Apology to quench the sorrow of a person in trouble, persecution and suffering

Composition by St. Demetrius of Rostov “Apology for quenching the sadness of a person in trouble, persecution and suffering” is a spiritual and edifying treatise written in the form of a dialogue between a “mourning man” and a “comforting elder.” The main purpose of the Apology is to give a Christian in trouble spiritual tools to overcome grief through faith, patience and surrender to the will of God. The text is based on the idea that all life's trials - be it persecution, illness, injustice or sorrow - are allowed by God either for admonition and cleansing from sins, or for testing and strengthening faith. With the help of quotes from the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy fathers (St. John Chrysostom, St. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Basil the Great, etc.), the author reveals the meaning of suffering, showing that it leads to humility, spiritual growth and eternal joy. An apology to quench the sorrow of a person in trouble, persecution and suffering, compiled briefly in fulfillment of the instructions of the holy Apostle Paul, who says: “Admonish one another and edify one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). A certain elder, one of the spiritual, living in God, having heard about a certain layman, a glorious man, a Christ-loving and God-fearing man, that he had fallen into great sorrow, took pity on him and prayed to God, saying: “O God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of generosity and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our sorrow, comfort this sorrowing man whom your hands have made Yours, Your wisdom has made you wise, Your right hand has magnified and Your goodness has glorified. Now You have visited him with Your fatherly punishment and have allowed short-term sorrows for him whom You love, punish compassionately and have mercy on him warmly, seeing him cry. So, having punished him, have mercy on him, calm the weeping one, turn sorrow into joy, dissolve his sadness with joys, surprise him with Your mercy, wondrous in Your counsels, Master, incomprehensible in Your destinies, Lord, blessed in your deeds forever. Amen". Having prayed and sat down, he said to himself: “It is not enough just to pray for the mourning, but it is necessary to console them with words, for this is one of the works of spiritual mercy, to console the mourning. After all, the apostle exhorts: “We beseech you, brethren, comfort the faint-hearted” (1 Thess. 5:14), and again: “Admonish one another and edify one another” (1 Thess. 5:11). Therefore, it is fitting for me to go and console with words the one for whose consolation I prayed to God. Getting up, the elder again turned to prayer, on the advice of St. Ephraim the Syrian, who says: “If a spiritual person wants to go to his brother for consolation, then before he leaves his cell, let him stand in prayer, so that the Lord will direct his path.” And having prayed thus, the elder left. Having come to the grieving husband, he entered his house with the usual Jesus prayer and, saying: “Peace to the house,” bowed, as befits, the owner of the house, and after that he sat down in silence. Then the following conversation began between them. A grieving husband. You did well, Father, in coming to me, for you brought me your blessing. The old man is comforting. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly things in Christ. May He bless you in all your life, so that all your deeds, your sitting and standing, your coming in and going out, may be pleasing and blessed before Him always. A grieving husband. Is there any other reason for your coming to me, Father? The old man is comforting. I heard about your love for Christ, I heard that you are trying to please your Lord, serving Him with fear, and I was very happy about this. At the same time, I heard that some kind of sadness had come over you from the misadventures of this vain world, so I was not too lazy to come here, wanting to visit a house of mourning rather than a house of joy, in order to cry with someone who is crying. Grieving and condoling with you in a Christian way, may I, with God’s help, be able to find for you at least a little consolation and stop the sadness that has come upon you. A grieving husband. Thank God that He sent you to me, Father, now, for until now I was waiting for someone to grieve with me, but there was no such thing, and I did not find one who consoles. So, tell me, what has the Lord given you to console my sorrowful soul and quench the sorrow of my heart? The old man is comforting. May God grant us to speak usefully and may He arrange our conversation so that it becomes spiritual consolation. Tell me, lover of Christ, first of all, what is the sadness that has come upon you, for I say with eloquent lips: “Bring your sorrow, so that I can remove the scab of your sorrow and dispel the cloud of your thoughts.” What is wrong with you, what are you sad and grieving about? A grieving husband. Do not ask, father, the reasons for my sadness, so as not to cause my heart even greater suffering. If I begin to tell you in detail about the insults that God allowed me to receive, then my soul will be filled with great grief, and instead of consolation, I will begin to sob greatly, for my sadness is equal to the sadness of Naomi, who said: “Do not call me Naomi (that is, beautiful), but call me Mara (that is, bitter), because the Almighty has sent me great sorrow" (Ruth. 1, 20). The old man is comforting. If you know that you have accepted the bitterness of sorrow at the permission of the Almighty, then let Job be an example for you, who says: “If we accept good things from the hand of the Lord, will we not endure evil?” (Job 2:10). But something that, although it seems evil, happens to us according to the will of the Lord cannot be evil. For just as His holy will, accomplished in us, is never evil, but always good and kind, so everything that happens according to His will is good and not evil, everything happens for our benefit, and not for temptation, for our creation, and not for destruction. Don’t we pray to the Heavenly Father all the time, saying: “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10)? The good will of the Lord cannot wish us harm: “For says the Lord God: I do not want the death of the sinner” (Ezek. 18:32). Does a father want evil for his son, or does a mother seek misfortune and misfortune for her daughter? Likewise, God never wishes us any harm, but always wants only good for us and arranges everything for our benefit. He also allows sorrow to befall us so that we do not become arrogant, for a father beats his son whom he loves, and a mother inflicts wounds on her daughter, whom she wants to teach good morals. So God, the Lover of Children, beats us with sorrows, so that we know that He is above us, so that we fear Him, and meekly and reverently walk before Him, keeping His commandments. So, do not be overly sad, lover of Christ, seeing the sorrow allowed by God for a time for your own good, but accept everything with gratitude and say in the gospel: “Hey, Father! For such was Your good pleasure” (Matthew 11:26). A grieving husband. Although sorrows are allowed by the good will of the Lord, which arranges everything for our benefit, they are still sorrows, and it is impossible for a person not to grieve and cry about them, because they are allowed for our sins, with which we seriously sadden and anger God. If it is impossible not to cry over sins, then it is necessary to grieve over the punishments sent for sins. The old man is comforting. The truth is that often God, temporarily punishing our sins, brings disasters and sorrows upon us. So, for example, the three youths in Babylon said to the Lord: “In truth and in judgment you have brought all this upon us for our sins” (Dan. 3:28). However, it cannot be said that the good will of the Good God wants us harm when he punishes us for our sins. Look at the doctor's body: what does he do with the sick person? Sometimes he gives him the most bitter drink, sometimes he cuts and burns, and causes great suffering with his healing, because it is impossible to heal an ulcer without pain. But, doing all this, he wishes not illness, but health, not death, but life to the one whom he heals. So God, the Physician of our souls, seeing our rotting spiritual wounds, applies appropriate healing to them. It burns with misfortunes, cuts with unexpected sorrows and feeds with deplorable sorrows. He does all this not to destroy us, but to heal us - not to kill, but to revive, not to kill, but to restore us. That’s why David says this: “When the Lord taught me, he punished me, but did not put me to death” (Ps. 117:18). Even in the time of punishment, God is more kind than evil, more merciful than angry, more compassionate than vengeful. If He pours the wine of cruel sorrow on our wounds, it is not without oil; if he hits, it’s not without mercy; if it saddens, it is not without mercy; if it offends, it is not without consolation. For the Psalmist says: “When the sufferings multiplied in my heart, Your consolations made my soul glad” (Ps. 93:19). Punishments are necessary, because otherwise it is impossible to heal our mental ulcers. Just as a sick person needs healing, so we, sinners, need punishment. “Accept,” it is said, “punishment, lest the Lord be angry” (Ps. 2:12). We must accept the Lord's punishment with gratitude, and not with sorrow, with patience, and not with grumbling, with generosity, and not cowardice, according to the word of the Apostle: “We are insulted, but we always rejoice” (2 Cor. 6:10). A grieving husband. I know that by God-allowed sorrows and sorrows our wounds are healed, spiritual impurities are cleansed, that by patiently enduring sorrows a person achieves holiness, according to the words of one of the Fathers: “Saints are perfected by vexation.” However, weak human nature, when sorrow and torment occur, is more inclined to grumbling than to thanksgiving, to lamentation and cowardice rather than to joy and gladness. This alone brings sadness and grief to the soul, that it is punished for sins, even if only temporarily. The old man is comforting. Indeed, this happens, but only with imperfect, faint-hearted and not accustomed to patience, who, although they know that sadness is useful for the soul, nevertheless become exhausted in it. But I don’t want the same to happen to you, O lover of God! Do not faint, but take courage, and “let your heart be strong” (Ps. 26:14). Do not be cowardly, but pray with Chrysostom: “Lord, give me generosity.” And do not classify yourself as imperfect, but make yourself, according to the Apostle, a person “perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:28), and may you be perfect and completely filled with the will of God, may you be completely prepared for every good work; in all misadventures, overcome natural impatience by trusting in the mercy of God and thank God, who arranges everything, according to what is written: “We always give thanks for everyone” (1 Thess. 1, 2). This is the virtue characteristic of Christians, as Blessed Jerome says about it, to thank the Creator for everything that seems unpleasant, to always give thanks to God in all harms and troubles, saying: “Blessed is God! I know that I endure less than I deserve to endure, that all this is not enough for my sins, that I am not at all rewarded as I deserve.” This is the Christian mind. Only he, bearing the cross, inherits the Savior, who is not weakened by any misfortune or deprivation. In addition, you should know well that sorrows, sorrows and misadventures are not always allowed only for sins, but sometimes the Humane-loving God, loving His servant, deliberately plunges him into various disasters, like gold ore into fire, in order to tempt him, like gold in a crucible, and make him worthy of Himself. “As gold and silver are refined in fire,” says the Provider, “so the Lord tests the hearts of the elect” (Proverbs 17:3). Look at Job and Tobiah, righteous people dear to God, how many and for a considerable time were they tempted by sorrows and sorrows, like gold, and then with what joys and joys were they consoled? They suffered a lot of evil not for their sins, but in order for their faith and love for God to manifest even greater. So Moses said to Israel: “The Lord God is tempting you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 13:3). And about you, lover of Christ, I think that this is why God has allowed you temporary insults, so that your faith and love for God may appear brighter and more perfect than gold tested in fire. A grieving husband. May the will of the Lord be done if He punishes me for my sins. Even if He tempts, let everything be according to His holy will; I just have to endure. “Does not my soul obey God? From Him is my salvation” (Ps. 61:2), if only He would not allow temptations beyond my strength. The old man is comforting. To this the apostle answers you: “No temptation has overtaken you other than that of man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but when you are tempted, He will also give you the way of escape, so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). God allows His beloved servants to suffer according to their strength, God also gives patience in sorrow to those who trust in Him. “Cast” therefore, lover of God, “cast your sorrow upon the Lord” (Ps. 54:23), for He cares for you, He provides for you. Trust in God, and He will “keep you from all evil; the Lord will preserve your soul” (Ps. 120:7), for it is written: “The Lord protects those who love Him” (Ps. 144:20). If you love the Lord, do not be saddened by the sorrows that have come upon you: He will deliver you from them, for He says: “I am with him in sorrow, I will deliver him and glorify him” (Ps. 90:15). If you love God, do not grieve over the disasters that surround you, for “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). Everything that is considered a disaster in this world, such as persecution, torment, annoyance, humiliation and much more - all this usually brings not destruction, but salvation to those who love God. God is strong enough to soon turn mourning and mourning into joy and consolation. Listen to what the eloquent lips say: “Everything that is considered sorrowful: disaster, poverty, prison, hunger, death or anything else evil - even if all this happens, then God is able to change it to the opposite, that is, to good. After all, this is the ineffable quality of His power, that He makes everything that seems heavy and painful, easy and turns it to our advantage” (St. John Chrysostom. Discourse on the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 8). A grieving husband. Oh, that the Lord would turn my tears into joy and comfort the sorrow of my heart! The old man is comforting. In vain does your soul grieve, “in vain are you troubled! Trust in God. He will bring forth your righteousness as light, and your destiny as the noonday” (Ps. 41:6, 36:6). A grieving husband. Does our Lord really want us to spend our days in disasters and sorrows? The old man is comforting. Our Lord Jesus Christ, departing from this world, bequeathed to those who love Him, as if in the form of some special gift, persecution in the world, tears, sobbing and sorrow, for He says: “They will drive you out of the synagogues,” and again: “You will weep and lament, and the world will rejoice; you will be sad” (John 16:2, 20). However, He left all this to those who love Him, not in order to expose them to evil, erase them and cast their glory into dust, but in order to later console them, magnify and glorify them all the more. Just as it was fitting for Christ Himself to “suffer and enter into His glory” (Luke 24:26), so it will be with us: “Your tribulation,” He says, “will turn into joy” (John 16:20). And again: “So now you also have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). The Lord left sorrows for those who love Him so that through them, as if on a path strewn with thorns, narrow and sorrowful, they would achieve inalienable joy. For just as those who rejoice and rejoice today will inherit mourning every day, according to what is written: “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will weep and lament” (Luke 6:25), and again: “The end of joy comes in mourning” (Prov. 14:13), so those who mourn now inherit joy and gladness: “Blessed are those who mourn,” said the Lord, “for they will be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). And Tobias says: “According to the wave, the Lord will create silence, give joy and joy instead of crying and sobbing” (Tov.7:17). A grieving husband. Oh, if the Most Good God would grant me to quickly swim across these sad and deplorable waves and rejoice at the peaceful haven! The old man is comforting. Wait patiently for the mercy of the Lord. Listen to what the apostle says: “We wait with patience” (Rom. 8:25). And David says: “I patiently trusted in the Lord, and He listened to me and heard my prayer” (Ps. 39:2). “Here, a farmer,” says St. Jacob waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and for it he endures for a long time, until he receives the early and late rain” (James 5:7). So you, too, wait patiently for the mercy of God, like rain during a drought, and remember the words of Sirach, who says: “The mercy of the Lord is timely in the day of trouble, like rain clouds in a time of drought” (Sir.35:23). Wait patiently for this rain of the Lord’s mercy, early and late, and at every hour, until the time comes to reward you. While you wait, do not doubt and do not be embarrassed, for, according to Chrysostom, to endure and not to be embarrassed means to love God (Discourse 5 on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians). So, do not be embarrassed in sorrows, but especially rejoice, following the instructions of Saint James, who exhorts thus: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations” (James 1:2). Grieving husband. What temptations does Saint James speak about here? The old man is comforting. By temptations the apostle here generally understands all kinds of sorrows, sorrows, disasters, persecutions, torments, illnesses, misadventures, impoverishments, sufferings that happen either by God’s permission, or come from human malice, from nature, from chance, or from the slander of the enemy. He does not speak about one temptation, but speaks about various ones, and in them he commands to have joy, for all human life is full of temptations, that is, various disasters and sorrows, according to what is written: “Dangers on the rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from fellow tribesmen, dangers from the pagans, dangers in cities, dangers in the desert, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren” (2 Cor. 11:26). Disasters both outside and inside: outside - abuse, inside - fear; and just as wave follows wave, storm after storm, wind after wind, so in human life trouble follows trouble, sorrow after sorrow, temptation after temptation. That’s why Job says: “Isn’t man’s life on earth a temptation?” (Job 7:1). By this he seems to be saying that the life of those who inhabit the earth consists in being in various troubles and misfortunes, and that there is no person on earth without sorrow, without sadness, without temptation and illness. However, with all this, the apostle commands us not to lose heart, but to rejoice. Grieving husband. Why does the apostle command us to rejoice in those various temptations, and not just to rejoice, but to be overwhelmed with great joy? The old man is comforting. But because various temptations are the cause of diverse good. After all, what could be better than the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, which “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has not entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9)? And how can a person get them? Nothing other than temptations and patient enduring of sorrows. “Through many tribulations,” it is said, “one must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). To whom are heavenly crowns given but to those who do not endure evil in temptation? “Blessed is the man who endures temptation,” says St. Jacob - because, having been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). And Tobias also testifies: “He whose life is spent in temptations will receive the crown.” Who is worthy of eternal glory? Isn’t he the one who suffers in sorrow, according to the words of the apostle: “For our momentary light suffering produces eternal glory in an exceeding abundance” (2 Cor. 4:17). This means that any sorrow that suddenly comes upon us, even if it is slight, but is endured by us with gratitude, intercedes for us great eternal glory, and even more than that: when we accept sorrow with gratitude, this makes us sons of God, as Scripture says about this: “If you endure punishment” (by punishment the apostle here means all sadness and sorrow that happens by God’s permission), “then God will deal with you as with sons. For is there any son whom his father does not punish? But if you remain without the punishment which is common to all, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb. 12:7-8). Look, how do you know who is a son of God and who is not? And by whether he endures punishment, for he who does not endure is the son of adultery, but he who endures is a son pleasing to God. So, be patient, lover of God, so that you may be called a son pleasing to God. And I have no doubt that you are one of God’s beloved children when I see that the sadness of temptation has visited you, for it happens that God punishes and tempts temporarily only those who are pleasant and dear to Him. This is confirmed by the words of the Angel speaking to Tobiah like this: “I brought your prayer to the Lord God and it was pleasing to Him” (Tob. 12:12). That is why it pleased God that he should be tempted. Look, why did He want to tempt Tobiah? But because he was pleasing to Him, pleased Him, and God loved him for his great patience with gratitude, as it is written about him: “He was not sorrowful before the Lord because of the punishment of blindness that happened to him, but lived unshakably in the fear of God, praising God all the days of his life.” Do you see how that patient lover of God had all the joy while in various temptations? “He was not,” it is said, “sorrowful before the Lord,” for he trusted in the Lord and without a doubt hoped in Him that He would transform temporary sorrow into eternal joy. A grieving husband. I also hope in my Lord, however, due to severe grief, my thought tells me that the Lord has forsaken me for my sins, and I am embarrassed. The old man is comforting. To this I will answer you in words not of my own, but of the eloquent lips: “Let us not consider it a sign of God’s abandonment and contempt that temptations are sometimes inflicted, but let this be for us a clear sign that the Lord cares for us, for by allowing temptations He cleanses our sins.” So, be sure that not only has the Lord forgiven you, but that He is always with you, cleansing your sins with the sorrows that befall you, for how can God leave His faithful servant, about whom He cares more than a mother about her child? Listen to what He says through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: “Shall a woman forget her suckling child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? But even if she forgot, I will not forget you,” says the Lord (Is. 49:15). A grieving husband. (he shed tears and said): Am I really not forgotten by the Lord God, despite the fact that I am unworthy of the Lord’s mercy? Does He really care about me, a sinner? But I believe in His ineffable goodness and love for mankind, I believe that He also wants my salvation. May He Himself reward you, Father, for your work, with which you brought me great benefit and made me happy, citing writings appropriate to my sorrowful time. There is only one thing that is very hard for me now, namely, that I was unfairly offended without even doing any harm to those who hated me. The old man is comforting. “It pleases God,” says the apostle, “if anyone, thinking about God, endures sorrows, suffering unjustly. For what is praise if you endure being beaten for your wrongdoings? But if, by doing good and suffering, you endure, this pleases God” (1 Peter 2:19-20). Think, beloved, of our Master Christ, who suffered for us and left an image so that we would follow in the footsteps of Him, “Who committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). After all, He not only did not do any harm to His enemies the Jews, but even did them so much good! He enlightened the blind, cleansed the lepers, healed the lame, the paralytic and the afflicted, multiplied the loaves of bread and fed a multitude of people, but what did He bear for all this? You know it yourself. Instead of gratitude, some shouted: “Crucify, crucify!” (Luke 23:21), others: “He who destroys the church and builds it in three days! Save Yourself and come down from the Cross” (Mark 15:29), and, humiliating Him with countless insults, they hung Him on a tree and killed Him. But we do not want to endure even small sorrows, which are not even a shadow against the Master’s suffering. Let Christ be an example for us! We Christians must be like Christ in our suffering and, if not fully, then at least in patience, if possible, to the end, for this is the duty of a true Christian to endure. Let us quote here the words of Saint Ephraim: “A Christian, amidst various sorrows and temptations, let him stand like an anvil, which, although it always suffers blows, does not run away from its place, is not damaged, but always remains the same. Oh, that we would imitate the true Christian patients who innocently and sweetly accepted torment, wounds and death, rejoicing in their suffering with the Apostle! But we not only do not want to tolerate any less bitterness, but even any unpleasant word” (On Faith, 10). A grieving husband. You speak the truth, father, that we are often offended by some word and do not tolerate it. But what should we do to establish ourselves in patience? The old man is comforting. To have before your eyes the passion of Christ: “Although He was slandered, He did not slander each other; while suffering, he did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:23); He even prayed for those who were killing Him, saying: “Father! Forgive them” (Luke 23:34). Let us, in addition, remember the various sufferings of the saints, the evil they suffered, the exiles, and when sorrows come upon us, we will say: all this is small compared to the sufferings they endured. A grieving husband. But the saints suffered for Christ and therefore were confident in their salvation, but I endure persecution not for Christ, but because of the envy of people who envied my short-term well-being. The old man is comforting. Although you do not endure persecution for Christ, if you endure it innocently and thank God, then this too will be imputed to you, as if you suffered for Christ. Remember the Russian passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. Did they suffer for Christ? Truly not, but out of the brother’s envy, however, it was imputed to them as if they had suffered for Christ. So, do not say that you are not suffering for Christ, but only endure to the end and do not despair of God’s merciful help, and, remembering the many painful deeds and sorrows of the saints, say to yourself: I did not shed blood for my sins like them; My misfortunes are light compared to the temptations that they raised; the evil done to me is nothing compared to their suffering; my patience is only a shadow in comparison with those that the whole world is not worthy of. In addition, looking at eternal rewards in heaven, remember how Saint Basil the Great teaches: “If someone strikes you with dishonor, look at the glory that is placed in heaven. If your possessions are taken away from you, look more at the heavenly riches and the incomparable treasury. Whether you are expelled from your fatherland, you have the heavenly Jerusalem. Whether your son perished, you have angels as friends, with whom, standing around the Throne of God, you will rejoice forever” (Conversation on Thanksgiving). Thus, one can easily endure, clearly understanding what benefit tribulations bring, which the apostle not in vain boasts of, saying: “We glory in tribulations, knowing that from tribulation comes patience, and from patience comes experience, from experience does hope, and hope does not put you to shame” (Rom. 5:3-5). Know also this, beloved, that in all troubles, sorrows, sorrows and temptations, considerable joy comes from relying in everything on the will of the Lord, which is naturally good, always wanting the best for us and arranging everything for our benefit. For whatever He arranges with us, although it seems unpleasant to us, is all for the better. So the vinedresser, cleaning the garden, although he cuts the rods, does not thereby damage the tree or the grapes, but even makes it even more fruitful: “Every branch that bears fruit,” it is said, “he cleanses, so that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). So God allows troubles to befall us not to harm us, but to enrich us with spiritual fruits, and when He sees that we endure and obey His will, then He transforms disaster into prosperity and sorrow into joy. Therefore, let us place everything on His holy will, saying: arrange everything with me as you wish, so that Your holy will will be done on me. For example, the righteous Job always connected all difficult cases with the will of the Lord, for he said: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as the Lord wills, so it will be; Blessed be the name of the Lord forever” (Job 1:21). And look how, after that good thing, all Job’s misfortunes, which were according to the will of the Lord, surpassed. A grieving husband. I will also rely on the will of my Lord, and I will obey His destinies and decisions. Let Him do the works of His hands on me as He wants and what He wants. Let His holy will be done in everything. The old man is comforting. You will do well, lover of Christ, by relying entirely on the will of the Lord, your Creator and Provider, for this, they say, is the path that best leads to salvation. Listen, there’s a story about this that I recently read. A certain famous teacher for a long time diligently begged God to show him a person who would guide him on the right path, conveniently and comfortably leading to heaven. One day, when he was especially strongly overwhelmed by such a desire and sent out the most diligent prayers, it seemed to him that he heard a voice from above, commanding him to leave his cell and go to the doors of the church. There, it was said, you will find the person you are looking for. Then he went and found at the church doors a poor old man, all covered with scabs, rotten with leprosy, his legs were full of wounds and flowing pus, his clothes were very thin, they barely cost three pennies. The teacher, passing by him, greeted him according to his custom, saying: “Good day to you, elder!” The elder replied: “I don’t remember that the day was ever evil for me.” The teacher, hearing such an answer, stopped and, as if correcting the previous greeting, said: “May God make you happy.” To this the elder replied: “I have never been unhappy.” The teacher was very surprised at this answer, thinking that he had not heard or understood the elder’s words well, and therefore repeated his greeting again, slightly changing it: “What are you saying, elder? - he said. “I wish you well.” The elder answered again: “I have never been in misfortune.” And, thinking that the elder was eloquent, and wanting to tempt his mind, the teacher said: “I want for you what you want for yourself.” Then the elder replied: “I have no lack of anything, for everything happens as I want, although I do not seek temporary well-being.” The teacher said: “God will save you, man, for you despise worldly well-being. However, tell me, I pray you, how can you alone avoid troubles among poor people? Is it really a lie that Job says: “Man’s life is short-lived and filled with many troubles and evils” (Job 14:1)? How are you the only one who escaped all the evil days? I can’t understand your reasoning.” To this the elder replied as follows: “It really is, my lord, as I told you when you wished me a good and happy day. I told the truth when I asserted that I have never known any misfortune or misadventure. I am grateful to God for what He gives me, but my well-being lies in not wanting well-being. Fear for happiness and misfortune does not harm anyone, except for those who fear harm from them, but I neglect happiness and never pray for it to the Heavenly Father, who rules everything, and thus I am never in trouble, like someone to whom everything happens according to his desire. Whether I endure hunger, I thank God for this, as a Father who knows everything we need. Whether frost presses me, or raindrops pierce me, or I endure some other constraint due to the weather, I also praise God. When everyone reviles me, I again praise God, for I know that it is God who creates all this, and it is impossible for what God does not be good. I treat everything that is given or allowed by God - both pleasant and unpleasant, sweet or bitter - equally, I accept everything with joy, as if from the hands of a good father, and I want only one thing, which is what God wants. That's why everything happens to me the way I want. The one who seeks happiness in this world is damned. The true happiness of our life lies in relying in everything on the will of the Lord, for the will of the Lord is completely good, and it is fair that it cannot be either better or evil. She controls everything, and no one controls her. I will adhere to it entirely, I will try and with all my thoughts I will strive to always want only what God wants, and not want what God does not want. That’s why I don’t consider myself in any way unhappy because I place my entire will entirely in the will of God and agree with it, so that I always want or don’t want anything other than what God wants or doesn’t want.” Then the teacher said: “Are you really saying this with conviction? Tell me, would you really think the same way if God sent you to hell?” The elder immediately replied: “Will He really send me to hell? But know that I have two belts of wondrous strength, with which I am connected with Him in an inseparable embrace: the first is my deepest humility, the second is unfeigned love for God, and with them I am so tightly connected with God that wherever I was sent, I would bring Him with me. But in this case, truly, I would rather be with Him outside of heaven than without Him in heaven.” The teacher, surprised by such an answer, thought to himself that the right path to God really consists in agreeing in everything with His holy will. Wanting to learn even more about the wisdom of the old man, so wonderfully hidden in the thin shell of his body, the teacher asked: “Where did you come here from?” “He came from God,” answered the elder. To this the teacher said to him: “Where did you find God?” The elder answered: “I found God there, where I left all created things.” “Where have you left God now?” - asked the teacher. The elder answered: “Truly, he left Him in pure thoughts and a good conscience.” Then the teacher exclaimed: “What kind of person are you?!” To this the elder replied: “Whoever I am, however, with the appearance and my life that you see, I am so satisfied that I would not give it for the wealth of all the kings of the earth; Every person is a king if he knows how to control himself and commands his thoughts.” “Are you really a king too,” asked the teacher. “Where is your kingdom?” The elder, pointing his finger to the sky, said: “This is where my kingdom is. The king is the one to whom this kingdom is written in undoubted letters.” At the end of his questions, the teacher said: “Who, elder, taught you this and who gave you such wisdom?” The elder answered this: “I will tell you, my lord, that all my days I remain silent. If I pray or practice pious thoughts, then I take every care only to always be firmly united with God. Unity with God and agreement with His will teaches me all this.” Thus, having benefited from the conversation with the elder and wishing him peace, the teacher left, praising God, who hid this from the wise and prudent and revealed it to this wretched old man, a baby, out of his malice. A grieving husband. This story is truly wonderful and full of great benefit. Truly marvelous is that man, the mysterious servant of Christ. The old man is comforting. The Lord has many such slaves who secretly serve Him and, out of love for Him, are overwhelmed by such a strong desire to agree in everything with His holy will that they do not even desire the kingdom of heaven so much as that the will of the Lord be done in them. “What do I have,” says the Psalmist, “in heaven and without You, what can I desire on earth?” (Ps. 73:25). This means that neither above nor below (in the words of Chrysostom) there is anything that I would desire, except You alone. For in this lies the kingdom, pleasure, joy and light of the soul, to love God, and he who loves God loves His holy will in everything and accepts with great sweetness from His hands both good and seemingly evil. He is ready to accept even torment, like a kingdom, according to the will of the Lord! I knew one of the fathers who did not seek salvation outside the will of the Lord, nor did he refuse the torment that occurs according to His will, but prayed every day, saying this: “Lord, if you want to have me in the light of Your grace, be blessed. If you want to have me in the darkness of denial from Your face, be blessed too. Lord, if You open the doors of Your mercy to me, this is good and good; If you close the doors of Your mercy for me, then blessed be You, who shut them in justice to me. Lord, if You destroy me for my iniquities, glory to Your righteous judgment. Arrange everything with me as you want." This is how he relied on the will of the Lord! This is how ready I was to gratefully accept everything from His holy hands: both good and evil, both kingdom and torment. A grieving husband. The prayer of that father is very amazing and wonderful, for who does not pray to the Lord to be freed from torment and to be cool? He neither asks for the kingdom of God, nor refuses torment, but only places everything on the will of the Lord. The old man is comforting. Saint Dorotheos says: “Perfect love casts out fear.” This father loved God completely and therefore was not afraid to accept this or that from God. He says this boldly because he knows the good will of the Lord, which does not want evil for us, but good, for the Lord wants to save everyone and not destroy. He boldly and without doubt relied on His will, because he was convinced that the Lord would rather have mercy on us than send us torment. However, the Lord wants us to want His will to be done in us, not ours. Look, beloved, that father did not refuse torment according to the will of the Lord, but we are afraid of a short-term insult and are tormented in sorrow. Oh, how far we are from the perfect! A grieving husband. May the will of the Lord be with us (see Matthew 6:10)! Still, sometimes my thought tells me that I endure because of human malice and envy, and not according to the will of the Lord. The old man is comforting. Tell me, what can happen without the will of the Lord? After all, without the will of the Heavenly Father, not a single bird will fall to the ground, for the Gospel says: Without His will, “not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:18). So, think that you suffer not because of human malice, but precisely because of the will of the Lord. The Lord does this, just like a father who, when he wants to instruct his son, takes a whip in his hands and lovingly beats him, but, having punished as much as necessary, throws away the whip and hugs his son with love. Likewise, the Heavenly Father, when he wants to teach us as His children, allows evil people to attack us, according to the words of David: “He has set men on our heads” (Ps. 65:12) - and with their malice, like a whip, he beats us in a fatherly manner, then, having punished us as much as He pleases, he throws the whip far away from Himself (I mean evil people), and embraces us with a fatherly embrace, if only we are grateful endured His punishment - and kisses, shows mercy, comforts and especially rewards us with His Fatherly mercy for patiently enduring the punishment. So you understand, my beloved, that the people who are now rebelling against you by God’s permission are in the hands of the Lord like a scourge with which He temporarily punishes you. The time will come when the Lord wants to show you His mercy. Then you will see that that scourge has fallen from the hands of God and been thrown away, but you, child, will be pardoned by the Father and abundantly comforted, just patiently endure the will of the Lord, be complacent when what happens according to His good pleasure comes, and imitate the one who says: “I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in needs, in persecutions, in oppressions” ( 2 Cor. 12:10). Rejoice in your sorrows and sufferings, thank Him who allowed this to happen to you, kiss the good and perfect will of the Lord, which arranges everything for your benefit, and rely on it in anticipation of God’s mercy. A grieving husband. Thank God for everything. I thank you, for I learned a lot from you and received considerable consolation for my sorrows. The old man is comforting. Thanksgiving is due to God, for He teaches, comforts, and benefits each person, for He says: “As a mother comforts someone, so I will comfort you” (Is. 66:13). May this word of the Lord come true to you too, may it soon comfort you with the consolation of the Holy Spirit, like a mother and father to their child, and may it give you unalienable joy both in this and in the next century. Amen. Having thus consoled the mourner, the spiritual elder left, glorifying God. Reader, if you want to invent a better consolation than this, then take the trouble to read books: you will find a lot! Forgive the one who has labored and pray to God for him.