Homily for the Fifth Sunday of the Holy and Great Fast
The Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt
On Vainglory and Anger
By St. Cleopa of Sihastria)
The Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt
On Vainglory and Anger
By St. Cleopa of Sihastria)
“What do you want Me to do for you?” And they said to Him: “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:36–37)
Beloved faithful,
If you have listened with attention and reverence to today’s reading of the Holy Gospel, besides other holy teachings that flow from the words of the Savior, you also heard of the request of the two Apostles, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. See what they asked: “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we shall ask of You.” And He said to them: “What do you want Me to do for you?” And they said: “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory” (Mark 10:35–37).
Do you see, my brethren, how the temptation of vainglory dared to approach even the disciples of the Lord? This is not at all surprising, for the devil, even while still in Paradise, tempted our forefathers Adam and Eve with the temptation of pride and vainglory. For hear what the serpent says to Eve: “No, you will not die! But God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4–5).
The devil and his angels were cast out of heaven also because of the sin of pride and vainglory, for they thought to become like their Creator, who brought them from non-being into being. See what the divine Scripture says about this: “You who said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven and above the stars of the mighty God I will set my throne! On the holy mountain I will place my dwelling, in the farthest parts of the north. I will ascend above the clouds and will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14). Do you see, brethren, that the sin of pride and vainglory was the cause of the fall of Satan and of the angels who were of one mind with him?
With this grave and God-hated sin the devil deceived our forefathers in Paradise, and from then until today he does not cease to tempt people with all kinds of trials, but especially with the temptation of pride and vainglory, which the all-good God hates so greatly.
Thus he also tempted the disciples of the Savior in today’s Gospel. But you heard with what gentleness and wisdom the Savior corrected them; He did not rebuke them, did not curse them, did not punish them, but with gentleness said to them: “You do not know what you ask” (Mark 10:38). Like to children who do not know, He tells them that they do not know what they want. After that He reminded them of the cup of His holy sufferings and said to them: “You do not know what you ask! Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mark 10:38), and they said: “We can,” to which Jesus added: “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized” (Mark 10:39). Indeed, James was killed by Herod, and John was exiled to Patmos by Domitian, the pagan emperor of Rome.
In this way both Apostles drank the cup of suffering for the Lord and for His Gospel. But “to sit at My right hand is not Mine to give, but for those for whom it has been prepared” (Mark 10:40). But why did He say: “It is not Mine to give, but for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father” (Matthew 20:23)? Let no one think here, like Arius the heretic, that the Savior is less in divinity than the Father. No; here the Savior speaks as man. For He is considered less according to humanity, not according to divinity. For according to divinity He was and is forever equal with the Father. Likewise, in another place of the Holy Gospel He teaches, saying: “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30); and again He says: “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of what is Mine and will declare it to you. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them” (John 16:15; 17:10). And in another place He says: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me?” (John 14:10).
But let us go further along the path of the word to hear what the Holy Gospel says: “When the ten heard it, they began to be angry with James and John” (Mark 10:41). Do you see, brethren, that because of the temptation of pride in the two Apostles, the other ten were seized by the temptation of anger? Our most merciful Savior again, as to children who do not know what they do, calling them to Himself, said: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; rather, whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:42–44). O the boundless goodness and love of our Savior, that both the first ones, who were tempted by the passion of vainglory, and the other ten, who were angered against the two, He corrects and teaches with great gentleness and wisdom not to be like the rulers of the world, who with much pride and vainglory govern the peoples and rule over them.
Therefore He teaches them, saying: “And whoever wants to be first among you shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:44). Through these most holy teachings He drives away from their minds both vainglory and anger, for these passions are both daughters of pride. Vainglory is the beginning, and pride is the end! And also at the washing of the feet at the Secret Supper He taught them the same lesson against vainglory: “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet; for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you also should do” (John 13:13–15).
What is vainglory? According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, vainglory is the beginning of pride, and “the only difference between them is as between a child and a perfect man, and between wheat and bread” (Philokalia, vol. IX, St. John Climacus, Step 22, Bucharest, 1980). Against vainglory the Lord threatens with “woe,” saying: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you” (Luke 6:26). “The thought of vainglory is very subtle and easily hides itself alongside good deeds, and great struggle is needed for someone to be freed from vainglory” (ibid.). How can one be freed from this many-headed beast of vainglory? According to the teaching of Saint John Climacus, he drives it away who in every place and deed reproaches himself, who endures insults and reproaches bravely, who passes by praise without harm, and who runs toward the glory above, considering the things here as refuse.
The same Saint says that “the beginning of freedom from vainglory is guarding the mouth and loving dishonor, the middle is the cessation of all imagined temptations of vainglory, and the end is to accept from the heart, before men, the things that bring dishonor” (ibid.). Only he has humble wisdom who performs every good deed with the aim of pleasing God, as the Holy Apostle Paul also teaches us, saying: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:18).
Likewise Saint Ephraim the Syrian teaches the following about vainglory: “Strive to be dishonored, and you will be filled with the honor of God. Do not seek to be honored while you are inwardly full of wounds. Reproach yourself, that you may be honored, and do not desire honor, lest you be dishonored.” Then he says: “He who runs after honor, it flees before him; but he who flees from it, honor runs after him and becomes a herald of his humility before all people. Flee from glory and you will be glorified. Fear pride and you will be exalted. If you hate glory, flee from those who seek it” (Philokalia X, St. Isaac the Syrian, 1981, Homily 5, On renunciation of the world).
Beloved faithful,
Up to this point we have spoken about the evil of vainglory, with which the two Apostles James and John were tempted. In what follows we will speak a little about the sin of anger, which harms us not a little in this life. First let us see what anger is and how many kinds it has. “Anger is the centurion of reason, the avenger of desire. When we desire something and are hindered by someone, we become angry with him as though we were being wronged” (St. John of Damascus, Dogmatics, Bucharest 1938, ch. 14). “Anger is the remembrance of hidden hatred, that is, the remembrance of evil. Anger is the desire to harm the one who has angered us” (Philokalia IX, St. John Climacus, Step 8).
The kinds of anger are four. The first kind of anger is called “irritation,” the second kind of anger is called “resentment”; the third kind of anger is called “envy,” that is, the one that remains long in a man’s soul and seeks revenge; and the fourth kind is the righteous anger of God. God teaches us in Holy Scripture to restrain our evil anger: “Cease from anger and forsake wrath” (Psalm 36:8). Likewise the great Apostle Paul says: “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth” (Colossians 3:8). In another place, showing the same thing, he says: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).
Saint John Climacus shows us by what virtue we can drive away from ourselves evil and passionate anger, saying: “Just as water, little by little poured upon a flame, completely extinguishes it, so also the tear of true mourning extinguishes all the flame of anger and wrath” (Philokalia IX, op. cit., p. 68).
As for the righteous anger of God, it has been shown through many kinds of punishments, as the divine Scripture shows us, saying: “With the greatness of Your glory You overthrew Your adversaries. You sent forth Your wrath and it consumed them like stubble. At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; the floods stood upright like a heap and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said: ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my soul shall be satisfied with vengeance; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ But You sent forth Your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters” (Exodus 15:7–10).
In another place, about the righteous anger of God, we hear this: “And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:28). And the divine and great Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the righteous and holy anger of God which will be at the end of the world, says thus: “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of its place, because of the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of His fierce anger. Then it shall be like a frightened gazelle and like a flock that no one gathers; each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land” (Isaiah 13:13–14).
My brethren, now let us show which virtues are against anger. The first good deed that extinguishes and calms anger is meekness. Our Savior Jesus Christ, wishing to teach us by what we can quiet the disturbance of anger, said: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). In another place the divine Scripture teaches us, saying: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). The same divine Scripture teaches us, saying: “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1; 16:14; 25:15). Saint Peter the Apostle shows that meekness has great value before God and says: “Let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:4). And Saint Paul the Apostle shows that we must correct with meekness those who fall into some sin, saying: “Brethren, even if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1).
I have noted these things from divine Scripture to remind you that the best remedy against anger is meekness and the absence of remembrance of wrongs, for these virtues can make even the wicked good and can bring them to repentance. In this regard I will remind you of some stories from the Paterikon. Once thieves came to the cell of an elder and said to him: “We have come to take everything you have in your cell.” And he said to them: “Take whatever you wish, my children.” And they took all the elder’s belongings that he had in his house. But they forgot a small bag that was hanging on a peg. So the elder, taking it, ran after them, saying: “Brethren, take what you forgot in your cell!” And they, being moved by the elder’s lack of malice, brought back to his cell everything they had taken, and repented, saying among themselves: “Truly, this is a man of God.”
Again we read in the Paterikon that two monks lived in one place, and an elder went to them to test their way of life and, taking a staff, began to destroy the vegetables of one of them. The brother, seeing this, hid himself until all were destroyed. After only one root remained, the brother said to the elder: “If you wish, leave this one, so that I may boil it and we may eat from it together!” Hearing this, the elder made a prostration before the brother, saying: “Because of this lack of malice of yours, the Holy Spirit rests upon you, brother!”
The divine Job said: “Anger kills the foolish man” (Job 5:2). And the Apostle Paul teaches us: “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26). Truly, anger kills the foolish man if he does not cast out from his heart the remembrance of wrongs and revenge against the one who has offended him; otherwise, having hatred toward his brother, he comes to be like a murderer. For, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, “whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). Behold, brethren, in what way anger kills the foolish man. For if he does not abandon anger and the remembrance of evil, he arrives at hatred, and through hatred becomes a murderer, and thus through anger and revenge he kills his own soul.
Beloved faithful,
Today is the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. Each day in the fast must be a new step that lifts us toward heaven and brings us closer to the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore we are bound, my brethren, to strive day by day in prayer, in self-restraint, in fasting, in spiritual reconciliation with all people, in almsgiving, in the abandonment of sins through confession, and in union with Christ through Holy Communion.
Today we have spoken about two sins very widespread among us: vainglory and anger. The most suitable time for repentance and freedom from passions for all of us is Great Lent. Now let us labor. Now let us pray more. Now let us abandon pride, anger, hatred, doubt, fornication, unbelief, and every sin. Now let us be reconciled with God, while we still have life and time for repentance. Do we not all see how much suffering there is in the world and how many die without any Christian preparation? How will those who die in drunkenness and fornication be delivered from condemnation, those who die in hatred and lawsuits, those who die in sects and in the darkness of unbelief? Who will deliver them from the torments of hell, if a human life on earth was not enough for them to believe rightly in God and to perform good works of repentance? May the Savior preserve us from such a fearful end without salvation.
Also on this Sunday the Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Mary of Egypt, whom she gives to us as a model of repentance for all. This venerable woman was in her youth a great sinner. But when she came to the Tomb of the Lord she could not enter the church because of her terrible sins. Then, coming to her senses, she began to weep bitterly for her sins, and after she venerated, she became a hermit in the desert of the Jordan. There she struggled alone for 47 years, enduring severe temptations, hunger, thoughts, cold, and battles from demons. In the end, being discovered by the Venerable Zosimas, a holy hermit, he confessed her, gave her Holy Communion, and after another year found her fallen asleep in the Lord and buried her there. Her commemoration is on April 1. Do you see how many years she repented for the sins of her youth?
Let us also follow the path of repentance, for without it we live in vain; we waste our life and lose our soul. We have one more week until Palm Sunday. It is very good that in these days you confess, and at Palm Sunday receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
Continue with fasting and prayer. But ask only for what is beneficial for salvation. Be reconciled with God and with people, and take great care for your children. Let us pray to our good Savior to deliver us from every sin and to receive us, there, at His right hand, together with all His saints. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.