Ὁ μακαρίτης πνευματικὸς ἀπὸ τὴ σκήτη τῶν Καυσοκαλυβίων, παπα-Νικόδημος, μοῦ διηγήθηκε τὴν ἀκόλουθη ἱστορία, παρμένη ἀπὸ πατερικὰ Ἁγιορείτικα χειρόγραφα.
Ἕνας πιστὸς χριστιανός, πήγαινε ἐπὶ δεκαπέντε χρόνια στὸν πνευματικό του καὶ ἐξομολογοῦνταν τὶς ἀνθρώπινες ἀδυναμίες του. Μιὰ μέρα ὅμως, ὅπως συνήθιζε, πῆγε στὸν πνευματικό του νὰ ἐξομολογηθεῖ καὶ ἀνοίγοντας τὴν πόρτα τοῦ σπιτιοῦ του βρῆκε τὸν πνευματικὸ νὰ πορνεύει μὲ μία γυναῖκα. Ἀμέσως βγῆκε ἔξω καὶ φεύγοντας εἶπε στὸν ἑαυτό του: «ἄχ, τί ἔπαθα ἀλοίμονο σὲ μένα, ἐγὼ ἔχω τόσα χρόνια ποὺ ἐξομολογοῦμαι σ᾿ αὐτόν, καὶ τώρα τί θὰ κάνω; Θὰ κολασθῶ; διότι ὅσα ἁμαρτήματα καὶ ἂν μοῦ συγχώρησε, ἐφόσον εἶναι τόσον ἁμαρτωλὸς ἄνθρωπος, εἶναι, τί εἶναι; εἶναι ὅλα ἀσυγχώρητα», ἔλεγε καὶ χτυπιόταν ὁ ἄνθρωπος γιὰ τὸ κακὸ ποὺ τὸν βρῆκε καὶ δὲν ἤξερε τί πρέπει νὰ κάνει.
Στὸ δρόμο ποὺ ἔφευγε, δίψασε. Προχώρησε λίγο καὶ μπροστά του βρέθηκε ἕνα μικρὸ ῥεματάκι, στὸ ὁποῖο ἔτρεχε γάργαρο καὶ πεντακάθαρο νερό. Ἔσκυψε καὶ ἤπιε. Ἤπιε τόσο ποὺ χόρτασε καὶ δὲν τοῦ ῾κανε καρδιὰ νὰ φύγει, ἀλλὰ ἤθελε νὰ πιεῖ καὶ ἄλλο ἀπὸ κεῖνο τὸ νεράκι. Σὲ μία στιγμὴ σκέφτηκε μὲ τὸ λογισμό του καὶ εἶπε: «ἂν ἐδῶ χαμηλὰ στὸ ῥέμα εἶναι τόσο καλό, τότε ὅσο πιὸ κοντὰ στὴν πηγή του, ἀπὸ ῾κεῖ ποὺ βγαίνει, τόσο καλύτερο θὰ εἶναι» καὶ μὲ τὴ σκέψη αὐτὴ ξεκίνησε νὰ βρεῖ τὴ πηγὴ τοῦ νεροῦ. Ὅταν ἔφτασε ὅμως ἐκεῖ, τί νὰ δεῖ;! βλέπει, τί βλέπει;! βλέπει τὸ νερὸ νὰ βγαίνει ἀπὸ ἕνα ψόφιο καὶ βρώμικο κουφάρι σκύλου, μέσα ἀπὸ τὸ στόμα τοῦ σκυλιοῦ νὰ βγαίνει τὸ νερό! Τότε βαθιὰ ἀναστέναξε καὶ εἶπε: «Ἀλλοίμονο σὲ μένα τὸν ἄθλιο, μαγαρίστηκα ὁ ταλαίπωρος καὶ ἤπια ἀπὸ τὸ μολυσμένο αὐτὸ νερό, φαίνεται ὅτι εἶμαι πολὺ ἁμαρτωλὸς καὶ ἀκάθαρτος γιὰ νὰ μοῦ συμβοῦν αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα».
Στὴν μεγάλη αὐτὴ στενοχώρια ποὺ βρισκόταν, τοῦ παρουσιάστηκε ἄγγελος Κυρίου καὶ τοῦ εἶπε: «Γιατί ἄνθρωπέ μου στενοχωριέσαι καὶ λυπῆσαι γιὰ τὰ πράγματα ποῦ σοῦ συμβαίνουν; Ὅταν ἤπιες τὸ νερὸ ἀπὸ τὸ ρεματάκι δὲν εὐχαριστήθηκες ποὺ βρῆκες πολὺ καθαρὸ καὶ δὲν τὸ χόρταινες νὰ πίνεις καὶ τώρα, ποὺ εἶδες τοῦτο ὅτι βγαίνει ἀπὸ τὸ ἀκάθαρτο στόμα τοῦ σκυλιοῦ, λὲς ὅτι μολύνθηκες; Ἂν ἀγαπητέ μου, ὁ σκύλος εἶναι ψόφιος καὶ ἀκάθαρτος, μὴ λυπῆσαι γι᾿ αὐτὸ ἐσύ, διότι τὸ νερὸ ποὺ ἤπιες ἐσὺ κι ὁ κόσμος ὅλος ποὺ πίνει, μπορεῖ νὰ βγαίνει ἀπὸ τὸ ἀκάθαρτο στόμα τοῦ σκύλου, ἀλλὰ τὸ νερὸ ποὺ βγαίνει δὲν εἶναι δικό του, εἶναι δῶρο τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ νερό.
Ἔτσι καὶ ὁ πνευματικός σου ποὺ σὲ ἐξομολογοῦσε, ἡ συγχώρηση ποὺ σοῦ ἔδινε δὲν ἦταν δική του, ἀλλὰ ἡ συγχώρηση εἶναι δωρεὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐκεῖνος τὴν δίνει, τὸ Πανάγιο Πνεῦμα τὴν χορηγεῖ σ᾿ αὐτὸν ποὺ καθαρὰ καὶ εἰλικρινὰ ἐξομολογεῖται τὶς ἁμαρτίες του καὶ τὶς ἀδυναμίες του. Μὲ τὴ διαφορὰ ὅτι, οἱ δωρεὲς καὶ τὰ χαρίσματα τοῦ Θεοῦ στοὺς ἀνθρώπους δίδονται μέσῳ τῆς ἱεροσύνης ἀπὸ τοὺς κανονικὰ χειροτονημένους καὶ ἔχοντας τὴν ἄδεια τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως καὶ τῆς ἀφέσεως τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ὅπως εἶπε ὁ Ἴδιος ὁ Δεσπότης Χριστὸς στοὺς ἁγίους Ἀποστόλους καὶ μαθητάς Του: «Λάβετε Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον. Ἄν τινων ἀφίεντε τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν, ἀφίενται αὐτοῖς. Ἄν τινων κρατῆτε, κεκράτηνται». Ἔτσι λοιπὸν οἱ Ἅγιοι Ἀπόστολοι ἔδωκαν τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτὴν στοὺς ἐπισκόπους καὶ διαδόχους αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκεῖνοι στοὺς κανονικὰ χειροτονηθέντας ἱερεῖς καὶ πνευματικούς. Ἐκ τοῦ λόγου τούτου καὶ διότι τελοῦν τὰ ἅγια Μυστήρια τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ ἱερεῖς εἶναι ἀνώτεροι κατὰ τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ ἀπὸ αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ἀνώτατον ἄρχοντα τοῦ λαοῦ. Ἀνώτεροι εἶναι οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀπὸ ὅλους, διότι ὁτιδήποτε κι ἂν εἶναι οἱ ἄνθρωποι αὐτοὶ στὸν κόσμο, τὰ κοσμικὰ ἀξιώματα, ἀπὸ τὸν ἱερέα καὶ τὸν πνευματικὸ θὰ λάβει τὴ συγχώρηση τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν του, διότι δὲν ὑπάρχει ἄλλος δρόμος· αὐτὴ εἶναι ἡ Ἱερὰ Παράδοσις τῆς Ἁγίας Ἐκκλησίας μας».
Καὶ τώρα, λέγει ὁ ἄγγελος: «Πήγαινε νὰ βάλεις μετάνοια καὶ νὰ ζητήσεις συγχώρηση ἀπὸ τὸν πνευματικό σου ποὺ τὸν εἶδες νὰ ἁμαρτάνει καὶ παρακάλεσέ τον νὰ σὲ συγχωρήσει γιὰ τὴν κατάκριση ποὺ σὲ βάρος του ἔκαμες. Ὅσο δὲ γιὰ τὴν ἁμαρτία ποὺ ἐκεῖνος ἔκανε, ὁ Θεὸς θὰ τὸν ἐξετάσει καὶ αὐτὸς μόνο θὰ τὸν κρίνει, διότι ἐσὺ εἶδες αὐτὸν νὰ κάνει τὴν ἁμαρτία, δὲν μπορεῖς ὅμως νὰ γνωρίζεις ἂν αὐτὸς μετανόησε, ἢ τὸν τρόπο τῆς μετανοίας του. Ἔτσι ἐσὺ δὲν ἔχεις, ἐσὺ μὲν ἔχεις τὴν ἁμαρτία τῆς κατακρίσεως, ἐκεῖνος δέ, ἂν μετανοήσει θὰ τρυγήσει τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς μετανοίας καὶ τῆς διορθώσεώς του. Δὲν μποροῦμε λοιπὸν νὰ κρίνουμε κανέναν ἄνθρωπο».
Ὅταν ὁ ἄγγελος λοιπὸν τὰ εἶπε αὐτά, στὸν πιστὸ ἐκεῖνο χριστιανό, ἔγινε ἄφαντος. Ὁ δὲ χριστιανὸς σύμφωνα μὲ τὴν ἐντολὴ τοῦ ἀγγέλου, γύρισε πίσω· πῆγε στὸν πνευματικό του, στὸν ὁποῖο διηγήθηκε ὅλα ὅσα εἶδε καὶ ἄκουσε ἀπὸ τὸν ἄγγελο Κυρίου καὶ ἔβαλε μετάνοια καὶ ὅταν εἶπε τὰ διατρέξαντα στὸν πνευματικό, ὅπως τοῦ εἶπε ὁ ἄγγελος, ὁ πνευματικὸς μὲ δάκρυα στὰ ματιὰ μετανόησε, ἔκλαψε πικρὰ καὶ ζήτησε συγχώρηση ἀπὸ τὸν Πολυέλεο, Πολυεύσπλαχνο καὶ Πανάγαθο Θεὸ καὶ διόρθωσε τὰ κακῶς διαπραττόμενα πρὸς δόξα Θεοῦ καὶ ψυχῆς σωτηρία αὐτοῦ.
Ὅταν μοῦ διηγήθηκε αὐτὰ ὁ πνευματικός μου, παπα-Νικόδημος, συνέχισε τὸν λόγο του καὶ μὲ ἀγάπη μου εἶπε: «γι᾿ αὐτὸ ἀδελφέ μου, Χαράλαμπε, (αὐτὸ ἔλαβε χώρα τὸ 1934, ποὺ δὲν ἤμουνα ἀκόμη μοναχός, καὶ μ᾿ ἔλεγε μὲ τὸ κατὰ κόσμον ὄνομά μου), δὲν ἔχουμε δικαίωμα ἐμεῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι νὰ ἐξετάζουμε τὴ ζωὴ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων. Ὅπως λέει καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος Παῦλος: «Σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων, ἀλλότριον ἱκέτην;» (Ῥωμ. ιδ´ 4). Πολὺ δὲ περισσότερο νὰ κρίνουμε τοὺς κληρικούς, τοὺς ἱερωμένους, τοὺς πνευματικούς, καὶ γενικὰ τοὺς ῥασοφόρους, τοὺς ὁποίους σκληρότατα δοκιμάζει ὁ Θεὸς καὶ μὲ μεγάλη πονηρία καὶ μαεστρία πολεμεῖ ὁ διάβολος, ὅπως λέει ὁ ἴδιος ὁ Θεός, μὴ κρίνετε ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε, καὶ ἐν ᾧ κρίματι κρίνετε κριθήσετε, καὶ ἐν ᾧ μέτρω μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσετε ὑμῖν! Ἐμεῖς ὀφείλομε νὰ συγχωροῦμε τὰ σφάλματα τῶν ἄλλων καὶ νὰ μετανοοῦμε, νὰ κρίνουμε καὶ νὰ τιμωροῦμε τὸν ἑαυτό μας καὶ μόνον. Ἂν θέλουμε νὰ σωθοῦμε νὰ συγχωροῦμε τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ σύμφωνα μὲ τὴν ἐντολὴ τοῦ ἱεροῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ποὺ λέει: ἐὰν ἀφήνετε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν, κατὰ τὸ ἄφετε καὶ ἀφεθήσεται ὑμῖν.
Ναί, ἀδελφοί μου, ἡ κατάκρισις εἶναι μεγάλη ἁμαρτία καὶ δὲν πρέπει ποτὲ νὰ ἀσχολούμεθα μὲ τὰ ἐλαττώματα καὶ μὲ τὶς παραβάσεις τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων! Δὲν ἔχουμε καμιὰ δουλειὰ ἐμεῖς. Ὁ καθένας ὅ,τι κάνει τὸ κάνει γιὰ τὸν ἑαυτό του. Ἐμεῖς ὀφείλομε μόνο ὅ,τι βλέπουμε, ὅ,τι ἀκοῦμε νὰ συγχωροῦμε καὶ νὰ ἀγαποῦμε καὶ νὰ προσπαθοῦμε νὰ τοὺς βοηθοῦμε ὅσο εἶναι δυνατόν, ἀπὸ τὴ δική μας τὴν πλευρά.
My blessed spiritual guide from Kafsokalyvia, Fr. Nikodemos, told me the following story, borrowed from Athonite patristic manuscripts:
A certain Christian believer went to his spiritual guide for confession over the space of 15 years, and confided his human infirmities to him. One day, as was his custom, he went to visit his spiritual guide in order to make his confession. When he came to the house, this man opened the door and saw his confessor sinning with a woman. He quickly went out of the house, and as he was leaving, he said to himself, “Oh, woe is me! I have gone to confession to him for all these years! What should I do now? What will happen to me now — will I perish? How can all those sins that he absolved me of be forgiven, when he himself is such a sinful person?” So this man reasoned, reeling under the weight of such a blow, and not knowing what he should do next.
As he was going back along the way, he became thirsty. Proceeding a little further, he stumbled upon a small, swiftly-flowing little brook with the purest, clearest water. He bent down and began to drink. He drank and drank, and even after he had satisfied his thirst he still wanted to drink this cool water. And, standing up, he thought: “If here, downstream, the water is so pure, how pure it must be at the source!” And with this thought he set off to find the spring where the brook began. And when he had found the source, what did he see there? To his horror, he saw that the water was flowing out from the muzzle of a dead dog — right from its mouth. Then, sighing from the depth of his soul, the man exclaimed, “Woe is me who have gone astray, I have defiled myself and have drunk this contaminated water! Apparently I really am sinful and bad, that such misfortunes are happening to me!”
And then, when he was so upset, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “O man, why are you so upset and so sad because of what is happening to you? When you saw the brook and began to drink from it, weren’t you filled with joy that you had found such pure water? You drank and couldn’t drink your fill, but now, after you have seen that the water is flowing out of a dog’s dirty mouth, you say that you have been contaminated? Even though the dog is dead and unclean, don’t be upset, because the whole world drinks the water that you drank, even though it flows out of a dirty dog’s mouth, because the water itself doesn’t belong to the dog—it is a gift of God, this water comes from God.
“And likewise your confessor: the sins that you confessed to him are forgiven you; the forgiveness of sins is not his gift, it is a gift of God to man. The Most-Holy Spirit grants the remission of sins to a person who thoroughly and sincerely confesses his sins and weaknesses.”
The Lord God Jesus Christ Himself said to His Holy Apostles and disciples, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained (John 20:22-23). God grants this power to people in the Sacrament of the Priesthood, but only to those who have been canonically ordained and have a blessing to hear confessions and forgive sins. The Holy Apostles passed this power down to the first bishops and their successors, those who, in turn, were lawfully ordained priests and confessors. Inasmuch as priests celebrate the Holy Sacraments, their rank is far higher even than the rank of Tsar. The priestly rank is higher than any worldly rank, because, no matter in what worldly rank a man is, nevertheless he has recourse to a priest for the remission of sins. This establishment is of Christ Himself and the tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church — there is no other way in the Church.
“You only saw how he sins, but you cannot see his repentance”
And the Angel said to him, “Go to your confessor, whom you saw sinning, and do a prostration to him and ask him forgiveness for judging him. As regards his personal sins, God Himself tries his conscience and He Himself will hold him responsible. Thus, you only saw how he sins, but you cannot see either his repentance or how ardently he repented. So with you, instead of repentance is added the sin of judgement, while he, if he repents, can bring to God worthy fruits of repentance. And so, remember, don’t judge anyone.”
After the Angel had said this, he became invisible. This Christian, went back to his confessor as the Angel had told him to do, did a prostration and told him what he had seen and heard from the Angel of the Lord. His confessor began to weep bitterly and groan as soon as he had heard what the Angel had said, regretting his sin, and asking forgiveness from the All-Merciful, Compassionate and All-Good God, having a firm intention to correct himself from this time on and to make amends for his deed, unto the glory of God and unto the salvation of his soul.
After my spiritual guide, Fr. Nikodemos, had told me about this instructive incident, he continued further, with love: “There it is, my brother Haralampos (this was in 1934, before my tonsure)—we don’t have any right to judge and scrutinize other people’s sins and actions. As the Apostle Paul says, Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth (Rom. 14:4). How much less do we have the right to judge priests and spiritual guides, those whom the Lord tries far more seriously, and whom the devil tempts with sophisticated slyness and mastery. The Lord, addressing absolutely everyone, says, Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged (Mat. 7:1-2). We are commanded to forgive our close ones their mistakes and shortcomings, to repent of our own personal sins, and to judge and punish only ourselves. If we want to be saved, let us forgive our brother according to the Gospel commandment: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you… (Mat. 6:14).
Yes, my brother, judging is a great sin, and we should not be occupied with others and we shouldn’t scrutinize the sins and transgressions of other people! We receive spiritual benefit only when, seeing or hearing something indecent, we forgive our brothers with love and try to help them, praying for them.