How do people become ascetics? What have they understood or realized? What drives them? Why do they strive so selflessly? Or is it a natural inclination they are born with? #
Christianity is a religion of spiritual struggle, and the Holy Fathers call Christ Himself the Initiator of that struggle. Christ commands those who wish to follow Him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. Thus, spiritual struggle is the foundation of every Christian’s life. What are the observance of Christian fasts, if not a struggle? What is love for one’s neighbor, if not the self-sacrificing and self-denying struggle for the sake of others?
From this, we can say that every Christian is called to be an ascetic. Conversely, anyone who flees from Christian struggle moves away from Christ and from Christianity itself, for struggle is the daily and unceasing essence of Christian life.
The first generations of Christians faced persecution from both Jews and pagans, as well as from non-Christian state authorities, and their lives were under constant threat. Simply remaining in the Christian faith was itself a struggle for every believer in Christ. Many were killed for their true confession of faith, but as the ancients said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity.” Witnessing the mortal struggle of these martyrs, many pagans turned to Christ.
In the fourth century A.D., Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, and the persecutions ceased. The Church saw an influx of people who came not for Christ or for the struggle in Him but for earthly reasons. Since the emperor was a Christian, many of his servants believed that by adopting the Christian faith, they would earn the emperor’s favor and advance their careers. Observing this, some Christians, burning with zeal for Christ, withdrew from “the world” into the desert to bear their spiritual struggle there, enduring all kinds of hardships and deprivations for Christ’s sake. This marked the beginning of the powerful monastic movement, which was ideologically and theologically supported by the great luminaries of the Church—Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom—who themselves were great ascetics.
Later, a new type of ascetic emerged—the “fools for Christ’s sake.” These were people who voluntarily took on the guise of the mentally ill, enduring heat and cold without clothing or footwear, as well as insults, beatings, and various humiliations from those around them. The first such ascetic was a young man named Andrew in Constantinople, to whom Christ Himself appeared in a vision, commanding him to become a fool for His sake and to overcome the devil through his ascetic feats.
In some cases, Christians took on a special struggle by direct command from God. In other cases, they were ignited by divine zeal and embarked on their spiritual struggle. Clearly, it was not any innate characteristics but their fervent love for God that enabled this. We are confident that every person, regardless of their natural temperament, can take up their cross and follow Christ. Otherwise, it would imply that Christ does not call “all to salvation,” which would blatantly contradict our faith.
Archpriest Vadim Korovin.