Counsels from the Holy Mountain

Chapter Four

Selected from the letters and homilies

of Elder Ephraim

On Monasticism, Virginity, and Purity

There is nothing more choice than monasticism. Monasticism means theosis, sanctification of soul and body, communion with God. Monasticism is consciousness, awareness, and discovery of the kingdom of God within man. Who is wise and will understand these things? (Ps. 106:43 ). Who is truly prudent and has recognized that within monasticism lies the extraordinary grace of God, as theosis and sanctification?

 

Who left the world, his desires, and freedom, went to live this life, and by constant digging and struggling found Jesus and became a king ruling with dispassion? Without monasticism no one reaches dispassion. No one obtains a pure nous without vigils, abstinence, and unceasing prayer. No one attains theoria without a monastic lifestyle. No one acquires such a close relationship and contact with Jesus as he who stays near Him and does not abandon Him. Then he will be worthy of the beatitude: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God” (Lk. 11:28 ). Is the heart is not purified, our pure Jesus will not come to make an “abode” (cf. Jn. 14:23 ) in it. But how is it possible for someone to purify his heart while living in the midst of the world? The Fathers realized the difficulty of this, and for this reason they abandoned the world and dwelt in the wilderness. They set up their arena there and won the crowns of victory. So, man is called to begin the struggle and the spiritual contest with God as an ally and the Elder as a helper. But the enemies—the devil, the world, and the flesh—will offer strong resistance to intimidate the fighter. But if he firmly holds on to the counsels and advice of his spiritual guide, by all means he will obtain victory and will receive the crowns of eternal glory. Monasticism is supernatural. The life of a monk is supernatural because he renounces nature in the full sense of the word. For behold: he breaks the natural bonds with his parents and relatives and abandons them for his entire life—not for selfish purposes, but exclusively for the sake of serving God with complete dedication. The goal of his new life is to mortify his carnal mentality and through the struggle to obtain angelic purity. It is natural to sleep at night, but monasticism prescribes vigil so that a monk becomes “like a sparrow sitting alone upon the housetop” (Ps. 102:7 ). It is natural for an individual to have freedom, but as soon as one begins the monastic life, he forces himself to mortify his self-will for the sake of the love of God. And in general, the life of a monk is completely different from worldly life, which is why it is called angelic, because of its supernatural course. It is a great gift from God to be called to monasticism and an even greater gift to find a spiritual guide in it. To leave the world is easy, but to find a competent guide is a special gift from God, because whether or not he makes progress will depend on his guide. When the remembrance of death is diligently meditated upon, it provides great strength in the beginning when one intends to renounce the world, as well as throughout one’s monastic life. This remembrance will become an all-powerful spiritual philosophy for him, from which he will draw forth the truth of things to supplant everything transitory. Visit the frigid tombs and listen carefully, and hear what those dwelling in them will tell you “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mk. 8:36 ). “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2 ). At the extremely difficult and exceedingly grievous hour of death, there is no one to help a person except for his works. In fact, no one except God. If we serve Him, we shall have an almighty helper and protector at the fearful and deadly separation of our soul and body. What a struggle the soul has as it is separated from the body! Keep this struggle constantly in mind; think and note that we also have to pass the aerial toll-houses* which impede souls from ascending as they present the deeds of our life in order to obstruct our souls’ ascent and drag them down into Hades. Then we must bear in mind that we also have to face a tribunal. And alas, what a tribunal! Saying, “I have sinned” and “forgive me, the sinner”, is not effective then, for every mouth shall be silenced with no excuse. We should ponder these things and other such things so that we can trace out more clearly what kind of goal we have and so that we can run as quickly as possible to obtain it, for we do not know what tomorrow holds. The time of death is unknown. Only good deeds done for God will remain and will follow man beyond death. And what is better than working for God all one’s life so that one takes the profit of this work with him when he goes to God! Truly this person is the wise merchant who found the pearl of great price. If you listen to the voice of the Lord your God, do not harden your heart, but listen to what He will tell you: “He will speak peace to His saints and to them that turn their heart unto Him” (cf. Ps. 84:8 ). I pray with all my heart that through divine eros you acquire a ceaseless yearning for God, and that by soaring with it you attain beauty equal to the angels, through the intercessions of the Abbess of the Holy Mountain, the Lady Theotokos. Amen; so be it.

*Toll-houses (τελώνια )

According to the Holy Fathers,** when a person dies, his soul ascends to the throne of God to be judged, and the demons as “tax-collectors” where they examine if the soul has sins that have not been confessed, and they even accuse the soul of sins not committed. If so, they cast the soul into hell at once before it even reaches the throne of God. Of course, the toll-houses are not material entities, but spiritual realities which the Holy Fathers chose to describe with material imagery.

**Although some modern theologians doubt the existence of the toll-houses, toll-houses are mentioned either explicitly or implicitly by countless saints including St. Paul, St. Makarios of Egypt, St. Basil the Great, St. Ephraim the Syrian, Abba Isaiah, St. Hesychius the Presbyter, St. Diadochos of Photiki, St. Theognostos, St. Athanasios the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. John of the Ladder, St. John of Damascus, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, St. Theophan the Recluse, St.John of Kronstadt, and St. John Maximovitch.