39. What to Do When We Are Overcome by Anguish, Boredom, Sorrow, and Despondency

It happens, brothers, that anguish, boredom, sorrow, and despondency come upon us and begin to torment our heart. What must we do then? To whom must we turn for help? How must we comfort ourselves? Where can we find a remedy against these ailments of the soul? A certain brother of Sarov, finding himself in despondency close to despair, asked another to share a few minutes of his grief with him. These two brothers left the monastery after vespers and went around the enclosure, comforting themselves with mutual conversation. Coming near a certain building, beside which lay a path to Seraphim’s spring, the grieving brother wanted to turn aside, so as not to encounter Saint Seraphim in such a painful state of spirit. But before they had managed to leave the road, they suddenly saw the elder nearby, coming toward them… The two brothers fell at his feet. The elder blessed them with extraordinary kindness and then sang the following verse from the 9th ode of the canon to the Most Holy Mother of God: Fill my heart with joy, O Virgin, you who have received the fullness of joy, destroying the sorrow of sin. Then, stamping his foot, he said: “There is no way for us to despair, for Christ has conquered all: He raised Adam, freed Eve, and put death to death.” The spiritual state of the elder seemed to pour itself into the souls of the grieving brothers, and they, vivified by his joy, returned to the monastery in a peaceful and cheerful state of heart (“Life,” p. 173). On another occasion the same Venerable one said of boredom and despondency: “This illness is healed by prayer, restraint from idle talk, work within one’s strength, reading the word of God, and patience, for it also arises from faint-heartedness and idleness and idle talk” (Account of Mark, p. 115).

So then, here is what must be done in the face of anguish, boredom, sorrow, and despondency: first of all, one must turn in prayer to the Most Holy Mother of God. Since She Herself has seen many sorrows and hardships, even those unbearable to an ordinary person, She is therefore, as one who has been tested in all things, able to help us too when we are tested. Therefore in times of heartfelt sorrow, we repeat, pray to Her and say: Fill my heart, O pure one, with gladness, you who give incorruptible joy, who gave birth to the Author of gladness. Fill my heart with joy, O Virgin, you who have received the fullness of joy, destroying the sorrow of sin (Canon, odes 5-9). Pray thus, and the Most Holy Mother of God will comfort you. Then, in the face of the above-mentioned ailments of the soul, one must more often call to mind the words of the Venerable one: “There is no way for us to despair—Christ has conquered all: He raised Adam, freed Eve, and put death to death.” And in recalling this, one must picture to oneself that if Christ has conquered all, then all these—anguish, boredom, sorrow, and despondency—are temporary sorrows, and that in time, through the merits of Christ, they will be replaced by unending joys, and there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain; for the first things have passed away (Rev. 21:4). And when you picture this to yourselves, then without doubt, with God’s help, the turmoil of your heart will calm down and your sorrows will pass as quickly as the heat of the sun passes when rain comes. Finally, one must take to heart the remedy against the above-mentioned ailments of the soul that was proposed by the Venerable one. To be freed at least from boredom and despondency, one must, as we have heard, pray, refrain from idle talk, attend to labor, read the word of God, and arm oneself with patience.

So run thus, brothers, that you may find comfort and attain peace of soul. Amen.