new martyr valentine sventitsky

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    New Martyr Valentine Sventitsky

    St. Valentine Sventitsky is commemoratedon the traditional Church Calendar October 7th

    (October 20 n.s.)A Spiritual Hero of the 2Oth century

    Unfortunately, very little is known to us about this

    zealous Church teacher of unadulterated, mystical Orthodoxy

    in our modern times. Whatever little we do know about him

    comes from his liberal contemporaries, who as a rule did not

    deign to recognize the uniqueness and uniformity of patristic

    philosophy, which to him constituted the very essence of life. In

    this respect he was their enemy, one whom they could not

    understand- evidently because of his genuine conversion

    experience.

    The divinely-revealed teaching of God and man, preserved

    throughout the centuries and enriched within the saving

    enclosure of the Orthodox Church, is a limitless ocean of

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    wisdom and should be approached with fear and trembling so

    as not to soil any aspect of it through our sinfulness and pride.

    It can in no way be improved upon by the daring hand of our

    intellectual worldliness. Fr.Valentine's inquisitive mind was inawe and wonder before the accessible reality of deification. Inthis respect he was not of this world, but remained in the worldas a pastor who guided people to the realm of sobriety,hesychasm, and otherworldliness.From the few details of his biography one can surmise that he

    came from an aristocratic Polish family, received a good

    education, and was an extremely talented and impressive

    young man. His large eyes looked upon the world with

    seriousness. At the age of 15 he could already debate Kant with

    scholarly philosophers, and soon he started a crusade against

    the vices of society, in which he advocated strict discipline of

    body and soul. His talks produced a striking impression. He

    published at least two magazines (Problems of Religion and

    Living Life) dealing with Christian problems in a society

    whose intellectual leaders were luring Orthodox Christians

    through foreign tastes and fashions away from Christ.

    In 1905 he left Moscow for Petersburg in order to findsupporters for a Christian Brotherhood of Struggle. Whilestill a layman, he recognized the value of the monastic ideal forall Christians and ardently defended monasticism against thedecadent free-thinkers of his time; thinly clothed in

    conservative Orthodoxy, the latter were, in fact, making rapid

    strides away from the sacred Tradition of the Church. His book,The Heavenly Citizens or My Travels Among the Anchorites ofthe Caucasus Mountains (Moscow, 1915) was inspired by hisvisit to the monk-ascetics of the Caucasus. Another book called

    Anti-Christ had considerable success. His two available short

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    works, Monasticism in the World(1921) and Against GeneralConfession (1926), give evidence of his importance as amodern apostle of genuine Orthodoxy in a time of rising

    apostasy.

    After the Revolution he married and was ordained a priest; he

    was the head priest in a Moscow church known as St. Nicholas

    the Big Cross on St. Elias St. There in the 1920 he attracted a

    large congregation by his eloquent sermons, which were

    eagerly received as rich food in the midst of the general

    scarcity of genuine Orthodox spirituality in Russia at this time.

    He went to Optina Monastery and became the spiritual son of

    Elder Anatole (Zertsalov), to whom he dedicated hismasterpiece, Six Readings on the Mystery of Confession and

    its History in which he dealt a blow to the practice of general

    confession which had become fashionable among the liberalclergy of his day.

    Father Valentine was an ardent proponent of the frequent

    usage of the Jesus Prayer. He held that monastic discipline in

    our day of universal lukewarmness among Christians was not

    only possible but imperative in order to preserve the salt of

    the earth, i.e., the Orthodox truths, in the hearts of men who

    are being cunningly attacked by the spirit of secularization.

    With this in mind, he con ducted a series of talks (from 1921-

    1926) using the strictly monastic teaching of the Ladder of St.

    John Climacus, where he strove to apply it to ordinary daily life

    in the con temporary world which had become actually hostile

    to Christianity.

    One of his friends, S.I. Fudel, gives us a brief insight into the

    spiritual world of this otherworldly pastor:

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    Father Valentine Sventitsky on the one hand

    seemed to be a regular priest with a family, and

    on the other an experienced teacher of

    continuous prayer. He did much for the generaldefense of the faith. But his main significance was

    that he called all people to conduct ceaseless

    prayer, an uninterrupted burning of the spirit.

    Prayer, he would say, erects walls around ourmonastery in the world. It was also he whoresolved the complex problem of inward evil inthe Church. Any sin in the Church, he said, is a sinnot only of the Church but against the Church. Healso taught that one should not interrupt oneceaseless mental prayer while attending churchservices.

    Once after I returned from exile to Moscow in 1925, I chanced

    to be at Liturgy when Father Valentine was serving. I came in at

    the end of the service and when he came out with the ambo

    prayer, I was shocked to see his face. I cannot express my

    impression other than to say that it was the face of a man

    having just sacrificed himself as a burnt offering in truth andpain -, and now deeply shaken, was coming out to us, oblivious

    to his earthly surroundings.

    Another time I recall how, while in a crowded Butyrka prison-

    ward in 1922, I was endlessly pacing amidst the prisoners

    when I bumped into Father Valentine. In embarrassment I

    asked for some stupid reason, Where are you going? All of a

    sudden his face became remarkably light with some inward

    warmth, and he said, 'I was coming to you. Usually he was so

    estranged, closed up, stern and impatient, like his distant

    relative, a Polish cardinal. But now he had the radiant and quiet

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    beam of light of true Russian sanctity-the kind and all-seeing

    sanctity of a holy elder. He was coming straight to- wards me,

    towards my very soul which he was then probably protecting

    against some evil. Thus, a prison can enlighten and illumine asoul and wondrously reveal something which at other times is

    impossible to discover.

    In 1927 Metropolitan Sergius issued his famous declaration

    which essentially reduced the Church to a state-controlled

    organization. This enslavement to the atheist authorities was

    not tolerated by the true pastors and the faithful of Christ's

    flock whose conscience would not allow them to agree to such

    a cunning compromise. Many hierarchs and simple pastors

    wrote open letters to Metropolitan Sergius, deploring his

    action and refusing to follow him on such a ruinous path. In

    December 1927 Father Valentine wrote such a letter,

    announcing that he was breaking off canonical and prayerful

    communion with Metropolitan Sergius and the council of

    bishops organized under him. His clear spiritual discernment

    at once identified the course taken by Metropolitan Sergius as

    one of the most dangerous forms of renovationism, because

    while renouncing ecclesiastical freedom, at the same time You

    preserve the fiction of canonicity and Orthodoxy. This is worse

    than the violation of separate canons.

    Anticipating that his action of separation would be construed

    as a breaking away from the Church, Fr. Valentine wrote:

    I am not creating a new schism, and I do not

    break the unity of the Church; I go away from, andI lead my flock out of, a subtle renovationist trap,

    lest imperceptibly and little by little we lose

    the freedom which our Lord Jesus Christ, the

    Liberator of all Men, has given us as a free gift

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    by His Own blood (8th Canon of the Third

    Ecumenical Council).

    We know full well what consequences were suffered by all

    those who openly disagreed with the Declaration. LevRegelson, in his Tragedy of the Russian Church, states that

    Metropolitan Sergius in 1929 pronounced all those who

    opposed his Declaration to be counter-revolutionaries subject

    to arrest; fifteen bishops were arrested right away. The arrests

    were conducted very simply: a GPU agent would come to the

    bishop and pose one question: How do you regard the

    Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius? If the bishop answered

    that he did not accept it, then the agent would conclude: That

    means that you are a counter-revolutionary. And the bishop

    would automatically be arrested. So perished all those who

    raised their voices in protest. And the fate of Father Valentine

    could be no different.

    Thus did Father Valentine acquire a crown of victory from God,

    for he preserved the flame of genuine Christian inspiration and

    pinpointed the essence of the subtle temptation of the enemy

    of our salvation, thereby leading straight into Paradise the flock

    en-trusted to him by God, to Whom be glory and honor forever. Amen.

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    With God, All Things All Things are Possible:On The Laitys Application ofThe Ladder ofSt. John Climacusby New Martyr Archpriest Valentine Sventitsky

    In the Name Father and Son, and Holy Spirit.

    The Lord said to His disciples:

    Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and broad

    is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be

    which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is

    the way, which leadeth unto me, and few there be that find it.(Matt. 7:13-14)

    When the disciples were afrightened by the difficulty of the

    path of salvation and asked the Lord: Who then can be

    saved? Christ locked at them and said: With men it is

    impossible but not with God, for with God all things arepossible(Mark 10:27).

    I am afraid that the reading of The Ladder of St. John will

    arouse this fear, this confusion. Who can ascend the Ladder?

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    my spiritual children will ask. With men it is impossb1e; but

    not with God, for with God all things are possib1e.

    Only by trusting in these words is it possible to enter upon the

    path of spiritual life. The Lord expects from us an effortaccording to our human strength, in measure of our human

    understanding; the rest is given to us by Divine grace, by God's

    help.

    For this reason, in approaching The Ladder of St. John, let usnot be so presumptuous as to set ourselves the task of scaling itsheights. The task of the ascetic is to labor his whole life for theLord. Whatever fruits are produced-these are the result of God'sGrace.The first step of the Ladder demands from us a proper

    attitude towards the world. One must place it in opposition

    to the self, to draw a certain line of separation, to renounce

    it.

    The first word of St. John is On Renunciation of the Worldwhile the next, the second step is On Dispassion.

    In the very beginning of our renunciation, it is certainly

    with labor and grief that we practice the virtues. But when

    we have made progress in them, we no longer feel sorrow, or

    we feel little sorrow. But as soon as our mortal mind is

    consumed and mastered by our zeal, we practice them withall joy and eagerness, with love and with divine fire. (TheLadder)

    We, must through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom ofGod, says the Apostle Paul. Certain trials await also those whoenter the path of spiritual life. The control of worldly life uponus is too powerful for us to be able to sever the internal chainswhich bind us to the world without pain, without regret, withoutsorrow. But the great experience of the ascetics instills in us ajoyous courage. This experience speaks to us of what lies ahead,of what awaits us when we do not stop midway, when, havingmade progress and conquered earthly wisdom, we risesomewhat above worldly life. Then this spiritual struggle of

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    renunciation will fill us with joy. Divine fire and fervor will takehold of us...Those who have really determined to serve Christ, with the

    help of spiritual fathers and their own self-knowledge, willstrive before all else to choose a place, and a way of life, and

    a habitation, and exercises suitable for them. For community

    life is not for all, on account of covetousness and places of

    solitude are not for all, on account of anger. But each will

    consider what is most suited to his needs.(The Ladder)

    This injunction of St John pertains not only to those who strivespiritually in monasticism, but pertains equally to us, people inthe wor1d. Those who traverse the path of spiritual life in theworld, who renounce it inwardly, who do not leave formonasteries, deserts and reclusion, although under conditionsof a worldly life, nevertheless must inevitably make even anoutward change in their life. A specific external discipline of lifeis needed, which must be established by self-knowledge, butwith the knowledge, counsel, and the approval of a spiritualfather.The man who really loves the Lord, who has made a real

    effort to find the future Kingdom, who is really pained by his

    sins, who is really mindful of eternal torment and judgment,

    who really lives in fear of his own departure, will not love. . .

    anything at all on earth.

    And how could he love it? That heavenly Jerusalem, that

    eternal Kingdom-if it is revealed to the inner eyes-will

    immediately illumine the life in the world with a special

    radiance. That man will see how trifling and insubstantial are

    the temptations of the world; how vain the concerns. The

    temporal, the fleeting will become for him like a dream; howterrible then will appear to him sins against the Lord! What

    great justice will he then be hold in the eternal torments

    awaiting those souls who have come to love the temporal and

    have renounced Christ! For the eternal, immortal human soul,

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    which accumulates the temporal and perishable, itself plunges

    into the power of eternal death.

    The man who has come to hate the world has escaped

    sorrow. But he who has an attachment to anything visible isnot yet delivered from grief. For how is it possible not to be

    sad at the loss of something we love?(The Ladder)

    At first it appears that to renounce the world means to choose

    the way that knows no joy. Earthly happiness seems to him to

    be the only joy in life. But that is self-deceit. It is the devil's

    delusion. What passes for worldly joy devastates the soul; it is

    the source of despondency, of dis-appointment and sadness.

    Let us pay close attention to ourselves so that we are not

    deceived into thinking that we are following the strait and

    narrow way, when in actual fact we are keeping to the wide

    and broad way. The following will show you what the

    narrow way means: mortification of the stomach, all-night

    standing, water in moderation, short rations of bread, thepurifying draught of dishonor, sneers, derision, insults, the

    cutting off of one's own will, patience in annoyances,

    unmurmuring endurance of scorn, disregard of insults, and

    the habit, when wronged, of bearing it sturdily; when

    slandered, of not being indignant; when humiliated, not to be

    angry; when condemned, to be humble. Blessed are they

    who follow the way we have just described, for theirs is the

    Kingdom of Heaven.(The Ladder)

    Here St. John warns us against delusion. It may seem to a man

    that he has chosen for himself the narrow path, that he is not

    walking along the broad, worldly highway, down which walk

    the perishing multitudes. By distracting the inner

    concentration, the power of darkness leads him away from thetrue, narrow path of salvation.

    Pay heed to yourself! says St. John. Pay heed, lest you

    succumb to this delusion. And here are the signs by which you

    might verify on which path it is you are walking: the narrow

    unto salvation, or wandering, rather, along the broad and

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    spacious path to perdition. For, the outward signs: if you sub

    due your belly wit~ fasting, if you are not lazy in rising for the

    nocturnal prayer, if you drink less water and do not think of

    clothing, if you are content to eat only bread- you are walking

    along the narrow path While here are the inward signs: if youhave cut off your own will, and patiently and cheerfully carry

    out obediences; if you bear dishonor, mockery, and offenses

    without murmuring; if you are not angered by slander and

    humble yourself when you are criticized-then you are going

    along the narrow path. It is difficult, truly this path is difficult!

    But blessed are those who follow it, for theirs is the Kingdom

    of Heaven!

    Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me:

    'We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can

    we lead the solitary life?' I replied to them: 'Do all the good

    you can; do not speak evil of anyone; do not steal from

    anyone; do not hate anyone; do not be absent from the

    divine services; be compassionate to the needy; do notoffend anyone; do not wreck another man's domestic

    happiness, and be content with what your own wives can

    give you. If you behave in this way, you will not be far from

    the Kingdom of Heaven.(The Ladder)

    This reply of St. John of the Ladder has a special significance in

    our days. A desert-dweller of our time told me that anumber of desert dwellers had discussed the question

    of

    whether or not they should found a monastery for themselves.

    After wards, as he was ascending a mountain, he was granted a

    vision. An angel appeared to him and said, This is not the time

    to build monasteries. He said this to me a few months before

    the war with the Germans. Now is not the time to buildmonasteries!Truly this is so! It is time, however, to struggle in monasticasceticism! Today the outward form of monastic life is accessibleto very few. And the spiritual life of Christians must now be

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    conducted under the conditions of secular life. They are facedwith the task of founding invisible spiritual monasteries withtheir lives primarily through the podvig of prayer. Few today areable to live behind the stone walls of a monastery which setapart that vain world from this the Christian world which is ofGod But does this mean that there are no walls which can bebuilt between that world and this?The inner renunciation of the world ------- here is the foundation ofthis monastery. By prayer, by fighting with the passions, by apure life, by cutting off one's evil will, by ascetic struggle andlabor for Christ-whole heartedly trusting in the help of God'sgrace- raise up the walls of this monastery which is invisible tohuman eyes. Do not judge, do not lie, love your neighbor, quenchall enmity in your hearts ------- and your inner life will become foryou a monastery. Build these invisible spiritual monasteries.Enter therein, leaving behind the vanity of this world. The timefor this has come, the favorable season of the Lord! Amen!

    No one can approach God without withdrawingfrom the world. By withdrawal I do not meanchange of physical dwelling place, but withdrawalfrom worldly affairs. The virtue of withdrawal fromthe world consists in not occupying your mindwith the world.

    St Isaac of Syria