New Martyr Valentine Sventitsky

St. Valentine Sventitsky is commemorated on the traditional Church Calendar October 7th (October 20 n.s.)

A Spiritual Hero of the 2Oth century

Unfortunately, very little is known to us about this zealous Church teacher of unadulterated, mystical Orthodoxy in our modern times. Whatever little we do know about him comes from his liberal contemporaries, who as a rule did not deign to recognize the uniqueness and uniformity of patristic philosophy, which to him constituted the very essence of life. In this respect he was their enemy, one whom they could not understand- evidently because of his genuine conversion experience. The divinely-revealed teaching of God and man, preserved throughout the centuries and enriched within the saving enclosure of the Orthodox Church, is a limitless ocean of

wisdom and should be approached with fear and trembling so as not to soil any aspect of it through our sinfulness and pride. It can in no way be improved upon by the daring hand of our intellectual worldliness. Fr.Valentine's inquisitive mind was in awe and wonder before the accessible reality of deification. In this respect he was not of this world, but remained in the world as a pastor who guided people to the realm of sobriety, hesychasm, and otherworldliness. From the few details of his biography one can surmise that he came from an aristocratic Polish family, received a good education, and was an extremely talented and impressive young man. His large eyes looked upon the world with seriousness. At the age of 15 he could already debate Kant with scholarly philosophers, and soon he started a crusade against the vices of society, in which he advocated strict discipline of body and soul. His talks produced a striking impression. He published at least two magazines (Problems of Religion and Living Life) dealing with Christian problems in a society whose intellectual leaders were luring Orthodox Christians through foreign tastes and fashions away from Christ. In 1905 he left Moscow for Petersburg in order to find supporters for a Christian Brotherhood of Struggle. While still a layman, he recognized the value of the monastic ideal for all Christians and ardently defended monasticism against the decadent free-thinkers of his time; thinly clothed in conservative Orthodoxy, the latter were, in fact, making rapid strides away from the sacred Tradition of the Church. His book, The Heavenly Citizens or My Travels Among the Anchorites of the Caucasus Mountains (Moscow, 1915) was inspired by his visit to the monk-ascetics of the Caucasus. Another book called Anti-Christ had considerable success. His two available short

works, Monasticism in the World (1921) and Against General Confession (1926), give evidence of his importance as a modern apostle of genuine Orthodoxy in a time of rising apostasy. After the Revolution he married and was ordained a priest; he was the head priest in a Moscow church known as St. Nicholas the Big Cross on St. Elias St. There in the 1920 he attracted a large congregation by his eloquent sermons, which were eagerly received as rich food in the midst of the general scarcity of genuine Orthodox spirituality in Russia at this time. He went to Optina Monastery and became the spiritual son of Elder Anatole (Zertsalov), to whom he dedicated his masterpiece, Six Readings on the Mystery of Confession and its History in which he dealt a blow to the practice of general confession which had become fashionable among the liberal clergy of his day. Father Valentine was an ardent proponent of the frequent usage of the Jesus Prayer. He held that monastic discipline in our day of universal lukewarmness among Christians was not only possible but imperative in order to preserve the salt of the earth, i.e., the Orthodox truths, in the hearts of men who are being cunningly attacked by the spirit of secularization. With this in mind, he con ducted a series of talks (from 19211926) using the strictly monastic teaching of the Ladder of St. John Climacus, where he strove to apply it to ordinary daily life in the con temporary world which had become actually hostile to Christianity. One of his friends, S.I. Fudel, gives us a brief insight into the spiritual world of this otherworldly pastor:

Father Valentine Sventitsky on the one hand seemed to be a regular priest with a family, and on the other an experienced teacher of continuous prayer. He did much for the general defense of the faith. But his main significance was that he called all people to conduct ceaseless prayer, an uninterrupted burning of the spirit. Prayer, he would say, erects walls around our monastery in the world. It was also he who resolved the complex problem of inward evil in the Church. Any sin in the Church, he said, is a sin not only of the Church but against the Church. He also taught that one should not interrupt one ceaseless mental prayer while attending church services. Once after I returned from exile to Moscow in 1925, I chanced to be at Liturgy when Father Valentine was serving. I came in at the end of the service and when he came out with the ambo prayer, I was shocked to see his face. I cannot express my impression other than to say that it was the face of a man having just sacrificed himself as a burnt offering in truth and pain -, and now deeply shaken, was coming out to us, oblivious to his earthly surroundings. Another time I recall how, while in a crowded Butyrka prisonward in 1922, I was endlessly pacing amidst the prisoners when I bumped into Father Valentine. In embarrassment I asked for some stupid reason, Where are you going? All of a sudden his face became remarkably light with some inward warmth, and he said, 'I was coming to you. Usually he was so estranged, closed up, stern and impatient, like his distant relative, a Polish cardinal. But now he had the radiant and quiet

beam of light of true Russian sanctity-the kind and all-seeing sanctity of a holy elder. He was coming straight to- wards me, towards my very soul which he was then probably protecting against some evil. Thus, a prison can enlighten and illumine a soul and wondrously reveal something which at other times is impossible to discover. In 1927 Metropolitan Sergius issued his famous declaration which essentially reduced the Church to a state-controlled organization. This enslavement to the atheist authorities was not tolerated by the true pastors and the faithful of Christ's flock whose conscience would not allow them to agree to such a cunning compromise. Many hierarchs and simple pastors wrote open letters to Metropolitan Sergius, deploring his action and refusing to follow him on such a ruinous path. In December 1927 Father Valentine wrote such a letter, announcing that he was breaking off canonical and prayerful communion with Metropolitan Sergius and the council of bishops organized under him. His clear spiritual discernment at once identified the course taken by Metropolitan Sergius as one of the most dangerous forms of renovationism, because while renouncing ecclesiastical freedom, at the same time You preserve the fiction of canonicity and Orthodoxy. This is worse than the violation of separate canons. Anticipating that his action of separation would be construed as a breaking away from the Church, Fr. Valentine wrote: I am not creating a new schism, and I do not break the unity of the Church; I go away from, and I lead my flock out of, a subtle renovationist trap, lest imperceptibly and little by little we lose

the freedom which our Lord Jesus Christ, the Liberator of all Men, has given us as a free gift

by His Own blood (8th Canon of the Third

Ecumenical Council). We know full well what consequences were suffered by all those who openly disagreed with the Declaration. Lev Regelson, in his Tragedy of the Russian Church, states that Metropolitan Sergius in 1929 pronounced all those who opposed his Declaration to be counter-revolutionaries subject to arrest; fifteen bishops were arrested right away. The arrests were conducted very simply: a GPU agent would come to the bishop and pose one question: How do you regard the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius? If the bishop answered that he did not accept it, then the agent would conclude: That means that you are a counter-revolutionary. And the bishop would automatically be arrested. So perished all those who raised their voices in protest. And the fate of Father Valentine could be no different. Thus did Father Valentine acquire a crown of victory from God, for he preserved the flame of genuine Christian inspiration and pinpointed the essence of the subtle temptation of the enemy of our salvation, thereby leading straight into Paradise the flock en-trusted to him by God, to Whom be glory and honor for ever. Amen.

With God, All Things All Things are Possible: On The Laitys Application The Ladder of St. John Climacus
In the Name Father and Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord said to His disciples:

of

by New Martyr Archpriest Valentine Sventitsky

Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto me, and few there be that find it.
(Matt. 7:13-14)

When the disciples were afrightened by the difficulty of the path of salvation and asked the Lord: Who then can be saved? Christ locked at them and said: With men it is impossible but not with God, for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). I am afraid that the reading of The Ladder of St. John will

arouse this fear, this confusion. Who can ascend the Ladder?

my spiritual children will ask. With men it is impossb1e; but

not with God, for with God all things are possib1e.

Only by trusting in these words is it possible to enter upon the path of spiritual life. The Lord expects from us an effort according to our human strength, in measure of our human understanding; the rest is given to us by Divine grace, by God's help. For this reason, in approaching The Ladder of St. John, let us not be so presumptuous as to set ourselves the task of scaling its heights. The task of the ascetic is to labor his whole life for the Lord. Whatever fruits are produced-these are the result of God's Grace.

The first step of the Ladder demands from us a proper attitude towards the world. One must place it in opposition to the self, to draw a certain line of separation, to renounce it. The first word of St. John is On Renunciation of the World while the next, the second step is On Dispassion.

In the very beginning of our renunciation, it is certainly with labor and grief that we practice the virtues. But when we have made progress in them, we no longer feel sorrow, or we feel little sorrow. But as soon as our mortal mind is consumed and mastered by our zeal, we practice them with all joy and eagerness, with love and with divine fire. (The

Ladder) We, must through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God, says the Apostle Paul. Certain trials await also those who enter the path of spiritual life. The control of worldly life upon us is too powerful for us to be able to sever the internal chains which bind us to the world without pain, without regret, without sorrow. But the great experience of the ascetics instills in us a joyous courage. This experience speaks to us of what lies ahead, of what awaits us when we do not stop midway, when, having made progress and conquered earthly wisdom, we rise somewhat above worldly life. Then this spiritual struggle of

renunciation will fill us with joy. Divine fire and fervor will take hold of us...

Those who have really determined to serve Christ, with the help of spiritual fathers and their own self-knowledge, will strive before all else to choose a place, and a way of life, and a habitation, and exercises suitable for them. For community life is not for all, on account of covetousness and places of solitude are not for all, on account of anger. But each will consider what is most suited to his needs. (The Ladder)
This injunction of St John pertains not only to those who strive spiritually in monasticism, but pertains equally to us, people in the wor1d. Those who traverse the path of spiritual life in the world, who renounce it inwardly, who do not leave for monasteries, deserts and reclusion, although under conditions of a worldly life, nevertheless must inevitably make even an outward change in their life. A specific external discipline of life is needed, which must be established by self-knowledge, but with the knowledge, counsel, and the approval of a spiritual father.

The man who really loves the Lord, who has made a real effort to find the future Kingdom, who is really pained by his sins, who is really mindful of eternal torment and judgment, who really lives in fear of his own departure, will not love. . . anything at all on earth.
And how could he love it? That heavenly Jerusalem, that eternal Kingdom-if it is revealed to the inner eyes-will immediately illumine the life in the world with a special radiance. That man will see how trifling and insubstantial are the temptations of the world; how vain the concerns. The temporal, the fleeting will become for him like a dream; how terrible then will appear to him sins against the Lord! What great justice will he then be hold in the eternal torments awaiting those souls who have come to love the temporal and have renounced Christ! For the eternal, immortal human soul,

which accumulates the temporal and perishable, itself plunges into the power of eternal death.

The man who has come to hate the world has escaped sorrow. But he who has an attachment to anything visible is not yet delivered from grief. For how is it possible not to be sad at the loss of something we love? (The Ladder)
At first it appears that to renounce the world means to choose the way that knows no joy. Earthly happiness seems to him to be the only joy in life. But that is self-deceit. It is the devil's delusion. What passes for worldly joy devastates the soul; it is the source of despondency, of dis-appointment and sadness.

Let us pay close attention to ourselves so that we are not deceived into thinking that we are following the strait and narrow way, when in actual fact we are keeping to the wide and broad way. The following will show you what the narrow way means: mortification of the stomach, all-night standing, water in moderation, short rations of bread, the purifying draught of dishonor, sneers, derision, insults, the cutting off of one's own will, patience in annoyances, unmurmuring endurance of scorn, disregard of insults, and the habit, when wronged, of bearing it sturdily; when slandered, of not being indignant; when humiliated, not to be angry; when condemned, to be humble. Blessed are they who follow the way we have just described, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. (The Ladder)
Here St. John warns us against delusion. It may seem to a man that he has chosen for himself the narrow path, that he is not walking along the broad, worldly highway, down which walk the perishing multitudes. By distracting the inner concentration, the power of darkness leads him away from the true, narrow path of salvation. Pay heed to yourself! says St. John. Pay heed, lest you succumb to this delusion. And here are the signs by which you might verify on which path it is you are walking: the narrow unto salvation, or wandering, rather, along the broad and

spacious path to perdition. For, the outward signs: if you sub due your belly wit~ fasting, if you are not lazy in rising for the nocturnal prayer, if you drink less water and do not think of clothing, if you are content to eat only bread- you are walking along the narrow path While here are the inward signs: if you have cut off your own will, and patiently and cheerfully carry out obediences; if you bear dishonor, mockery, and offenses without murmuring; if you are not angered by slander and humble yourself when you are criticized-then you are going along the narrow path. It is difficult, truly this path is difficult! But blessed are those who follow it, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!

Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me: 'We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can we lead the solitary life?' I replied to them: 'Do all the good you can; do not speak evil of anyone; do not steal from anyone; do not hate anyone; do not be absent from the divine services; be compassionate to the needy; do not offend anyone; do not wreck another man's domestic happiness, and be content with what your own wives can give you. If you behave in this way, you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven. (The Ladder)
This reply of St. John of the Ladder has a special significance in our days. A desert-dweller of our time told me that a number of desert dwellers had discussed the question of whether or not they should found a monastery for themselves. After wards, as he was ascending a mountain, he was granted a vision. An angel appeared to him and said, This is not the time to build monasteries. He said this to me a few months before the war with the Germans. Now is not the time to build monasteries! Truly this is so! It is time, however, to struggle in monastic asceticism! Today the outward form of monastic life is accessible to very few. And the spiritual life of Christians must now be

conducted under the conditions of secular life. They are faced with the task of founding invisible spiritual monasteries with their lives primarily through the podvig of prayer. Few today are able to live behind the stone walls of a monastery which set apart that vain world from this the Christian world which is of God But does this mean that there are no walls which can be built between that world and this? The inner renunciation of the world -------here is the foundation of this monastery. By prayer, by fighting with the passions, by a pure life, by cutting off one's evil will, by ascetic struggle and labor for Christ-whole heartedly trusting in the help of God's grace- raise up the walls of this monastery which is invisible to human eyes. Do not judge, do not lie, love your neighbor, quench all enmity in your hearts ------- and your inner life will become for you a monastery. Build these invisible spiritual monasteries. Enter therein, leaving behind the vanity of this world. The time for this has come, the favorable season of the Lord! Amen!

No one can approach God without withdrawing from the world. By withdrawal I do not mean change of physical dwelling place, but withdrawal from worldly affairs. The virtue of withdrawal from the world consists in not occupying your mind with the world. St Isaac of Syria