Hieromonk Eugene of Sarov (conclusion)

Here presented is the second and final letter of Hieromonk Mikail to Hieromonk Eugene.

Dearest in Christ brother and friend,

Merciful Reverend Father!

I sincerely rejoice thanking God that you are well and are satisfied with all necessities you have and that your mother Taisia is finding salvation in the Lord. The common way of thinking suggests that the old people should die first; yet, it happens often to see an old priest burying a young man. I think your mother would like to be buried by you, we both agree on that, yet, we do not know how the Lord will decide it. Let us entrust our lives to the mercy of Christ and His will.

It is quite comforting for me to hear from you that you are especially and indescribably pleased with your superiors, and that you do not desire any honors, and furthermore, do not even think about it and so on. That is a rarity nowadays, like a white crow. Do not have regrets about scholarly learning, that you did not have a chance to engage in it; instead, you may educate yourself in everything from the Holy Scriptures and become wise in piety – for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with treats, according to St. Apostle Paul (Heb. 13:9).

I do not know why you, while having the desire, feel hopeless about seeing me and talking about the Lord? Indeed, I am already old, weak and ill, incapable to ride, and not inclined to it at all; but you are not in that kind of state. If the occasion is favorable, if you wish, you can, after venerating Hierarch St. Dimitry along with Venerable Sergius, come to venerate the Moscow Miracle Workers^[1]. Then, if I am alive, and if you wish, you will see me. In 1812^[2] I was not far from you at Pechorsk Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod^[3]. You could have seen me if you had the wish then. You were not in the sad state then that I was in – expelled unexpectedly at mid-day, with danger to my life, almost without any necessities, later on survived a fire, was robbed, not having a place to rest, in need of everything, not knowing what my fate would bring, to make matters worse it was the fall and the winter season, I lived in Nizhny Novgorod from September 28^th till December 10^th.

It is also unclear to me why your spiritual duty causes such confusion in you, and it is difficult and burdensome for you? The numbers are not that great it seems – about a hundred people. Parish priests have more. To say more, you must have compared to others almost ten years. Although, you have had thought and continue to think about quitting, yet you are afraid of Fr. Igumen (I would add the spiritual children as well, and most of all God) in order not to insult them by doing so. For now, I will not be able to meet you in person, I consider giving you this friendly advice out of love for you. God called you to this duty lawfully and rightly through the abbot and the brothers, with the personal blessing and approval of your bishop; and you, out of love to the Savior, Who said, “Feed my sheep [John 21:17]”, have agreed to it during ordination to priesthood and at the time you were chosen for it; therefore you must perform the duty as long as you have strength. Unless you have a lawful and valid reason not to.  Brothers and sisters, each person, as a responsible one before God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them [cf. 1 Cor. 7:24]. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown [Apoc. 2:10]. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown [Apoc. 3:11]. Yet, you insist that one should acquire great holiness and wisdom for it, and as for you, you say that you know your shortcomings. Indeed, it is so! Any priestly duty requires this. When you agreed to be a priest of the Lord, you agreed then to take care about holiness and wisdom; and, without a doubt you can get them from God. Anything is possible for a person who believes and asks. Also, it is not true that greater holiness is required to be a confessor than is required to serve the liturgy. Since sometimes, according to the decision of a bishop, a priest is removed from serving liturgy, yet is allowed to remain a spiritual guide if he is skilled in that. On the other hand, sometimes the right to be a spiritual guide due to misuse is taken away, yet, one is allowed to serve liturgy. Yet, you again say that it is difficult and burdensome. True! Yet, it is not completely inconvenient and impossible.

However, great rewards happen to come for great deeds and labors, just try to serve in this capacity as is right before God. If thou dost return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth [Jer. 15:19]. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins [James 5:20]. These are the rewards! The grace of God, which always strengthens the weak and replenishes what is missing, will help you, as well as the advice of your elders and the decisive order of your bishop, from whom you may sometime, in case of downfalls of doubt, according to the rules of the church, demand instructions for yourself, while not mentioning any names. When your health declines completely, and you see yourself incapable of carrying your duty, seek another person for your position, who is not less or perhaps even more worthy and capable than you are. Then out of love for God and your neighbor with humility you may surrender it so that the flock of Christ would be guided better by your successor, and you spend your last days in attention to your own salvation only. However, may the Lord God enlighten you with His grace to choose what is better and advances salvation for you, as for me, I cannot say anything more aside from what has been said using only guesswork on matters, which are not clear and coherent.

As a sign of my love and gratitude to you I am sending along to you a book “Primary Chronicle” with events dating from 1206 to 1534. I am asking you to accept it with the same love as the one it is sent with.

I am wishing you to spend the Holy Lent with benefit for the soul, I congratulate you with the coming feast of the Resurrection of Christ, may it bring joy and illumination in the Lord.

At last, having wished you earthly and heavenly blessings and everything holy, I continue to remain with feeling of honest reverence to you and sincere love, asking your holy prayers and continuation of Christian love.

Most humble servant and a fellow petitioner

of my brother in Christ and friend,

Hieromonk Mikhail

March 7^th, 1816.

The New Monastery of the Saviour, Moscow

 1. Saints Peter Alexis and Jonah Metropolitans of Moscow and Wonderworkers of Russia

 2. Napoleon’s incursion into Russia.

 3. Nizhnu Novgorod is a large city of the Volga River in Western Russia

A Sermon: Sunday after Theophany/Baptism of the Holy Spirit

          Beloved of God, in the liturgical cycle of the Church we have reached the Sunday after the feast of Theophany.  I believe we are aware that this feast can also be called the baptism of our Lord; and some commentators have thought of it as the initiation of the sacrament of Baptism. As usual, we have a particular Gospel and Epistle reading for this day.  In the Gospel our Lord calls all to follow Him with His words: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Elsewhere in the Gospel we hear Him say: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  (Luke 12:32). And again, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).  This is a reality that is made manifest through the sacrament of Baptism and it becomes a completed living reality through our repentance. Let me explain.

          In the writings of Sts. Ignatius and Kallistos in the Philokalia they speak of this.  The title of one chapter is as follows: “In holy Baptism we receive divine grace as a free gift.  We obscure this gift with  the passions, but then we cleanse it again by keeping the commandments.”  And they continue to write: “In the divine womb—that is, the sacred font—we receive divine grace as a free and entirely perfect gift, through the affairs of this present life, we have wrongfully covered over this supernatural splendor with the murk of the passions.  Yet through repentance and the fulfillment of deifying commandments we can uncover its surpassing radiance once more and repossess it, beholding its manifestation with the utmost clarity.” (The Philokalia, The Complete Text, Volume Five, p. 21)

          This quote brings to mind a conversation I once had with the monk, Father Lukas of the Monastery of Philotheou on the Holy Mountain.  He was considered the theologian of Philotheou and had been a university professor before becoming a monk.  I asked him about the meaning of the phrase found in the writings of St. Symeon the New Theologian, “baptism of the Holy Spirit” since this phrase was being used by Charismatics and Pentecostals who claimed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  These people believed that they had the same experience as St. Symeon.  But, before continuing with Fr. Lukas, I want to go on a little tangent and quote someone else, Archbishop Basil Krivochenie.  He was the Moscow Patriarchate bishop in Brussels, Belgium; but prior to this he spent about twenty-two years at the Monastery of St. Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain.  He was an expert on St. Symeon the New Theologian and wrote a book on the saint called, In the Light of Christ.  In 1976, he gave a few talks at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.  He commented that for the Charismatics, baptism of the Holy Spirit was the beginning, but for St. Symeon the New Theologian it was the end.  In his book he points out that, in the writings of St. Symeon, greater emphasis is placed upon repentance and a “baptism of tears,” while the phrase “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is very rarely used. 

          Now let me get back to Father Lukas.  He spoke along these lines: The concept baptism in the Holy Spirit used by St. Symeon is not different from the first [the sacrament of Baptism] but rather a manifestation of the first.  We were baptized as infants and we are not aware of what we may have experienced at that time.  As we grew older grace diminished and we became more and more immersed in the world, and so we are in a state where we are no longer conscious of this grace of Baptism within us.  Converts who are baptized at a mature age may have a very shorted-lived experience of grace when baptized because they receive this grace into a vessel which is not pure.  They are not purified from the passions and sin, so then, the action of grace is covered over.  Let me make an illustration: If you shine a light through a glass that is dirty it will be dull.  But the more you clean that glass, so much more does that light shine through it.  So it is with us: The more we are purified from sin and passions through repentance, so much more does the grace of God given in Baptism become active within us.  If we are completely purified then we attain that baptism of the Holy Spirit which is greater that the first baptism.  It is not different than the first but the manifestation of the first.    

          So then, as the Lord said, let us “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—it is “with us”.  To acquire this we need ongoing repentance.  In some people repentance acts temporarily according to the sins they have committed. There is confession, the resolve to change, remorse, and maybe some act of penance. However, in others, repentance acts systematically, remaining upon one, leading him from one degree of purification to another. Then, continuing on, one can be led from one degree of enlightenment to another.  Finally, one can reach the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” spoken of by St, Symeon the New Theologian.  These are the stages of grace of which St. Joseph the Hesychast writes.  He wrote the following to a correspondent: The spiritual life is divided into three stages, and grace acts in a person accordingly.  The first stage is called purification, during which the person is cleansed.  What you have now is called the grace of purification.  This form of grace leads one to repentance.  All eagerness that you have for spiritual things is from grace alone.  Nothing is your own.  It secretly acts upon everything.  So when you exert yourself, this grace remains with you for a certain period of time.  If a person progresses in noetic prayer, he receives another form of grace which is entirely different. 

          “The second grace is called the grace of illumination.  During this stage one receives the light of knowledge and is raised to the vision of God.  This does not mean seeing lights, fantasies, images, but it means clarity of nous, clearness of thoughts, and depth of cognition.  For this to occur, the person praying must have much stillness and an unerring guide. 

          “The third stage—when grace overshadows—is the grace of perfection, truly a great gift.” (Monastic Wisdom, The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast, pp. 44-5) This last is the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” that St. Symeon the New Theologian writes of and it is very rare.

          Does this leave us without hope? It should not.  We are not all going to become great saints.  But if we repent according to our strength and become humble, we will become partakers along all the saints of the kingdom to come. Humility has been called “the throne of divine grace” (Saint Ephraim of Katounakia The Disciple Full of Grace, Elder Joseph of Vatopedi p. 93) and it opens to us the kingdom—the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So be it.