São Nicolau Velimirovich : Não existe descanso neste mundo. A raiva . Adultério

Não existe descanso neste mundo

"Não existe descanso neste mundo para quem quer ser salvo", ensinou Santo Efraim, o Sírio. A batalha nunca acaba, seja interna ou externa. Às vezes o adversário age visivelmente através de pessoas e coisas, e às vezes invisivelmente através de pensamentos. Às vezes o adversário aparece de maneira explícita, agindo com crueldade e brutalidade, como um verdadeiro inimigo, mas às vezes age sob o manto lisonjeiro de um amigo sedutor e sagaz. As coisas que acontecem em um campo de batalha entre dois exércitos inimigos também acontecem individualmente na batalha das paixões do mundo. De fato, "não existe descanso para quem quer ser salvo". Quando a salvação vier, o descanso também virá.

 

A raiva

A vitória sobre a raiva é uma das maiores vitórias de um soldado de Cristo. Geralmente ficamos com raiva daqueles que desejamos que renunciem ao pecado e dos que nos caluniam. Entretanto, agindo desta maneira, esquecemo-nos que a raiva é um pecado mortal e, desejando a salvação dos outros, perdemos a nossa própria salvação, segundo São Macário. A raiva contra os inimigos é freqüentemente ligada a outro impulso maligno: o desejo de vingança. Santo Eupisíquio subjugou a paixão da raiva em si mesmo, tanto é que ele entregou uma parte de sua enorme riqueza aos pobres e outra aos seus caluniadores, por quem ele estava sendo torturado e morreria. Ele tinha seus caluniadores por benfeitores. São João Crisóstomo disse: "Cortemos fora as asas da raiva, e o mal não voará tão alto. A raiva é uma doença demoníaca que pode destruir nossas almas... A raiva é um fogo terrível que engole tudo... Se um homem irado pudesse ver a si mesmo no momento em que está com raiva, jamais necessitaria de outro conselho nem se irritaria, pois não há nada mais desagradável que uma face raivosa." Abba Amon confessou sobre si mesmo: "Passei catorze anos em Scetis, orando a Deus dia e noite, para que me concedesse vitória sobre a raiva."

Adultério

As paixões só podem ser vencidas com muito esforço. Os Santos Padres chamavam a paixão adúltera de "morte". Quando o adúltero se livra da paixão do adultério, é como se ele tivesse ressuscitado dos mortos. Para as pessoas que vivem no mundo, a paixão do adultério é instigada principalmente pela visão, enquanto que, para as pessoas que vivem reclusas, o adultério é instigado mais pelos pensamentos e pela imaginação.

A grande asceta Santa Sara foi torturada pela paixão insana do adultério ao longo de trinta anos. Ela sempre vencia essa paixão com orações. Certa vez, a insanidade asquerosa do adultério lhe apareceu em forma corporal, dizendo-lhe: "Sara, tu me derrotaste!" Sara humildemente respondeu: "Eu não te derrotei, mas o Senhor Cristo é quem te derrotou". Naquele instante, o pensamento do adultério a deixou para sempre.

Certa vez, perguntaram a São Pimen o que um homem teria de fazer para lutar contra a insanidade do adultério. Ele ensinou: "Se o homem conseguir sobrepujar seu estômago e sua língua, então ele será capaz de dominar a si próprio".

Santo Antônio ensinou que há três tipos de movimentos corporais: "Primeiramente, há o movimento natural; depois, a imoderação alimentar, e por último, o movimento que vem dos demônios".

Outros também ensinaram que o vício do adultério é reforçado pela raiva e pelo orgulho. Porém, todos concordam que, além do bom senso e do esforço pessoal, a ajuda de Deus é indispensável para que esta paixão repulsiva seja completamente destruída. E para mostrar que o homem pode, sim, perservar sua pureza, lembre-se, entre outros, de São Moisés da Hungria, o qual viveu cinqüenta anos no mundo e dez anos no mosteiro, em um total de sessenta anos de vida em total pureza virginal.

São Nicolau Velimirovich

 

http://avidaintelectual.blogspot.com/search/label/S%C3%A3o%20Nicolau%20Velimirovich

St Nikolai Velimirovich Part 1 - A Guide to the Heart

Icon of St Nikolai













Monastery in Lelich, Valjevo, Serbia where St Nikolais's relics are venerated.

In 2006 I had the blessing of visiting Lelich,Valjevo, Serbia and the monastery where the relics of St Nicholai Velimirovich are kept. The monastery was built on the land that belongs to the Velimirovich family. St Nikolai is no stranger to the path that we all must follow if we are to be transformed in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. The saint was purified in the crucible of suffering. And we are very blessed to have his writings. They are a road map that show us the way to the heart.

In the Prologue from Ochrid St Nikolai includes the following homily for September 4th;
Homily On The Changing of Water Into Wine

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee (John 2:11).Our God is Almighty; and His power has no limit and is beyond description. He created all that was created by His Word: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made (Psalm 33:6). By His Word, He created the body of man. By the Word of God, lifeless earth is transformed into the bodies of men, animals and plants. By the Word of God, flowing water is changed into vapor, and vapor into ice and snow. By this same Word, the water in a vine is changed into wine, wine that maketh glad the heart of man (Psalm 104:15). Therefore, how difficult a miracle was it for the Word of God Incarnate-Christ our Lord-to change water into wine in Cana? For us men, darkened by sin, this is a great miracle; for our nature, weakened by sin, it is an unattainable miracle. Yet, isn't the working of miracles the usual occupation of the Creator? When the servants filled the six large vessels with water, the Lord Christ said to them: Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast (John 2:8). He did not even say, ``Let the water become wine,'' he merely thought it. For God's thoughts have the same power as His words.Why is it said that this was the ``beginning of miracles,'' when it appears that, long before this miracle, the Lord worked other miracles? Because, brethren, the changing of water into wine is the fundamental miracle of Christ, and is the essence of all His miracles. Human nature was diluted with its own tears, and it was necessary to change it into wine. The divine spark in man was extinguished, and it was necessary to rekindle it. Infirmity is like water, health is like wine; the impurities of the evil spirits are like water, purity is like wine; death is like water, life is like wine; ignorance is like water, truth is like wine. Hence, whenever the Lord made the sick whole, the impure pure, the dead alive, and prodigals enlightened, He essentially turned water into wine.O Lord our God, Thou miraculous Transformer of water into wine: bring Thy divine flame to our extinguished hearth. Transform the water of our being into divine wine, that we may be like unto Thee-and that we may thus abide with Thee in Thine Immortal Kingdom, with Thy radiant angels.To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen."
And the Lord heard St.Nikolai's supplication.

The Healing Science of The Church Fathers
The spiritual life is not guesswork. The Orthodox Faith is a science which cures "it is clear that Christianity is principally a science which cures, that is to say, a psychotherapeutic method and treatment. Only those who have been cured and have attained communion with God are theologians, and they alone can show Christians, the true way to reach the 'place' of cure." Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos in Orthodox Psychotherapy p. 30-31.
In this post, we will examine the life and writings of St Nicholai Velimirovich as a guide and teacher of the way to the heart, the way to cure. Eventually we will also look at the lives of St John the Theologian, St Gregory the Theologian, St Symeon the New Theologian, St Gregory Palamas and Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex who, though not glorified by the Church yet, is most certainly a Saint, as his life and writings demonstrate.

The Method of Cure
Metropolitan Hierotheos describes the method by which we can be healed;"The soul is referred to as the spiritual element of man's existence; the heart , as the essence of the soul, and the nous as the energy of the soul (Nous=mind, intellect or spiritual awareness in the heart, which is to be distinguished from reason or logic which is a function of the brain. In a healthy person the reason is under the control of the nous- emphasis mine). Thus when the nous enters the heart and acts therein, there exists a unity between the nous (energy), the heart (essence), and the soul. All asceticism in the Church aims at man's divinization, at his communion with God the Trinity. This is acomplished when the energy of the soul (nous) returns to its essence (heart) and ascends to God. The fact is that when a person lives the inner life- when his nous returns within his inner world from its previous dispersion( in sinful thoughts or logismoi, distractions of life and our surroundings, and the appetites of the body- emphasis mine); when he experiences mourning and in the deepest sense, repentance- he is then conscious of the existence of this centre, i.e. the existence of the heart. He feels therein pain and spiritual sorrow; he experiences the grace of God; there also he even hears the voice of God". Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Orthodox Spirituality, p.34-36.
Note: " Man has two centers of knowing: the nous which is the appropiate organ for receiving the revelation of God that is later put into words through the reason, and the reason which knows the sensible world around us" Metr. Hierotheos Vlachos, The Person in Orthodox Tradition, p.24

St Nikolai is qualified to teach us the way to God because he himself followed the therapeutic method of the Church, his body was sanctified, his nous purified from alien thoughts, his heart illumined. That is, his nous was purified from sinful thoughts and all his spiritual awareness was focused on the holy name of Jesus and the love of God. Through prayer and participation in the ascetical and sacramental life of the Church, he found his heart (the purified nous naturally enters the heart when it is healed and made whole) and like a Moses of modern times, beheld God and was united with Him. It is possible to follow many of the stages of the spiritual life in the life of the bishop of Ochrid, in his own words, through his writings. But first let us ask,
"St Nikolai, please show us the way. Give us understanding. Forgive us. We are aware that we are walking on holy ground. For the love of God that dwells in your heart, intercede to the Lord for the salvation of our souls"

1) Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Orthodox Church and Faith in God as the life giving foundation.

The spiritual treatment begins in the Church, the Orthodox Church, which is the Body of Christ, the Ark of salvation. Jesus Christ is the only way. He says; "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" John 14:6.

"O Lord Jesus, the Holy Head of the Holy Church, make us worthy to be members forever of Thy Most-pure Body" St. Nikolai in the homily on the Head of the Church and the Body of Christ Nov 6, Prologue of Ochrid vol.2 p. 490

"Can man be saved outside the Church? No. For the Church is the depository of God's Grace, without which no man can be saved, as an arm cut off the body"St Nikolai, The Faith of the Saints, p. 48

The Orthodox Church - The Spiritual Hospital
The Orthodox Church is not a mere philosophical or ideological system. It is a living organism, a spiritual hospital, where man can be restored not only to the adamic state but even to a higher state in union with the life of the holy Trinity.
"Our religion is not a book religion, not even a learned religion. It is a dramatic mystery. The Bible contains the words, but in this dramatic mystery there is something higher and deeper than words. Slav Christianity is something greater than the Bible.
Looking at an ikon, a Russian mujik perceives the Bible incarnated in a saint's life-drama. Mystery of sin, mystery of atonement, mystery of heroic suffering, mystery of the daily presence of Christ among us in holy wine, in holy bread, in holy water, in holy word, in holy deed, in every sanctified substance, even in matter as in spirit, mystery of communion of sins and of virtues--all are recorded once in the Bible, and all are recorded and repeated also in our daily life--that is what we call our Slav Orthodoxy.
From “The Religious Spirit of the Slavs’ p.7 by St Nikolai Velimirovich, at Gutenberg Project http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13388

"We, as the members of our ancient church of the East, ...are strictly forbidden to compromise our inherited God-revealed Truth with man-made religions or philosophies. By what means shall we fight against such a tendency to level? First, by profound knowledge of our own Orthodox faith, by practicing it in daily life and by sticking to it." St Nikolai, The Faith of the Saints, p. 15

Faith in God
"Now faith is the subsistence of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1 from the Orthodox New Testament p.399. Note no.127: Blessed Theophilact: 'proof' is the manifestation of unseen things" ibid p.426. According to St Isaac the Syrian, there are two kinds of faith, the faith that comes from hearing the Word of God (Rom.10:17), and the faith that is "that light which by Grace dawns in the soul and which fortifies the heart by the testimony of the mind (nous), making it undoubting through the assurance of hope that is remote from all conceit. This faith manifests itself not by aural ( perceived by hearing) tradition, but with spiritual eyes it beholds the mysteries concealed in the soul, and the secret and divine riches that are hidden away from the eyes of the sons of the flesh, but are unveiled by the Spirit to those who abide at Christ's table..". Homily 52 of 'The Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian'p.262. In other words this is the perfected Faith of the saints who have seen God, our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, in the uncreated Light. We shall see later that St Nikolai, possesed this kind of living faith.
At the most basic level faith is the true living belief and Orthodox understanding of Who God is and what He has accomplished for us. St Nikolai Velimirovich, in his "Akathist To Jesus Conqueror of Death", Translated into English from the original Serbian by St Paisius Monastery, Safford Arizona, 2009, Ikos Three p.18 says "Dulled by sin, the people supposed that Thou were fighting against them, so they rejoiced when they raised Thee on the cross, rejoicing as victors over their enemy. But Thy battle was not against man, O Lover of mankind, but against the prince of this world and his myriad of legions who hold mankind in their chains, who play a foolish game with every human body, immorally pouring poison into human souls...Thou didst Thyself descend onto the battlefield; to reveal the weakness of the evil spirits Thou didst choose death as a weapon in the battle against them. Having gained the victory over evil spirits Thou didst destroy sin, having destroyed sin Thou didst trample down death, having trampled down death Thou didst dispel fear, and that prison of slaves, the world, Thou has proclaimed to be the home of freedom, O Jesus my Freedom, Jesus my Courage, Jesus my Light, Jesus my Friend, Jesus my Saviour, Jesus my Conqueror, have mercy on me".

Father Justin Popovich (he was a disciple of St Nikolai) state that it is "by the ascesis of faith that the treatment and cure of a soul which is sick with the passions is begun. Once faith begins to live in man, the passions begin to be uprooted from his soul" Fr. Justin Popovich, Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ, p.123.

St Nikolai, in the homily on the steadfastness of faith, Prologue of Ochrid vol.2, p. 58 says; "Let us also protect the head of our spiritual life, which is faith. Nothing in this world can replace faith in God...The devil knows this, and thus he especially attacks our faith, instilling doubt in us, causing us to waver, confusing our thoughts, and disturbing our hearts". "We can neither strengthen nor increase our faith except through suffering". "Those who are one in faith are also one in afflictions" ibid p.59


2) Participation in the sacraments or Mysteries of the Church
All the mysteries of the Church are essential for the therapeutic method of the Fathers to be effective in healing us spiritually.

"What is a Holy Mystery? It is a visible ritual performance, through which the invisible saving power, called God's Grace, bestows a wonderful gift upon the recipients.
Baptism: Mystery by which the person is cleansed from all sins, both the original and personal and as a newborn child of God, is incorporated into the Church of Christ.
Christmation: Mystery through which a baptized person is armed by the Holy Spirit with strength and wisdom and other gifts to keep the right faith and live a holy life.
Communion or Eucharist: Mystery in which faithful Christians take the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the visible form of bread and wine. We are taking the living Christ into ourselves, and thus being united with him, we have life everlasting, according to His words 'He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him'John 6:56.
Repentance or Confession: Mystery through which our sins, when confessed, are forgiven and our reconciliation with God is restored.
Priesthood: Mystery in which the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands of bishops, gives grace and authority to the ordained bishop, or priest, to perform other mysteries and to conduct the religious life of the people.
Matrimony: Mystery in which the Holy Spirit unites into one, a Christian man and a woman, who pledge before the priest a life long bond of mutual love and fidelity, and receive the blessing for bearing and educating children.
Unction: Mystery that consists of the priest's prayers and anointing of a sick person with blessed oil, through which God's Grace effects the recovery of the sufferer" please read
The Faith of The Saints by St Nikolai Velimirovich pp.56-71

St Nikolai participated in all of the sacraments of the Church, except of course, in holy Matrimony , because of his calling as monk and bishop.

"Our holy and God-bearing Father, Bishop Nikolai of blessed memory, was born at dawn on December 23, 1880, on the feast of St. Naum of Ochrid, to pious Serbian Orthodox parents, Dragomir and Katarina Velimirovich, in the small village of Lelich, only five miles southwest of Valjevo, a city located in the valley of the Povlen Mountains of western Serbia. Because he was born physically weak, this divine child of God was baptized soon after his birth". The Orthodox Word no.171, 1993, p.162. St Nikolai was brought up in an atmosphere of prayer.
“Every family in a house is regarded as a little religious community. The head of the family presides over this community and prays with it. When I tell you that, I tell you my personal experience. I was born in a village, in a family of forty-five members. We prayed together every Saturday, after the weekly work was over. In the evening my grandfather, the head of the family, called us to prayer. We had no chapel in the house. In bad weather we prayed in the house, in fine weather out of doors, in the yard. The starry heaven served as our temple, the moon as our guardian, the silent breath of the surrounding nature as our inspiration. My grandfather took a chalice with fire and incense, and sprinkled every one of us. Then he came forward, stood before us and bowed deeply, and his example was followed by us all. Then began a silent prayer, interrupted only here and there by a sighing or by some whispering voice. We crossed ourselves and prayed, looking to the earth and looking to the stars. The prayer ended again with deep bowing and with a loud Amen.
When I recall this prayer in my memory, I feel more piety, more humility and more comfort than I ever felt in any of the big cathedrals in either hemisphere where I have had the opportunity of praying”.
From “Serbia in Light and Darkness” p.25 by St Nikolai Velimirovich, at Gutenberg Projecthttp://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19871


http://findingthewaytotheheart.blogspot.com/2009/09/guide-to-heart-st-nikolai-velimirovich.html

True Happiness is Inner Contentment A Homily About Contentment With That Which is Most Necessary To Us by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that." (I Timothy 6:8).

The apostles of God taught others that which they themselves fulfilled in their own lives. When they had food and clothing they were content. Even when it occurred that they had neither food nor clothing they were content. For their contentment did not emanate from the outside but emanated from within. Their contentment was not so cheap as the contentment of an animal, but costly, more costly and more rare. Internal contentment, the contentment of peace and love of God in the heart, that is the contentment of greater men, that was the apostolic contentment.

In great battles, generals are dressed and fed as ordinary soldiers and they do not seek contentment in food nor in clothes but in victory. Victory is the primary principle of contentment of those who battle. Brethren, Christians are constantly in battle, in battle for the victory of the spirit over the material, in battle for conquest of the higher over the lower, man over beast. Is it not, therefore, absurd to engage in battle and not to worry about victory but to concern oneself with external decorations and ornaments? Is it not foolish to give to one's enemies the marks of identification? Our invisible enemy [Satan] rejoices at our vanity and supports us in every vain thought. The invisible enemy occupies us with every possible unreasonable pettiness and idleness only to impose upon our minds the heavy forgetfulness relative to that for which we are here on earth. The invisible enemy [Satan] presents to us the worthless as important, the irrelevant as essential and that which is detrimental as beneficial only in order to achieve victory and to destroy us forever.

O Lord, Holy, Mighty and Immortal, Who created us from the mud and breathed a living soul into mud; do not allow, O Lord, that the mud overwhelm us! Help our spirit that it always be stronger than the earth.

 

http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/01/true-happiness-is-inner-contentment.html

"LORD, BLESS MY ENEMIES, A Prayer by St. Nikolai of Ochrid

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth
and have demolished all my aspirations in the world. Enemies have
made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous
inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter
than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies,
found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your
tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have
spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me
as though I were a dwarf. Whenever I have wanted to lead people,
they have shoved me into the background. Whenever I have rushed
to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened
me from sleep. Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long
and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out. Truly,
enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out
my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, Ο Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even
more bitter against me: so that my fleeing to You may have no return;
so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; so that
absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; so that my heart may
become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger; so
that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; ah, so that I may for
once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the
dreadful web of illusory life. Enemies have taught me to know what
hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world
except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize
that they are not enemies, but cruel friends. It is truly difficult for me
to say who has done me more good and who has done me more
evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, Ο Lord, both
my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does
not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands. For a
son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he
freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my
enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them."
From 'Prayer LXXV, Prayers by the Lake p.142-144, Bishop Nikolai
Velimirovich, Trans. by Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Todor Mitka, 1999
ORTHODOX HERITAGE. APRIL 2005. BROTHERHOOD OF ST. POIMEN Source



Immediately two things seem very clear, I must pray to God with
perseverance to be able to learn to love my enemies, and I must
trust in, and submit to God's Providence as revealed in the
circumstances of my life.
Father Zacharias Zacharou explains, "God's commandments
are beyond man's conception and power to fulfill. We are humbled
from the moment we come in contact with them. The commandments
of God have the specific effect of crushing the arrogance of our 
darkened minds and hearts as to clear the way for grace to dwell 
within us. They shed light on our imperfection, on our spiritual
poverty and weakness, so that we cry out to God from the heart,
asking Him to come and fulfill His own commandments in us. This
is the only way, as He Himself said, "Without Me ye can do nothing."
John 15:5
From 'Remember Thy First Love' p.318, by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou,
Stravopegic Monastery of St John the Baptist, Essex, England, 2010
"The very greatness of loving our enemies is obvious from this simple
example: if we have a misunderstanding with someone and we our-
selves are to blame, how difficult we find it to humble ourselves and 
say, 'Forgive me, I made a mistake' But how much greater the 
crucifixion of ourselves if we are to love someone who has provoked
us, even as our conscience tells us that we are blameless. This, 
however is the way of Christ, Who loved us unto the end even while
we were His enemies. ..
Love for one's enemies, then, is the 'madness' of our faith, 'the
foolishness of the cross'. And woe unto him who does not accept
this foolishness! His is foolishness of a different kind: 'The fool hath
said in his heart, there is no God' Psalm 14:1. There is indeed no God
for him, for he is unmoved at seeing Christ-God with arms outstretched
upon the cross in love for His enemies. Such a fool is so  hardened that
the word of life, the word of the cross, no longer penetrates his heart.
And this word is the one that speaks most eloquently to us of what love
for our enemies truly is." Ibid p.320-321


I am speechless! With pain of heart I acknowledge that I do not yet
possess this love. But I can pray, I can ask, "Lord Jesus Christ, have
mercy on me! Transform my heart of stone. I believe, help my unbelief!"

And while I pray, there is also something else I can do, I can start to
act as if I had this love...

The Our Father: A Devout Interpetation by St. Nikolai Velimirovic

 

OUR FATHER

When the clouds are thundering and the oceans roaring, they call to Thee: “Our Lord!”

When the meteors fall, and fire springs up from the earth, they speak to Thee: “Our Creator!”

When the flowers are opening their buds in the spring, and the swallows are picking up pieces of dry hay with which to make their nests for their young, they sing to Thee: “Our Master!”

And when I life my eyes up to Thy throne I am whispering to Thee: “Our Father!”

There was a time, a long and fearful time, when man too spake to Thee and called Thee: Lord, or Creator, or Master! Yea, when man felt himself to be only a thing among things. But now by merit of Thy First-born and Best Son, we learned Thy right name. Therefore, I too, with Christ, dare to call Thee: “Father!”

If I address Thee as “Lord,” I bow in fear before Thee as a slave amongst an army of slaves. If I call Thee “Creator,” I separate myself from Thee, as night is apart from day, or as a leaf from its tree.

If I look to Thee and say “Master,” I am as a stone among stones, and as a camel among camels.

But if I open my mouth and whisper “Father,” love takes the place of fear, earth seems lifted nearer to Heaven, and I walk with Thee, as with my companions in the garden of this world, and share Thy glory, and sorrows, and strength.

Our Father! Thou art the Father of us all, and I would lessen both Thee and me if I call Thee: My Father!

Our Father! Thou dost not care so much about me, a single individual, as about the whole world. Thy Kingdom is Thy aim, and not a single man. Selfishness cries to Thee: My Father! But Love cries: Our Father!

In the name of all men, my brothers, I pray: Our Father!

In the name of things which surround me and with which Thou hast woven me, I pray to Thee, Our Father!

I pray to Thee, Father of the universe, for one thing only I pray to Thee: let soon dawn the great day when all men, the living and the dead, in harmony with the Angels and stars, and the animals and things, call to Thee by Thy true name: Our Father!

 WHICH ART IN HEAVEN

We always lift up our eyes to Heaven when calling to Thee and cast them down to the earth when remembering our sins. We are always in the depths on account of our weakness and our sins. Thou abidest always in the heights, as befits Thy magnitude and Thy holiness.

Thou art always in Heaven when we are unworthy to receive Thee; but gladly Thou descendest to us, to our earthly housing, when we are longing and opening the door for Thee.

Yet even when Thou descendest to us, still Thou abidest in Heaven; in Heaven Thou livest, over the Heavens Thou walkest, and with the Heavens dost Thou bow down to our valley.

Haven is far, too far, for the man whose mind and heart are turned from Thee, or who laughs when Thy name is spoken. But Heaven is near, so near, for the man who always keeps open the door of his soul and waits for Thy coming, our dearest Guest.

If the most just man is compared with Thee, Thou towerest over him as the firmament of Heaven over the valley of earth; as everlasting life over the realm of death.

We are of destructible and perishable material; how could we stand on the same height with Thee, Immortal Youth and Strength!

Our Father which art always above us, bow down to us and life us up to Thee. What are we but tongues constructed from the dust for the sake of Thy glory? The dust would be silent for ever and could not proclaim Thy name without us, O Lord. How could the dust know Thee but through us? How could Thou do miracles with the dead dust, but through us?

Our Father!  Read more...

 

SAINT NIKOLAI VELIMIROVIC : HOW CAN GOD BE INSIDE MAN?

 

You asked somebody, "where is God"? And you got an answer that God is inside you. And you marvel at this answer. How can that be? Kind of like light in a room, or like fire in a stove. When you are able to feel God within you, you will feel and know that He is inside you, but you will not be able to explain it to someone else. But you will look for images in nature and then you will speak to the other person as I speak to you: God is within me like light in a room, or a like fire in a stove, or like air in the lungs, or like life in every creature, or like force and love and thought inside of man. Of course, these are just images and likenesses, and they cannot express what a man feels when God dwells within him in His fullness. God’s apostle, our spiritual father Paul, wishes for the faithful to be filled with all fullness in God [Eph.3: 19]. God works from within a man in two ways - by helping and by governing.

When helping, God works within a man of medium or weak faith, who only occasionally remembers God and only keeps His Commandments partially. God does not abandon him because he also does not completely abandon God. However, God acts through governing in a man of great faith, who has opened wide the doors of his soul to his Creator. And it is written, "He who opens the door I will enter to him" [Rev.3: 20]. Such a man does not rely on himself at all but only on the Almighty. He feels the presence and the working of the Spirit of God within himself and has great love toward his Lord. And Christ has promised to the one who loves God that God will come and dwell within him. "He who loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him. And we will come to him and will make our abode within him". You will not be able to understand this. If you forget that God is a Spirit, who can enter everything and be everywhere, according to his power, and will. He is high above all matter, like the Sun is high above the earth but its light can enter every open thing. As the apostle says: "One God and the Father of all who is above all and through all, and in us all" [Eph. 4: 6]. He writes this about the holy and the faithful.

But when someone rejects God, starts thinking ugly thoughts and speaking against God, God also leads him. It is the same as if somebody would close off the windows of a room and prevent the light from coming in and illuminating everything. For God’s prophet Samuel said to the self-willed King Saul, "You have rejected the word of the Lord and for this the Lord has rejected you... and the spirit of the Lord abandoned Saul". But even one God abandons a soul of a stubborn man, He does not stop working on him from without, the way he works on water and stone and wood. But if a man remains stubborn and resists God until the end and refuses to repent, then God allows an evil spirit to enter in. Like it is written about Saul when the Spirit of the Lord abandoned him, "and an evil spirit disturbed him from the Lord". Or as it is written, even worse, about Judas the betrayer, "Satan entered into him".

Such people, who rise against God, of course, can never feel God within themselves or say, "God is inside of us". And those who love God, and desire Him, and see Him, and entreat Him to come they feel God within themselves and they can say, "God is within us by His Holy Spirit". Blessed are such bright souls, for they will always reign in the kingdom of Christ. As the Lord has promised to those who love Him saying, "I will take you to myself so that you may be where I am".

SAINT NIKOLAI VELIMIROVIC

Articles from Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

 Life of Newly Canonized Holy Hierarch Saint Nicholai (Velimirovic) of Ochrid and Zicha Serbia

How Can God Be Inside Man?

The following is written by Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich "Be angry and sin not"

St. Nikolai Velimirovich On the Holy Theophany

St Nikolai Velimirovich on the Theophany

Mixing the Unmixable: Sensuality and Theology

Our Misfortunes and the Providence of God

 

The Invincible and Victorious Grace of God

The Nativity of the Theotokos - St. Nikolai Velimirovich

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The salvation of the soul

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

A Homily About Contentment With That Which is Most Necessary To Us by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The Our Father: A Devout Interpetation by St. Nikolai Velimirovic

The Agony of the Church by Saint Nikolaj Velimirovic

St. Nikolai Velimirovich on the Faith of The Centurian

St Nikolai Velimirovich on the Theophany

St Nikolai Velimirovich Part 1 - A Guide to the Heart

The Nativity of the Theotokos - St. Nikolai Velimirovich

To Forgive Is More Admirable Than To Fast

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

On The Mystery Of Ordination

 

---

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Will There Be Salvation For All?

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

 

What Was Christ Writing on the Ground?

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich (1880-1956)

"St. Nikolai Velimirovic on the world economic crisis (this is from the 1929 letter to priest K.)"

From a Homily on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost

By St. Nikolai Velimirovic

What Was Christ Writing On The Ground?

 

 

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Bishop Nikolai, a gifted theologian combining a high level of erudition with the simplicity of a soul steeped in Christ-like love and humility, is often referred to as the “new Chrysostom” for his inspired preaching. As a spiritual father of the Serbian people, he constantly exhorted them to fulfill their calling as a nation: to serve Christ. During WW II he was imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp . He … [Read more...]

The Miraculous Opening of Graves

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Our father among the saints, Nikolai Velimirovich, was a gifted theologian combining a high level of erudition with the simplicity of a soul steeped in Christ-like love and humility, is often referred to as the “new Chrysostom” for his inspired preaching. As a spiritual father of the Serbian people, he constantly exhorted them to fulfill their calling as a nation: to serve Christ. During WW II he was … [Read more...]

As A Lamb To The Slaughter

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Our father among the saints, Nikolai Velimirovich, was a gifted theologian combining a high level of erudition with the simplicity of a soul steeped in Christ-like love and humility, is often referred to as the “new Chrysostom” for his inspired preaching. As a spiritual father of the Serbian people, he constantly exhorted them to fulfill their calling as a nation: to serve Christ. During WW II he … [Read more...]

On Amassing Wealth While Neglecting Grace

  

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich In ignorance, many people labor more to avoid suffering in old age and terminal illness than to avoid the torments of hell in the life after old age and death. Such was the case of an unmarried and avaricious man who, from year to year, and with ever greater passion, amassed for himself unnecessary wealth. When asked why he strove so much to pile up excess wealth he replied: "I am gathering it for my old age. This … [Read more...]

On The Eternal Reign Of The Saints

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich "But the saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" Daniel 7:18 Abased and oppressed in the kingdoms of the world, the saints will reign eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven. The last on earth, they will rejoice as the first in heaven. Hungry, thirsty, barefoot and naked in the transitory kingdoms, they will be like king's sons, satisfied and clothed … [Read more...]

Who Sold Joseph Into Slavery

 

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich Abba John the Short asked the monks: "Who sold Joseph?" [Genesis 37-50] One monk replied: "His brothers." To that, the elder replied: "No brethren, rather his humility. Joseph could have said that he is their brother and could have protested to being sold but he remained silent. His humility, therefore, sold him. Afterward, this same humility made him master over Egypt." In surrendering ourselves to the will … [Read more...]

Truth And Revelation

 t

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich "Brethren, see to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). Brethren, do not let philosophy enslave us, which by conjecture, says that there is no eternal life nor resurrection from the dead. For we do not arrive at the Truth through the conjecture of man, but by God's … [Read more...]

On The Sunday of St. Thomas

  

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Our father among the saints, Nikolai Velimirovich, was a gifted theologian combining a high level of erudition with the simplicity of a soul steeped in Christ-like love and humility, is often referred to as the “new Chrysostom” for his inspired preaching. As a spiritual father of the Serbian people, he constantly exhorted them to fulfill their calling as a nation: to serve Christ. During WW II … [Read more...]

Unyielding and Unbending Regarding True Dogmas

by St Nikolai Velimirovich As much as the saints were so compassionate and lenient toward human weakness, so were they terribly unyielding and unbending in regard to the confession of the true dogmas of the Faith. Thus, St. Nicholas of Myra in Lycia struck Arius with his fist at the First Ecumenical Council [Nicaea, 325 A.D.]. St. Anthony left his desert to come to Alexandria to publicly unmask Arius. St. Euthymius, being greatly … [Read more...]

The Purpose of “Punishment” from God

 

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich God does not punish sinners because it gives Him gratification to destroy men. If that gave Him gratification, He would not have created man out of nothing. He punishes man out of more important constructive reasons, of which two are most apparent to us: First, that by punishment He corrects them and leads him on the true path of salvation; second, to frighten others from sinning. St. Isaac also thinks this … [Read more...]

Homily On The Meekness Of Moses

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3). A chosen man, a great wonderworker, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his miracles, a victor in Egypt, a victor in the wilderness, the leader of a people - how could he not be proud? But if he had become proud, Moses would not have been all that he was. They become proud who think that they do their own … [Read more...]

Christians Do Not Believe in Kismet, Fate or Destiny

 Email    Print

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Christians do not believe in kismet, fate or destiny. Even if God determines the chief lines of our life, He, according to our prayers and merits, can change them. Thus, He prolonged King Hezekiah's life for fifteen years: "Go and say to Hezekiah, thus said the Lord, the God of David Your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold I will add unto your days fifteen years" (Isaiah … [Read more...]