For the lazy to pray

People who are lazy to pray often murmur and complain of fatigue even after ordinary prayer at home, and even more so after church services. "Ah," they say, "how tired I am today, how crowded and stuffy the church was. And why are such long services established? They say so, and it turns out, in their opinion, that in order to fulfill the duty of prayer, it is enough to cross oneself a few times, and the matter is over. Laziness to prayer, rapid fatigue after it, and murmuring occur not at all because the prayer or service is long, but because there is no strong love for God in the lazy. There is no prayer in them, there is no grace of God with them, and there is no grace, there is no tenderness, and there is no tenderness, there is no zeal for prayer. If such people had a burning love for God, the grace of God would also become inherent in them, and with it there would appear in them both tenderness and zeal for prayer." Reaching out to the supreme podvig, – says Schema-monk Mark about Venerable Seraphim, – he became zealous to stand on a rock, in imitation of St. Simeon the Stylite. There were two stones on which Father Seraphim stood: one was in his cell, and the other was in the forest halfway from the monastery to his cell; he stood from morning to evening, descending from the stone only to take food, which was brought to him by his zealous brother from the monastery; on the other, after the shortest rest, he stood from evening to morning with his hands uplifted in grief, calling out to the Lord with the voice of the publican: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." This podvig he carried out so secretly that during his standing no one knew about it. Afterwards he revealed this to some of the brethren. One brother, struck by amazement at such a feat of his, objected to the elder that it surpassed human strength. The elder, pointing out to him the example of the Monk Simeon the Stylite, added: "This ascetic of piety stood on a pillar for forty-seven years, and do my labors resemble his podvig?" Then this brother asked the elder: "Of course, in this podvig you felt the help of strengthening grace?" – "Otherwise there would be a lack of human strength," answered the elder. "Inwardly I was strengthened and comforted by this Heavenly gift, which descends from above from the Father of Lights." And after a pause, he added: "When tenderness is in the heart, then God is with us." Do you hear, lazy ones, what St. Seraphim says, who stood in prayer on a stone for a thousand days and a thousand nights? "Without grace," he says, "human strength would not be enough. I was inwardly strengthened and comforted by this Heavenly gift, which descends from above from the Father of Lights." And further: "When tenderness is in the heart, then God is with us." Thus, it is not because you are lazy to pray, tired after it, and murmuring because prayer or service is long, but because the grace of God is not with you, or, rather, there is no love for God in you, for grace is acquired only through love, as the Lord says: "Those who love me I love, and those who seek me will find me" (Proverbs 8:17). and then you will have zeal for prayer, and there will be no fatigue, no laziness, no murmuring. For when there is a burning love for God in your souls, then your mind and heart will reverently aspire to God, and you will always not only be fervent for prayer, but you will also carry within yourselves unceasing prayer, which the Apostle commands us to have: "Pray with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18). And may God grant you to acquire such a prayer. Amen.

It is good to pray to the saints of God for deliverance from despondency and despair

There are days in which we not only give way to despondency, but are also close to complete despair. What to do here? Of course, nothing more than first of all to turn with prayer to God, Who Himself calls the sorrowful to Himself and Himself promises them His help. Call upon Me in the day of your trouble, and I will punish you (Psalm 49:15). After praying to God in the days of despondency and despair, it is good to turn with prayer to the saints of God, for examples show that even the saints of God give help and show mercy to such unfortunate people, and drive away despondency and despair from them. In order to convince you of the latter truth, we will give you the following example.A certain brother of the Sarov hermitage named John entered the monastery at the end of his military service and according to the monastery rite underwent various obediences with all zeal. He had great faith in Father Seraphim, enjoyed his mutual love and guidance, and himself, as far as possible, tried to imitate his God-pleasing life. In spite of the advanced years of his years, he excelled in many virtues: in fasting and prayer, in patience and love, in humility and obedience – and he was especially compassionate to all those who sorrow and suffer. After the death of his mentor and benefactor, the monk John secluded himself in his wretched cell and was in it a living dead, asceticizing in fasting, prayer and monastic labors. Having acquired from the Lord the gift of humility and warmth of heart, he firmly endured all the intrigues of the enemy, with which the enemy tried to distract him from the path of salvation.Once, by God's permission, the spirit of malice drew him into such an abyss of despondency and despair, that the ascetic decided to take his own life, and only a strong faith in Father Seraphim saved him from the greatest danger. In a moment of heartfelt sorrow, faith in Father Seraphim shone upon him, as it were, and he cried out in a loud voice: "Father Seraphim, help me!" As soon as he had time to utter these words, a saint of God appeared to him near the most holy icons in his cell, as if he were alive, and, blessing him, said: "My joy, I am always with you. Take courage, do not lose heart, but fight against the enemy of the devil." These words dispelled all the darkness of despondency in the monk, and from that time on he became completely calm in spirit. After this wondrous visit, he began to asceticize even more zealously, and finally he successfully completed his podvig and reposed in the Lord.Thus, in despondency and a situation close to despair, it is good to turn to God with prayer after prayer, as you see, to the saints of God. The example of St. Seraphim, who appeared to a desperate monk, clearly convinces us of the truth that the saints, illumined by the light of the face of God, see us, see what feelings we have for them and what we desire from them, and are always ready to give help and mercy to those who pray to them with love. The fact that the holy saints of God, who themselves have traveled a narrow, strait, and sorrowful path on earth, and therefore know from their own experience the need for supreme help for a person in need, can be thought that they will never refuse such a person if he asks them for it. Yes, there is no doubt that the saints preserve love for us even in the world beyond the grave, that their prayer for us can do much with God (James 5:16), and therefore, finally, there is no doubt that even in difficult circumstances of life, and always, we must pray to them.

On the meek treatment of neighbors

Unfortunately, brethren, in most cases we can in no way boast of our treatment and treatment of our neighbors. In dealing with the higher, we often have hypocrisy, flattery, deceit, and man-pleasing; when dealing with the inferior – contempt, pride, arrogance, arrogance. This is not good, as the Apostle James says: "If you keep the royal law, according to the Scriptures, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well." But if you act with respect to persons, then you commit sin, and you are transgressors before the law (James 2:8-9). But how? Yes, treat them as the saints of God did, and this will be the best. By their example they will teach you how to treat your neighbors properly, and then you will treat them very differently from what you have treated them up to now. In order to confirm our last words by our own deeds, we will now give you an example from one of the saints of God. A special feature of his demeanor and conversations was love and humility. Whoever came to him, whether a poor man in rags or a rich man in light clothes, with whatever needs someone came, in whatever sinful state his conscience was, he kissed everyone with love, bowed to the ground to everyone, and, blessing, he himself kissed the hands even of uninitiated people. He did not lay a heavy burden on anyone, bearing the cross of Christ himself with all his sorrows.He also spoke to some rebukes, but meekly, dissolving his word with humility and love. He tried to stir up the voice of conscience with advice, pointed out the ways of salvation, and often in such a way that his listener did not understand at first that it was a matter of his soul. Afterwards, the power of the word, salted with grace, certainly produced its effect.Neither the rich nor the poor, nor the simple, nor the learned, nor the nobles, nor the commoners, departed from him without proper instruction; there was enough living water for everyone, flowing from the lips of the former silent, humble and wretched elder.The people, especially in the last ten years of his life, flocked to him every day as many as thousands. Every day, with a large gathering of newcomers to Sarov, about two thousand people or more came to his cell. He was not burdened by this and found time to converse with everyone for the benefit of his soul. In brief words, he explained to everyone what was useful to him, often revealing the innermost thoughts of those who turned to him. Everyone felt his benevolent, truly kindred love and its strength, and streams of tears sometimes burst out even from people who had a firm and stony heart. And does not this appeal of the monk justify our words that you should treat your neighbors in the same way as the holy saints of God treated them? What a wonderful example to follow! He teaches us to treat everyone as brothers, not to strike anyone with cruel reproaches and reprimands, not to lay heavy burdens on anyone, to dissolve our word with humility and love, and to find time to converse with everyone for the benefit of his soul. Finally, he urges us to achieve that everyone will feel from our treatment of them our benevolent, truly kindred love and its strength, and that even cold-hearted people will be touched by our conversations. What can be said about thousands of others like it regarding the treatment and treatment of neighbors? But there are truly thousands of them, for all the saints lived by love, and were saved by love.Learn, we repeat, from the saints how one should behave towards one's neighbors, how to talk and deal with them, and you will always receive from them salvific lessons, breathing with love, compassion and mercy. Amen.

Oathbreakers are punished by God

The Most Wise Son of Sirach teaches about oaths and oaths, among other things: "A man who often swears will be filled with iniquity, and the scourge will not depart from his house" (Sir. 23:11). What do these words mean? It means that the Lord is angry with perjurers and with those who incite others to perjury, and they will not escape punishment from Him. Is this true? In the life of St. Seraphim, as if in confirmation of this, the following incident is told: one priest and a deacon lived in great disagreement with each other and suspected each other of everything. Once they happened to be together in the same house. The priest noticed something in the deacon's behavior that was not befitting his spiritual rank, and immediately informed the bishop. Meanwhile, the deacon begged the householder, who was a witness to his unworthy act, to conceal the essence of the case before the examining magistrate, and his imaginary innocence was confirmed by an oath. Soon after this event, the deacon went to the Sarov hermitage and, after praying, went to Father Seraphim, but the clairvoyant elder, coming out of the cell to meet the deacon, instantly turned his back to him, saying: "Go, come away from me, this is not my business." The saddened deacon remained at the door of the cell and, in response to a question from a monk who approached, told about what had happened to him, as well as about the harsh reception of the elder. Then the brother who talked with him advised him first to clear his conscience before his spiritual father and then to go to Father Seraphim. But this time the elder again drove him out with anger, saying: "Go, go, perjurer, and do not serve."Returning from Sarov, the deacon told his family about this, but did nothing to cleanse his conscience. When it was his turn to serve in the church, then, while pronouncing the words of the psalm: "Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise" (Psalm 50:17), he suddenly became numb and felt as if his tongue had been taken away. From that time on, for three years, as soon as he entered the church, he immediately lost his command of the language, while in another place he could speak fluently. By this difficult path he finally came to repentance, and the Lord forgave him.When on the day of the Ascension of the Lord he began to pray, his tongue parted from muteness, and he began to pronounce words clearly. But what does this mean for us? That when necessity requires us to take an oath or oath, we must approach it with reverence and circumspection, thinking of the importance of the matter. Yes, brethren, let us not forget that if it is terrible to lie before a king of men, then how much more terrible is it to lie before God, the King of heaven and earth, the Judge of the living and the dead! Amen.

What benefits does reading the word of God bring us?

We all know that it is necessary to read the word of God and learn from it, as the Lord says: Search the Scriptures, for you think through them to have eternal life (John 5:39). But here is the question: is there any benefit to us from reading the word of God? Does it give us any benefits? Does it have any beneficial effect on us? St. Seraphim of Sarov, as if answering the above questions, says the following: "Here I am, wretched Seraphim, I go through the Gospel every day. On Monday I read Matthew from beginning to end, on Tuesday – from Mark, on Wednesday – from Luke, on Thursday – from John, but in the last days I separate the Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles and do not miss a single day, so as not to read the Gospel and the Epistle of the day and the saint. Through this, not only my soul, but also my body itself is delighted and enlivened by the fact that I converse with the Lord, keep in my memory His life and sufferings, day and night I praise, praise and thank my Redeemer for all His mercies poured out to the human race and to me, the unworthy." which is therefore changed by a Divine change... It is very useful to read the word of God and read the entire Bible intelligently. For one such exercise, in addition to other good deeds. The Lord will not abandon man with His mercy and will fulfill his gift of understanding. And when a man enriches his soul with the word of God, then he is filled with the understanding of what is good and what is evil." The reading of the word of God gives warmth, which produces tears, from which a person is warmed and filled with spiritual gifts, which delight the mind and heart more than any word." As we have just heard, it delights and enlivens not only the soul, but also the body itself, arouses feelings of praise, praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, enlightens the mind, brings down God's mercy upon man, and produces grace-filled tears. And as a result, we must diligently read the word of God and learn from it, and we will read and learn. Let us read it with reverence and with prayer to God to grant us the grace of understanding; let us read with a sincere desire to receive from the word of God instruction in the faith and encouragement to a pious and virtuous life, and, finally, let us read with humility and with a constant desire to know the will of God and to learn piety and virtue. My eyes have vanished into Thy word (Psalm 118:82). Comfort me in my humility, for Thy word live me (Psalm 118:50). I will rejoice in Thy words, for thou hast gained much gain (Psalm 118:162). Amen.

Blasphemers of the saints are punished by God

People of this age, especially in recent times, do not consider it worth blaspheming holy and virtuous people. This, they say, who is called a saint, did not live at all as they write about him, there were such and such sins behind him, this one for his deeds deserves not praise, but blame, etc. What do you think, brethren, will blasphemy against the saints pass for nothing for such people or not? Know that they will never pass, and not only in the future life, but also in the present.One lady had an ardent love for Venerable Seraphim, and out of this love she wished to have a portrait of him in her home, which she purchased. Once this lady was visited by an acquaintance of hers, an educated man, and seeing the image of Father Seraphim hanging on the wall, he asked: "Whose image is this?" The lady replied that it was a depiction of the great ascetic, hermit and hermit of the Sarov monastery, Hieromonk Seraphim, and she thought that her story would move her acquaintance to also revere the elder. But it turned out quite differently: instead of reverence and even instead of proper decency, this gentleman began to mock Father Seraphim contemptuously in the crudest terms. When he returned home, he was suddenly struck by such a strong blow of paralysis that his face turned back, and his tongue became numb. His family, seeing such a terrible misfortune, immediately turned to the lady with a tearful request to visit him in such grief, and she did not hesitate to come to him. She found the family in bitter tears, and the blasphemer himself in the most painful form: disfigured and voiceless, like a corpse, he lay on the bed – it was frightening to see him in such a situation.The first thing the lady did was to impress upon this family at once that it was necessary to convince the sick man to turn to Father Seraphim with faith himself and ask his forgiveness for the impudent blasphemy against him. Apparently, he agreed to this. Then the lady advised to invite a priest and serve a pannikhida for the deceased Elder Seraphim. As soon as this was done, suddenly, to everyone's amazement and joy, the disfigured face of the blasphemer returned to its former appearance, but the impudent tongue remained forever bound and silent, as if in testimony to God's just punishment for the reproach of the righteous elder. Look, you would not have to suffer the same fate as the blasphemer of Venerable Seraphim. And that you will not escape the wrath of God in the life to come, this is certain, for the word of God is true: Woe to you who laugh now! For ye shall weep and weep (Luke 6:25). Amen.

To the superiors

Some people are given power over others. What is this, honor or feat? Not honor, brethren, but podvig, and a very difficult podvig. As you know, it is difficult to have power only over oneself, it is difficult to control only one's mind, heart, habits, will, desires, feelings; Here, according to the Apostle, the ruler must be all things for all: "For all I have become all things, that I might save at least some" (1 Corinthians 9:22). And how to achieve all this? Where to get all this? Yes, the service of the commander is hard, and the rods handed over to the commanders are too heavy. But what to do? Once the staff has been handed over, one must walk with it; once authority has been given, one should not flee from it, but look upon it as the work of God, for it is said: "There is no authority except from God" (Rom. 13:1). And then, of course, you need to try to lighten the yoke of power for yourself and at the same time make your power useful to others. How to make it more useful? In our opinion, it is best to take lessons from wise, experienced and holy men. They, who were themselves tempted, are better able than others to help you, who are in authority, who are tempted (Heb. 2:18). Listen to what St. Seraphim of Sarov tells you: "A child-loving mother does not live to please herself, but to please her children. He bears the infirmities of infirm children with love; He cleanses those who have fallen into impurity, washes them quietly, peacefully, dresses them in white and new vestments, puts on shoes, warms them, nourishes them, provides for them, comforts them, and on all sides tries to calm their spirits, so that she will never hear the slightest cry of them, and such children are well disposed towards their mother. Thus, every abbot must live not to please himself, but to please his subordinates: he must be lenient to their weaknesses, bear the infirmities of the infirm with love, heal sinful illnesses with a plaster of mercy, raise up those who have fallen through crimes with meekness, cleanse those who are soiled by the filth of some vice quietly... to clothe with teaching and exemplary life in the garments of virtue; to watch over them unceasingly, to console them in every way, and to protect their peace and tranquillity from all sides, so that not the slightest cry of theirs, below murmuring, may ever be heard, and then they will zealously strive to bring peace and rest to the superior." And so we have just given you a lesson from one of them, but only this lesson, if you accept it, can greatly ease for you both the yoke of your power and the burdens of your service in general. What, for example, could be better than the charity he teaches? After all, according to the words of the monk, as we have just heard, it leads to the fact that "the subordinates will zealously strive to bring peace and tranquility to their master. And for the latter, of course, it should be dearer, more pleasant, and more comforting. Wherefore learn from the saints how to treat your subordinates and how to use your power, and it will be good for you. Amen.