Elder Cleopa (Ilie) of Sihastria: Humility

 Brother: Reverend Father, as a simple and slow to understand person, it seems to me that these Holy Fathers talk too intricate and too little about humility. This is why, Reverend Father, please, if you can, tell me some teachings about humility, which are simpler and closer to my understanding.

Abbot: Brother John, if the testimonies on humility from these three Holy Fathers seem too difficult and subtle for you and you want to understand easier teachings about humility, read the Lives of the Fathers,

especially chapter 4 and 10 where you can find among others: A brother asked an old man: “Father, what is humility“. And the old man answered, "Humility is considering yourself unworthy and more of a sinner than everyone else and be meek with everyone”. And the brother asked: “What it means to be meek with everyone?” And the old man said, “To not search and see other people’s sins, but to see your sins and evils, and to pray unceasingly to God for your forgiveness” (Chapter 10, 13).

Brother John, here is a rather simple and easy teaching about humility. Let’s pray for God’s help not to forget it, and to do as this happy old man is teaching us, to always have in front of our mind’s eyes the

weight of our sins, to weep because of them and to never condemn anyone.

+Elder Cleopa (Ilie) of Sihastria, from On Pride and Humbleness: St. George Monastery (Elder Cleopa Book 6)

St. Seraphim of Sarov: On Spiritual Peace

 We can see how to defeat anger in the life of St. Paisius the Great. He asked the Lord Jesus Christ, Who appeared to him, to release him from anger. But Christ answered him, "If you want to defeat anger and wrath together, desire nothing, hate no one, humiliate no one."¹To preserve peace of soul you must keep despair at bay and try to preserve a joyful disposition, not a sorrowful one. As the wise Sirach said, "For sorrow has destroyed many, and there is no profit in it" (Sirach 30:23). To preserve peace of soul, you must in every way avoid condemnation of others. By you lack of judgment and your silence, you will preserve spiritual peace. When a man is in such a state, he receives divine revelations.

+St. Seraphim of Sarov, from Spiritual Instructions, #3-4 On the Peace of the Soul and Preserving It.

¹ from the Life of St. Paisius the Great in The Great Synaxaristes, June 19