June: Day 28: Teaching 2: Venerables Sergius and Herman of Valaam

June: Day 28: Teaching 2:
Venerables Sergius and Herman of Valaam

(The Beneficial Influence of Monasticism on the Course of our History)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today we celebrate the memory of Venerables Sergius and Herman, the Wonderworkers of Valaam. Venerables Sergius and Herman were the founders of monastic life on the Valaam Island of Lake Ladoga and lived in the first half of the 14th century. Orthodox Christianity began to spread in the vicinity of Lake Ladoga from the beginning of the 13th century, but in 1249 the Swedes, having conquered this region, began to introduce Catholicism by force. The Swedish king Magnus forcibly converted the people in the vicinity of the city of Oreshek (Shlisselburg), and many of those forcibly converted to Catholicism at the first opportunity again deviated to paganism. At this time, Venerables Sergius and Herman, having settled on Valaam, founded a monastery there and supported Orthodoxy both by teaching and by the example of their lives. The brotherhood of monks gathered by the Venerables was quite populous; the monastic rule was distinguished by its strictness. The death of Sergius and Herman occurred around 1353. Their relics rest under a crypt in the monastery katholikon Church of the Transfiguration on Valaam.

II. Beloved brethren! From this and the brief biographies of the Venerables the following picture is drawn for us: a dense forest stretches for hundreds of miles; no city, no settlement, no path through it. Only the noise of the trees and the howling of animals fill the air. In time a hermit, poor in appearance, appears in these thickets, dwelling. He founds a dwelling for himself. At the same time, several more hermits settle in these forests. At first - nothing special, almost no change. From then on, perhaps a pedestrian will flash before your eyes - one, then another - thirsting for a word of edification, and with this goal seeking out a "righteous staretz" through the barely passable thickets. But several decades pass, and even more so – several centuries, and one cannot recognize the land. Where there was once a humble monastery, a veritable town is formed; where just recently complete desolation reigned, we see life, and a flourishing life everywhere. Settlements are adorned with holy temples; the resonant peals of church bells reverberate through the forests; on the azure of the sky, like stars, golden domes and crosses shine above the forests. Is it not a truly delightful transformation for the Christian spirit – not barren (you must admit it!) and even in civil, everyday terms!

a) This last circumstance is particularly worth noting. To whom does our entire Russia owe its Christian enlightenment, if not to monasticism? As before, according to the chronicles, and even in our days - who are the apostles among us in Siberia? Who spreads among the tundras unknown concepts to the savages about the true purpose of man, his duties, and the better conditions of living? Who, alongside the faith, teaches them to build dwellings, to engage in agriculture, etc.? Our innovators? Our progressives? Oh, no! The work of our innovators is to stir the waters and confuse our undereducated youth. Rather the work is done once again by no one other than the monks – primarily the monastic brotherhood. Yes, our Russia owes much to Orthodox monasticism! And if that is the case, do not listen to those who preach that monasticism is a distortion of human nature, that it is useless in the general structure of public life, and so on. No, my friends, monasticism, correctly established, is the soul of public life. In it, we have that "holy seed" which, according to Scripture, "upholds" and sustains the kingdoms and nations. Without it... "the righteous will languish" – you know what is further stated in the scripture - and "the truth is diminished from the sons of men." And the diminishing of truth, the neglect of it – it is well known what this leads nations to "wickedness will lay waste the whole earth and iniquity will overturn the thrones of the mighty" (Wisdom of Solomon 5:24). Let us also bring the wise observation (Proverbs 11:10-11): "When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation."

b) They will ask us: but do we have many such righteous ones? Where are the saints now? We answer: are there many true ascetics in our monasteries now, we do not know, since the Lord alone knows “those who are His,” but that they exist, and what is more important, that in our monasteries the spirit of true asceticism is alive and active to this day, although it may now manifest itself, perhaps, not in the forms in which it manifested itself before, this, in our opinion, cannot be doubted. Otherwise, would our people flock to the monasteries by the thousands? No, brethren, the people’s instinct cannot be deceived – whatever you say! Then it must be said: after all, even in the old days, strict ascetics were not counted in the hundreds.

c) But let us also assume this: nowadays there are no such ascetics as in the old days. So what? Are the monasteries to blame for this? Look, isn’t it the other way around? Isn’t it, on the contrary, that the dearth of true ascetics in the monasteries is due to the fact that you and I, “living in the world,” have now become so morally worthless that we are not able to “select” from among ourselves even the smallest “share” of “decent” people for the monasteries, because all of us, all classes, bring up our children in such an unchristian way that monastic life doesn’t even occur to them, moreover, it even seems to them to be something unnatural!

It was not so, brethren, in times of old. Back then, it was not uncommon for princes and noblemen to be among the monks. And it is a strange matter: what do people find unnatural in the flourishing of monasticism among Christian populations? As if it were not a necessary, rather, a natural phenomenon? I will refer to you. Tell me: can science prosper, let us say, if it does not have its selfless workers, or if we leave it without universities and academies, relying solely on primary schools? And can any art, or even a simple craft, thrive without leading pioneers? No! How do you wish, I now ask, for Christian life, this science of sciences, to ascend from strength to strength, to the perfection of the gospel, by itself, without, so to speak, specialists in this matter – monks? No, brethren, if it is justly said that the church is a school, then monasteries certainly can be justly called our academies of Christian life. Are they empty due to strict ascetics? What can be done: we now have in your educational institutions nearly half of the teaching positions vacant. But what does this again testify to? Everything points to the same failure of our society – there moral, and here intellectual.

III. O Lord, through the prayers of our Holy and God-bearing Fathers, do not allow the “holy to become impoverished” in our fatherland! Do not allow false enlightenment and the charming influence of the sensory world to deprive us of our national strength and to deprive us of our soul! Amen.  

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.