By Fr. George Dorbarakis
1. Silouan, this citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem, had pious parents who came from the village of Shovskoye in Russia, which ecclesiastically belonged to the Metropolis of Tambov. He was born in 1866 and was called to repentance from his youth by the All-Hymned Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.
When he was twenty-seven years old, he abandoned all worldly concerns and, taking with him the blessing of Saint John of Kronstadt, departed for the Holy Mountain, becoming a monk at the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon, the Great Martyr and Healer.
He therefore gave himself wholeheartedly to God, and for this reason, in a short time, he not only received the grace of unceasing prayer from the Most Holy Theotokos, but was also deemed worthy of an ineffable theophany in the revered Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah, which was located near the mill of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. By God’s permission, he was subjected to many temptations from the wicked devil for fifteen years, while at the same time striving to follow the footsteps of Christ, offering supplications and entreaties to Him who alone can save him from death, with loud cries and tears. He was taught by God and heard the voice of the Lord, the Lawgiver, saying: "Keep your mind in Hades and despair not." He kept this commandment pure as a rule throughout his entire life, and thus he followed the path of Anthony, Makarios, Sisoes, Poemen, and the other glorious teachers of the desert, acquiring their spiritual stature and gifts, and being revealed, both during his life and after his death, as an apostolic and prophetic teacher.
He left us writings filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, which were published by his disciple and spiritual child, Venerable Sophrony, the founder and Archimandrite of the Sacred Monastery of the pious Orthodox in Britain (Essex).
The wondrous Silouan was meek and humble in heart, fervent in his supplications to God for the salvation of all people, and a preacher of love even toward one's enemies, a love that constitutes the surest criterion of the true presence of the divine Spirit.
Blessed Venerable Silouan passed from death to life, full of days, on the twenty-fourth of September in the year 1938.
The Church, recognizing his rare virtues, the depth of his knowledge of God, his writings in the Holy Spirit, his various spiritual gifts, and his miracles, officially proclaimed his sanctity, enrolling him among the saints on November 26, 1987.
2. There is no person faithful to God, whether Orthodox Christian or heterodox, who has come into contact with the writings of Saint Silouan inspired by the Spirit of God—especially as interpreted by his spiritual child, the equally Venerable Sophrony, in the work regarded as one of the most important of the twentieth century, Elder Silouan of Mount Athos—and who has not exclaimed with compunction, “How great are Your works, O Lord,” and, “Wondrous is God in His saints!” Even more so, this is true of his wise and gifted hymnographer, Hieromonk Athanasios, who, with genuine heartfelt perception and profound love and knowledge of the Saint, composed his Service, so important and comprehensive that it alone is sufficient to bring one into communion with the spirit of the great Silouan.
It is utterly impossible, in a short text, to set forth all the dimensions touched upon by the profound Hymnographer; this would require many pages, as though one were writing an extensive study of the Saint. We shall therefore limit ourselves to commenting on certain individual elements which, nevertheless, as we believe, are sufficient to shed at least some light on his God-illumined personality. We shall choose, almost at random, as our guide the Doxastikon of the Saint's Vespers, which touches upon many things in brief.
“Accept and do not reject, most compassionate Father, this small praise, though fashioned with love. For with what words, O Venerable Father, shall I praise your wondrous life? For you have become equal in spiritual stature to the ancient ascetics, and you lead wandering souls to the knowledge of God like the morning star in the deep night of darkened sin. And you teach the acquisition of the Spirit, not intellectually, but through experience. Therefore, O Silouan, beholding you, we are astonished and bless the land that gave you birth, while we magnify your spiritual homeland, in which you became full of holiness. Intercede, we beseech you, O last and great glory of the Athonites, before the Lord for us.”
“Equal in spiritual stature to the ancient ascetics,” therefore, is the Venerable Silouan according to our Hymnographer. That is, he belongs to the rank of the greatest Venerable Fathers: Anthony the Great, Poemen, Makarios, Sisoes, and the other glorious abbas of the Gerontikon of the Church. This means, precisely as he says, that we are speaking of a star of the first magnitude, of a spiritual sun that richly received the rays of the First Light, the very Trinity of divine glory (“You have attained the stature of Venerable Anthony,” Ode 8; “Beholding You, the unsetting Sun, we are illumined,” Vespers Doxastikon). And for this reason, in his person we touch the signs of Christ's presence in an intense and unique way. The Saint becomes our guide to seeing the face of our God who was revealed in the flesh, even as we journey in the land and shadow of death. From this perspective, Saint Silouan, perhaps more than any other, through his life and writings, becomes one of the most fervent missionaries of our age, and indeed of every age to come. “The Lord made you a teacher of the inhabited world, O Silouan, through what you learned by experience, namely, to teach how the divine Spirit comes and dwells in souls” (Ode 3).
And what does he teach us specifically from his experience? On the one hand, that “the purpose of spiritual life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit” (Saint Seraphim of Sarov), and on the other, that in order to reach this point one must “give blood to receive the Spirit.” The great Saint's journey in Christ was not “bloodless.” From the beginning he did not walk according to the will of God. But he was well-intentioned—that which constitutes the prerequisite for a relationship with God. And for this reason the Panagia, the Mother of our Lord, intervened in his life, calling him to repentance. In the words of the great Hymnographer: “As a saving dowry you received repentance from the Theotokos. For when you swallowed the serpent”—that is, when you fell into grievous carnal sins—“you were reproved by Her, because your life was not pleasing to Her; and thus the desire for asceticism kindled your soul, O most blessed Silouan” (Vespers Stichera). Indeed, from that point onward he turned wholly toward God, ultimately arriving at the Holy Mountain, having in the meantime also been strengthened by the prayer of the great Russian Saint John of Kronstadt, whose prayers guarded him and did not leave him even for a moment in peace. “You departed from the world, Father, and entered the furnace of Hades, with the blessings of the Shepherd of God, Saint John of Kronstadt” (Lity). “The wise shepherd of Kronstadt strengthened you through prayer, that you might depart from the world” (Ode 4).
He undertook great struggles at the Monastery of his repentance, passed through the furnace of many and varied temptations, persevered and endured to the end, and received many revelations from the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos. Again and again his Hymnographer notes the best-known incident described by his biographer, Venerable Sophrony: when, exhausted and almost despairing because of demonic attacks arising from the temptations of vainglory and pride that he was confronting, he saw the living Christ through the icon of the iconostasis in the church. “Having beheld the Living Christ in the Holy Spirit, you received the abundance of life, O most holy Silouan” (Vespers Doxastikon). “He would never forget the gaze of Jesus, full of love and transcendent peace,” wrote his holy spiritual child Sophrony. And, of course, the Hymnographer also refers to the answer given by the Lord to His great ascetic concerning how he should confront the attacks of thoughts of vainglory: “Keep your mind in Hades and despair not.” “Humility is given, O wise one, as the condition of fruitful prayer, just as the descent of the mind into the realms of Hades, but with saving despair, is the way of the Fathers. You followed this path, O God-bearer, with faith, and attained the stature of Venerable Anthony” (Ode 8).
The appearance of the Lord through His icon, however, was not the only time He appeared to His beloved servant. The Hymnographer notes that he was granted this great grace on another occasion when he least expected it: while he was serving his fellow human beings in the ministry of the refectory. Because he served them with the vision of Christ—that is, because he saw Him in their faces—the Lord rewarded him by allowing him to see Him once again. “Having the presence of the Master always before your eyes, as a faithful steward of His grace, you served your brethren at the mill, where you were also deemed worthy of the ineffable appearance of Christ, the Bread of Life” (Lity).
When he was twenty-seven years old, he abandoned all worldly concerns and, taking with him the blessing of Saint John of Kronstadt, departed for the Holy Mountain, becoming a monk at the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon, the Great Martyr and Healer.
He therefore gave himself wholeheartedly to God, and for this reason, in a short time, he not only received the grace of unceasing prayer from the Most Holy Theotokos, but was also deemed worthy of an ineffable theophany in the revered Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah, which was located near the mill of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. By God’s permission, he was subjected to many temptations from the wicked devil for fifteen years, while at the same time striving to follow the footsteps of Christ, offering supplications and entreaties to Him who alone can save him from death, with loud cries and tears. He was taught by God and heard the voice of the Lord, the Lawgiver, saying: "Keep your mind in Hades and despair not." He kept this commandment pure as a rule throughout his entire life, and thus he followed the path of Anthony, Makarios, Sisoes, Poemen, and the other glorious teachers of the desert, acquiring their spiritual stature and gifts, and being revealed, both during his life and after his death, as an apostolic and prophetic teacher.
He left us writings filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, which were published by his disciple and spiritual child, Venerable Sophrony, the founder and Archimandrite of the Sacred Monastery of the pious Orthodox in Britain (Essex).
The wondrous Silouan was meek and humble in heart, fervent in his supplications to God for the salvation of all people, and a preacher of love even toward one's enemies, a love that constitutes the surest criterion of the true presence of the divine Spirit.
Blessed Venerable Silouan passed from death to life, full of days, on the twenty-fourth of September in the year 1938.
The Church, recognizing his rare virtues, the depth of his knowledge of God, his writings in the Holy Spirit, his various spiritual gifts, and his miracles, officially proclaimed his sanctity, enrolling him among the saints on November 26, 1987.
2. There is no person faithful to God, whether Orthodox Christian or heterodox, who has come into contact with the writings of Saint Silouan inspired by the Spirit of God—especially as interpreted by his spiritual child, the equally Venerable Sophrony, in the work regarded as one of the most important of the twentieth century, Elder Silouan of Mount Athos—and who has not exclaimed with compunction, “How great are Your works, O Lord,” and, “Wondrous is God in His saints!” Even more so, this is true of his wise and gifted hymnographer, Hieromonk Athanasios, who, with genuine heartfelt perception and profound love and knowledge of the Saint, composed his Service, so important and comprehensive that it alone is sufficient to bring one into communion with the spirit of the great Silouan.
It is utterly impossible, in a short text, to set forth all the dimensions touched upon by the profound Hymnographer; this would require many pages, as though one were writing an extensive study of the Saint. We shall therefore limit ourselves to commenting on certain individual elements which, nevertheless, as we believe, are sufficient to shed at least some light on his God-illumined personality. We shall choose, almost at random, as our guide the Doxastikon of the Saint's Vespers, which touches upon many things in brief.
“Accept and do not reject, most compassionate Father, this small praise, though fashioned with love. For with what words, O Venerable Father, shall I praise your wondrous life? For you have become equal in spiritual stature to the ancient ascetics, and you lead wandering souls to the knowledge of God like the morning star in the deep night of darkened sin. And you teach the acquisition of the Spirit, not intellectually, but through experience. Therefore, O Silouan, beholding you, we are astonished and bless the land that gave you birth, while we magnify your spiritual homeland, in which you became full of holiness. Intercede, we beseech you, O last and great glory of the Athonites, before the Lord for us.”
“Equal in spiritual stature to the ancient ascetics,” therefore, is the Venerable Silouan according to our Hymnographer. That is, he belongs to the rank of the greatest Venerable Fathers: Anthony the Great, Poemen, Makarios, Sisoes, and the other glorious abbas of the Gerontikon of the Church. This means, precisely as he says, that we are speaking of a star of the first magnitude, of a spiritual sun that richly received the rays of the First Light, the very Trinity of divine glory (“You have attained the stature of Venerable Anthony,” Ode 8; “Beholding You, the unsetting Sun, we are illumined,” Vespers Doxastikon). And for this reason, in his person we touch the signs of Christ's presence in an intense and unique way. The Saint becomes our guide to seeing the face of our God who was revealed in the flesh, even as we journey in the land and shadow of death. From this perspective, Saint Silouan, perhaps more than any other, through his life and writings, becomes one of the most fervent missionaries of our age, and indeed of every age to come. “The Lord made you a teacher of the inhabited world, O Silouan, through what you learned by experience, namely, to teach how the divine Spirit comes and dwells in souls” (Ode 3).
And what does he teach us specifically from his experience? On the one hand, that “the purpose of spiritual life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit” (Saint Seraphim of Sarov), and on the other, that in order to reach this point one must “give blood to receive the Spirit.” The great Saint's journey in Christ was not “bloodless.” From the beginning he did not walk according to the will of God. But he was well-intentioned—that which constitutes the prerequisite for a relationship with God. And for this reason the Panagia, the Mother of our Lord, intervened in his life, calling him to repentance. In the words of the great Hymnographer: “As a saving dowry you received repentance from the Theotokos. For when you swallowed the serpent”—that is, when you fell into grievous carnal sins—“you were reproved by Her, because your life was not pleasing to Her; and thus the desire for asceticism kindled your soul, O most blessed Silouan” (Vespers Stichera). Indeed, from that point onward he turned wholly toward God, ultimately arriving at the Holy Mountain, having in the meantime also been strengthened by the prayer of the great Russian Saint John of Kronstadt, whose prayers guarded him and did not leave him even for a moment in peace. “You departed from the world, Father, and entered the furnace of Hades, with the blessings of the Shepherd of God, Saint John of Kronstadt” (Lity). “The wise shepherd of Kronstadt strengthened you through prayer, that you might depart from the world” (Ode 4).
He undertook great struggles at the Monastery of his repentance, passed through the furnace of many and varied temptations, persevered and endured to the end, and received many revelations from the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos. Again and again his Hymnographer notes the best-known incident described by his biographer, Venerable Sophrony: when, exhausted and almost despairing because of demonic attacks arising from the temptations of vainglory and pride that he was confronting, he saw the living Christ through the icon of the iconostasis in the church. “Having beheld the Living Christ in the Holy Spirit, you received the abundance of life, O most holy Silouan” (Vespers Doxastikon). “He would never forget the gaze of Jesus, full of love and transcendent peace,” wrote his holy spiritual child Sophrony. And, of course, the Hymnographer also refers to the answer given by the Lord to His great ascetic concerning how he should confront the attacks of thoughts of vainglory: “Keep your mind in Hades and despair not.” “Humility is given, O wise one, as the condition of fruitful prayer, just as the descent of the mind into the realms of Hades, but with saving despair, is the way of the Fathers. You followed this path, O God-bearer, with faith, and attained the stature of Venerable Anthony” (Ode 8).
The appearance of the Lord through His icon, however, was not the only time He appeared to His beloved servant. The Hymnographer notes that he was granted this great grace on another occasion when he least expected it: while he was serving his fellow human beings in the ministry of the refectory. Because he served them with the vision of Christ—that is, because he saw Him in their faces—the Lord rewarded him by allowing him to see Him once again. “Having the presence of the Master always before your eyes, as a faithful steward of His grace, you served your brethren at the mill, where you were also deemed worthy of the ineffable appearance of Christ, the Bread of Life” (Lity).
Thus we understand that Saint Silouan lived repentance deeply as an unceasing search for God, humility that enabled him to see the reality of himself within His grace, and love in Christ as a sacrificial disposition toward all his brethren—elements that led to all the wondrous things that God has promised to His genuine servants. The poetic expression of these things by the great Hymnographer is remarkable. We select the following:
“Desiring to make the work of salvation easy for mortals, the All-Good Master established the neighbor as an earthly god, through whom we are led up toward union with Him, as Silouan, who lived in brotherly love, teaches in his writings” (Ode 8).
This is precisely what the Gerontikon continually emphasizes as the unique path toward the deification of man: “You have seen your brother; you have seen the Lord your God!”
“What shall I say, O Father, I most shameless one? Beholding you, I see the whole conclusion of your life, through which you received the fullness of grace: humility. You became like Jesus who humbled Himself, from whom I have become estranged” (Ode 9).
And this humility of Silouan, together with his love for God and his fellow human being, were the essential elements of the true and genuine repentance he demonstrated, as we have said, from the beginning of his turning toward God, responding to the wondrous intervention of the Most Holy Theotokos. But the good Hymnographer points out what is perhaps the most important sign of the genuineness of his repentance. Many people show that they repent, but after some period of time, whether short or long, they return to their sinful habits. What was it in Silouan? It was the Saint's decision, until death, to remain faithful to the Monastery of his repentance and to the holy commandments of his Lord. From the beginning, Venerable Silouan understood that if turning toward God does not pass through the death of the self—that is, the death of his egotistical disposition—then there can be neither progress nor spiritual life. When the Apostle Paul said that, in order to have a living relationship with Christ, our co-crucifixion with Him is given to us—“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”—and when he continually revealed that all the disciples of Christ “carry about the dying of the body” in order to fulfill their God-pleasing mission, it was impossible for the faithful Silouan to remain outside this reality, just as it must be for every Christian who lives with understanding.
“You set your feet upon the rock of repentance, O Silouan, reckoning without hesitation that here I shall die for my sins” (Lity). “The power of your repentance is ineffable, O wondrous Silouan, for you hastened never again to grieve the God who loves mankind, O Father, working toward peace of conscience through love for God” (Ode 7).
Great is Silouan as a witness to love for God and for his fellow human being, as one of those who, even in our contemporary world, reveals to us that “the Lord God lives”! And what could be more immediate for each of us, if we accept this reality, than to come into contact with his writings, which are filled with the grace and wisdom of God, as testified by all who have done so from their own experience!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
“Desiring to make the work of salvation easy for mortals, the All-Good Master established the neighbor as an earthly god, through whom we are led up toward union with Him, as Silouan, who lived in brotherly love, teaches in his writings” (Ode 8).
This is precisely what the Gerontikon continually emphasizes as the unique path toward the deification of man: “You have seen your brother; you have seen the Lord your God!”
“What shall I say, O Father, I most shameless one? Beholding you, I see the whole conclusion of your life, through which you received the fullness of grace: humility. You became like Jesus who humbled Himself, from whom I have become estranged” (Ode 9).
And this humility of Silouan, together with his love for God and his fellow human being, were the essential elements of the true and genuine repentance he demonstrated, as we have said, from the beginning of his turning toward God, responding to the wondrous intervention of the Most Holy Theotokos. But the good Hymnographer points out what is perhaps the most important sign of the genuineness of his repentance. Many people show that they repent, but after some period of time, whether short or long, they return to their sinful habits. What was it in Silouan? It was the Saint's decision, until death, to remain faithful to the Monastery of his repentance and to the holy commandments of his Lord. From the beginning, Venerable Silouan understood that if turning toward God does not pass through the death of the self—that is, the death of his egotistical disposition—then there can be neither progress nor spiritual life. When the Apostle Paul said that, in order to have a living relationship with Christ, our co-crucifixion with Him is given to us—“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”—and when he continually revealed that all the disciples of Christ “carry about the dying of the body” in order to fulfill their God-pleasing mission, it was impossible for the faithful Silouan to remain outside this reality, just as it must be for every Christian who lives with understanding.
“You set your feet upon the rock of repentance, O Silouan, reckoning without hesitation that here I shall die for my sins” (Lity). “The power of your repentance is ineffable, O wondrous Silouan, for you hastened never again to grieve the God who loves mankind, O Father, working toward peace of conscience through love for God” (Ode 7).
Great is Silouan as a witness to love for God and for his fellow human being, as one of those who, even in our contemporary world, reveals to us that “the Lord God lives”! And what could be more immediate for each of us, if we accept this reality, than to come into contact with his writings, which are filled with the grace and wisdom of God, as testified by all who have done so from their own experience!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
