March: Day 11: Teaching 1: Saint Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem

March: Day 11: Teaching 1:
Saint Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem
 
(The Need To Take Care of One's Soul, Which is Priceless)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Church today celebrates the memory of Saint Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Saint Sophronios was born in the 6th century in the city of Damascus of pious and wealthy parents. From his youth he loved spiritual education and chastity, and with love began to study the Holy Scriptures. Having studied them, he, caring for his soul, began to visit monasteries and deserts and there collected everything useful from the lips of the Holy Fathers. Arriving in Jerusalem, he met the wise monk John Moschos in one monastery, became close to him and became attached to him like a son. Soon Jerusalem was attacked by Khozroes, the Persian king. Saints John and Sophronios left Jerusalem at this time, which in their absence was taken by the Persians, and the Tree of the Lord's Cross along with Patriarch Zacharias were taken captive.

Saint Sophronios and John Moschos, having left Jerusalem, undertook a long journey through monasteries, visited the desert dwellers of Palestine, Syria and Egypt, everywhere they conversed with holy men, and wrote down in a book everything that they saw and heard that was instructive, and thus a very edifying book was compiled under the title "Lemonarion" ("Spiritual Meadow").

Saint Sophronios, having become a monk, endured even more labors in caring for the salvation of himself and others. While in Alexandria, he recorded the miracles of the Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John in gratitude for the healing of his eyes from their relics. After this, he again moved to Jerusalem and witnessed the return of the Wood of the Honorable Cross there from captivity together with the Patriarch. A little while later, for his wisdom and strict piety, Sophronios himself was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. His favorite occupation was composing sermons and ecclesiastical hymns, as well as the lives of saints. Thus he recorded the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt. And among ecclesiastical hymns he revised a remarkable ancient hymn in honor of Jesus Christ, "O Gladsome Light", chanted at Vespers and at the all-night vigil.

II. Saint Sophronios, who spent his entire life caring about his spiritual enlightenment, about acquiring knowledge, about edifying himself and his neighbors by an example of piety, serves for us, brethren, as an example of the most living care for one’s soul.

Among Christians of the present day, very many are careless about their souls and their true needs and benefits. In our time, very many are concerned about their bodies and their bodily needs and benefits incomparably more than about their souls. They feed the body to satiety with all kinds of exquisite food, but they are careless and do not care about the soul, which also requires mental food - reading the word of God, reading spiritual books, soul-profiting conversations, good dispositions and feelings, mental enlightenment, and the closest union with Christ, our Savior, in the Mystery of Communion. Of course, we must also care about the body: about bodily food, clothing, housing and other everyday needs; but this care in very many, to the greatest regret, is too immoderate, very disorderly, and constitutes almost their only work.

Brethren! Our body, due to the lack of its necessary needs, which, thanks be to the Lord God, are very small and are satisfied very easily, can weaken, become ill, die, but will rise again; and if the soul that animates it is pure, it will rise again in greater strength, power and beauty. But when the soul becomes ill and dies from sins, then it perishes for the blessed life forever, and will rise again only for the most terrible torments.

We must take great care of our souls.

a) This is because our soul is priceless. After the angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim who surround the throne of God and are eternally blessed, our soul is the most important of all God's creations: it is, by its nature, the image of God. Although in our present state, in the state of the fall, our soul is no longer what it was created to be, but in spite of this, we cannot doubt the greatness of its nature, because the word of God clearly tells us: "And God created man, in the image of God He created him" (Gen. 1:27).

b) Our soul is priceless! It is the temple of the All-Holy Spirit. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you," says the Holy Apostle (1 Cor. 3:16). But if our soul is so majestic, if it should be the temple of the All-Holy Spirit, then should we not use all care, all efforts, all zeal to cleanse this beautiful creation, to be pure from all impurities, and preserve it in all possible purity and blamelessness.

c) Our soul is precious! Jesus Christ once placed the human soul on the scales against the entire visible world with all its countless creations, beauties, treasures and immensity, and found that the whole world cannot compensate a man for the loss of his soul: "What is a man profited," He said, "if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

d) Our soul is priceless! The Son of God, in order to save our soul from the eternal destruction to which it was subjected for our sins, Himself came down from heaven, was born in poverty, lived on earth, toiled, sweated, struggled with the hardships of life, was persecuted, reviled, beaten, crucified and died in the most severe torments. But if the Son of God and God Himself decided to redeem our souls so incomprehensibly, should we not then with all care and all zeal try to save our souls for ourselves?

e) Our soul is invaluable! It was created so beautifully, it was redeemed so dearly, it was showered so richly with God's mercies, so that, after a short time of discipline and testing on earth, it would inherit the eternal kingdom of God. "The Spirit Himself," as the Apostle says, "will bear witness with our spirit, because we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs" (Rom. 8:16), "heirs of the eternal kingdom" (James 2:5). Now judge what attention, what care is used to preserve the heir of some earthly throne! Everyone is ready to sacrifice their lives for its preservation, if he is somehow exposed to danger, and to confirm his right to the earthly kingdom, if it is disputed. Should we use less attention and care to save our soul, destined to inherit the eternal kingdom?

f) Our soul is priceless! With what wonderful gifts it is provided! Its reason – what a high capacity! What a multitude of knowledge it can acquire with it! Its freedom – what a great capacity! What can it not attain with it! Provided with these faculties, it knows its God, it knows its Redeemer, it knows its destiny – to be holy and blessed; it knows all its duties, it stands against the temptations of the world and hell, it overcomes all obstacles, no matter how insurmountable they may seem, and it does deeds that are the subject of universal praise or universal admiration.

III. But if our soul is so priceless in the eyes of God, and should be so priceless in our own eyes, then are not many of us foolish in acting when they take more care of their body than of their soul?

If our soul is so priceless, how foolishly do many of us act when we sell our souls for some worldly, insignificant things that are pleasant or useful to our bodies! Esau acted foolishly when he exchanged his important birthright for food from his brother; but many of us act incomparably more foolishly when we sell our right to be children of God for earthly things, which are always corruptible and insignificant!

If our soul is so priceless, then how vilely do people act who lead the souls of their brothers into corruption.

The Lord says of every tempter: "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).

If our soul is so priceless and so superior to the body and everything material, then how madly many deprive it of living food - spiritual light, i.e. mental and religious/moral enlightenment and life in union with God!

So, beloved brethren, use all your care for the salvation of the human soul, following the example of Saint Sophronios! 

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