Below the reader will find, in full, chapter 15 from my translation of select works form St. Dimitry of Rostov. The chapter title in the book is “The Search for Christ.” I believe it offers very profound themes of contemplation for us as we prepare to enter the Great Fast. Ultimately, every blessed thing that we as Christians have is because of Christ Jesus our Lord and the goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, which is in tandem, or in better, in complete unity with, the Christian’s continual seeking after of Jesus Christ. The chapter speaks for itself. If you find it spiritually profitable, please consider buying the book, Spiritual Guidance on the Christian Path, by clicking here. This does also help support my work. (In an older article I had published a portion of this chapter, here I am posting it in full.)

Begin Chapter –

“You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here” (Matt. 16:6), proclaimed the angel, who stood before the Lord’s tomb, to the myrrh-bearing women.

Where then, now, is Christ after His resurrection? In what place could it be said, Christ is here?

It is written that Christ, after His resurrection, ascended into Heaven and sat at the right hand of God the Father. True and devoid of every falsehood are His words, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matt. 28:20). If He is with us until the end of the age, then where? In what place? Among which social rank and people? How can a person know His presence? How may a person say in truth, He is here?

In seeking Christ, first and foremost, one needs to maintain great care so as not to meet a false Christ – a lie. Christ, our Lord Himself, warns of this in His Gospel, “If anyone says with to you, ‘Look here is Christ’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert! Do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it” (Matt. 24:23-26). There are some who leave their home, family names, and relatives and run into the deserts or the woods purportedly to seek Christ and genuine faith, as if Christ and His faith are hiding somewhere in the forests beyond the hills.¹ Do not chase after these. It is rumored that the schismatics have already revealed secret Christs, but we will not trust in these Christs. Hear the words of the true Christ, our Lord: “Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come” (1 Jn. 2:18). Until the time that the Antichrist arrives, right up until his very coming, many of his forerunners have been and are being revealed, but the true Christ is not in them. Let us go; He is not here.

Where then is the habitation of Christ after His resurrection? The Word of God says, Christ God is in all places, filling all things and everywhere present, as is sung in the hymns of the Church: “In the tomb with the body; in Hades with the soul, as God; in Paradise with the thief; on the throne with the Father and the Spirit, O Boundless Christ Thyself filling all things” (Troparion of Holy Pascha). The heavens cannot contain Christ our God, nor can He be encompassed beneath the heavens. The almighty power of Christ God is everywhere present: in heaven, He reigns with the Father; in hell, the demons tremble; on earth, the life of mankind is guarded and directed, “For in Him we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). He upholds all things in the universe and governs all creation, the visible and invisible. Even though Christ our God is omnipresent with His almighty and all-supporting power, His favor and grace do not dwell everywhere. In certain places He is, but in others He has never been, while in some He was, but has left, saying,“Your house is left to you desolate” (Lk. 13:35). Let us go; He is not here. How then is one to know in truth God’s dwelling place?

The Psalmist writes, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple” (Ps. 10:3). The Proto-martyr Stephen proclaims, “The Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48), revealing by this that the Lord God loves to dwell in temples not made by hands more than those made by hands. Yet it is not as if the construction and beautification of churches is unpleasant to Him, for in approval of this, the Psalmist says, “Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy house, and the dwelling-place of Thy glory” (Ps. 25:8). Although to tell the truth, it happens that God does not even desire to dwell in some man-made temples. This occurs when people are irreverent and devoid of the fear of God and thereby make God’s house into a den of thieves, as the Lord Himself says, “My house shall be called a ‘house of prayer’, but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’” (Matt. 21:13). In this den, people gather together as if to pray in church and yet they chatter among themselves, gabbing idly about some new person in church, or some latest thing, or wars, or some festive get together; they pass judgment on others, slandering and dishonoring the good name of their neighbor; by these actions they turn the temple of God into a den of thieves. There are others who stand in God’s holy temple with their lips moving as if in prayer but in reality, in their mind, they are off dreaming about some home project, finding a spouse and raising a family, riches, treasure chests of wealth, money, and on it goes! Others take a little nap, while someone else contemplates filth and evil: this one robbery, another murder, yet another fornication and sexual immorality, while someone else stands in church plotting against his neighbor – all of these turn a temple of prayer into a dark den. Then in truth, the temple of God becomes a den of thieves and not God’s temple. Thus the holy place is desecrated by foul words and irreverence, and the grace of God is chased away like smoke on the wind. Then a person may say, Christ is not here.

There was a time when our Lord made a whip of cords and drove all the merchandisers out of the temple.² What if now He came visibly into His holy temple with that whip, would He not drive out all the chatty and foul mouthed people, together with all the idle dreamers who are not attentive to the readings and the hymns! Today, O Lord, how we chase Thee away! And we turn Thy temple into a den of thieves! Making it possible to say sometimes, even of temples dedicated to the Lord: The Lord is not here, He has gone away. Arise, let us go, He is not here.

Where is the temple not made by hands for Him Who is exalted above all things, of which St. Stephen reminds us? Every person who is enlivened, endowed with reason, and illumined through Holy Baptism is a temple of God, according to the words of the apostle, “The temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Cor. 3:17). “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you” (1 Cor. 6:19). If every person of the Orthodox faith is a temple of God, then one could seek Christ in every believer, and it would be good to be able to say: He is here. Yet, unfortunately, one may doubt the possibility of this. Many, indeed, have been illumined with the right faith and baptism, but there are few in whom Christ would abide as in His temple. Today’s thief, along with the criminal, the adulterer, and every villain, were in childhood baptized and illumined in the right faith, but as they grew older, they consciously departed from Christ.³ The tragic result is that one no longer can find Christ abiding in them; He is not here. There are some who on the surface appear to be virtuous but inside are not; God knows every secret, as the apostle teaches, “It is shameful to speak of these things which are done by them in secret” (Eph. 5:12). Christ is not soon found in such ones, He is not here. Some consider themselves faithful servants of God, those who truly honor Him; yet they only honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him (cf. Is. 29:13); do not look for the abode of Christ in such ones, He is not here. Others appear to be devout: spiritual laborers, those who strictly keep the fasts, lovers of poverty, workers of good deeds, and yet if these things are done for the eyes of men, in hypocrisy, and for vain glory, Christ is not there, do not seek for Him. Some make a show of humility, but take great pride in their intellect, they flaunt profound wisdom but are in reality defiled in their inner thoughts. They exhibit love and pour forth peaceful words, but in actual fact they are as insidious as Judas; do not hope to find here the presence of Christ, He is not here. Much labor is required to discover a priceless pearl in the deep sea or gold and silver in the bosom of the earth. And so it is hard to find Christ truly abiding in people, for according to the words of David: “They are all gone astray, they are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one” (Ps. 13:3).

It is difficult to find Christ here; yet, without a doubt, He abides in His Church which He loves and has purchased with His Blood, and for which He laid down His life. Therefore in the Church, in the whole gathering of right believers, one should seek Christ; to Her, He has said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matt. 28:20). But what of our unfortunate last-days?! Today the Holy Church is greatly persecuted and humiliated – many times from outside oppressors and many times from inner schismatics who, according to the apostle, “Went out from us, but they were not of us” (1 Jn. 2:19), for if they were truly of us they would have remained with us. They rend the interior of our Mother Church, belittling Her with many disparaging words, and having turned away from Her they draw many after themselves into destruction. Schisms have multiplied so greatly and reduced the faithful of the true Catholic and Apostolic Church that one barely finds Her true sons anywhere. In almost every city someone is creating some new special faith; then in this new faith average men and women, who have no idea whatsoever about the path of truth, suddenly become theologians and teachers. For example, the old believers who consider crossing with three fingers to be wrong and some sort of new cross. They stand pitifully in their stubbornness, despising and departing from true Christian teaching. Even though some of these may be found within the Church, they are there craftily, “Having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Truly, in such ones Christ is not; God is not in them. He is not here.

Let us leave such as these. We will continue to seek after the Lord in His Church – Holy, Catholic, right-believing – even though She is insulted, put to tribulation, and rent; nevertheless She is invincible because “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against Her” (Matt. 16:18). The Lord is in Her, and those who remove themselves from Her do not receive salvation. We are seeking Christ our Lord, and it is especially profitable to seek Him amidst the true children of the Church. Indeed, it happens that those who uphold the true faith, clinging to the Church as their Mother altogether never thinking of turning away from Her, are nonetheless foreign to Christ. The Holy Church is like a field in which grows wheat and tares, and these remain together until the harvest.⁴ Here the good and the evil are together, the righteous and the sinners, the sheep and the goats. The Church, as a Mother, warms and feeds not only Her good children but the foolish as well; moreover, She shows patience and compassion for them. It is worthwhile to seek Christ amidst the Church’s children, for the Psalmist proclaims that the Lord is in the midst of His people, “The Lord shall give strength to His people; the Lord shall bless His people with peace” (Ps. 28:11). But who are the people of God? Many will answer: “Christians are.” Thus, one would need to seek for Christ in the midst of Christians. Behold, yet again to what pain of heart one comes, for many of us are Christian in name only. We work deeds worse than unbelievers, and we live our lives like beasts. We protect ourselves with the sign of the Cross, and then like murderers of God, crucify Him again through our foul, abominable, and impure deeds. We venerate the icon of Christ and then trample under foot His most precious Blood, which was poured out for us.⁵ We glorify the Name of Christ, which we bear, and then turn and blaspheme It.⁶ We claim to be Christians and yet we conduct our lives like heathens. Could one claim that Christ is here? No, let us go, He is not here. Before every such Christian stands his guardian angel weeping and saying, “Do not seek Christ here – in the past, He was here, but He has already long ago departed.” Rise, He is not here.

Yet not all Christians are like this; there are good ones. There are tares among the wheat, and sometimes among the tares there happens to be wheat. Even amid evil, someone good may be found who is carrying Christ within; then one may say, He is here. Look and seek this out. Fearful are the words of our Lord, although not originally spoken to us they nonetheless relate, “You will seek Me and not find Me … and you will die in your sins” (Jn. 7:34, 8:21). But, O Lord! Why can we not search for Thee? “Because,” He would answer, “you do not allow Me to abide in you. Sometimes you receive Me, but then you again drive Me away and return to your evil deeds.”

Still we seek Thee, O Lord. We seek Thee amid the ministers of the sacred ranks. Where else would Christ be but in His ministers, in the midst of those who bear His image? But one hardly finds Christ in them. Practically all of them care only about themselves, they desire good for themselves and not the benefit of the people, they tend themselves and not Christ’s flock. Let us, first of all, turn our attention to the Hierarchy of the sacred ranks, and ask one of them (if only he will answer honestly): with what intent does he govern and does he strive toward the precious purity of his spiritual dignity? Does he serve only for the glory and honor of God, or for his own glory and honor? For the salvation of mankind’s soul, or for his own enrichment? Does he tend Christ’s sheep, or does he feed only himself? In truth, we would find not one who attained his rank so much for the glory and honor of God as for his own love of honor; not so much for the common good, as for his own mercenary profit. Such a one has come, not to serve for the salvation of mankind’s soul but to receive service from those under his care; he has come, not to be a father and pastor, but a lord and master. May those in the highest spiritual ranks forgive me! I am not speaking about everyone, only about some – in whose company I am. I know that there are those in the sacred hierarchical rank who are like unto angels in the flesh, but even in the midst of these angels it may happen that there is a person subject to infirmity. Blameless honor and a crown come from Christ the Archpastor, but to those subject to infirmity, like me a sinner, the Lord has said, to one, “I have a few things against you” (Rev. 2:20), to another, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1), and to another, “You are neither cold nor hot … I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:15,16).

Let us look at the lower sacred ranks, among which are deacons and priests. Will we find in their midst those in whom Christ is present? Let us ask one of them, “What brought you to the priestly rank? Was it a desire to save your own soul and the souls of others?” No, it was worries about provisions for a wife, children, and household. It is true that the servants of the altar must be provided for from the altar;⁷ but if a man comes to priestly service only for this provision, and not for the sake of his own salvation, that of others, and the glory of God, in such a one it is hard to find Christ.

Therefore, diligently search yourself, each and every one of the spiritual ranks – what were you seeking when you received the holy priesthood? Did you come for salvation, or to be well taken care of – that your flesh would be fed?

Some priests even serve the sheep of Christ to their own detriment and destruction; they not only fail to build up the flock but even become stumbling blocks for the people. Some have removed the key of knowledge, and they neither enter themselves nor do they allow those following to enter in.⁸ While others have never even received the key of knowledge, they are unfit for their calling; not only are such ones unable to lead the sheep entrusted to them unto salvation, they do not even know the path themselves. They are the blind leading the blind, and both will fall into a pit.⁹

We would go and seek Christ in monasteries, but today in them much has been ruined. Good order is gone and Christ is barely left. There is only business and complaining, gloom and sighing. Here it is only possible to find Christ in extreme poverty and scarcity if they are endured with thankfulness.¹⁰

We would seek for Christ in the multitudes, but who is more unscrupulous than the multitudes? There live thievery, murder, discord, and rebellion. It is not in vain that the Holy Scriptures say, “Come out from them and be separate … do not touch what is unclean” (2 Cor. 2:17, Is. 52:11). If there happens to be a good and God-fearing person in the multitudes, then even they, in these present times, due to the cares of this life and persecution, forget God and fail to pray.¹¹

Would we find Christ among the great ones of this earth, the leaders, judges, and those entrusted with maintaining good civil order? We could go to them and seek Christ, but they are too busy and would answer, “Not right now, come back some other time!” Going to them is useless. The Scriptures say, “Lawlessness came forth … from the elders and judges” (Daniel, story of Susanna, vs. 5). Christ is scarcely ever in them; they only add to the evil of our presently evil times, truth is barely in them and mercy is completely absent. Do not seek for Christ in a place devoid of truth and mercy, He is not there. I do not speak of every leader and judge, specifically those who preserve in fear of God and guard right judgment and mercy, and who are praiseworthy in their duties. But I am speaking of those to whom the holy prophet Micah appeals, convicting them of offenses, unrighteousness, robbery, and furry in their dealings with the poor. Hear this you rulers, those who hate the people and strive for evil, has not power been given to you so that you may comprehend and work righteous judgment for the people? But you, up until now, frustrate the weak and the innocent you reduce to misery. You strip them of their very skin, you break their bones and crush their bodies, and you grind them down into food with which to feed the greedy. “Hear this you heads of the house of Jacob … you who despise judgment and are perverting everything that is upright, who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice” (cf. Micah 3:9-10). Among such judges and leaders do not seek for Christ – He is not there.

In truth God is everywhere, but where may we find Him? Is there nothing left for us to do but to mourn with Mary Magdalene, crying, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him” (Jn. 20:13). Our sins have removed the Lord from us, and we do not know where to seek Him.

Someone may object, “The Lord is with me, and I with Him because I believe in Him and I pray and worship Him.” O if only the Lord arranged things this way, that He is with every Christian who prays and worships Him. Behold, it is not enough for salvation to only believe in Christ God, “The demons believe,” as the holy apostle James says, “and tremble” (James 2:19), but our current issue is not with the demons. What profit is there for a Christian to believe in Christ and yet lack Christian works? What use is it to pray to Christ while trespassing His commandments? What good is it to worship Christ God while grieving Him with lawless deeds, for in doing so one is like the soldiers during the time of Christ’s voluntary suffering who fell on their knees and worshiped Him and then immediately took a reed and beat Him about the head.¹² You worship Christ and then whip Him with evil deeds – inflicting suffering on those around you; unlawfully stealing and laying hold of that which belongs to someone else. You pray to Christ and then spit in His face through your cursing, and through your disdain and judgment of your neighbor. You claim to believe in Christ and then spurn Him with your ungodly actions. If, as you claim, Christ is with you and you with Him, then prove it with your life, as the apostle says, “Show me your faith … by [your] works” (James 2:18). What sign in your life will show that Christ is truly abiding in you, that we may say “He is here?” Or is it not sooner shown, and realized, that Christ is not in you. True Christian love is not found in us, rather hypocritical love – we deceive others to their face, our hearts are evil and two faced. The ancient prophecy has come to pass in us, “Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt. 24:12). True love has grown cold in us; we drove it away from us, and with it, we drove Christ away also, for today such unrighteousness and offenses are performed that it is better not even inquire into them. We have cast righteousness away from ourselves and we have cast God out also. Today one barely recalls what compassion is, people have completely forgotten what is tenderheartedness, everywhere amidst people exists callousness and inhumanity – having chased away compassion we have chased God away. One can hardly imagine a pure, chaste, and sober life today, for our life has become like unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and to our drunkenness there is no end. Where, today, is a person to find the fear of God in our midst? We drove away from ourselves all that is good, together with God. Is it even necessary to address the current conflicting opinions about faith? Do we even take these evangelical words seriously, “When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:8). Let it be plainly said that we have also expelled good works, together with God. O what a great evil it is to drive God away from oneself through cruel, ungodly, and inhuman deeds!

Where shall we find our Lord? We must recall those poor people of whom the prophet Micah spoke, those who the unrighteous judges strip of their very skin, and break their bones, and crush their bodies so as to feed the greedy. O people, suffering in soul through the calamity of the last times! In you, Christ is dwelling, in your very members, if only you patiently endure with thankfulness. You are the new martyrs of the last times, for in a similar manner the Great-Martyr George suffered and was killed for Christ’s sake by the impure king. Heavenly crowns are being prepared for you, only do not grow weary in your patience. Look to the sufferings of your Lord, which He endured for us, and which far exceed all your own. Bless Him in all things and put all your trust in His holy will, saying, “May Thy will be done, O Lord.” Then in your midst, the Lord will abide invisibly with love, and we can say – He is here.

The Lord loves those who mourn, and you are continually in tears; He is living in you – He is here. The Lord loves those who hunger and thirst, and you have almost no food or drink, never having your fill, behold the Lord is abiding in you – He is here. The Lord loves those who suffer in innocence,¹³ and these sufferings cannot be numbered – some are beaten bloody, some are tormented with tortures, and in some, their soul is barely clinging to their body; here in your midst Christ is abiding and beholding your sufferings, which bring eternal consolation; He says, “I am here.” O you new sufferers, passion-bearers, and martyrs! Do not grow weary in your patience, but bless Christ your God, and He will visit you with His Resurrection, and He will be inseparable from you; of this He speaks in the Gospels, “I and My Father … will come and make our home in him” (Jn. 14:23). In you Christ is and shall be, Amen!

1It seems that St. Dimitry is referring here to schismatic groups.

2cf. Matt. 21:12ff, Jn 2:13ff

3St. Dimitry was writing in a time when most citizens of Imperial Russia received baptism as children.

4Cf. Matt. 13:24ff

5Cf. Heb. 6:4-6

6Cf. James 3:9-12

7Cf. Lev. 7:28-34; 1 Cor. 9:7-12; 1 Tim 5:18

8Cf. Matt. 23:13

9Cf. Matt. 15:14

10“Scarcity in all things teaches a man patience; but whenever we enjoy possessions, we are unable to control ourselves.” St. Issac the Syrian, The Ascetical Homilies. Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline MA USA, Homily 4. p 151.

11Russian addition editor’s note: “By way of clarification, these words are the fruit of the holy one’s suffering heart, for he fervently sought to counter the spiritual and moral decay of the diocese at that time. The enemy sows his tares in the very places where holiness and grace should be multiplying. We should not be dismayed at this, for according to our Savior’s words, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 20:16).”

12Cf. Matt. 27: 29-31

13Cf. Matt. 5:3-12; Lk. 6:20-23; 1 Pet. 1:6-9, 3:13-17