Both Sorrow and Joy Can Serve for Salvation
April 15
(A Word from the Paterikon about two monks who took wives.)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
April 15
(A Word from the Paterikon about two monks who took wives.)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
In the Prologue we read: “Two monks once fell into a grievous sin. But after some time they repented and said: 'Well then, what profit did we gain by leaving the angelic life and falling into a defiled way of living? Does not eternal torment await us for this? Let us go again into the desert and repent. The Lord will receive our repentance.' Having said this, they went to a monastery, confessed their sin to a spiritual father, and he imposed a penance upon them. He commanded them to remain shut in seclusion for a whole year and sent them there only bread and water, to both in equal measure. A year passed, the time of the penance was completed, and it was revealed to the elders of the monastery that the monks had been forgiven. Opening the cells where they had been confined, the fathers brought them out. And what was seen? One monk was very thin and pale and came out in despondency, while the other was joyful, his face radiant, and he was rejoicing. The fathers were amazed at such a contrast, especially since, as we have said, the monks received the same food in equal measure. And so they first asked the sorrowful brother: 'How did you spend your time in your cell?' The monk answered: 'I thought about the evil I had done and pictured to myself the torment of hell into which I ought to go.' They asked the rejoicing monk: 'And you, what did you think about in your cell?' He said: 'I glorified God, Who rescued me from a defiled life and brought me back again to the angelic state, and, praising God, I rejoiced.' Then the elders said: 'The repentance of both was pleasing to God, for He forgave them both.'”
From this it is clearly seen, brethren, that some may rejoice unto salvation, while others may grieve at the same time, and likewise unto salvation — and the mentioned monks present us with a convincing example of this. You have abandoned an evil life; the Lord has brought you to repentance; rejoice! for you have passed from prison into freedom, from darkness into light, from a foreign land into your native land. And how can one not rejoice, when you know that the Lord does not cast away those who come to Him, but receives them with joy! “And when he was yet a great way off,” it is said of the prodigal son, “his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). How can one not rejoice at this? But if, having come to repentance, you are not inclined to rejoice, then do not rejoice — but grieve. Grieve, reflecting on the multitude of evils you have committed; grieve that more than once by your sins you offended the Heavenly Father, that you crucified the Son of God a second time. “Sit then,” as Saint Dimitri of Rostov says, “reflecting on your life, and bring to mind all your sins committed from youth, both confessed and unconfessed. And having remembered all, sigh from the depth of your heart, strike your breast if you are able, and weep” (St. Dimitri, vol. I, p. 135). And indeed, your weeping will serve you unto salvation. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted” (2 Cor. 7:10).
Therefore, brethren, as you see, for some joy and for others sorrow can serve for salvation. Only do not forget that in repentance we must always rejoice in the boundless mercy of God toward repentant sinners, and we must weep for our sins. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
