“An ascetic is one who moves towards God” / Monastic Bulletin

“An ascetic is one who moves towards God”

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

On June 9, 2021, on the holiday of the 350th anniversary of the discovery of the relics of St. Neil of Stolobensky, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited the monastery of the Nilo-Stolobensky Monastery of the Tver Metropolis. At the end of the Liturgy, the Primate of the Russian Church addressed those gathered in the Epiphany Cathedral with a word.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

I heartily congratulate all of you, dear bishops, fathers, brothers and sisters, mother abbess, all those who arrived here today as pilgrims on a special event in the life of our Church, the Tver Metropolis and this holy monastery. 350 years have passed since the glorification of the holy Venerable Nile of Stolobensky, and all these three and a half centuries the name of the holy ascetic has been carefully preserved not only on the Tver land, but throughout our entire Church.

We know that people usually associate historical memory with those who committed certain important acts that entailed significant consequences for the life of a country, city or region. But Saint Neil of Stolobensky did not do anything in his entire life that, from a secular or state point of view, would be a feat that would entail radical changes for the better in the lives of people, and especially the entire country. What did the Monk Neil do? He arrived on this deserted island and settled here completely alone, digging himself a dugout, having neither a roof over his head nor food. It is not even known how he made fire - he had nothing.

When today someone commits extreme acts in the field of sports or tourism, everyone is amazed: “How is this possible? This is beyond human strength!” But no achievements in extreme sports can even come close to what Reverend Neil accomplished. He lived here for many years, without food, fire, or real shelter - and this in our climate! What did he eat? Some say that these were roots, bark, nuts, mushrooms. But let's imagine that one of us remains in complete solitude throughout the year, without any food. It is impossible to imagine such a person surviving. And Reverend Neil not only survived - he lived life to the fullest here. And the question arises: how to characterize the life of Neil Stolobensky? In just one word: feat. He is an ascetic.

An amazing Russian word is “feat”. Its root is the same as the word “movement”. An ascetic is one who moves. However, no one today would call ascetics those who move around the planet using modern means of transport. There is no feat in such a movement. What kind of movement are we talking about in relation to those who have spent their entire lives in one place, in solitude, without sufficient food, without the support of other people? What kind of feat do we mean?

We often say about people who move intensely and dynamically through life: “What a dynamic person!” This is not entirely correct, since “dynamic” means “strong,” but we use this word to denote an active person, capable of actively moving through life and achieving his goals. We say: “What a dynamic leader! What a dynamic person! How much he manages to do! How quickly he moves through life, and with what success!” Is there a difference in the meaning of the ancient word “ascetic”, from the word “to move”, and the modern concept of “dynamic person”? There is, and the answer to the question of what the difference is is vital for each of us.

Someone who moves to achieve vital, material goals is said to be a “dynamic person,” but it is unlikely that they will say about him that he is an ascetic. We are not talking about a feat when a person moves in space, moves up the career ladder, or moves from strength to strength and from power to power. We never say about such people that they are ascetics. We use this word to call people who in their lives move towards the true goal of existence. An ascetic is one who moves towards God. And it is not at all necessary to move in space - you can live alone on one island for decades, but still be an ascetic, striving for the highest goal of human existence. And if modern people, dynamic and purposeful, set other goals, then they are fussing in vain. For God's court these goals are nothing. Whether a person achieves them or does not achieve them does not matter to God. What matters to God is the achievement of only the goal toward which the Monk Neil of Stolobensky and a host of genuine ascetics strove, who not only strived for the only correct goal of existence, but also achieved it.

Maybe someone, listening to these words, will say: “So, should we all sit alone on the islands, eat mushrooms, bark, and nuts?” I don’t call for this, because none of us are capable of living like this. I do not urge anyone to refuse to achieve human goals, especially those who are endowed with certain abilities, including the ability to lead people. It would be a sin to refuse the calling. But how important it is that the true purpose of life is not obscured by momentary goals determined by the framework of our limited earthly world! And if a person combines his dynamism and ability to achieve life goals with asceticism, the ability to achieve a single godly goal, then we can say that we have before us a man of genius. Such people are glorified today both by the Church and even by those who are far from the Church.

I can give examples of such people, and first of all, perhaps, the holy blessed Alexander Nevsky, who combined the goal of organizing the earthly life of the Fatherland with the eternal goal of getting closer to God and the spiritual enlightenment of our people. And today our prayer should be that modern people do not lose orientation on the path of life, do not lose the vision of true immutable goals, so that the dynamism of material, visible life does not deprive us of the opportunity to be ascetics of the spirit. Then we, connecting the divine and human, vertical and horizontal, will have an immutable coordinate system and will be able to move along the only correct path in life towards eternal happiness, which is given to us by the Almighty Creator of the world through communication with Him. Amen.

June 10, 2021 Source: Patriarchia.ru

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Who are Orthodox saints and ascetics?

For obvious reasons, the life of Orthodox devotees of piety arouses interest not only among believers, but also among those who are simply interested in church history. Who were they, what were they famous for, why did they choose this particular path in life? For this reason, the Lives of Saints is one of the most popular Orthodox books. Particularly prominent in it is the category of Orthodox saints. The name “saint” evokes an association with the words “light”, “enlightenment”, and such associations come to mind for a reason: after all, Orthodox saints are bishops (bishops, archbishops, metropolitans, patriarchs), canonized by the church not only for their righteous and a godly life, but also for active missionary work in the territories where they were appointed shepherds.

Missionary feat of Orthodox devotees of piety

From time immemorial, being elevated to the high rank of bishop meant not only a high honor, but also a huge responsibility. From the first centuries of Christianity, bishops appointed by the apostles were not only the heads of local churches, but also Orthodox missionaries. Spreading the new faith among the pagans was not just difficult - it was life-threatening. If you read the history of the Christian Church at the time of its inception, it turns out that many Orthodox saints were killed or brutally tortured by crowds of angry pagans, whose idols were brought down from their pedestals before their eyes. Bishops who accepted death for their faith are usually called holy martyrs, and such in the church include Pope Clement, who lived even before the division of churches, Kuksha Pechersky, who enlightened the pagan Slavs and was killed by them, Metropolitan Macarius of Kiev, who accepted death from the Tatars, and other Orthodox Christians saints.

Three Orthodox saints ascetics of piety

Since the main activity of Orthodox saints was education, many of them became famous precisely for their scientific contribution to the Christian Church.

The most famous Orthodox ascetics, whose theological and liturgical works are relevant to this day, are Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian. They are united by their enormous contribution to the development of Orthodox dogmatic theology, liturgics, and worship. Recognizing the merits of these three Orthodox missionaries separately, the church celebrates their memory on one day - February 12.

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