- Geronda, what helps to acquire virtue?
— Communication with a person who has this virtue. If you associate with a person who has reverence, then gradually you can also acquire reverence. This happens with any virtue, because the virtue of our neighbor fills us with fragrance too. When we look at the virtues of other people, like in a mirror, and try to imitate them, we create ourselves. But looking into the mirror of their shortcomings, we also benefit, because other people's shortcomings help us see our own.
The virtue of another encourages me to strive to imitate it, and the lack of a brother makes me wonder whether I have the same deficiency, and if so, then to what extent.
I need all this in order to try to get rid of this shortcoming. For example, I see how hardworking my brother is, I rejoice at this and try to imitate him. And in the other brother I see the vice of curiosity. I don’t blame my brother, but I look carefully at myself: am I also curious? And if I see that I’m sick, I’ll try to get rid of it.
Venerable Paisius of the Svyatogorets: “The virtue of another prompts me to strive to imitate it, and the lack of a brother makes me wonder if I also have the same lack, and if so, to what extent.”
However, if in myself I see only virtues, and in others only shortcomings, and at the same time I do not pay attention to my shortcomings or even justify them, joyfully saying: “But I am better than everyone: both this, and that, and the fifth, and on the tenth..." - then my affairs are completely bad. We look at other people like in a mirror - we are reflected in them and see ourselves. But those in whom we are reflected see what unwashed chimney sweeps we are. And their ridicule and remarks wash away the dirt from our faces.
— Geronda, what are the distinctive properties of saints? —Love with humility, simplicity and reasoning—these are the distinctive qualities of the saints. If a person with reasoning forces himself to imitate the life of the saints, then he himself will acquire holiness.
The example of the saints as a guide will greatly help us in acquiring virtues. Comparing ourselves with the saints, we see our passions, condemn ourselves, humble ourselves and, with curiosity and divine jealousy, try to imitate them.
We have no excuse if we mark time, because before our eyes we have the spiritual recipes compiled by the saints, their lives, their holy example. All saints are children of God, and they help us, the unfortunate children of God, by suggesting ways to avoid the tricks of the evil one.
Venerable Paisius the Svyatogorets: “The example of the saints as a guide will greatly help us in acquiring virtues. Comparing ourselves with the saints, we see our passions, condemn ourselves, humble ourselves, and with curiosity and divine zeal we try to imitate them.”
Careful reading of the lives of the saints warms the soul, encourages us to follow their example and courageously continue the struggle to acquire virtues. In the lives of each of the saints one can see the same spiritual “madness”, only in each it manifested itself differently, in its own special way. One can see the fiery zeal with which they burned for God. From such reading, the fire of divine jealousy and the desire to imitate them ignite in a person.
—Geronda, for many years now every day I have been reading the life of the saint, “whose memory we now commemorate,” I have almost learned everything by heart. Maybe it's time to stop?
—You must constantly read these lives, until your death. The life describes very little, not the entire life of the saint, but only what overflowed the cup of his life. The saints would be crazy if they revealed everything they experienced in secret. But the little that is described is enough for us, as long as this little touches our heart and moves us to apply it in our own lives.
—Geronda, it seems to me difficult to accomplish something similar to what the saints did. Let's say Saint Syncletikia. What a difficult feat she carried out until the end of her life, although she suffered from a serious illness! Or the Monk Barsanuphius - for how many years he remained completely silent!
-Okay, if you want to imitate St. Barsanuphius, try not always to remain silent, but at least to remain silent when they reprimand you. As for the feat of Saint Synclitia, it also seems to me that you don’t have enough physical strength to repeat it—you won’t be able to stand it. But internally, I think you can imitate her, and here you have a lot of work to do. I wish that the saint would share with you at least a little of what she herself had.
Section one. Passions
“The struggle with passions is an unceasing sweet martyrdom for the sake of keeping the commandments, for the sake of love for Christ.”
About the fight against passions
Geronda[2], what exactly did the prophet David ask for when he prayed: Strengthen me with the Master’s Spirit
[3]?
– David needed to lead people, and so he asked God for the gift of leadership. But in the Master's Spirit
It was not only a prophet who was needed. Every person needs Him. After all, any person needs to control himself, otherwise passions will rule him.
- Geronda, what is passion anyway?
– I regard passions as powers of the human soul. After all, God does not endow a person with weaknesses, but with strengths[4]. However, if we do not use these powers for good, the tangalashka[5] comes and uses them for evil. This is how the initially good forces of the human soul turn into passions. And then we begin to grumble and blame God. Whereas if we use these forces, turning them against evil, then they will help us in the spiritual struggle. Take, for example, the power of anger[6]: if a person is hot-tempered or even quick-tempered, this shows that his soul is courageous. Such courage helps in spiritual life. If a person is lethargic and indecisive, if he does not have courage, then it is not easy for him to fight with himself. But a decisive person, capable of strong movements of the soul, applying the strength he has to spiritual life, is like a powerful car that tears away from a traffic light, leaving other cars far behind. However, by misusing one’s ability for strong movements of the soul and leaving one’s anger uncontrolled, a person is likened to a car that rushes at an exorbitant speed along a broken road: every now and then it is carried to the side of the road or even flies into a ditch.
Having realized and given himself an account of what spiritual powers he has, a person must direct them for good. Thus, with God’s help, he will achieve a good spiritual dispensation. For example, if someone sees selfishness and egoism in himself, then he must turn them against the devil. When the devil comes and begins his temptations, a person inclined to selfishness must resist and stand his ground. Do you have a tendency towards idle talk and chatter? It can also be sanctified by cultivating unceasing prayer[7]. Judge for yourself what is better: to talk with Christ and be sanctified, or to talk idle talk and sin? So, in accordance with how a person uses the powers of the soul, he can become either good or bad.
No need to justify your passions
– Geronda, some believe that they do not have the necessary prerequisites to lead a spiritual life. “Try to take from someone who has nothing!” [8] - such people say.
– Yeah... And if at the same time they also lament that they are “tormented by hereditary passions” and justify themselves, then this is absolutely no good.
- Geronda, but what if such hereditary passions really torment someone?
- Listen, everyone has hereditary qualities - both good and bad. A person needs to enter into a struggle in order to get rid of his shortcomings and cultivate the good that is in him. By doing this, a person will become a true, blessed image of God.
Bad hereditary qualities are not an obstacle to spiritual success. After all, if a person strives - at least a little, but with a lot of curiosity [9] - then he moves in spiritual space, moves in the space of a miracle - where the grace of God leaves no trace of his bad heredity.
God is especially tender and reverent towards a person who has inherited bad inclinations, due to which his spiritual wings are completely frail. And so, in spite of everything, this runt is waving them with all his might, curiously trying to get off the ground and rise to the Sky. God helps such people a lot. I know many people who have freed themselves from bad hereditary tendencies by making their own little efforts and receiving God’s great help. For God, such people are real heroes. After all, what bends God to mercy? Our work is to correct our old man.
- Geronda, what about Baptism? Doesn't it cleanse a person from bad hereditary tendencies?
– Baptism frees us from the curse of original sin, as well as from all personal sins. In the font of Holy Baptism, a person puts on Christ, is freed from original sin, and Divine grace comes to him. However, bad hereditary tendencies remain in a person. Do you think that God could not free a person from these inclinations in the sacrament of Holy Baptism? Of course, he could, but He leaves them to us so that we can achieve the feat, gain victory and be crowned with a victorious crown.
“And I, Geronda, constantly falling into some kind of passion, say to myself: “That’s the way I was born, that’s the kind of person I am...”
– This was not enough yet! Tell me another fairy tale about how your parents gave you the shortcomings you have. What happens: all the shortcomings of your family were passed down from your grandfathers and great-grandfathers in order to concentrate in you alone, and all the positive qualities went to your other relatives?.. Listen, wasn’t God to blame for this? After all, a person who laments: “I have such a character, I was born that way, I have bad hereditary inclinations, I grew up in such and such conditions, and from all this it follows that I cannot improve,” in other words says: “In everything “What’s happening to me is not only my mom and dad’s fault, but also the Lord God’s.” Do you know how upset I get when I hear such nonsense? After all, by speaking or thinking in this way, a person not only insults his parents, but also blasphemes. From the moment a person begins to think in this way, Divine grace ceases to act on him.
– Geronda, some say that if a person has a deficiency “in his blood,” then it cannot be corrected.
– Do you know what’s the matter? It is beneficial for some people to claim that some shortcoming is “in their blood,” because in this way they justify themselves and do not lift a finger to get rid of this shortcoming. “God did not endow me with talents,” such people say! So what is my fault? Why do they demand from me something that is beyond my strength? They will say this - and let yourself lie on your side! Such people justify themselves, calm their thoughts and stubbornly stand their ground, not wanting to change anything. After all, how can you correct yourself if, justifying yourself, you say: “This is hereditary, and this is just a bad feature of my character”? This attitude towards one's own shortcomings drives out spiritual determination and courage.
- Yes, Geronda, but so...
– Again, this is your “but that’s how it is”! What kind of person are you? You twist, twist, as if in a frying pan! You always come up with excuses for yourself!
- Geronda, did I do it on purpose?..
- I’m not saying that you do it on purpose, but to be an intelligent person, with talents from God, to grab everything on the fly - and at the same time not understand how disgusting self-justification is?.. The head is small, there is a lot of intelligence in it, but understanding is still nothing Do not understand!..
I have noticed that some people, smart and able to distinguish right from wrong, still side with the latter, because it is easier and more comfortable for them to accept the wrong. This is how they justify their passions. And others, on the contrary, do not justify themselves, but accept the thought that there is something incorrigible in their soul, and fall into despair. These are the tricks of the devil: he prevents some from succeeding spiritually with the help of self-justification, while he catches others in excessive receptivity and plunges them into despair.
In order to cut off some passion, a person must not justify, but humble himself. If he, for example, says: “Someone has been given the ability to love, but I have not,” and does not fight to acquire love, then how can he succeed? It is impossible to succeed without struggle. Haven’t you read in the patristic books about what vices and shortcomings some of the fathers had in the beginning and what measure of spiritual dispensation they achieved? The fathers, who were once sinners, surpassed other ascetics who initially had many virtues. For example, Reverend Abba Moses Murin. What a criminal he was before, and what a state he has reached![10] This is what Divine grace does to a person!
My thoughts tell me that a person who has bad hereditary inclinations and strives to acquire virtues will have a greater reward from God than the one who, having inherited virtues from his parents, did not shed sweat to acquire them. After all, one came with everything ready, and the other had to shed sweat and blood to acquire them. Look, among worldly people, the greatest respect is not for those sons who, having inherited a large fortune from their parents, simply managed to preserve it, but for those who, having accepted only their father’s debts, worked tirelessly and managed not only to pay off creditors, but also to collect your own wealth.
