SAYINGS OF
ST. AMBROSE OF OPTINA
St. Ambrose
of Optina
The following
teachings of St. Ambrose were taken from Living Without Hypocrisy: Spiritual
Counsels of the Holy Elders of Optina, Holy Trinity Publications, 2005
Help of God
The Lord
begins to reveal His power when a person sees that all human means for
providing help to the person in need are feeble.
Do not be
greatly disturbed by the arrangement of your fate. Have only the unwavering
desire for salvation and, standing before God, await His help until the time
comes.
Thoughts
The Lord will
deliver you from all improper thoughts; just humble yourself.
During prayer
you must strive to reject all thoughts and, not paying them any attention,
continue the prayer. If the attack of thoughts greatly increases, again you
must implore God’s help against them.
Especially do
not be disturbed by blasphemous thoughts which clearly come from the envy of
the enemy. They occur in a person either because of proud self-opinion or the
condemnation of others.
Obedience
If the work
of redemption of mankind was performed by the obedience unto death of the
incarnate Son of God to the Father, then every appointed position is nothing
other than obedience to God, because the various kinds of offices are allocated
by the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle Paul testifies (1 Cor. 12:28).
Go where they
send you, look at what they show you, and say at all times: “Thy will be done!”
It is better
to be a disciple of a disciple than to live according to your own will. In the
writings of the holy fathers they talk about this. It is not shameful to obey
the advice of your spiritual father, but rather salvific and indispensable; and
he who does not listen to good advice will be punished.
Strive in all
things to live according to the Divine commandments, and remember that the Lord
is present and sees the disposition of your heart. While fulfilling an
obedience, consider that it has been given by the Lord through a person, and
that your salvation depends on your zeal in fulfilling it.
Fasting
Fasting is
praiseworthy and necessary in its time and place: it is better to keep to a
moderate use of good and drink, avoiding satiety, indicated by a slight
heaviness, and on the other hand, avoiding excessive and inappropriate
abstinence. Moderation, the middle path, makes a person more capable of
spiritual activity.
Praise
Whoever
reproaches us, gives us a gift, but whoever praises us, steals from us.
If they will
praise you, you must remain silent—do not say anything.
A true monk
does not reproach and does not praise.
Communion
After
communion you should ask the Lord that you preserve the Gift worthily and that
the Lord help you so that you do not turn backward, i.e., to your former sins.
If we partake
of the Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ with faith and not
condemnation, then all of the snares of our spiritual enemies who harass us
will become ineffectual and useless. We partake without condemnation, firstly,
when we approach the Mysteries with sincere and humble repentance and confession
of our sins, with the firm resolve not to return to them, and secondly, when we
approach without the remembrance of wrongs, having become reconciled in our
heart with all those who have grieved us.
Volition
The work of
our salvation depends upon our volition, on God’s help, and on cooperation. But
the latter will not follow if the first does not precede it.
Simplicity
The Lord
abides in simple hearts. Gold is everywhere and everywhere it shines through,
no matter from what angle; but something else, no matter how much you work with
it, it still is not gold.
Everything
simple is closer to God, but the wise and exalted separate us from God.
Let us live
more simply and God will have mercy on us.
Forgiveness
In the
spiritual life something that is very good is explained wisely at the proper
time. Ask for forgiveness at the proper time in order to reconcile your own
soul and to give this opportunity to others as well. It is not in vain written
in the psalms: Seek peace and pursue it (Ps. 33:15).
The Path to
Salvation
Our
salvation, according to St. Peter Damascene, is located between fear and hope,
so that we do not have self-confidence and do not despair, but with blessed
hope in the mercy and help of God, we strive to conduct a life in fulfillment
of the Divine commandments.
According to
human reasoning, the path of salvation, it would seem, should be a smooth path,
quiet and peaceful; but according to the words of the Gospel, this path is
sorrowful, difficult, and narrow. The Lord said, I came not to send peace on
earth, but a sword (Matt. 10:34).
What does a
person need in order to learn the ways of the Lord? A person needs to be meek
and humble, and then the Lord Himself will teach him how to walk the way of the
Lord.
The earthly
lot of man—sorrow, labor, sickness, struggle, sadness, doubt, confinement,
deprivation of this or that, insult, confusion, the rising of the passions, the
battle with them, victory or exhaustion, or hopelessness and the like. It is
not in vain that the Prophet David said: There is no peace in my bones in the
face of my sins (Ps. 37:4).
The beginning
of salvation consists in rejecting your own will and understanding and doing
the will of God.
From now on
let us strive firmly to not divide the path of Christ into various branches,
but to combine them into one main one: to love the Lord with our whole soul and
to maintain peace and holiness with everyone, not thinking foolishly or
suspiciously about anyone.
The mistake
on our part is that we do not want to submit our will to the all-good Divine
Providence, which indicates to us through circumstances the path beneficial to
our soul. Instead we look for some sort of peaceful way for ourselves which
exists only in dreams, and in reality is nowhere on earth. There will be rest
not for everyone, but only for a few, when they sing: “With the saints give
rest …”
We are all
confused: can’t we arrange our retirement in such a way? And in retirement we
often think: if it weren’t for this inconvenience, if not for these
circumstances, it not for that contrary person, then perhaps it would be easier
and more peaceful for me; but we forget that discomforts often come from within
us, like evil thoughts. Where the passions lie, from there proceeds all of our
discomforts, disagreements, squabbling, and disorder. But may He Who came to
save sinners overcome all of these, if we desire to repent, and become humbled
and submissive.
The
Godly-wise fathers teach us that it is always better to reproach ourselves and
in every unpleasant situation to lay the blame on ourselves, and not on others.
Then we will find rest and spiritual peace, and we will hold fast to the true
path to salvation.
Joy
We must begin
with thanksgiving for everything. The beginning of joy is to be content with
your situation.
Complaining
Especially
beware of complaining, no matter who it is against. Complaining is worse and
more harmful than anything else. It is more beneficial and peaceful to blame
yourself at all times for everything, and not others. You must especially
beware of complaining against Divine Providence which arranges everything good
and beneficial for our souls through the Mother of God. But due to our
faintheartedness, we often are foolishly disturbed and we grieve senselessly
over something arranged for our spiritual benefit.
Self-Love
Our self-love
interferes and opposes every good deed of ours, spoils it and corrupts it, and
it especially hinders the offering of pure prayer to God.
From egoism
and self-love come all misfortunes. They do not like when others touch us and
they get so stirred up that you can’t protect yourself from their thoughts.
They produce disgusting thoughts, like locusts, that devour not only spiritual
fruit, but the leaves and the root itself.
Selfishness
The root of
all evil: selfishness and stubbornness, mixed with envy and seasoned with
delusion of the enemy. Therefore one must in every way strive to extract this
evil root: with humility and obedience, imitating the Lord Himself, Who humbled
Himself to the form of a servant, and was obedient unto crucifixion and death
on the cross.
Self-Reproach
For whatever
you are guilty of before God and man, offer repentance and humble yourself, do
not dare to condemn or judge anyone, but in every unpleasant situation strive
to lay the blame on yourself and not others, either for your sins or that you
caused this sorrow—through carelessness and inexperience.
Consider
everyone to be better than yourself, and reproach and scold yourself in every
way, and do not be ashamed to bow down and ask forgiveness from your neighbor
for your weakness when you have something against him. Consider every day as
possibly your last and, in your thoughts, place yourself more often at the
judgement of God. In your heart unceasingly say the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ,
through the Theotokos have mercy on me a sinner.”
Sorrows
Error and
delusion in man come from the fact that we do not properly understand the
purpose and will of God concerning ourselves. According to His goodness and
mercy, the Lord wants to give us eternal blessedness in heaven, in the Heavenly
Kingdom, but we, in our blindness seek and are more desirous of temporal
happiness and well-being on earth. So the Lord, in His goodness and love for
the human race, instructs us with various sorrows, sicknesses, and other
misfortunes.
If the sun
shines all the time, then everything in the field withers; therefore rain is
needed. If it rains all the time, then everything rots, because wind is needed
to aerate everything. And if there is insufficient wind, then a storm is needed
to wash everything away. In a person, everything happens beneficially at its
proper time, because he is changeable.
A
continuously happy life produces extremely unhappy consequences. In nature we
see that there are not always pleasant springs and fruitful summers, and
sometimes autumn is rainy and winter cold and snowy, and there is flooding and
wind and storms, and moreover the crops fail and there are famine, troubles,
sicknesses and many other misfortunes. All of this is beneficial so that man
might learn through prudence, patience and humility. For the most part, in
times of plenty he forgets himself, but in times of various sorrows he becomes
more attentive to his salvation.
If a person
endures sorrows with submission to the will of God, while confessing his sins,
through this he will be delivered from the threat of eternal torments.
Therefore, it is better to endure troubles here, no matter how difficult they
may be, casting your sorrow upon the Lord and praying to Him with humility,
that He deliver us from faintheartedness and despair, which are worse than any
other sins.
When you see
that you are depressed, do not forget to reproach yourself. Recall how much you
are guilty of before the Lord and before yourself, and admit that you are not
deserving of anything better—and you will immediately feel relief.
Boredom is
the grandfather of despondency, and laziness is the daughter. In order to drive
it away, exert yourself at work, do not be lazy at prayer; then boredom will
pass and zeal will come. And if you add patience and humility to this, you will
spare yourself from much evil.
Giving Thanks
to God
Gratitude in
a Christian is such a great thing that, along with love, it accompanies him
into the future life, where he will celebrate the eternal Pascha with the
righteous.
Wealth
It is foolish
to think that wealth or abundance, or even moderate means would be advantageous
or possibly reassuring. The rich worry even more than the poor and
impoverished. Poverty and being in want are closer to humility and to salvation
if only one who is poor does not become fainthearted, but with faith and hope
relies on the all-good Providence of God. Until this day the Lord has fed us,
and He has the power to do so in the future.
Abundance and
plenty can spoil people. As they say, even animals can become crazy from being
too fat.
St. Ambrose
of Optina
10/22/2015
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