“How is this joy of God born within the heart of a person?” Michael asked. “According to the teaching of the elders, it starts when a person begins to strive spiritually and tirelessly to implement the commandments of God. He will encounter fatigue and many difficulties along the way. But there will also be a gradual emergence in his heart of the first rays of God’s joy, which will offer him further inducement to continue
“The joy of God is not a joy like the joy we experience in this world, and if we start comparing them it is like light and darkness. It is the contrast between something imperishable and that which is perishable. When one has a taste of God’s joy, then all the joys of the world are transcended, annihilated. They cannot dazzle you. How could the moon dazzle you when you have seen the light of
“In a monastery one is not allowed to have negative feelings toward anyone. If you have a complaint, you are expected to go to that brother, make a deep bow, and ask for forgiveness. That is how the traps of Satan are destroyed, rendering him incapable of causing divisions among us.” “Is this, perhaps, the secret that has allowed monasteries to last for thousands of years whereas other communal arrangements tend to have very brief
“It is important to keep in mind,” Fr. Maximos continued, “that the perfect way of approaching the other person in such situations is with prayer. It may require many years of systematic prayer for God to inform the other person’s heart that we truly love him and have nothing against him. We must take upon ourselves this responsibility and say, ‘I am to be blamed for this situation also.’ The very fact that I exist
Fr. Maximos went on to emphasize that the lack of inner peace emanates from our egocentric passions and unbridled desires. Furthermore, he pointed out that all external wars, violence, and social and interpersonal conflicts spring from our inner states of disharmony. For him, therefore, achieving freedom and justice must begin with an arduous effort to attain inner peace. Revolutionaries who fight for justice do not understand that, no matter how noble their cause may be,
It was past eight when we finished dinner. I was eager to resume our discussion because I wasn’t certain whether we would be able to go over the entire Pauline list of spiritual fruits before Fr. Maximos’s departure the next day. Playing the role of unofficial coordinator, I asked the guests to take their teacups and move back into the living room so that we could continue the conversation. “The next fruit of the Spirit
Fr. Maximos never ceased repeating that our greatest enemy is our ego, what psychologists would call “narcissism,” and that we can work on that ego as we go about our daily affairs. He then mentioned Abba Dorotheos, an early Father of the Ecclesia who instructed his monks on how to confront their desires so that they might undermine their egotism. “He taught them simple exercises. If for example they were hungry and curious to find
There was further discussion about the gift of chrestotis before we had a short break. When we reassembled, I suggested that we move on to the next spiritual gift. “Coming from the bottom up, Fr. Maxime,” I said, “you have spoken so far of self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and kindness or chrestotis. We’re left with patience, peace, joy, and love.” “Fine. Let’s continue with patience.” Fr. Maximos nodded, grinning. “God is infinitely patient. He does
If you don’t learn to carry your cross during your daily life, then you are losing the thousand opportunities that God creates for you at every moment so that you can become perfected as a human being. “The Gerontikon [a series of books about the lives of great elders] is full of examples of simple practices that have led many to become giants of virtue. Abba Agathon prayed to God, ‘Please, God, help me do
“Elders like him [Elder Ephraim], even though austere at times, are capable of loving everybody unconditionally precisely because they can see the other person in his natural state, beyond the external characteristics of personality,” Fr. Maximos explained. “That’s who the late Elder Ephraim really was, not the fearsome person I imagined him to be before I met him. Elders like Papa Ephraim are capable of loving even the worst among us because they know that
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