Confession part.4

In this concluding chapter of Fr Konstantin Ostrovsky’s reflections on confession and spiritual fatherhood, the focus shifts from particular pastoral questions to the inner spirit of pastoral care itself.

Drawing on the words of St John Chrysostom, St John Climacus, and above all on examples from Holy Scripture, Fr Konstantin reflects on discernment, pastoral strictness, and the patient expectation of voluntary repentance. Again and again, he reminds us that true spiritual guidance cannot be separated from humility, prayer, and fatherly love.

At the heart of this chapter stands the image of God Himself as the True Shepherd—One who does not rush to condemn fallen man, but first calls him to awaken, to recognise his condition, and to return freely through repentance.

STRICTNESS WITH MERCY

In the second of his Six Treatises on the Priesthood, St John Chrysostom writes:

“If a soul is once brought to shame by compulsion, it falls into insensibility. After that, it no longer responds either to gentle words or to threats; it is moved neither by kindness nor by correction… Therefore the shepherd must possess great wisdom and many eyes, that he may discern the condition of the soul from every side.

For just as many fall into hardness and despair of salvation because they cannot endure harsh treatment, so there are others who, when they receive no discipline proportionate to their sins, grow careless, become worse, and are emboldened to sin still more.

The priest’s duty, therefore, is to leave nothing unexamined, but after careful discernment to apply whatever remedies are appropriate, lest his labour prove fruitless.”

PRAY WHEN ASKED FOR COUNSEL

“What is medicine for one person,” writes St John Climacus, “may be poison for another. And the very same thing may at one time heal a man, and at another harm him if given at the wrong moment.

“I have seen an inexperienced physician shame a grieving soul and thereby do nothing but drive him into despair. And I have seen a skilled physician cut open a proud heart with humiliation and drain from it all the foul corruption.”

(The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 26:25–26)

How is a spiritual father to discern such things?

The Gospel gives the answer:

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you… If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him?”

(Matt. 7:7–11)

These words of the Lord concerning prayer are addressed to all Christians, but especially to spiritual fathers. We must seek in prayer the answers to the questions brought to us by our spiritual children.

And we must humble ourselves when our own thoughts prevent us from hearing the word of God in the heart.

CARNAL AND SPIRITUAL REASONING

Everything is known by its fruits.

At times, a manner of reasoning may appear spiritual, yet lead a person into serious sin. And conversely, what seems merely practical or even worldly may bear salvific fruit.

Each of us can easily find examples of the former in our own life. Better examples of the latter are perhaps sought in the lives of the holy elders. And this is not merely a matter of modesty or reverence for great names, but something more essential.

A spiritual person judges spiritually, even when this is not outwardly apparent. A carnal man reasons carnally, even if his judgement appears spiritual either to himself or to others. One who lives with God speaks what is of God; one immersed in his own thoughts speaks from those thoughts.

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).

For this reason, we spiritual fathers must attend with particular care to the Lord’s words:

“First cleanse the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

(Matt. 23:26)

DIVINE PASTORSHIP

It is remarkable that, in certain places of Holy Scripture, God Himself provides us with practical examples of pastoral care through His own actions.

In the second chapter of Genesis, for example, we see the True Shepherd setting Adam upon the spiritual path: to cultivate the garden of Eden through prayer and to keep it through humility (cf. Gen. 2:15). At the same time, He warns him against knowledge sought outside obedience:

“Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

(Gen. 2:16–17)

And when man falls, the True Spiritual Father does not abandon him, but calls out:

“Where art thou?”

(Gen. 3:9)

The depths of God’s purpose are beyond our understanding, yet even here we may observe something pastorally significant: the Father does not immediately accuse His fallen child, but first calls him to awaken and reflect. “Where am I? Am I still with God, or have I already begun slipping into the deadly abyss of selfhood?”

Even when man fails to understand this merciful summons, God does not at once pronounce judgement, but continues to lead him toward repentance:

“Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”

(Gen. 3:11)

Yet Adam replies with self-justification:

“The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”

And Eve likewise:

“The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”

(Gen. 3:12–13)

Up to this point, they still had the opportunity to fall before the merciful Father in repentance, without waiting for open condemnation. Only their persistent refusal to repent leads God to pronounce a new condition upon human life—to impose an epitimia.

➖ To the woman He says: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children…”

➖ To Adam He says: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life… In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”

(cf. Gen. 3:16–19)

It is important to recognise that this is precisely an epitimia: exclusion from the paradisal state, for which man has shown himself unfit, and the opening of a new path—hard, sorrowful, yet salvific and penitential.

This should also be the meaning of the epitimias that we, as contemporary pastors and archpastors, sometimes have to impose, including exclusion from Holy Communion or suspension from priestly ministry. Such measures must never become punishment for wrongdoing, still less revenge for the grief someone has caused.

Pastoral strictness must always be an expression of fatherly love. If it is not, then it becomes a reason for the pastor himself to repent.

Another example of God’s gentle pastoral care is found in the story of Abel and Cain.

Before the fall, man offered to God true sacrifices of praise, worship, and thanksgiving, and his prayer was direct contemplation of God. After the fall, true sacrifice was replaced by symbols: the slaughter of animals, offerings of oil and bread, the burning of incense. In place of contemplative communion with God came the labour of prayer. Worship, once entirely free communion with God, became ordered and structured.

In the fourth chapter of Genesis we read of the offerings made by the sons of Adam—that is, of worship itself. Outwardly, their sacrifices appear similar, yet one was pleasing to God and the other was not.

“Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.”

(Gen. 4:3–5)

Scripture does not tell us directly what lay behind this difference. But from what follows it becomes clear that Cain did not humbly seek the cause within himself, nor did he turn to God for understanding—though, as the text shows, he had not yet been deprived of communion with Him. Instead, he became offended and angry.

“Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door; and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

(Gen. 4:5–7)

Here again we see the gentle fatherly care of God the Shepherd toward a man who has not yet sinned in deed, but is already troubled by sinful thoughts. God offers him spiritual counsel and calls him to discernment: “If you are right, do not be disturbed in vain; but if not, beware of sin and overcome it.”

Even after Cain commits murder, God—as He did earlier with fallen Adam—first calls him to voluntary repentance:

“Where is Abel thy brother?”

(Gen. 4:9)

And only after hearing Cain’s hardened reply—

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

(Gen. 4:9)

—does God openly expose his sin and pronounce judgement (cf. Gen. 4:10–11).

This divine expectation, revealed from the very beginning and manifested throughout the whole history of mankind—that the sinner should freely acknowledge his own sin, and that he should be gently led toward repentance—is characteristic of every true pastor.

With prayerful wishes for the Lord’s help

and the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos,

Yours OCC