Olga Orlova spoke with Schema-Archimandrite Iliy (Nozdrin)
Schema-Archimandrite Iliy (Nozdrin), spiritual father of His Holiness, ascetically struggled on Mt. Athos for more than ten years in one of the sketes of St. Panteleimon Monastery—the Old Russikon. Namely there, at the mill just a few decades earlier Venerable Silouan the Athonite carried out his obedience. In 1967 the book of his life and teachings became a spiritual guide for the now-revered elder, then novice Alexei of the Pskov Caves Monastery.[1]
—Batiushka Iliy, it’s known that when it came out, the book Elder Silouan the Athonite, written by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), had a great influence on you. What about it so struck you?
—When I read the book of Elder Silouan it opened up a bright expanse for me where I found what I needed—answers to my various questions. Generally speaking, the book gave a clear and concise presentation of the content of our faith.
Elder Silouan is a modern podvizhnik.[2] In him there was no hypocrisy, no prelest. He wrote and spoke by the grace of God. That which the Lord revealed to him by the Holy Spirit he heard and repeated. He was a man without higher education, although he did have some schooling of course. His book became acclaimed. He didn’t write it himself, but rather Fr. Sophrony wrote it from his words. It was translated into I don’t know how many languages, but more than ten for sure. Believers who turn to this book seeking truth— the Truth, find it. I can’t speak about this book with high enough praise and gratefulness to Elder Silouan.
He, it can be said, was not such an ascetic, but he sought for union with Christ. He sought how to come to the Lord, to serve Him, to be a true monk. Most importantly—he sought prayer and fullness in true union with God. The Lord heeded his desire and Himself appeared to him. “If it had continued,” said Elder Silouan, “then I, probably would have melted. My soul would have dissolved at the glory of God’s love and grace, unable to bear, had it continued longer, this vision of Christ.”
The Lord left such a trace of His grace, the power of grace, that until his death he prayed unceasingly. We must read this book. It is a revelation, how he himself expresses his experience! How he wept and prayed! When grace left him, he cried out: "Lord!" And the Lord again imbued him with the strength of grace. His prayer was unceasing, continuing even in sleep.
—How can we learn the activity of St. Silouan the Athonite: keep your mind in hell and despair not?
—It’s simple: if a man prays then he won’t be full of despair. This is said on the basis of humility. There is worldly, secular pride, and also spiritual pride: when a man receives a special closeness to God, is strengthened in prayer, becomes acquainted with spiritual experience, undoubtedly the thought will appear to him that he is a man of very high spiritual life, conscious that he is, so to speak, already a saint. This is the danger for ascetics.
Therefore the Lord doesn’t give many such a high degree of grace, of such inspiration by the power of God even to the point of wonderworking, that he won’t be able to preserve it due to his spiritual pride. When a person embraces pride it is incompatible with the presence of a high measure of grace from the Lord.
The devil presented himself in full human stature before Elder Silouan. The devil is a spirit and can materialize only by the allowance of God. The ascetic was perplexed: why is he praying, while the devil stands before him, not disappearing? The Lord revealed to him that it was because of his spiritual pride; in order to not have it, he must consider himself the smallest and most sinful, and for his sins an heir to hell.
If the Lord gives us something we should acknowledge that all of our gifts, both earthly and spiritual, are from God. We have nothing to be proud of—neither material goods, nor intellectual achievements, nor any kind of merits—none of our earthly riches. If the Lord grants, it is of His mercy, neither of our talents, nor strength, nor labors—nothing of ours, but only the compassion of God. Therefore everything spiritual that Elder Silouan received through the Savior’s appearance—it’s all the grace of God.
[1] The future elder began his monastic path in the Pskov Caves Monastery which he entered in 1966 and where he bore obedience for ten years. At the very beginning of his monastic path the book Elder Silouan the Athonite found its way into his hands. In 1976 by decision of the Holy Synod the by-then Hieromonk Ilian was sent to the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mt. Athos, from where in the late 1980s he was transferred to the recovering Optina Pustyn Monastery as a spiritual father. There’s a known letter written by Elder Iliy from Optina Pustyn on Pascha in 1992 to the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England, to the author of the book Elder Silouan the Athonite, Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov). Here is a fragment of the letter, particularly about the book:
I confess that, since 1967, when the book Elder Silouan wound up in my hands, I somehow immediately climbed up the spiritual heights, and, so to speak, saw the light. From that time this book has been a trusted friend. At the Old Russikon I often had to receive pilgrims and all the people arriving to the monastery, to show them the churches and bring out the relics for them. I can say that even before the glorification of Elder Silouan many revered him as a saint. I greatly appreciate that precisely You, dear Fr. Sophrony, did so much not just for the sake of the honor of Elder Silouan, but carried out your work mainly for the strengthening of faith and salvation of many. From everyone who has read your book I have heard only positive appraisals, and, to speak openly, not just positively, but with emphatic love for this book…
[2] That is, a man of great faith, a zealot, an ascetic “champion.”
No comments:
Post a Comment