Contemplation Self-Reproach
Contemplation…
Self-Reproach¹
Anba Moussa said: “He who believes himself to be without fault has contained within himself all faults.”
Therefore, my brother, sit often with yourself, examine your faults, and confess that you are wrong…
If you do not dare to confess publicly before all people that you have erred, then at least do so between you and yourself, and before your spiritual father. Repent, otherwise… your lampstand will be moved from its place…
And if you are not able to know yourself, to perceive your mistakes, and to blame yourself for them, then at least, if someone else reproaches you for them, do not be angry. The one who reveals your faults to you—consider him a physician revealing your illness so that you may seek treatment for it before your health collapses. So instead of blaming him, thank him and pray that the Lord may reward him.
Saint Anba Anthony said: “When someone rebukes you from the outside, rebuke yourself from the inside, so that there may be harmony between your inner and outer selves.”
How great is the virtue of self-reproach! One of the desert fathers says in the Paradise of the Monks: “Believe me, my father, there is nothing better than for a person to return blame upon himself in everything.”
How wise is that timeless counsel spoken by Saint Macarius the Great: “Judge yourself, my brother, before they judge you.” If we judge ourselves, we reach humility and repentance… but if we justify ourselves, we fall into what Adam and the proud Pharisee fell into…
¹ An article by His Grace Bishop Shenouda, Bishop of Education – Al-Keraza Magazine, First Year, Issue Seven, September 1965.
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