Signs of our Love for God (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

 

By St. Tikhon of Zadonsk 

 

But let us see what the signs of love for God are, so that we may not have a false dream of love instead of love itself. In nothing does a man deceive himself so much as in love. The signs of this love are:

 1. God Himself indicates this, saying, "He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me" (Jn. 14:21). For the true lover of God will preserve himself from everything that is repugnant to God, and hastens to fulfill everything that is pleasing to God. Wherefore he keeps His holy commandments. From this it follows that those Christians that neglect the commandments have no love for God. Such are the malicious and those that harm others in any way. Such are the profligate, adulterers and all defilers. Such are robbers, bandits, thieves, and all those that unjustly appropriate the goods of others. Such are slanderers and those that curse others. Such are the sly, the crooked, the guileful, deceivers and hypocrites. Such are sorcerers and those that call on them. Such are all evildoers. All such love neither the Law of God nor God himself. They love themselves and their own appetites, but not God or His holy Law.

On Self-Examination (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

By St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (+ 1783)

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves" (2 Cor. 13:5).

Glory to God! We are all called Christians; we all confess the one God in Three Persons, the living and immortal God; we were all baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity of One Essence: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; we all believe in Him Who was crucified and rose from the dead, Jesus Christ the Son of God, and, as a sign of this, sign ourselves with the Cross; we all enter the holy Church, and we pray and we entreat, we sing and we praise the holy name of God; we all listen to the holy word of God; we all commune Life and the Heavenly Kingdom, and we say in the holy Symbol of Faith: "I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come."

The Visit of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk to Prisoners on Pascha

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk visiting prisoners on Pascha.
Illustration from The Russian Pilgrim, 1903.

"At the time when the magistrate's court was located in a part of the Zadonsk Monastery, a prison for criminals was also established there. The Bishop loved to go there at night to visit sick prisoners and give them gifts. On Pascha, as he went through the prison, he exchanged the Paschal Kiss with all the prisoners."

- Ivan Efimov, servant and biographer of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk Resource Page

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (Feast Day - August 13)

 

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh (+ 1783) 

 

August: Day 13: Teaching 1: Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh 

 

The Visit of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk to Prisoners on Pascha 

 

Righteous Matrona Naumovna: A Heart for the Poor  

 

How To Spend Cheesefare Week (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) 

 

Christ Speaks To Us From the Cross (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) 

 

Fasting According to the Church Fathers

 

Signs of our Love for God (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

 

On Self-Examination (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) 

 

The Spiritual Blindness of Sin (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) 

 

Christ Is Everything For The Christian Soul 

 

The Two-fold Significance of a Clock

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh (+ 1783)

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (Feast Day - August 13)

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh, was born in the year 1724 in the village of Korotsko in the Novgorod diocese, into the family of the chanter Sabellius Kirillov. (A new family name, Sokolov, was given him afterwards by the head of the Novgorod seminary). He was baptized with the name Timothy. His father died when Timothy was a young child, leaving the family in such poverty that his mother was barely able to make ends meet. She wanted to give him to be raised by a neighbor, a coachman, since there was nothing with which to feed the family, but his brother Peter would not permit this. Timothy often worked a whole day with the peasants for a single piece of black bread.

Righteous Matrona Naumovna: A Heart for the Poor

Most of us spend the better part of our lives accumulating the wherewithal to lead a good life here on earth. How few of us seriously follow the Lord’s admonishment to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. The life of the venerable woman Matrona Naumovna is a striking example of this Gospel precept: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

As a child Matrona was given to bear a heavy cross of constant deprivation and sorrow. In spite of her youthful years, however, she was not crushed by the burden of her misfortunes. She possessed a courageous and vigorous spirit which enabled her to overcome the various trials she encountered along her path of life. Her sensitive and self-sacrificing nature was enlivened by such warm compassion towards her neighbor that another’s sufferings made her forget entirely the wretchedness of her own circumstances.

Christ Speaks To Us From the Cross (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

By St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Mankind, why have you deserted Me? Why do you turn away from the person that loves you? Why have you joined forces with my enemy? Remember that I descended from Heaven for your sake. Remember that I became incarnate for your sake. Remember that I was born of the Virgin Mary for your sake. Remember that I became a baby for your sake. Remember that I humbled Myself for your sake. Remember that I became poor for your sake. Remember that I dwelt upon the earth for your sake. Remember that I was persecuted for your sake. Remember that I suffered verbal abuse and was disgraced. I was wounded, I was spit upon, I was slapped, I was ridiculed and I was unjustly accused just for you. Remember that for you I was numbered among the unjust. Remember it was for you that I suffered a disgraceful death. Remember it was for you that I was buried. I came down from the heavens in order to make it possible for you to be lifted up to the heavens. I became humble in order to raise you up. I became poor so that I could make you rich. I was disgraced in order to make you honorable. I was wounded in order to bring you back to life.

Fasting According to the Church Fathers

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

The holy fathers and teachers of the Church, having proved by their own experience the beneficence of fasting, zealously inspired, agree with the teaching of Holy Scripture about fasting (Gen. 2:17; Ex. 4:28; Lev. 16:29-30, 2:27-2; Deut. 9:9, 18, 2; 2 Kings 12:16; 3 Kings 19:6-8, 21:27; 2 Chr. 20:3; 1 Esdras 1:4, 8:21, 9:3; Neh. 9:1-2; Ps. 68:11; Ex. 58:3-12; Dan. 10:3; Joel 1:14, 2:12-18; Jon. 3:5-10; Zech. 7:1-6, 8:19; Esdras 5:1, 20, 6:3, 35; Mt. 3:4, 4:2, 6:16-18, 9:15, 11:18, 17:21; Mk. 1:6, 2:18, 20, 9:29; Lk. 2:37; Acts 10:9,30, 13:2-3, 14:23; Rom. 13:14; 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor. 6:4-5, 11:27; Col. 3:5. Refer to Apostolic Canon 69; VI Ecumenical Council 29, 56, 89; Gangra 19; Laod. 50; Dionysius of Alex. 1; Peter of Alex. 15; Timothy of Alex. 8, 10), the necessity of the latter by their contemporaries. In view of this at the present time many now break the canons of the Holy Church about the fast, leading us to a few endurances of the fast from the writings of the holy fathers.

According to the teaching of Saint Basil the Great:

"The prophets gave birth to the fast which strengthens the powers; the fast makes wise the law-givers. The fast is a kind of protection for the soul, a reliable companion for the flesh, the weapon of the valiant people, the school for ascetics. It repels temptations, it anoints the ascetics in piety. It is the companion of sobriety, the practitioner of chastity. It performs valiant deeds in abuses, it teaches silence during the time of peace. It blesses the vow of abstention, it perfects the priest. Without the fast it is impossible to risk one's self in the liturgical action not only in the present sacramental and true service, but also in the transfiguring and lawful service."

"The fast sends up a prayer before heaven, being done as if with wings, before the mountain of Ascension. The fast is a complement of homes, the mother of health, the tutor of the youth, an adornment of the elders, the good companion of travelers, a reliable companion of those living together."

"The fast is the weapon for protection against demons because 'this kind does not go away, except through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:28). Our guardian angels more really stay with those who have cleansed our souls through fasting. The fast is imitating angels, cohabitating with the righteous, the training for a chaste life."

"The fast protects children, keeps chaste the youth, and makes respectable the old adorned with gray hair worthier of respect by fasting. The fast is the most decent attire of women, a restraint in the prime of life, the defense of marriages, the tutor of virgins. Everyone in the home has access to such honorable services of the fast. But how does it order our life in society? Suddenly the whole city and all the people approach decency, quieting the shouts, rejecting quarrels, forcing an end to reproaches."

"If all accepted him in the counsel concerning their deeds, then nothing would interfere with the peace that would be in the whole universe: nations would not rise against each other; troops would not enter into battles between themselves, ... in the deserts there would be no robbers, in the cities, no slanderers, on the sea, no brigands."

According to the teaching of St. John Chrysostom:

"As incontinence in food occurring from innumerable causes and sources is malevolent for the race of man, and fasting and contempt of carnal pleasures always were the cause of inexpressible blessings for us. God, having created man in the beginning, and knowing, that healing is rather necessary for him for the salvation of his soul, immediately and from the very beginning gave the following first given commandment: 'You may eat of every tree in paradise; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die' (Gen. 2:16, 17). And the words: this, eat, but this do not eat, were in the paradigm of a fast. But man instead of observing the commandment, has broken it, and for that has been condemned to death."

"And the inhabitants of Sodom have drawn upon themselves the relentless wrath of God, over other crimes with these. For here is what the Prophet says: 'this lawlessness of Sodom, as in the surfeit of bread had sensual ease' (Ezek. 16:49). This defect in the very deed really is as though the source and root of all that is bad. But look now at the beneficent actions of the fast."

"The fast leads us to abuse from our enemies, delivers from slavery, returns us to freedom."

"He helps in the fiery furnace, protects us from the paws of the lions, banishes demons, changes the decisions of God, tames the fury of passions, allows us freedom, leads us to great silence in ideas."

"The fast restrains the body and bridles disorderly desires. On the contrary, it enlightens the soul, gives wing to, and makes even the scaling of the mountain with ease. The fast is food for the soul, and as food for the body fattens the body so the fast strengthens the soul, communicates easy flight to it, gives it the ability to rise to the heights and to think about the high place and delivers the pleasures and pleasantness from above to the present life. As the light judgment crosses the seas sooner, but the large overburdened cargo is more likely to capsize; so lent, making our mind much lighter, enables it to cross the sea of the present life more quickly, to aspire to heaven and be subject to heaven, and not to respect the present, but to consider more than the shadows and sleepy dreams."

According to the teaching of St. Isaac the Syrian:

"As satisfying the stomach is the beginning of any evil, so fasting is the basis of any virtue and the holy way to God. The fast is the protection of virtue, the beginning of self-sacrifice, a wreath of abstinence, the beauty of virginity and holiness, the shine of chastity, the basis of a Christian life, the father of prayer, the originator of chastity and wisdom, the instructor of silence, and the leader to everything good. As healthy eyes naturallyaspire to light, so the soul of the person observing a reasonable fast, naturally aspires to prayer. When you will fast then your mind will aspire and wish to converse with God. Equally the body, which is used to fasting, will also not want to sleep and lay on the bed all night. Whoever has accustomed the body to fasting, has turned over his mind to meditation with the perfect calmness, pours out his heart in prayer, expresses grief in his face, and will not have a place for shameful thoughts at all. Cheerfulness is not apparent in his visage. It is the enemy of passions and vain conversations. No one has seen that whoever fasts reasonably, cringes at any shameful passion. Reasonable fasting is great open space for all goodness. Whoever neglects it subverts all goodness. Therefore the commandment, issued right at the beginning of our existence, is fasting."

"Fasting is the weapon prepared by God for us. Whoever neglects it is not right. For if the Law-giver Himself fasted, is it not also necessary for those for whom the law is given to fulfill the fast? For a long time the human race was not able to win, for a long time the devil did not test the defeat of our nature; but at the very beginning he was weakened by this weapon. Our Lord was the leader and the first conqueror. He first delivered the victorious crown of our nature. Since then, whenever the devil sees that some one has this weapon, immediately he is afraid, immediately he imagines and remembers that defeat which he underwent by the Savior in the desert: his power is destroyed and disappears."

"Whoever does not love fasting, then in performing other ascetical feats, becomes lazy, careless, powerless and shows this to be a thin sign of the weakening of the soul and allows an occasion for the enemy to win a victory over him. Therefore it is clear that he enters the struggle naked and unarmed, and that he will return without victory; for his members are not armed with fasting. And whoever observes him, sees that he has a hard soul, ready for any opposition and, foreign to all evil passions."

"The basis of any blessing, and the liberation of souls from the captivity of the enemy, and the way leading to light and life, are the following two things: stay in one place and continually fast. From here comes an obedience of feelings, from here coolness of mind; by these means wild passions living in the body are tamed. From here come meekness of thoughts, bright ideas, diligence in deeds of virtue, and uplifting and fine concepts. From here at all times come eternal tears and the memory of death. From here comes that pure chastity which is completely foreign to everyone with seductive thoughts. From here comes insight and distant

enlightenment. From here proceeds the soul understanding, by the power of the Word of God, the deepest sacramental ideas and internal spiritual movements. From here comes the art to distinguish evil spirits from sacred powers, and true visions from vain dreams. From here comes constant vigilance of the mind, not allowing one the inclination for various ways and steps, and banishing laziness andnegligence. From here comes that flaming zealousness which scorns any danger and fears nothing. From here comes that fervent diligence, which does not bear any passion, expels it from thoughts and tries to erase from memory everything that passes through the soul. In short, from here comes the true freedom of the person, both the joy of the soul and the resurrection, and the tranquility with Christ in His Kingdom."

"Fasting is general peace of soul and body, a serene life, a consistent pattern of behavior, a way of life, pleasing God and grieving the enemy."

"Guards and vigilant protectors of the dwellings of the faster are angels, whereas those that turn themselves over to feasts and entertainment during the Holy Forty Day Fast are demons, these real friends of the greasy smell, fans of blood and accomplices of drunkenness."

"No one of the living in luxury was morally zealous, and no one given to feasts was the disciple of virtue, any not one lover of entertainment is a saint and no one in the living flesh is a member of the (heavenly) Kingdom."

"Fasting is a holy classmate; fasting is the originator of all good deeds. And as masters do not make their products without the help of tools, so the adherents of piety and those glorified for their spiritual talents never created anything wonderful and extraordinary without abstention. The fasting Elisha revived and enlivened the dead man. The fasting Moses saw God. The fasting Daniel overcame the sorcery and deceit of the Assyrians. Even the Lord overcame the temptations of the devil. Even the fasting Apostles made prayers about important affairs. The fasting Ninevites averted the threat of death. Speaking in general, the fast is the mediator before God, worthy of respect, and the most hopeful ambassador who soon bowing to God for those whom he raises up prayer. Therefore, every pious man, everyone, who loves God more than pleasures, start the days of abstention with joy and gladness. For no one having a sad visage at the beginning of a fight will be a brave fighter."

"The fast is not hunger, but a little diversion from food. It is not inevitable punishment, but voluntary abstention. It is not slavish necessity, but free philosophy."

Revealing the necessity, importance and beneficence of the fast, the holy fathers and teachers of the Church at the same time explain also those conditions which makes the observance of the fast saving for us.

St. Basil the Great teaches:

"The benefit of fasting is not limiting to one abstention from food, because true fasting is eliminating evil deeds. Destroy every connection with the unrighteous. Forgive your neighbor his offenses; forgive him his debts. Do not fast in judgment and quarrels. You do not eat meat, but you eat your brother. You abstain from wine, but you do not abstain from insults. You wait until evening to eat food, but you spend the day in judgment places."

"Let our Lenten fasting be pleasant and pleasing to God. True fasting is the driving away of evil, the bridling of the tongue, the suppression of one's anger, the removal of carnal desire, slander, lies, and perjury. Abstaining from this is the true fast. In this fast are beautiful deeds."

St. John Chrysostom teaches:

"The deeds are not only that we come to church daily, continually hearing the one and the same, and fasting during the entire Holy Forty Day Fast. No if we from continual going here and hearing lectures shall not get anything, and from the fasting season we do not receive anything good for our soul: all this will not only not deliver any benefit for us, but will even serve our greater condemnation when, the Church taking such care of us, we remain the same as we were before."

"If we, coming here every day, and constantly hearing so much instruction, and receiving help from the fast, we do not conquer the passions arising in us: then what will be the forgiveness for us, what the justification?"

"Don't tell me, that I fast so much during these days, that I do not eat this or that, nor drink wine, or deprived myself, but rather show me that you did these things, that you are well disposed from the severe acts or if you are full of anger which overwhelms your flesh? If inside you are hatred and love of silver, then what is the benefit if you drink water? Do not display your fast as unpleasant, for one fast does not ascend to heaven."

According to the teaching of the Venerable Dorotheos, by the fast "we not only should observe the measure in food, but be kept also from any other sin, that, as we fast with the stomach, we should fast also with the tongue, keeping from slander, from lies, from celebrations, from abasement, from anger and in a word from any sin made by the tongue. Also we should also fast with the eyes, i.e. not to look at vain things, not to give the eyes freedom to look at anybody shamelessly and fearlessly. As well the hands and the feet should be kept from any evil deed."

"The respectable faster", teaches St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, "is the one who keeps himself from fornication, adultery and every impure one. The respectable faster is the one who rids him of anger, fury, rage and revenge. The respectable faster is the one who has imposed restraint of his tongue and keeps him from idle talk, foul language, inflammatory speech, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all kinds of foul speech. The respectable faster is the one who keeps his hands from theft, plunder, extortion, and his heart from coveting another's things. In a word:the good faster is one who departs from any kind of evil. You see, O Christian, what a sincere fast is! The carnal fast is useful for us because it serves us in the killing of passions. But the sincere fast is irrevocably necessary, because the carnal fast without it is just to eat nothing. Many fast in the body, but do not fast with the soul. Many fast from food and drink, but do not fast from evil thoughts, deeds and words. And what benefit is there for them from this? Many fast through the day or two or more. But do not want to fast from anger, spite and revenge. Many abstain from wine, meat, and fish, but with their tongue will bite people similar to them. And what benefit is that to them? Such existence with the hands often does not concern food, but extends them to extortion, plunder and coveting of another's goods. And of what benefit is that to them? The true and simple fast is abstention from any evil. So, if you will, O Christian, in order that the fast will be useful to you, fast carnally, fast sincerely, and fast always. If you impose a fast on your stomach, then also impose it on evil ideas and your whims. Yes fast intellectually from vain thoughts. Yes fast with your memory from spite. Yes fast in your will from coveting. Yes fast in your eyes from bad knowledge. 'Turn away your eyes, that they will not learn vanities.' Yes fast with your ears from corrupting songs and from slanderous whispering. Yes fast with your tongue from slander, judging, blasphemy, lies, flattery, foul language and any idle and putrid word. Yes fast with your hands from killing and plundering of foreign goods. Yes fast with your feet from going about evil deeds. 'Depart from evil and do good' (Ps. 33:15 (LXX); 1 Peter 3:11). Here is the Christian fast, which our God demands from us! Therefore bring yourself to repentance, and, restrain yourself from any evil word, deed and thought, learn every virtue, and always be fasting before God."

Source

How To Spend Cheesefare Week (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

By St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Cheese Fare Week is the threshold and the beginning of the fast. That is why for the true children of the Church it is necessary to act all the more temperate in Cheese Fare Week than in the previous days, although they should always do so. However, will the Christian listen to the sweet odes of his loving mother? She ordains to revere these days more, but they commit more excesses; she commands to abstain, and they betray less control; she makes rules to cleanse body and soul, and they defile them more; she orders to lament committed sins, and they add more iniquities; she inspires God to be merciful, and they all the more anger the Most High God; she appoints a fast, and they overeat and revel more; she offers repentance, and they become more violent. A worthy voice of pity and weeping: "Sons are born and raised up, for you reject me! Listen, O heaven and inspire, O earth"! Children have turned away from their mother, Christians do not listen to the holy Church, those who renounced Satan and all his works are again converted to the works of an evil spirit, a lamentable and altogether terrible work! And whoever does not listen to the Church, is not the son of Church; whoever is not the son of the Church, the Christ is not his shepherd; for whoever Christ is not the shepherd, he is not the sheep of Christ; whoever is not the sheep of Christ, vainly expects eternal life. Such are the results of a licentious celebration of Cheese Fare Week. The very celebration of butter week (maslianitsi) in the aforesaid manner is pagan work. The Pagan false god (the inventor of intoxicated drink) to whom they have established a special annual feast (so-called Bacchanalia) was and spent these festivals in every dissolute abomination. Look, do not Christians also do the same in observing butter week (maslianitsi), and is the same for many of these festivals? I do not have to show it to you: see it in the light of the midday. And once again I will say, that whoever spends butter week (maslianitsi) in excesses, it becomes obvious that he is disobedient to the Church and shows himself unworthy of the name of Christian. In order to spend Cheese Fare Week according to the Christian obligation, it is needful to act according to how the Holy Church commands during this time, namely: to drop every indecent care and to drop evil customs, remembering the Last Judgment and our ancestral Fall.

The Spiritual Blindness of Sin (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

By St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Whatever physical darkness is for the eyes, so is sin for the human soul. The spiritual darkness so darkens and blinds the eyes of the soul, that the sinner walks like the blind: he doesn't know where the path leads him; he doesn't see before him the torment of an eternal death in which he might fall; he doesn't distinguish vice from virtue, evil from good, truth from lies, true good fortune from evil fortune, and, thus, seeing he does not see and acts by touching like the blind.

Does he live in good fortune? He becomes violent, as an untrained and unrestrained horse, and does not see that with this good fortune God draws him to Himself as a father of a little child draws an apple. Will misfortune visit him? He grumbles, is indignant and blames, that as if he told a lie; he makes complaints and says a malicious word: "Am I a liar? In what have I sinned? Am I really more sinful than others? Am I worthy of this? Does my work deserve this?" He justifies himself, being full of every kind of untruth; he cleanses himself, being all besmirched; he considers himself unworthy of temporal punishment, but worthy of the eternal; he praises his merits, which stand for nothing.

All of creation, the heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth and its fulfillment, as if by mouth "tells of the glory of God" (Psalm 16:2); but the blind sinner does not feel the majesty of His glory and does not tremble. God, both through creation and by His word, reveals Himself for everyone; but the sinner, like a deaf person, does not hear His word and does not recognize the Lord. He hears the name of God, but he does not recognize God: he hears the voice of the Lord only with carnal instead of spiritual ears, and therefore, "hearing he does not hear and seeing he does not see".

When God is preached by His holy word, then His sacred will is also preached; but the sinner doesn't know it and does not make it his own. His omnipotence and majesty is preached, before which the sinner is not humble. His righteousness is preached before which the sinner is not afraid and does not honor. His truth is preached before which the sinner does not believe. His omnipresence is preached, before which the sinner does not show reverence. He does not show it because does not recognize Him. His most wise reason is preached, in which the sinner does not discern. His highest holiness is preached which the sinner does not honor. His supreme authority is preached which the sinner does not obey. His awesome glory is preached which the sinner does not honor. His timeless goodness is preached, in which the sinner makes no effort to participate. His fearful judgment is preached before which the sinner does not tremble, and so forth. Thus, the sinner is like "the man out of his mind who cannot know, and the stupid who cannot understand" (LXX Psalm 91:7) God and the acts of God.

And not only in relation to God, but also in relation to his neighbor, i.e. to any human, the blind man is a carnal and unenlightened man. We see that a person does evil to his neighbor, which he himself does not want; and does not do good to him, which he himself wants. We see that he is indignant and angry at the one who offends him; he abuses, abases, blames, discredits, lies about him, steals, kidnaps, takes away that which is his, and does other offenses; but he himself does such evil, or repays evil with evil, and is not ashamed and does not sense this. On the other hand, he wants his neighbor to be merciful to him and not leave him in need, for example: to quench his thirst and to give him drink when he thirsts, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger into his home and to comfort the sick and visit those in prison and do other works of mercy for him. All of this he wants, this truth is indisputable, but he himself does not want to do the same for a neighbor. We see that this evil is self-love, an untruth and blindness in Christians, who either silently pass by his neighbors living in misery as if not seeing them, or is ashamed to ask: "what can I do for him?" Many have plentiful food and a magnificent table for themselves, but do not care about a hungry neighbor; others wear all kinds of expensive clothes, and do not care about their naked neighbor; others build rich, large and tall houses and decorate the rest of the building, but for their neighbor who does not have a place to lay his head and to rest they do not care; they have silver, gold and other riches, comfortable for soul and life, that is kept whole and is saved, but there is no care for their neighbor who is burdened with debt and it is torment or prison for him for his shortfalls or sitting debts and suffering. We see this self-love and untruth in Christians: for not only they do evil, but also they don't do good for their neighbors, there is the untruth.

But, what it is even worse, we see that many Christians are not ashamed and are not afraid to steal, to kidnap and to be cunning, to flatter, to lie, to deceive, to slander, to scandalize, to denounce, to abuse, to commit adultery and make other offenses against their neighbor that they themselves would not want. All this comes from blindness.

Source

Christ Is Everything For The Christian Soul

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Until Christ becomes completely everything for the soul which authentically has a certain permanent and unchanging value, until then, man cannot enter into suffering for Christ. How could St. Marina the fifteen-year-old girl enter into suffering for Christ? For to her, Christ was completely everything! How could Saint Julitta have rejoiced upon seeing her three year old son Kyriacos dead for the Faith of Christ? Again, for her, Christ was completely everything. Behold, how St. Tikhon of Zadonsk speaks in detail of how Christ is everything to man in the form of a conversation between Christ and man:

Do you desire good for yourself?
Every good is in Me.

Do you desire blessedness?
Every blessedness is in Me.

Do you desire beauty?
What is more beautiful than Me?

Do you desire nobleness?
What is more noble than the Son of God and the Holy Virgin?

Do you desire height?
What is higher than the Kingdom of Heaven?

Do you desire riches?
In Me are all riches.

Do you desire wisdom?
I am the Wisdom of God.

Do you desire friendship?
Who is a kinder friend than I Who lay down My life for all?

Do you desire help?
Who can help except Me?

Do you seek joy?
Who will rejoice outside of Me?

Do you seek comfort in misery?
Who will comfort you outside of Me?

Do you seek peace?
I am the peace of the soul.

Do you seek life?
In Me is the source of life.

Do you seek light?
'I am the Light of the world' (John 8:12).



 

The Two-fold Significance of a Clock

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Every device of which man boasts as an invention of his mind is revealed by Divine Providence and every invented device has its two-fold significance one physical, the other spiritual. Even the clock is a wonderful device but it was not invented merely to tell us the time of day and night but also to remind us of death. This is its spiritual significance. When the small hand completes its rounds of seconds and minutes then the large hand arrives at the ordered hour and the clock strikes. So will the clock of our life strike when the days, months and years of our life are numbered. That is why St. Tikhon of Zadonsk counsels every Christian to reflect:

1. How the time of our life continually passes;

2. How it is impossible to bring back time that is past;

3. How the past and future times are not in our control but only that time in which we are now living;

4. How the end of our life is unknown;

5. How we must be prepared for death every day, every hour and every minute;

6. How because of that we must always be in the state of continual repentance;

7. How we must be repentant in every hour and spiritually disposed as we would wish to be at the hour of our death.