Spiritual Exercises
On the occasion of the beginning of the new Nativity Fast, we want to benefit spiritually from this fast, by training ourselves in virtues, and in leaving behind shortcomings that weary our souls. Therefore, I would like to speak to you today about spiritual exercises:
We notice that many have entered the church and lived in it, confess, receive Communion, and also serve, yet they still have persistent weaknesses that almost reach the level of traits, continuing with them for years!
Perhaps the reason for this is that they did not give these weaknesses special attention, but rather they dissolved amid their preoccupations or their general, non-detailed view of their lives.
What should we do then?
A person must sit with himself and examine himself concerning all his weaknesses, especially the persistent weaknesses and repeated sins. He must train himself to leave them. He must focus all his prayers and all his struggle on them.
The matter of these exercises exists in the Holy Bible. The Apostle Paul said about himself, “I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” (Phil. 4:12). And he said: “have their senses exercised” (Heb. 5:14)… And God often trained His saints.
The Prophet Moses began his life being severe and violent, when he killed the Egyptian. Then God took him to the wilderness, and through the work of shepherding he trained in gentleness, calmness, and meekness, until the Bible said about him: “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” (Num. 12:3).
John the Beloved, and his brother James, were severe; they called them the Sons of Thunder. When Samaria refused to accept the Lord, they said to Him: “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and burn up this city?” And the Lord continued training them until they became an example of love.
Do not think that the saints reached their high degrees all at once.
Rather, they trained in the virtues over a very long period, until they reached what they reached, through struggle and hardship. Therefore, we should not take their spiritual peaks as starting points in our lives, but rather train like them….
Arsenius the Great, at the beginning of his monastic life, did not know the method of cleaning lentils that the uneducated Egyptian knew, until he received a lesson and said to himself: “This is a slap on your cheek, Arsenius.” Through training and the passage of time, he reached what he reached in holiness.
Moses the Black also took a long period of training, until he moved from a life of violence and harshness to love, service, and welcoming strangers.
Even in the field of service, the Lord also trained His disciples…
He sent them for practical training, and they returned and presented to Him the results of their service, and they were joyful because the demons were subject to them in His name. So He corrected this mistake for them and said to them: “Do not rejoice in this, but rather rejoice that your names are written in the kingdom of God.” From here we understand some principles…
First: Discovering the mistakes, then training to correct the mistakes.
You must discover your mistakes, or someone else must reveal them to you. For without discovering the mistakes, you cannot train yourself to leave them… “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
Therefore, the one who continually justifies himself, and sees that he is right, cannot reform himself and train to leave the mistakes.
The matter also requires seriousness, firmness, and a sense of commitment.
You must be convinced of the importance of reforming yourself, and of the necessity of training for you. And once you are convinced, deal with yourself firmly, without hesitation or retreat, and without laxity or laziness, but with strength, like that which the Apostle Paul meant when he rebuked the Hebrews, saying: “You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” (Heb. 4:12).
A person needs, in his exercises, to struggle with himself, struggle with his temperament, and struggle with his habits and mistakes that try to become established in him… Do not allow despair to overcome you, and say: “There is no use, for this is my nature”… Rather, know that your nature is good, and God created it in His image. So be firm, and drive away the evil that has intruded upon you.
Steadfastness in the virtues is much more important than merely acquiring them.
The virtue in which you do not remain for a long period is as though you have not acquired it yet. For time is the practical test for knowing the depth of the virtue within you. Therefore, jumping quickly from one exercise to another does not benefit you spiritually. Rather, the period of training should be prolonged…
The training must also be specific and clear…
For the one who sets before himself training his soul in a great virtue that includes dozens of points, or includes the whole spiritual life, such as love, for example, finds himself before a great and important meaning… Likewise, the one who trains himself in humility, meekness, or faith…
Rather, if he wants to train himself in love, let him take one point from it, such as not being sharp, or not thinking evil.
Let the training be within your capabilities and practically implementable…
Some set for themselves a training above the level of their will, or above the level of their circumstances, or make a high spiritual leap in it that they cannot continue in, and they may suffer a setback afterward…
Do not take a training in fasting beyond the capacity of your health, nor a training in silence that does not agree with your work, your meetings, and your home circumstances, nor a training in prayer or service that your time does not permit…
In a person’s self-examination regarding the training, he should benefit from the mistakes in which he failed during his training…
He benefits from them as a kind of humility and a feeling of weakness…
He also learns from the points in which he failed in the training how to be more serious, or how the training can be more practical.
Let the exercises come from the core of your real practical life.
What is suitable for others in terms of exercises may not be suitable for you… The primary source of your exercises is your sins that you want to get rid of, and the virtues that you lack. Your exercises must suit your life and your circumstances, both internal and external…
In every exercise, support your will with some verses from the Bible that encourage you and urge you toward this particular exercise.
Write these verses in the exercise notebook, memorize them, and repeat them continually, so that they may be present in your mind and save you from failure. Also remember the stories of the saints that strengthen you in the training.
Beware that the training should be dependent upon your human arm.
Say to yourself: My success in this training cannot have its source in the strength of my will and the purity of my heart. Rather, success is due to God’s work with me, and the extent of the intervention of grace to assist me.
Thus your spiritual exercises will be mingled with prayer and asking for help.
Say to Him: O Lord, I will not depend on myself, but on the work of Your Holy Spirit in me. And, O Lord, consider this training to be a kind of prayer, by which I turn to You, presenting my weaknesses before You, asking Your grace to support my weakness, so that I may get rid of my mistakes. And so that I may cooperate with Your Holy Spirit in freeing myself from its burdens…
Let your falls in the training be a subject for your metanias, as humility before God.
Thus the exercises are mingled with prayers, metanias, and the spirit of humility, when you rebuke yourself for its failure through metanias and contrition of heart…
And if the training succeeds, offer thanks to God for His help…
There is no doubt that the period of fasting is suitable for spiritual exercises:
In this way, your fast will take on a spiritual character, in which you do not abstain only from food and animal fat, but also abstain from error.
And at the Feast of the Nativity, God willing, you will not rejoice only in the feast, but you will also rejoice in God’s work in you during these exercises…
Some Spiritual Exercises:
(A) Exercises in prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, and the other means of grace:
1- Training in memorizing the Agpeya prayers, and repeating them during the day.
2- Training in short, repeated prayers, such as the prayer “O Lord Jesus, have mercy on me,” and reciting it many times even while you are with people.
3- Training in memorizing portions of the Holy Bible, such as the Sermon on the Mount, or chapter 12 of Romans, or (1 Cor. 13) “about love.”
4- Training in memorizing 3 Psalms from each of the seven prayers of the Agpeya, along with memorizing a Gospel and analyzing each prayer.
5- Training in regular reading of the Holy Bible, so that each day it includes one chapter from the New Testament and one chapter from the Old Testament….
(B) Exercises in relationships with people:
1- Training in good treatment, the kind word, the smile, expressions of courtesy and praise, avoiding harsh words, anger, and a loud voice.
2- Training in serving others in every place and occasion.
3- Enduring people, and not returning offense with the same.
4- Avoiding causing others to stumble, whether by word or by action.
5- Respecting the church in its schedules, in its quietness, and in its solemnity.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in El-Keraza Magazine, Ninth Year, Issue 48, December 1, 1978.
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