Trying to justify somehow the teaching of His Eminence I presupposed that such variety of «edifying» examples for a modem Englishman, being unfamiliar with the orthodox tradition, will be helpful in quicker choosing and finding the right way to pray. It's a pity, but such understanding does not suit the teaching of Metropolitan Anthony. There are numerous locally honored orthodox saints in England the life and podvigs4 of which can and must be an example for our contemporary. These are St. King Oswald, St. Winifred-Boniphatsy, St. Beda the Venerable, St. hermit Gootlak and many others. All in all, on the icon of All the Saints of Britain approximately five hundred people are depicted.
I think that not only for the Englishmen, but for all the believers it would have been much more edifying to get to know the praying experience of the orthodox Britons rather than lean from heretics. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov 5 writes the following on this account: «The one reading books by false teachers is sure to join the sly, dark spirit of He. Shall not this seem strange and unreal to you. This is announced by the Church luminary — the holy fathers... Let only God's finger be writing on your tablets»6.
Maybe, someone would say that His Eminence Anthony did so following the suit of St. Basil the Great who in his «Instructions to the Youth how to use heathen manuscripts» teaches to choose the good in them. But, St. Basil, when he addressed the youth studying the Greek philosophy and gave examples from Homer, taught them to choose the record of virtues simultaneously warning them of danger. Thus he wrote: «It is necessary not to accumulate along with them (the virtues) into the soul something bad unnoticed, exactly the way some people along with honey bolt poisonous things»7.
The Most Reverend Anthony gives examples from heretic teachings not only failing to warn, but, on the contrary, passing «poison» for a virtue. So, he holds up as an example the prayer of a French peasant, who spent every day in the rural church. When asked by the Cure of Are8, what he was doing there sitting all day long, he responded: «I look at Him and He looks at me and we are fine together» 9.
The second part of the phrase sounds especially blasphemous: «We are fine together». Which sensible person would say that he is /stays/ with God? More to that, God is unalterable and, if I can put it this way, he can be fine even without a catholic peasant. As for the God's will regarding a person, it consists in the active deeds of a Christian — in constant repentance and love, and not in being passive and motionless, like the peasant, whose example was cited.
From the words uttered by this catholic, anyone, being even a little bit familiar with the teaching of the Church, will derive the false state of spiritual selfdeceive — a state of delusion which happens to be very characteristic for the western prayers. For his words are to be the testimony to evident pride. The consequences can turn out to be very ill. If a man, being in such a state, fails to understand in due time, what is going on with him, then at the best soon he is to become a patient of a psychiatrist, and if the worst comes to the worst, he is to commit a suicide. In psychiatry such state is called obsession10 the accompanying «praying» imagination leads to the development of a disease.
The Holy Fathers of the Church teach us that being with God is an aim to achieve every believer longs for, though if somebody considers he has reached it, he deceives himself. Can there be anything impure with God? And who can say that he is pure? If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us11.
St. Ephraim the Syrian considered himself not only to be far from God, but even far from repentance, constantly begging God: «Give me the light of repentance» 12. «It is not great that your mind is constantly directed to God, — said Abba Sysoy, — but great is that the one regards himself the worst among all the creatures»13. And Saint Apostle Paul considered himself a nobody14. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble 15 — The Holy Scripture announces. A true prayer, the one which does not corrupt the mind but helps to grow spiritually, is humble appearing before God.
«He is not worthy of God, not worthy of following, who is all in pollution and sewage, but in a stupid, proud and imaginary consideration thinks himself being held in the arms of the Purest, the Most Saint Lord, thinks to be obtaining Him in himself and talking to him like to a friend, — wrote St. Ignatius. — Man! awesomely cover yourself with humbleness»16. That is exactly what we do not find in the story about the peasant — submission: «I look at Him and He looks at me and we are fine together». Such examples of catholic praying have always been regarded by holy fathers graced by God as obvious devilish delusion. «Don't be deceived by your self-conceit and the teaching of those, who are self-conceited, — wrote St. Ignatius, — those, neglecting the truth of Church and Devine Revelation, claim that truth can prophesy in you without a sounded word and can preach to you by itself with the help of some indefinite and unclear action. This is the teaching of lie and its confidants»17.
St. Ignatius warns, saying directly: «Don't play with your salvation, don't play! Otherwise you shall cry eternally. Set to reading of New Testament and the patristic works (and neither Teresa’s, nor Francisco’s and the other western mad, whom their heretic church passes for saints); study in those patristic works, how to understand Holy Scripture, what life, what thoughts are decent for a Christian. From Holy Scripture and the lively belief study Jesus Christ and Christianity. There have been many suchlike hermits in the Western Church since the times it has befallen into papism, in which a man is blasphemously attached the features and is given the worship only due for God only; many books were written as a result of an exited state, in which their frenzied self-deceive was regarded as divine love, in which their corrupted imagination depicted for them numerous visions, flattering their self-esteem and pride» 18.
Though the example with the deluded peasant is far from being the only one in the catholic teaching in «The School» by His Eminence Anthony. For he writes: «The French Rome-Catholics with their feeling of justice end the glory of God fairly well understand what victory can Christ obtain through the sufferings of people?»19. But wasn't so that their false feeling of justice enabled them to sign the concordat of 1933 with the fascists?!20 Further on His Eminence admires Jesuitical «Order of Expiation», which, according to his words, «in constant worship of Holy Gifts prays for forgiveness of the crimes of the whole Earth... The Order as well aims at up-bringing in children and adults the spirit of love»21.
As for the spirit of «love» which was implemented with the help of Crusades and still is by the heretic Catholics, St. Ignatius writes: «The most part of the Western Church zealots, proclaimed by it as greatest saints, who, on befalling from the Eastern Church and being deprived of the Holy Spirit, prayed and achieved certain visions, for sure false ones. Those sham saints were in an awful devilish delusion. Such delusion naturally appears on the basis of blasphemy which corrupted the dogmatic belief within the Catholics. The Latin hermits' behaviour has always been frenzied subject to unusual material and passionate excitement. The founder of Jesuitical Order Ignatius Loyola found himself in such a state. His imagination was so exited and sophisticated that, as he admitted himself, he only had to wish and attribute certain effort to have heaven or hell in his vision according to his desire»22.