Sermon by Hieroschemamonk Nil on the day of remembrance of St. Nil, the Wonderworker of Sorsa, May 7

Celebrating the sweet and most sanctified memory of our venerable father Nil, let us carefully consider what kind of life and what virtues he ascended to the heights of holiness and reverence. But first, let’s look at and explain the title or name – Reverend. This name comes from the word: similar. For example, some painter will paint an image or portrait of a living person, and that portrait will be similar to that person. But another, more skilled in this art, will paint from the same person an image more skillful and similar to the first; and the first can be called similar to a living person, and the other, in comparison with the first, reverend, i.e. more similar to the first. When creating man, God said: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Therefore, every person, in his rational soul, has the image and likeness of his Creator God. But not everyone maintains that likeness to the image of God. For everyone who involves himself in many sins and foul uncleanness, and, like a pig, wallowing in the filth of sin, has darkened and disfigured the image of God and has become like senseless cattle. And oh, how far is such a person from the likeness of God! And those who keep themselves from sinful defilements and become like their Lord God through good deeds, in them the spiritual image of God is beautiful and bright and similar to its Creator. And the harder someone works to please God, the brighter the image and likeness of God shines in him. Which of the pious laity strives to please their Master by living in the fear of God and walking in... all the justifications of the Lord without blemish, in that soul the image of God is like God. And whoever has renounced the world, and, having adopted the monastic life, engages in the greatest feats of living unmarried and preserving immaculate purity and daily strives to mortify himself, in the soul of such a layman who pleases God more, the image of God is most similar to God. And therefore, one who pleases God in monasticism is called a venerable one. Many of those who please God conveniently become like Christ in humility, in meekness, in mercy, in kindness, in unfeigned love and in other virtues that occur without great labor. And especially those living in the world can and should become like Him in these virtues. It is not extremely difficult to be friendly, merciful, meek, kind, and humble. What kind of work is it also not to offend anyone, not to kill, not to steal, not to covet someone else’s property, not to steal, not to lie, not to judge, not to reproach, and to practice other virtues that are done without much effort, by which those who live reverently live become Christ-like? But there are very few who are like Christ in His sufferings, in wearing the cross with much labor and in crucifixion. Here we look to the culprit of this current celebration of ours, the Venerable Nile. For he, in order to more likely portray Christ crucified in himself and to become reverend to Him, took upon himself the cross of monasticism, and, patiently wearing it, daily crucified on it and died, saying to Christ: For your sake we kill all day long (Ps. 43:23). Oh, true likeness of Christ, Reverend Nile! You are not only like Christ your Lord in your spiritual crucifixion, but truly you are also like Him, more similar than others. Listeners! Death is twofold: natural and spiritual, otherwise death to sin. The natural is general, but the spiritual is only for those who choose. For the Lord says: If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, which means that He does not force anyone, but whoever wants and wills. We look: for some there is only one natural death, but for the saint of Christ there are two: first spiritual, and then natural. A natural death cannot be honest before the Lord if it is not preceded by a spiritual one. And no one will receive the Eternal Belly if he does not die before natural spiritual death. And no one will enter into Eternal Life unless he destroys sinful lusts within himself by mortification. Oh, how blessed is he who has learned to be dead to sin before death and who has buried his passions in his mortified body before burial! Such and such a death, before death, was the daily death of the Monk Nilus, our father. And when the world and the devil tried to bring him down from the cross with their flatteries, they always found him dead and ineffective. For just as someone despises a dead corpse eaten by worms, so the Monk Nile despised this world as dead, having no hope of an eternal life, but constantly eaten by the worms of everyday worries, rumors and rebellions. So the world with the devil departed from him without success and with shame. The Monk Nile also died according to his flesh, crucifying all carnal desires with various mortifications: “As Christ is, we have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Oh, how strong this enemy of ours is, and how few can he defeat it! Most of all, very many are overcome by him. And what is most pitiful of all, sometimes it overcomes even saints. So strong is the enemy – our flesh! A strong and annoying enemy, for, always attacking, he strives to overcome, and thereby greatly insults the ascetic. It was excellently said by one holy elder: “If anyone can bear the sorrow of the flesh, let him leave everything and flee from this world, like Israel from the slavery of Pharaoh.” This word is worthy of discussion: “sorrow of the flesh.” Where the flesh dominates and the spirit is enslaved to it, there is no insult to the flesh in this life, but there will be in the future - in fiery Gehenna. And where the spirit strives to dominate the flesh, there is constant sorrow, burden and warfare against the flesh, which sometimes fights with natural, and sometimes with sinful aspirations erected by the tempter. And he, in truth, is a true monk who can bear the sorrow of the flesh; for this burden is heavy on our spirit, like a rotten corpse to a living person. History recalls a certain torturer, the Tireninsky king, who tortured captives with such inhuman torment: the corpses of the dead were tightly tied to the living, putting face to face, hands to hands, legs to feet; and the living carried the dead until the corpse rotted and killed the living with its stench. Oh, what terrible torment! This is the union of body and spirit. A sin-loving body, always desiring bad pleasures, is like a stinking corpse. I have died, says the holy prophet David, and “my wounds have rotted away from the sight of my madness” (Ps. 37:6). And the spirit that needs to please God is like a living person looking towards eternity. Oh, how difficult it is for a living person to carry a dead corpse tied to him! Oh, what a great burden it is for the spirit to bear, i.e. endure carnal, sinful lusts and lusts! The Apostle mentions this when he says: “I am a damned man; Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom.7:24) The imam's desire to be resolved. So, he is a true monk and a valiant ascetic who can endure the sorrow of the flesh without stumbling. Anyone who wants to see the monasticism of the Monk Nile should not experience his obvious exploits. Such a test will be in vain; for our most humble father tried in every possible way to hide his deeds from people, shutting up his body in a solitary cell in the impenetrable desert, while deepening his mind and heart in God, he did everything in secret to the one leading God: fasting, unceasing prayers, the most severe labors and various mortifications of the flesh, because our God-bearing father learned from the greatest lamps of the world who shone in in monasticism, do not create anything to appear to people; for it is written about the ancient monks who lived in Egyptian deserts and hermitages that they did not consider the good deed that others knew about worthy of a monk; but they considered that one virtue characteristic of the monk, which none of the people knew about except God. Oh, the divine wisdom of divine men! Oh, the heights of humility in the flesh of living angels! So, who can experience the deeds of a monk immersed in the depths of humility? Truly, “having the testing trials” of monastic deeds “disappeared,” the worldly man “will begin,” but the “heart” of the humble monk is “deep.” The Monk Neil maintained this spirit of true monasticism all his days, even before his honest repose to God. And what is most surprising of all, not only in his life, but even after his death, he did not want to be awarded any glory or honor from people, as is clear from the will written by him to his disciples. Oh, miracle, brothers! Oh, the immeasurable and highly creative humility of the great father! So, see everything and understand that he was a most perfect monk, good at extinguishing all the kindled arrows of the evil one and crushing all the enemy’s snares. For who can easily pass through the intricately woven snares of the devil, if not the humble? This great father of ours could boldly say the apostolic word about himself: I strive, not like the air that beats the air, but I mortify my body and enslave it (1 Cor. 9:26-27); and this saying: Lord, see my humility and my work. For what else was there and his whole life in this deplorable vale, if not everyday martyrdom! Every drop of his sweat was as pleasing to the Lord, as were the drops of martyrdom’s blood shed for Christ. For the sweat of a hardworking ascetic, who daily mortifies his flesh for the sake of Christ’s love, and the blood of a martyr, who dies in one hour, are equally honorable. Because they accept equal grace and miraculous power. Whether the holy martyrs who shed their blood for Christ give healings, the saints also give healings. If the martyrs work miracles, the saints also work miracles. For in pleasing Christ they poured out much sweat. It is not surprising that Paul’s hands worked miracles and brought healings; for, being knitted and beaten, they suffered much for Christ. But the amazing thing is that the leaders and Ubrists, who suffered nothing, had the same miraculous power as Paul’s very hands, as it is written about in the Apostolic Acts. Pavlov’s sweat, sharpened in labor, had equally miraculous power, as did his blood, shed in suffering. The essence of honesty and the drops of sweat of the saints are no less than the drops of blood of martyrs. Not the last thing before God is the outpouring of your sweat, our venerable father Neil, the daily martyr of Christ. We believe that you have pleased God just as much with your exploits as the holy martyrs did with your sufferings. Behold, listeners, we recognized the reverence of our holy father Nile, who was in his monastic life, when on his spiritual cross, crucified with the world and all lusts, he was crucified with Christ and conquered all the attacks of the enemy, becoming dead and ineffective to sin, living to God, speaking with the Apostle: “I live not for this, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). But you, reverend and God-bearing Father Nile, who now stands before the throne of Christ in the Church of the triumphant, do not forget us, who lovingly celebrate your holy memory, and behold our badness from the heavenly ascension. Our good Father! Look mercifully upon your children. Our good shepherd! Do not despise this flock of yours. Although you are separated from sinners by your shrine, do not be separated from us sinners, with your mercy, be invisibly present to us, providing for your servants and always helping in everything and making the Master and our God merciful to us with your prayers to Him for us. See the monastery in which we live, sanctified by your most sacred deeds and sweats, and the place in which you worked hard. And be to us and to all who lovingly revere you, a helper, intercessor, patron, protector, provident and manager of our lives. Our warm intercessor! Do not remain silent, cry out to the Lord for us, and ask for world peace, and for our faithful Emperor - silence, prosperity and victory over enemies, and for all temporary and eternal blessings. Amen.