Μη χάνης το θάρρος σου, παιδί μου. Αι στερήσεις, που υπομένομεν, αποβλέπουν εις το να μας ετοιμάσουν την αιώνιαν απόλαυσιν του Ουρανού! Ημείς εν γνώσει μας υστερούμεθα τα ηδονικά της ζωής αυτής δια την αγάπην του χριστού μας. Αν θέλωμε τα απολαμβάνομεν ελεύθερα, αλλά εκούσια δεν τα δεχόμεθα, δια να μας δοθή η ερασμία αγάπη του υπεργλυκυτάτου Ιησού μας.
Ημείς, κόρη μου, έχομεν Νυμφίον αθάνατον και αιώνιον, που διατηρεί την δόξαν της παρθενίας αθάνατον. Άγγελοι εκλήθημεν να γίνωμε, κόρη μου αγαπητή, και δεν θα στερηθώμεν τα ηδονικά, τα αμαρτωλά; Δεν του αξίζει του Ιησού μας να στερηθώμεν τα βρωμερά δια την θεϊκήν Του αγάπην;
Λοιπόν αγωνίσου αξίως της κλήσεως με ανδρείαν. Οι μάρτυρες έχυσαν το αίμα των δια την αγάπην του Χριστού μας, και ημείς να μη αντισταθώμεν εις μίαν συχαμεράν ηδονήν, κάλπικην;
Δόξασε τον Θεόν εις το σώμα σου και εις την ψυχήν σου. Αγών μέχρι εσχάτων. Έρωσο, κόρη μου.
Ο Πατέρας σου.
Γέροντας Εφραίμ Φιλοθεΐτης
Sin, as a hook camouflaged with the suitable pleasure, comes craftily as something sweet and charming to the tongue in order to attack the soul. However, he who has been lured by the momentary pleasure and its comfort will find it more bitter than poison and more destructive than a pestilent disease in his soul.
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
Παιδί μου, αν και πολλά της ασθενείας σου είναι από παρακοήν, εν τούτοις όμως διαφαίνεται εν σοι η αγάπη του Θεού. Πολύ σε αγαπά ο Θεός, δια τούτο και σε παιδεύει. Την πολύτιμον σωτηρίαν σου κατεργάζεται ο Θεός δια μέσου των δοκιμασιών σου, θέλοντας να σου ελαφρύνη το φορτίον και να γεμίση το σκεύος της ψυχής σου με το δώρον της μεγάλης ελπίδος, δια την κατάκτησιν του ουρανού και την αιώνιόν σου παραμονήν πλησίον του Χριστού, που αγάπησες φλογερά!
Λοιπόν τι μένει πλέον; Υπομονή εις το έπακρον, θάρρος εις την δοκιμασίαν σου και μία απέραντος ευχαριστία εις τον άριστον Κυβερνήτην των ψυχών μας, την οποίαν ευχαριστίαν θα συνοδεύη και μία χαριτωμένη ταπείνωσις. Βάδιζε, παιδί μου, τον ανηφορικόν δρόμον του ιερού Γολγοθά με τον Σταυρόν, που σου έδωσε το ευεργετικώτατον χέρι Εκείνου, που σε αγαπά και σε παιδεύει, δια να μεταλάβης της αγιότητος Αυτού. Βάρος αιωνίου δόξης κατεργάζεται η θλίψις και η ασθένεια εις την ψυχήν, η οποία υπομένει και ευχαριστεί τον Θεόν.
Γέροντας Εφραίμ Φιλοθεΐτης
My blessed child in Christ, I am praying that the great Physician of souls and bodies grant you your full health, in accordance with His holy will. There were holy men, my child, who were gravely ill, yet in their illness they healed others. Oh, how much God loved them!
An exceptional sign of God’s love for a soul is when He saddles it with illnesses or afflictions. Pain of body or soul purifies, cleanses, and brightens the garment of the soul from every stain of sin. There was one holy monastic father who was always ill. It happened once that he was not ill for a period of time, and he complained, saying: “Ah, my God, why didst Thou forget me and not consider me worthy of Thy visitation?” This blessed man yearned for illnesses because he knew from his experience how much the soul benefits from them.
Pain brings the unrepentant sinner to repentance, whereas for the righteous, it fortifies the strength of his soul and becomes a mighty wall around him so that he does not stray into sin. Just as a sick person gladly submits himself to the painful treatment of the doctor because he knows his aim, similarly we should endure with gratitude and knowledge all things that befall us involuntarily as sent from the kind hand of God for our salvation.
“The athlete is tested by the stadium, the captain by the storm and tempest, the general by the battle, the magnanimous by misfortune, and the Christian by temptation,” says St. Basil the Great. Just as the earth becomes productive when the plow tills it deeply, likewise the soul becomes fruitful in virtues when pain and illness visit it frequently and intensely!
The more pain and affliction a person has, the more beautiful his crown becomes. And if there are many and various pains that oppress him, then the crown of glory is adorned with many flowers and pearls. Gold has to pass through the furnace to become purified, and the soul of a Christian has to pass through the furnace of temptations to receive the seal of eternal glory in the royal treasury of Christ the King.
If holy and blessed people passed through the furnace of pain and were benefited, how much more pain suits us and how much benefit we will derive from it when we endure it with knowledge and gratitude! It is when we see pain oppressing us, physically or spiritually, that we should consider that we are loved by God and that He has placed us in the ranks of His chosen.
O blessed chastening of the Lord, I love you. But I am unworthy of such a gift, for I live in comfort and shall become a victim of the eternal fire. So, my child, I envy you because you are suffering and will obtain eternal repose! Your crown is decorated and beautified for your eternal glory! Endure for the Lord’s sake until the end. Bear your cross well lest you drop it, and you can be sure that you will be glorified with Christ eternally! Pray for me, too, lest I be shut out of paradise as one who does not practice what he preaches.
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
It is very consoling, my child, that each one of us will receive his reward based on how much he has labored for the love of Christ. It involves much labor to bear the burden of souls in the present era which is ruled by egotism and self will. Let us not lose our courage; for invisibly present is Jesus, Who will rebuke the stormy sea of trials and bring the calm of grace. Struggle upon the raging waves; call upon the only all-powerful God: “Lord, Lord, look down from heaven and behold my trials and perfect my soul to do Thy will, for Thou art my God.” (cf. Ps. 79:15-16 ).
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
A time will come, the hour will strike, the moment will arrive for these eyes to close and for the soul’s eyes to open. Then we shall see a new world, new beings, a new creation, a new life without end. Its title is: “Infinite Immortality,” the great homeland, incorruptible and everlasting—the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of the firstborn, where redeemed souls, which have been washed of their impurity by the blood of the innocent Lamb, will dwell!
Who is able to express in words or with a pen the joy, the exaltation, the bliss of those blessed saved souls? Blessed are they who have died in the Lord, for the riches of God’s goodness awaits them. Blessed is he who wins the “lottery” for the heavenly festival, for riches that cannot be taken away, for the glory that God Himself has described: “sons of the Most High, children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” Before the Passion, the Lord entreated His heavenly Father on behalf of His disciples and those who would believe through them: “Father, I desire that they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.” (Jn. 17:24 ).
How great is Jesus’ love for us! He took on human nature and was hanged upon the Cross, giving us freedom and paying off our debt to His heavenly Father. And as a dear brother, He makes us worthy of jointly inheriting the infinite wealth of His heavenly Father! Oh, what love for us! Oh, how cold we are to Him! Oh, how ungrateful I am towards my Benefactor! My God, my God, have pity on me, and do not condemn me as I deserve because of my deeds!
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
Μη χάνης το θάρρος σου, παιδί μου. Αι στερήσεις, που υπομένομεν, αποβλέπουν εις το να μας ετοιμάσουν την αιώνιαν απόλαυσιν του Ουρανού! Ημείς εν γνώσει μας υστερούμεθα τα ηδονικά της ζωής αυτής δια την αγάπην του χριστού μας. Αν θέλωμε τα απολαμβάνομεν ελεύθερα, αλλά εκούσια δεν τα δεχόμεθα, δια να μας δοθή η ερασμία αγάπη του υπεργλυκυτάτου Ιησού μας.
Ημείς, κόρη μου, έχομεν Νυμφίον αθάνατον και αιώνιον, που διατηρεί την δόξαν της παρθενίας αθάνατον. Άγγελοι εκλήθημεν να γίνωμε, κόρη μου αγαπητή, και δεν θα στερηθώμεν τα ηδονικά, τα αμαρτωλά; Δεν του αξίζει του Ιησού μας να στερηθώμεν τα βρωμερά δια την θεϊκήν Του αγάπην;
Λοιπόν αγωνίσου αξίως της κλήσεως με ανδρείαν. Οι μάρτυρες έχυσαν το αίμα των δια την αγάπην του Χριστού μας, και ημείς να μη αντισταθώμεν εις μίαν συχαμεράν ηδονήν, κάλπικην;
Δόξασε τον Θεόν εις το σώμα σου και εις την ψυχήν σου. Αγών μέχρι εσχάτων. Έρωσο, κόρη μου.
Ο Πατέρας σου.
Γέροντας Εφραίμ Φιλοθεΐτης
Every night, review how you passed the day, and in the morning review how the night passed, so that you know how your soul’s accounts are doing. If you see a loss, try to regain it through caution and forcefulness. If you see a profit, glorify God, your invisible helper. Do not let your conscience prick you for long, but quickly give it whatever it wants, lest it take you to the judge and the prison (cf. Mt. 5:25 ). Does your conscience want you to attend to your prayer rule* and regain prayer? Give it these things, and behold, you are delivered from going to the judge. Do not weaken the saving voice of your conscience by disregarding it, because later you will regret it to no avail.
*Prayer rule (κανών )
Α prayer rule consists of the prayers and metanoias** which one does daily, under the guidance of one’s spiritual father.
** Metanoia (μετάνοια )
Ιn its primary sense, «μετάνοια» (pronounced «meh-tah΄-nee-ah» ) means repentance, literally, “a change of mind”. However, it can also mean the specific act of making the sign of the cross, followed by a bow either down to the ground or to the waist. It is a gesture of reverence, worship, respect, or repentance. A typical prayer rule includes a number of metanoias done while saying the Jesus prayer. Some translators use the word “prostration” for this term.
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
Fasting is not just abstention from food, but primarily strict abstinence of the senses. When the senses are fed by external things, they transmit a corresponding amount of poison to the nous and the heart, which kills the poor soul’s life in God. Our Watchful Fathers have so much to tell us about the holy fasting of the senses. Their entire teaching is mainly directed at the purification of the nous from sinful fantasies and thoughts, and the purification of the heart from feelings that defile it. Furthermore, they teach that we must eradicate every evil in its beginning to keep the soul clean.
As soon as any evil thought whatsoever approaches even slightly, it is absolutely necessary that we drive it away and say the Jesus prayer right away. And when in this manner we confront the thoughts coming from the senses and the devil, very soon we will feel the joy and the profit derived from the fasting of the senses. If Eve had restrained her sense of vision, she would not have poisoned the offspring of her womb, that is, all the people who were born from her. In short, abstinence with the senses saves man from hell.
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
