Homily for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee -- On Pride and Humility (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily for the 33rd Sunday after Pentecost
(Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee)
On Pride and Humility

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

“You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts;
for what is exalted among men is an abomination before God.” (Luke 16:15)

Beloved faithful,

In many places of Holy Scripture it is shown how great, how soul-destroying, and how hateful to God the passion of pride is. But no small measure of the wickedness of this sin can also be understood from the teaching of today’s Holy Gospel. Since I am too small and unskilled to show in writing or speech how many forms this evil of pride has and how varied it is, I shall bring before you a most wonderful teaching of Saint John of the Ladder on this subject. From this it will be known how many heads this dreadful beast of pride has, and by this the wise and discerning will understand how multicolored and dangerous this sin is.

Here is what this holy father says about pride:

“Pride is the denial of God, the teaching of demons, the contempt of men, the mother of condemnation, the great-granddaughter of praise, the sign of barrenness, the expulsion of God’s help, madness, the forerunner of falls, the cause of epilepsy, the source of anger, the door of hypocrisy, the strength of demons, the guardian of sins, the cause of mercilessness, ignorance of compassion, the bitter examiner of the faults of others, an inhuman judge, a hostile fighter against God” (Philokalia, vol. IX, Homily 25, On Pride, Bucharest, 1980).

First of all, we must show how ancient this sin is and through whom it entered both the upper world and the lower. Only God alone knows the antiquity of this sin, for only He knows when Satan and his angels fell from heaven. It has not been revealed to us how many thousands of years before the creation of the visible world the fall of the angels into this sin took place. Holy Scripture shows us that this grave sin was the cause of the fall from heaven of Satan and of the angels who shared his mind. Thus God says through the mouth of the great Prophet Isaiah: “You said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven; above the stars of heaven I will set my throne. I will sit on the mount of assembly, on the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14).

In these words of Holy Scripture it is shown what Satan’s thought was before his fall. And about his fall and that of the other angels who shared his mind, Holy Scripture tells us: “How you are fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low…” And again: “Now you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15). And again Scripture says of Satan’s fall: “Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your harps; beneath you maggots are spread, and worms cover you” (Isaiah 14:11).

If we now turn our mind to the prayer of the Pharisee in the Gospel read today, and if we examine carefully the meaning of his words, we shall understand much of the cunning of the sin of pride that crept into the Pharisee’s words full of self-praise. The divine Father John of the Ladder says that pride is a “bitter examiner and an inhuman judge of the sins of others.” The Holy Gospel shows us that “the Pharisee, standing in the temple, prayed thus with himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men — robbers, unjust, adulterers.’” But what kind of thanksgiving did he offer to God in his prayer if, filled with pride, he condemned other people as robbers, unjust, adulterers, and the like? As is evident, the root of his prayer was pride. From this cursed root sprang his words, full of self-justification before men. He forgot the word of Holy Scripture which says: “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26).

The Pharisee thanked God with his mouth, but with his heart and mind he was greatly puffed up with pride, and from the abundance of his heart full of pride he uttered words of praise for himself while defaming others as robbers, unjust, adulterers, and sinners.

Holy Scripture tells us that “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5), and that “The ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths” (Proverbs 5:21). According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, we must be convinced that there is no moment in which we do not sin before God. Therefore, at every moment we are obliged to humble ourselves and to repent, even if only with a sigh of our heart. But in the Pharisee’s prayer, full of self-praise, instead of humility and awareness of his weaknesses, he proudly condemns his neighbor, for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34; 15:18). Yet the divine Fathers teach us, saying: “Be silent, and let your deeds speak” (Philokalia, vol. X, Bucharest, 1981).

In the proud Pharisee we see everything turned upside down. He boasts and trumpets his good deeds before men and condemns others. But who appointed the Pharisee to judge, to point out the sins of people, and to bring his own good deeds to light? Was it not pride, love of display, and vainglorious praise? Should we not rather keep our own sins before our eyes, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture which says: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 50)? Does not Saint Ephraim the Syrian also teach us in his prayer during Great Lent, saying: “Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother”? But the Pharisee brings forth his exploits and condemns the sins of others through his prideful prayer.

Let us hear further the Pharisee’s praises when he says: “I fast twice a week.” Which days of the week did the Jews fast? Thursday and Monday, for according to the tradition of the elders, not by commandment, they believed that Moses ascended Mount Sinai on Thursday and descended forty days later on Monday. If the Pharisee fasted on these two days, what compelled him to display his deed before men, if not pride deeply lodged in his heart? Our Savior Jesus Christ teaches us the opposite regarding fasting: “But when you fast, do not appear to men to be fasting” (Matthew 6:17–18). The Pharisee not only did not hide his good deed of fasting, but loudly proclaimed it before men, saying: “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12).

Let us follow the Pharisee’s other praises. After boasting of his fasting, he does the same with almsgiving: “I give tithes of all that I get” (Luke 18:12). But the Savior teaches us: “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:3–4).

Beloved faithful,

After speaking about the Pharisee’s pride and senseless boasting, let us turn the gaze of our mind to the humble and praiseworthy disposition of the publican. Let us recall the words of today’s Holy Gospel: “But the publican, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: God make atonement for me the sinner” (Luke 18:13). See, my brothers, the publican stood far from the altar and did not dare even to lift his eyes to heaven; he beat his breast and from his humble and broken heart said with repentance: “God make atonement for me the sinner!” O blessed publican, by your humble prayer from the depths of your heart, you greatly resembled the thief on the cross, who cried out from his heart: “Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom!” (Luke 23:42).

That blessed thief, considering that he had no other way to repent of his sins, nor time to perform other good deeds — since both his hands and feet were nailed to the cross — yet being wise and seeing that he was dying, thought to cry out to God from the depths of his heart with great faith and contrition. For this reason he was heard by the Savior, who said to him: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Saint Ephraim the Syrian spoke well of this thief: “O thief, thief even of Paradise! You stole much in your life, and now, with a few words spoken from the heart, you have stolen Paradise with your tongue! O most wise thief, who knew how to steal Paradise with your tongue because you humbled yourself and acknowledged your sin. O early flower of the Cross of Christ!” Do you see how great the power of humility is? It alone can slay pride and deliver our souls from condemnation when we can no longer perform other good deeds.

Thus, my brothers, as you see, the prayer of the publican in today’s Holy Gospel resembles the prayer of the blessed thief on the cross. For he too, like the publican, did not pray with many words, but cried out to God from the depths of his heart with great humility. Therefore he heard: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise!” Likewise the blessed publican spoke few words from his heart: “God make atonement for me the sinner!” And for his humble prayer we hear the most holy response from the mouth of the Lord: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

Beloved faithful,

It is not without purpose that the Church has appointed the Gospel of the Publican and the Pharisee for today’s Sunday, with which the Triodion begins — that is, the period of Great Lent, the most suitable time of repentance during the year. For just as the angels fell from heaven and the first people fell from Paradise because of pride, so the human race was saved and raised again to its original honor in the Kingdom of Heaven through the humility of the Incarnation of the Son of God and His death on the Cross.

And if pride made the disobedient angels into demons and turned the first people, who were immortal in Paradise, into mortals on earth, we understand that just as our fall and death came through pride, so repentance, salvation, and immortality begin first through humility. For this reason the Holy Fathers appointed three preparatory Sundays before the beginning of the Holy and Great Fast of Pascha. The first Sunday, today’s — the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee — prepares us for fasting by reminding us of our death through pride and our resurrection through humility.

The second preparatory Sunday is called that of the Prodigal Son, which calls us to repentance. The third preparatory Sunday for Great Lent is called that of the Dread Judgment, when meat is given up; it reminds us of the end of the world and the Last Judgment, when each will receive according to his deeds. The final Sunday, with which Great Lent begins, is called the Sunday of the Expulsion of Adam from Paradise. Its purpose is to remind us of the sin of our forefathers, who were expelled from Paradise because of pride and greed, and to urge us to prayer and fasting with all diligence and devotion.

Thus, beginning with today’s Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, we prepare for the start of the Great Fast of Holy Pascha. We begin repentance and fasting through prayer united with humility, if we follow the publican. Therefore, my brothers, knowing that pride created hell and cast the fallen angels and unrepentant people into the depths of Gehenna, we are obliged from today to make a good beginning of repentance and to follow the repentant publican, not the proud Pharisee.

Pride is a great sin, brothers. It shows itself in speech, in luxurious clothing, in anger — which is the daughter of pride — in neglect of church attendance, in delaying repentance, and in insincere confession, for the proud person does not want to confess his serious sins to the priest, nor does he repent of them because of the vain glory that dominates him. More terrible is pride of the mind, when a person considers himself more capable and better than others. But the worst is pride of the soul, when a person considers himself more learned, more talented, more correct, and more pleasing before God than many — even than all — other people.

Such Christians, ruled by the spirit of pride, are allowed by God to fall into fornication and other grave sins so that they may be humbled. Others, however, fall into even more serious sins. Some, out of diabolical pride, no longer believe in God. Others blaspheme and mock Holy Scripture, the Church, the Cross, the icons, the holy services, and the holy ministers. Still others, also out of pride, separate themselves from the Church, refuse to listen to priests, and go off to all kinds of sects, for pride is the source of all sects.

My brothers, let us flee the dreadful sin of pride, which cast a part of the angels into hell and drove the first people out of Paradise. Let us flee diabolical pride, which has filled the earth with sects, with unbelieving, rebellious, and evil people, and hell with souls condemned to eternal punishment. In place of pride, let us choose the humility of Christ, the humility of the publican, the humility of the saints, casting away every thought of vainglory, personal praise, and arrogance.

Humility is the best remedy for Christians today, for our salvation. We can escape pride through more prayer supported by fasting, through reading the holy books, and through frequent confession to experienced spiritual fathers.

Great Lent is a good path of ascetic struggle, humility, repentance, and reconciliation with God. Let us prepare to pass through it with benefit and with joy, and let us ask our good Savior to deliver us from the grave sin of pride and to clothe us in the divine garment of humility, pure prayer, and love, which assures all of us the salvation of our souls. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.