March: Day 11: Teaching 2: Saint Euthymius of Novgorod

March: Day 11: Teaching 2:
Saint Euthymius of Novgorod
 
(On Long Prayers)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Euthymius, whose memory is celebrated today, lived in the fifteenth century. He was the son of a Novgorod priest and received a good education. At the age of fifteen, Euthymius left the world and retired to the Monastery of Saint Nicholas in Vyazhishchi, where he led a strict ascetic life. The Novgorod Bishop Symeon, having learned of the pious life of the young ascetic, took him into his home and entrusted him with the management of church property. When Symeon died, the brethren of the Bogoroditsky Monastery near Novgorod chose Euthymius as abbot. In 1429, Metropolitan Gerasim consecrated Euthymius to the rank of Bishop of Novgorod.

Saint Euthymius was very concerned about the multiplication and adornment of churches in his diocese and about softening the wild customs of his flock. According to a contemporary chronicler, there was no truth or fair trial in Novgorod at that time, slanderers appeared, swore an oath and kissed the cross for untruth, there were robberies in the villages; heavy levies from princely officials oppressed the people. Euthymius, as far as was in his power, tried to alleviate the lot of the unfortunate. The poor received help from him, the oppressed and grieving - protection and consolation. As meek and merciful as the Saint was to all who sought help and protection, so strict was he to the obvious temptations and sins of his flock: in this case, neither the nobility of his family, nor gifts, nor requests, nor threats could soften and keep him from strict denunciations.

Among pastoral concerns, Saint Euthymius did not abandon monastic feats. An hour before Matins, he rose to pray, and was the first to arrive at church services. Sometimes he would spend the entire night in prayer without sleep. Euthymius spent the entire first week of Lent in prayer, not eating food, and in the other weeks of Lent he ate once a day, and only on Saturday and Sunday twice a day.

Saint Euthymius died on March 11, 1458, at an advanced age, after a short illness. The relics of the Saint, discovered incorrupt sixteen days after his death, soon became the source of many miracles; through the imposition of the schema of Saint Euthymius, many sick people received healing.

II. "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the Holy Apostle Paul commands us. All the saints followed this path to spiritual perfection, and among them was the Venerable Euthymius, who, as we have heard from his life, spent entire nights in prayer.

Why is the duration of prayer necessary? Why should our desires be sent to God repeatedly and intensely?

a) Certainly not for Himself. "For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (Matt. 6:32). The Apostle Paul admonishes us: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Heb. 10:22). What prayer can better prove the fullness of our heartfelt faith – that whose beginning is close to the end, or that which extends over many days, months, and years?

b) The duration of prayer also helps to maintain purity of life. He who prays fervently fears sin, lest it harm the success of this holy occupation. For we know that God will not hear sinners (John 9:31). "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer" (Psalm 33:16). According to the experience of the Holy Fathers, prayer is the most difficult of all virtues. He who does not even know what it is to converse with God, who goes to church only to see whether the service is going on solemnly, and whether his friends are there, will not feel anything difficult. When the Apostle commands patience in prayer, it means that there is a difficulty in it, for which one must be patient. This difficulty consists in the intense striving of the mind towards spiritual things, in curbing the sinful nature that turns away from them, in driving away despondency when what we ask for is not fulfilled. In the continuation of these and similar difficulties lies the feat; and the feat is necessary, for without struggle and victory there can be no reward.

c) That which is achieved with difficulty is highly valued. Those blessings which are given to us by God without our petitions are ordinary in our eyes. The height of blessedness for the soul of a believer is what it achieves after ardent, prolonged and difficult prayer.

However, they will say, how many prayers remain unheard and are completely in vain! This lamentation is similar to someone who reproaches the Lord for why there are more evil than good people in the world, and more sinners than saints. If we see little experience of happy prayer, then let us remember how much we pray? Who would now pray to God for many years for the same thing? Let us take care from day to day to be more vigilant in this spiritual occupation; let us learn to commit the fate of our prayers with a grateful heart to God's providence for us. If a father does not give his children everything they ask for, does it follow from this that he loves them little? Many, as the Apostle James explains, do not receive from God because they do not ask for good, but in order to use what they ask for according to their own desires (4:3).

And how many cases could each of us point to in our own lives when our desires were fulfilled, but no good came of them! Is it not better to be firmly established in the thought that when they are not fulfilled, the Lord leads us away from sin. Partiality, capriciousness, and stubbornness are incompatible with humble and patient prayer. The Savior prayed three times that the cup of suffering might pass from Him, but each time He cried out to His Father: "However, not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39-44). Saint Basil the Great advises: “Ask for yourself what is worthy of God. Even though a month, a year, three years, or more years may pass, do not retreat, but ask with faith, continually doing good, and you will receive if this is pleasing to God, for He knows better than you what is useful for you.”

III. Therefore, whatever we ask God for, let us cover our prayer with this testimony of our devotion to His providence: “Lord! You know what is good for me. Your will be done.” Amen.

 

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