdom of God and eternal life
10 Church Triumphant
CONTACT OF THE SOUL WITH ETERNITY
11 Three periods of the life of the human soul
12 The expediency of the death of the body
13 Kingdom of Heaven (paradise)
14 Satan and the dark forces
15 Death of the soul. Hell. "Outer darkness." "Fire and Eternal Torment"
Part 2. The human soul.
ELEMENTS OF THE SOUL
16 Soul and body
17-18 Mind and reason. Thoughts
19 Heart (spiritual)
20 Human Will
21 Replenishing weak human will and mind with God's grace
DEVIATION OF THE SOUL FROM THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD
22 Sin, slavery of the soul and the depth of the fall
23 Passion
24 Addiction. Temptations
25 Diseases of the will, hypnotism and obsession
26 Lovely
TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN
27 The emergence of the “inner”, “spiritual” man. Growth of the “inner”, “spiritual” person
28 Features of the “inner”, “spiritual” person. The inner eye and inner hearing of a “spiritual” person. The difference between the “external” and “internal” person
LAWS OF GROWTH OF THE HUMAN SOUL
29 Environmental influence: transfer of feelings and imitation
30 Habits
31 From external to internal
32 Completeness. Hearing God's voice - conscience
TO THE PROPERTIES AND ABILITIES OF THE SOUL
33 Dreams, tears, crying and tenderness
34 Contemplation and comprehension of the invisible. Perception of names and images
35 Comprehension and display of the beauty of the soul. Special abilities and capabilities of a person
———————————————————————————————————
CD 2 13 hours 53 minutes
Part 3. Revealing the treasures and beauties of the soul
1 Preface
2 Christian faith
3 The highest levels of the Christian faith. Hope
CONCENTRATION AND THOUGHTS OF A CHRISTIAN
4 Fear of the Lord. Overcoming fearfulness and courage
5 Mortal memory
6 Sobriety is spiritual wakefulness. Zeal for salvation
07-08 The danger of lukewarmness. Staying in external Christianity and Pharisaism. Causes of sorrows
THE VIRTUE OF PATIENCE
9 The tribulations of the righteous. Spontaneous suffering
10 The expediency of sorrows
11 Perception of sorrows by a Christian
12 Obedience and its meaning
13 Choosing a spiritual father and prudence in obedience. Teachings of God according to the Holy Fathers
14 Understanding the will of God
15 Discretion
HUMILITY
16 Poverty of spirit. The Essence of Humility
17 Signs of humility. Humility
18 Ways to Acquire Humility
19 The Humility of the Saints. Meekness. Humility
20 Lack of humility is pride
MERCY
21 Mercy. The Parable of the “Wrong Steward”
22 Paths to mercy and its meaning. Forms of mercy and prudence in it
LOVE OF CHRIST
23 Love of Christ. Love and completeness of unity. Love for your neighbors according to the flesh and for yourself
24 The essence and characteristics of Christ's love
25 The Love of Christ among the Saints
26 Paths to acquiring Christ's love and prudence in it
27 Generosity and forgiveness. Kindness and love for enemies
WORLD OF SOUL
27 The roots of spiritual peace and the path to it. Peacekeeping
28 Stages of improvement and beatitudes
Part 4. Paths to my father's house
PRAYER
30 The meaning of prayer
31 External setting and preparation for prayer
32 Composure and attentiveness in prayer. Duration of prayer
33 Internal preparation for prayer
34 Steps and periods in prayer
35 Contents of prayer
There are 71 gears in a cycle. Total time 26 hours 18 minutes.
The zip archive size is 1.35 GB.
The work is called “Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety.” It was created in the 1950s - 1960s and at the same time, reprinted on hundreds of typewriters, distributed in samizdat. Who is he, its author?
He is a chemist, a specialist in the production of mineral fertilizers, a professor, a teacher at prestigious Soviet universities, the author of many scientific works and inventions, and a holder of the Order of Lenin. Father of three children. However, his children and grandchildren need to be discussed separately. This is what I tried to do to the best of my ability in the magazine “Orthodoxy and Modernity” No. 20 for 2011. I was fortunate then to communicate with Nikolai Evgrafovich’s daughter, Natalya Nikolaevna, the widow of Archpriest Vladimir Sokolov, and with three of her five children. Two - Archpriest Theodore Sokolov and Bishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Sergius (Seraphim Sokolov) - were no longer on earth. The essay “Blessed Offspring” is not difficult to find on our diocesan website. And now - about the books of Nikolai Pestov.
The two-volume book “Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety” is, in essence, a textbook of the Orthodox faith. The textbook is extremely sensible, clearly systematized, complete and at the same time concise. However, what distinguishes it from the usual school and university textbooks is its special warmth and love that permeates every line. Love for God, for the Church, for the saints - and for readers. Readers from whose lives all Christian literature was completely excluded, starting with the Holy Scriptures. What a revelation, what a happiness these samizdat books were for them, containing everything necessary for a conscious choice: the foundations of Christian dogma, the Orthodox teaching about man, about the Fall and sin, about repentance and salvation; explanation of such concepts as humility, meekness, obedience, patience, generosity. From Professor Pestov, the then inhabitants of the godless Soviet space learned what prayer is, what it can and should be, what a temple and church sacraments are for an Orthodox Christian. The reader gained an understanding of the Orthodox way of life, the rules of piety, and virtues, and began to understand why fasting is needed, why attention to oneself and sobriety are so important. Before the eyes of the reader, unaccustomed to such things, a whole world unfolded - rich, demanding, strict and at the same time joyful. The reader gradually moved deeper into this world, and the invisible pointer of Professor Pestov (remember, a highly experienced teacher of inorganic chemistry) pointed him in time to what he was supposed to see. A person who until then knew practically nothing about the faith of his grandfathers and great-grandfathers received clear answers to difficult but inevitably arising questions: if the Lord is good, why is there so much grief and evil in the world? Why don't people in the Church become sinless? How to treat other religions and the people who profess them? Should a Christian participate in the life of society or is his destiny to be detached from the “vanity of the world”? It should be emphasized that atheistic propaganda actively speculated on most of these issues. Nikolai Pestov (almost always, however, anonymous to the reader) calmly sorted through the rubble of false ideas and ugly stereotypes. (And these stereotypes, meanwhile, in addition to propaganda, are formed in the consciousness of a person who has not learned to delve into the truth; and today they dominate many “advanced” minds. You read another young author, a liberal and anticlerical, as if he graduated from the institute of Marxism-Leninism, all concepts about Christianity, about Orthodoxy - from there.)
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Against. We, journalists and publishers, know: the more experienced the proofreader, the tighter his grip on the dictionary. Pestov’s two-volume work can be compared to a dictionary, an encyclopedia, which is always useful to look into, no matter what question arises. Why is it so difficult to cope with the sin of idle talk? What to do with an unbelieving friend, is it worth convincing him? What to do if you feel lonely and misunderstood? Personally, I have never had a situation where I opened Pestov and did not find an answer, support, did not feel that same warmth - love. Nikolai Evgrafovich was an amazingly kind, loving person, his daughter and granddaughters told me about this; but even if I weren’t familiar with them, I think I would have guessed this by reading his books.
In our church kiosks and Orthodox literature stores you can also see Nikolai Pestov’s book “The Light of Revelation.” It explains one of the most difficult books of the Bible to understand, the latest of them - the Revelation of John the Evangelist, or Apocalypse. The text of the book “The Light of Revelation” is as clear, simple and intelligible as the text of a two-volume book.
And one more book by Nikolai Evgrafovich cannot be ignored here. It is called “Life for Eternity” and turns us to the author’s personal experience, a bitter, terrible and bright experience. The son of Professor Pestov, Nikolai Pestov Jr., died at the age of nineteen, in 1943, during the liberation of Smolensk. He grew up in the era of the “storm of heaven,” a total and brutal struggle against the Church. But, despite all this, he became a believer - such was the influence of his family. During the years when thousands of monks were shot, Kolya dreamed of becoming a Diveyevo monk (the Pestovs always considered St. Seraphim their patron). But God called him to a different sacrifice... After the funeral, the father collected in a book the letters he received from his son - first from military school, then from the front - and spoke about his own spiritual experience of his death. Believe me, the letters of this Russian boy cannot be forgotten, just like the words of his father.
According to Nikolai Evgrafovich’s own testimony and according to the testimony of people close to him, he was driven by a great feeling - repentance. Repentance for “red” youth. He was a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), a commissar. Until one day, in 1921, in a dream, I met the gaze of Christ... In the 30s, the confessor of the Pestov spouses was the holy martyr Sergius Mechev, the son of the most famous Moscow elder Alexy Mechev. After the execution of Father Sergius, no one came for Nikolai and Zoya Pestov - well, perhaps by a miracle, or by God's Providence. Nikolai Evgrafovich used his life and freedom for the benefit of Christ and the Church - as much as he could. His books will be read for a very long time.
Part one. Fundamentals of the Christian Faith
Preface
Chapter 1. The purpose of Christian life and the “path of salvation”
The source of all life is the Holy Trinity
Chapter 2. God and knowledge of God
Chapter 3. Communion with God
Chapter 4. The Son of God - Our Lord Jesus Christ
Chapter 5. Holy Spirit
Chapter 6. The Kingdom of God and Eternal Life
Chapter 7. The Triumphant Church
The facets of life and the contact of the immortal human soul with eternity. Death of the body
Chapter 8. Three periods in the life of the human soul
Chapter 9. The expediency of the death of the body
Chapter 10. Kingdom of Heaven (paradise)
The separation of man from the source of life - God, his contact with the cosmos of dark forces and the consequences of this
Chapter 11. Satan and the dark forces
Chapter 12. Death of the soul
Chapter 13. Hell. "Outer darkness." "Fire and Eternal Torment"
Part two. Human soul
Preface
Elements of the soul
Chapter 1. Soul and body
Chapter 2. Mind and Reason
Chapter 3. Thoughts
Chapter 4. Heart (spiritual)
Chapter 5. Human Will
Chapter 6. Replenishing weak human will and mind with God's grace
Man's deviation from the image and likeness of God. Diseases of the soul
Chapter 7. Sin, slavery of the soul and the depth of the fall
Chapter 8. Passion
Chapter 9. Addiction
Chapter 10. Temptations
Chapter 11. Diseases of the will, hypnotism and obsession
Chapter 12. Charm
Transformation of the “external” and “spiritual” person into the “internal” and “spiritual”
Chapter 13. The emergence of the “inner”, “spiritual” man
Chapter 14. Growth of the “inner”, “spiritual” person
Chapter 15. Features of the “inner”, “spiritual” person
Chapter 16. The inner eye and inner hearing of a “spiritual” person
Chapter 17. The difference between the “external” and “internal” man
Laws of human soul growth
Chapter 18. Influence of the environment: transfer of feelings and imitation
Chapter 19. Habits
Chapter 20. From external to internal
Chapter 21. Completeness
To the properties and abilities of the soul
Chapter 22. Hearing God's voice - conscience
Chapter 23. Dreams
Chapter 24. Tears, crying and tenderness
Chapter 25. Contemplation and comprehension of the invisible
Chapter 26. Perception of names and images
Chapter 27. Comprehension and display of the beauty of the soul
Chapter 28. Special abilities and capabilities of humans
Part three. Revealing the treasures and beauties of the soul
Preface
Faith and hope
Chapter 1. Christian Faith
Chapter 2. The highest levels of the Christian faith
Chapter 3. Hope
The composure and thoughts of a Christian
Chapter 4. Fear of the Lord
Chapter 5. Overcoming fearfulness and courage
Chapter 6. Mortal memory
Chapter 7. Sobriety - spiritual wakefulness
Chapter 8. Zeal for Salvation
Dangers for a Christian
Chapter 9. The danger of lukewarmness
Chapter 10. External Christianity and Pharisaism
The Virtue of Patience
Chapter 11. Causes of sorrows
Chapter 12. The Tribulation of the Righteous
Chapter 13. Spontaneous suffering
Chapter 14. The expediency of sorrows
Chapter 15. Perception of sorrows by a Christian
Obedience
Chapter 16. Obedience and its meaning
Chapter 17. Choosing a spiritual father and prudence in obedience
Assimilation of the Higher Mind
Chapter 18. “Teaching of God” according to the holy fathers
Chapter 19. Understanding the will of God
Chapter 20. Discretion
Humility
Chapter 21. Poverty of spirit
Chapter 22. The Essence of Humility
Chapter 23. Signs of humility
Chapter 24. Humility and paths to acquiring humility
Chapter 25. The Humility of the Saints
Chapter 26. Meekness
Chapter 27. Humility
Chapter 28. Lack of humility is pride
Mercy
Chapter 29. The parable of “the unfaithful steward”
Chapter 30. Mercy, external and heartfelt
Chapter 31. Paths to mercy and its meaning
Chapter 32. Forms of mercy and prudence in it
Love of Christ
Chapter 33. Love and completeness of unity
Chapter 34. Love of Christ and love for neighbors in the flesh and for oneself
Chapter 35. The Essence and Signs of Christ's Love
Chapter 36. The Love of Christ among the Saints
Chapter 37. Paths to acquiring Christ’s love and prudence in it
Chapter 38. Generosity and forgiveness
Chapter 39. Kindness and love for enemies
Chapter 40. The roots of the world and the path to it
Chapter 41. Peacemaking
Chapter 42. Stages of perfection and the nine beatitudes
Part four. Paths to my father's house
Preface
Chapter 1. The meaning of prayer
Chapter 2. External environment and preparation for prayer
Chapter 3. Composure and attentiveness in prayer
Chapter 4. Duration of prayer
Chapter 5. Internal preparation for prayer
Chapter 6. Steps in Prayer
Chapter 7. Periods of Prayer
Chapter 8. Contents of prayer
Chapter 9. Prayer for neighbors and the departed
Chapter 10: Thanksgiving Prayer
Chapter 11. Gospel prayers
Chapter 12. Psalm fiftieth
Part four (continued)
Continuous Prayer
Chapter 13. Various forms of unceasing prayer
Chapter 14. Keeping the Mind and the Jesus Prayer
Chapter 15. Prayer in the temple
Chapter 16. Vigil
Conclusion
Spiritual reading
Chapter 17. Holy Scripture
Chapter 18. Spiritual books
Chapter 19. The essence and meaning of fasting
Chapter 20. Discretion in fasting
Repentance
Chapter 21. The meaning of repentance and examples of it
Chapter 22. Paths to repentance
Chapter 23. Signs and fruits of true repentance
Chapter 24. Is Christ's atoning sacrifice sufficient?
for the forgiveness of a Christian's sins?
Chapter 25. The Sacrament of Confession
Chapter 26. Revelation of thoughts and mutual confession
Chapter 27. The Sacrament of Anointing
Communion of the Holy Mysteries - the Body and Blood of Christ
Chapter 28. The meaning of the Sacrament
Chapter 29. How often should one receive Holy Communion?
Chapter 30. Customs of the Church for the Day of Communion of the Holy Mysteries
Chapter 31. Spiritual mode of life
Part five. The essence and significance of the Church
Chapter 1. Church Militant
Chapter 2. Sufferings and illnesses of the militant Church
Chapter 3. Tolerance
Chapter 4. Through our neighbors is our salvation
Chapter 5. Basics of attitude towards others
Chapter 6. Simplicity, good rules and habits in relation to others
Chapter 7. “Traders”
Chapter 8. Wanderers, Visitors and Guests
Chapter 9. Lightbringers
Chapter 10. Friendship and friends
Chapter 11. Neighbors according to the flesh, true enemies and true friends of a Christian
Chapter 12. Rulers, superiors and subordinates
Chapter 13. “Random” meetings
A word to your neighbors
Chapter 14. The meaning of the word
Chapter 15. Conversation with neighbors
Chapter 16. A kind word
Chapter 17. Thanking our neighbors
Chapter 18. Teaching and admonishing others
Chapter 19. Praise and flattery
Chapter 20. Non-condemnation
Chapter 21. Condemnation and resistance to temptation
Chapter 22. “Rotten” words, ridicule, ridicule and controversy
Society and nature
Chapter 23. The attitude of a Christian to society
Chapter 24. National disasters
Chapter 25. Participation in public life and the national question
Chapter 26. Attitude to social teachings
Chapter 27. Nature
Chapter 28. Animal world
Christian's Day
Chapter 29. Christian Evening
Chapter 30. Preparation for morning prayer
Chapter 31. Morning prayer
Chapter 32. Christian's Day
Chapter 33. Life's work
Chapter 34. The special activity of a Christian for the Lord
Abstinence
Chapter 35. The Necessity of Abstinence
Chapter 36. Areas of Christian Abstinence
Chapter 37. Solitude
Chapter 38
Chapter 39. Silence and restraint in words
Chapter 40. Stealth
Chapter 41. Eating
Chapter 42. Abstinence in food
Chapter 43. Life in the life of a Christian
Chapter 44. Days of church holidays
Chapter 45. Days of need and material deprivation
Chapter 46. Days of illness and weakness of the body
Chapter 47. Death of loved ones
Chapter 48. Preparation of a Christian for the Death of His Body
Part six
Preface
THE WAYS OF A CHRISTIAN
Chapter 1. Monasticism
Chapter 2. Monastery in the world
Chapter 3. Home Church
Chapter 4. Examples of the life of Christians in the world
completeness of virtues
Chapter 5. Complete submission to God
Chapter 6. The Completeness of Serving God
Chapter 7. Dispassion and Self-Denial
Chapter 8. Holiness
Chapter 9. Perfect Joy
Conclusion
Chapter 10. Ways of salvation
Chapter 11. Degrees of Salvation and Holiness
Afterword to part 6
Part seven
Preface
CONNECTION OF CHILDREN AND PARENTS
Chapter 1. The salvation of the souls of parents most of all depends on the children
Chapter 2. Children and parents are one
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS IN EDUCATION
Chapter 3. Hard work on a child is a necessary condition for success.
Chapter 4. Selfless love is the basis of education
Seven Factors of Spiritual Growth
Chapter 5. Sacraments
Chapter 6. Prayer
Chapter 7. Fasting
Chapter 8. Example of piety of parents
Chapter 9. Spiritual environment
Chapter 10. Spiritual Reading
Chapter 11. Consecration of the situation
Keeping children from the temptations of the world
Chapter 12. Fence from the people of the world
Chapter 13. Fence from the books of the world
Chapter 14. Preservation from the addictions of the world
Chapter 15. Limiting entertainment
Basics of Christian Life
Chapter 16. The narrowness of the path
Chapter 17. Perfect Joy
Obedience and Punishment
Chapter 18. Obedience
Chapter 19. Punishment and rewards
Rules and environment of education
Chapter 20. Working on the word
Chapter 21. Order of life
Chapter 22. Caring for the purity of the soul
Chapter 23. Education and work skills
Chapter 24. Choosing a profession for children
Chapter 25. Parents’ prayer for children is the key to successful upbringing
Modern practice of Orthodox piety. 2 volumes
These words belong to the theologian, church historian, and world-famous chemist Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov, the author of one of the most serious theological works of the twentieth century. In his youth, he was fascinated by Marxist literature and the works of Renan, so he considered himself an atheist. In 1919 he even became a military commissar. Later in his diary Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov will write: “It is unbearable for me to remember the evil that I committed in those years... It hurts to talk about it... I completely lacked Christian faith.” In 1921, a young man dreamed of Christ. Was it just a dream? After all, from then on the Lord entered Nikolai’s heart forever. No matter what he did, no matter where he was, he always knew that God was near.
In the middle of the century he began work on his main theological treatise Modern practice of Orthodox piety. Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov At that time I did not have the opportunity to publish my work. After all, no publisher would take the liberty of publishing it. The book was published in samizdat and became very popular. It was rewritten, retyped, and read thoroughly. Already in our time, the work was published in large numbers and became the pearl of spiritual Orthodox literature.
The first part of the book is devoted to introducing the reader to the basics of the Christian faith. It tells about God, knowledge of God, communication with God. Particularly interesting are the sections devoted to periods of the life of the human soul. The facts are presented from the point of view of a scientist-analyst. The material is strictly structured, the conclusions are clear, the presentation is consistent.
The second part of the work is devoted to the anatomy of the soul Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety and in it the author talks about the elements of the soul, its diseases and the laws of growth. The third part tells the reader about the virtues that reveal the beauty of the soul, such as faith, hope, patience, obedience, mercy, humility and other treasures of the spirit. Part four Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov dedicated to the main work of a Christian - prayer, fasting and repentance. The fifth deals with the church and everyday life of a layman, as well as the attitude towards neighbors and nature. The seventh part is called “The Ways of a Christian.” The author conveys to the reader the idea that salvation is possible both in monasticism and in the world. The fullness of serving God is not limited to the monastery walls. The main thing is to completely submit to the will of God. In the seventh part, Nikolai Pestov talks with the reader about family, parents, children and issues of education.
Chapter 21. Poverty of spirit
One day his disciple came to one old man and with great joy told him: “Father, I have achieved the point that when I pray, with my mental eyes I always see the Lord before me.”
“Your achievement is not great and you are in vain to rejoice so much,” the elder answered him, “if you began to see your sins, then this would be a great acquisition for you.”
Many of the great saints also stated the same.
Yes, St. Anthony the Great said:
“It’s not a great thing to perform miracles, it’s not a great thing to see angels; It’s a great thing to see your own sins.”
One Egyptian monk said to the Monk Sisoes the Great: “I see that the unceasing memory of God abides in me.” The monk answered: “It is not great that your thoughts are with God; it is great to see yourself lower than all creation.”
St. Petersburg speaks about the same thing. Barsanuphius the Great:
“Blessed are you, brother, if you really feel that you have sins, for whoever feels them abhors them and avoids them in every possible way.”
And St. Isaac the Syrian writes:
“He who has felt his sin is superior to him who raises the dead by his prayer.”
Fr. writes the same way. Ioann Sergiev:
“To see your sins and their multitude and in all their vileness is truly a gift of God, bestowed as a result of fervent prayer.”
Unfortunately, it must be said that this gift of God, even among outwardly pious Christians, is far from common.
As Fr. writes about this. Alexander Elchaninov:
“People are able to understand a lot in life, they subtly notice a lot in someone else’s soul - but what a rare, almost non-existent phenomenon, for a person to be able to see himself. Here the keenest eyes become blind and biased.
We are infinitely lenient towards every evil and immeasurably exaggerate every glimmer of goodness in ourselves. I’m not talking about being stricter with ourselves than with others (which, in fact, is required), but if we applied to ourselves at least the same standards as to others, then how much this would reveal We wish we had eyes.
But we hopelessly don’t want this, and we no longer know how to see ourselves, and so we live in blind complacency.
Blindness to one's sins, not seeing them is the natural state of the nature of fallen man.
We unconsciously hide our sins from ourselves, forget them, because it’s easier to live this way.
But our spiritual life has not even begun and cannot begin until we leave this false position.”
So, only with the emergence of our ability to see our sins does the enlightenment of our inner eyes begin, the emergence of poverty of spirit begins - the basis of our repentance and salvation.
As P.V. Nikolsky writes:
“The most insignificant offenses and even the slightest mental movements, to which a worldly person does not pay attention, in the consciousness of a strict Christian increase to the level of crimes, while all his virtues are invisible to him when contemplating the eternal beauty of the moral ideal, which he is called to realize.” .
Deep poverty of spirit can even replace a Christian’s physical feats (fasting, bowing, lengthy prayers), if the Christian is incapable of them due to the weakness of the body.
St. writes about it this way. Isaac the Syrian:
“A heart filled with sadness about weakness and powerlessness in bodily exploits replaces all bodily exploits. Physical exploits without the sadness of the mind are the same as an inanimate body.”
Spiritual poverty is a completely clear awareness of one’s sinfulness and the depth of one’s fall. This is the feeling of a beggar dressed in miserable and dirty rags when he sees others nearby in beautiful and clean clothes. At the same time, this is a feeling of one’s powerlessness, one’s helplessness, weakness and limitation.
As St. says Peter Damascene:
“There is nothing better than to know your weakness and ignorance, and nothing worse than not to know it. When the mind begins to see its sins as the sand of the sea, only then does the enlightenment of the soul begin and its recovery begins.”
“The main greatness of a person lies in the fact that he recognizes himself as pitiful,” writes Blaise Pascal.
Bishop says the same thing. Theophan the Recluse:
“Success in spiritual life means greater and greater awareness of one’s worthlessness.”
And St. Barsanuphius the Great commands his disciples:
“Humiliate yourself day and night, forcing yourself to be seen below every man. This is the true path, and besides it, there is no other way for anyone who wants to be saved.”(Ans. 447).
As Fr. writes. John S:
“A beggar is one who has nothing of his own, who expects everything only from the mercy of others: bread, shelter, money, clothing. And if anyone has clothes, then they are old, dirty, worthless... He is neglected by everyone.
The poor in spirit recognizes himself as a spiritual poor man, he expects everything from the mercy of God: he is convinced that he can neither think nor desire anything good if God does not give him either a good thought or a good desire; he considers himself the most sinful of all, always reproaches himself and does not condemn anyone. He asks the Savior to enlighten the robe of his soul, he constantly runs under the roof of God’s wings; he considers his entire fortune to be a gift from God.”
Spiritual poverty, however, should not lead to despondency, as Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow writes about this:
“The feeling of one’s own weakness should not be used to become burdened and lose heart, but to abandon hope in oneself and, through prayer for help, move on to hope in God.”
Chapter 22. The Essence of Humility
On the basis of poverty of spirit, the virtue of humility arises and begins to grow in a Christian - as a gift from God.
What is humility? This question was asked to many spiritual fathers by St. John Climacus, abbot of Mount Sinai. And in answer to this question, St. John received from the fathers a number of definitions of humility.
One said: “Humility consists in constantly forgetting about your good deeds.” The other is “In recognizing oneself as the last of all and the most sinful.” The third is “In the mental recognition of one’s weakness and powerlessness.” The fourth - “In the feeling of a contrite soul and renunciation of one’s own will,” etc.
But none of the resulting definitions satisfied St. John, and he gave his following solution to this question:
“Humility is an unnamed grace in the soul, only named by those who have experienced it. This is indescribable wealth, God’s naming and alms.”
Essentially, St. John himself did not give a complete explanation of what humility consists of, but he indicated that, in his opinion, this cannot be done, since it is God's naming.
Close to this definition is the definition of humility given by St. Isaac the Syrian. He's writing:
“Humility is the robe of the Divine: the Word made man clothed itself in it and through it became part of us in our body.
And everyone clothed in humility is likened to the one who descended from His height...
Humility is a certain mysterious power, which, after the completion of all Divine existence, is perceived by the completely saints. And only to those who are perfect in virtue, this power is given by the power of grace, since they can naturally accept it by God’s determination, because this virtue contains everything. Just as the shadow follows the body, so the mercy of God follows humility.”
Among other formulations of the essence of humility, we give below the definition of Bishop Veniamin (Milov):
“Humility is the joyful and sad self-abasement of the soul before God and people by the grace of the Holy Trinity, expressed mentally by prayer and vision of one’s sins, heartfelt feelings, effectively complete submission to God’s will and diligent service to people for God’s sake.
The humble are surprisingly softened in heart, have a warm soul and warmth of love for all people, without exception, due to some gift from above.”
Elder Silouan, who saw the Lord during his lifetime, writes about the humility of Christ:
“When the soul sees the Lord, how meek and humble He is, then it itself humbles itself to the end, and desires nothing more than the humility of Christ; and no matter how long the soul lives on earth, it will still desire and seek this incomprehensible humility that cannot be forgotten. Humility is a great blessing, it is easy and joyful to live with, and everything is sweet to the heart. The Lord reveals Himself only to the humble by the Holy Spirit, and if we do not humble ourselves, we will not see God. Humility is the light in which we can see the light of God, as it is sung: “In Your light we will see light.”
A humble soul, even if the Lord took her to heaven every day and showed her all the heavenly glory in which He abides, and the love of the seraphim and cherubim and all the saints, even then, taught by experience, will say: “You, Lord, show me Your glory, because You love Your creation, but give me weeping and the strength to thank You. Glory is due to You in heaven and on earth, but it is fitting for me to cry for my sins." Otherwise, you will not preserve the grace of the Holy Spirit, which the Lord gave to Tuna, according to His mercy.
The Lord had a lot of pity on me and made me understand that I had to cry all my life. This is the way of the Lord.
In the humility of Christ there is love, and peace, and meekness, and self-control, and obedience, and long-suffering are contained in it.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). And the more you humble yourself, the more you will receive a gift from God. And now I am writing, feeling sorry for those people who, like me, are proud and therefore suffer. I am writing to strengthen you in humility and find peace in God. Since we suffer only until we humble ourselves, and as soon as we humble ourselves, there is an end to sorrows, for the Spirit of God, for humility, informs the soul that it is saved. For one humble thought, grace comes again.”
God in the person of Jesus Christ - the second Person of the Holy Trinity - calls us to learn humility from Himself: “Come... and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11: 28–29).
Since humility is a property of Christ, together with humility He Himself indwells the soul of a Christian, or humility will reign in the soul only when “Christ is depicted” in it (Gal. 4:19).
All the holy fathers revered humility as the basis of all virtues. With humility in the soul, all other virtues easily develop. But if there is no humility, then virtue ceases to be virtue; holiness turns into delusion; works of mercy, feats of fasting, mortification, etc. are performed because of vanity, etc.
As Archbishop John says:
“Humility of the human spirit is not weakness, but an extraordinary strength of man.” This truth is confirmed by Turgenev’s story “Living Relics”.
Fr. writes about the same thing. Alexander Elchaninov:
“How great is the power of humility! How debilitating his absence is! If even a shadow of complacency is felt in a preacher or speaker, this not only crosses out all his real merits, but also arms him against him. On the contrary, the humble, even in the absence of great intelligence and talent, captures all hearts.
The essence of pride is to close oneself to God, the essence of humility is to let God live within oneself.”
At the same time, as St. Isaac the Syrian:
“Humility makes many sins forgivable even without heroic deeds. On the contrary, without humility, heroic deeds are useless; they even prepare a lot of bad things for us. With humility, make your iniquities forgivable. What salt is to all food, humility is to all virtue; it can break the strength of many sins.
We must constantly strive to acquire humility. And if we acquire it, then humility will make us sons of God, and without good deeds will present us to God, because without humility all our deeds, all virtues and all deeds are in vain.”
There is the following story about this in the history of the Church: one Christian woman ended up on a desert island and stayed there for forty years in feats of prayer, fasting and all kinds of hardships. With the ship landing on the island, she returned to the mainland. Having found one of the great elders, she told him about her desert exploits.
After listening, the elder asked her: “Can you accept reproach like incense?” “No, father,” answered the embarrassed ascetic. - “Then you have gained nothing in all 40 years of your exploits.”
“Humility alone can lead us into the Kingdom of God, albeit slowly,” writes St. Abba Dorotheos.
In connection with this statement, P. Ivanov writes:
“Not everyone has the strength necessary to accomplish great feats, but every Christian can have humility. In this sense, it is said about being perfectly likened to the Heavenly Father. After all, He infinitely humbles Himself in order to condescend to us, to our every deed.
Therefore, those who think that the Christian ideal is incomprehensible, since it requires Divine perfection, are wrong. He demands the perfection of humility, and not the perfection of deeds, which would, in fact, be impossible.”
In the absence of humility, even gifts can be harmful to a Christian. St. writes about it this way. Isaac the Syrian:
“Gift without temptation is destruction for those who receive it. If you do a good deed before God and He gives you a gift, beg Him to give you knowledge or take the gift from you, so that it will not be the cause of destruction for you. For it is not harmless for everyone to keep wealth.”
There is a story about one of the fathers that for seven years he asked God for a certain gift, and it was given to him. After this, he went to one great elder and announced the gift to him. The elder, having heard, was saddened, saying: “Great work.” And he said to him: “Go for another seven years and pray to God that your gift be taken away from you: it is of no use to you.” He went and did so until the gift was taken away from him.
St. Anthony the Great said:
“If a person does not have extreme humility, humility with all his heart, all his mind, all his soul and body, then he will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Humility is hated by the devil as a characteristic of Jesus Christ, and he cannot stand it, just like the cross of the Lord.
There is such a story about the Optina elder Macarius. They brought a demoniac to Optina and invited the elder to see him. The sick man, who had never heard of the elder, began to worry and said: “Makarii is coming, Macarius is coming.” As soon as the elder entered, the sick man rushed and hit him on the cheek. The elder used his strongest weapon against him - humility - and turned the other cheek. The patient fell in a daze, lay for a long time at the feet of the old man, and then stood up completely healthy, not remembering his action.
From this it is clear that St. Isaac the Syrian writes:
“If a humble person approaches people, they listen to him as to the Lord. And what am I saying about people? Even the demons, with all their impudence and malice, with all the loftiness of their pride, approaching him, become like dust; all their malice loses its power, their intrigues are destroyed, their evil deeds remain disastrous.”
To the spiritual eyes of St. Anthony the Great opened all the networks of the devil, which he spread over the world to ensnare and tempt people into sin.
The monk was horrified by this multitude of temptations and asked God: “Who escapes these snares?” - and heard a voice: “Humility avoids them - they don’t even touch it.”
So, the presence in a person of humility alone completely frees him from attacks and temptations and the power of the evil spirit.
Abbess Arseny of the Ust-Medveditsky Monastery gives a deep description of the meaning of humility for a person:
“Humility is the only state of spirit through which all spiritual gifts enter into a person. It is the door that opens the heart and makes it capable of spiritual sensations.
Humility gives a person undisturbed peace, peace to the mind, and dreaminess to thoughts. Humility is a force that embraces the heart, alienating it from everything earthly, giving it the concept of that feeling of eternal life, which cannot ascend to the heart of a carnal man.
Humility gives him his original purity. He clearly begins to see the difference between good and evil, and in himself he knows a name for every state and movement of his soul, just as the primordial Adam gave names to animals according to the properties that he saw in them. Humility places the stamp of silence on everything that is in human man, and the spirit of man in this silence, standing before the Lord in prayer, listens to His broadcasts...
Before the heart feels humility, there cannot be purity of spiritual prayer.
Peace and joy are the fruits of humility. Here is the pier where all the good ascetics, all the grieving in soul, all thirsting for salvation found their peace. Don't be afraid to lose everything to gain humility.
Humility is the only way out and peace in any confusion and temptation. Only along this path does the soul come to the truth that resolves everything, to the warmth that heals. If you lose this path, then darkness and cramped conditions surround your soul.”
As her elder, schema-nun Ardalion, told Abbess Arsenia:
“Humility is the ground on which the grain must fall in order to die - to die in order to live in Christ and be fruitful in the spirit.
The soul receives its perfection in Christ, and not in itself. Then the soul will rejoice in its weakness. And will such a soul want to show itself as something great before people? On the contrary, she wants everyone to see her weakness, her baseness, her wretchedness and insignificance.”
This is how Archbishop Arseny speaks about all the fruits of humility:
“Love humility, for look how great it is. Humility attracts the grace of God. Humility kills anger and irritability. Humility frees the soul from all passion and all temptation. Humility makes it possible to calmly endure sorrows and misfortunes. Humility makes the hardest work easier. Humility kindles the gift of prayer. Humility protects against moral decline and encourages those who have had the misfortune to fall from falling.
Humility leads to repentance. Humility is the root of spiritual progress: it inspires and increases virtue. Humility wins people over. Humility destroys conceit and demonic delusion. Humility gives rise to all the gifts of the Holy Spirit: spiritual experience, wisdom, self-control, patience, love, prudence, courtesy, sincerity, sincerity, mercy. Humility is the path to holiness. Humility fills the soul with joy and peace in the Lord.”
And Dostoevsky writes:
“Humble yourself, proud man... You will conquer yourself, and you will humble yourself, and you will begin a great work, and you will make others free, and you will see happiness, for your life will be filled.”
Chapter 23. Signs of humility
“Humility is heavenly life on earth, a gracious, wondrous vision of the greatness of God and the countless benefits of God to man; the gracious knowledge of the Redeemer, following Him in selflessness, the vision of the pernicious abyss into which the human race has fallen - these are the invisible signs of humility, these are the original palaces of this spiritual chamber created by the God-man.
Humility does not see oneself as humble. On the contrary, it sees a lot of pride in itself. It cares about finding all its branches, and while searching for them, it realizes that there is still a lot to look for.
Guided by humility, the richer he becomes in virtues and spiritual gifts, the more meager and insignificant he becomes before his own eyes.”
Fr. writes about the same thing. Alexander Elchaninov:
“All virtues are nothing without humility. Example: Pharisees. The whole sum of virtues in the absence of humility is “a shipwreck at the pier.” Signs of the humble are not to believe in their own merits, not even to know about them (humility), not to judge, and to rejoice in humiliation. And for them - bliss at the very first stage.”
When it is necessary to assess a person’s spiritual height, one must first of all assess the degree of his humility.
Usually, by the presence of humility, monks distinguish between great ascetics - who they are: saints or in delusion. This is how the desert fathers once tested the saint’s godliness. Simeon the Stylite. Seduced by the unusualness and novelty of his feat - standing on a pillar - and fearing that this feat of St. Simeon carries it without permission, the fathers sent their decision to him: that he should come down from the pillar and follow the life of other hermits.
At the same time, the messengers were told that if St. Simeon listens to them, that is, shows humility, then they should leave him standing on the pillar.
When the monk learned about the decision of the council of the desert fathers, he immediately began to descend from the pillar.
Thus, the presence of humility testified to the godly feat of the monk.
Like any virtue, humility has several stages.
Saint John Climacus says that the degree of a person’s humility can be seen from his attitude towards judging others.
He's writing:
“One judges others every day; the other does not judge others, but does not judge himself; the third does not deserve condemnation, he always condemns himself.”
And Archimandrite John says:
“Sometimes a person does not want to see the sins of others, this is a good righteous state, but this is not humility. Humility is when a person cannot see the sins of others. He sees his own people too much, he sees God too much in front of him.”
The latter speaks of the perfect development of humility. So, humility is organically connected with constant reproach of oneself for all sins, transgressions, omissions, laziness, negligence, cowardice, lack of faith, timidity and all inappropriate feelings, words, thoughts, deeds and even views, including the slightest manifestations of irritability and condemnation.
As Rev. writes. Barsanuphius the Great:
“He who recognizes himself as a sinner and the author of many evils does not contradict anyone, does not quarrel with anyone, is not angry with anyone, but considers everyone to be better and wiser than himself.
Perfect humility consists in enduring reproaches and reproaches, and so on, which our Teacher, the Lord Jesus, endured.”
St. Petersburg also writes about the signs of complete humility. Isaac the Syrian:
“In a humble person there is nowhere haste, haste, embarrassment, hot or light thoughts, but at all times he remains at peace. There is nothing that could amaze him or terrify him, because neither in sadness is he horrified and does not change, nor in joy is he surprised. But all his joy and joy lies in what pleases his Master.
The humble person does not dare to pray to God or ask for anything and does not know what to pray for, but only remains silent with all his feelings, awaiting only mercy and the will that will come for him from the Face of the Worshipful Majesty... And he only dares to speak and pray like this: “According to Your will, O Lord, be it with me.”
“Where there is deep humility, there are abundant tears,” says St. Simeon the New Theologian - and where there are tears, there is a visitation of the Holy Spirit. And in that which begins to be under His influence, all purity and holiness appear, and he sees God, and God looks at him... Know, child, that God does not favor fasting, nor vigil, nor any other bodily labor and does not reveal Himself to anyone else but to a humble, inquisitive and good soul and heart.”
Bishop Veniamin (Milov) points out a number of signs of perfect humility:
“On the face of the humble there is a reflection of joy, gentleness and beauty. He is friendly and affectionate to everyone, inimitably simple and ready to provide all kinds of services and respect to others. The meekness of the humble often resembles the tender naivety of a child...
The gentle love of the innocent attracts the humble hearts of those around him. Everyone loves him mutually, like an angel, enjoys his humble conversation and joyfully responds to his greetings. Even self-willed people are attracted to him for his rare combination of abundant love, quietness, simplicity and accessibility.
The humble one edifies those around him with love, forbids with quietness, and endlessly endures those who sin in the hope of their correction.
Thanks to the abundant shining in the soul of the humble immaterial light of grace, he always clearly sees his shortcomings and sins. His self-reproach and condescension towards others have no measure.
He justifies and excuses the infirmities of those around him limitlessly, and about himself he says: “I fall asleep as a sinner, and as a sinner I wake up,” as Abba Sisoes says: “I don’t know if I have yet begun to repent”; as Rev. Pamva says: “I feel that I have not yet begun to serve God”; like St. Silouan, a student of Pachomius the Great, says: “I see the immutability of my sins and am ready to give my life just to receive forgiveness.”
The humble do not tolerate any difference between themselves and others, they see in their power over others only a sign of the obligation to serve their salvation, they place themselves below those under their control in their opinion of themselves and their treatment.”
As Elder Silouan from Old Athos says:
“He who has acquired the humility of Christ always wants to reproach himself, and rejoices when he is reproached, and grieves when he is praised. But this is still initial humility, and when the soul knows the Lord through the Holy Spirit - how humble and meek He is, then it sees itself worse than everyone else and is glad to sit on the rot, like Job, in thin clothes, and to see people in the Holy Spirit, shining and similar to Christ "
Elder Silouan warns at the same time that “grace is easily lost for vanity and for one proud thought. We can fast a lot, pray a lot and do a lot of good, but if we become vain at the same time, we will be like a tambourine that thunders but is empty inside. Vanity devastates the soul, and a lot of experience is needed, a long struggle is needed to defeat it... And now day and night I ask the Lord Christ for humility...
The struggle is hard, but only for the proud. It is easy for the humble: the grace of the Holy Spirit, bestowed on the humble by the Lord, is feared by our enemies, for it scorches them.”
P. Ivanov also writes about the signs of humility:
“No one should do beyond their strength, it is not useful. But there should always be dissatisfaction with one’s affairs. Constant consciousness: I do little, little. I'm bad, imperfect.
This consciousness is our continuity in the pursuit of God. Limitless improvement. It is not visions or miracles that serve as the measure of correctness, for visions and miracles are also available to demons, but humility and obedience.
The very basis of righteousness lies precisely in the consciousness of oneself as nothing: everything is God, without Him I am nothing. In order to stay with God, to continue doing God’s work, I must humble myself infinitely.
A truly Christ-loving soul, even if it has accomplished thousands of righteous deeds due to its insatiable desire for the Lord, thinks of itself as if it had not yet done anything, even if it exhausted its body with fasting and vigils, with such feelings it remains as if it had not yet begun to work for virtues .
Where is the limit to this truthful humility? He's gone. There is no such state of righteousness when a person could stop in the pleasant consciousness of achieved results. No matter how much you do, you must still consider yourself the sinner of all people.
Always, like a publican, and not like a Pharisee, never pay attention to the sins of others, but only to yourself, to your own.
Humility says: “Everything you have is from God, and everything good you do is from God; The less you rely on your own strength (asking God for help), the better. The Christian ideal is complete renunciation of oneself. Surrender yourself, your life, every business, every minute of your life to God.
It is not we who do, but God who does through us - this is a Christian awareness that cannot be higher.”
As Bishop writes. Hermann:
“A humble person does not compare himself to anyone, he sees everyone better than himself and closer to God, but in some respects he considers himself worse than demons.”
Chapter 24. Humility and paths to acquiring humility
In the writings of the holy fathers, in addition to the word “humility,” the word “humility” is also found. Is there a difference between them?
As Bishop writes. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):
“Humility is a way of thinking borrowed entirely from the Gospel, from Christ. Humility is a feeling of the heart, it is a pledge of the heart corresponding to humility. As you practice humility, the soul acquires humility, because the state of the heart always depends on the thoughts acquired by the mind.”
From here we will assume that “humility” refers to the initial stage of humility - wisdom is to seek humility, the state of the soul striving for humility, but has not yet received it fully as a gift from the Lord. Anyone who wants to receive the gift of humility must imitate the humble in everything according to the law from “external to internal.” Then, with continuous and intense labor, the virtue of humility will increase in the humble person.
So, in order to acquire humility, a Christian must force himself to humility in thoughts and feelings, to self-abasement in actions and to constant memory of the sins he has committed in life.
It is necessary to begin by attending a renowned school, as is necessary, for example, to develop musical or artistic talent or to acquire skill in some art or craft.
Spiritually well-ordered monasteries show careful concern for the development of humility among their brethren. The usual means for developing humility there are as follows.
Newly arriving monks are initially assigned the least honorable, often dirty, menial work. Then they are taught to endure public reproaches and insults without complaint, even if they were not guilty of anything. And if in a newcomer one can notice a tendency to value himself because of some talent, then they try to root out his conceit.
This is how, for example, the humility of St. was tested and inculcated. John of Damascus, the famous creator of church hymns.
The first nobleman of Damascus, John, came to the monastery of Sava the Sanctified with a request to accept him as a monk, when his fame thundered throughout the Orthodox world. They spoke of him as a zealous defender of Orthodoxy, who received from the Mother of God a miraculous healing of his severed hand, who wrote denunciations of the iconoclasts.
John had a great gift as a writer and singer. But the elder monks did not want to see this gift in the brother who had come to them again. They wanted to see in him, first of all, humility that would save everyone. Therefore, the lips of the songwriter were closed with a strict prohibition: not to create anything. This test for John was probably the most difficult that could be imagined.
However, John humbled himself and became an inconspicuous monk of the monastery. John's lips were closed for many years. This was one of the lessons that led him to humility.
John's obedience was basket weaving. His elder tells him to take the baskets, take them to Damascus and sell them there at a price that was significantly higher than usual. And now the co-ruler of the Damascus prince stands in wretched rags in the Damascus square and sells baskets. But everyone who wants to buy them, having inquired about the price, laughs at John.
For so long John stood under the ridicule of the crowd, not daring to violate the elder’s orders and reduce the price, until the Lord Himself sent deliverance to His servant. One of John's old servants recognizes him and, wanting to save him from the ridicule and reproach of the crowd, buys all the baskets at the appointed price.
Then John seriously offended his elder. One of the brothers asked him to ease his grief over his deceased brother and compose a touching funeral song for him. This is how a series of funeral hymns appeared, which are still sung in the church. Having learned about John's disobedience, the elder became very angry, excommunicated him from communication with himself and kicked him out of his cell.
In grief, John seeks intercession from the fathers of the Lavra. In response to the latter’s requests to take pity on John, the elder imposes penance on him - to cleanse all the stinking places of the Lavra. The fathers were horrified by the severity of the punishment and did not dare to convey it to John: how would the hand of John, healed by the Mother of God and composing divine hymns, do such dirty work?
But John begs them to tell him the elder’s decision. When John found out about him, to the surprise of the elders, he rejoiced greatly and immediately went to carry out the elder’s orders.
Having learned about the disciple’s humility, the elder forgives John. After this, at the command of the Mother of God, who appeared to the elder in a vision, John’s lips are opened, and he devotes the rest of his days to the creation of church hymns and spiritual compositions.
Here it is appropriate to remember that, according to the testimony of Abbot Anthony of Optina, obedience—cleansing latrines and collecting manure along the roads to fertilize vegetable gardens—helped a lot in overcoming his pride and correcting his character.
Here is another story from St. John Climacus about how the elders instilled humility in those who in the world were very prone to pride.
The hand of the Lord touches the heart of the city ruler of Alexandria - the cruel and arrogant Isidore. Isidore goes to the monastery with a request to accept him as a monk. The hegumen, knowing Isidore's pride, assigns him severe and difficult obedience: to be a gatekeeper, to stand at the gates of the monastery, bow to the ground to everyone entering and leaving the monastery and say: “Pray for me, father, I am in epilepsy.”
Isidore accepts obedience and in seven years achieves complete humility and purification of the soul.
Here is how Isidore himself talks about the gradual softening of his heart and the development of humility:
“At first I reasoned that I had been sold for my sins, and therefore with all grief, with compulsion, as if with the shedding of blood, I bowed. After the year had passed, my heart no longer felt sorrow, expecting a reward for patience from God Himself.
And when another year had passed, then with a feeling in my heart I began to consider myself unworthy of staying in the monastery, and seeing the fathers, and meeting with them, and communion of the Holy Mysteries, and I did not dare to look anyone in the face... And then I sincerely asked prayers for those entering and leaving."
How to develop humility in yourself, living in a world where there are no schools such as monasteries that instill humility, and where the latter is not at all as respected as in monasteries? The Lord called us to learn humility from Himself: “Come... and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:28-29).
The Lord showed us the following path to humility: “When you are invited by someone to a marriage, do not sit in the first place, lest one of those invited by him be more honorable than you, and the one who invited you and him would come up and say to you: give him your place; and then with shame you will have to take the last place. But when you are called, when you arrive, sit in the last place, so that the one who called you will come up and say: friend! sit higher; then you will be honored before those who sit with you, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8-11).
So, the Lord commanded us to humble ourselves in all cases of life and before every person - to consider everyone superior to ourselves.
Even if we see one of our neighbors as insufficient in some way, then even then from the bottom of our hearts we can consider him superior to ourselves, thinking like this: “Perhaps, for the small number of talents given to him, he will still bring some new ones, and I haven’t brought anything for a larger number yet.”
The Lord commanded us all to be servants, humbling ourselves before everyone (Matthew 20:26). And He not only spoke about this, but He Himself set an example of this when He “rose from supper, took off His outer garment, and, taking a towel, girded Himself. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with a towel” (John 13:4-5).
And this duty - to wash guests' feet - in the East was usually performed by the youngest of the servants.
And if you look at the true disciples of Christ - saints and ascetics, then they all tried not to allow others to serve themselves, trying to serve themselves in all household affairs.
Yes, St. Juliania Lazarevskaya, being the wife of a governor and having many servants, not only did not allow them to serve her, but she herself took care of the sick servants. Saints generally tried not to miss an opportunity when they could humble themselves and serve their neighbors in some way, preferring simple menial work, which always humbles a person’s soul.
Prpp. Barsanuphius the Great and John say:
“Love especially those who tempt you: if you look closely, you will find that they are the ones who lead us to prosperity.”
And St. Nicodemus Svyatogorets writes:
“Love to listen to Divine words, sacred songs and psalms and everything that is honest, holy, wise and soulful. But especially love to listen to reproaches and reproaches when someone showers you with them.”
Therefore, let us run, fear and turn away from those who praise, flatter and honor us, and at the same time we will try to imitate that wise woman who is so described in the life of St. Athanasius the Great.
One respectable citizen of the city of Alexandria came to him and made the following request. She would like to take into her care and care some infirm old woman from among those who were under the jurisdiction of the saint.
St. Athanasius blessed her good intentions and ordered the caretaker of the almshouse to choose an old woman of a meek and quiet disposition.
Some time later, the benefactor came to the saint again. “Are you satisfied with the old woman who was allocated to your care?” - the saint asked her.
“No, Vladyka,” the woman answered frankly, “I intend to put some old woman to rest, but my old woman puts herself to rest.”
“Well, then I’ll send another,” answered the saint, who understood the high spiritual needs of the petitioner.
And he ordered the caretaker to choose the most grumpy and evil old woman from his almshouse and send her to the woman. This old woman sometimes beat her benefactor.
“Are you happy with your old lady now?” - St. asked her again. Afanasy after a while.
“Yes, Vladyka, I am very pleased, I receive great spiritual benefit from it.”
Let us also look for those who would help us humble ourselves and eradicate our pride.
At the same time, we will take advantage of every opportunity to humble our pride before people, when the Lord is pleased to give us such opportunities. An example of this is given to us by the forefather of the Lord - King and Prophet David.
When David was dethroned and expelled by his son Absalom, he met on the way with one man from the family of Saul named Shimei. Shimei began to throw stones at him and slander him, calling him “a murderer, a lawless man and a bloodsucker.”
The entourage accompanying the king asked David for permission to kill Shimei for his insults. But David answered them: “What do you and me, sons of Zeruiah? Let him slander, for the Lord commanded him to slander David” (2 Sam. 16:10).
So David accepted humiliation from a man, considering him as sent to him as punishment for sin from the Lord Himself.
The Lord said in one of His revelations to St. To Simeon the New Theologian:
“You are created by Me naked, except for your will, what else do you have or have you ever had of your own?”
Indeed, what should we be proud of? What do we have that we did not receive from God? All abilities, gifts, talents, all possibilities for their development and application - everything comes from the Creator and Provider. If we help others, then the excess is sent to us from God; We work - but strength and strength are given only by God; we pray by faith, but faith is again given by God, etc. (Eph. 2:8-9).
Even if we had done something good, we do not know whether we had not ruined this good with our passions and sins: acts of mercy - with vanity and pride; serving one's neighbors - by condemning them; prayer - absent-mindedness and carelessness; fasting - narcissism and self-satisfaction, etc.
Therefore, we should never be deceived by the fact that we have done or are doing something good, remembering the words of the Lord to His disciples: “When you have done all that was commanded you, say: We are worthless servants, because we have done what we had to do” (Luke 17, 10).
Let us remember here the humble words of the divine apostle. Paul: “I have labored more than all of them: not I, however, but the grace of God which is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). “Do not trust yourself while you are in this body,” said Anthony the Great, “and do not consider anything of yours to be completely pleasing to God.”
As a result, every Christian must erase from his memory everything that seems good to him from what he has done in life and consider himself to have not yet achieved anything. And if we need hope for salvation so as not to fall into despair, then this hope must be based most of all on the atoning sacrifice of Christ, who washed away the sins of the whole world with His Blood, and on God’s mercy.
This, of course, does not exclude the need for our efforts to earn this Divine mercy, which we so need, by diligently fulfilling the Lord’s commandments.
All talented, capable, strong and rich people should not so much be proud as they should fear an answer before God for the proper use of their given and many talents - after all, “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).
Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) writes:
“The more enlightened a Christian is in spiritual life, the more deeply and clearly he realizes his own sinful weakness.”
To acquire humility, you must also remember your sins committed throughout your life.
Mortal memory also contributes to humility. It is also acquired through feats of humiliating oneself in front of others, such as, for example, being the first to bow when meeting, yielding to everyone without asking; silently endure insults and comments; be the first to ask for forgiveness, be modest and, in all everyday life, endure sorrows without complaint and, as Elder Silouan says, “consider yourself worse than everyone else.”
Humility in thoughts and before people often brings grace-filled inner consolation to a Christian.
This is how the bishop writes about it. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):
“Once I placed a dish of food on the last table at which the novices were sitting, and in my thoughts I said: “Accept from me, servants of God, this wretched service.” Suddenly such consolation flowed into my chest that I even staggered; The consolation continued for many days, about a month.
Another time I happened to go into the prosphora room; I don’t know why, out of some impulse, I bowed very low to the brothers who were working in the prosphora - and suddenly prayer had such an impact on me that I hurried to go to my cell and lay down on the bed due to the weakness produced throughout my body by the prayerful action "
When insulted, there is no need to repeat and remember offensive and harsh words. If you dislike someone, you must force yourself to do something kind to them.
One of the ways that helps us acquire humility is also modesty in dress. The saints did not like and did not wear expensive and elegant clothes (except when the rank required it). They remembered that the Lord did not approve of those who liked to wear “soft garments” (Matt. 11:8). Therefore, they all preferred the simplest and roughest clothes.
About St. Theodosius of Pechersk and Sergius of Radonezh there are stories that due to the poverty of their clothes they could not be distinguished from other monks. The common people who had come to the monastery again did not believe that they were seeing before them those famous abbots whom the greatest princes bowed down and highly revered.
Modesty in everything, the desire to be unnoticed, to hide one’s exploits and to be in no way different from others are generally a sure sign of a high degree of humility. Here's how P. Ivanov writes about it:
“In examples of holy life, what comes to the fore is not the height of achievement, but the humility of the righteous with which he performs his work: invisibility, humiliation of himself.
We don’t know much about what the righteous did, but we always know that they were people hiding, hiding all their deeds, running away from people’s rumors. They did nothing for show.
And the lives of St. fathers were compiled randomly; only then it became known that the Lord, as if by force, against their desire, through other people, revealed their exploits.
The life of the righteous man has never been known in detail. We don’t even know anything about some saints except that they had a blessed death.”
The greatest things are done “eye to eye” with God. The person doesn’t seem to remember what he did. I met, let’s say, a paralytic in a large crowd, healed him and immediately got lost in the crowd and lost my memory of my miracle.
What the ascetic has achieved and what he can do, God alone knows, and the saint is afraid to reveal this height of his to anyone. This is what we read in the patericon - a collection of events and sayings of Christian ascetics:
“My brother came to Fr. Arseny looked out the window and saw the elder as if on fire (he was praying), and when the brother knocked, the elder came out and, seeing his brother, said to him in horror: how long have you been knocking and didn’t you see anything? He said: no. And the old man calmed down.”
But not only do the saints hide their deeds, but they also accept reproaches as deserved and, if anyone accuses them, they are not justified. There is a lot of evidence about such actions that are incomprehensible to the mind of an everyday person.
The biographies of holy fools are especially rich in the latter. They were truly great in their exploits, hiding them under the guise of foolishness while striving to become lower than everyone else and hide their spiritual height behind reproaches and dishonor from the world.
Therefore, one of the means to acquire humility is to become acquainted with great saints. Studying their lives and the extent of their feat cannot but humble us, clearly showing us our own spiritual poverty. Therefore, spiritual reading is one of the means of developing humility in us - the basis of virtues.
One righteous woman also advised this:
“Ask (in prayer) to God only for menial work, and God will take care of it.”
Therefore, aids to acquiring humility are, according to the instructions of St. Isaac the Syrian, “willingly to take upon oneself the most inferior and humiliating affairs, not to be disobedient, to remain silent, not to like going to meetings, to wish to remain unknown and not chosen for anything, not to keep any thing at one’s complete disposal, to hate conversation with many faces... not to be the kind of person whose hands would be on everyone, and on whom everyone’s hands would be.”
In some Catholic monasteries there is such a custom: when a monk, having completed a certain course of spiritual studies, leaves the group of brothers in which he was included for spiritual training, then each of the brothers is obliged to point out to him all the shortcomings that he noticed in him. O. Alexander Elchaninov also gives the following advice:
“The most radical remedy for pride is to be obedient (to parents, friends, spiritual father). Force yourself to listen and be attentive to other people's opinions. Don’t rush to believe in the truth of the thoughts you discover. Those who cannot see their sins are advised to pay attention to what sins their loved ones see in them and what they reproach them for. This will almost always be a true indication of our actual shortcomings.”
Let us not be careless in our efforts to receive the grace of humility. We need it above all. The path to it is not easy given the usual presence of pride and vanity in us.
To receive the gift of humility, it is necessary, as mentioned above, first of all to patiently bear reproach and reproach, and, even better, to endure annoyance, reproach, ridicule, and abuse. We will consider those people who treat us this way as our benefactors and, imitating St. St. Andrew the Fool, let us pray for them, so that the Lord will not impute to them the sin of reproach and annoyance to us; after all, through the latter, our soul will also be cleansed from the rust on it - pride and vanity.
As Rev. writes. Peter Damascene:
“In humility, when someone is offended, he blames and blames only himself, and not anyone else, and therefore endures.” At the same time, we must remember that, as St. John Climacus, “who rejects reproof reveals the passion of pride.”
Walking this “narrow” path following Christ, we can hope to receive one of the most precious pearls of the necklace of virtues - the beauties of the soul: the grace of holy humility. And with humility, the Holy Spirit will enter our hearts with all the fruits of His presence - “love, joy, peace” (Gal. 5:22) and all other virtues.
Chapter 25. The Humility of the Saints
As Rev. writes. Macarius the Great:
“A truly God-loving and Christ-loving soul, even if it has accomplished thousands of righteous deeds, out of its insatiable desire for the Lord, thinks of itself as if it had done nothing; even though she has exhausted her body with fasts and vigils, she still feels as if she had not yet begun to work for virtues; even if she has been honored to achieve various spiritual gifts or revelations and heavenly mysteries, she finds within herself, out of her immeasurable and insatiable love for the Lord, as if she had not yet acquired anything, but on the contrary, daily hungering and thirsting, remaining in prayer with faith and love, cannot be satisfied with the mysteries of grace and the development of oneself towards all virtue.
She is wounded by the love of the heavenly Spirit, with the help of grace she constantly arouses in herself a fiery desire for the Heavenly Bridegroom, longing to be completely worthy of the mysterious and ineffable communion with Him in the shrine of the Spirit.
And, being precious before God, they are not so in themselves: in their prosperity and knowledge of God
They recognize themselves as knowing nothing and, rich before God, seem poor to themselves.
If you see that someone is exalted and arrogant because he is a partaker of grace, then even if he performed signs and raised the dead, but if he does not recognize his soul as dishonest and humiliated and himself poor in spirit and vile, he hides himself with malice and he doesn't know it himself.
Even if he performs signs, one should not believe him, because it is a sign of Christianity and of one who is skillful before God to try to hide this from people, and if he has all the treasures of the king, he hides them and says: “This is not my treasure, another put it from me, and I am a beggar; when the one who put it wants, he will take it from me.”
If someone says: “I am rich, I have enough and what I have acquired, I don’t need anymore,” then he is not a Christian, but a vessel of delusion and the devil. For the pleasure of God is insatiable, and to the extent that someone eats and partakes, the more hungry he becomes.
Such people have ardor and uncontrollable love for God; The more they try to succeed and acquire, the more they recognize themselves as poor, as meager in everything and having acquired nothing. They say: “I am not worthy for the sun to shine on me.” This is a sign of Christianity - this is humility."
St. writes about the same thing. Isaac the Syrian:
“The one who is completely humble is the one who does not need to invent ways of being humble through his philosophies, but in all this, completely and naturally, has humility without labor; although he accepted in himself a certain great talent that exceeds all creation and nature, he looks at himself as a sinner, at a person who knows nothing and is despicable in his own eyes. And although he entered into the secrets of all spiritual beings and became completely perfect in the wisdom of all creation, he recognizes himself as knowing nothing. This one is not cunning, but without coercion he is like that in his heart. Truly humble is the one who has in his secret something worthy of pride, but is not proud and in his thoughts regards it as dust.”
Indeed, all the saints did not count all the deeds they performed as anything. The purer their hearts became, the more they grew in humility. For worldly people, this rule (the more holy, the more humble) is a paradox: how can one grow in humility if a person sees himself succeeding in virtues?
A clear explanation of this is found in St. Abba Dorotheus in the story of his conversations with a noble citizen from the city of Gaza, who did not understand the paradox mentioned above.
Abba asked him: “Who do you consider yourself to be in your city?” The citizen replied: “For the first in the city.” - “And if you go to Caesarea, who will you consider yourself to be there?” - “For the last of the nobles there. - “If you come to Antioch, who will you consider yourself to be there?” - Abba Dorotheos continued to ask.
“If you come to Constantinople and appear in the royal palace, who will you then consider yourself to be?”
“Almost like a beggar,” answered the puzzled provincial.
“This is how saints are,” Abba Dorotheos explained to him, “the more they approach God, the more they see themselves as sinners.”
Hence: the purer the heart becomes, the clearer the inner eye, the better a person sees his tendency to sin, wickedness, carelessness and negligence, insufficiency in the virtues of love, his powerlessness and insignificance - he sees the slightest impurity on the robe of the soul. A speck of dust of the slightest imperfection becomes as big as a mountain in the eyes of saints.
This is why holiness is associated with poverty of spirit and humility. That is why the prophet Isaiah says: “All our righteousness is like filthy rags” (Is. 64:6), and the Old Testament patriarch Abraham and after him St. Seraphim called themselves “dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). That is why the king, prophet and psalmist David said to himself: “I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach among men” (Ps. 21:7). And St. Barsanuphius the Great called himself “the child of Adam’s crime.”
“Only he knows himself best who thinks of himself that he is nothing,” says St. John Chrysostom.
When the saints heard praise, they rejected it, saying: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory, for the sake of Thy mercy, for the sake of Thy truth” (Ps. 113:9).
Anthony the Great was sent by God to an Alexandrian shoemaker to learn humility. From the shoemaker he learned to think: “Everyone will be saved, but I alone will perish.”
One of the deepest Eastern Christian mystics, St. Simeon the New Theologian (986-1043) writes that in his soul he discovers such an abyss of sinfulness that only a feeling of surprise remains in him at the fact that the earth can still bear such a sinner and will not open up to swallow him (“Divine Hymns ").
Another of the saints, thinking the same thing, prayed that God would not punish the villages where he passed.
And St. Martin attributed to his sins all the national disasters that occurred in his time.
For saints, the shadow of sin already seems monstrous and the slightest negligence - a crime. This is the secret of the saints’ abundance of tears and mourning for their sins, their excessive penitential labors and calling themselves sinners unworthy of living on earth.
In the history of Christ's Church one can find a large number of examples of perfect humility.
St. Even at the end of his life, Seraphim behaved so humbly with visitors that he kissed their hands and bowed at the feet of many when greeting them. St. Gerasim Boldinsky ground rye with hand millstones for the monks he ruled, washed their scrolls, and ministered to them when they were sick.
St. During the rest of the brethren, Ephraim Perekopsky carried water, chopped wood, and ground rye.
St. Tikhon Lukhovskoy, who could barely move his legs due to stomach illness, did not stop harnessing himself to the plow.
Pope Gregory the Great, out of humility, used to bow at their feet when meeting with bishops and presbyters, so that they avoided meeting him on the street.
St. John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, before the service, fell at the feet of the offended clergy, asking them for forgiveness.
The Valaam confessor, Hieromonk Euthymius, greeted every lay visitor and every novice with a bow to the ground.
Hieromonk Anatoly of Optina always listened to the instructions of Elder Ambrose on his knees.
Hieromonk Vasily from the Beloberezh Hermitage responded to blasphemy, spitting and slander with prostrations to the offenders.
Glinsky Elder Fr. Feodor Levchenko with kindness endured beatings with a rope, foot or hands from the monastery cook.
Once upon a time St. Arseny the Great came from the royal palace to the Egyptian hermits and asked to be accepted as a monk. Then he was tested by St. John Kolov as follows.
When Arseny came for the first time for the meal, no one invited him to sit down: the brothers ate food, and Arseny stood with his head down.
Then Rev. John, testing Arseny’s humility to the end, took one of the crackers, and throwing it to Arseny, said: “Eat if you want.” St. Arseny thought to himself: “This old man is an angel of God and a seer, because he knows that I am worse than a dog, that’s why he threw the biscuit to me like a dog. For the same reason, I must eat it like a dog.” Bending down to the ground, he went to the cracker on all fours, like a four-legged animal, took it directly with his mouth, then went with it to a corner and ate it there, lying on the ground.
Seeing this, John confidently said about Arseny: “He will be a great ascetic.”
When the Egyptian ascetic Sisoes the Great was dying, he said: “The angels have come to take me, and I ask that they allow me to repent a little.”
The elders tell him: “You have no need to repent, father.” He said: “I truly do not know about myself whether I have begun to repent.”
The Monk Macarius the Great, passing through the air spaces, did not cease to humble himself. When the demons shouted to him from afar that he had escaped them, he replied that he had not escaped yet. He answered this way because he was accustomed to keeping his mind in hell and thus actually escaped demons.
And here is one example of the humility of the saints. One elder was asked: “Who are the goats in the Gospel, and who are the lambs?” The elder said: “I am the goats; God knows the lambs.”
Among the saints, the holy fools and blessed ones showed the greatest zeal for acquiring humility. To do this, they decisively broke with pride and vanity and, through foolishness, aroused the contempt of the world, ridicule, reproach and beatings.
The world mocked them, but they rejoiced, receiving what they strived for, what they were looking for - holy humility. Through their high humility they ascended to the heights of virtue, becoming their own to God.
To the first old lady of Diveyevo, blessed Pelageya Ivanovna, successor of St. Seraphim for the spiritual care of the Diveyevo nuns, at first a very stern novice was assigned - Matryona Vasilyevna. The blessed one behaved very restlessly during the first years of her residence in Diveyevo: she went mad, ran around the monastery, threw stones, broke glass in the cells, etc. During all this time, Matryona beat the blessed one so hard that in the end the sisters of the Diveyevo monastery could not stand it and begged the abbess asking that the blessed one be taken from Matryona.
A kind girl Varvara was assigned to Pelageya Ivanovna. The kind and meek Varvara did not fall in love with the blessed one, and Pelageya Ivanovna herself began to beat her, tried in every possible way to get rid of her and drove her away from her until she achieved her removal.
Why did the blessed one treat the meek Varvara this way? Because in the person of the stern Matryona, she lost the one who humbled her and thereby opened the way for her to the Kingdom of Heaven. The meek Varvara deprived her of her feat of humility.
This example from the life of Pelageya Ivanovna is very instructive for us. And we, when we see our neighbors honoring ourselves, pleasing us, indulging our weaknesses and spiritual infirmities, we should not rejoice at this. All this is not useful for us.
It is more useful for us when we are taught, rebuked, admonished and scolded. And we will honor people who treat us this way as benefactors.
Chapter 26. Meekness
Humility, discussed above, is closely related to meekness.
This is how St. Petersburg defines its essence. Isaac the Syrian:
“Humility is followed by meekness and composure of oneself, that is, chastity of feelings, proportionality of voice, laconicism, poor clothing, modest gait, tilting of the eyes downward, a contrite heart, inability to be irritated, poverty, modest needs, enduring hardships, fearlessness, fearlessness of death, patience in temptations, seriousness in thoughts, keeping secrets, modesty, reverence and always considering oneself as insignificant.”
As can be seen from this definition, the concept of “meekness” is difficult to separate from the concept of “humility”, since their signs largely coincide.
As St. says John Climacus (word 24):
“Meekness is a state of mind when it remains unshakable in both honor and dishonor. Meekness is an immovable rock rising above the sea of irritability... the receptacle of the Holy Spirit, the giver of joy, the imitation of Christ... Meekness is a calm determination to face all sorrow and even death.”
From this we can assume that meekness is especially characterized by the presence in a person of humility and submission to the will of God. Optina Elder Fr. Macarius explains the origin of the word “meekness” from “shortness.” Meek is the one who in humility has shortened his will - abandoned it, replacing it with the will of God and the will of his neighbors.
Therefore, a meek person does not argue with anyone and willingly and lovingly fulfills all the requests of others, unless they contradict his conscience.
As Moscow Metropolitan Filaret writes:
“It is better to respond to reproach with meekness than with reproach. Dirt must be washed off with clean water. You can’t wash away dirt with dirt.”
Meekness is the ornament of human character. Ap. Peter says to Christian women: “Let not your outward adornment be the braiding of your hair, or the ornaments of gold, or the finery of your clothing, but the hidden person of the heart, in the imperishable beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the sight of God” (1 Pet. 3:3-4) . Christ is a symbol of the absolute beauty of the soul. Therefore, He also possessed meekness, although as God it would have been more fitting for Him to rule over people, and along with humility He commands us to learn meekness from Him (Matthew 11:29).
As Bishop writes. Hermann:
“Meek patience with the sins of others, although the most difficult thing, is also the most profitable (for the soul) and true.”
And all the saints invariably showed meekness towards people. In dealing with people, they, like Christ, did not show the slightest shade of spiritual violence. They treated human free will with care and did not want to break it even when it would be useful for the person. They waited for the free good will of the human heart, which is the only thing valuable in the eyes of God (“I want mercy, not sacrifice”) (Matthew 9:13).
In meekness lies the entire depth of the difference in the governance of the world by God (through the Lord Jesus Christ) and worldly authorities.
The latter rule and force people to submit to themselves. The Lord awaits the voluntary, loving submission of the human will to Himself, showing long-suffering and meekness, which is characterized by tenderness in dealing with the human will without the slightest hint of coercion.
As Schema-Archimandrite Sophrony writes:
“God protects human freedom as the most precious beginning in him. Following Christ, the saints, possessing power sufficient to dominate people, over the masses, go the opposite way: they enslave themselves to their brother and through this acquire for themselves a love that, by its very essence, is incorruptible.
On this path they win a victory that will last forever, while victory by force is never lasting and by its nature is not so much glory as the shame of mankind.”
Fr. writes about the same thing. Alexander Elchaninov:
“People have practically not noticed until now that nothing has ever been achieved through hostility and evil, but meekness and kindness always achieve everything.
I’m talking, of course, about achievements in the field of moral and spiritual, but I am sure that this is also the surest path in the field of everyday life.”
The character trait opposite to meekness - grumpiness - is obviously a serious vice of the soul and leads to its destruction, according to St. James: “For where there is envy and contentiousness, there is disorder and everything that is evil” (James 3:16).
St. John Climacus gives the following comprehensive definition of the essence of the meaning of meekness in a person:
“Meekness is such a state of the soul when it remains unshakable in both honor and dishonor. Meekness is an immovable rock rising above the sea of irritability... the affirmation of patience; the door and even the mother of love; boldness in prayer, a container of the Holy Spirit, a curb on fury, a giver of joy, an imitation of Christ.”
Chapter 27. Humility
In addition to the precious diamond (from diamond), there are fakes made of glass, which are worth nothing compared to a real diamond. The untrained eye cannot distinguish a fake diamond from a real one.
So, in addition to true humility, there is also fake, feigned humility.
Yes, Rev. Simeon the New Theologian warns us:
“There is an imaginary humility that comes from negligence and laziness.
True humility does not show itself and does not speak humble words, and not only hides all its virtues, but wants to not show itself at all and not talk about itself.”
As St. says Barsanuphius the Great:
“A humble person should not express his humility in words; humility in words is a product of pride and through them randomly gives birth to its mother - vanity.”
Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes:
“The Lord commanded to perform all virtues in secret (Matthew 6:1-18), and humility is the demonstration of humility to people. It is pretense, deception, firstly of oneself, then of others, because concealment of one’s virtues is one of the properties of humility, and through humility and humility this concealment is destroyed.”
“Being among your brethren,” says St. John Climacus, - watch yourself so that you do not appear to be anything more righteous than them. Otherwise, you will do double evil: you will offend your brothers with your hypocrisy and pretense, but you will certainly generate conceit in yourself.”
Elder Macarius of Optina called feigned and imaginary humility “catlike” humility.
With such a structure of the spirit, people really become like a cat: while its fur is stroked, it is happy, caressed, and purrs. But as soon as you stroke her fur, she immediately bristles and snorts. Likewise, people who have imaginary humility cannot tolerate reproof and indications of their shortcomings: they will make excuses, argue, become irritated and angry, and will grow cold towards their accusers.
Therefore, one must clearly distinguish from true humility “humility” - the tendency to show one’s humility in words of self-abasement.
Some of those Christians who sincerely seek their self-abasement also resort to humility. But is the manifestation of one’s humility in words proof of the actual presence of poverty of spirit?
Humility can always seem to be only a pretense and a pretense of one’s virtue of humility. But even if there really is true humility behind the words, is it good to boast and flaunt one’s virtue? If you cannot boast about your beauty, talents or good deeds, then can you boast about having humility?
So, in both cases, humility is reprehensible in the mouth of a Christian, and it is usually not heard from the lips of truly humble Christians.
In order to avoid speaking humbly, the Holy Fathers recommend that Christians remain silent even when praising: an objection in this case will only be a word of humility.
And if we are truly humble, poor in spirit and consider ourselves to be nothing (that is, insignificant), then we can reveal this only in prayers to the Lord God: He alone knows us completely. He will also accept our self-abasement, if it is sincere, and if it does not even fully correspond to the actual extent of our spiritual poverty, then here too He will condescend to our weakness and regard our exaggeration in self-abasement as a desire for perfection.
Most often, speaking humbly in front of people is just a show off, masking vanity. Here humility is “more than pride.”
One monk greatly abused his humility. They decided to fix it. One day, when he was sitting at a meal, one of the senior monks said sharply: “How dare you sit here with the holy fathers?” “Because I, too, am a holy father,” answered the offended monk, forgetting his humility.
Pride is the seed of Satan, it is the deepest of the roots of sin, the scourge of humanity, which has torn people away from God and plunged the world into innumerable troubles and suffering and given rise to the madness of godlessness and self-deification.
As Rev. writes. Anthony the Great:
“All sins are vile before God, but the most vile of all is the pride of the heart.”
Schema-Archimandrite Sophrony writes about the destructive effect of pride:
“The enemy has fallen with pride. Pride is the beginning of sin, it contains all types of evil: vanity, love of glory, lust for power, coldness, cruelty, indifference to the suffering of one’s neighbor, dreaminess of the mind; intensified action of the imagination, demonic expression in the eyes, demonic character of the entire appearance; gloom, melancholy, despair, hatred, envy, humiliation; many have a breakdown in carnal lust, languid inner anxiety, fear of death or, conversely, a desire to end their life and, finally, which is not uncommon, insanity.
These are all signs of demonic spirituality, but until they clearly manifest themselves, they go unnoticed by many.”
Good for those who can understand and feel this. As Fr. John S:
“When a reckless thought comes into your head - to count any of your good deeds, immediately correct yourself for this mistake and quickly count your sins, your continuous countless insults to the All-Good and Righteous Master, and you will find that you have them like the sand of the sea, and Compared to them, there are no virtues.”
We must remember that St. Mark the Thracian was detained at the ordeal for one hour because, while dying, he remembered his good deeds and exploits.
The Lord wants those chosen by Him to be completely free from pride.
“At the same time, pride is not easy to recognize in oneself,” writes Elder Silouan, “but the Lord leaves the proud to suffer through his powerlessness until he humbles himself.”
For this, as St. Anthony the Great, “The Lord leads us inwardly in such a way that he hides our goodness from us in order to keep us in humble feelings about ourselves.”
At the same time, He sends trials to His chosen ones in order to eradicate traces of pride from them.
This is how the same Simeon the Stylite was tested: Satan in the form of a bright angel approached his pillar on a fiery chariot and said: “Simeon, the Lord sent me to you so that I would take you, like Elijah, to heaven, for you have achieved such honor for holiness life, and the hour has already come for you to receive the crown of praise from the hand of the Lord..."
The saint did not immediately recognize the enemy’s deception and said: “Lord, do you want to take me, a sinner, to heaven?” And Simeon raised his right leg to step onto the chariot, but at the same time made the sign of the cross. Satan disappeared from the last one along with his chariot, and St. Simeon then executed himself for a year, standing on the same leg that he raised.
The Lord sometimes allows His servants to be tempted by blasphemous thoughts if He sees them falling into pride.
Even falls and such serious sins, such as drunkenness, are allowed by the Lord (who in these cases takes away the grace that protects people), just to save people from the most serious vice - pride.
The Optina elders therefore said that “a humble sinner is better than a proud righteous man” (that is, it is better to be humble with the appearance of some imperfection than to have pride with the outward presence of good deeds or deeds performed out of vanity).
The fullness of spiritual poverty is needed by all Christians and even great ascetics. And in those cases when the ascetics, who had already reached the fullness of perfection and had the gifts of miracles, lost this spiritual poverty and pride arose in them, then with it they lost the grace that overshadowed them. Because of this, they then sometimes fell into the greatest sins.
A typical example of this is the life of St. Jacob the Faster (March 4). The saint lived in the desert from his youth for 50 years and was already glorified for performing many healings and casting out demons. But when God saw exaltation in his heart, He withdrew from him with His grace. Then, through the wiles of the evil one, he fell into grave sins.
However, the devil could not completely dominate Jacob and lead him to despair: the saint imprisoned himself for the rest of his days in a dark cave filled with bones. After ten years of new exploits, the Lord not only forgave Jacob his grave sins, but also returned to him all the gifts of miracles.
And whenever a Christian sees himself falling into a sin that was previously alien to him, then, according to St. fathers, look for the reason for this to fall into pride.
A characteristic sign of pride is the presence in a person of suspiciousness, condemnation of others, difficulty in asking for forgiveness, and especially the inability to endure reproof, admonition, resentment and annoyance. The Venerable writes about the latter as follows. Simeon the New Theologian:
“Whoever, being dishonored or annoyed, is greatly sick at heart because of this, let it be known about that person that he carries the ancient serpent (pride) in his bowels. If he begins to endure insults in silence, he will make this serpent weak and weakened. And if he contradicts with pride and speaks with insolence, he will give strength to the serpent to pour poison into his heart and mercilessly devour his entrails.”
Archimandrite Boris K. speaks about how pride is born and how it develops in a person:
“Venerable Abba Dorotheos says that the initial stage of pride is that a person begins to turn a blind eye to his shortcomings. Each of us has some shortcomings. We are infinitely guilty not only before God, but also before each other.
A person begins to belittle or deny his guilt, and begins to overestimate his abilities and virtues, and in this way he grows in his own eyes. And he begins to condemn his neighbor, and then despise and abhor him...
If a person becomes ossified in such a state of pride, then pride moves to a higher stage, and the person begins to attribute his abilities and virtues to himself. He begins to think that he does not need God, that he can arrange his life on his own and can acquire everything he needs.
These thoughts are similar to those that arose in that angel who became the devil. A person who is infected with these thoughts stops praying. If he prays, it is insincerely, without a contrite heart. If a person thinks that he does not depend on God, then this is already a sign of madness..."
So, the absence of spiritual poverty and humility leads to the vices of conceit and pride. In the presence of the latter, a person extremely overestimates his knowledge, experience, abilities and spiritual qualities and no longer considers it necessary to learn from others and be in obedience to an elder or spiritual father.
One of the severe consequences of having pride is “delusion,” that is, the complete submission of a person to the suggestions of the evil spirit. There are numerous stories about this in the lives of saints and devotees of piety.
How to recognize pride in yourself? Archbishop Jacob of Nizhny Novgorod answers this question this way:
“To know and feel it, notice how you feel when those around you do something not your way, against your will. If what is born in you first is not the thought of meekly correcting a mistake made by others, but displeasure and anger, then know that you are proud, and deeply proud. If even the slightest failure in your affairs saddens you and makes you bored and burdensome, so that the thought of God’s Providence participating in our affairs does not cheer you, then know that you are proud, and deeply proud. If you are hot to your own needs and cold to the needs of others, then know that you are proud, and deeply proud. If at the sight of the troubles of others, even your enemies, you feel happy, and at the sight of the unexpected happiness of your neighbors you feel sad, then know that you are proud, and deeply proud. If modest remarks about your shortcomings are offensive to you, and praise about your unprecedented merits is pleasant and delightful for you, then know that you are proud, and deeply proud.”
Here is Archbishop Arseny’s advice on how to deal with pride:
“You should not have the consciousness that you have succeeded. Work, fight sin and nothing more, and for your exploits the Lord will give you a blissful state of mind when you feel peace, joy in your soul, and not the consciousness that you have succeeded.”
Appendix to Chapter 28
Demon stronghold - vanity and pride
(Excerpts from the notes of Father Alexander Elchaninov)
And pride, and pride, and vanity, here you can add arrogance, arrogance, conceit - all these are different types of one basic phenomenon - “self-focus”, or “autoeroticism”, the beginning of all sin.
Of all these words, two are distinguished by the most solid meaning: vanity and pride, they, according to the Ladder (St. John, Abbot of Sinai), “like a youth and a man, like grain and bread, the beginning and the end.”
Symptoms of vanity, this initial sin: impatience of reproaches, thirst for praise, seeking easy ways, continuous focus on others - what will they say? What will it look like? What will they think? Vanity (according to “The Ladder”) “from afar sees the approaching spectator and makes the angry ones affectionate, the frivolous - serious, the absent-minded - concentrated, the gluttonous - abstinent,” etc.
“The demon of vanity rejoices,” says St. John Climacus, - seeing the increase in our virtues: the more successes we have, the more food for vanity. When I fast, I become vain. When, to conceal my feat, I hide it, I am vainglorious about my prudence. If I dress nicely, I become vain, and if I change into thin clothes, I become even more vain. Whether I begin to speak, I have vanity, I maintain silence, but I still indulge in it. Wherever you turn these thorns, they will all turn upward with their spokes..."
Increased vanity gives rise to pride. Pride is extreme self-confidence, with the rejection of everything that is not mine, a source of anger, cruelty and malice, a refusal of God's help, a “demonic stronghold.” She is a copper wall between us and God (Abba Pimen); it is enmity towards God, the beginning of all sin, it is in all sin. After all, every sin is a free surrender of oneself to one’s passion, a conscious violation of God’s law, insolence against God, although “one who is subject to pride has an extreme need for God, for people cannot save such a thing” (Ladder).
The proud person is deaf and blind to the world; he does not see the world, but only his own reflection in everything.
Pride is loneliness, pitch darkness. Pride - hence pride, hence partiality, inability to self-esteem, hence stupidity. Every proud person is stupid in his assessments, even if by nature he had a brilliant mind. But the proud usually does not see his sin.
“A certain wise old man admonished one brother in spirit not to be proud, but he, blinded by his mind, answered him: “Forgive me, father, there is no pride in me.” The wise old man answered him: “How could you, child, better prove your pride if not with this answer.”
Material wealth enslaves us, exacerbates our egoism, confuses our hearts, oppresses us with worries and fears, and demands sacrifices for itself, like an insatiable demon. It does not serve us, but we usually serve it.
But isn’t it the same with the wealth of health, strength, youth, beauty, talent? Isn’t it true that they also strengthen our pride and take our heart captive, leading it away from God?”
Yes, truly blessed are the poor in terms of property - how easy it is for them to acquire the gospel lightness of spirit and freedom from earthly fetters; but blessed are those who do not have health and youth (because “those who suffer in the flesh cease to sin”), blessed are the ugly, untalented, losers: they do not have in themselves the main sin - pride, since they have nothing to be proud of...
The disease of pride often begins... from success, luck, constant exercise of one's talent.
Often this is a so-called “temperamental” person, “hobbying”, “passionate”, “talented”. This
a kind of erupting geyser, with its continuous activity preventing both God and people from approaching it. He is full, absorbed, intoxicated with himself. He sees and feels nothing except his passion, his talent, which he enjoys, from which he receives complete happiness and satisfaction. It is hardly possible to do anything with such people until they themselves fizzle out, until the volcano goes out. This is the danger of any giftedness, any talent. These qualities must be balanced by full, deep spirituality.
Also, “neurasthenia”, “nervousness”, etc., it seems to me, are simply types of sin, and specifically the sin of pride. The most important neurasthenic is the devil.
Is it possible to imagine a neurasthenic person who is humble, kind, and patient? And vice versa - why is neurasthenia necessarily expressed in anger, irritability, condemnation of everyone except oneself, intolerance, hatred of people, extreme sensitivity to everything personal?
At the beginning of pride there is only preoccupation with oneself, almost normal, accompanied by a good mood, often turning into frivolity. The person is pleased with himself, often laughs, hums, and snaps his fingers. Likes to seem original, to make jokes, shows special tastes, and is capricious in food. Willingly gives advice and intervenes in a friendly manner in other people's affairs. He involuntarily reveals his exceptional interest in himself with such phrases (interrupting someone else’s speech): “No, what will I tell you,” or: “No, I know the case better,” or: “I usually have ...”, or: “I adhere to the rule ", "I have a habit of preferring" (from Turgenev).
When talking about someone else’s grief, they unconsciously say about themselves: “I was so shocked that I still can’t come to my senses.”
At the same time, there is a huge dependence on other people’s approval, depending on which a person suddenly blossoms, then withers and “sours.” But, in general, at this stage the mood remains light. This type of egocentrism is very characteristic of youth, although it also occurs in adulthood.
A person will be happy if at this stage he is confronted with serious concerns, especially about others (marriage, family), work, labor. Or his religious path will captivate him, and he, attracted by the beauty of spiritual achievement, will see his poverty and squalor and desire grace-filled help. If this does not happen, the disease develops further.
There is sincere confidence in one's superiority. Often this is expressed in uncontrollable verbosity. After all, what is talkativeness but, on the one hand, a lack of modesty, and on the other, self-indulgence in the primitive process of self-discovery.
The selfish nature of verbosity is not diminished in the least by the fact that this verbosity is sometimes on a serious topic: a proud person can talk about humility and silence, glorify fasting, debate the question of what is higher: good deeds or prayer.
Self-confidence soon turns into passion for command; he encroaches on the will of others (without enduring the slightest encroachment on his own). Manages other people's attention, time, energy, becomes arrogant and impudent. Your own business is important, someone else’s is trivial. He takes on everything, interferes in everything.
At this stage, the proud person's mood deteriorates. In his aggressiveness, he naturally encounters opposition, rebuff; is irritability, stubbornness, grumpiness; he is convinced that no one understands him, not even his confessor; clashes with the “world” intensify, and the proud man finally makes a choice: “I” against people, but not yet against God.
The soul becomes dark and cold, and arrogance, contempt, anger, and hatred take root in it. The mind becomes darkened, the distinction between good and evil becomes confused, that is, it is replaced by the distinction between “mine” and “not mine.” He goes beyond all obedience and is unbearable in any society; his goal is to lead his line, to shame, to amaze others.
If he is a monk, then he leaves the monastery, where everything is unbearable for him, and looks for his own path. Sometimes this power of self-affirmation is aimed at material acquisition, at a career, social and political activity, sometimes, if there is talent, at creativity, and here a proud person can have some victories thanks to his drive. On this same basis, schisms and heresies are created.
Finally, at the last step, a person breaks with God... Now he allows himself everything: sin does not torment him, it becomes his habit; if at this stage it can be easy for him, then it is easier for him with the devil and on dark paths, the state of the soul is gloomy, hopeless, complete loneliness, but at the same time sincere conviction in the rightness of his path and a feeling of complete security while the black wings rush him to death.
Strictly speaking, this state is not much different from insanity. The proud person, even in this life, is in a state of almost complete isolation (pitch darkness). Watch how he talks and argues! He either does not hear at all what is said to him, or hears only what coincides with his views. If they tell him something that does not agree with his opinions, he becomes angry, as if from a personal insult, mocks and furiously denies. In those around him, he sees only those qualities that he himself imposed on them, so that even in his praises he remains proud, closed in on himself, impenetrable to the objective.
It is characteristic that the most common forms of mental illness - delusions of grandeur and delusions of persecution - stem from a “heightened sense of self” and are completely unthinkable for humble, simple, self-forgetting people.
After all, psychiatrists also believe that mental illness (paranoia) is caused mainly by an exaggerated sense of one’s own personality, a hostile attitude towards people, a loss of normal ability to adapt, and perverted judgments. The classic paranoid never criticizes himself, he is always right in his own eyes and is acutely dissatisfied with the people around him and the conditions of his life. This is where the depth of the definition of prp becomes clear. John Climacus: “Pride is the extreme misery of the soul.”
The proud suffers defeat on all fronts.
Psychologically - melancholy, darkness, infertility.
Morally - loneliness, drying up of love, anger.
From a theological point of view, it is the death of the soul, which precedes bodily death, decay during life.
Epistemologically - solipsism (attention is paid only to oneself).
Physiologically and pathologically - nervous and mental illness.