Spiritual Counsels From Elder Cleopas

—What kind of words are the most potent to benefit others? The most powerful word for edifying others is practical—the example of our lives. St. Isaac the Syrian says the same: “The speech of works is one thing; beautiful words without deeds, another.” Afterwards he adds: “Many words without works are like an artist who paints pictures of water on the wall but is not able to quench his thirst.’’

—Another man asked Fr. Cleopas: “Father Cleopas, can a virtuous Christian save his family and his village by the holiness of his life?” How can he not? The more virtuous Christians there are in the world, in a country, in a community, the more that country or community will be preserved from dangers, wars, disturbances, famines, and all kinds of evil. On the other hand, the fewer elect of God there are, the more severe will be God’s chastising blow. Someone asked a certain Saint: ‘’Can one man save a city?’’ ‘’He can,’’ the Saint answered. ‘’The Prophet King David is an example. Listen to what God said: For the sake of David My servant, I will not abandon the city of Jerusalem.’’
—A visiting layman asked him: “Father Cleopas, I quarrelled with someone and have asked his forgiveness many times, but he doesn’t want to forgive me. What can I do to be reconciled with him?” Do not say anything more to him, nor speak evil of him to others, but pray to God for him and forgive him from your heart. In time the anger will be extinguished, like a fire that is starved of wood.

—How should Christians stand in church during services, how should they pray, and what duties do they have when they go to church? Christians should stand in church with faith, fear of God, and attention. They should force themselves as much as possible to pray without distraction and with feeling of heart. Also, Christians have the following duties: to go regularly to church, for whoever often misses the services, except for the sick, are barred from the Holy Mysteries; to be reconciled with all men and to ask forgiveness of anyone they have hurt; to preserve their purity at least two days before going to church and at least one day after; to come early to the divine services in order to have time to venerate in peace and hear Matins. Every Christian should offer some gift to the Lord according to his ability, even if it is very small, as a sacrifice from the work of his hands. They should give names for commemoration, and ask the priest to take out parts [from the prosphora] for the living and dead members of their families. Christians should stand in church modestly and in good order, the men on the right and the women on the left. They should wear clean and modest clothes, and women should have scarves on their heads. It is forbidden to talk during services without great need. After Divine Liturgy starts, everyone should remain in his place and not move about to venerate the icons. They should follow the Liturgy with pious attention, and listen to the prayers and singing of the choir, the Epistle and Gospel readings, and the sermon. No one should leave the church before the end of the Liturgy without great need. Those who have confessed and prepared for Holy Communion should read the appropriate prayers before Communion in advance, and before they approach the Holy Gifts they should ask forgiveness of all the faithful. After the Liturgy, those who received Communion should read the prayers of thanksgiving, spending that day in spiritual joy and guarding themselves from all temptations. Parents should bring their children to church regularly, taking care that they receive communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. After the end of the divine services, Christians should reverently return to their homes, spending the rest of the day thinking of holy things, reading spiritual books, and visiting the sick. They are also obligated to tell those at home who didn’t come to church about what they heard and learned in church from the troparia, readings, and the sermon. These are the most important duties of Christians when they go to church on Sundays and feast days.


—What is prayer, and what kinds of prayer exist, according to the Holy Fathers? Evagrius of Pontus says: ‘’Prayer is the converse of the mind with God. Prayer is an offshoot of meekness and angerlessness.” “Prayer is a fruit of joy and gratitude. It is the banishing of sadness and despair,’’ according to Evagrius of Pontus. And the Fathers say it is the union and joining of man with God, the strength of the world, reconciliation with God, the mother and daughter of tears. Prayer is the key of the kingdom of heaven, and according to Theophan the Recluse, it is the ascent of the mind and thoughts to God. Prayer has three degrees: first, spoken or read prayer, performed by the body; second, prayer of the thoughts, or mental prayer; and third, prayer of the feelings, or of the heart.

—Generally our people pray little, but with much humility. Can they hope for salvation through their small quantity of prayer? And how should the sick or those who can’t read pray? Our Savior Jesus Christ said: When you pray, do not use vain repetition like the gentiles, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. Do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him (Matt. 6:7-8). Then He taught us the ‘’Our Father.’’ Therefore, our Savior Himself taught us brief prayer. Anyone who says short prayers, but with humility and tender feeling, will be saved. Let us remember the holy elder who prayed for forty years with the same prayer: “Lord, I as a man have sinned; do Thou as God forgive me.”

—How can people fulfill the Apostle Paul’s command, “Pray without ceasing?” Anyone can pray without ceasing if he always walks before God with his mind and heart. He can work with his hands while his mind and heart are raised to God. The only thing I have to add is that the most important thing in spiritual prayer is that our mind and heart are inseparable from God, regardless of what time and place we are in. We must always be aware of the presence of God. “This work applies to all kinds of prayer, and is considered an uninterrupted prayer,” says St. Theophan the Recluse. This is the feeling and spiritual contemplation of God that the blessed Prophet David had when he said: “I beheld the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand, that I might not be shaken...” (Ps. 15:8). So we must understand that a faithful man’s life is a ceaseless prayer if his mind is always with God.

—When we do good works, is that also a kind of prayer to God? Yes, it is. The Apostle Paul tells us this when he says: Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him (Col. 3:17). Whenever one does a good deed for the glory of God, or speaks for the benefit of others for the glory of God, he has the prayer of works. Therefore St. Theodore the Studite, counselling his disciples, said to them: “He who does good deeds and obeys with humility and without protest, performs liturgy and priesthood”

Taken from Spiritual Conversations with Romanian Elders by Fr. Ioanichie Balan.

http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2012/11/spiritual-counsels-from-elder-cleopas.html 

Spiritual Counsels ( Elder Paisius Olaru of Sihla Skete )

 ON HUMILITY
“What is humility, Father Paisius?” some of his disciples once asked him. Humility is the thought and conviction of our heart that we are more sinful than all men and unworthy of the mercy of God. Reviling ourselves doesn’t mean that we have true humility. True humility is when someone shames and abuses us publicly, and we endure it and say, “God ordered that brother to shame me for my many sins.” We should receive everything as a command of God. When someone shames you, say that God commanded him to do it. When someone takes something of yours, God commanded him to take it, in order to make you a monk. When you are removed from a higher place, God changed your place so that you would change from your passions and bad habits. This is true humility. And pride is when we trust in ourselves, in our mind, our strength, when we think we are more capable than someone else, better, more beautiful, more virtuous, more pleasing to God. Then it is certain that we are overcome by the ugly sin of pride, from which may God, who humbled Himself for our salvation, preserve us. Let us humble ourselves, brethren, because a proud man cannot be saved. Let us weep for our sins here, so we can rejoice forever in the next life, for after we leave this world everyone will forget us. Let us not hope in men, but only in God. A man changes. Today he gives to you and tomorrow he asks from you. Today he praises you and tomorrow he condemns you. Let us place our hope in the mercy of God, and we will never go astray.

—A layman asked the Elder for a profitable word, and he told him: Brother, often animals are wiser than men. Let us learn obedience and patience from the ox, humility and meekness from the lamb, cleanliness and industry from the ants and bees. We can learn a lesson for our life from all the animals.
The Elder also added: “It’s best for a man to become a clay vessel, which is useful to all people and for all kinds of daily work, for food, water, and so on. But golden vessels are put in safes and locked up in cupboards. For fear of thieves they are seldom used, maybe only once a year. A clay vessel has its daily use and service to man. So also is a humble man who does not seek honors and rank. He remains insignificant even amid men of lower rank, but he benefits, counsels, and helps everyone, and all seek him out and rejoice with him. Humility is a great gift to monks and all Christians!”


ON ABORTION
—A certain woman who did not want to have many children went to the Elder and asked his advice about what she should do. He said to her: If you avoid having children, you avoid salvation. One child is not enough, because you might lose it. Many children in a home are usually healthier than one or two, because they often become spoiled and sickly. Here is fulfilled the word of the Lord: He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully (II Cor. 9:6).
A little while ago an old woman came to me for confession, and I asked her: “Sister, how many children do you have?” “Father, I’ve borne eighteen! God took eight of them when they were little, and the other ten are the first citizens in the village!” Another woman came from far away, and I asked her: “How many children do you have, my Christian?” “None, Father.” “And how many abortions have you had up to now?” “Father, I’ve had forty.” “Go and confess to the bishop, my child, and repent while you still have time, because God’s judgment is terrible!” After denial of the faith, the greatest sin in the world is the murder of babies by abortion. These two sins quickly bring God’s wrath and punishment upon men.

—What penance do you give those who have had abortions? The punishment for abortion and murder in general is life-long repentance. The penance consists of daily prostrations, fasting until evening every Wednesday and Friday, complete avoidance of this sin in the future, and the birth and baptism of other children in place of those killed. Also in such circumstances they are forbidden to receive Communion for seven years, except in the case of a pregnant woman, who can receive Communion as a special allowance.

—Certain Christians asked the Elder, ‘’What will happen to the souls of infants killed by abortion?’’ and he answered with a sigh: I believe that these infants are martyrs. They will complete the number of the martyrs in the last times, as the Apocalypse says. In dying through abortion they receive the baptism of blood, but the Church does not commemorate them in her prayers in order not to encourage abortions, which for the parents is an act of infanticide.


COUNSELS ON TROUBLES
—A sorrowful Christian asked the Elder for a word of comfort, and he said: Listen, Brother. Without temptations and griefs we cannot be saved. But we should not be disturbed or grow weak in faith, because now the devil attacks men more cruelly than in the past, for he knows that he has only a little more time to rule over the modern world. Let us pray, endure, and remember the words of the Lord, who said that He will be with us until the end of the ages. We should not despair in the time of our trials, because God has not abandoned us. As in the time of the Prophet Elias the Tishbite, when God still had 7000 of His elect who had not bent the knee to Baal, so also today the Lord still has many elect Christians with strong faith who have not bent their souls to the service of the passions. God has His just ones, in the villages and the cities, who glorify Him day and night and live in virginity and temperance, showing mercy to the poor and widows. But God alone knows their names.

—How can we reconcile those who are quarreling? First we should pray for them. Then we should urge them to confess to their spiritual father, and we should counsel them with the words of the Gospel to make peace, according to the Lord’s saying: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). As much as we can, we should strive to make peace, for we are sons of God and bear in ourselves the peace of the Holy Spirit. Those who are not at peace cannot have Communion. If one of them dies unreconciled to his enemy, then the living one must go to his grave for forty days and beg him to forgive him. Of course this is rather difficult. But we urge the living to make a prostration to the dead with whom they quarreled in life, and we hope in the mercy of God, that He will forgive them.


Elder Paisius Olaru of Sihla Skete 

http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/01/spiritual-counsels.html