St. John says in his Catholic epistle (I John 4:18)
Perfect love casteth out fear. What does the Holy
Apostle wish to say to us through this? What kind of is he
talking about, and what kind of fear? The Prophet David
says in the Psalms (Ps. 33:10)
Fear ye the Lord all ye
His saints, and we find many other similar expressions
in the Divine Scriptures. Thus, if even saints, who so
loved the Lord, feared Him, then how is it, as St. John
says, that
Perfect love casteth out fear? By this
the Saint wishes to indicate to us that there are two
kinds of fear: one initial and the other perfect—one
fear is characteristic, so to speak, of those who are
beginning to be pious, while the other fear is that of
perfect saints, who have attained to the measure of
perfect love. For example: he who fulfills the will of God
because of fear of tortures, is, as was said, still a
beginner; for he does not do good for the sake of good
itself, but rather out of fear of punishment. Another one
fulfills the will of God out of love for God, loving Him
just in order to please Him; he knows what the essence of
good consists in, he has understood what it means to be
with God. He has true love, which the Saint calls perfect.
And this love brings him to complete fear, for such a one
fears God and fulfills the will of God not out of fear of
punishment, not in order to escape tortures, but because
having tasted the very sweetness of being with God, he
fears falling away, he fears being deprived of it. This
perfect fear, which is born from this love, banishes,
casts out the original fear; and this is why the Apostle
says:
Perfect love casteth out fear.
However it is impossible to
attain perfect fear by any other means than of the
original fear, the initial fear. St. Basil the Great
says, "Who can please God? Either we please Him
fearing tortures and then we are in the state of a
slave; or we fulfill the commandments of God in hope of
reward, for our own benefit, and therefore we are like
hirelings; or we do good for the sake of good itself,
and then we are in the state of a son. For, when a son
reaches mature age and reason, fulfills the will of his
father not because he fears punishment, and not in
order to receive a reward from him, but because he
cherishes a special love for him and reveres him as his
father, he loves him and is convinced that all the
possessions of his father belong to him also. Such a
one is able to hear (Gal. 4:7), Thou art no longer a
bondservant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir
through God. Surely he no longer fears God, as we
have said, by that initial fear, but he loves Him, as
also St. Anthony said, "I no longer fear God, but
I love Him." And the Lord, having said to Abraham,
when he was taking his son to sacrifice him (Gen.
22:12), Now I know that thou fearest God, by
this is signified that perfect fear that was born of
love. For otherwise, why would God say, “Now I
know,” when Abraham had already done so much out
of obedience—he had left all his own people and
settled in a foreign land with a people who served
idols, where there was not even a trace of the worship
of God; and besides all this God brought such a
terrible temptation upon him— the sacrifice of
his son. After this He said to him, Now I know that
thou fearest God. It is evident that He speaks here
concerning that perfect fear which is characteristic of
the saints, who fulfill the will of God no longer out
of fear of torture or to receive rewards, but loving
God, as we have said many times, they fear doing
anything against the will of God Whom they love. It is
for this reason that the Apostle says, Love casteth
out fear, for they act no longer out of fear, but
they fear and therefore they love. It is in this that
perfect fear consists. But it is not possible (as we
have already said above) to attain perfect fear if one
does not first acquire initial fear. For it is said
(Prov. 1:7),The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom, and again it is said (Sirach 1:15, 18),
The fear of God is the beginning and the end.
The beginning fear is called the beginning, after which
follows the perfect fear of the saints. Beginning fear
is characteristic of our condition of soul. It
preserves the soul from every evil, as polishing
preserves metal, for it is said (Prov. 15:27), By
the fear of the Lord everyone departs from evil.
And thus, if anyone avoids evil out of fear of
punishment, as a slave who fears his lord, he gradually
comes to the point where he does good voluntarily, and
little by little he begins, like the hireling, to hope
for a certain reward for his good actions. For when he
shall constantly flee evil, as we have said, out of
fear as a slave, and do good in hope of reward as a
hireling, then abiding by God's grace in the good, and
uniting with God commensurately to this, he receives
the taste of the good and begins to understand what
true good consists in, and he no longer wishes to be
separated from it. For who can separate such a person
from the love of Christ? as the Apostle said (cf. Rom.
8:25). Then he attains the dignity of son, and he loves
good for the sake of good itself, and he fears because
he loves. This is the great and perfect fear. Likewise
the Prophet, teaching us to distinguish one kind of
fear from the other, said (Ps. 33:11, 12): Come, ye
children hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear
of the Lord. What man is there that desirest life, who
lovest to see good days.
Pay attention to each word of the Prophet, how each
expression has its own force. At first he says, "Come
to me," calling us to virtue, and then he adds,
"children." The saints call children those whom
their words turn away from sin into virtue, as the Apostle
also says (Gal. 4:19), My little children, of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
Then having called us and prepared us for this appeal, the
Prophet says, I will teach you the fear of the
Lord. Do you see the boldness of the saint? When we
wish to say something good, we always say, "If you
wish, let us converse a little on the fear of God or on
some other virtue." The Holy Prophet, however, does
not do that, but rather says with boldness, Come ye
children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear
of the Lord. What man is there that desirest life, who
lovest to see good days? Then, as if hearing from
someone the reply, "I desire it, instruct me how to
live and see good days," he instructs us, saying,
keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking
guile. And thus before everything else he cuts off the
activity of evil by the fear of God.
Restraining one's tongue from evil signifies not wounding
the conscience of a neighbor in anything, not slandering,
not irritating. And not speaking a lie with the lips
signifies not deceiving one's neighbor. Then the Prophet
adds, Turn away from evil (Ps. 33:14) At first he
spoke of certain private sins: slander, deceit, and then
he speaks of every kind of evil. Turn away from
evil, that is, flee in general from every kind of
evil, turn away from every deed which leads to sin. Again,
having said this, he does not stop with this but adds,
And do good. For it happens that one may not do
evil, but he also does not do good; one may not offend,
but he also does not show mercy; one may not hate, but he
also does not love. And thus the Prophet said truly,
Turn away from evil and do good. Behold how he
shows us the gradualness of the three states of the soul
we talked about earlier. Through the fear of God he
instructs us to turn away from evil, and then he commands
us to begin the good. For when anyone is vouchsafed to be
delivered from evil and to turn away from it, he naturally
starts doing good, being instructed by the saints.
Having spoken of this so well and systematically, he
continues: Seek peace and pursue it. (Ps. 33:14) He
did not say only "seek," but also strive after
it in order to attain it. Follow this passage attentively
with your mind and notice the preciseness the saint
observes. When anyone is able to turn away from evil and
then to strive, with God's help, to do the good,
immediately battles from the enemy arise against him, and
he labors in asceticism, works, becomes contrite, not only
fearing to return again to evil as we have said concerning
the slave, but also hoping, as was mentioned, in rewards
for the good like the hireling. And in this way, enduring
attacks from the enemy, fighting with him and opposing
him, he does the good, but with great pain and great
labor; and when he receives help from God, and acquires a
certain habit for the good, then he sees rest, he tastes
of peace, then he feels what the meaning of the sorrow of
battle is and what the joy and happiness of peace is. Then
he seeks peace, fervently strives for it, so as to acquire
it, so as to obtain good completely and have it within
himself.
What can be more blessed than the soul which has been
vouchsafed to come into this degree of spiritual maturity?
Such a one, as we have said a number of times, is in the
condition of a son; for in truth, Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God
(Matt. 5:9). After this, who can arouse this soul to do
good for the sake of anything else except the enjoyment of
that good itself? Who can know this joy except for one who
has experienced it? It is then that such a person, as we
have already said a number of times, comes to know also
perfect fear. Now we have heard what the perfect fear of
the saints is, what is initial fear, which is
characteristic of our orientation of soul, and how a man
begins and what he attains through the fear of God. Now we
desire to know also how the fear of God comes to dwell in
us, and we wish to say what separates us from the fear of
God.
The Fathers have said that a man acquires the fear of God
if he has the remembrance of death and the remembrance of
tortures; if every evening he tests himself on how he
spent the day, and every morning on how he spent the
night; if he will not be audacious in his contacts with
others, and finally, if he will be in close contact with a
man who fears God. For it is said that one brother asked a
certain elder, "What shall I do, father, in order
that I might fear God?" The elder replied to him,
"Go and live with a man who fears God, and by the
very fact that he fears God, he will teach you also to
fear God." We banish the fear of God from ourselves
when we act contrary to this: when we have neither the
remembrance of death nor the remembrance of tortures, when
we do not pay heed to ourselves and do not test ourselves
as to how we spend our time, but live carelessly and have
contact with people who do not have the fear of God; and
when we do not keep ourselves from audacious behavior.
This last is the worst thing of all—it is complete
ruin. For nothing so banishes from the soul the fear of
God as audacity. Wherefore, when Abba Agathon was asked
concerning audacity he said, "It is like a great
scorching wind, from which, when it blows, everyone flees,
and which ruins all of the fruit on the trees." Do
you see, O brother, the power of this passion? Do you see
its fierceness? And when he was again asked whether
audacity is really so harmful he replied, "There is
no passion more harmful than audacity, for it is the
mother of all passions." He said very well and
reasonably that it is that mother of all passions, because
it banishes from the soul the fear of God, for if by
the fear of the Lord everyone departs from evil (Prov.
15:27), then of course, where there is no fear of God
there is every passion. May God deliver our souls from the
all-ruinous passion of audacity!
There are many forms of presumption: one may be
presumptuous in word, in touch, and in glance. From
presumption one may fall into idle talking, speaking in a
worldly way; he does something humorous and inspires
others to unbecoming laughter. Audacity is also when one
touches another without need, when he raises his hand at
someone laughing, pushes anyone, takes something out of
another's hand, shamelessly looks at anyone; all this is
what audacity does, all this comes from the fact that in
the soul there is no fear of God, and from this a man
little by little comes to complete carelessness.
Therefore, when God gave the commandments of the Law, He
said, Act reverently, O sons of Israel, for without
reverence and shame a man does not revere God and does not
preserve a single commandment. This is why there is
nothing more harmful than audacity; therefore it is also
the mother of all passions, for it banishes reverence,
chases away the fear of God and gives birth to disdain.
Because we are audacious with each other and are not
ashamed before each other, it happens that we also speak
evilly and offend each other. It happens that one of you
sees something which is of no profit and he goes out and
judges it and places it in the heart of another brother,
and not only is he himself harmed, but he also harms his
brother, pouring into his heart an evil poison. Moreover
often it happens that the mind of that brother had been
occupied with prayer or some other good deed, but you came
and drew him away into vain talking. Not only is he thus
deprived of something profitable, but he is also led into
temptation; and there is nothing more terrible, nothing
more ruinous, than to harm not only oneself, but also
one's neighbor.
Therefore, it is good for us, O brethren, to have
reverence, to fear harming oneself and others, to revere
each other and beware even of looking each other in the
face, for this also, as one of the elders has said, is a
form of audacity. If one should happen to see that his
brother is sinning, he should not disdain him and be
silent about this, thus allowing him to perish; he should
likewise not reproach or speak evil about him, but with
feeling of compassion and fear of God he should tell the
person who can correct him. Or, the very person who saw
him sinning should say something to him with love and
humility: "Forgive me my brother, if I am not
mistaken, we are not doing this well." If he does not
listen, tell it to another whom you know he trusts, or
tell his elder or abba, depending upon the importance of
the sin, so that they might correct him; and then be
peaceful. But let us speak as we have said with the aim of
correcting your brother and not for the sake of
idle-talking or evil-speaking, and not in order to
reproach him, not from a desire to accuse him, not for
condemnation, and not pretending that you are correcting
him while within you there is something you remember from
the past. For truly, if someone will say it even to the
Abba himself, but it is not in order to correct his
neighbor or to avoid harming himself, then this is a sin,
for it is evil-speaking. Let him test his heart whether it
does not have some passionate movement; if it does, let
him say nothing. If after examining himself attentively he
sees that his desire to say something is out of compassion
and for his brother’s benefit, but that he is
disturbed within by some passionate thought, then let him
tell the Abba with humility both concerning himself and
his neighbor, speaking thus: "My conscious testifies
to me that I wish to speak for the correction of the
brother, but I feel that I have within me mixed thoughts.
I do not know if this is from the fact that I once had an
unpleasant encounter with this brother, or whether this is
a temptation that hinders me from speaking to my brother
so that he might be corrected." Then the Abba will
tell him whether he should speak or not. It happens that
one might speak not for the benefit of his brother, not
out of fear that he himself might be harmed, and not
because he remembers some past evil, but simply out of
idleness. For what purpose is such evil-speaking? Often
also the brother will learn that people are talking about
him, will become upset, and from this will come sorrow and
yet greater harm. But when someone talks, as we have said,
solely for the benefit of the brother, then God will not
allow a disturbance to occur, so that there will be no
sorrow or harm.
So strive to restrain your tongue, so that you might not
say anything bad to your neighbor, and not tempt anyone
either by word, deed, a glance or in any other way, and do
not be easily irritated, so that when someone among you
hears from his brother an unpleasant word, he will not
become immediately disturbed by anger, will not reply to
him audaciously, and will not remain offended against him.
This is unbefitting those who wish to be saved, and
unbefitting those who are laboring in asceticism. Acquire
the fear of God and meet each other with reverence, each
bowing his head before his brother as we have said. Let
everyone be humble before God and before his brother and
cut off his own will. In truth, it is good if someone, in
doing even some good deed, prefer his brother and yield to
him; such a one will receive great benefit before the one
to whom he yields. I do not know whether I have ever done
anything good, but if God has covered me then I know He
covered me because I never considered myself better than
my brother, but I always placed my brother above myself.
When I was still in the monastery of Abba Seridos, it
happened that the servant of Elder John, the disciple of
Abba Barsanuphius, contracted a disease, and the Abba
ordered me to serve the Elder. I kissed the very doors of
his cell from the outside with the same feeling that
another might have when bowing down before the honorable
Cross, so glad was I to serve him. Indeed, who would not
desire to be vouchsafed to serve such a saint? His every
word was worthy of amazement. Every day when I had
finished my service, I made a prostration before him so as
to receive forgiveness from him and depart, and he would
always say something to me. The Elder had the custom of
repeating four expressions, and as I have said, every
evening when it was time for me to depart, he would repeat
one of these four expressions to me, among other things.
He would begin thus: "Once I said," for the
Elder had the custom of adding to every talk the words,
"Once I said, brother," "may God preserve
love. The fathers have said that through preserving the
conscience with regard to one's neighbor, humility of
wisdom is born." Again, another night he would say to
me, "Once I said, brother—may God preserve
love. The fathers have said, `flee from everything human,
and you will be saved.'" And again he would say,
"Once I said, brother—may God preserve love.
The fathers have said, (Gal. 6:2) Bear ye one another's
burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.'" Every
evening, when I would go out the Elder would always give
me one of these four instructions, just as someone else
might give instruction to one setting out on a journey;
and thus they served to guard my whole life.
However, despite the fact that I had such love for the
holy man and was so concerned with serving him,
nonetheless, as soon as I found out that one of the
brethren who also desired to serve the elder and was
therefore sorrowful, I went to the Abba and asked him
saying, "It is more fitting for this brother to serve
a holy man than for me, if this is pleasing to you, O lord
(Abba)." But neither the Abba nor the Elder himself
would permit me this; however, I did everything in my
strength to prefer my brother. And spending nine years
there, I do not know whether I said a bad word to anyone,
although I had an obedience—so that no one might say
that I did not have it. Believe me, I recall very well how
a certain brother who was walking behind me from the
infirmary to the church itself was heaping reproach on me
and I walked in front of him not saying a single word. And
when the Abba found out about this—I do not know who
told him about it—and wished to chastise the
brother, I went and fell to his feet, saying, "For
the Lord's sake, do not chastise him, it was I who sinned,
that brother is not at all guilty." And another
brother likewise, whether to tempt me or from simplicity,
God knows why, for a period of time he would release his
water over my head every night, so that my very mat was
made wet by it. Likewise also certain other brothers
dusted their mats before my cell, and I saw that a
multitude of bed-bugs had collected in my cell, so that I
did not have the strength to kill them, for because of the
heat they were innumerable. And later when I would lie
down to sleep, they would all collect on me and I would
fall asleep only out of extreme exhaustion; and when I
arose from sleep, I would find that my whole body had been
bitten. However, I never said to any of them, "Do not
do this," or "Why are you doing this?" And
I do not recall that I ever pronounced a word that would
disturb or offend a brother. You too, bear one another's
burdens, learn to be reverent before each other; and if
one of you hears an unpleasant word from anyone, or if he
endures something beyond his expectations, he should not
immediately become faint-hearted be disturbed by anger,
lest during the time of ascetic labor and profit he should
be found to have a heart that is weakened, careless,
inconstant, unable to endure any kind of attack, as occurs
with melons. If even a small point touches it, it is
immediately harmed and rots. To the contrary, have a firm
heart, have greatness of soul—let your love for each
other conquer everything that happens. And if anyone of
you has an obedience or some work with the gardener or the
cellarer or the cook, or in general with anyone of those
who work with you, then let each one struggle with
himself—both he who gives the work and he who
fulfills it—before all else to preserve his own
state of mind, and let him never allow himself to depart
from the commandments of God, into disturbance,
stubbornness or attachments, or into any kind of self-will
or self-justification. But no matter what kind of work
each may have, be it great or small, he should not disdain
it nor be careless about it, for disdain is harmful;
neither should he prefer the fulfillment of the work to
their own state of mind, striving to fulfill the job, but
ultimately to the detriment of the soul. In every task you
are given, even one that is extremely necessary and
demands diligence, I do not wish that you should do
anything with arguments or disturbances; but be sure that
every work that you do, be it great or small, as we have
said, is one eighth of what is sought. But to preserve
one's state of soul, even at the expense of not doing the
work at all, is three parts and a half.
Do you see the difference? Thus, if you are doing any kind
of work and wish to fulfill it completely and entirely,
then strive to fulfill the work itself, which as I have
said, is the eighth part of what is sought, and at the
same time preserve your own state of soul unharmed, which
constitutes seven-eighths. But if fulfilling your work,
your service takes being distracted, departing from the
commandments and harming oneself or another by quarrelling
with him, then it is better not to lose the seven-eighths
in order to preserve the one-eighth. Therefore, if you
discover that anyone is acting in this way—know that
he is fulfilling his obedience senselessly; and, either
from vainglory or the desire to please men [instead of
God], he fights and burdens both himself and his neighbor,
only so that later he might hear that no one can conquer
him.
O, such amazing and great courage! This is not a victory,
O brethren, this is a loss, this is ruin, if one quarrels
and scandalizes his brother in order to fulfill his
service. This means for the sake of one-eighth to lose
seven-eighths. If one's service remains unfulfilled the
loss is not great; but to quarrel or scandalize one's
brother, not giving him what is needful, or to prefer
one's service while departing from the commandments of
God—this is a great harm: behold the meaning of the
one-eighth and the seven-eighths. Therefore I say to you,
if I should send any of you on any task, and you shall see
that some disturbance or any other harm arises, leave the
work and never do harm to yourself or to each other. Let
the work be left and not fulfilled—only do not
disturb each other, for you will lose the seven-eighths
and endure great harm, and this is always senseless. I do
not say this to you, however, so that you would
immediately fall into faint-heartedness and leave off work
or disdain it, or lightly forget and trample upon your
conscience out of the desire to avoid sorrow. Again, I do
not say this that you might be disobedient and say,
"I cannot do this, this is harmful to me, this causes
disturbance to me." For then you will never fulfill
any kind of service and you will not be able to keep the
commandments of God. But strive with all your strength, to
lovingly fulfill every service with humility of wisdom,
bowing down before each other, revering and asking each
other, for there is nothing stronger than humility of
wisdom. However, if at any time you see that you yourself
or your neighbor is upset, then abandon the work that
causes the scandal, yield to each other; do not insist on
your own way until harm follows. For it is better, as I
have said to you a thousand times, that the work not be
fulfilled in the way you wish, but comes out just as it
happens, and as need requires, than from your values or
self-justification, however good they might appear. If you
should disturb or offend each other, you will lose much
for the sake of little.
Furthermore, it often happens that one loses both the one
and the other and accomplishes nothing at all, for such is
the trait of those who love to quarrel. From the very
beginning we have done all our deeds in order to receive
some benefit from them. But what benefit is there if we do
not humble ourselves before each other, but to the
contrary disturb and offend each other! Do you not know
what is said in the Patericon: "From our neighbor
come life and death?" Learn always from this, O
brethren; follow the words of the holy elders, strive with
love and fear of God to seek your own benefit and that of
your brothers. In this way you may receive benefit from
everything that happens to you and advance with the help
of God. May our very God, as Lover of mankind, grant unto
us His fear, for it is said (Eccl. 21:13), Fear God and
keep His commandments, for this is demanded of every
man. To our God Himself may there be glory and dominion
forever. Amen.
