A pagan
landlord hired an Orthodox Christian as a gardener and warned him, “I will hire
you only if you don’t utter a single word about Jesus Christ!” The Orthodox
Christian replied, “No, I won’t, I promise.” And he did not utter a word about
Christ for three years. All he did was diligently doing what he was supposed to
do and tolerating all temptations and afflictions. Finally three years later,
the pagan landlord said, “Listen, I want to be like you! Tell me everything
about your God.” And he went on to become a Christian.
There was
a woman who came to Elder Anatoly (Zertsalov) of Optina and requested his
blessing for her to live alone, so as to be able to fast, pray, and sleep on
hard wood without any obstacles. The Elder said:
— You
know, the devil does not eat, does not drink and does not sleep, but he still
has to live in hell because he isn’t humble. Subdue your will to the Lord’s
will, and that’s what your ascetic practice should be about; be humble and
admonish yourself, bear your illnesses and sorrows with gratitude — and this is
greater than all feats!
Once upon
a time Abba Macarius was walking from a lake to his cell. He was carrying palm
branches on his shoulders when he met a devil with a scythe. The devil attacked
Macarius but he couldn’t do any harm to the monk, so he said, “You are very
strong, Macarius. I can’t stand against you. Although I do everything you do:
you fast, and I don’t eat at all; you abstain from sleep, and I never sleep,
there’s only one thing at which you are better than me.” “What is it?” Macarius
asked. “Humility.” the devil replied. “This is why I can’t stand against you.”
A Greek
philosopher ordered one of his disciples to give silver to those who would
humiliate him. The disciple spent three years doing so. Finally, the teacher
said:
— Now you
can go to Athens and study wisdom.
When we
was about to enter the city of Athens, the disciple saw a sage who was sitting
at the city gates and cursing everyone who was going past him. He did the same
to the disciple. The disciple burst out laughing.
— Why are
you laughing when I curse you? — the sage wondered.
— It’s
because I used to pay those who disparaged me for three years, and you do it
for free.
— Enter
the city, it’s yours. — the sage replied.
Two
shepherds had a political argument. One of the shepherds was foolishly
attacking the king, while the other was no less foolishly defending him. They
lost their voice and even had a fight, but neither of them could prove anything
to the other shepherd. The shepherds were desperate so they decided to go down
the road until they find someone to settle their argument.
They left
their sheep and went no one knows where, shouting at one another. Fortunately,
they soon met a priest who was going to the Vespers. The shepherds told him
about their argument and asked him to settle it. The priest replied, “My
children! The crux of your argument is that one of you is milking a he-goat,
and the other offers a sieve to carry the milk.”
The
shepherds were astonished to hear this remark but suddenly remembered their duty
and ran back to their sheep.
There was
a monk who had a cell attendant. That cell attendant was meant to help him but
he would beat the monk up and take away his bread. It happened every day, and
the monk was close to death. One day, the abbot called that cell attendant, so
the monk could have rest. He could be thanking God but he was praying, “Lord, I
haven’t tolerated anything for your sake today, and so this day has gone in
vain.”
There was
a man who lived in abject poverty, loneliness, cold and hunger. Notwithstanding
that fact, he would fervently thank God in his prayers every morning.
One of
his neighbors came to him and said:
— Listen
up, how can you be so dishonest? You cannot deceive God or yourself or us: we
all know that God has made you as poor as a church mouse — and you know it,
too: why do you thank him, then?
The poor
man replied:
— You
don’t seem to understand anything! God looked at me and thought: what does this
child of mine need to grow into full measure? He needs to be hungry, cold, and
lonely… He gave all those things to me so abundantly that I cannot help
thanking him every day.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/days/
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