Library › St John of Kronstadt › My Life in Christ

My Life in Christ

St John of Kronstadt, tr. Goulaeff, 1897

Part 1, 4. pp. 61–80

We notice in ourselves the struggle between faith and unbelief, between the good power and the evil one; and in the world, between the spirit of the Church and the spirit of the world. There, through the spirit, you will distinguish two clearly antagonistic sides: the side of light and the side of darkness; of good and evil; the spirit of the Church and of religion, and the spirit of worldliness and unbelief. Do you know why it is so? It is owing to the struggle of two antagonistic forces: of the power of God and the power of the Devil. The Lord works in the sons who are obedient to Him, and the Devil in the sons of disobedience (“the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”¹). And I, too, often feel within me the struggle of the same two antagonistic forces. When I stand up to pray, the evil force sometimes painfully oppresses and weighs down my heart, so that it cannot raise itself to God.

The surer and stronger are the means that unite us to God (prayer and repentance), the more destructive are the actions brought to bear against them by God’s opponent and ours, who makes use of every means to attain this end: our body, so inclined to laziness; the weakness of our soul, its attachment to earthly goods and cares; doubt, so near to everyone; incredulity, unbelief; impure, evil, and blasphemous thoughts; the oppression of the heart, the darkening of the mind — all these are brought to bear against the inattentive, through the action of the enemy, in order to put a stumblingblock in the way of their prayer, on the ladder that leads us up to God. This is the reason why so few pray sincerely and heartily; this is the reason why Christians so very seldom prepare themselves for Holy Communion — so seldom confess and receive the Sacrament.

Our strength, our soul, is invisible; the soul of animals is also invisible; in plants also, their strength, their life, is invisible; the whole material world exists and is moved by an invisible power (by the laws of nature). In the higher regions there are the heavenly powers, pure and free from everything material. Everything heavenly and earthly, the highest and the lowest, lead up to a single Almighty Power, which has produced every power in heaven and on earth. Thus, let every power praise the Only One Power in Three Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And let all earth-born creatures praise It, especially through the all-binding power of love, everywhere diffusing life and blessedness.

For a long time I did not clearly understand how necessary it is that our soul should be strengthened by the Holy Ghost. But now the Most Gracious Lord has granted to me to know how indispensable this is. Yes, it is necessary every moment of our life, just as breathing is; it is necessary during prayer and throughout the whole of our life. Unless He strengthens our soul, it is constantly inclined to every sin, and, therefore, to spiritual death; it becomes enfeebled, loses all power, through the evil that enters into the heart, and incapable of any good. Without the strengthening of the Holy Ghost, one feels how the heart is undermined by various evils, and is ready to sink every moment into their abyss. Then it is that our heart must stand firm as upon a rock. And this rock is — the Holy Ghost. He strengthens our powers; and when a man prays, He strengthens his heart by faith and by the hope of receiving that which he prays for. He inflames the soul with love to God; He fills the soul with bright, good thoughts, strengthening the mind and heart. If the man has any work to accomplish, He strengthens his heart by the conviction of the importance and the necessity of his labour, and by an invincible patience which overcomes all difficulties. He inspires in the man, in his intercourse with people of various positions and both sexes, a respect for the human person, who is made after God’s image — whoever it may be — and is redeemed by the Blood of Christ the Lord; and makes him disregard the sometimes very unsightly outer appearance of another man’s body and dress, as well as his roughness of speech and manners. It is the Holy Ghost who unites us all through love, as the children of the same Heavenly Father, and in Jesus Christ teaches us to pray: “Our Father which art in Heaven...”

Imagine that you see the inaccessible Light from which the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars proceeded; that you see the infinite Love which sent into the world its onlybegotten Son to save the world² from eternal torment; that you see the Primeval Beauty from which are derived all the variety and beauty existing in the world — the variety and beauty of plants, stones, shells, fishes, birds, beasts, and all human beauty! Imagine that you see the Creator of heaven and earth, loving, resplendent with the inaccessible light of His perfections. What will you then feel? And the Christian faith prepares us all for this vision. Observe the plants: in them are evident (1) the wonderful Wisdom, appearing in every part of the plant; (2) the Life-giving Power, strengthening and maintaining every part of the plant in its proper condition; and (3) the Omnipotence, by which the Eternal Wisdom changes the aspect of formless matter so easily, making it answer His everlasting intentions and purposes. “But Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.”³ “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.”⁴

In the same manner as objects situated at a great distance off on the earth, though they may be large, are quite invisible from afar if the sun is not reflected in them, whilst even small ones are visible a long way off if the sun is reflected in them, so it is also amongst men: those in whom the Eternal Sun of Righteousness, God, is not reflected in His perfections, are only noticeable when quite near by a very few; but if the Sun of Righteousness is reflected in them, then they are seen by all from a very great distance, they are glorified by all; they are people of all places and of all times (the saints); some of them shine like the sun, others like the moon, and others like the stars.

Gazing upon God’s creatures and seeing their infinite variety, I see myself exalted above all their multitudes by the likeness and image of God, by the understanding and by freedom, by the capability of being able to examine all of them by means of my intellect, and to wonder at the wisdom and graciousness of the Creator as manifested in them. O, how I ought to reverence my Creator! O, how I ought to honour the authors of my being — my father and my mother! They have given me existence for a time — for a time and for eternity; they have led me, in accordance with the will of God, Who created me in my mother’s womb, into the magnificent palace of the world, so that in due time the Creator may admit me into the palace of heaven.

The state or any society is a body. As in the body God has put all the members together, and each one separately in their proper places, so likewise is the social body. God has set each one in his proper place, the deeds of each one being the reason of his occupying this or that particular place.

Everyone sees that light is shed upon the earth from heaven, because the sun, the moon, and the stars light us from the heavenly circle. This shows that the uncreated wise Light, the Lord our God, dwells pre-eminently in the heavens; and from Him every light descends upon us, both material and spiritual — the light of the intellect and of the heart. “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”⁵ “God is love.”⁶ All thoughts, feelings, every disposition of the heart tending to destroy love and create enmity, proceed from the Devil. Let this be engraven in your heart, and hold fast in every way to love. “Follow after charity.”⁷ Bear in mind: that which is in opposition to the old carnal, sinful man, that do; go all your life against his will. This is the object of your life, and also your glory in Jesus Christ. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”⁸ Stablish in your heart the following truth: one thing alone is worthy of all our hatred — that is, sin or vice; and towards men nourish exclusively love. The royal law is plain: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”⁹

When, during prayer, your heart is overwhelmed with despondency and melancholy, be sure that these proceed from the Devil endeavouring by every means to hinder you in your prayer. Be firm, take courage, and by the remembrance of God drive away the deadly feeling. Observe: if not in your thoughts, then in your heart, the enemy often endeavours to blaspheme the name of Almighty God. What constitutes blasphemy of the heart against God? Doubt, unbelief, despondency, impatience under God’s chastisements, murmuring, and all the passions. By unbelief in God’s truth and mercy, the enemy utters blasphemy against the truth, mercy, and omnipotence of God; by despondency, he blasphemes God’s goodness; in general, by the outburst of human passions, he blasphemes God’s all-merciful providence and truth.

Establish in your mind and heart this truth: that the invisible plays the first part in the whole world, in every being; and that when the invisible leaves a certain being, the latter loses life and is destroyed: so that the visible in beings, without the invisible, forms but a mass of earth. I and all men live through an invisible first cause — God.

Men are enveloped in the darkness of ignorance of God, of themselves, and of the enemies of their salvation, who can therefore easily rob the mental house of our soul — its mental wealth.

When it is said to the inner man: “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,”¹⁰ the real sleep of the soul, very like the ordinary bodily sleep, is meant. Also, when it is said: “My heart, awake; why sleepest thou?” the real sleep of the heart is meant, and it is not said merely allegorically. When the body sleeps, it is weakened in every part and becomes insensible; so likewise the soul, sleeping the sleep of sin, becomes weakened in its powers, and insensible to everything that concerns faith, hope, and love. Tell it, for instance, that the Son of God came down upon earth for it and became man to save it from everlasting death; speak to it of His saving teaching, His miracles, His sufferings and death upon the Cross, His Resurrection, Ascension, and His second coming. The soul cannot understand or contain all this; it is unable to feel God’s benefits, but is asleep, perfectly asleep, to faith, hope, and love. It does not fear the righteous Judge, future torments, the worm that never rests, the unquenchable fire. It sleeps — it neither hears, nor sees, nor feels. It is remarkable that bodily sleep begins with the heart; first of all the heart falls asleep, and afterwards the body. The sleeper’s eyes are closed and do not see, neither do his ears hear; and it is the same with the soul that sleeps the sleep of sin. But the soul ought always to see through the eyes of the heart, even during sleep, as it is written: “I sleep, but my soul waketh.”¹¹

You cannot have failed to notice that all our strength lies in the heart. When the heart is light, the whole man feels at ease and happy; whilst when the heart is heavy, he feels wretched. But this relief you can only find in faith, and therefore especially in the Church, as the place where faith predominates; here God touches your hearts through His cleansing grace, and gives you His easy yoke to bear. This is a great mystery, which is worth everyone’s knowing. When the heart is light, the man is ready to run and leap. This is why David “danced when he played before the ark.”¹²

When you are slandered, and therefore grow disturbed and sick at heart, it shows that pride is in you, and that it must be wounded and driven out by outward dishonour. Therefore do not be irritated by derision, and do not bear malice against those who hate you and slander you, but love them as your physicians, whom God has sent you to instruct you and to teach you humility, and pray to God for them. “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.”¹³ Say to yourself, “It is not me that they slander, but my evil passions; not me that they strike, but that viper which nestles in my heart, and smarts when anybody speaks ill of it. I will comfort myself with the thought that, perhaps, these good people will drive it from my heart by their caustic words, and my heart will then cease to ache.” Therefore, thank God for outward dishonour: those who endure dishonour here will not be subjected to it in the next world. “She hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”¹⁴ “Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for Thou also hast wrought all our works for us.”¹⁵

When you pray that your sins may be forgiven, strengthen yourself always by faith, and trust in God’s mercy, Who is ever ready to forgive our sins after sincere prayer, and fear lest despair should fall on your heart — that despair which declares itself by deep despondency and forced tears. What are your sins in comparison to God’s mercy, whatever they be, if only you truly repent of them? But it often happens that when a man prays, he does not, in his heart, inwardly hope that his sins will be forgiven, counting them as though they were above God’s mercy. Therefore, he certainly will not obtain forgiveness, even should he shed fountains of involuntary tears; and with a sorrowful, straitened heart he will depart from the Gracious God: which is only what he deserves. “Believe that ye receive them,” says the Lord, “and ye shall have them.”¹⁶ Not to be sure of receiving what you ask God for, is a blasphemy against God.

When there is unbelief in anything true and sacred, the mind is generally darkened, the unbelieving heart is oppressed with fear; whilst when there is sincere faith, it experiences joy, tranquillity, breadth or expansion of life within it, so that the mind becomes bright and far-seeing. Is it not evident that truth triumphs over the heart’s madness? Is not the deceitfulness of the heart manifest? Yes; the sufferings of the heart at the time of its unbelief in anything true and sacred are a sign of the truth of that in which it does not believe. The heart itself dies when it subjects the truth to doubt and attempts to destroy that which cannot be destroyed; whilst the expansion of the heart when it sincerely believes is also a true sign of the truth of that in which it believes, because the object in which we believe communicates life to our heart, and renews and strengthens this life. Our heart, corrupted by sin, is but a poor receptacle of life, for sin is death and not life, and the fulness of life is outside us. But as this spiritual life is invisible, and is communicated to us according to our faith in the invisible personal life in God, therefore it is our lively sincere faith in God that brings life into our heart. Without faith, the heart must naturally feel oppression and sorrow, as the result of the curtailing and diminution of life. But, besides faith, there must also be an accord of our spiritual activity with the object of our faith, for man is a moral being.

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”¹⁷ Who will not agree with these words of the Apostle? The carnal mind is indeed death. Draw nigh, you who are mercenary, covetous, envious, selfish, proud, ambitious, and let us look upon you, upon your actions and your life! Disclose to us, if you will, the thoughts of your heart! We shall be convinced by you — a living example—that the carnal mind is death. You do not live the true life; you are spiritually dead; you that have freedom are inwardly bound; you that have intelligence are as the foolish, because “the light that is in thee is darkness.”¹⁸ You have received from God a heart capable of delighting in everything that is true, holy, good, and beautiful; but by the carnal mind you have stifled in it all noble feelings, all noble impulses; you have become a corpse; “ye have no life in you.”¹⁹ But “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Let any Christian man, leading the life of faith, destroying the passions within him, and thinking “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise,”²⁰ come to us, and tell us what he feels in his soul from the mind of the Spirit. He will say, “I feel in my heart continual peace and joy in the Holy Ghost,”²¹ my heart expands, I feel an abundance of life. I mock at everything carnal; I wonder how it can have such a great power over the hearts of carnal men, and I give myself up to the continual contemplation of the heavenly, spiritual, invisible blessings prepared for those who love God.”

Alas! many are led astray by the gift of freedom, given by God to men, and by the possibility of being good and evil; and after having fallen into sin, men are more easily inclined to evil than to good. They blame the Creator, and say: “Why did God create us thus, and why did He not create us so that we could not fall and do evil?” Whilst others ascribe the corruption of man by sin to the imperfection of nature, setting aside God in their thoughts, and considering the whole world, with all its phenomena and objects, as something impersonal, not independent, not a free creation, of which they themselves are parts. This is what estrangement from the Church does! Into what ignorance have you sophists fallen! Meanwhile our children know clearly, exactly, and surely that which you do not know. You blame the Creator; but is He to blame if you yourself, through inattention to His voice, through your own evil nature and ingratitude, have abused the greatest gift of His goodness, great wisdom, and omnipotence — I mean the gift of freedom, which is an imprescriptible feature of God’s image? Should He not be acknowledged the more merciful for having granted this gift to men, unshaken by the ingratitude of those who receive it, so that His goodness might shine upon all brighter than the sun? And has He not indeed proved His boundless love and infinite wisdom in bestowing upon us the gift of freedom, when, after our having fallen into sin, after our estrangement from Him, and our spiritual ruin, He sent into the world His only begotten Son “in an image made like to corruptible man,”²² and gave Him to suffer and die for us? Who, after this, will blame the Creator for having given us freedom? “Let God be true, but every man a liar.”²³ Work out your own salvation, each one of you; struggle, vanquish, but do not think yourself most wise; do not accuse the Creator of being unmerciful and unwise; do not blaspheme the all-merciful God. Raise yourself through love; ascend higher and higher, step by step, to spiritual perfection, which it is impossible to obtain without freedom. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”²⁴

In our body, during all our lifetime, a war goes on between the principles of life and death, of good and evil, of sickness and health. The principles of death, being for a long time conquered by the principles of life (vitality), at last overpower the principles of life, because our body, being elementary and sinful, does not in itself contain any principles of life, but borrows them from the soul, which, through sin, also bears in itself many of the principles of death, and is too weak to be able to resist the principles of mortality existing in the soul itself. Besides this, the inner man is renewed at the expense of the corruption of his outward parts. The vigilant, ever-active spirit, by the exertion of this very activity, finally destroys the weak frail body. Besides this, hereditary bodily diseases in course of time increase more and more, and also destroy the bodily organism. Thus the life of man on earth is a gradual daily dying. And our passions? How much of our health they too bear away! And intemperance, excesses in eating, drinking, sleeping, and pleasures? How all these impair the health! Therefore, if our body is continually wasted, and visibly approaches its end, let us despise it as transient, and care with all our strength for the immortal soul. The body is a faithless, fleeting friend.

We possess a true barometer which shows the rise and fall of our spiritual life — that is, our heart. It may also be called a compass, by means of which we are guided in our voyage over the sea of this life. It shows us whither we are going — to the spiritual east, to Christ; or to the spiritual west, the dark power that has the power of death — the Devil. Only watch this compass attentively; it will not deceive, and will show you the true way. “If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God ”²⁵ — that is, we are drawing nigh to the east.

That which a man loves, to which he turns, that he will find. If he loves earthly things, he will find earthly things, and these earthly things will abide in his heart, will communicate their earthliness to him and will find him; if he loves heavenly things, he will find heavenly things, and they will abide in his heart and give him life. We must not set our hearts upon anything earthly, for the spirit of evil is incorporated in all earthly things when we use them immoderately and in excess, this spirit having become earthly by excessive opposition to God.

When God is present in all a man’s thoughts, desires, intentions, words, and works, then it means that the kingdom of God has come to him; then he sees God in everything — in the world of thought, in the world of action, and in the material world; then the omnipresence of God is most clearly revealed to him, and a genuine fear of God dwells in his heart: he seeks every moment to please God, and fears every moment lest he may sin against God, present at his right hand. “Thy kingdom come!”

Examine yourself oftener; where the eyes of your heart are looking. Are they turned towards God and the life to come, towards the most peaceful, blessed, resplendent, heavenly, holy powers dwelling in heaven? Or are they turned towards the world, towards earthly blessings; to food, drink, dress, abode, to sinful vain men and their occupations? O that the eyes of our heart were always fixed upon God! But it is only in need or misfortune that we turn our eyes to the Lord, whilst in the time of prosperity our eyes are turned towards the world and its vain works. But what, you would ask, will this looking to God bring me? It will bring the deepest peace and tranquillity to your heart, light to your mind, holy zeal to your will, and deliverance from the snares of the enemy. “Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord,” said David, and gave the reason for it: “For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.”²⁶ “For He shall speak peace unto His people and to his saints, that they turn not again.”²⁷

When you doubt in the truth of any person or any event described in Holy Scripture, then remember that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,”²⁸ as the Apostle says, and is therefore true, and does not contain any imaginary persons, fables, and tales, although it includes parables which everyone can see are not true narratives, but are written in figurative language. The whole of the Word of God is single, entire, indivisible truth; and if you admit that any narrative, sentence, or word is untrue, then you sin against the truth of the whole of Holy Scripture and its primordial Truth, which is God Himself. “I am the truth,”²⁹ said the Lord; “Thy word is truth,”³⁰ said Jesus Christ to God the Father. Thus, consider the whole of the Holy Scripture as truth; everything that is said in it has either taken place or takes place.

Do not give way to the dark evil inclinations in your heart against your neighbour, but conquer them and uproot them by the power of faith, by the light of a sound mind, and you will become kind and gentle. “I have walked innocently.”³¹ Such inclinations frequently arise in the depths of the heart. He who has not learned to subdue them will be often gloomy, melancholy, a burden to himself and to others. When they come to you, force yourself to be cordially disposed; to mirth and innocent jests; and the evil inclinations will be dispersed like smoke. This is from experience.

It is a strange phenomenon in our nature, perverted by sin, to hate those to whom we do good, and to make them pay for our benefits by disliking them! Oh, how narrow and poor in love and grace is our heart! How selfish it is! The enemy may well mock at us; he wishes to destroy the fruits of our good works. But the more good you do to others, the more you must love them, knowing that those who receive your benefits serve as a pledge to you of your receiving forgiveness from God.

In asking anything of the Lord, or of His Most-pure Mother, or of the Angels and Saints, it is needful to have such faith as the centurion of Capernaum had.³² He believed that in the same manner as his soldiers obeyed him and fulfilled his words, so much more, at the Almighty Word of the All-merciful God, his request would be fulfilled. If creatures with their limited powers fulfilled that which He asked them to do, then will not the Master Himself through His Almighty power fulfil the requests of His servants who turn to Him with faith and hope? Will not the Most-pure Mother of God, the Angels and Saints, His true servants mighty through grace and in intercession with God, also fulfil our requests offered with faith, hope, and love? They will indeed; and I believe, with the centurion, that if I pray as I ought, and for what I ought, to any Saint: Grant me this, he will grant it to me; Come to my help, he will come; Do this, and he will do it. This is the simple, firm faith that we must have!

Every lying thought bears in itself a proof of its falsehood. This proof is its deadly effect upon the heart; “for to be carnally minded is death.”³³ Likewise every true thought contains in itself a proof of its truth. This proof is its vivifying effect upon the heart; “but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,”³⁴ says the Apostle.

“Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul: that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”³⁵ It was thus with the Mother of the Lord in the full sense of the words; it is also thus with other good and God-fearing persons, and their souls also are pierced with a sword in order that the thoughts of the hearts of those who come in contact with them may be disclosed; that is, sometimes God places them in such relations with other people in whose souls much hidden evil lies concealed, that they involuntarily speak out from the abundance of the evil within them, and it flows from their lips like a foul stream or like a whole river. Then they begin to do deeds unworthy of the name of man, and it is only after this that others learn what these persons were inwardly who were previously considered wise, learned, and estimable (the scribes and pharisees — both of old and of the present time).

“Thy kingdom come;” that is, the kingdom of life, for at present the kingdom of death continues for the greater part under the dominion of him who has the power of death — the Devil. How can the kingdom of God come to a man during his present life? Through hearty repentance. “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”³⁶ Let the impious man then give up his godless opinions, the mercenary his love of money, the deceiver his deceitfulness, the drunkard his drinking, the glutton his gluttony, the dissolute his dissipation, the proud his pride, the vain his vanity, the envious, the insatiable, his envy and his insatiableness, the impatient and murmurer his impatience and murmuring, and let everyone learn to do the acts of Christian love, and especially “to bear the infirmities of the weak.”³⁷

Outward prayer is often performed at the expense of inward prayer, and inward at the expense of outward; that is, when I pray with my lips or read, then many words do not penetrate into the heart, I become double minded and hypocritical; with my lips I say one thing, whilst in my heart I feel another. The lips speak truth, whilst the disposition of the heart does not agree with the words of the prayer. But if I pray inwardly, heartily, then, without paying attention to the pronunciation of the words, I concentrate it upon their contents, their power, gradually accustoming my heart to the truth, and thus entering into the same disposition of spirit in which the words of the prayer were written. In this way I accustom myself, little by little, to pray in spirit and truth in accordance with the words of the Eternal Truth: “They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”³⁸ When a man prays outwardly aloud, then he cannot always follow all the movements of his heart, which are so rapid that he is necessarily obliged to pay attention to the pronunciation of the words, and to their outward form. Thus the prayers of many of the clergy who read rapidly become quite untrue: with their lips they seem to pray; in appearance they are pious, but their hearts are asleep, and do not know what their lips say. This proceeds from the fact that they hurry, and do not meditate in their hearts upon what they are saying. We must pray for them, as they pray for us; we must pray that their words may penetrate into their hearts and breathe warmth into them. They pray for us in the words of holy persons, and we must pray for them also.

We sin in thought, word, and deed. In order to become pure images of the Most Holy Trinity, we must strive that our thoughts, words, and deeds may be holy. Thought corresponds, in God, to the Father, the word to the Son, and the deed to the all-accomplishing Holy Ghost. The sins of thought are not an unimportant matter for the Christian, because all that is pleasing to God in us is comprised, according to Saint Macarius of Egypt, in thoughts, for the thoughts are the beginning from which words and deeds proceed: words, because they either benefit those who hear them or are corrupt and tempt others, perverting their hearts and thoughts; and deeds, still more, because examples act more powerfully than anything upon people, inciting them to imitate them.

Your Lord is love: love Him and in Him all men, as His children in Christ. Your Lord is a fire: do not let your heart be cold, but burn with faith and love. Your Lord is light: do not walk in darkness and do not do anything in darkness of mind, without reasoning or understanding, or without faith. Your Lord is a God of mercy and bountifulness: be also a source of mercy and bountifulness to your neighbours. If you will be such, you will find salvation yourself with everlasting glory.

He who says prayers hurriedly, without hearty understanding and feeling, being conquered by his slothful, sleepy flesh, does not serve God, but serves his own flesh, his self-love, and reviles God by his inattention and the indifference of his heart to prayer: “God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”³⁹ — not hypocritically. However slothful and weak your flesh may be, however inclined to sleep you may be, conquer yourself; do not spare yourself for God; renounce yourself; let your gift to God be perfect; give God your heart.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.”⁴⁰ This silent but evident declaration of the heavens of their creation by the Almighty has reached even us, and there is no language or dialect in which this declaration is not understood. And now, since the time of the Incarnation of the Son of God, all the glory of God, the glory of His love towards mankind, as well as the glory of creation, is declared unto us by the Gospel and the Holy Church; by the voices of the preachers of the Gospel; by those who celebrate the Sacraments and prayers; that is, the priests, readers, and singers; by the sound of bells, not excluding also the preaching of the heavens with their luminaries. But the preaching of the living voice is more lively, more intelligible and striking. The glory of the Lord is declared by all the earth, and by all earthly beings.

In all your works, either at home or at the place of your service, do not forget that all your strength, your light and your success are in Christ and His Cross; therefore, do not fail to call upon the Lord before beginning any work, saying: Jesus, help me! Jesus, enlighten me! Thus your heart will be supported and warmed by lively faith and hope in Christ, for His is the power and glory unto ages of ages.

Take care; do not forget, Christian; never lose hearty faith in Him Who is your invisible Life, your Peace, your Light, your Strength, your Breath; that is, in Jesus Christ. Do not believe your heart when it becomes gross, darkened, unbelieving, and cold from plenteousness of food and drink, from worldly distractions, or finally when you live by the intellect, and not by the heart; that is, when you exercise the intellect and neglect the heart, or, when you enlarge and adorn the net, leaving the fisherman himself in poverty and need; for the heart, comparatively speaking, is the hunter or fisherman whilst the intellect is the fisherman’s net.

In times of rest, ease, and gratification of the flesh, the latter revives with all its passions and inclinations, whilst in times of oppression, vexation, and weariness, it is subdued with all its passions; this is why, in His wisdom and mercy, the Heavenly Father subjects our soul and body to grievous afflictions and sicknesses, and this is why we must not only patiently endure these afflictions and sicknesses, but must rejoice in them, even more than in a state of spiritual calm, ease, and bodily health, for the spiritual condition of the man who is not subjected to spiritual afflictions or bodily sicknesses must undoubtedly be bad, especially during an abundance of earthly blessings; his heart imperceptibly generates all kinds of sins and passions, and exposes him to spiritual death.

Remember that the Lord is in every Christian. When your neighbour comes to you, always have great respect for him, because the Lord is in him, and often expresses his will through him. “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”⁴¹ Therefore, do not grudge anything to your brother, but do unto him as unto the Lord; especially as you do not know in whom the Lord will come and visit you; be impartial to all, be kind to all, sincere and hospitable. Remember that sometimes God speaks even through unbelievers, or disposes their hearts towards us, as it happened in Egypt when the Lord gave Joseph favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.⁴²

My heart finds its peace in the highest, in spiritual things and not in earthly and material ones. Grant, Lord, that I may ever meditate on the highest, and entirely renounce earthly wisdom. My trust is in Thy goodness! “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.”⁴³

As the word of the man reveals what is in his mind and heart (reveals the mind — unseen, dominating, and creating), and as the breath proceeds from the man through the word, revealing the mind or the thought, so, somewhat similarly, the Word of God reveals to us the Father — that great all-creating Mind — and, through the Word, the Holy Ghost, the life-giving Spirit, Which is the power of the Highest, eternally proceeds from the Father and is revealed to men. “The power of the Highest shall overshadow Thee.”⁴⁴ Now the words of the Saviour are comprehensible: “No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.”⁴⁵ That is, only the Son reveals the Father unto men, as our word reveals our thought hidden in the soul. Such is the closeness of the union between the Father and the Son! And every Person has Its particular dominion and Its own, so to say, work. And, therefore, the Lord said to his disciples: “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send Him unto you.”⁴⁶ Glory to Thee, Son of God, Who hath revealed unto us the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost! Thy Word is truth; we live by all and each separate word of Thine. They are our sweetness, peace, and life; especially the words concerning the Comforter.

Strengthen yourself by the undoubting invocation of the Holy Ghost the Comforter. He is well known to you. You so often invoke Him upon the Holy Gifts, and He, at your prayer, unfailingly and continually transubstantiates them, and you yourself partake again and again of the fruits of His divine acts.

You must preserve with the greatest care in your frail vessel, in your heart, the treasure of the Spirit, “the rivers of living water in your belly”;⁴⁷ you must watch your heart, must be kind, and refrain from irritability and movements of self-love, from attachments to earthly things, and from impure risings of the flesh; otherwise, the priceless treasure of the Spirit will immediately leave you, peace and joy will vanish from your heart together with that feeling of the extraordinary, angelic, spiritual lightness of the soul, soaring free; the rivers of living water, which only until then flowed and abundantly supplied the furrows of the soul, will also vanish, the soul will be filled with a strange fire, cruelly burning it within, depriving it of peace and joy, filling it with affliction and oppression, and inciting it to irritability and blasphemy. So manifest, so sharply defined is the change within us of the kingdom of God into the kingdom of the enemy, the kingdom of life into the kingdom of death! The Christian sees this with his inward eyes, and marvels at the truth and holiness of God; marvels also at the watchfulness of the enemy, who ever, “as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.”⁴⁸

God the Father is — life, God the Son is — life, God the Holy Ghost is— life: The Holy Trinity is — life. Life is in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; if you deny in your heart the Father, you deny the life of your heart; if you deny the Son, you deny your life; if you deny the Holy Ghost, you also deny your life. So that your doubt will bring spiritual death into your heart, sorrow and painful oppression, whilst God will remain the God of life in three Persons; if you cast away doubt from your heart, and acknowledge with your whole heart all the Three Persons as your God, as your life, then life will again enter into your heart.

Whilst reading or listening to sacred works, honour heartily in those who wrote them the image of God the Word, or God the Word Himself, speaking through them. Remember always, whilst reading books of spiritual or worldly contents, that man is God’s image and that this image of God is in the thought, word, and spirit through which he speaks. Accustom yourself always to look upon every man with deep respect, as upon the image of God, but especially when he speaks, and above all when he speaks of God. Oh, how divine he is then! From being accustomed to men, from being acquainted with them, with their everyday life, from being accustomed to the gift of speech in ourselves and in others, we set little value upon this gift, we even sometimes despise it in others; and thus the devil, through our self-love and inattention, blasphemes the image of God in men. We must by every means humble our hearts and subdue our proud intellect, lest we should be like the contemporaries of the prophets, who looked on them only as sweet-voiced singers, and nothing more; they did not wish to fulfil their commands, they even despised, persecuted, beat, and killed them; lest we should be like those, by whom “no prophet is accepted in his own country.”⁴⁹ However insignificant and unimportant the man may be, honour in him the image of God, especially when he speaks with love, and, above all, when he speaks of and does the works of love.

Let us suppose that you have written a book about the Holy Trinity, and have printed a thousand copies of it, or, perhaps, as many as you liked. And in all these copies of your book there is not only the same spirit, but also the same words, and they all have the same form. It is thus with the offering of the Body of Christ. It is offered throughout the universe in an innumerable multitude of churches. The same Trinity acts on all Christian altars; in every lamb⁵⁰ there is the one same Christ and His Spirit, as the contents are in the book. Everywhere the offering has the one same form, and thus this most holy mystery is like a single great sacred book of the Lord’s love to mankind, prepared in innumerable quantities throughout the universe under the one same form and with the one same spirit living in it, in Whom love abounds, and Who took upon Himself the sins of the world — that is, the Spirit of Christ. Here is another similarity. There are multitudes of individual human beings upon the earth; they all have the same bodily shape, the same soul, with similar, though not identical, capabilities; and all these beings have one name — that of man. All men are similar to each other, and have sprung from the same origin, primarily from God the Father, the Son, and His Spirit, and afterwards from one pair. This is why, amongst other things, God’s law commands us to love everyone as ourself, because of the identity of our nature. Thus, you see many persons, and they are one by the identity of the nature of their soul and body. Likewise the Lord, in His life-giving Mysteries — wherever they are offered —is eternally the sole, indivisible, Creator, “and hath made of one blood all nations of men.”⁵¹ Through His one Spirit, living in the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood, celebrated in all the churches of the world, He wishes to unite us to Himself — we who have fallen from union with Him through sin and obedience to the Devil —and to cut off and cleanse that which in all of us prevents union with Him and with each other, “that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us.”⁵² Such is the object of the mystery of the Communion.

Why is it wonderful that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and that Christ rests in them as the soul rests in the body? Why is it wonderful when the Devil nestles in a tiny germ (in the heart) of the infant, and grows stronger with the growth of the body, so that afterwards the infant is born with the Devil already concealed and nestling in its heart? O, what infinite goodness and wisdom the Lord has shown by giving us the most pure Mysteries of His Body and Blood, and by the fact that they are received by Christians into their very hearts — that is, there where the Devil nestles, having the power of sin and “the power of death”⁵³ — as a perfect antidote to bestow upon us life and holiness, and to drive away sin and death! Just as undoubtedly as the Devil and every sin often nestles in our hearts, so undoubtedly does Christ, the life-giver, our sanctification, dwell in our hearts. Our Lord is mightier than the Devil. If the Devil still lives and works in our hearts through our attachments to earthly things, then how shall not Christ enter into our heart, through faith and repentance, when it was created to be the temple of God? How shall not Christ enter into our heart precisely in His Blood and Flesh, corresponding with our spirituality and our fleshliness? Also, if the Devil can give life and speech to the image of the beast,⁵⁴ then cannot Christ dwell in the bread and wine, transforming them, and completely assimilating them to Himself as His Flesh and Blood?

A burning-glass only sets fire to wood, paper, or any other combustible material when we place it in such a position that the rays of the sun, concentrated in the focus of the glass, being all concentrated upon one point of the object, will act upon it through their entire combined power, and thus direct on the object, as it were, the whole sun on a small scale. It is thus also during prayer, when our souls are warmed, vivified, and inflamed by the wise sun — God, when through our intellect, acting like the burning-glass, we direct upon our heart, as the spiritual point of our being, the mental Sun, and when it acts upon the heart with all its singleness and power. Likewise in regard to the Mother of God, the angels, and the saints. Fix upon your heart their images as they are, with all their power and sanctity; let your heart receive enlightenment from them with all possible fulness and power, and become inflamed by the abundance of their love as by the action of fire — their holiness, purity, goodness, and strength will be communicated to your heart; it will itself be cleansed, itself be strengthened in faith and love; and the more resolutely, the more constantly, your heart is turned towards God and His saints the more it will be enlightened, purified, and vivified.

If you invoke any saint doubting that he is near you and hears you, and your heart is oppressed and contracted, conquer yourself, or, rather, overcome, with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, the calumniator (the Devil) nestling in your heart; call upon the saint with the hearty assurance that he is near you in the Holy Ghost and hears your prayer, and you will at once feel relieved. Oppression and weariness of heart during prayer proceed from want of sincerity, from the deceitfulness and craftiness of our heart, in the same manner as when, during ordinary conversation with other people, we feel inwardly ill at ease if we do not speak to them from the heart, but untruthfully, insincerely. “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”⁵⁵ Be true in heart always and everywhere, and you will always and everywhere have peace, but especially be true in your converse with God and the saints, “because the spirit is truth.”⁵⁶

When praying, we must pronounce each word from the heart with the same power that is contained in each one of them, just as medicines are usually taken with a curative power corresponding to each of them, and bestowed upon them by the Creator. If we leave out the power or the essence of the medicine then it will not take effect, but will only set our teeth on edge; likewise, if during prayer we pronounce the words, disregarding their power, without feeling in our heart their truth, we shall not derive any benefit from the prayer, because true, fruitful prayer must be in spirit and in truth. The words of the prayer correspond to the component parts and the different ingredients of the medicine, each of them having its own power and forming together a curative dose for the body. In the same way as chemists preserve the power of the aromatic medicinal ingredients, keeping them firmly stoppered in glass or other vessels, so we must firmly preserve the power of each word in our heart as in a vessel, and not pronounce it otherwise than with a power corresponding to it.

When praying, we must represent to ourselves the whole of creation as nothing before God, and God alone as everything, containing everything as a drop of water, existing, moving in everything, and vivifying everything.

Prayer is a golden link connecting the Christian man, the wanderer and the stranger upon earth, with the spiritual world of which he is a member, and, above all, with God the Source of life. The soul came forth from God, and to God may it ever ascend through prayer. There is great benefit from prayer to those who pray: it gives rest to the soul and the body; it gives rest not only to the soul of him who prays (“I will give you rest”)⁵⁷ but also to the souls of our departed forefathers, to our fathers and brothers. See how important prayer is!

As smoke from burning wood ascends in the air, so also the soul ascends from the body given over to the burning of corruption.

Conscience in men is nothing else but the voice of the omnipresent God moving in the hearts of men, as He Who alone Is and has created everything, the Lord, knows all as Himself — all the thoughts, desires, intentions, words, and works of men, present, past, and future. However far in front I may let my thoughts, my imagination run, He is there before me and I ever inevitably finish my course in Him, ever having Him as the witness of my ways. “His eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men.”⁵⁸ “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?”⁵⁹

Here before us is a living man. His eyes are fixed upon us, his ears are open to hear; his soul and body are before us, but we see the body and not the soul: we do not see his thoughts, his desires, his intentions, although there is not an instant during which his soul does not think and live in a corresponding manner. So also before us, around us, and within us is visible nature, all God’s beautiful world; in it we see everywhere life, harmonious order, action, but we do not see the Author of life and order, we do not see the Great Architect Himself, although meanwhile he is present at every moment in every place, as the soul in the body, though He is not limited by it; there is not a fraction of a moment during which He, as the All-perfect, Most-wise, All-merciful, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Almighty Spirit, does not think, does not shower benefits and wisdom upon His creatures. There is not a fraction of a moment during which He does not apply His wisdom and omnipotence, for God is a Self-acting Being, infinitely productive. Thus you look upon the world, but look upon it and observe everywhere in it its Author — God, everywhere present in it, filling everything, moving in everything, and ordering everything.

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