September: Day 27: Teaching 2: Venerable Sabbatius of Solovki

September: Day 27: Teaching 2:
Venerable Sabbatius of Solovki
 
(One Should Not Avoid Holy Communion)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Sabbatius, now commemorated by the Church, lived during the reign of Grand Prince Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark. At first he labored in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, where he distinguished himself by his strict obedience to the abbot, his exemplary life, and his love for all the brethren. Then, seeking complete solitude, he first retired to a monastery on the island of Valaam in Lake Ladoga, and then in 1429 he moved to the uninhabited Solovetsky Island in the White Sea. The coastal inhabitants marveled at Sabbatius’s determination: “How can this elder,” they said, “live on a cold, almost barren island?” while others laughed at him. Only one ascetic, Herman, decided to accompany Sabbatius. Both built huts for themselves on an island twelve miles from the shore and settled there. Their life was very hard, full of deprivations. The rocky soil of the island was difficult to cultivate; winter and autumn were very severe, the cold and wind were barely bearable. Sabbatius lived on Solovetsky Island for six years, enduring labor and hardship. One day, Herman went to the mouth of the Onega River, and Sabbatius was left alone on the island. At that time, he received a message from God about his imminent death, and "he hurried" to dry land to find a priest and "partake of the Holy Mysteries." He sailed across the sea in a boat and ten miles from the mouth of the Vyga River he met Abbot Nathanael, who lived there at a small chapel. Nathanael gave him the Holy Mysteries and Sabbatius died peacefully on September 27, 1435. He was buried near Nathanael's chapel. 30 years after the death of Saint Sabbatius, his relics were discovered incorrupt and were transferred to the Solovetsky Monastery.

II. From the short life of the Venerable Sabbatius we see, brethren, how the saints treasured the Divine meal of the Body and Blood of Christ, especially when they had a presentiment of the nearness of their death. With deep sadness we must note the indifference and coldness with which many children of the Church now treat this most holy mystery.

(a) The Secret Supper is the same here as in the Upper Room on Zion. The same Lord now institutes it. You hear His own words through the lips of the officiant: "Drink ye all of it;" soon after this the sacred gates are opened, and the minister of the mystery appears to invite us to fulfill the command of Christ: "Drink ye all of it." He calls you: "With the fear of God and faith and love, draw near." But do you all approach? - O Long-suffering Lord! - often not one. Do not be too much troubled. I say this without reproach. I know that in you this is not the audacity of self-will, but a lack of boldness in faith; that you act according to the custom received from your ancestors, widespread for centuries. But be impartial. Compare your custom with the commandment of Christ: you cannot help but admit that the custom could follow the commandment more accurately; that you could more actively fulfill the word of Christ. In the early centuries of Christianity, going to church on Sundays and feasts, and partaking of the Holy Mysteries constituted for the faithful one almost inseparable duty; so that there are church rules that condemn “going to church ” and “going out” without “Holy Communion” (Apostolic Canon 9; Antiochian Synod Canon 2). Here is a custom that is obviously more perfect than the present one! As for those who do not approach the Lord’s table even once a year, or who shun it altogether: their judgment is written in the Gospel: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, or drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

b) Let us not remain silent about what those who rarely approach the Holy Mysteries usually say in their own defense: "We are unworthy;" "We are not prepared." This thought sometimes truly comes from humility; and then it certainly will not harm the union of these souls with Christ, just as Peter’s humble alienation did not harm his: “Depart from Me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). But we must be careful lest under the plausible cover of the name of humility there hides our coldness to faith and negligence about correcting our lives. You are not ready: do not be lazy, prepare yourself. You are unworthy: no other person is worthy of communion with the All-Holy, because no one is sinless; but as with everyone else, so you too are granted to believe, repent, correct yourself, be forgiven, and trust in the grace of the Savior of sinners and the Seeker of the lost. You say that you are unworthy: in vain do you take upon yourself another's office; to honor you or not to honor you with the Mystery is the duty of the celebrant, and not of the communicant. You are unworthy: let us agree that this is true. What then? Do you really want to remain unworthy? If you carelessly leave yourself unworthy of communion with Christ on earth, do you not expose yourself to the obvious danger of remaining unworthy of communion with Him in heaven? But if you fear your unworthiness and want to get rid of it: will you get rid of it by removing yourself from Christ, from His grace, from His power, from His life? Is it not better, correcting your unworthiness as best you can, to have recourse to Christ in the Mystery, in order to receive from Him help and strength for a more perfect correction and progress in pleasing God?

III. Christians! The Lord generously opens His temple for us, prepares His table, calls us to His Supper. We must be ashamed of the ungrateful response to the gracious invitation: “But they all with one accord began to make excuses” (Luke 14:18). We must fear the sentence: “They that were called were not worthy” (Matt. 22:8). Let us excite ourselves to approach the Lord’s table as often as possible, with careful purification of ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, with fear of our unworthiness, but with faith in grace, with a heartfelt hunger and thirst for love for the sweetest Jesus, Whose flesh and blood is the true bread of life, and the only cup of salvation. Amen.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.