Orthodox Portal

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Why is it that much is said and written about the sufferings of holy men and holy women? Because the saints alone are considered victors. Can anyone be a victor without conflict, pain and suffering? In ordinary earthly combat, no one can be considered victorious or heroic who has not been in combat, endured much or suffered greatly. The more so in spiritual combat, where the truth is known, and where self-boasting not only does not help at all but, indeed, hinders it. He who does not engage in combat for the sake of Christ, either with the world, with the devil or with one’s self, how can he be counted among the soldiers of Christ? How then is it with Christ’s fellow victors?
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By St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Man’s first enemy is the devil, the second is sin, and the third is death. The Lord Jesus conquered all three of these enemies of the human race. By His humiliation He conquered the proud devil; by His death He conquered sin; and by His Resurrection he conquered death. In conquering all of our enemies, He invites us to be partakers in His glorious victory. It is not that we ourselves conquer, but that we are joined to the Victor. Only His power conquers, only His weapons vanquish. We are without power and weapons, but our enemies are frightful. With Him and alongside Him, we conquer those mightier than ourselves.
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When a man acquires a Christian conscience, he zealously labors to correct his life and to please God. For him, all else becomes of little importance. We have examples of such men not only among the great ascetics and spiritual fathers but also among powerful rulers. Emperor Theodosius the Great provides us with such an example. For a brief time he fell into heresy but afterward he repented. Saint Ambrose, his earlier critic, spoke over his lifeless body: “I loved this man who, divesting himself of all imperial insignias, be wailed his sin openly in church, and, with sighs and tears, begged forgiveness. What ordinary men are ashamed to do, the emperor was not ashamed to do. After his glorious victory over the enemies of the empire, he decided not to approach Holy Communion until the return of his sons, because his enemies had been slain in battle.”

“One, and only one has spoken to us clearly and definitely about all that will come to pass at the end of time: the Lord Jesus Christ… For human understanding and logic, however great they may be, are too puny to reach to the world’s beginning and its end. Understanding is useless where vision is needed. We need a seer, who sees as clearly as we see the sun – to see the whole world, from its beginning to end…their has only been one such: the Lord Jesus Christ….” (St. Nikolai of Zicha, Homily on the Last Judgment. Homilies.)

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…When our great Lord and God dies as a man, bowed down by men’s sins, who cares for Him dead, of all those for whom He has cared from all eternity? Who visits His tomb? Who shows love for the Dead? Women. Not each and every woman, but the Myrrh-Bearing Women, whose souls had been anointed by the immortal love of Christ the Lord.

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