Recompense is Given, not for Labour, but for Humility

Letters of schema-hegumen John (Alexeev)

Letter 100

Schema-hegumen John (Alexeev)

7.6.1954

The most God-loving handmaid of God T.

I wrote you about the way to accomplish your prayer rule in your family life, but now I am writing you about spiritual life.

St. Agathon said: ‘Spiritual life is like a tree: bodily labours, (podvig) are leaves, and spiritual deeds are fruits’. The Holy Scripture says: every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matt.3,10). Generally speaking, asceticism is not a virtue by itself but a tool to reach the virtue. If there are not the fruits: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Gal 5, 22), the physical ascetic deeds are in vain. St. Barsonuphius the Great said: ‘if the inner work does not come to our assistance after God, then one is laboring in vain on the outward self.’ Not many at all are familiar with spiritual life and got stuck at the letter that kills the spirit such as: ‘touch not; taste not; handle not’ (Col 2, 21)

St Maximus the Confessor said: ‘Do not exercise much on the outer work but bring all your strengths to do the inner work’. St John of the Ladder says: ‘The present generation is seriously corrupt and all full of pride and hypocrisy. In bodily labours it perhaps reaches the level of our ancient Fathers, but it is not graced with their gifts, though I think nature never had such need of spiritual gifts as now. And we have got what we deserve. For God is manifested not in labours but in simplicity and humility’. St Isaac the Syrian says: ‘If you practice an excellent virtue without perceiving the taste of its aid, do not marvel; for until a man becomes humble, he will not receive a reward for his labour. Recompense is given, not for labour, but for humility’.

One day, while St Antony was sitting with a certain Abba, a virgin came up and said to the Elder: 'Abba, I fast six days of the week and I repeat by heart portions of the Old and New Testament daily'. To which the Elder replied: 'Does poverty mean the same to you as abundance?' 'No', she answered. 'Or dishonour the same as praise? ''No, Abba.' 'Are your enemies the same for you as your friends?' ' No', she replied. At that the wise Elder said to her: 'Go, get to work, you have accomplished nothing.'

Oh yes – she was so deeply involved into fasting and learning the Holy Scripture, but never learnt spiritual life, the thing that is taught by the Holy Scripture. Poor thing, she is working in vain. The Pharisees knew by heart the whole Scripture but did not live after the Scripture – and that was the reason they did not know the truth and crucified Our Lord. The spiritual science is more important than any other science, for it teaches us about God and eternal life after death. The most important thing in the spiritual life is prayer, for we are very fragile and cannot get any virtue without God’s help. But there also should be hard work, and the success depends on God’s grace. The grace helps and keeps us, but not because we work hard but for our humility, as I have mentioned before.

I will say a few words about prayer: you ought not to represent in your mind any kind of image, either of Our Lord, or of Mother of God, or the saints. The mind should be contained in the words of the prayer and your attention should be focused in the upper part of your chest, because attentiveness is the soul of the prayer. If there is attentiveness in your chest, your heart will feel the same, and your head will feel as if it were empty, and you will be standing in the church without any distraction. Otherwise, the thoughts will prevail and, according to their custom to tangle together, they will be running round about worldly things. Our thoughts are but dreamful images of sensual and worldly things, as St. Hesychios said. And some more too add: one must try, with God’s help, develop in your senses the humble spirit in order to see oneself as worse than all people. According to experience, it surely will be so, if you watch yourself without paying attention at other people’s infirmities.

On one occasion Abba Theophilus went to the Nitrian Mountain to visit the Fathers, and the priest of the Mountain came to him; and Abba Theophilus said to him, (now he was Theophilus the Bishop of Alexandria), “What thing of excellence hast thou found on this road?” And the old man said unto him, “I make accusations against myself, and I blame myself at all times”; and Abba Theophilus said unto him, “Verily this is the way of truth (Otechnik).” For self-reproach is invisible advancing, as the man is walking well in his ways and does not notice that; similarly, self-esteem and self-pleasing are invisible calamity. Most people look at outer works of the man only, and spiritual life, in their opinion, consists of outer work alone. The monks of an Egyptian Skete did not consider their virtues to be virtues if someone knew about it, but they considered those virtues as sins. So much they were afraid of vainglory, man-pleasing and hypocrisy.

Here are the characters of an ascetic: simplicity, candidness, naturalness. Not many understand that. From submission which is obedience in the truest sense of the word (that is, cutting of one’s will in everything) proceeds dispassion. The Holy Fathers liken this obedience to martyrdom. If one takes on one's neck the yoke of obedience, he will always be peaceful and calm. It is very difficult to find an experienced spiritual guide nowadays. Peter of Damascus said, ‘In the beginning I did suffer a lot of harm from the unexperienced councilors.’ True enough, reason alone, without some experience, cannot guide the life of a person leading spiritual life for it will only distort the spiritual work.

I did not want to make such a remark, however, I will; at theological academies and seminaries one studies only the “book cover” of the Holy Bible, but not its spirit. One learns eloquence and become articulate, but all this sounds like it is only the mind that is speaking, ‘for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.’ By all means, studying is very important, without it is impossible to defend Orthodoxy and teach Church laity. However, the one thing that is needful should be added, too.

Here I must conclude my letter. Of course, there are many things that have not been discussed; I will add more about them in my next letter.

I call God’s blessing upon you.

Most sinful Schema-Hegumen John.