Madness is becoming the mental norm while the norm is turning into madness

Foolishness is a very difficult and lonely path. Photo: psihoterapija.kiev.ua

The life of St. Xenia gives us yet another reason to reconsider our own values. A fool for Christ is not merely someone who wears their clothes inside out but someone who turns life’s truth upside down, forcing us to face the Gospel’s reality: “That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).

St. Xenia’s behaviour was characteristic of a fool for Christ. She spoke strangely, dressed in men's clothing, and acted contrary to societal norms. Such behaviour could be bewildering and even frightening. It provoked mockery, insults, and even hostility. Foolishness for Christ is the strangest and most outwardly unattractive form of Christian asceticism.

What is the feat of foolishness for Christ about?

At first glance, a fool for Christ appears to be nothing more than a madman who has lost their senses. In reality, however, their madness is a mask concealing a sound mind and sober reasoning. They voluntarily adopt the appearance of insanity, imitating madness. This state does not limit them or harm their psyche. But why do they do this? What is the meaning of such a "performance"?

Madness as a theologically justified stance

The New Testament provides theological justification for foolishness for Christ. The Apostle Paul directly tells his disciples: “If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool…” (1 Cor. 3:18). He also writes: “We are fools for Christ’s sake” (1 Cor. 4:10). The madness which the apostle speaks of is connected with the revaluation of values, which was accomplished by the Saviour and described many times in the Gospel. This “madness” is spiritual: it is the rejection of the secular world’s imposed norms and rules.

Today, we can clearly see how the so-called "normal" course of civilisation is leading humanity to actual madness.

Look at the frenzied behaviour of people during Black Friday sales – it is a true psychological pathology of a consumer society. Observe the faces of those who promote various sexual perversions, and it becomes evident that they share certain distinctive traits.

But instead of giving a proper psychological assessment of this phenomenon, the world prefers to adjust its norms to deviations.

A perceptive person can recognise the signs of obsession on the faces of certain politicians, public figures, and activists for whom deceit, hypocrisy, and treachery have become a way of life. The world is entering a state foreseen by St. Anthony the Great in the fourth century: "A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us."

The ascetic meaning of foolishness for Christ

Christian ascetics take on the feat of foolishness for Christ to pursue spiritual goals. The first and foremost of these is the attainment of humility. The simulation of madness brings contempt, humiliation, and mistreatment. Strangely enough, the first to show aggression towards such people are often groups of children and teenagers. When a child with a mental disorder enters a group, they quickly become a target for cruel mockery and even physical abuse. This reveals the deep corruption of human nature, which manifests its sinfulness from an early age.

"He who is truly wise, when offended, does not become angry and does not defend himself but accepts slander as truth and, being falsely accused, asks for forgiveness" (St. Isaac the Syrian). Sadly, we lack the courage to endure even the smallest slander. We demand justice, protest, and try to prove to the world that we have been wronged. But all this only shows our spiritual immaturity and how much we still need to learn.

The Holy Fathers teach that we should see those who insult or offend us as physicians who cure us of vanity and pride. Fools for Christ view their humiliations as the best remedy for pride.

"The beginning of the conquest of vainglory is the custody of the mouth and love of being dishonoured" (St. John Climacus).

The gifts of grace received through foolishness for Christ

Fools for Christ deliberately place themselves in situations where they are seen as the lowest of the low. Their complete self-denial is expressed in their willingness to endure contempt. Yet by reaching the very depths, these saints discover a new vision of the world that has nothing in common with our rationality and logic.

Their understanding of reality comes intuitively, bypassing the intellect, as a direct revelation. "Be contemptible in your own eyes, and you will see the glory of God in yourself. For where humility burgeons, there God’s glory wells forth" (St. Isaac the Syrian). This explains why nearly all fools for Christ had the gift of prophecy.

The very nature of this ascetic feat makes this gift almost a natural adornment of the soul, which is bound to manifest itself in such a way of life. However, this happens only when a person takes on foolishness for Christ’s sake, following the Saviour out of love for Him and with a longing to be crucified with Christ.

Many people live in utter humiliation and contempt, but they have neither clairvoyance nor other spiritual gifts that we find in the fools for Christ because the main thing in spiritual life is the goal, not the state. "By exposing the outer shell to blows, you will free your inner self from future sufferings" (St. Niketas Stethatos).

The "immoral" behaviour of fools for Christ

Even when they became wonderworkers, fools for Christ often concealed their holiness through scandalous and even immoral behaviour to avoid human praise and veneration. That is why they sometimes engaged in actions that seemed contrary to Gospel morality. Pretending to be drunk, gluttonous or prodigal, etc. was the veil behind which they hid their holiness and grace.

If it so happened that people revealed this deception and began to honour the fools, treating them with proper respect and reverence, then, as a rule, ascetics preferred to go to live in a place where no one knows them.

Many fools for Christ even chose a "shameful" death, just as their life was.

St. John Climacus recounts the story of a monk named Antiochus, who spent three years in full obedience to an elder, enduring constant humiliation and insults. In a dream he had a revelation that he had thus atoned for a tenth of his debt to God. "When will I have time to pay it all off? Poor Antiochus! You need even greater toil and dishonour!” From that moment, he began to pretend mad.

We, too, should ask ourselves: “How much must we endure to pay off our debts?” And it would be good to remember this when we feel we have been treated unfairly.

The ultimate goal of the feat of foolishness for Christ

Foolishness for Christ was a kind of equivalent to the hermit’s life, as it granted full inner freedom from all social conventions. Wanderlust and complete poverty created conditions in the souls of the fools for Christ in which their hearts attained the greatest gift they longed for – unearthly love for God and man. For this reason, fools for Christ were filled with compassion and ceaseless prayer.

Foolishness for Christ is a very difficult and lonely path. In the end, however, it leads to the highest spiritual heights possible in this world.

Possessing complete dispassion, fools for Christ, while still in the body, become Heaven’s inhabitants, like living angels, bearers of God’s will.

How is it related to us? Directly. The Apostle Paul, when writing about his madness for Christ’s sake and how Christ chose the foolishess of the world, was outwardly quite sane. However, the values of his inner world were entirely opposite to those of the outer world. In this regard, the present time opens before us even greater prospects.

It feels as though, before long, those who still retain common sense and a sober view of life will be regarded as “mad”. People will be considered mad for asserting that marriage is only possible between a man and a woman, for believing that parents have the right to raise and discipline their children for their own good, and for calling sexual perversions a sin rather than accepting them as the norm.

Even today, those who possess critical thinking skills and prefer to think for themselves rather than accept what is imposed on them by the media are viewed with suspicion as “unreliable”. For, as St. Anthony the Great said, they are “not like the others”.

And this is just the beginning…

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