One of the Saints that made a real impact in my life is the St Seraphim of Vyritsa.
This is not St Seraphim of Sarov; he is a different Russian Saint whose holy relics
are, they re kept in Vyritsa, a small village kind of close to Saint Petersburg.
I remember when I visited there in order to venerate the places where he lived and he
saw the relics I remember the one thing that really stuck with me was that in the garden
of the house where he lived there was this rock and um for 1,000 nights he imitated the
deeds the wonderful deeds of St Seraphim of Sarov, he imitated the struggle of his protective
Saint, he did not go into the wild as Saint Seraphim of Sarov had done long before him
he did not spend 1,000 nights in the wilderness of the Russian forest facing wild beasts and
the horrible cold of of the forest but he did what he could do in the given context
of his life he had a stone in the garden of his house and night after night unknown to
anyone else except God himself he went outside and he prayed on that rock imitating his holy
protector and asking for God's mercy upon him and upon the world
was it yesterday or the day before yesterday I don't really remember a wonderful lady whom
I love very much from Canada has asked me this question how is it that God gives me
bits and pieces of wisdom teaches me here and there what I'm supposed to be doing for
my salvation and for the salvation of those around me but I keep forgetting am I guilty
of this forgetfulness am I supposed to repent of it through confession and how before anything
else how am I supposed to fight it so that I don't lose any more these gifts of God and
the truth is that all of us are being given these gifts the question is not whether or
not God is teaching us whether or not God loves us and whether he directs our life into
the most minute smallest of details God loves all of us with the entirety of his divine
love that is not the question and God is teaching all of us with the same care and attention
and again attention to detail that he had for his greatest Saints there's no difference
between the love God had for Saint Nicholas so he St Seraphim of Sarov or any of the great
Saints and me and you whoever and wherever you are in the world God's love is the same
God's care and attention to our life is the same his attempts to teach us are the same
but the difference is that unlike the Saints, we do not put God's advice into practice unlike
the Saints we do not give those beats and pieces of of treasure of wisdom given to us
by Christ we do not receive them in the sense of interiorising them, making them our own
uh appropriating them by using them reality is that we forget the gifts of God because
we do not use them what you do not practice you will forget what you do not put to use
on a daily basis you will forget for example Saint Seraphim of Vyritsa the fact that God
gave him this thought of imitating his divine protagonists St Seraphim of Sarov who had
prayed in the wild forest of Russia for one thousand years God gave him that thought and
Saint Seraphim of Vyritsa although he could not because of the context of his life he
could not just disappear into the forests and do exactly what Saint Seraphim of Sarov
had done nevertheless he put that thought that teaching of Christ into practice within
the limits of his life within the limits of his strength and of his given context and
although his ascetical feat is not as glorious as that of his protective Saint of Saint Seraphim
of Sarov, both of them nevertheless have been glorified by God and the proof is that they
are both now Saints and they both have relics to to prove their holiness and their sanctity.
If God gives you a gift if God teaches your heart something make certain that you don't
forget it because that is that pearl of great price forget all the other pearls in your
life and prioritize this one prioritize the gift of God above everything else make use
of it put it into practice and if you use it on a daily basis if you focus your attention
on that piece of advice above everything else then you cannot forget what you use you cannot
forget what you practice it may at times feel as if God is giving you an advice that doesn't
quite fit your needs you may ask God's help to fight I don't know lost for example and
instead of instead of that God sends your way people and God sends your way dreams or
thoughts you receive in your prayer or beats and pieces in the scripture or the writings
of the Holy Fathers that touch your heart that have nothing to do with lust but have
a lot to do with forgiving others and not judging others follow God's advice because
God never wastes his advice if it's not necessary God would not give that advice to you forget
about the things you think you should oppose forget about the fights the battles you believe
you should be involved into at this given moment if God tells you that your focus should
be not in that direction but in that direction then you'd better follow his advice you'd
better follow his lead and what you will discover is that that seemingly unnecessary advice
is precisely the tool you need to destroy the enemy you were battling the same way that
sometimes you don't fight lost openly but you fight its roots you burn its seeds you
uproot it by learning how not to judge others how not to condemn others and if God has given
you that piece of advice do not judge if those words burn your brain burn your being or be
more loving be more forgiving then make sure you you surround yourself with reminders of
that advice write it on pieces of paper and put it on your walls everywhere put it by
your bedside so the first thing you see in the morning as you wake up is the icon of
of Christ and the Mother of God and that advice of God and what you see before your eyes at
all times you will not forget and what you practice because you see you will not forget
and Christ who always honours his word Christ is the one who told us that if we are faithful
in the little things he's given us he will increasingly give us more and more but if
we treat with just carelessness and not respect the treasures he's giving us the small talents
the small advices and pieces of wisdom he's given us that he's not going to give us anything
more I'm in a tent um I'm in a tent at 55-60 miles per hour because in my heart is the
desert because in my heart I know what I crave to be and I had I've had this craving and
this longing since day one the first day when God set my heart on fire with my need to be
alone with him and to belong only to him he set my heart on fire with this craving to
be in the desert with him I cannot be in a desert but I can be in a tent at least throughout
land even if his stand is simply in the garden of the monastery I am still out in the wind
I am still out in the cold I am still out on the ground it's not what my beloved Saint
Sisoes the Great has done but it is the little I can do and I pray that God blesses this
nothing of mine the way he's blessed what St Seraphim of Vyritsa did by imitating the
great struggles of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
When God speaks to your heart, my brother and my sister, make sure that you surround
yourself with that advice put it before your eyes everywhere you are because what you have
before your eyes at all times you will practice and what you practice you will not forget
there's a battle against our minds and the devil wants us to forget because to forget
means to disobey means to disrespect means to dishonour God's love for us and we should
do everything in our power to receive these treasures that God has given us and keep us
in our hearts by practising them to the best of our ability and if we are faithful in the
little things that we receive God will be true to his word and will give us so much
more.
May God bless you, my brother and my sister, may God embrace you and bless you, whoever
you are, wherever you are, whatever your needs may be.
Amen, my brother, amen.
Thou didst prove to be a citizen of the desert, an angel in the flesh,
and a wonderworker, O Sisoes our God-bearing Father.
By fasting, vigil and prayer thou didst obtain heavenly gifts,
and thou healest the sick and the souls of them that have recourse to
thee with faith.
Glory to Him that has given thee strength.
Glory to Him that has crowned thee.
Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
both now and ever and unto the ages of ages.
Amen.
In thy struggles thou wast as an earthly angel, shining light upon the minds of all the faithful
ceaselessly
with thy divine signs and for this cause, Righteous Sisoes, we honour thee faithfully.