January: Day 8: Teaching 1: Venerable Gregory of the Kiev Caves Lavra

January: Day 8: Teaching 1:
Venerable Gregory of the Kiev Caves Lavra
 
(The Severity of the Sin of Theft)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Gregory of the Caves, glorified today, lived in the 11th century, was distinguished by his humility, obedience and non-acquisitiveness, and is also known as a wonderful exposer and punisher of thieves. The Venerable, distinguished by his love for the poor, had nothing but books, from which he prayed and taught himself and others. But some evil people imagined that a monk who generously gave alms and who had books must also have money and other goods that could be used. So one night they approached his cell and began to wait in a hidden place for the Venerable to go to Matins, so that at that time they could freely use his goods. Elder Gregory usually hardly slept at night, and in the middle of his cell he performed his usual prayers. By the gift of foresight, which the Lord had bestowed upon him for his strict ascetic life, the Venerable Gregory now sensed that thieves had gathered near his cell with the intention of robbing him. The Venerable One felt sorry for these people, who were doing the will of the Evil One, and the poor ones did not realize what they were doing. During prayer, he asked the Lord to enlighten these unfortunates, to send them a deep sleep. And the Venerable One’s prayer was heard: the miserable thieves slept for five days and nights, until the Venerable One himself and some of the brothers woke them up. “It is enough for you to guard me in vain, you have not succeeded in robbing me; go home already!” the Venerable One said to the thieves. But they, the unfortunate ones, were so emaciated from their long sleep that they could not even move. The Venerable One fed them, instructed them, and sent them away in peace. And when the rumor reached the mayor that such and such wanted to rob the Venerable, and the mayor was about to exact payment from them, Venerable Gregory himself hastened to the mayor, gave him several books and begged him not to punish the guilty. Then he sold several more of his books and distributed the proceeds to the poor, fearing that they would again lead them into temptation, to steal. The thieves we have mentioned, brought to their senses by the miraculous power of the Venerable and his extraordinary mercy, wished to spend the rest of their lives in obedience at the Kiev Caves Monastery; and this they did.

There was another such incident in his life. Near the cell of the Venerable there were several fruit trees. Some thieves decided to take the fruits from the garden of the Venerable. So they climbed into his garden at night, picked the fruits and were ready to leave with their burdens. But what happened? Their burdens turned out to be so heavy that they could not move from the spot. For two days and two nights they stood there, unnoticed by anyone. Finally they began to cry out: “Holy Father Gregory! Let us go; we repent of our sin and will never steal again.” The brethren, hearing this, called the Venerable One to them. Appearing to the thieves, the Venerable One told them that if they did not truly repent, they would stand there for the rest of their lives. The thieves cried out to the Venerable One and began to beg him with tears to let them go, promising to unquestioningly do whatever he ordered them to do. The monk condemned them to a life of labor in the Kiev Caves Monastery. And they ended their lives in obedience in the Holy Monastery.

II. The above-mentioned incidents from the life of the Venerable Gregory give reason to say a few words about the grave sin of theft, which, to the shame of Christians, is encountered quite often. But know and remember, brethren, that for every theft God often punishes a person even in this life.

a) "Other people's goods will do no good" - this truth, which you yourself sometimes mention, is confirmed by numerous examples. From the lives of the saints we know, for example, that one merchant hid money borrowed from Saint Spyridon of Trimythous, and fell into poverty: the hidden goods of others destroyed his trade and, like fire, devoured all his property. The servant of Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, hid part of the money given to him for distribution to the poor: and for this, according to the word of the Saint, he was punished by the Lord with illness and death. In the desert cell of Saint Luke of Hellas, sailors secretly stole a millstone and did not want to confess their guilt to the Saint: what happened? When they sailed on the sea, suddenly the one who took the stone fell dead.

b) But, brethren, if in this life the Lord does not punish us for the theft of another's property, then in this case we must be especially afraid, lest the punishment for this theft follow us eternally, after our death. And it will undoubtedly follow, if we do not repent of our various thefts and do not correct ourselves. In the lives of the saints it is told that one monk, by the name of Gregory, found in an inn a knife worth two gold pieces, and he knew whose it was, but hid it. On the way he lost his belt - which was worth not two, but four gold pieces - and his bag. The Venerable Basil the New, appearing to him in a dream and showing a broken pot, said: "Whoever steals it will lose four times either in this or in the future life. If he is rich, then four times his wealth will be taken from him; and if he is poor, then four times his torment will come." “Thieves and extortioners will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10), says the word of God.

“If,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “by the righteous judgment of God all those who do not share their property with their neighbors are condemned to outer darkness, then what a terrible judgment will befall those lawless ones on that day who steal, rob, take away and ruin their neighbor’s property: you yourselves, listeners, judge.”

c) Always keeping in mind the commandment of God: do not steal, and the punishment of God for breaking it, how carefully people tried to keep this commandment, who with all their souls wanted to please God! This is what is told, for example, about Saint Philagrios. Living in the Jerusalem desert, he diligently worked, and thus earned himself food. Once, when he was standing at the market and selling his handicrafts, someone dropped a purse with a thousand coins. The Elder found it. And how did he deal with it? Not as many of us would have done in his place, but in good conscience, in a godly manner. Having found the purse with money, the Elder did not leave, but remained in the same place, saying: "Surely, the one who lost it will return." And so the one who lost it comes and cries. The Elder took him aside and gave him the purse. He seized the Elder and wanted to give him some money, but the Elder did not accept even what was due and hastened to hide.

It is said of the Venerable Zeno that he was once passing through Palestine and, tired, sat down to eat by a cucumber garden. A thought told him: take one cucumber and eat it, for what is the big deal in that? But he answered his thought: "Thieves are subject to punishment; so test yourself, can you bear the punishment." Having risen, he stood for five days in the heat and, exhausted by the heat, said to himself: "I cannot bear the punishment;" then he said to his thought: "If you cannot, then do not steal and do not eat."

III. We, brethren, must also carefully protect ourselves from dishonestly appropriating someone else’s property, even if it is of little value. Amen.

 

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