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Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos speaks to us
The life of Prophet Elijah, whom we celebrate today, beloved brothers, is a very great mystery. I would say that Prophet Elijah is an image of the man who is born anew in Christ and unites with Him, the prototype of the saint and of the deified man. The life of Prophet Elijah, if we read it carefully, is astounding in all its periods. But in today's sermon, I will refer to the mystery that occurred at the end of his life, when he ascended to heaven, and especially to what happened with his disciple, Prophet Elisha.
Elisha was the one who followed Elijah, at a time when Elijah was fighting, on the one hand, against idol worshipers, against Ahab and Jezebel who had ordained new, false gods for the people of Israel, and on the other hand, against the process of secularization through which the Israelite people were passing. On the one hand, the rulers were preaching another god, and on the other hand, the people did not have a pure mind to discern things, which is why they listened to the rulers who were promoting another, foreign tradition. After Prophet Elijah fought against these two difficult circumstances of his time, the hour came for him to leave this world, and he did so in an astonishing manner.
As we are told in 2 Kings, chapter 2, Elijah asked Elisha, who was following him:„Ask what you want me to give you”, and Elisha, a bit bold, replied to him:„May the spirit that is in you be twofold in me!” In other words, „The Spirit, the charisma, the grace of God that you carry within you, let it come to me twofold!” Then Elijah replied to him:„You have asked a hard thing!”− − for a man to surpass his teacher, his spiritual Father. But he also told him:„If you see me ascending to heaven” – that is, if you are with me until the end of my life – „it will be done according to your request” .Then they crossed the Jordan.
Elijah had a mantle. This mantle was an outer garment, made of sheepskin, like a shepherd's coat, as shepherds used to wear in olden times. It was made of fur, that is, an animal skin that no longer has life in it − a flayed sheepskin. So Elijah had this mantle, and he took it, struck the Jordan with it, a clear path was made through the water, and both of them, he and Elisha, crossed as on dry land. Therefore, the mantle was made from the dead skin of the sheep, but because the prophet himself wore it, it had great grace and blessing.
The Mystery of the Union of the Mind with God
Then, while Elijah and Elisha were talking, Prophet Elijah began to ascend „as in a whirlwind to heaven”. And Elisha began to cry out:„My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”. That is, „Father, where are you going? I am losing you! You are the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”, in other words, the one who guided the people to truth. And as he was ascending, Elijah cast his mantle upon Elisha, who took it and then crossed the Jordan.
He also tried to divide the waters of the Jordan, but he did not succeed the first time. The second time he struck the river with the mantle, the waters parted, and Elisha crossed the deep Jordan as on dry land! In some parts, the Jordan is the deepest river in the world, reaching perhaps up to 186 meters in depth. And Elisha crossed the Jordan as on dry land. This is the mystery of spiritual fatherhood and spiritual obedience to a deified spiritual Father − the mystery of man's deification.
A noteworthy interpretation of these events is given to us by Saint Maximus the Confessor, a great Father of the 7th century. He analyzes many aspects, but I will focus on one of them. Saint Maximus the Confessor says that, in reality, Elijah's ascension to heaven shows the mystery of the union of the mind (nous) with the Logos, who is beyond being.
„The mind of man, rising from the sensible and corporeal things” − the works of the body having been mortified beforehand −, „meets with the Logos, who is beyond being, through a simple and undivided vision”.After having previously abandoned all sensible things, the mind can no longer be held by them, but is above them. The mind is no longer hindered by the body and bodily things, nothing prevents it from the vision of God, from the mystical communion and union with the Logos that is above being, a union that takes place “through a simple and undivided vision”.
Elijah's Mantle and the Mortification of the Old Man
Next, Saint Maximos the Confessor interprets the events concerning Prophet Elisha: “This ascent of the mind to the level of vision is prefigured by the great Elijah, revealing the mystery through what he symbolically accomplished. Elijah, when he was raptured to heaven, gave Elisha his mantle, which signifies the mortification of the body, upon which the greatness of moral beauty is founded. And he did this to have the disciple as an aid, alongside the Spirit, against all enemy power, and to thus strike the unstable and slippery nature, which the Jordan symbolized, so that the disciple would not be hindered, drowning in the desires of youth and the pursuit of material things, from crossing over to the holy land”.
This is Saint Maximos' interpretation, speaking further about Elijah's ascension to heaven, but I will now focus on the interpretation he gives to the connection between Prophet Elijah and Elisha.
Prophet Elijah is raptured to heaven and sends his Spirit and grace to the disciple who had faithfully followed him his entire life. He gives the disciple the mantle – which, as I said before, was made of sheepskin, thus a dead skin, formed of dead cells, which no longer have life – which symbolizes the mortification of the old man, of sensible things and of the senses.
When man, through the purification of the heart, mortifies his sensibility, the passions connected to sensible things, upon this is founded “the greatness of moral beauty”.According to the Holy Fathers, morality is not limited to external relationships between people, to gestures that seem moral, but is moral beauty founded on the mortification of the body. The body is mortified for the world, according to the word of the Apostle Paul: “mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness...”(Colossians 3:5) and the others. Behold, upon what moral greatness is founded and, as it says here, “moral beauty”!
This symbolizes the mantle. The Holy Prophet Elijah bestowed his grace upon Elisha, so that he too might mortify his body. When the body is mortified through the purification of the heart, the mind is liberated and guided, ascending, without hindrance, to the vision of God. Elisha received this spirit. This is the grace that the deified saints give to their disciples, so that they may mortify their body with its passions and weaknesses and grow in spiritual life.
Who is a spiritual father?
With this spirit – with the spirit that comes through the mortification of the body – the spiritual son strives “to strike the unstable and slippery nature, which the Jordan symbolized”, meaning he strives to overcome his inner instability and the workings of passions. The Jordan – rivers, in general, have an unstable course. Sometimes the water comes rushing, tumultuous, and drowns a person. Man's nature, his body, is also unstable and slippery. For this reason, the man who has mortified his body no longer “drowns,” and possesses this spirit which is given through the prayers of the Saints and the deified spiritual Fathers. Whoever has this mantle no longer drowns in the river, but crosses to the other bank, meaning he no longer clings to material things, but enters the holy land. He miraculously crosses the Jordan – that is, the present life – surpasses sensible reality, and enters the holy land, which is communion and union with Christ.
From this event, according to the interpretation given by Saint Maximos the Confessor, we see who a spiritual father is. A true spiritual father does not enslave his spiritual children. Moreover, he does not even have spiritual children of his own, but only cares for some faithful who are children of God, whom God Himself sends to him to shape them after Christ and help them cleanse their hearts of passions, guide them to prayer, to the enlightenment of the mind, and, if God wills, to deification.
This is the work of the spiritual Father! This is the work that the spiritual Father accomplishes with his spiritual children – who are, in fact, his brothers and children of Christ – he gives shape to Christ in their hearts. Nothing else! He does not enslave them to his own passionate state, but frees them from passions and corruption, guiding them to the love of Christ.
Who is a spiritual child?
This is also what it means to be a spiritual child! A person chooses a deified and blessed spiritual Father and follows him, to receive his holy life, Tradition, the holy spiritual inheritance. Usually, children inherit material goods from their biological parents; parents give their children their material inheritance, but spiritual Fathers give spiritual goods, their spiritual inheritance to their children, who are children of Christ – they pass on the Tradition of the Church, the great treasury and spiritual inheritance!
Apostle Paul clearly states to the Corinthians: “For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15). You may have many instructors, but you do not have many spiritual Fathers. Fathers beget their children in Christ, and these become children of Christ.
And Apostle Paul says: “I have begotten you through the Gospel”. This is Tradition, the Transmission. It is not about the handing down of external things, of customs, of behaviors, but about the handing down of a life. Just as biological, bodily life is transmitted from generation to generation, from parents to children, so too is spiritual life transmitted from deified spiritual Fathers to children who seek deification. This is also the meaning of obedience to the spiritual Father. Not obedience in all respects, not obedience in sin, not obedience to eccentric conceptions, behaviors, or passions of the spiritual Father.
Why do we obey spiritual Fathers? To receive this glorious Tradition, which they themselves received from their spiritual Fathers. This is the spiritual inheritance of which Saint John Damascene speaks. He considered Saint Gregory the Theologian, who lived four centuries before him, his spiritual Father and "theologian"! From him, through his writings, Saint John Damascene learned Orthodox theology. Through the theology of Saint Gregory the Theologian, he was born again, which is why he considered him his spiritual Father.
This is the true spiritual fatherhood within the Church! This is the purpose of obedience and spiritual life! All who are driven by such a longing have tasted of this spiritual inheritance!
I have known saints
Today is also the anniversary of my ordination as bishop. I want to tell you, as a confession, that God has deemed me worthy not only of bodily birth, for which I am grateful to my parents. They not only gave me life but also taught me to live properly, as they were good, sanctified people and raised me in the Church. In the Church, I discovered its secret chamber, not just the superficial part. I did not deal with passionate spiritual Fathers, full of egoism and pride, who wished to subjugate their spiritual children, to lead them to destruction and perdition, to take them out of the Church. I dealt with spiritual Fathers who possessed this spiritual inheritance and lived with humility and God's blessing. I have known many such Fathers, but I will mention two of them.
First, my Elder, Saint Callinicus, Bishop of Edessa, near whom I was a disciple for 15 years. A holy man, whose holiness was evident in all his deeds! A holy, ascetic bishop, who strove to transmit this life to me! That is why, when I went to him and told him that I wanted to become a priest and a monk, he told me: “If you wish to become a hieromonk, read «The Guarding of the Five Senses» by Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite.” This is how he initiated me into the Hesychast Tradition.
Then I met other saints, on Mount Athos, among whom I remember Saint Ephraim of Katounakia and Saint Paisios the Athonite, but especially the great spiritual Father, Elder Sophrony, who was also a saint. He transmitted to me the theological inheritance that he himself had diligently acquired even before arriving on Mount Athos, due to his thirst and love for God. He had received this theological inheritance from Saint Silouan the Athonite.
All these Fathers are saints of the Church and received this Tradition from other saints; they guarded it and passed it on, in their turn. Saints receive, guard, and transmit the Holy Tradition. They received it from saints who lived in the Church, guarded it with much diligence, and passed it on, giving birth to other spiritual children.
I thank God for this great gift! And I ask Him day and night – and all of you who see and hear me now, pray to God that I may not prove ungrateful for the great inheritance received from my Elders and spiritual Fathers, who are all saints of our Church, inscribed in the synaxar of the Church (for there are also saints who have not been inscribed). May God deem me worthy to remain faithful, in the Church, living this Tradition, so that the labor of my Elders in teaching me in Christ may not be lost, but may bear fruit within me. May I resemble Elisha, who received the mantle, that is, the mortification of the carnal mind, so that we may indeed see the face of God and give a good answer before the incorruptible Judgment Seat of Christ!
With all my heart, I ask all of you to live humbly in the Church, to seek holy spiritual Fathers, not passionate ones. Be humble members of the Church and humble servants of these saints, their spiritual children, so that you may receive this holy Tradition, guard it, and pass it on. May the Tradition sanctify you, so that you too may walk on the path of holiness! Amen.
Sermon on the Feast of Saint Prophet Elijah, July 20, 2021
Translation by Diaconești Monastery