Archimandrite Zacharias - The Enlargement of the Heart: Be ye also enlarged

Archimandrite Zacharias

The Enlargement
of the Heart

Be ye also enlarged ( 2 Corinthians 6:13 )
in the Theology of Saint Silouan the Athonite
and Elder Sophrony of Essex

edited by

Christopher Veniamin

M OUNT T HABOR P UBLISHING

2012

Foreword

T he Enlargement of the Heart is an astoundingly majestic presentation of the nature and purpose of human existence in two of the most important figures in contemporary Orthodoxy: St. Silouan the Athonite (18661938) and his faithful disciple, Elder Sophrony of Essex (18961993). Himself a disciple of the Elder Sophrony, Archimandrite Zacharias bears witness to the golden thread of Tradition passing on from one generation to the next, inasmuch as his writings evince that inspiration which is born of the undistorted vision of Christ in glory. And as he demonstrates with seemingly effortless ease, it is in the clarity of this vision that the divine purpose in the creation of man is made manifest.

About the Author

A member of the Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, England, founded by his spiritual father and mentor, and the official translator of Elder Sophronys writings from Russian into Greek, the Very Reverend Dr. Zacharias Zacharou holds degrees in Theology from the Institute of St. Sergius in Paris, France, and the University of Thessalonica, Greece, also receiving the degree of Doctor of Theology from the latter institution for his work on the theology of Elder Sophrony, which was published in English as Christ, Our Way and Our Life: A Presentation of the Theology of Archimandrite Sophrony, translated by Sister Magdalen (South Canaan, PA: Saint Tikhons Seminary Press, 2003) .

About the Book

Father Zacharias The Enlargement of the Heart consists of a series of lectures delivered in Wichita, Kansas at the 2001 Clergy Brotherhood Retreat of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, and an Appendix comprised of two lectures given at a one-day Conference on Monasticism. The Retreat was held under the direction of the Right Reverend Basil Essey, Bishop of Wichita and the Diocese of Mid-America on February 69, and the Conference was organized by his Chancellor, Schemamonk Paul, at the Cathedral Church of St. George in Wichita on February 10. Each lecture is published here in full together with its Asides and corresponding Questions & Answers (with the exception of the first lecture, which had no session for Questions & Answers).

A Note on Biblical References

For purely practical reasons, the numbering of Old Testament passages has been given according to the Massoretic (Hebrew) text, followed by most English translations of the Bible. The Roman numeral Lxx is used to draw the readers attention to instances where the Septuagint (Greek) text differs from the Massoretic. New Testament quotations are occasionally corrected in favour of a more literal translation of the original Greek.

C. V.

saint tikhons orthodox theological seminary

feast of st. silouan the athonite

24 september, 2006

Second American Edition

The Enlargement of the Heart (2012) contains minor corrections. For practical reasons, the indexes of the corresponding paperback edition have been omitted.

C. V.

waverly, pennsylvania

dormition, 2013

Saint Silouan the Athonite
And his Disciple the Elder Sophrony

W hile the Blessed Elder and Founder of our monastery, Fr. Sophrony, was still with us, some of us, his monks, would eagerly seek out an opportunity in season, out of season (2 Tim. 4:2) to visit him and speak with him, in order to be edified by his word. Every contact with him was a source of inspiration, and new horizons in life would open up before us. The Elder lived in a little house at the edge of the monastic enclosure. In his last years he was considerably weakened by old age, and he would sleep in intervals in an armchair. It often happened that in our contact and our conversations with the people that visited us, a question or a problem would arise that solicited the Elders attention. We would go to him seeking the appropriate answer. Occasionally, we would find him asleep, gently shake his armchair and wake him up. We then presented him with the question that had arisen. He would open his eyes and almost immediately the answer would flow from his mouth. It was a marvellous and wondrous event. His voice came from beyond, from heaven. The grace that was in his words would inform and irresistibly convince not only our own hearts but also the hearts of the people that had sought the will of God, and to whom we transmitted his words.

Aside: The great miracle that impressed me (living near Fr. Sophrony) more than anything else, was the word of God coming from his mouth, and the energy of grace with which it was loaded. We had seen so many miracles when he was praying for people, and none of us cared for that, because he himself did not pay attention to them. But we were all astonished, amazed, at the word proceeding from his mouth.

As I was saying last night to our Bishop, once he prayed for an ill person a second time and the person was not healed, but he was very happy, because, while he was reading the prayers the second time, he lifted up his stole from the sick man and he said to him: Look! We are not wonderworkers, we are priests, and pray for the reconciliation of people with God. And somehow Fr. Sophrony was sad and did not want to pray any more. Then the man looked at him with a smile, and said: Yes, I am not healed physically, but my soul is healed. Because he was a man who did not have faith, he doubted, and it was his wife and his mother-in-law who brought him almost by force to the monastery for Fr. Sophrony to read prayers for him. And I am telling you, the joy of Fr. Sophrony for that was much greater than when he was reading prayers, and miracles were happening in a very astonishing manner.

Once, a man who had his face deformed by a stroke was in bed and almost dying. Fr. Sophrony taking Fr. Kyrill, our Abbot, with him went and read prayers for him. And Fr. Kyrill came back in great awe saying to me, You know, while Pappous Grandfather , as he called Fr. Sophrony was reading the prayer, the face of the ill person was straightening up. And the prophecy of Ezekiel came to my mind about the dry bones coming up, forming a skeleton, nerves and flesh, and the spirit of life coming to them (Ezek. 37:4). And even for such healings he was not so happy as that time when the man said, My soul is healed. End of aside.