November: Day 5: Teaching 3: Holy Apostle Hermas

November: Day 5: Teaching 3:
Holy Apostle Hermas
 
(An exposition of the commandments by which one can save one's soul.)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of Saint Hermas, the apostolic man, whom the Holy Apostle Paul highly praises (Rom. 16:14), and who is known for his book titled The Shepherd, which in the early centuries was read even in churches alongside the Apostolic Epistles, we think it will be beneficial to become acquainted with those soul-saving commandments set forth in this book, which by fulfilling one can save one's soul. We think that the words of an apostolic man will be more persuasive to you than our own feeble discourse. He begins his exposition of them as follows:

II. “I was praying,” he says, “in my house, and afterward I sat down on my couch. Then I saw a man enter whose appearance inspired respect. He was dressed in the clothing of a shepherd. A white cloak was thrown over him, a knapsack hung over his shoulders, and he held a staff in his hand. He greeted me, and I greeted him in return. Then he sat down beside me and said: ‘I have been sent to you in order to remain with you for the rest of your life.’
 

When he said this, I thought that he was testing me, and I asked him: ‘Who are you? For I know well the one to whom I have been entrusted.’

‘Do you not recognize me?’ he asked.

‘No,’ I replied.

‘I am the shepherd to whom you have been entrusted,’ he said.

With these words, his appearance changed, and I recognized in him my guardian angel. I became ashamed, and fear and sorrow began to trouble me; but he reassured me, saying: ‘Do not be afraid. I have been sent to show you everything by which you can save your soul. Listen attentively and write everything down for remembrance, so that, by rereading it from time to time, you may refresh your thoughts and strengthen your wavering will. If you preserve everything revealed to you with a pure heart, you will receive from the Lord all the blessings that He has promised to His faithful ones. But if, after hearing my instructions, you not only fail to amend your ways but, on the contrary, begin adding sins to sins, the Lord will send one calamity after another upon you, until He breaks either your heart or your bones.’

Having said this, my shepherd, the angel of repentance, presented me with twelve commandments, in the following order:

1. Believe in the one God, worshipped in the Trinity, the Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, Who called all creatures into being out of nothing and bestowed upon them as many perfections as each is capable of containing.

2. Live in simplicity and blamelessness. Do no harm to your neighbor, even by word; on the contrary, help everyone in their needs, without distinguishing who asks or to whom you give.

3. Let no corrupt word proceed from your mouth: love the truth and flee from falsehood.

4. Guard marital fidelity as the apple of your eye, for it is the immutable law of the Creator that one be pure and blameless before His face, either in virginity or in an honorable marriage faithfully preserved. If you have married, do not seek release from your marriage or another wife; if you have resolved to remain in virginity, do not seek a wife. Likewise, when a husband or wife dies, the surviving spouse does not sin by entering into a second marriage; but that person is deemed worthy of greater honor from God when he or she resolves to preserve widowhood in purity and blamelessness.

At these words, I asked him: ‘What, then, should someone do who sins?’

‘Repent,’ the angel-shepherd answered me.

I said to him: ‘I have heard that there is no other repentance apart from Baptism, and that, when we immerse ourselves in the waters of rebirth, we receive forgiveness for all our sins and must by no means sin afterward.’

The angel answered me: ‘Baptism is not called repentance. God established repentance for those who, having been called through Baptism into the number of the faithful, subsequently fall into sins through the devil’s schemes. God, Who is merciful, accepts the repentance of such people; but one must understand that frequent falling into sin, even when corrected by frequent repentance, makes repentance itself suspect. One may finally fall so deeply that, after that fall, there will be no possibility of rising again and beginning to live for God. Let everyone who regards sins lightly fear this.’

Having said this, the shepherd again began to set forth the commandments of God that are saving for us:

5. As you walk along the path of the commandments, you cannot avoid obstacles and hardships. Be courageous, and let your heart be strengthened: persevere in doing good deeds and in bearing all the hardships encountered along this path.

6. Remember that every person has two angels: a good one and an evil one. One draws him toward good deeds, while the other draws him toward sins and vices. Therefore, be attentive to yourself: incline toward the first and reject the second, discerning from the inner thoughts of your heart which of them is instructing you at that moment and wishes to rule over you.

7. Fear the one God, your Creator, the One who watches over you, and your Savior, and do not diminish your childlike devotion to Him and your firm trust in Him through an empty fearfulness of the powers of darkness.

8. Take care to show yourself a zealous fulfiller of all the commandments of God, without exception, and a diligent doer of all the deeds that the angel inspires in your heart or that the circumstances of your life indicate; and you will be a son in the house of God, and not a slave.

9. Pray; exert yourself greatly in prayer; pray without ceasing, so that whenever it is necessary, power may descend upon you from above to do good, and help may be given you to turn away from evil. Prayer makes one born of the earth a citizen of heaven and clothes him in heavenly purity and holiness.

10. Flee from false prophets, diviners, and sorcerers [spiritualists, that is, those who summon spirits, who appeared in great numbers at that time. Simon the Magician and his disciples were among them], through whom the enemy destroys the servants of God. Those who are weak in faith turn to these deceivers, and they, answering according to the desires of their hearts, fill their minds with fanciful hopes. At the same time, mixing a sea of falsehood with a drop of truth, they deceive them and once again lead them astray into paganism. Whoever believes sincerely and has surrendered himself to God will not go to them. Such a person seeks heaven, whereas divination usually concerns only earthly things.

11. Let the Church of the living God be your teacher, your only teacher—the pillar and foundation of the truth. In her is the light of knowledge that is unchangeably true. Outside her are darkness and gloom. There the prince of this world has established his teaching seat, and he blinds the minds of those who listen to him and do not wish to hear the voice of the Church because they are worldly.

Here is a test for you: whatever disagrees with the teaching of the Church is the voice of the father of lies! Be attentive and keep yourself pure from this fall. Here is another sign! The word of truth establishes deep peace, tranquility, and sweetness in the believing heart; but the word of the deceitful raises up fantasies and doubts and, like salt water, inflames the thirst for knowledge, shutting the mind up like a prisoner in an undefined, gloomy wilderness.

12. Without spiritual guides close at hand, one cannot live in holiness on earth. You will find them in the Church, where the Holy Spirit appoints them to shepherd the flock of Christ. Entreat the Lord to grant you one who is suitable and beneficial for your needs. At the necessary hour, even without your asking, he will speak a word of consolation to you. The Spirit of God will teach him what it is fitting to say to you, and you will hear from him what God desires of you. Nevertheless, beware here also of deceitful spirits. Humility and gentleness adorn a true spiritual guide. But where there is pomp—that is, outward brilliance in word and life—there is deception. Pay attention to this, and you will be saved.

These are all twelve commandments that the angel-shepherd gave me. After hearing them, I said to him: 'These are excellent rules, but is there anyone who could fulfill them as he ought?'
 

To this the angel answered me: ‘Receive them into your heart in simplicity, without deliberation, and you will encounter no difficulty in fulfilling them. But as soon as you begin to analyze in your mind whether and how this or that can be fulfilled, and whether there might be some way to free yourself from this yoke, the enemy will creep in, place weakness in your heart, and make you incapable of doing any good. But why say more! Know that if you fail to fulfill something, there is no salvation for you; there is no salvation for you, nor for your children, nor for your household.’

Having said this, the angel's appearance changed, and he became so terrifying that I do not know whether there is anyone who could have endured his gaze at that moment. I was frightened. The angel, seeing my distress, began speaking gently to me, with a countenance capable of filling the heart with gladness:

‘How can you think and speak in this way? Have you forgotten the omnipotence of God? Is it possible that He Who has subjected everything beneath your feet would not give you the strength to fulfill His commandments? Know, then, that whoever always has God in his heart will easily fulfill these commandments. But whoever has Him only at the tip of his tongue will fall beneath their weight, considering them impossible to fulfill.’

I remarked in response: ‘Who does not ask God for strength to fulfill His holy commandments? But the enemy is powerful: he tempts the servants of God and keeps them under his power.’

‘No,’ the angel answered me, ‘the enemy has no power whatsoever over the servants of God. Those who believe in God with all their heart he can tempt, but he cannot rule over them. Resist him courageously, and he will flee from you.’"

With this ended the angelic instructions set forth in the second book of Saint Hermas, titled The Shepherd.

III. “For our part, we do not dare to add anything to all this!” says the disciple of the Apostles, the apostolic man. And indeed, what purpose would our feeble words serve here? We shall say only this: how comforting it is to know that even in our own time the same things are being said as were said in the time of the Apostles and immediately after the Apostles, and that, consequently, throughout eighteen and a half centuries, one and the same unchanging word of truth has been heard in the Church of God.

If every word shall be established by two or three witnesses, how firmly must the word of truth preached in the Church of God stand, when such an immeasurable multitude of witnesses stands behind it! Brethren! Let us beseech the Lord to grant us His gracious help to fulfill these saving instructions, delivered through the holy apostolic man. Amen.

(Compiled by Priest Grigory Dyachenko, from the Words to the Flock of Tambov by Bishop Theophan.)

 

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