The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (3 of 5)

...continued from part two.

4. "The Imagination and the Ascetic Struggle Against Its Various Aspects"

The ascetic in his struggle for the purity of his inner world and its preservation is called to struggle against the imagination, which is an energy of the soul; however, when it operates in a paradoxical way and accepts influences from the outside world and from the devil it distorts the inner state of the ascetic.

"The world of the human will and imagination is the world of mirages. It is common to man and the fallen angels, and imagination is, therefore, often a conductor of demonic energy."

Thus, through imagination, demons work and distort the inner state of man.

The ascetic struggles against all forms of the imagination that distract him from God. There are especially four forms of the imagination.

Elder Sophrony of Essex and Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra Officially Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

On Wednesday 27 November 2019 the Ecumenical Patriarchate officially canonized Elder Sophrony of Essex and Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra, adding them to the list of saints, following a promise made by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during his visit to Mount Athos in October 2019.

For more about St. Sophrony:

Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex (+ 1993)

For more about St. Hieronymos:

Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra (1871-1957) - Part 1 of 3

Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra (1871-1957) - Part 2 of 3

Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra (1871-1957) - Part 3 of 3

Ecumenical Patriarch Announces the Canonization of Elder Sophrony of Essex

Today, 22 October 2019, shortly before his departure from Mount Athos, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announced that he will proceed with the canonization of Elder Sophrony of Essex (+ 1993), spiritual child of Saint Silouan the Athonite. He joins the list as the fifth revered 20th century Athonite Elder whose canonization was announced by Patriarch Bartholomew upon his visit to the Holy Mountain. The other four include: Hieronymos of Simonopetra (+ 1957), Daniel of Katounakia (+ 1929), Joseph the Hesychast (+ 1959) and Ephraim of Katounakia (+ 1998).

"On the Personalities of Contemporary Charismatic Elders" (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol)

Source

A Morning Prayer by Elder Sophrony of Essex

Elder Sophrony gave this prayer to his own spiritual children, to be said ‘on rising from sleep.’ This version of the prayer is adapted from Hesychia and Theology by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, who writes, "If someone reads this prayer in the morning with contrition and attention, the whole day will be blessed."

Prayer at Daybreak

to be said each day on rising from sleep

Eternal King without beginning, You who are before all worlds, my Maker, Who have summoned all things from non-being into this life: bless this day that You, in Your inscrutable goodness, give to me. By the power of Your blessing enable me at all times in this coming day to speak and act for You, to Your glory, in Your fear, according to Your will, with a pure spirit, with humility, patience, love, gentleness, peace, courage, wisdom and prayer, aware everywhere of Your presence.

Elder Sophrony on the Calendar Issue

Mosaic of Adam at the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Essex

By Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex

Many do not live eternity in Christ, but a paradoxical form of earthly life. When the vision of eternity is absent, time and days become for them the only reality. And they quarrel over calendars. When I was on Athos, the reform of the Calendar took place. The worldwide Church of Christ wanted to determine the time of their lives with the rules identified by the authorities. Before the change of the Calendar the vernal equinox was on March 9, whilst after it was March 22.

Elder Sophrony on the Toll Houses, Hell and Paradise

- The toll houses about which the Fathers write are symbols of a reality. The Fathers understand them as follows: after the fall of man, the soul is nourished by the body, in other words, it finds refreshment in material pleasures. After death, however, these bodily passions that used to divert the soul no longer exist, because the soul has left the body, and they choke and stifle the soul. These are the toll houses and hell. Abba Dorotheos says that hell is for someone to be shut up for three days in a room without food, sleep or prayer. Then he can understand what hell is.

The Incarnation as the Foundation of our Spiritual Life (Elder Sophrony)

By Elder Sophrony of Essex

- Christian life is founded on the fact of the incarnation of God. In our flesh, created by Him, He made manifest His pre-eternal perfection, thereby enabling us to judge the extent to which we either fail to reach His stature or approach His supreme Being. If we resemble Him in the inner workings of our heart, in the manner of our thinking, in our reactions to all that happens to us on the earthly plane, we shall ispo facto become like unto Him in His Divinity, too. The Gospels furnish a clear enough picture of Him, while the Epistles describe the experience of life in Him. His commandments are the uncreated Light in which He particularly reveals Himself to us "as He is" (1 Jn. 3:2). "I am the light of the world: whosoever follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (1 Jn. 8:12).

A Prayerful Encounter Between Saint Porphyrios and Elder Sophrony

With his gift of discernment Elder Porphyrios got to know another great Elder of our days, the Russian Starets Sophrony, founder and first abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Forerunner in Essex, England.

He wrote many books, among them being the internationally famous, Saint Silouan the Athonite, which has been translated into many languages. Elder Sophrony lived with Elder Silouan, who was proclaimed a saint in 1987, for nine years.

In November 1990, we had the privilege of meeting Elder Sophrony in Essex and talking to him. He told me that he used to meet Elder Porphyrios in prayer every night. They each knew what the other one looked like, even though they had never seen one another with their physical eyes. Elder Porphyrios had never seen Elder Sophrony, and vice versa.

Elder Sophrony: "The World Does Not Need a Political Church"

By Elder Sophrony Sakharov

Every international or class war is associated with violence: "Strike the enemies." But Christ commands: "Love your enemies" (Matt. 5:44). The latter does not deteriorate at all the Gospel at the level of the fratricidal division of material goods. When bishops, theologians and faithful Christians in general enter the ranks of militants, they consider those who avoid participation in these kinds of activities as petty and cowardly. The more dangerous the clash with the oppressors, the more this humanitarian mission is considered as "martyrdom" for Christ.

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (4 of 4)

The Church of Saint Silouan the Athonite in Essex, England, built by Elder Sophrony.

...continued from part three.

Being confronted for years with a man like Saint Silouan, who brought within him "both God and humanity", as you said, must open uncommon perspectives. And some of the meetings with him must have been very enlightening.

Elder Sophrony: I had questions deep within me that turned into puzzlement and I presented them to him and he helped me more than anyone in answering them. Three times a day in the prayers of the Church we ask that God would grant "this day" or "this evening to be kept without sin". So I asked him:

"How, while living in this world, which is hopelessly dynamic and steeped in despair, can we live without sinning? How can we avoid sin?"

I also asked him other questions, like:

"How can we be sure that the spirit that acts in us is the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father?"

"What condition of the spirit shows us that we are truly the image of the Living God?"

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (3 of 4)

...continued from part two.

Would you like to speak to us about your relationship with Saint Silouan? When and how did it begin?

Elder Sophrony: I had regular contact with him for about eight years, until his death in 1938. Before, I always nurtured respect for him, but I never approached him. Our first true meeting took place on Pascha in 1931. On the second day of Pascha I received into my small cell in the Monastery the monk Vladimir, an educated man, an engineer, who lived in the wilderness. Our conversation was quite merry and this is what he told me: "Fr. Sophrony, tell me, how can someone be saved?" At that moment I had brought hot water into my cell and I offered him tea as if I was serving an ambassador, and I told him: "Hold on to the brink of despair, and when it passes, and you have no more strength, retire and have a cup of tea." I said this without really understanding it. But when he left me he went to visit Elder Silouan. I don't know what they said. The next day, the third day of Pascha, an incident occurred that was the beginning of my relationship with the Elder. I descended from the large building to the courtyard of the Monastery when the Elder entered the door. I always had a feeling of reverence for him, and out of deep respect for him I made room for him to pass, but he came directly to me and said:

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (2 of 4)

...continued from part one.

Until now, the simplicity and humility of Silouan concealed his holiness from the eyes of most. But some, like you did for a few years, had contact with him, and went and visited him. Did he have a certain reputation since the time he was alive?

Elder Sophrony: Not very much. There were many monks among the Serbs in Hilandari and others, theologians, even bishops who liked to talk with him. He maintained a correspondence, he had several letters. I describe one or two cases in my book. And also about his insight, which is mentioned in the Act of his canonization among the saints. I want to add even that Bishop Nikolai (Velimirovich) the Serb wrote concerning him in his obituary.

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (1 of 4)

Elder Sophrony (standing) with Saint Silouan (sitting)

Elder Sophrony (+ 1993) considered it his greatest blessing from God for having met and come to know Saint Silouan (+ 1938). In the interview below, which was done it seems shortly after the canonization of Saint Silouan, the theologian of the uncreated light, Elder Sophrony, analyzes with unique depth and clarity the central points of the teachings of Saint Silouan.

Elder Sophrony: As one Greek theologian writes, we are accustomed to praying to Saint Silouan as a saint, but this official Act of the Church, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, now gives us the ability to do this not only with our hearts and in secret, but openly and publicly.

The Light of the Transfiguration Confirms the Knowledge of God

By Elder Sophrony Sakharov

The Apostles on Mount Tabor were found worthy to enter the realm of Light proceeding from the Father, and hear His voice bearing witness to His beloved Son. But this became possible for them only after they had confessed the Divinity of Christ [cf. Matt. 16:13].

It has been granted to me to contemplate different kinds of light and lights - the light the artist knows when elated by the beauty of the visible world; the light of philosophical contemplation that develops into a mystical experience. Let us even include the 'light' of scientific knowledge which is always and inevitably of very relative value. I have been tempted by manifestations of light from hostile spirits. But in my adult years, when I returned to Christ as perfect God, the unoriginate Light shone on me. This wondrous Light, even in the measure vouchsafed me from on High, ecliped all else, just as the rising sun eclipses the brightest star....

Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex (+ 1993)

By Monk Moses the Athonite

He was born in Moscow in 1896 and his lay name was Sergei Symeonovich Sakharov. As he himself recalls, his first experience of the vision of the uncreated light occurred in his childhood. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Moscow. At one stage, his religious pursuits took him into non-Christian mysticism. His artistic ambitions led him to Italy, Germany and France. He found, however, that art neither fulfilled nor enlightened him.

His return to the love of Christ resulted in a new, very powerful experience of the uncreated light at Easter of 1924, in Paris. While there he was influenced by his acquaintance with Fr. Sergei Bulgakov (†1944). As he himself says, "In Paris, I had everything, but there was no real joy." He attended the Institute of Saint Sergius to find and learn. He would later say, "At Saint Sergius everyone spoke about God but I didn’t see Him. When I went to the Holy Mountain, though, nobody spoke about God but everything pointed to Him."

Elder Sophrony: "Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany"

By Elder Sophrony of Essex

For us Christians the central point of the universe and the highest meaning of the history of the world is the coming of Jesus Christ, Who will not deny the archetypes of the Old Testament, but He will verify them, revealing to us their true grandeur and will give new dimensions to all things, eternal and endless. The new Covenant of Christ announces the beginning of a new period in the history of mankind. Now the divine sphere radiates into the uncharted greatness of the love and humility of our God and Father, and the coming of Christ will change everything, will bring the new revelation that will affect the fate of the whole creation, the whole world.

And so He appeared. He to whom the world owed its creation, except with rare exceptions, "the world did not recognize Him" (Jn. 1:10). The event was immeasurably above the perception of an ordinary man. The first who recognized Him was John the Baptist, which is why He said of him: "Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater that John the Baptist" and that he is the end of the law and the prophets (Matt. 11:9-13).

He came "to save the world" (Jn. 12:47), to reveal to us the one true God. He revealed to us the Father's name. He gave to us the words He received from the Father. He revealed to us God as Light that dispels all darkness (1 Jn. 1:5). He acquainted us with the rarest mystery of all, that God is a hypostatic existence, though not one person but three in one: The Trinity. He gave to us the baptism "in the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11). In light of this knowledge we can now see the path to eternal perfection (Matt. 5:48). We feel His divine presence within us, outside of us, at the highest grandeur of the universe, in the face of man and in the radiant intellect. And in the hours that the unwaning light illuminates our hearts we realize that we will not die. We know this with knowledge that cannot be proved by the usual means, but which for us does not need proof, as long as the Spirit itself bears witness within us.

We Orthodox live Christ in the Divine Liturgy, or rather Christ lives within us during the duration of the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is the work of God. We say: "It is time for the Lord to act." Among other things, this means that now is the time for the Lord to act. Christ liturgizes, and we live with Christ.

The Divine Liturgy is the way we know God and the way God becomes known to us.

Elder Sophrony on the Lowest and Loftiest Spiritual States

By Elder Sophrony Sakharov

Of the spiritual states of the Christian and, more especially perhaps, of the monk, the lowest is "outer darkness" (Matt. 8:12) and the loftiest - "the kingdom of God comes with power" (Mk. 9:1). Complacent narrow-mindedness prevents an enormous number of people from accepting real Christianity, and even alienates them. But it is still possible in our time, too, to find ascetics striving for sanctity whose experience approaches the universal. They have suffered the agony of mental see-sawing; tortures of conscience because of their depravity and iniquity before God; soul-destroying uncertainty and dolorous combat with the passions. They have known the torments of hell, the blackness of despair, the fetters of death dealing despondency, the anguish that defies description and the distress of being forsaken by God. The ascetic who has sought and found true repentance will similarly be familiar with numerous categories of spiritual joy and peace, of inspired faith and healing hope. The fire of Divine love touches the heart and mind of him who prays and with it a vision of the unfading Light of the "city to come" (cf. Heb. 13:14). Refined by fasting and prayer, the heart through grace becomes clairvoyant when the depths of fellow souls are revealed to it. Attention is not stayed on other aspects of intuition. Generally, to begin with, comes the grace of "mindfulness of death". This is an especial state when eternity knocks at the heart living in the darkness of sin. Here the Divine Spirit, still unrecognized, still unknown and concealing itself, imparts to the spirit a vision, difficult to explain, of the outside world - the world, the whole of cosmic being, stamped from the very outset with the seal of corruption, where all is meaningless, engulfed in the shadow of death.

The Last Days of Elder Anastasios of Koudoumas (4 of 5)

Continued from part three...

I approached him and told him that once when I went to the intensive care unit of the hospital to visit Fr. John Romanides, who had suffered a stroke, and I asked him to tell me what the doctors were saying about the state of his health, he said that he was not interested in the opinion of doctors for his health, but he cared how the ecclesiastical situation in Greece was going. And he began to talk to me about theological issues, even though he was facing the danger of death. I asked Elder Anastasios how he could explain this. He replied:

"The pain from breaking the legs is stronger than the stroke episode." He then continued saying: "In here everyone theologizes."

Obviously he meant that they were in pain and they speak in various ways with God, that is, they are wrestling with Him.

Fr. Antonios Fragakis, referring to some experiences the Elder had a few days prior, said: "The woman clothed with the sun", making reference to the Apocalypse of John. Then I received word to challenge him and said:

"Elder, when I read the Apocalypse of John, I see essentially what is described is the uncreated Divine Liturgy in the uncreated Temple of Paradise. This Divine Liturgy we feel on earth. I think that for the hesychast the nous in the heart unceasingly liturgizes throughout the night and in the morning he goes to the Divine Liturgy in the sacred temple, even though a Divine Liturgy is taking place in his heart. But despite the parallel liturgy in the heart and in the temple, the nous in the heart waits for the Body and Blood of Christ to come in Divine Communion. Namely, is there a relationship between the two liturgies, the one in the heart and the one in the temple?"

The Elder "revved up" and began to say:

"It is exactly like this, Your Eminence. However, this is not lived by many. Indeed, in the Apocalypse of John there is described the uncreated Divine Liturgy in the temple created without hands. There the liturgist is Christ personally. Here, in the created temple, it is officiated through the Priesthood and they officiate His Body and Blood. It truly exists in the created temple, but it does not rest in the place it is officiated, as in the hearts for which it was intended. This is also the meaning of the scripture: 'My son, give me your heart.' There is the noetic liturgy and the reasonable liturgy. The first precedes and waits for the other. With Divine Communion Christ sits on the noetic altar of the heart and becomes a source of all good."

At some point I told him Elder Sophrony writes somewhere that at the beginning of his turn towards the living Christ, after his experience in Eastern philosophy, he felt surrounding the inner world of his heart a lead wall and something like a spear passed through his thickness, which created a capillary slit, from which a ray of light penetrated.

Elder Anastasios, hearing this, said: "This happened to me also." Let it be noted that he loved Elder Sophrony very much, about whom he said in amazement: "Sophrony the Great!" He also loved very much Fr. Paisios and Fr. Ephraim of Philotheou who is in America.

He went on to say:

"In the heart is created a hair-like crevice. I lived this once. From there the nous enters deep into the heart and detects everything. This crack remains, the nous does not depart from there, but the crevice changes. It is not always the same experience. Reason says the prayer, and when it is satiated it gives also to the heart. Christ descends there with the nous. Reason is the place of the nous. Afterwards, reason describes whatever it can express from this experience of the heart. This is the narrow gate of which Lord spoke and it is the gateway to the heart. Through the heart the nous enters the paradise of God. When you arrive at theosis you have everything. The path terminates. Saint Gregory the Theologian said: 'Bend into your heart and you will see heaven.' For there is one gateway to Heaven, and that is the gateway which opens in the heart."

I was amazed by all that I was hearing in the hospital on a bed of pain from an operated man, who hurt, but his theological words were running like a river.

Then we were silent for a time. I did not want to disturb him and tire him even if it appeared he wanted to speak theologically. Regarding these words I spoke to the monks who were standing nearby at the bottom of the bed. I saw that the Elder was looking at me probing with his striking expressive eyes.

Although he hurt, he did not express any dissatisfaction with a certain bodily movement or a facial grimace. He was not bothered with the presence of many people next to his bed.

Eventually he said: "Narrow is the gateway by which one enters the other life. And this alleyway, I traverse already."

I leaned over and embraced him, and stroked his head affectionately. I went behind him and held the pillows upright so he could sit a little on the bed. He was pensive, neither laughing nor expressing his pain. He had a great kindness of soul. He looked like a mature theologian as well as like a little child, and this unity is created by the Grace of God with dispassion in Christ.

In his hand there was serum, but both of his hands were injured and blackened from the needle jabs. Fr. Antonios at one point caressed his hand and he looked without showing that he was bothered. One of the bystanders said that he was in pain at that point from the needle jabs. Then Fr. Antonios told the Elder: "I did not know, Elder. Why didn't you tell me?" And the Elder replied smiling:

"I only have two hands and they couldn't find a third to leave intact."

Some lay people present asked the Elder permission to photograph him and be photographed with him. He replied neither positively nor negatively and remained calm and peaceful.

I told him that it is the heart which feels God. The Elder agreed, but full of wisdom he replied:

"At the same time the heart can be mislead." This occurs when the heart isn't purified of the passions. He went on to say:

"Christ is patience. Christ is everything. He said: 'I will strike, and I will heal.' Sometimes He expresses Himself with austerity, sometimes with sweetness, but with both ways He manifests His love. Relentless is the wrestling with God. This wrestling is not known except by God and the athletes of Christ. It is an unrelenting wrestle, because God is all-powerful. But He is also all-love. And when He shows His 'hardness', essentially He is depicting His love."

Beside the Elder was a patient who was breathing heavily and groaning. I asked him if he was annoyed by the groaning and if he wanted me to ask to transfer him to another room so he could be alone and have quiet. He told me:

"No, thank you, they don't bother me, but they help me. All of these theologize their pain. They also complete my theology."

It's amazing to feel the pain of others as theology. This shows a sensitive heart that has been transformed by the Grace of God.

Most of the time I was near him, I did not speak so as not to weary him. The monks told me that the Elder does not grow weary, but he is glad to speak theology. Indeed, when he was in another room, all night he said the prayer with his mouth and all the sick could hear him.

I sat close to him for about a half hour. I felt calm in my soul and heart, a certain peace and joy. After I received his blessing to leave. He asked me to pray for him. I told him that I am doing it, but I asked for his prayers. He responded: "You say that out of humility." I kissed his hand, he asked to kiss mine, I kissed his forehead, and he told me:

"I wish you eternal glory."

I left with an intense sweetness in my heart. At noon I met with some beloved people, continuing the theological discussion we had with Elder Anastasios. I then went to the airport, where other beloved Christians came to meet me. I boarded the plane, and at 5:50 departed from Heraklion for Athens. At around 10:00 I arrived in Nafpaktos. For fourteen hours that day I was filled with intense emotions. It was a lightning journey, impressed with the lightning of empirical theology of an empirical Elder in a hospital where pain is in excess.

After two days Fr. Antonios sent me two messages which is characteristic of our meeting:

"Elder Anastasios said yesterday: 'The visit of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos revived me a lot. He came out of love on such an arduous journey. How can I reciprocate? Only with heartfelt thanks.' The Elder then revived a bit, but he did not theologize. He was deep in the mystery of silence."

"Today, Fr. Timothy, a brother from Koudoumas Monastery: 'When the beloved Metropolitan of Nafpaktos came to the Elder, he notably regained communication and waited for him with longing. Then was given the last theological quote from the Elder. He did a concise summary of all of his theology. It was his swan song. After this meeting he passed definitively into silence. To the language of the future life."

The blessed Elder awaited entry into the eternal Divine Liturgy, which he longed for throughout his life, since the time he lived in the caves and the Sacred Monastery.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

PART FIVE

A Christmas Card from Elder Sophrony Saharov

Archimandrite Sophrony

The Old Rectory,Tolleshent Knight

by Maldon, Essex

Christmas 1967

Beloved in Christ,

Sister Paraskevi!

May the grace and peace of the Lord multiply to you.

And first - I wish you a Good Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Pareskevi, has it ever occurred to you perhaps that you did something with my blessing, and the result was harmful? Or on the contrary, have you ever done something consistent with your ideas and having abandoned my words and my humble advice, that everything was done according to the good pleasure of God and successful? So also now listen to me like a crazy person, and do as I bless you to do.

The only way that will be beneficial to you and yours, is to complete your studies working as my monks work, from morning until evening - or rather night. Dispel now every care of life for [the third person the Elder speaks of here is left anonymous to not be known] and your family.

The unworthy Archimandrite Sophrony,

I send you the love of all who are to be found in our Monastery.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.