My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
CONVERSATION WITH A NOBLE
[Source: "Stories, Sermons, and Prayers of Saint Nephon: An Ascetic Bishop," pp. 122-125)
One day when blessed Nephon was resting in his cell, a noble came and said to him:
--I came, Father, to profit some by your holiness. For my soul is grieved with a thought whose origin I do not know.
--Satan has deceived you, the Saint answered him. He told you are not going to receive any reward from God for all the children you have baptized. But, indeed, whoever baptizes children is blessed. The Lord says in the Gospels, "He who receives you receives Me" (St. Matthew 10:40), and, "He took a child and put him by His side, and said to them, Whoever receives this child in My name, receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives Him Who sent Me" (St. Luke 9:47-48).
--Who then is more blessed than you, who through children receive Christ, and through Christ His Father? Go, my son, and do good as you have up to now. Your work is pleasing to God. Know that all the children you have received from the baptismal font, at the Second Coming will walk before your soul to the gate of Heaven. That will be a great glory for you and great disgrace for the evil spirits in the air. Angels holding candles equal in number to the children you have baptized will direct you to the Throne of God, and from there to the place of your rest. They will honor you, in other words, in the same way you also received and honored Christ in the person of these children. The baptismal font is like another Virgin who holds Christ in her arms. Then, you become like Simeon who will receive the Divine Babe in the person of the newly illumined babies.
The man stood with his mouth open before the gift of the discerning insight of the Saint; before he could repeat his thought, the Saint had revealed it to him. When the first shock passed, the stranger again said to the Saint:
--Please, Father, since you know all my inner world, tell me where the unpleasant thought originated. Did it come from me, or from somewhere else?
--It was born of the devil, my son, the Saint answered, for he wanted to distort your right thinking. But you were right in revealing it before it penetrated your heart and became difficult to uproot. Because, to be sure, man has good thoughts, but also depraved ones. Therefore, if he examines his thoughts which go in and out of his mind, he can separate what the enemy sows and send it away.
--However, if man's mind is dimmed by the cares and pleasures of life, then he will incline towards evil, for he will not distinguish the stone from the bread. Such a man never understands what his deeds are, nor does he know whether he does good or evil. The devil clouds his mind, so that he cannot distinguish between the sweet and the bitter, but mixes absinthe and honey. Who can eat such a concoction?
Then the visitor wondered:
--But if that is the way it is, Father, who can be saved?
--On our own, this is impossible, the righteous one answered. God, however, can do everything for our salvation. Many offer gifts and honors to the earthly king, and in this way they get what they want. Others again are helped by the kin; because he favors them, even if they do not offer him anything. It is the same with God: He glorifies some for their deeds, to others He is merciful because of their deep repentance, and He is compassionate to others because of the prayers of His Saints. Then, again, He tries some here, and in the other world He grants them eternal good, provided they endure the sorrows patiently.
--Tell me, Father, the stranger asked again, why is it that even though some waste their bodies with abstinence, nevertheless they are seized by passions? For example, anger, enmity, resentment, envy, and worst of all, cruelty and miserliness? Conversely, there are many virtuous who both eat everything and drink wine, and nonetheless you cannot find even a trace of sin in them. How does this happen?
--As it seems to me, the Saint said, all who fast a lot and do not improve at all, are not going to improve because of their tongue. For whoever does not have a stopper for his mouth, even if he fasts all year, he will profit nothing. Does the devil incite you to anger? Do not speak at all and you control the passion. Or does he urge you to envy? Do not judge and you will beat the evil one because, naturally, judgment is the fruit of envy. If again the malicious one incites the Christian to immorality, let him not open his mouth to speak to a woman nor to eat or drink a lot, and surely he will turn him to flight. Let him also take a small stick to hit himself, and the pain will chase away the warfare. It is in your interest to lose one of your members and not have your whole body thrown into the Gehenna of fire.
--If someone insults you or harms you in a similar way, remember that sinful people spat on Christ, the Son of God, mocked Him, and hit Him with a reed. Then think that you are unworthy even to live. Therefore, ignore him who insults you.
--If someone poor asks you for something he needs from the perishable goods of the world, do not be too stingy to give it to him, so that you may not be denied the immortal and eternal goods which "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived" (1 Corinthians 1:9).
--If the treacherous enemy brings you vainglory, conceit, arrogance, glance at the older generations and see: did any arrogant people ever prosper? All of them had God as an enemy and were thoroughly crushed. It says: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Prov. 3:34; St. James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). And elsewhere: "All my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your path" (Isaiah 3:12). And elsewhere: "I have seen the ungodly man highly exalted and lifting himself up like the cedars of Lebanon. But I passed by, and lo, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not to be found" (Psalm 36:35-36). Whisper these words unceasingly to your soul and you will remain humble.
--If the "wild boar" (Psalm 79:13) opens your appetite for sumptuous food, go to the bathroom and smell their stench. As for the virtuous who eat everything and drink wine, be very careful, my son, they are brave soldiers. They trampled on the passions and sins, and now are masters of themselves, because they received the gift of dispassion. You must know that the gifts of God are stable. For this reason those who have them, even if they eat and drink, they do everything without passion. For, having first exercised self-control and discretion, they are now clothed with the armor of God and there is no one anymore who can defeat them.
--Fasting is a great weapon of the soul, but it needs unceasing prayer, quiet and silence. And all these require meditation: "If Thy Law had not been my meditation, then should I have perished in my humiliation" (Psalm 118:92). Go therefore, my son, and struggle to receive the gift of dispassion with continence. Then, whether you eat or drink, you will be free from passions. In addition, know that the Saints do this only in front of others, while when they are by themselves, they carry out the rules of piety. And so in their cells they make up the fast they broke in front of people...(Orthodox Heritage).
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George