A HOMILY FOR THE SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS OF RUSSIA
About Attaining a Measure of the Blessed Life Led by These Saints
Brothers and sisters!
This Sunday, besides commemorating many other saints, we celebrate the memory of all the righteous men and woman who have shown forth in sanctity in the land of Russia. Even before the last century, when their numbers were greatly increased by the addition of the many New Martyrs who suffered at the hands of the Soviet atheists, these saints constituted a mighty host, and were remarkable both for their quantity, and for their exceptional holiness.
Pondering the great number of these saints, one is compelled to pose the question: How is it that sanctity, and such lofty sanctity at that, could have been so frequently encountered in those days? After all, nowadays we rarely come upon outstanding examples even of simple piety. But in the Middle Ages especially, when the majority of these saints (excluding the New Martyrs) lived, the Russian people succeeded in producing an astounding number not just of saints known to us, but of countless others whose names and labors for the Lord have been lost to time. Moreover, besides these venerable men and women, who attained the first rank among God’s favorites, there were many others who fell little short of the full measure of holiness we associate with the honored title of “saint.” Even if they did not attain the very highest level of sanctity, they were still far advanced in the life of the spirit, beyond anyone we are likely to encounter at present.
In those days, the Russian land, although already vast, was quite thinly populated. The number of Orthodox Christians in Russia during the medieval period could not have been very much greater than the nominally Orthodox population of America today. And yet it is obvious that the fruit of their piety was different – and altogether richer – than that of our own. What was it they had which we lack, and what can we do to make good at least a portion of that deficiency?
The saints of ancient Rus’ were nurtured by a society which was itself Orthodox, by a culture and way of life permeated with Orthodox Christianity. Their upbringing was molded by the Church, as was whatever education they had. Their rulers were likewise reared and educated under the influence of the Church and, regardless of their individual characters, they could never entirely escape that influence. Many of those rulers did everything possible to foster piety by their example. Icons and holy temples were all around; people made the sign of the Cross at every turn. Of course, not everyone in society was equally pious, equally good. Connivers, degenerates, criminals: all these were perhaps as much in evidence then as now. Not every Tsar or prince was just and righteous, and the brutal Mongol conquerors introduced a strong streak of unfeeling cruelty into domestic and public custom. Social inequality was much more extreme than in modern Western society, and social injustice quite marked by our standards. Especially in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, serfdom hardened and poisoned the relationship between the classes. But, as a whole, the tenor of Russian society in the medieval period and, to a lesser extent, down to the Revolution, provided powerful support to the formation of individuals whose personal conduct was, to an amazing degree, in accord with the spirit of the Holy Gospel and the Church’s mind.
Obviously, nothing like the conditions which existed in Russia in those days is to be found in America at present. If anything, we are faced with situations which are in many ways the opposite: a culture which was once heterodox, and now is becoming altogether pagan; a society which esteems much of what true Christianity shuns and ridicules much of what it enjoins; a government which sometimes seems bent on eradicating the last vestiges of Christian influence; public schools that positively forbid any instilling of specifically Christian ideals, and prove the ruin of numberless young souls, especially when parents fail to provide a strong religious atmosphere in the home and bring their children to church frequently. Unfortunately, there is a limit to what we, as individuals, can do to change these external circumstances, but this does not mean that we are left with no weapons at all in our hands, no means to foster the spirit of deep devotion, and even the spirit of righteousness in ourselves and our children.
Firstly, we still have our Holy Orthodox Church, that same Church that planted, nurtured, and harvested the rich crop of Russian piety. No matter how she has been battered in recent decades and centuries by godless Communism, Ecumenism, and secularism; by heresy, schism, renovationism, intrigue, divisiveness, and our own indifference, the Orthodox Church remains ever new, ever pure, ever beautiful, ever holy, and ever ready to impart holiness; she remains full of grace, light, and eternal truth. The society which surrounds us may make it harder for us to enter fully into the Church’s life, but, in the end, doing so all comes down to an act of personal choice on our part, an act of faith and will. When at last we commit ourselves to her and to her divine Master completely, we will find that she is just as capable of transforming man’s whole being as she ever was. She is that treasure hidden in a field, of which the Saviour said, When a man hath found it, for joy thereof he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth the field.[1] Her life is the pearl of great price, for the sake of which a wise merchant sells everything he has. Purchasing it, he buys the Kingdom of heaven itself.
Secondly, we have the means and paths to holiness which the Church provides us. These may be divided into the virtues, such as faith, patience, humility, chastity, and spiritual love; bodily labors, for example fasting, vigils, standing, prostrations, and silence; and spiritual labors, of which repentance, inner stillness, concentration, devout reflection, watchfulness, and prayer are the most important. Every Orthodox Christian can exercise himself in these virtues and practices today, thereby attaining sanctification, salvation, and even holiness, just as much as was possible for our forebears in the faith in centuries past. It is precisely because there were so many people in ancient, Holy Russia who seriously undertook these labors that such a great number of saints appeared in her bosom. And it is precisely because there are so few of us who seriously undertake them today that there are so few saints, or even seriously devout people, among us.
If we wish to remedy our situation, we must, dear brothers and sisters, commit ourselves to something more than a minimum of religious observance. We must imitate the Orthodox of old who seriously devoted themselves to labors of piety. For the young and healthy, strict fasting and daily prostrations are extremely helpful. For everyone – old and young alike – taking up the practice of Mental Prayer, the Prayer of Jesus, in a disciplined manner; frequent recitation of the Psalter; and a regular program of reading the New Testament (especially the Gospels), as well as other soul-saving books, is essential. Finally, we can – and must – complement our private spiritual pursuits with assiduous attendance at church. The Russian people of old were known, even among the other Orthodox, as especially fervent lovers of the divine services. In many churches, services were held every day, and devout people commonly arose before dawn to be present at Matins, though many long hours of hard work in the fields or elsewhere perhaps awaited them when the service was over. Could zeal like this fail to produce a rich bounty of holiness? We may not have services every day, but we do have them on feast days and the Lord’s day. These are joyous occasions, and we should be happy to sanctify them by church attendance and, perhaps, by communing. In old Russia and in every traditional Orthodox society, the entire rhythm of life revolved around the weekly and festal cycles, so people had a transfigured sense of time. Observing these cycles of feast and fast greatly intensified their piety, and helped many of them reach lofty heights of sanctity. It can do the same for us or, at very least, introduce us to a much more devout way of life.
Brothers and sisters, blessed Theophan the Recluse, like other holy people teaches that the best way to honor a saint is to emulate him. On this day and on every day of our Holy Church’s calendar, not one, but numerous saints summon us to glorify them by imitating their struggles and by striving, as much as lies in our power, to make their way of life ours. So doing, we gain them all, not just as intercessors, but as enlighteners and exemplars, who guide us to the attainment of a measure of the blessed life they led. Amen.
[1] Matt. 13:44
