Word XXII

The day after his return from his journey, Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev again celebrated the Liturgy in his Ioannovsky women’s monastery, to the common joy of all its inhabitants; at the end of the service, according to his custom, the deeply honored pastor delivered an edifying word on a text from the Gospel of the day. We give this word here in approximate form.

“«The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened»” (Mt 13:33). This is a parable; in it the Lord Jesus Christ pictured that great spiritual power of Christianity which can transform and perfect a sinful man. The matter stands thus: the soul and body of man, though created in the beginning pure and righteous, in the image and likeness of God, afterward received a dreadful leaven—of pride, envy, cunning, disobedience, negligence, love of gain, love of power, and every kind of impurity. But the Lord God, by His ineffable mercy, grants us His grace, by the help of which every man can once more become close to God, holy. And this is what the Lord reveals to us in the parable of the leaven.

Who is meant here under the figure of the woman? The holy Church of Christ is meant, in which, by the will of God, the Holy Spirit lives and works, and is imparted to all Christians through the Mysteries and prayers, sanctifying and quickening believers. What do the three measures of meal mean, into which the woman put the leaven? They signify the three powers of the soul: reason, heart, and will. All these powers are infected, permeated with sin, like paper soaked through with oil. In such a state the soul is repugnant to God; it is not God’s, but the devil’s. Take note of what is in your soul, examine yourselves: how many holy thoughts, how many pure desires and good intentions will you find? Few, very few. But you will see a great multitude of sins, for fallen man sins every day, every hour, through weak faith, self-love, pride, envy, love of gain, gluttony, impatience, irritability, malice, disobedience, willfulness, sins of fornication, despondency, and faintheartedness. Judge for yourselves how deeply sin has sent its countless roots into man’s whole being. However, I do not say that all people are such. There are, of course, people who care for their salvation, who pull out of the soul’s field every weed, every passion. It is not of them that I speak. I speak of people in general. And I too am a sinful man, though I strive to attain holiness, so far as the Lord helps me.

So then, your three powers of soul are badly leavened, and they must be leavened with the grace of the Holy Spirit; the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, mercy, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23). In the holy servants of God we can see an example of how the Church has placed this leaven in them. Take the venerable Seraphim of Sarov. He was a sinful man, but with the help of God’s grace all the bad leaven in him was removed; he became a saint, a swift helper and one who prays for our souls. Truly, in the holy Church there is a fullness and abundance of means for a beneficial, formative action upon man. The spiritual leaven—divine grace, imparted to the Christian through the Mysteries, prayer, and the reading of the word of God—has great power. It can bring every believing Christian to a high degree of perfection.

And you too, dear sisters, strive to receive this good leaven into yourselves, and, having before you the example of the venerable Seraphim and of other saints, do not grow weak in your labors for your own salvation. The rebirth and complete transformation of the old man into the new, spiritual man cannot be accomplished without struggle, for much depends also on man’s own will. And the woman spoken of in the parable waited patiently till it was all leavened. The leaven was working, but did not show such force as to leaven the three measures of meal all at once. Be patient, you too, not growing weak in your good struggle. For give the old man free rein, loosen the spiritual reins, and then the storm of the passions will flood and drown you. Look at people given over to various passions: they become pitiable slaves of the man-slaying enemy. Again I say this not for condemnation, but for the general edification, to warn you against imitating unbelieving people. Such people are pitiable. When temptations, deprivations, and misfortunes meet them, they founder like a ship at sea in a great storm, and perish, unless they repent and turn with their whole soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, for He teaches our hands to war, and our fingers to fight (Ps 143:1), and for victory over the enemy He has given us His Name, His cross, His grace, and His power.

To Him, our Savior, let us have recourse in the difficult circumstances of life and at every time; to the foot of His cross let us carry the burden of our sins; looking upon the example of His most holy life, let us learn to walk our own path through life; then, even amid sorrows and privations, our soul will be at rest, for so says the Lord: come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Mt 11:28-29). Amen.