December: Day 30: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Anysia

December: Day 30: Teaching 1:
Holy Martyr Anysia
 
(On the Means to Develop and Strengthen Spiritual Joy in Your Soul)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Saint, who is now being glorified, the Martyr Anysia, was from the city of Thessaloniki, in Greece. She was gifted with all earthly blessings. Her parents were kind, pious and very rich, they raised her with all possible diligence, and from her very childhood she loved God more than anything in the world - with joy she studied His law and zealously tried to fulfill His will. Her mind and beauty were extraordinary: she quickly succeeded in all sciences and her parents could not rejoice enough at their daughter.

But even in her early youth, Anysia experienced a deep grief: she lost her kind parents. After their death, she remained the sole heiress of a huge estate. She received an incalculable amount of all kinds of wealth: villages, money, gold and silver utensils, valuable clothes decorated with gold and pearls. But this wealth did not so much please Anysia as it frightened her. She knew that there are many temptations in wealth, that it often arouses pride and vanity in a person, which easily leads away from God. Fearing all these temptations, Anysia constantly prayed to the Lord for help, asked Him to guide her so that she would use the gifted wealth for the benefit and not for the destruction of her soul, and finally decided to give everything to the poor. When she sold her property, she did not set a price for everything herself, but said to the merchant: “Remember that the property of the poor and needy is being sold, and therefore give the price that is due for it, for the Lord loves justice and rewards according to justice.”

Having sold her property, Anysia began to distribute money to the poor; she visited hospitals and prisons, bringing generous assistance to the unfortunate and unspeakably rejoicing when she managed to do more good. But Anysia did not help with money alone: she looked after the sick, gave them medicine, bandaged their wounds, served them with zeal and love. Having distributed her wealth, she herself began to live in extreme poverty, not grieving at all about her poverty, spending her days in work and her nights in prayer. “In this voluntary poverty, amidst deprivations of all kinds, without a doubt, she felt more joy of soul than many rich people in their magnificent chambers,” for it is not wealth that makes a person happy, but a calm conscience, inner peace and a firm Christian hope for receiving a blessed life beyond the grave.

At that time there was a terrible persecution of Christians, so that anyone who killed a Christian was not considered guilty of murder even by law. One day, Anysia, going to church, noticed an unusual commotion in the street; on that day the pagans were celebrating some kind of idol festival. One soldier, seeing Anysia, shouted at her to stop, for he wanted to force her to make a sacrifice to the idol. The frightened girl crossed herself; the soldier shouted at her again: "Who are you and where are you going?" - "I am the servant of Christ and I am going to church," Anysia meekly answered. - "I will not let you," said the soldier; "make instead a sacrifice to our gods," and then he seized her to lead her into the temple. Anysia resisted; then he drew his sword and, striking her, killed her. The pagans themselves reproached him for his hard-heartedness, seeing an innocent young girl killed. Christians buried her with reverence.

II. The life of the Holy Martyr Anysia, who voluntarily renounced wealth and earthly joys and was nevertheless happy, leads us, my beloved brethren, to the thought that for a Christian there is an inexhaustible source of spiritual joy, which has nothing in common with earthly, worldly joy, which for most people is inextricably linked with an abundance of earthly goods. Where is the source of the spiritual joy of a Christian? What means contribute to the growth of spiritual joy in the soul of a Christian, making him happy amid poverty and exhausting labors? There are many means to find this unearthly joy of a Christian in your soul, and almost all of them are in the hands of each of us.

a) First of all, one must firmly believe that after this short life, full of all kinds of sorrows and illnesses, there will come a life so blessed, so happy, that there are no words in human language to describe what God has prepared for those who love Him, i.e., Christians who live holy in the spirit of living love for God and their neighbors.

All the saints, with all the sorrows of their lives, with all the needs and deprivations in everything, considered themselves the happiest at the mere thought of this blessed joy.

Such was, for example, Andrew the Fool for Christ's Sake, who, as a consolation, was even shown a sensory image of heavenly life.

Here is a brief account of what blessed Andrew saw and heard in his rapture in paradise. “I saw,” he says, “in paradise many gardens with tall trees; they, swaying their branches, extremely delighted the sight, and a great fragrance spread from their branches. Some of the trees were incessantly blooming, while others were adorned with golden leaves; others were laden with various fruits of indescribable beauty. It is impossible to compare the trees of paradise to any earthly tree, even the most beautiful, for God’s hand planted them, and not man’s. In these gardens there were countless birds; some of them had golden wings, others, white as snow; others were speckled with various flowers. These birds sang so beautifully that from their pleasant singing I reached self-forgetfulness, and it seemed to me that the voice of their singing was heard at the very heights of heaven. So delighted was my heart!.. Finally, I saw my Lord, sitting on a high and exalted throne; the seraphim stood around Him. He was clothed in a purple robe, His face was most radiant, He looked upon me mercifully. Having seen the Lord, I fell down before Him in inexpressible excitement of spirit and bowed down to the most radiant and terrible throne of His glory. Oh! here the lips become dumb, the tongue refuses to express spiritual things, spiritual joy in sensory forms. What joy and rapture embraced my heart from the sight of His face - it is impossible to explain, so that even now, recalling this vision, I am filled with inexpressible joy!”

Here is another example of spiritual joy and its beneficial influence, sweetening all the sorrows of life. According to the assurance of Palladius of Helenopolis, there were up to five hundred brothers in the Monastery of Abba Apollos, and they all always rejoiced despite the great deprivations of the desert, and rejoiced with such joy that no one here on earth can point to such joy and bodily merriment. Among them there was no one bored or sad, and Abba Apollos usually said: “Those who are to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven should not grieve on the path to salvation; let the pagans groan, let the Jews weep, let the sinners grieve, but those who follow the right path must rejoice” (Lausiac History).

b) The second means of bringing spiritual joy into one's soul consists in prayer. As a reverent elevation of the mind and heart to God, it places the one praying directly before the face of God; but if, standing opposite the sun, one cannot help but be illuminated by the light and feel warmth, then all the more spiritual light and warmth are the direct consequence of prayer.

c) Reading or listening to the word of God, especially the New Testament, is also a powerful means of awakening joy in the Lord. It was not in vain that the Savior called to Himself those who were toiling and heavy laden, promising them peace and joy. He did not take this joy with Him to heaven, but left it in the Gospel, the spirit of which is the spirit of peace, calmness and consolation.

d) The Mysteries of the Church, especially Confession and Communion, also produce a joyful effect on the soul. By laying aside the burden of sins through confession, the soul experiences a sweet feeling of lightness and cheerfulness, which is further elevated by the acceptance of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

e) Conversation with people rich in Christian spirit and having the anointing of the Holy Spirit can also make us partakers of that spiritual joy with which they themselves are filled. That is why we see that many laymen with such love and joy flock to monasteries and deserts where monks and elders live, rich in Christian spirit, strong in Christian faith, hope and love, and so enjoy conversations with these pious elders that they never forget their meetings with them and their conversations throughout their entire lives.

f) The soul that loves the Lord can also draw abundantly from reflection on the perfections of God, on the works of the power, wisdom and goodness of God in creation, providence and redemption, on the particular blessings in time and the comforting promises relating to eternity.

III. May the Lord grant us, through the prayers of the Holy Martyr Anysia, to use the means indicated here for the development and strengthening in ourselves of such a saving spiritual joy that can sweeten all the sorrows and misfortunes of earthly life!

 

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