28. On Love for Enemies

There seems to be no commandment harder to fulfill than the one the Lord gave us when He said, love your enemies. When someone offends us with only a word, even then we often know no measure to our anger against the one who offended us. And when someone offends us in deed, then—almost always—our heart begins to tear itself to pieces, and God alone knows what we would then be ready to do to our enemy. What is to be done in such a situation? Why, it is very simple. One need only take examples from those people who harbored no hatred, enmity, or desire for revenge toward their enemies—and then, without doubt, after these examples our own soul will find peace with respect to our enemies, the turbulence of our heart will subside, and the offenses inflicted on us by our enemies will pass as quickly as the sun’s heat passes after a rain.

But where are these examples? Here they are: look at them and take instruction. Once robbers attacked the venerable Seraphim. “One of them, picking up an axe from the ground, struck the venerable elder so hard on the head that blood poured from his mouth and ears. The elder fell to the ground and lost consciousness. The villains dragged him toward the porch of his cell, continuing furiously to beat him along the way—some with the butt of an axe, some with a piece of wood, some with their fists and feet… And when they saw that he was already as good as dead, they bound his hands and feet with ropes and, laying him in the entryway, threw themselves into the cell, imagining they would find immense riches there—and of course found nothing” (“Life of Father Seraphim,” p. 55).

The elder was ill from the beatings for about five months and then recovered; and afterward the villains who had beaten him were found. How did the venerable elder treat them? First, he himself forgave them; then he implored the abbot to impose no penalty on them; and finally he wrote to their master: “If you do not forgive them, I will leave the Sarov monastery and go, unknown to anyone, to other holy places.” But even this was not all. Afterward, speaking with the abbot, the venerable elder agreed that it would be better for him to be expelled from the monastery than for those who had beaten him to receive any punishment“ (p. 58). Moreover, when the apostles were beaten in the Sanhedrin, they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 5:41). And the Archdeacon Stephen, being stoned, said: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:60). And the Apostle Paul, after having received from the Jews forty stripes minus one five times, after being beaten with rods three times and stoned once (2 Cor. 11:24–25), said: I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom. 9:3).”

How then, after such examples, can we fail to find peace and forgive our enemies when we are wronged and insulted! You see what the saints endured and what they forgave—and shall we, after this, fail to forgive the trifling offenses our enemies inflict on us? No, let it never be so! In order to conquer our enemies with love and find peace, let us henceforth, and above all, before the examples of all the saints, turn our gaze to the Lord—who for our sake became poor, who took on the form of a servant, who was weighed down with slanders, who was pierced to the depths of His soul with grief over our sins, who was covered with wounds, burdened with mockery, crucified, forsaken by all, and from the cross cried out: Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34)! And after that, let us also recall the examples of the saints who knew how to forgive offenses and love their enemies—and then without doubt, even after wrongs and insults, our turbulence will subside, our soul will find peace, and love for our enemies, like a ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds, will touch our heart. Amen.