His Beatitude: Venerable Fathers saw God as we see each other

His Beatitude Onuphry. Photo: UOC press service

`On the Feast Day of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Far Caves, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry in a sermon spoke on the spiritual significance of the feats of the Caves saints for contemporary believers.

"The Lord created the Church with His precious blood for our salvation, to help man reflect God within himself, to reflect Christ within himself," began Metropolitan Onuphry, emphasizing the role of the Church in the salvation of man. He noted that within the Church there are different "vessels" — both clean and unclean — and it depends on the person which vessel he becomes. "The person who seeks to live according to God's law, who seeks to become like God in love, humility, and mercy, becomes a vessel of honor and is filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit," the bishop explained.

In his sermon, Metropolitan Onuphry paid special attention to seclusion – the highest form of monastic feat. He spoke of the Venerable Fathers who confined themselves in narrow caves measuring "two by two meters, or even less", where they spent their entire lives in prayer, repentance, and tears. "These people – our spiritual heroes, our spiritual beacons. They gave their soul, their body, all their spiritual and physical strength to pray to God, to glorify God, to completely dissolve their life in the will of God," noted the Primate.

The bishop noted that the Caves saints, having cleansed themselves from the filth of the flesh and spirit, received a "pure, spiritual, intelligent eye" and saw God differently. "They saw God as we see each other. They felt divine mercy, divine grace as vividly as we feel an object," explained the Metropolitan. It was this living communion with God that gave the holy fathers the strength to survive where an ordinary person could not live. "They found God, and for them, the cave became the Kingdom of God, because there they saw God, and where God is, there is His Kingdom," added the bishop.

Metropolitan Onuphry highlighted that among the Caves saints there were ascetics of various spiritual labors. Some labored in diligence, others endured severe illnesses with gratitude, and others perfected themselves through obedience. "It seems to us a simple feat: they said – go, you went. They said – don't go, you don't go. But when a person begins to live in obedience, all passions, all vices rise within. The devil rises, " His Beatitude explained the complexity of the feat of obedience.

The Primate emphasized that the common goal of all the saints' feats was the pursuit of humility and love. "Humility made the Venerable Fathers worthy of God's grace, and love united them with God," he noted. Today these saints stand before the throne of God and pray for all believers.

Addressing the faithful, Metropolitan Onuphry called each to their own spiritual feat. "Every person has their own feat with its distinct features and characteristics. But it is very important that a person at least slightly restrains their sinful passions and forces themselves to do the will of God," emphasized the Primate. The bishop reminded the believers that only a human among all God's creations is endowed with the image of God and free will, which makes them the "king of creation". "This feat can only be accomplished by a human – that creation of God which is endowed with the image of God and free will," he noted.

"If we live this way, then through the prayers of the Venerable Fathers, the Lord will also grant us in due time to see God more clearly, to cleanse our spiritual eye, and to become heirs of eternal salvation in heaven," concluded Metropolitan Onuphry.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Primate led the celebration of the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Far Lavra.

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