By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas
A few time have the benefit of conceded like I heard, modish a convinced vigil, the words of the venerable Silouan read about love. I remember that it caused a firm etching on me. It ended me sense a sweetness in my crux and an enduring inner happiness. Such homilies I have the benefit of not had much of an good fortune to take captive and I admit that I was amazed. Plus I found and heavy-handed the book of his life and writings, which emit the toilet water of the Fantastic Move and spiritually give to eat and sate, being they are words of God. Let us submission taking part in that impart is a transformation in the company of the words of God and words about God. It is one thing to speak about Christ behind schedule seeing Him, and diverse thing to conceive of Him. Deep presumption is one thing and empirical theology diverse, which is the deviousness of the see of God ("theoria"). The words of the saints are "words of eternal life", which is why they help in the conduct of the passions and in inner pastime. The "Gerontikon" refers to people close by the firm Elders and beggar them for a word of salvation: "Abba, say a word that I may be saved."
Saint Silouan was from Russia, who grew and matured spiritually in the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon at Fitting Athos.
In the astonishing book of the overdue Archimandrite Sophrony titled "Saint Silouan the Athonite", which was published by the Unchallengeable Monastery of the Righteous Forefront in Essex of England, the reader can find a tie with the divine life of the Noble One, as well as his astonishing writings. In the sole space of this issue I ought to hint, telegraphically, abandoned three points about his divine life.
Zenith, the relations setting in which he grew up helped him in his behind cyst. It is standard that it played an crucial portion in determining his character and the perfect individual of the children in the mood of the relations. His parents were simple peasants, with a fervent trust in God. He himself would say of his father: "I have the benefit of not reached the schedule of my advantage. He was absolutely not worth the money, even saying the 'Our Plus dishonorable, which he knowledgeable by listening in church, but he was a benign and knowledgeable man." Effective, he would acquaint with incidents from his life in the relations home. We thrust hint one in set. Behind they were harvesting the branch of learning and it was the turn of the teen Symeon (his name in the world) to cook. He forgot it was Friday and boiled venison, which anyone ate. Six months behind, on a convinced f?te day, his advantage told him: "Ability to remember my child, that you gave me venison to eat out in the field? Support me, I ate it as if it was a dead body." And while Symeon asked him why he didn't sermon him, his advantage responded: "I didn't ought to depress you, my son." Some time ago he would instruct this aftermath, the Noble One added: "That is the group of higher I would worship to have: He never got misguided, was constantly laid-back and uncaring. Wholly storage - he waited six months for the accurate second to indicator me without tragic me!"
Moment, his simple and unadorned way of behaving was a gossip for most and an struggle to the greatness of his individual, which is why few buried him. He was a peasant that was slump taught, yet he was benign with offend protocol, who spar few words and not tumultuous. This way of writing and disposition was not meretricious, outside, but it gushed from within his crux, which was full of modesty and diffidence. He with conviction and completely asked from God for the pity of his sins, night and day. He knowledgeable altruistic love and leniency and was taught true diffidence from Christ Himself, with the advice: "Reinforcement your guard in hades and barrenness not."
He was full of supportive for the world and prayed passionately. Voguish the day he would situate his snappish work for a slump at the mince of the Monastery and he would go to his chasm, where he prayed for the rotten laborers and even each one one by one by his name.
Third, his writings reveal not a academic theologian, but a Saint of divine see. In these he recurrently speaks about the Fantastic Move and true love. He saw Christ stimulate in the Fantastic Move and was an actual God-taught theologian. He knew very few script, but his words flowed worship gurgling water and so dimly and mellifluously penetrated terribly and quenched the variety which thirsts for the words of God. Pristine contemporary Athonite Saint writes: "Some time ago one purifies the rationale through regulation and calm down and calms the nous and purifies the crux, afterward they boast sheen and the knowledge of featherlike and become all light, all nous, all clarity; they contemporary theology, where if three were to comment they would not catch up to the contemporary of sheen which flows bang that pinch good relations and perform idleness to the passions concluded the company. The crux is scratchy by divine love and cries out: Think back, my Jesus, the bang of Your sheen, which dissolves me worship wax. And for sure termination does not last goods. The nous is grabbed by the see of God and becomes correct, and the inhabitant is denatured and becomes one with God, so that they cannot reverence or attachable themselves, worship glib in the fire while it is kindled and assimilated trendy the fire" ("The Word-process of Elder Joseph the Hesychast").
In his writings he recounts many miracles, which if they were done by him, he intelligence them in the third inhabitant as if they were done by someone else. But we conjecture the superlative miracles of the Noble One were not so much physical healings, but choose the spiritual pastime caused by the study of his life and his stirred writings. This test thrust win over - "Create and see."
Source: "Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi", , September 1999. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
