A SPIRITUAL MAN NEVER LOSES HOPE (From the Conversations with Elder Pavlos (+March 1, 2020)*

For the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

A SPIRITUAL MAN NEVER LOSES HOPE

(From the Conversations with Elder Pavlos (+March 1, 2020)

“The goal of an Orthodox Christian is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. To become a good person is not the goal, and there are very good people outside of Christianity. To become a spirit-bearing person, to receive the Holy Spirit within yourself, is something different. The main thing is to purify yourself from the passions, because the Holy Spirit cannot enter into a heart polluted by them. There is no nationalism in Orthodoxy—there is neither Greek, nor Jew. What’s important is how much you’ve liberated yourself from the passions.”

—We often hear: “spirit-bearing man,” “spiritual”—how do we understand these? Are there such people today?

—For secular people, this is a person of great knowledge, an inspired person—in a word, “intelligentsia.” For us, for believers, for those who labor in good podvigs in Christ, it is the man who has become a temple of the Holy Spirit, His dwelling place. That is, literally a “spirit-bearing person”—he who bears the Holy Spirit within himself. By boundless Divine love, the Holy Spirit takes up abode in a man. Such a man experientially knows the grace-giving properties of the Holy Spirit: peace of mind, love, long-suffering, faith, hope, which he will never lose. Despondency and hopelessness are completely alien and incomprehensible for him.

A person who is “spiritual” in the worldly sense of the word can despair, that is, lose hope (we have the examples of poets who committed suicide at a young age). For us, it is not this way, because hope is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, Who has lifegiving power and gives us life.

The main difference between the understanding of “spirituality” in the worldly and Christian senses is that a Christian experiences the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and His gifts and connects his life with the life of the Holy Spirit. A secular person can be called “spiritual,” but he in no way connects his life with the Holy Spirit.

The acquisition of the Holy Spirit also manifests outwardly: Such a person has a collected mind, simplicity of reasoning, and expresses his thoughts in few words and deeply, like the Holy Fathers. After all, the words of the Holy Fathers are very rich, especially in the patericons: what deep thoughts they express in short sentences! Therefore, the patericons do not wear us out, but are pleasant to read.

A spiritual person experiences the presence of the Holy Spirit. He receives His gifts: sanctification, a pure life, love, hope, faith; and often the gift of clairvoyance—being enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he sees what may happen in the future.

And there are such people today.

—How can we become a spiritual person and acquire the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Is there a recipe?

—Of course—it’s the spiritual recipe given to us by Christ. The Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, and the saints followed it. The Church recorded it in the sacred books, in the patericons, in the canons of the Ecumenical Councils, in its daily life. And everyone can act according to it and see its effect on themselves.

The goal of an Orthodox Christian is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. To become a good person is not the goal, and there are very good people outside of Christianity. To become a spirit-bearing person, to receive the Holy Spirit within yourself, is something different. The main thing is to purify yourself from the passions, because the Holy Spirit cannot enter into a heart polluted by them. There is no nationalism in Orthodoxy—there is neither Greek, nor Jew. What’s important is how much you’ve liberated yourself from the passions.

The Holy Spirit seeks a pure heart and takes up abode within it. Such a person lives continually in the presence of the Holy Spirit: He finds inner silence and reconciles himself, first of all, with God, and with himself and others. He who has a pure heart does not divide people into good and bad. What’s important to him is not “real reality,” but “spiritual reality.” He hopes to be saved. He never despairs, does not lose hope in difficult circumstances. Such is a grace-filled, spirit-bearing person.

…

NO ONE IS SAVED WITHOUT TEMPTATION

—Why are there so many temptations in fasting?

—In the Patericon, one holy elder says: “If we remove temptations from our lives, no one will be saved!” The Lord doesn’t send us temptations. He allows them for our own good. Temptations are unpleasant for us, but they help move us forward. Without them, a person cannot become spiritual. Thanks to them, we stand up to fight against evil, against sin, and we begin to pray. Temptations awaken us from sleep.

Elder Paisios says that temptations are necessary to cultivate a good mind. We may think, “He hates me.” Don’t think like this! How does he hate you? Man is not created for hatred. Remember that our enemy is our benefactor. He who does us harm causes us to turn to God. According to St. John Chrysostom: “There are no offending people; there are only those who are offended.”

*See the full Article - ARCHIMANDRITE PAVLOS (BOUGIOURAS; † MARCH 1, 2020): “DO NOT JUDGE!”Life and Counsels of the Confessor of Mt. Sinai by Alexandra Nikiforova at https://orthochristian.com/129813.html

Or FMSM News Blog, with additional pictures: http://www.mountsinaimonastery.org/…/archimandrite-pavlos-l…