Saturday, January 24, 2004
Xenia of Petersburg, Fool for Christ
Kellia: Proverbs 3:13-16 Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-23 Gospel: St. Luke 17:3-10
Proverbs 3:13-16 LXX, especially vs. 13, "Blessed is the man who has
found wisdom, and the mortal who knows prudence." We begin a series of five meditations on
passages drawn from two lectionary readings for the Vespers of a Theologian (cf. St. Gregory the
Theologian, January 25th). These two readings are, first Prov. 3:13-16, 8:6-10, and second, Wis.
6:12-16, 7:30, 8:2-4,7-9,21, 9:1-4,10-11,13. All the passages are concerned with Wisdom: the
blessings and promises of Wisdom , the discernment and counsel of Wisdom, and a concluding
prayer for Wisdom offered by the Prophet and King, Solomon.
Solomon's observation, that the man who has found Wisdom is blessed (Prov 3:13:LXX), applies
to the true theologian, but, let us add, only through arduous struggle. Yet, once one knows
Wisdom, he understands that "no precious thing is equal to her in value" (Pr. 3:15 LXX); and,
from Wisdom, he knows "righteousness...law and mercy" (vs. 16 LXX).
Truly, the man who has "found Wisdom" is blessed, for he is able, in the words of St. Gregory of
Sinai, to discern "in the essence of created things the presence of the divine Logos, the
substantive Wisdom of God the Father" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:24). In other words, by receiving the Person
of Christ fully within himself, the wise man becomes a true theologian who, as St Gregory
Palamas says, knows that: "...Truth and Wisdom constitute a Logos that befits His Begetter, a
Logos that rejoices with the Father as the Father rejoices in Him" (cf. Pr. 8:30 LXX).
The Holy Fathers teach that the blessed ones who find Wisdom do so because the grace of God
enabled them to take the first, humble, elementary steps in spiritual knowledge, after which they
were then able to proceed to more advanced understanding. This is a warning to us: if any of us
think we would like to find Wisdom, let us recognize that we will not likely learn much of value
unless we have been aided by the grace of God. Still, even the thought or impulse to find
Wisdom may be evidence, to some extent, that one may already possess a small bit of wisdom.
Listen to St. Peter of Damascus: "In the same way, although our first steps in spiritual knowledge
may be very slight, unless we make them we will not acquire any virtue at all."
Let us cry out to Wisdom that He would grant us grace even to undertake the journey whose goal
is Wisdom Himself. However, let us hear the caution in what St. Maximos the Confessor has to
say about this pilgrimage: "...it is impossible for a man to attain wisdom, unless first, through fear
and through the remaining intermediary gifts, he frees himself completely from the mist of
ignorance and the dust of sin."
Today's passage not only encourages us toward Wisdom, but also exposes the false attractions of
this world: "...she is more valuable than precious stones: no evil thing shall resist her: she is well
known to all that approach her, and no precious things is equal to her in value" (Pr. 3:13 LXX).
Wisdom's value surpasses all that is held to be valuable in this world: precious stones, gold and
silver, wealth, glory, and years of life (vss. 15,16). Further, in Wisdom we obtain that for which
the Lord taught us to pray - deliverance from evil (Mt. 6:13).
Wisdom's greatest gifts to men are "righteousness...law and mercy" which are "in her mouth" and
"upon her tongue" (Pr. 3:16). St. Gregory of Nyssa affirms that Wisdom is the source of these
great moral and spiritual virtues: "Wisdom...has, as a possession, strength and
prudence...and...walks in the ways of righteousness and has...conversation in the ways of just
judgment." By Wisdom, he declares, "kings reign, and princes write the decree of equity."
Lord, in Thy mercy, grant that the light of understanding, piety, and wisdom may illumine us
through the outpouring of Thy Holy Spirit.