XXX. Терпение

“He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). “Through your patience save your souls” (Luke 21:19). “Brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and for it he endures long, until he receives the early and late rain” (James 5:7). “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, lest you be condemned” (James 5:9). “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and long-suffering” (James 5:10). “From tribulation comes patience, from patience comes experience, from experience hope, and hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:3-5). “You need patience, so that, having done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” (Heb. 10:36). “The patience of the needy will not perish until the end” (Ps. 9:19). “But those who trust in the Lord will inherit the earth” (Ps. 36:9). “All who trust in You will not be put to shame” (Ps. 24:2). “I patiently trusted in the Lord, and He listened to me and heard my prayer” (Ps. 39:2). “For Your sake I suffered reproach, shame covered my face” (Ps. 68:8). “Submit to the Lord and pray to him. Do not be jealous of the one who prospers in his way, the man who commits a crime” (Ps. 36:7). “Trust in the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you” (Ps. 36:34). “And he was like a man who neither heard nor had reproof in his mouth. For in You, O Lord, have I trusted; You will hear, O Lord my God” (Ps. 37:15–16). “I was dumb and did not open my mouth, because You did so” (Ps. 39:10). “Why are you sad, my soul, and why do you confuse me? Trust in God, for I will confess to him, saying: You are the salvation of my face and my God” (Ps. 41:6). “I am weak from crying, my throat is hoarse, my eyes are weary... waiting for help from my God” (Ps. 68:4). Patience is the refuge of joy (Psalm 4, vol. 3). Humility is patience, and patience gives birth to humility (Psalm 9, vol. 3). It is impossible to express in words the joy of those who endure something for the sake of Christ (Conversation 13 on the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5). Patience, having freed the soul from anxiety and evil spirits, places it, as it were, in a quiet refuge (Conversation 84 on the Evangelist John). A noble victory is to defeat your enemies through patience (Conversation 85 on the Evangelist Matthew, chapter 26). Through patience the devil must be overcome (Conversation 13 on the Evangelist Matthew, chapter 4). The harder you endure, the stronger you will be (Conversation 24 on the Evangelist Matthew, chapter 7). Patience of disasters surpasses alms and many other virtues (Conversation 31 on the Evangelist Matthew, chapter 9). There is no one who, both here in this world and there in the next century, remains at peace (Homily 3 about Lazarus). There is nothing equal to patience (Olympics Message 7). Patience frees sinners from execution, and increases the reward of the righteous (Epistle 4 to Olympiad). Patience is a virtue that, in all suffering, relies on the will of God and His holy Providence. Reasons for patience, or consolation in patience First. All troubles, disasters and suffering happen according to God's Providence. So it is written: “Good and evil, life and death, poverty and wealth are from the Lord” (Sir. 11:14). Second. Especially in the present time, “those who want to live godly” (2 Tim. 3:12) have nothing to expect except violence, bitterness, persecution, for “because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many has already grown cold” (Matt. 24:12). Thus, everyone who “wants to live godly” must prepare for patience Third. Patience, as St. John Chrysostom teaches above, frees sinners from execution and multiplies the reward of the righteous (Epistle 4 to the Olympiad). Fourth. The highest virtue is patience, which nothing can compare with. Patience of troubles, as Saint Chrysostom says, surpasses alms and many other virtues (Conversation 31 on the Evangelist Matthew). And he also says: “There is nothing equal to patience” (Message 7 to the Olympiad). Fifth. A very noble victory is to defeat enemies with patience, as the same Saint John Chrysostom teaches (Discourse 85 on the Evangelist Matthew). Sixth. Through patience the devil is overcome and put to shame, as it is written about the righteous Job. Seventh. For patience, eternal life and glory are promised, for Christ says: “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). Anyone with patience can take comfort in waiting for glory. Eighth. Every suffering and calamity, no matter how long it may be, will end with death. Ninth. Although our suffering is great, our sins, with which we have offended the Majesty of God, are far greater and deserve greater punishment. Tenth. God is punishing us here so that we can receive eternal salvation. “Being judged, we are punished by the Lord,” says the apostle, “so as not to be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). Eleventh. God's truth requires that the sinner be punished for his sins. If a sinner needs to be punished, it is better to be punished here and endure with thanksgiving than to remain endlessly in torment in the next century. Here God punishes and consoles, but there there is no consolation; here the punishments are light, paternal, and there they are cruel; here short-term, and there eternal. For to endure any suffering here for a hundred years is nothing in comparison with eternity. Listen to the evangelical rich man, who here “feasted brilliantly every day,” as he cries out: “Father Abraham! “Have mercy on me,” he cries (Luke 16:19, 24), but it is useless, and he will cry forever. Twelfth. God, in His wealth, kindness, meekness and long-suffering, tolerates us, expecting repentance from us: and we must endure when He punishes us for our sins, and thank Him that He did not strike us for our iniquities, but seeks our salvation with this punishment. Thirteenth. In prosperity a person is exalted, but in misery he is humbled; For this reason, God sends a cross to man, so that he humbles himself, and so does not lose eternal bliss. Fourteenth. To endure or not to endure and to grumble in suffering, however, it cannot be avoided that God’s judgment has determined for us, and impatience ruins the reward. Fifteenth. Patience eases suffering. Everyone look at those who are in a long-term illness: they have become so accustomed to that illness through patience that they don’t seem to feel it; on the contrary, illness multiplies with impatience, as life itself shows. Sixteenth. Any suffering can be either cruel or light: if cruel, it will soon end with death; if it’s light, then it’s tolerable and comfortable to endure. Seventeenth. Anyone who suffers must think this way within himself: after all, until now I have endured, which means I can continue to endure in the same way; yesterday you endured, which means you can endure today and tomorrow. Eighteenth. Christ the Son of God endured innocently and for our sake, “leaving us an example, that we should follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). We should be consoled by patience because Christ, the sinless one, endured. Nineteenth. Suffering one, look at those who have great sorrow and illness, but endure. If you are in a long-term illness and have some consolation from those who serve you, look at those who have a greater illness than you, who are burned inside by the fire of grief and sorrow, and outside are all covered with wounds; Moreover, they do not have someone who would serve them, who would feed them, give them something to drink, lift them up, and wash them from their wounds, but they endure. If you suffer exile, bring to mind the convicts who are in shackles, in rags, half naked, removed from home and fatherland, every day they receive beatings and wounds. During the day they do hard work, and at night they are imprisoned in dungeons filled with sewage and stench, without any consolation, and death is more pleasant for them than life. If you suffer poverty, think about those who were once rich and famous, but have reached such a point that they have nothing to feed themselves, nor their wife, nor their children, nor where to lay their heads; they wander around other people’s yards, and are also burdened with debts; there is tightness everywhere, sadness, unbearable sorrow, as if they were burning in a furnace; Even though you don’t have your most necessary needs, you can ask in the name of Christ, but they are ashamed to ask, because before they were famous and rich. Look also at the poor peasants, beggars, half-naked, sick, lying motionless, from whom taxes and dues are required, but they not only cannot give, but they themselves are in need, who would give to them, and even serve them because of their extreme poverty and illness. If you suffer reproach and slander, bring to mind those sitting in a high place, how much they suffer from subordinate grumblings, insults, slander, abuse, slander, deceit, deceit, curses, ridicule and caustic reproaches, in the likeness of a tree standing on a high place, which is shaken by every slightest wind. – So also from others, receive reinforcement in patience. They endure more and the most cruel things: can’t you tolerate less? Twentieth. Descend with your mind into hell and judge how the condemned are tormented there, and will be tormented forever; If it were possible, they would like to burn here in fire even until the end of the world, just to be freed from eternal torment. Twenty-one. Raise your intelligent eyes to the heavenly villages and examine everyone living there: you will not find a single one who did not come there through patience. Twenty-second. “The sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us,” says the Apostle Paul (Rom. 8:18). For no matter what evil you endure here, this patience is unworthy of the future glory that is prepared for those who endure. “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). Twenty-third. In your suffering, remember the terrible suffering of the holy martyrs: some of them were beaten with clubs, others had their teeth and eyes torn out; some have their tongues, arms, legs and breasts cut off; some were almost all crushed and were nailed to crosses; others were thrown to be devoured by wild beasts; others were drowned in water; others were burned by fire; others are buried alive in the ground; others were shut up in red-hot copper furnaces; from others the skin and flesh was torn off to the bones; others poured resin, melted tin into their mouths, and other unspeakable torments they endured, but they endured everything so generously that they even laughed at the tormentors. True, they endured all this with the help of Christ, but the same help of Christ is now ready for all who endure. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1–2). You might be interested in: