A HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF OUR HOLY FATHER EUTHYMIUS THE GREAT
About the Reasons God Hides from Us the Hour of Our Death
(Jan. 20/Feb. 2)
Brothers and sisters!
In the year 405, a twenty-nine year old priestmonk named Euthymius came to Jerusalem from Melitene on the Euphrates in lesser Armenia. Born in answer to his parents’ prayer, he was dedicated by them to the Lord’s service even before his birth. While the boy was still very young, his father died, and his mother gave him to the local Bishop for an ecclesiastical education. Scrupulous, devout, and dedicated to the liturgical order of the Church, Euthymius was ordained priest at an early age. He also took monastic vows and manifested a most austere character, ever seeking retirement and solitude. Despite his relative youth, he was put in charge of all the monks of the diocese. This was too much for him, and caused his flight to Jerusalem.
Soon after arriving in Jerusalem, Euthymius retired to a solitary cell in the lavra of Pharan, four miles from the Holy City. He quickly began making his mark on the monasticism of Palestine. It was Euthymius who introduced there the custom, originating in the land of his birth and now known to all Orthodox Christians from the Life of Saint Mary of Egypt, of leaving one’s monastery eight days after Epiphany, going out alone into the “utter desert,” and not returning until it was time to go up to Jerusalem for Palm Sunday.
During his fifth year in Palestine, Euthymius withdrew deeper into the wilderness, settling at Coutila, near the Dead Sea. His contact with the Bedouin increased and by his teaching and miracles, and the example of his life, he converted whole tribes of Arabs. This brought him such fame and veneration that he felt forced to relocate on several occasions.
Much could be said about Euthymius’ way of life, but it is best summarized by his disciple, Saint Cyriacus: “We never saw Euthymius eating (except on Saturdays and Sundays), talking without grave necessity, or sleeping on his side. He would drowse while sitting, or at times standing, supported by a rope nailed to the wall and wrapped around both of his hands. When nature compelled him to snatch a little sleep, he muttered the words of Arsenius the Great, ‘Come, wicked servant.’”
In the middle years of the fifth century, two great heresies arose, Nestorianism and Monophysitism, which occasioned the summoning of the Third and Fourth Oecumenical Councils. In both crises, Saint Euthymius remained steadfast in Orthodoxy. Largely because of the saint’s high reputation among the monks of Palestine as well as among the laity, the Holy Land remained in the end solidly Orthodox, unlike many other areas of the East. Thus it can be said that it is in large measure due to Saint Euthymius that to the present the Orthodox have chief possession of the Holy Places.
Despite the fact that to most of the faithful today Saint Euthymius is little more than a name, the Orthodox Church in fact honors him as second in the ranks of holy monastics, directly after the great Anthony himself. This is due not only to his exalted life, but to his key historical influence -- and this despite the fact that Euthymius was neither a theologian in the formal sense, nor an author. Rather, he was a theologian in the very truest, the most Orthodox sense; that is, he was one who cleansed himself for the Lord by prayer and other ascetical labors, and thereby attained the inner vision and direct knowledge of God.
In old fresco cycles, especially those of the sixteenth-century Cretan school on Athos, at Meteora, and elsewhere, the figure of Saint Euthymius is one of the most striking and distinctive of all. Aged, gaunt, and very long-bearded, he is the exact embodiment of Orthodox monastic asceticism. His outward appearance bespeaks the uniqueness and nobility of Orthodox spirituality; it proclaims its veracity in terms to which every serious and honest soul must give unreserved consent.
In the ninety-seventh year of his life, Euthymius broke his custom and remained in his cell on the eighth day after Theophany. When asked by his disciples whether he would be leaving for the utter desert the next day, he replied, “I shall remain with you for a week and bid you farewell on Saturday after nightfall.” His words were fulfilled exactly, for that would be the day of his blessed repose.
Brothers and sisters, the venerable Euthymius, whom we commemorate today, was one of those rare, great saints to whom the Lord foretells the exact day and hour of their death. To the rest of us, such knowledge is not given. In reflecting on the life of our holy father Euthymius, we find ourselves asking, “Why is it that the Lord conceals from almost everyone the hour of death?”
The first reason for this, dear Christians, is very simple. The Lord hides from us the hour of death so that we will constantly keep watch over ourselves; that is, so that we will always pay heed to what we are thinking, saying, and doing. Watch therefore, says the Saviour, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.[1]
The second reason why the Lord hides from us the hour of death is so that we not postpone self-amendment. How many people would be quick to undertake the struggle to overcome their sinful impulses if they knew for certain that death is far off? If they knew this, then everyone would think, “There is plenty of time for virtue, plenty of time to change myself. I will worry about that when death is nearer, and enjoy myself in the meantime.” But with such an attitude, will a person ever really correct himself? Would many attain real virtue? The wise Solomon answers in the negative: The wicked man when he is come into the depth of sins, becometh heedless.[2] And Job says, The bones of the wicked man shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.[3]
The Lord wants us to live our whole life for Him and to have constant care for our salvation. Remembrance of God, rejection of sinful thoughts and inclinations, and active pursuit of virtue -- these should be our continuous concern from youth to old age. Therefore, says the wise Sirach, Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day: for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth, and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed, and perish in the day of vengeance.[4] Likewise, Solomon warns us not to delay this for, he says, thou knowest not what tomorrow shall bring.[5] And so, let us not delay self-amendment, for truly, we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh to take our souls.
Third and finally, the Lord hides from us the hour of our death because He respects our free will and does not wish to deprive us of opportunity for authentic virtue. If, just a short time before our end, Heaven were to reveal to every one of us the day and hour of death’s arrival, we would of course apply every moment of our remaining time to reversing the previous course of our life. But again, how real would such self-amendment be in most people? Would it not, for the majority, be somehow artificial and almost forced? Would it not be the labor of a frightened slave? But there is no fear in love, teaches the beloved disciple, Saint John the Theologian. Perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love,[6] and it is our love that God truly desires.
The Lord provides us with ample incentive to virtue, but He also makes it fully feasible for us to reject His calls to us. Without unconstrained choice on our part, our turning to God would have but limited worth: the virtue of it would not be very great. In His infinite compassion, God accepts the deathbed conversion and plea for forgiveness; but how much higher and more pleasing in His sight is a lifetime or at least many years of earnest, loving labor on His behalf!
And so, brothers and sisters, as we celebrate the feast of God’s wondrous favorite, Saint Euthymius, let us thank the Lord that He hides from us the hour of death and the judgment that awaits us beyond the grave, especially as we are fast approaching the pre-Lenten season and Great Lent itself. This is the time of year when the Holy Church most insistently urges us to lead a life of virtue throughout our days on earth, and to bear in mind the hour of death and the judgment that follows. Freely choosing the good, let us demonstrate that we truly love God, Who loved us first.[7] This way, our struggles for salvation will prove most worthy of divine reward. Behold, I come as a thief, says the Lord Christ. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.[8] And in another place He says, Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods.[9]
Such, brothers and sisters, are the reasons why the Lord hides from us the day and hour of our death, according to a sound Christian understanding and the word of God. By the prayers of our holy father Euthymius and of all God’s saints, may we make good use of the time that remains us until that day and hour. Amen.
[1] Matt. 25:13
[2] Prov. 18:3
[3] Job 20:11
[4] Eccl. 5:7
[5] Prov. 3:28
[6] I John 4:18
[7] I John 4:19
[8] Rev. 16:15
[9] Matt. 24:46-47
