Painting by Antonio Bylykbashi
In our presentation we will touch upon an issue which may not be readily acknowledged by those who are not initiated in the existence of divine Grace. We would actually say that it quite ‘heavy going’ as its title reveals: ‘God-forsakenness’. However, it is a particularly important, “a crucial”, element in spiritual life. When many people, perhaps most, will hear what we have to say they will respond: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”(John 6, 60) However, Elder Sophrony stressed that God wishes to see us become perfect just as He is perfect (See Elder Sophrony: We shall see Him as He is). The path to perfection necessarily passes through the Calgary of God-forsakenness.
During the crucial moment of his life
when man will adopt a positive stance in the face of the Lord according
to His providence, the Lord will reveal Himself in a way which is beyond
nature. Having devoted his entire freewill in obedience to the divine
commandments, man “walks in newness of life” (Romans 6, 4) and enters a
special spiritual realm in which he meets with the Lord, communicates
with His Grace and experiences conditions beyond “words and meanings”
which he could not previously even imagine. It is at this moment that
the Christian beings to experience the spiritual “new life”, life in
Christ.
In line with earlier Fathers of the
Church, Elder Sophrony describes three stages in spiritual life. He
writes: “The total regeneration of the fallen man into the “new” man is
accomplished in three stages: The first, the initial, is the stage of
the calling and inspiration towards the present battle. The second is
the stage where the “perception” of Grace is withdrawn and man is
experiencing God-forsakenness…And the third is where the perception of
divine Grace revisits and man holds on to it” ( Elder Sophrony: On
prayer).
This last stage where divine Grace
revisits the faithful is a period of spiritual delight, of perception of
Christ’s love and His proximity and of wonderful sentiments in the
heart which are inexpressible with worldly, created words. Nevertheless,
Elder Sophrony views this gift which was given according to the Lord’s
pleasure as the “mammon of unrighteousness” (Luke 16, 9) ( Arch
Sophrony: We Shall see Him as He is). The faithful is not able to
assimilate divine Grace during this period so that his nature is united
with it unto eternity. The faithful must enter into the second stage
which is a protracted period of God-forsakenness. (Above: “We shall see
Him as He is). The stronger the experience of the first visitation by
divine Grace, the more powerful becomes the experience of its desertion.
Even the spiritually perfect experience God-forsakenness in a perfect
degree, but they recognize and accept the discipline by the Lord and do
not grow weary.
In Patristic writings and especially in
treatises written by Saints Ammonas, Macarius of Egypt, Diadohos
Fotikis, Isaac the Syrian, Maximus the Confessor, John of Karpathos and
Simon the New Theologian we encounter the corresponding terms “desertion
by Grace”, “loss of Grace”, “diminishing or withdrawal of Grace” or
“spiritual change” as indicative of this second stage. It is a rare
occasion when the Fathers use this single, strong term:
“God-forsakenness”. The first to use this term was Abba Kassianos in the
beginning of the 5th Century in his work “Conversations with the
Fathers of the desert”. The second one, as far as we know, is Elder
Sophrony sixteen centuries later; we believe that he did this in order
to stress the painfulness of this condition. In his writings Elder
Sophrony also uses the corresponding terms ‘departure’ or ‘loss’ of
Grace. We are not able to find any systematic teachings about this stage
of “the departure” of Grace in patristic writings. Elder Joseph the
Hesychast, St Silouan the Athonite and then Elder Sophrony were the
first to extensively describe it.
How one does experience this phase? The
Elder writes that the Lord, Who has initially wounded the heart with His
love, recedes afterwards. A long stage of struggle opens up in front of
one, which lasts for years, even decades (Above: We shall see Him as He
is”). He says: “After the first visitation by Grace, battles and wars
begin. A long time needs to pass before one assimilates the experience
of the first visitation by Grace. The assimilation is accomplished
through fortitude and determination during the times when divine Grace
departs”. Grace revisits for a while, reinforces faith, regenerates the
inspiration to continue the struggle and departs again” (See Elder
Sophrony above). The times when divine Grace departs are moments of
self-emptying, of spiritual indigence and of experiencing the anguish
of being God-forsaken which lead us to some kind of despair. We feel as
though we have fallen under some terrible spell. It is possible that our
entire being is in anguish; our mind, our heart, our soul and our body.
While in the beginning all the prayers offered and all requests made
were immediately and miraculously fulfilled by the Lord, now everything
has changed; the heavens seem to have closed off and every supplication
falls in the Lord’s deaf ears.
The blessed Elder gives a significant
description of this period of spiritual trials, which is a time for
bearing one’s cross in all aspects of a Christian’s life, both
internally and externally. “To the zealous Christian everything in his
life becomes difficult. Other peoples’ behavior deteriorates; people
stop appreciating him; what is tolerated in others becomes reprehensible
for him; he gets paid almost always less than others; his body is
easily afflicted by illnesses. Nature, various circumstances, people,
everything turns against him. He cannot find favorable conditions to
utilize his natural qualities even though they are not inferior to
others. In addition, he suffers plenty of assaults by demonic powers and
lastly he has to endure the unbearable pain of being forsaken by the
Lord. Then his torment is amplified, since his entire being is afflicted
in every way. The soul descends to Hades” (Arch. Sophrony: St Silouan
the Athonite).
The Elder confesses that God
forsakenness creates the impression of a paradox. When the Lord abandons
us we feel a void in our entire existence. The soul is distressed since
it does not know whether and when “the departed” Christ will return.
The soul perceives this horrid void as death (Arch. Sophrony: On
prayer). It is possible that the Lord will appear merciless to the soul.
Not being able to find the Lord’s mercy despite the effort and strive
which is beyond his power and which he undertakes unto the end, man
suffers so profusely that if he could, he would have denied his
existence” ( Arch. Sophrony: St Silouan the Athonite). This experience
is so horrid and occasionally so ferocious that this great and
experienced ascetic reveals that “the soul is afflicted by such thoughts
and feelings that it is best to keep silent about” (See St Silouan
above).
What is really happening though? Does
the Lord truly abandon the faithful? Does the Lord withdraw his Grace
from one’s soul and leave him completely alone? St Diadohos Fotikis says
that the devil is precisely counting on this; namely to convince one
believing that God’s Grace no longer resides in his heart and not take
up the arms against him with the memory of God ( Diadohos Fotikis:
Thirty Three chapters). Therefore, what is truly happening? The Elder
stresses that the Lord withdraws “the perception of Grace” but His
ontological communion with man is not severed. It is not a matter of an
objective, total withdrawal of Grace, but the soul subjectively
experiences its shrinkage and withdrawal as God-forsakenness (Above: On
Prayer). During this period, the energy of Grace remains secretly with
the faithful and not perceptively. Thus, God-forsakenness is noticeable.
“Those belonging to Christ experience God-forsakenness through their
spiritual perception and not their faith. The spiritual perception,
which during the initial visitations by Grace has been developed to
offer the faithful experiences of Paradise, now becomes the carrier of
conditions from Hell”.
The Elder stresses: “The stronger the
joy experienced from his union with the Lord, the more painful is the
suffering from the separation from Him” (Above: “We shall see Him as He
is”). The faith in the Lord’s providence, namely the faith of
contemplation, cannot vanish. This does not mean that the experience of
God-forsakenness is not real; but in spite of this, the Christian has
faith that God is with him and hopes that he will experience the
perception of His Grace once more. This is the meaning of the words
uttered by Christ to St Silouan: “keep your thoughts in Hades but do not
despair” (Above: St Silouan the Athonite). The faithful spiritually
experiences and shows fortitude in the face of the horrid Hades of
God-forsakenness, but does not despair because he is being supported by
the faith of contemplation. St Paul refers to this kind of faith when he
writes: “We walk by faith not by sight (i.e. not by our feelings) (B
Corinthians 5, 7). “Elder Sophrony believes that the stations of
God-forsakenness are necessary for ascetic progress; in reality they are
paradoxical expressions of divine love. “The experience of
God-forsakenness contains the life-giving power of the Lord” (Fr
Nicholas Zakharov: I love therefore I am).
Immersed in great sorrow, the struggler
tries with all his might to discover the reasons for the withdrawal and
loss of Grace and looks for ways to enable it to return and be
recaptured. Some possible reasons for the withdrawal are some slack in
the spiritual effort, negligence and even acquiescence to an evil
thought” (See above: St Silouan).
Elder Sophrony does not particularly
refer to these causes nor does he talk about the kinds of
God-forsakenness. However he concentrates on pride, as the root of all
evil and the main cause for the loss of divine Grace. He stresses that
“when we succumb to the spirit of pride or self-satisfaction—we fall
pray to God-forsakenness. According to his spiritual father, St Silouan,
this imperceptible passion of pride “drains the soul from Grace”.
Nevertheless, Elder Sophrony insists
that when we undergo the withdrawal or reduction of Grace after its
first visitation, this is in accordance with the providence of the Lord;
God-forsakenness is inevitable even for the most disciplined ascetics.
“God-forsakenness is not just one way to perceive the presence of the
Lord but also a gift from God”. “It is a gift of God’s love” (See N.
Sakharov: I love therefore I am). The main reason why God-forsakenness
takes place has nothing to do with man, but occurs in accordance with
God’s wisdom and his disciplinary providence. It is what Elder Joseph
the Hesychast was describing as “the law of the Lord”. Elder Sophrony
says: “Initially one receives the Lord’s Grace, then Grace recedes and
man goes through the Lord’s discipline. Everyone must go through this
discipline. Otherwise if he receives Grace without the necessary
discipline, he may be harmed and may be eternally condemned. One must go
by humility”.
Elder Sophrony compares the stage of
God-forsakenness with the biblical times when the Jews had to wander in
the desert before they were given the Promised Land. This course is
painful but also astonishing. Its deeper meaning will be revealed to the
one who will endure unto the end. Elder Sophrony goes on: “The essence
of God-forsakenness is to prove that we are still immature; that we have
not yet reached the end of the road; that we must drink from the cup
He has drunk unto the end” ( See above: We shall see Him as He is).
“The Lord abandons us so that our free
will is expressed”. At this stage “man is given the opportunity to
exercise his free will and his faith in the Lord”. Through our
self-emptying and our self-degradation to nothing, “we are cleansed from
the cursed ‘inheritance’ of pride”. Through the tribulations during
this stage, the Lord wishes “to establish the ascetic as His image- as
lord and king- and convey to him sanctification and the fullness of
divine existence” (Above: St Silouan the Athonite).
The reason for the protracted
God-forsakenness is for the faithful to receive the genuine wealth of
Grace as his indefeasible and eternal possession at the end of hard and
long trials. Namely, to unify Grace with man’s created nature so that
they become one; to deify man and convey to him the divine, uncreated
form of existence (Arch. Sophrony: On prayer).
Elder Sophrony establishes
God-forsakenness theologically in the face of Christ. “Jesus Christ as
man” lived though the absolute God-forsakenness at Gethsemane but mostly
on the cross when “Jesus cried with a loud voice … my God why have you
forsaken me?”(Matthew 27, 46) The faithful must taste this same kind of
God-forsakenness to some degree, as the image of Christ, in order to
receive his deliverance (See above: We shall see Him as He is).
Usually after long periods of
God-forsakenness, the Lord abundantly consoles man, as in the case of St
Silouan, when he had been overcome by the dark spirit of despair.
Indeed, having accepted the thought that it is “impossible to plead
fervently with the Lord” he saw Man-God Christ alive. For this reason
Elder Joseph, the Hesychast, stressed that “the Lord’s Grace reveals
itself perceptively to man at the end of exhausting fortitude”.
During the times of God-forsakenness the
afflictions injure the heart with a kind of metaphysical pain, which
according to Elder Sophrony, was “the refrain of his life in Christ”(
Above: We shall see Him as He is). Through the experience of such
personal afflictions man is able to comprehend the suffering of the
entire human race and feel the misery of every single person. “Through
such afflictions man’s existence expands” and thus he is able to pray
for the entire human race. Also with this kind of prayer which is beyond
nature and takes place face to face with the Lord, the hypostatic
principle is revealed. The purpose of the life of the orthodox Christian
is to acquire the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Man assimilates divine
Grace after many years of ascetic struggles, having experienced her
presence and withdrawal many times. This kind of assimilation takes the
form of spiritual comprehension, which the elder calls ‘dogmatic
conscience’ (Above: St Silouan the Athonite). Therefore, the authentic
authority of the orthodox dogma does not hail from academic circles but
from such places where empirical theology is cultivated and developed,
in accordance with Patristic Tradition. Monasteries are mostly such
places.
The person who experiences
God-forsakenness must be aware of this route- i.e. God’s discipline-and
not give up, hesitate or retreat. The Elder stresses that many people
had experienced the first visitation by Grace, but because they were not
aware of the path to spiritual growth, they stopped striving and fell
from the eyes of the Lord, when Grace withdrew. They also regarded the
first visitation by Grace as “a temporary spiritual excitement” and not
as an ontological experience (Above: We shall see Him as He is).
If the faithful is to win over this
stage of God-forsakenness he must practice self-condemnation; he must
ask for Lord’s mercy with genuine heartache and a humiliated heart and
realize with all his might that the Lord’s words: “‘Without Me you can
do nothing’ are true”. Self-condemnation leads to self-perception and to
the recognition that we have an internal ailing condition which is the
abode we have personally prepared for eternity. It also leads us to
experience the personal torment which is taking place in the realm of
the inner places of our heart. Thus, finally we acquire an internal
hatred for ourselves- ‘the self-hatred’ as the Elder used to say- which
abolishes all passions”.
He, who is being tested during
God-forsakenness, must not deviate from his commitment to the
commandments and to obedience; he must have the faith of contemplation,
not subdue his conscience and show endless fortitude. He, who shows
absolute obedience to his spiritual father, walks along the path of
God-forsakenness with fewer hardships and more protection. The Elder
underlines that eventually despair does not prevail over the ascetic.
Even though the soul is hanging over the abyss of Hades and shudders,
“nevertheless hope nests deeply inside. The cloud of God-forsakenness
clears and the sun rises again” (Above: On prayer).
According to the Elder, the faithful
must behave as though Grace is still with him during the times of
God-forsakenness, even if he fills empty inside. “He must do whatever
Grace had taught him whenever it had visited him” (Above: We shall see
Him as He is). That is, the Elder assimilates the teachings by St
Macarius the Egyptian, who prompts whoever experiences such conditions
“to force himself to do good even when his heart is objecting, forever
expecting the Lord’s mercy without any doubt” (St Macarius the Egyptian:
Homilies). “It is natural and pleasant to love God when Grace dwells
perceptively inside someone. However, if one is entrusting himself to
the same kind of love when he is being crucified during the second stage
of God-forsakenness, means that his love approaches the fullness of
perfection and becomes stronger than the death he experiences by the
withdrawal of Grace and by his self-emptying”( Arch. Zachary: A
reference to Elder Sophrony’s Theology).
Those who experience Christianity as a
moral or intellectual philosophical or theological system do not
experience God-forsakenness. Such people have no empirical communion
with the Lord. They are ignorant of the existence of and the
participation in divine Grace, its advent and its departure. They may
believe in the existence of God but they do not possess the living
faith, the faith of contemplation. Such faith is missing from the
moralists and the intellectuals. This is what the Elder means when he
writes that “those who do not believe in God have not been acquainted
with God-forsakenness” (Above: We shall see Him as He is).
I humbly pray that we all manage to keep
our good and steadfast confession towards Christ when we arrive in the
desert of God-forsakenness, so that we will finally reach the Promised
Land, the final stage. This is the stage where as blessed Elder Sophrony
says, the depressing exchange of conditions will cease and Grace will
love us and will not desert us anymore.
source: Translated by Olga Konari Kokkinou from the Greek edition: Αρχιμ. Εφραίμ Βατοπαιδινού Καθηγουμένου Ι. Μ. Μ. Βατοπαιδίου, Αθωνικός Λόγος, Ιερά Μεγίστη Μονή Βατοπαιδίου, Άγιον Όρος 2010.
0 comments:
Post a Comment