MARCH 30
SAINT JOHN OF THE LADDER

Απόσπασμα από το βιβλίο του Μητροπολίτου Φλωρίνης πατρός Αυγουστίνου Καντιώτου «ΜΥΡΙΠΝΟΑ ΑΝΘΗ».

Τα «ΜΥΡΙΠΝΟΑ ΑΝΘΗ» περιέχουν πρακτικές ομιλίες είς εορτάς αγίων.  Κάθε μία από τις ομιλίες αυτές ετυπώνετο εις το εβδομαδιαίο φυλλάδιο της Ιεράς Μητροπόλεως Φλωρίνης «Κυριακή», ανεγινώσκετο από τους εφημερίους κατά την Θεία Λειτουργία της Κυριακής και χιλιάδες αντίτυπα αυτού διενέμοντο δωρεάν.
Α’ έκδοσις 1974
Β’ έκδοσις 1987
Γ΄ έκδοσις 1990
Δ’ έκδοσις 1995
Η μετάφρασι ολόκληρου του βιβλίου στα Αγγλλικά έγινε από τον ακούραστο εργάτη καί αγωνιστή της Ορθοδοξίας, πνευματικόν τέκνον του π. Αυγουστίνου, πατέρα Αστέριο Γεροστέργιο.  Προσφέρεται ταπεινά καί με την εν Χριστώ αγάπη εις ψυχικήν ωφέλειαν Ορθοδόξων Χριστιανών απανταχού της γης καί επισκεπτών της ιστοσελίδας του σεβαστού Γέροντος Αυγουστίνου
πρός δόξαν του Τριαδικού μας Θεού.

«Θαυματός ό Θεός έν τοίς αγίοις αυτού» Ψαλμ.67:36)

AN EXCELLENT PHYSICIAN

My beloved, there are people who live without any understanding of their purpose in life which they have as Christians.  They are ignorant of themselves and ignorant of God.  They are sinners.  They have committed various sins and, in spite of this, if someone asks them about their moral and spiritual condition they will answer, “We are the best people!”  They do not see any evil in themselves.  Even if they have committed evil they do not consider it a sin.  They consider themselves to be in perfect order.

How unfortunate are these people!  They resemble a man who externally appears to be in good health; he walks, he works, he eats, he sleeps; he is not feeling anything wrong.  In spite of this, deep within himself, death is eating away at him; the germ of a cursed illness is hidden.  The germ is not seen and does not cause pain at the onset, however, it is doing its work, and if it progresses much further, pain will begin and the man will run to the doctors and to the hospitals and will question whether or not he will live.  If, however, this indifferent man had been concerned about his health sooner and gone to the doctors and had x-rays taken, then the doctors would have observed in the x-rays the first signs of the sickness and they would have recommended certain therapy or even an operation, in order that he might be saved.

This, trait which is seen in a few people in relation to their physical health is seen in most people in relation to their spiritual health.  One in one hundred are indifferent in relation to their physical health, but 999 in 1000 are indifferent with regard to their spiritual health.  Their body must be well in order to eat and drink, and yet they do not care for their spiritual condition.  If they wanted, however, to care just a little for their spiritual health, if they wished to go to the spiritual doctors and to go through a spiritual examination, then they would see that they are not doing well spiritually.  Within their spiritual world there are thousands of germs, worse than those demons which had been nested in the heart of the unfortunate youth about whom the Holy Gospel speaks (Mark 9:17-29).  Then, like the terrified father of the unfortunate youth, they would ask Christ to save them from the various spiritual diseases which torture the human life.  It is not only the body that has cancer and tuberculosis but also the soul which has its own illnesses worse than tuberculosis, cancer, and every other illness.

We have said that we must go to the doctors of the soul.  Who are these doctors of the soul?  These doctors are not those who are called psychiatrists; there are some others much superior.  They are spiritual fathers.  They are illumined by the Holy Spirit and are able to examine our spiritual condition, to make a diagnosis, tell us what we have, and recommend the proper medication for the cure.  These spiritual doctors are the holy teachers and fathers of the Church.  They have lived for years in fasting, prayer and study of the scripture, they have defeated the flesh, the world and the Devil, they have examined themselves closely and are in a position to observe the human passions.  Certainly the present world despises these doctors, while it admires the doctors of this world who went abroad and studied and are paid dearly for one visit.  However, if only the world would know of the value of the spiritual doctors of the Church!
In this homily I will introduce to you such a spiritual doctor; he is Saint John of the Ladder, who our Church directed his Feast to be celebrated on the Fourth Sunday of Lend and on the 30th of March.

***

Shall we describe his life?  Briefly, we say that the saint was born in the sixth century A.D.  At the young age of sixteen, he left his country and went to a high mountain, which until this day is known to all the world; he went to Mount Sinai, to that mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments.  He lived there many years under the spiritual direction of an old ascetic.  Then he left the monastery and went five miles further, to a remote place, and there he made his hut and lived an ascetic life.  Prayer, the study of Holy Scripture, and self-examination was his task.  The desert, where no noises of men could be heard, was dominated by absolute tranquility.  From time to time the singing of the birds and the voices of wild beasts interrupted the silence of loneliness.  The desert, which during the night receives a special beauty from the sweet light of the moon and the brightness of the stars, became for John the school of God.  He studied himself in depth, he saw such misery exists in man, he discerned even the smallest traces of the evil as a doctor distinguishes on the x-rays the signs of an illness, and he underwent an internal struggle, in order to defeat the sinful thoughts, to make his heart clean, and to make it a mirror of God.
Saint John of the Ladder became a spiritual mirror and an extraordinary spiritual physician.  In short order his fame spread to all the places of Palestine and Arabia.  Men in pain and suffering, beaten by various sorrows of the world, sinful men who had committed various sins and were suffering from remorses of conscience and were seeking redemption and salvation, men who were shipwrecks of this world were running to John of the Ladder, and the saint had for each one the appropriate medicine.  He never failed in diagnosis.  He was not like some psychiatrists of our days, who, while they don’t know their own selves, try to cure others, limiting the cure only to the body and the nerves; not knowing the wretch needs of a spiritual treatment, a cure which only faith in God can offer.  About which we speak the great scientists and professors of the medical science recognize; those who are not afraid to declare in medical conferences that faith is the best medicine for psychological illnesses.

***

In his time, Saint John became an excellent spiritual physician – a physician of the soul.  What did we say?  In his time?  Even though, 1,300 years have passed since he lived, even still he continues to be a doctor of the souls.  How?  With his wise treatise called “The Ladder”.  In this priceless book John describes all the psychological conditions of man, the vices and the virtues, the height and the depth, and recommends the proper medications for psychological cure.  This book takes you from the earth and elevates you to the stars.  In Greece it is not appreciated much.  It is, however, translated into many languages and is read by foreigners.
My beloved!  Since you have now heard about Saint John, the abbot of the Monastery of Sinai, I recommend to all, and particularly to the educated, teachers, professors, and medical doctors, to buy this book and study it; and when they study it, then they will confess themselves that Saint John of the Ladder is an excellent physician, a profound psychologist, philosopher and spiritual guide.

Translated in English from its original in Greek by
+Reverend Father Asterios Gerostergios
Saints Constantine and Helen
Greek Orthodox Church
Cambridge, Massachusetts – U.S.A.

This fragment was taken from the book “Fragrant Flowers”, which appeared in Greek under the title «Μυρίπνοα Άνθη» written in 1974 by Bishop Augoustinos of Florina-Greece.  The author dedicated this book to the pious and humble priests of his Diocese who read these written homilies to their congregations.

FRAGRANT FLOWERS – BY BISHOP AUGOUSTINOS KONTIOTES

“Fragrant Flowers”, written by Bishop Augoustinos Kantiotes, contains practical sermons based on the lives of 52 Saints.  This book is a small Calendar of Saints (Micron Heortologion).  The distinguished preacher and writer teaches that the Saints are the miracle of God in the course of History.  They are living proof of the truth of our holy Orthodoxy.  They are the Gospel and Epistles in application.
Whatever Christ taught, whatever the Apostles preached, the Saints applied in their real lives and they proved that the high teachings of the New Testament can likewise be applied by their fellow men.  The lives of the Apostles and the rest of the Saints prove that Christianity is a continuing and unceasing miracle.  The Saints throughout the ages show us the summit of virtue which even the most sinful man can achieve by the power of Christ.  The venerable author preaches that the Saints live in God and never cease to intercede for the struggling faithful Christians.  They live in the tradition of the Holy Church.  They live in the hearts of the faithful.  The memory of their life and their miracles, like some kind of life-giving breeze breaths into the entire Church.  Thus the Saints continue teaching and inspiring the faithful.  They are older brothers and sisters, waiting for us above in the heaven of heavens in order to concelebrate together the victory of the sacrificed lamb.
“Fragrant Flowers” is addressed not only to our Orthodox people but also to all who are interested in pure Orthodox teaching.  It is offered especially to catechists and preachers of the Word of God, clergy and laity alike, to strengthen them in their most valuable ministry in the Church.

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