August: Day 7: Venerable Pimen the Much-Ailing

August: Day 7:
Venerable Pimen the Much-Ailing
 
(The Benefits of Illness for the Soul)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Pimen the Much-Ailing, who is remembered today, lived in the 12th century. He was born sickly and grew up in illness. His parents were very distressed about their sick only son, whom they had hoped to raise in comfort and to endow with a considerable inheritance after their death. But their son did not think so. On the contrary, he thanked the Lord that He had humbled and instructed him through illnesses. He asked his parents for one thing: that they would allow him to become a monk in the Kiev Caves Monastery, where many monks were then famous for the holiness of their lives, under the guidance of the great founders of monasticism - Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves. His parents did not agree to this for their own reasons; they prayed to the Lord for only one thing - that their son would be healthy. They brought their sick son to the Kiev Caves Monastery to the Venerable Fathers of the Caves, so that they would heal him with their prayers; and the son secretly prayed that the Lord, by His holy will, would continue to lead him along the path of illnesses and sorrows and would grant him monastic tonsure. And the Lord heard the prayer of His faithful servant: Pimen was granted the mystical tonsure on his sick bed, and yet he continued to be ill, although he healed others from illnesses, by the grace given to him. Only a few days before his death, as was foreordained to him from above, he rose from his sick bed, Only a few days before his death, as it had been forewarned to him from above, he rose from his bed of pain, went forth, venerated the holy relics of the monastery, bid farewell to each of the brethren, received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and then peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. 

"The patience of the sick is not in vain," said the Venerable One to a brother whom he had healed. "Here is sorrow and distress; there is joy and merriment. For this reason, I endure everything. God, Who healed you of your illness, can also grant me health; but I would not wish for that. He who endures to the end shall be saved. Let my entirely decay in this life; as long as my flesh remains incorrupt there; let there be a foul odor here, provided I may enjoy the indescribable fragrance there. What is this foul and cramped little temple, if not a judgment before the judgment, torment before the infinite torment?" 

The incorrupt relics of the Venerable Pimen the Much-Ailing still rest in the Kiev Caves and pour out springs of healing, as a sign of the holiness of his exploits.

II. Let us also learn, brethren, from the Venerable Pimen the Much-Ailing - how we too should be in our illnesses, if the Lord is pleased to send them to us. We should not lose heart, we should not grumble in illnesses, but humble ourselves before the Lord, repent of our sins and pray mainly for the salvation of the soul, for the granting to us of blessed eternal life.

Let us remember that illnesses bring great benefit to our soul.

a) The cross of painful suffering is one of those true paths to the Kingdom of God, by which the Lord leads only His chosen ones. In the lives of the holy saints of God we find that some of them, without any special feats or deeds, but only by grateful and good-natured patience of severe and long-term physical illnesses, ascended to a high level of Christian perfection and were glorified by God along with the great ascetics of faith. And it is not surprising, because physical illnesses most likely turn us to God and to the final goal of our existence, distract us from the world and turn our gaze to ourselves and to the coming end of life, purifying, illuminating and strengthening the soul in patience and trust in God.

b) Illness turns us to God. Enjoying health and benefiting from all the blessings of life, we most often forget about God, the Giver of all good things, and we view our very lives through a distorted lens. The one who rejoices is often occupied solely with themselves and easily loses sight of the Almighty Hand, which bestows upon them all that delights their heart. Flourishing in health, they least consider the end of life and the eternal fate that awaits us after death; they frivolously spend their lives on pleasures and sensual enjoyments, recklessly sacrificing their health to the idols of greed, vanity, and covetousness. Showered with the gifts of happiness, they become accustomed to finding the fullness of their bliss in the satisfaction of all their desires and aspirations of their heart. But when illness strikes us, when, after many futile efforts to free ourselves from it, it takes root in our bodies, weakening all our strengths, poisoning all carnal pleasures, our mind becomes sober, charm disappears, and everything presents itself to us in its true light. Then we realize that a person is not to blame for his own happiness; there exists an invisible Force that can turn all our endeavors and efforts into nothing – there is a supreme Love that does not abandon us even when we forget about it, that seeks us and calls us to itself. It becomes clear to us that all the treasures of the world will not free us from death nor assist our souls at God's judgment; that what is truly precious to us is only that which can bring us closer to God and render us worthy of God's love.

c) On the other hand, while enjoying health, we are for the most part as if outside ourselves. Illness turns our gaze upon itself. External life envelops us from all sides and does not allow us to delve into ourselves for an internal conversation with our conscience and heart. Sometimes the cares and worries of life, sometimes the entertainments and duties of the world, sometimes the usual visits and idle conversations, especially those aimed at condemning and slandering our neighbors, occupy our entire mind, fill our entire heart, absorb all our time. Conscience does not have all its strength and power over us, our moral self-awareness is weak and dim, the inner state of our soul is almost unknown to us. But when physical illness forces us to leave not only unnecessary entertainment, but also our usual activities and affairs, to retire from everyone and everything, to be only with ourselves; then the absent-mindedness of thoughts disappears, the veil of self-forgetfulness is torn apart, our gaze gradually turns inward, the voice of conscience sounds louder in the depths of our soul, our whole past life arises and comes to life in our consciousness, and all our sinful deeds, all our impure inclinations and passions, all the moral stains that are invisible to us behind the glitter of secular life, come to the surface, disturb the conscience, cause shame and disgust. Such self-awareness is the beginning and root of true repentance. It prompts us to turn to God with heartfelt repentance and confession of our sins, to desire with all our heart reconciliation with God's justice, to strive to atone for our sins by deeds pleasing to God.

d) Finally, illness crushes our self-confidence and strengthens our trust in God. Being in the fortress of strength and health, we are more or less carried away by self-confidence, we attribute everything to our strength and abilities, our skill and art. Do we succeed in anything? We rejoice smugly. Do we meet obstacles and failures? We grumble and become indignant, we blame everyone and everything, excluding only ourselves. Physical illness crushes this idol of self-confidence and exposes all our weakness and impotence, all the frailty and insignificance of our nature. Then we feel that not only all our successes and failures, but even our strength and life itself are not in our power; that there is an eternal Power that gives us both breath and life, supports and preserves our strength, or overthrows and crushes them; it is the highest Wisdom, which governs our destiny, which deadens and vivifies, raises up the humble and casts down the proud, blesses our labors with the desired success, or leaves them in vain. The more vividly this consciousness is aroused in us, the more our hope and trust in God is strengthened, the more perfectly our heart is confirmed in devotion to the will of God.

III. Through the prayers of our Venerable Father Pimen, may the Lord grant us patience in enduring illnesses, which are so beneficial, so necessary, and so salvific for our souls.

 

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