Complain to God
“Wherever you turn, wherever you look, God is everywhere: in heaven, on earth, in the abysses, in trees, in stones, in your mind, in your heart.
And if God is there all the time, why do you worry? “In Him we live, we move” (Acts 17:28). He carries us in His arms. We breathe in God, we dress in God, we touch God, we taste God in the sacrament. And doesn’t He see that you are suffering, that you are tormented? Complain to Him, and you will see consolation, you will see healing that will heal not only your body, but, to a greater extent, the passions of your soul.”
Venerable Joseph the Hesychast
Health is like a sea wave
“Bodily infirmities serve the many and varied purposes of God’s ineffable love. Here it is appropriate to recall the primitive popular opinion that illness is God’s punishment for sins, and health is a reward for virtues.
But in reality it may be quite the opposite. Thus, very many saints are burdened with many bodily ailments, and many people who live in sin and are far from repentance never get sick.
Of course, no one denies that a soul broken by sinful passions is fertile soil for the development of bodily ailments, and vice versa; a peaceful soul turned to goodness creates what is necessary both for its own healing and for bodily health.
Nevertheless, the health of each person, which, like a sea wave, comes and goes, serves the pedagogical purposes of God, hidden from us, but revealed to His saints.”
Saint Gregory the Theologian
And now I must talk about what sympathy for my own flesh and my own weakness prompts me to do when looking at the suffering of others; I must tell you, brethren, that we are obliged to take care of the body, this relative and co-servant of the soul (for although I blamed him as an enemy for what I suffer from him, but I love him as a friend, for the sake of Him, Who united me with him), and, moreover, to take care of the body of our neighbors no less, as each of us does about our own, whether we ourselves remain healthy or are exhausted by the same illness. For we are one in the Lord (see Gal 3:28 ), whether one is rich or poor, whether one is slave or free, whether one is healthy or sick in body; everyone has one head - Christ, from whom is the whole body (Eph 4 :15-16), and as the members are one for another, so is each of us for each other, and all are for all (see 1 Cor 12 :12- 27). Therefore, there is no need to neglect and leave without care those who previously fell under the common weakness of all; on the contrary, we should not so much rejoice at the prosperous state of our body as weep over the bodily suffering of our brothers; We must consider humanity towards them to be the only guarantee of our physical and mental safety.
Gregory the Theologian urged his students and his flock not to disdain treatment and to take care of their health. The saint himself suffered from many illnesses throughout his life.
In 374, his brother, sister and elderly father died in succession. Gregory's mother outlived his father by just a few months. The grief from the loss of loved ones was so great that at the age of 46, Gregory the Theologian fell ill with a serious illness and was practically on the brink of the grave. Friends and associates came to say goodbye to him. But Gregory the Theologian, making every effort to recover, recovered.
Remaining weak and defeated, he left his native Nazianz and hid in a monastery. There he was met with another hard news - a close friend and like-minded person of Gregory, Vasily the Great, died. The saint was so weak that he could not even go to his friend’s funeral. Tired and dejected, he remained in solitude, dreaming here, in a distant monastery, of ending his earthly journey.
But he had to fulfill an important mission for which the Lord kept him - to become the Patriarch of Constantinople, the defender of Orthodoxy, the great preacher of the faith of Christ. Therefore, he again gathered all his will, took up treatment and made every possible effort to return to an active life.
Serving in Constantinople was fraught with such difficulties and spiritual achievements that the saint’s health again failed. Illnesses tormented Gregory so much that at some point he decided to renounce control of the Church of Constantinople and retire to his homeland in Nazianza. Exhausted by illness, he addressed the congregation with words of farewell, calling on believers to keep the faith and do good deeds. But the people, realizing that they were losing their beloved priest, were upset to such an extent that they began to scream and cry in the temple, begging Gregory to stay: “Father! When you leave us, you take with you the teaching about the Holy Trinity. Without you, there will be no right confession of the Holy Trinity in this city. Orthodoxy and piety will leave the city with you!..”
And once again Gregory pulled himself together and reconsidered his decision. The saint continued his service in Constantinople until the convening of the next council.
We see: he called on his flock to take care of their health and at the same time with his life he showed why: to serve his neighbor as long and as strongly as possible, to glorify God in word and deed.
Dreams of Elder Porfiry
Rev. Porfiry Kavsokalivit
“The monastery seemed to me like Paradise: services and confession would not stop around the clock. The confessors would replace each other: new ones would take over on duty and constantly provide assistance to the sick... This would be at any time of the day or night.
To have a telephone where sisters would be on duty day and night to console so many who despair of life due to various wounds. With their words, they would lead them to the great Comforter - Christ, so that their souls would be saved and filled with the heavenly light that Divine grace would give them.
And I would like to confess to the people who come. When some sick person comes, especially after temptations, I would confess to him. And then the sisters come and reverently sing a prayer service for him. Prayer changes everyone’s condition, performs miracles, that’s why I’m so looking for this and fervently wishing for it. This is what I want to do in the monastery.”
Saint Basil the Great
Those who themselves have acquired illness through a bad lifestyle must... use bodily healing as a way and example for caring for the soul. I suffer from illness and rejoice not because I can be a teacher of patience for others. For when I cannot do anything without suffering, I gain from suffering the fact that I endure it and give thanks both in joys and sorrows, being confident that everything that has happened and is happening to us in the Word is not without a reasonable reason, although it seems to us that there is no reason. Just as one should not completely shun the art of medicine, it is also incongruous to place all one’s hope in it. But just as we use the art of agriculture and ask the Lord for fruits, or entrust the helm to the helmsman and pray to God to save us from drowning, so when we bring in a doctor when our minds allow it, we will not give up our trust in God.
Saint Basil himself spoke in detail about his illnesses, of which there were many, in letters: “... it (illness) was inseparable from my early age until this old age, it grew together and teaches me according to the righteous judgment of God, who arranges everything. (...) But my body completely refused to serve, I can’t even bear the slightest movement without pain.”
At the same time, Basil the Great trusted doctors and constantly turned to them for help. For example, in response to the invitation of Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, to come to Syria to organize church affairs there, Vasily wrote: “What state do you think my soul came to when I received the letter of your piety? For, looking at the disposition expressed in the letter, I immediately rushed straight to fly to the Sirians: looking at the bodily weakness with which I was bound, I felt that I did not have the strength not only to fly, but also to turn around on my bed. “I was already spending the fiftieth day in illness when our beloved and most zealous brother, Sodeacon Elpidius, came to me. I was much exhausted by the fever, which, due to the lack of nutrients for it, wrapped itself around this dry flesh, like around a burnt lamp, producing dryness and a slow illness. And then, my old wound, having affected this liver, produced in me an aversion to food, took sleep away from my eyes, kept me between life and death, allowing me to live only to the extent of feeling the troubles of life. That’s why I used native warm waters and took some benefits from doctors...”
The saint’s desire to maintain his health was not caused by the desire to get rid of torment and enjoy earthly joys. Realizing that his path would always be fraught with grief and hard work, he nevertheless wanted to continue to serve the Church. And this required strength and common sense.
Forget about your weakness
“Do you know what to do when you are sick? You must ask God to forgive you your sins. And God, since you, being filled with suffering, will humbly turn to Him, will forgive your sins and heal your body.
But be careful: never pray with a second thought, do not say: “My God, forgive me my sins,” while your mind is entirely occupied with your bodily illness.
Such prayer will have no result. When you get up to pray, forget about your bodily weakness, accept it as a penance imposed for the remission of your sins. And don't worry about what happens next. Leave it to God, He knows what he’s doing.”
Saint John Chrysostom
“...as the greatest mercy, I ask you to take more care of curing the illness of your body. It is true that illness also produces despondency; but when the body has also suffered, and is completely weakened, and remains in great neglect, does not use either doctors, or the goodness of the air, or the abundance of necessary things, then realize that from here there is a considerable increase in danger. Therefore, I ask your honesty to use various experienced doctors and medicines that can eliminate this kind of disease. So, a few days before, […] using […] the medicine sent from my mistress, the most respectable Syncletia, we eliminated the disease, without finding the need to use it for more than three days. Therefore, I ask you to use it yourself, and […] try to beg my master, the most venerable Theophilus Comite, to prepare it again and send it to us...”
This is how the saint, exhausted by his long exile and wanderings, wrote to his also suffering spiritual sister Olympias.
Frail and weak by nature, in his youth John withdrew from the bustle of life, first for four years in a monastery, and from there for another two years in the desert, in a cave. In strict asceticism, living in a damp cave, the ascetic fell ill and never recovered from the acquired illness until the end of his life. He was constantly tormented by gastrointestinal pain and fever. Nevertheless, while healing others, healing bodies and souls, defending the foundations of faith, the great preacher himself was treated at every opportunity, turned to healers and did not lose heart.
He needed to support himself to continue in his difficult ministry. The numerous enemies and slanderers of John Chrysostom knew this very well. Wanting to interfere with his accusatory sermons and fight against injustice, they slandered the saint and sent him into exile, knowing full well that they were dooming him to death.
The saint’s path to the place of exile, in Lesser Armenia, was like torture: heat, constant insults and beatings from cruel guards who did not give rest and sleep, thirst and hunger... As soon as the saint managed to stop, find medicine and doctors to slightly reduce the suffering, he was driven further and further... However, he did not lose heart even in exile, being in a besieged Armenian fortress in the city of Kukuza, and wrote letters to his student Saint Olympias.
The 36-year-old deaconess Olympias was also in exile in Nicomedia. And she was also sick: a fever confined her to bed for six months. The woman’s faith was shaken by trials and experiences, it seemed that all her prayers were in vain, her soul was grieving. The Olympics increasingly called for death. And John Chrysostom shared his thoughts with his student, consoled her, and talked about his difficult life.
He often turned to the medical topic, but, of course, the struggle for health never overshadowed in his letters what it was for: “So you, although you remain at home and pinned to bed, do not think that you are leading an idle life, because that, having a constant and living executioner with you - this excessive disease, you endure suffering more severe than those when someone is dragged, tormented and tormented by executioners, and whoever suffers the most extreme disasters.
Sorrows, whatever they may be, are caused by people, and reflect the insignificance of those by whom they are caused; and gifts and rewards are given from God; therefore they are such as gifts natural to be given by ineffable generosity. So, rejoice and be merry, wearing a wreath, triumphant, trampling on the stings of your enemies more than other dirt.”
The Athonite elders agree: all diseases are caused by nerves!
“At the time when we surrender to Christ, then our spiritual body comes into a peaceful state, as a result of which all organs and glands begin to function naturally. They all depend on our structure. Then we recover, we stop suffering...
This also happens in the case of cancer: if we place our care on God, and our soul calms down, then Divine grace, coupled with this peace, can act in such a way that both the cancer and everything else go away. For example, stomach ulcers occur due to nervous anxiety. Where does the nervousness come from? From sins, from mental disorder, turbidity.
Because the sympathetic nervous system is under pressure, compressed, and suffering, an ulcer forms. One, two, three, compression, compression, again, again, stress one, stress - stress - stress, and - pop... - Ulcer! When there is confusion in our soul, it affects the body and health is undermined.”
Venerable Porfiry Kavsokalivit
Venerable Ambrose of Optina
According to the word of the patrists, those who benefit from treatment should be treated more humbly. But not receiving treatment at all does not constitute any virtue; it only shows the measure of faith. However, from many experiences it is noticeable to which of the monastics the disease will become attached, no matter how you treat yourself, you will not be cured at all: painful attacks remain, humbling and burdening the monk. And from all this it turns out that a sick monk can be treated, but all worldly worries about a complete recovery should be put aside...
It was illness that led seminarian of the Lipetsk Theological School Alexander Grenkov to monastic life. In his last year of study he became seriously ill. There was almost no hope for a cure. Alexander made a vow - if he recovered, he would go to a monastery. Recovered. But for another four years I could not decide to break with the world.
In 1845, Brother Alexander, tonsured into the mantle by Ambrose, went to Kaluga to be ordained as a hieromonk. It was very cold. Ambrose, exhausted by fasting, caught a severe cold, which caused complications in his internal organs. From then on, the old man could never truly recover. But he accepted this with humility, saying: “God does not require physical feats from the sick, but only patience with humility and gratitude.”
In 1846, after a new attack of illness, Ambrose was removed from the staff due to illness and declared incapable of obedience. Now he was listed as a dependent of the monastery as a disabled person and from then on he could not perform liturgies, he could barely move, he suffered from perspiration so much that he changed clothes and shoes several times a day. He couldn't stand the cold and drafts. He was treated, ate liquid, grated food, and ate very little. But he still remained in complete obedience to Elder Macarius and gave him an account of even the smallest things. He did a lot of translations and practiced the art of mental prayer, considering external sorrows (like illnesses) useful and soul-saving.
Elder Macarius loved Ambrose, but raised him strictly - he pacified his pride, tested his patience... When one day they stood up for Ambrose: “Father, he is a sick man!” - Elder Macarius replied: “Do I really know worse than you! But reprimands and remarks to a monk are brushes with which the sinful dust is erased from his soul, and without this the monk will rust.”
If they complained to Elder Ambrose about any offender, the elder would answer in a deplorable tone: “Brother, brother! I am a dying man." Or: “I’m going to die today or tomorrow. What will I do with this brother? After all, I am not the abbot. You need to reproach yourself, humble yourself before your brother, and you will calm down.”
At one point, when the saint’s life was in great danger due to illness, Elder Ambrose was tonsured into the schema. It turned out that the saint resisted his illnesses as best he could, but each new illness became a step in his spiritual ascent.
His day began at four in the morning with prayers. He ate the amount that is given to a three-year-old child. All day long, the cell attendants asked him questions on behalf of the visitors, and only sometimes, in order to somehow ease his busy head, the elder ordered himself to read one or two of Krylov’s fables. After which hard work resumed until late in the evening. He spoke more than twelve hours a day. From fatigue, the tongue sometimes refused to work, the voice turned into a whisper and the words came out with effort, barely able to be pronounced. At the same time, Ambrose tried to get up and talk in detail about what they came to him with.
Despite extreme weakness and illness, the Monk Ambrose always concluded his day with an evening prayer rule. By the evening of such a busy day, the cell attendants themselves - young and healthy - could barely stand on their feet. At times the elder lay almost unconscious.
The old man's condition kept getting worse. He said about himself: “Sometimes it presses me so hard that I think, this is the end!” However, the elder advised his spiritual children and petitioners who complained about the illnesses that had befallen them not to despair and to get treatment.
He was a man of colossal will and patience. In the book “The Lives of the Optina Elders” they write: “It is difficult to imagine how he could, being nailed to such a suffering cross, in complete exhaustion, receive crowds of people every day and answer dozens of letters. The words came true on it: “The power of God is made perfect in weakness.” If he had not been the chosen vessel of God, through whom God Himself spoke and acted, such a feat, such a gigantic work, could not have been accomplished by any human forces. Life-giving Divine grace was clearly present and assisting here.”
In 1998, the found relics of Hieroschemamonk Ambrose were examined by medical specialists and were amazed. Only judging by the state of the spine, curved in several places, with deformed vertebrae, every movement caused the saint unbearable pain. But there were still many internal diseases... But this man of God lived himself and exuded the light of hope to everyone around him.
His words, consolations, and advice relieved despondency, guided people, showed them a way out of a difficult situation: “You write that your health has weakened significantly and is weakening, so Mother Superior sends you to the doctor to consult about your ill health. Do not resist her in this; You can try and get treatment if treatment helps, just stick to your main thought - surrender to the will of God and pray to the Merciful Lord to arrange something useful for you, including the news of fate and as His goodness pleases.”
How to overcome unbearable pain
“If he is a worldly man, then with a worldly song, if he is a spiritual man, then with a spiritual song...
One day my father developed a high fever and a terrible headache. Do you know what he did? He ate some salted herring, drank a glass of wine and started singing: “Wake up, my unfortunate, powerless people.”
Then he sang a few more partisan songs, and his head went away! So - in order for the pain to dissipate - we will sing spiritual chants! I remember how I once caught a cold and began to have such a terrible headache that my head was splitting. Well, I started singing one very beautiful chant, and the headache went away. Indeed, psalmody along with the Jesus Prayer helps a lot in such cases...Do doctors have such pills?”
God “creates” neither disease nor disaster
“Invasions of locusts, wars, droughts, diseases are a scourge. And the point is not that God wants to raise a person in this way; no, these misfortunes are a consequence of man’s distance from God. All this happens because man is separated from God.
And the wrath of God comes - so that a person remembers God and asks for His help. It’s not that God arranged all this and gave commands for this or that misfortune to come to a person. No, but God, seeing to what extent the anger of people will reach and knowing that they will not change, allows misfortune to happen - for their admonition. But this does not mean that God “creates” diseases and disasters.”
“A little patience is the only thing we need. God gives illness so that a person will receive a small reward, and with the help of illness he eradicates his shortcomings. After all, physical illness heals spiritual illnesses. Physical illness humbles a person and thus weakens the illnesses of his soul.”
First, let's open the Old Testament:
Honor the doctor according to the need for him, for the Lord created him, and healing comes from the Most High, and he receives a gift from the king. The doctor's knowledge will raise his head, and he will be held in high esteem among nobles. The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a prudent person will not neglect them.
Was it not from the tree that the water was made sweet, that His power might be known? This is why He gave people knowledge, so that they would glorify Him in His wonderful deeds: with them He heals a person and destroys his illness. The one who prepares medicines makes a mixture from them, and his work does not end, and through him good comes on the face of the earth. My son! in your illness do not be careless, but pray to the Lord, and He will heal you. Leave your sinful life and straighten your hands, and cleanse your heart from all sin. Bring up the fragrance and from the seven-stone a memorial sacrifice and make a fat offering, as if already dying; and give a place to the doctor, for the Lord created him too, and let him not move away from you, for he is needed. At other times, success happens in their hands; for they also pray to the Lord that He will help them give the sick relief and healing to continue life. But whoever sins against Him who created him, let him fall into the hands of a doctor!
Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, 38:1–15
Now let us turn to the experience of the saints:
Food surrogates
“In what era were there so many sick people? People weren't like that in the old days. And now, no matter what letter I open that they send me, I am sure to encounter either cancer, or mental illness, or a stroke, or broken families.
Cancer used to be rare. After all, life was natural. We are not talking now about what God allowed. The man ate natural food and was in excellent health. Everything was clean: fruits, onions, tomatoes.
And now even natural food cripples a person. Those who eat only fruits and vegetables suffer even more harm because everything is contaminated. If it had been like this before, then I would have died at a young age, because as a monk I ate what the garden provided: leeks, marulas, ordinary onions, cabbage and the like, and I felt great.
And now - they fertilize, spray... Just think - what do today's people eat!.. Mental unrest, food substitutes - all this brings a person illness. By applying science without reasoning, people destroy themselves."
Venerable Paisiy Svyatogorets
