Best Friends Forever
By Demiana Salib
“Come on, Abanoub, it’s time to go.” I watch this priest finish tying up his shoes and walk out of the church of the Holy Sepulchre… alone. Was he talking to Abanoub, as in THE Saint Abanoub? Was I looking into things too much because I was expecting to see miracles being in Jerusalem? Very likely. But how cool would it be? Chilling in Jerusalem, the holiest of lands, with Saint Abanoub as your guide?
This isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, but it does take effort. We read about the blessed friendships that existed between Tamav Ereeny and Abu Sefain or Pope Kyrillos VI and St Mina. The ones that seemed destined for sainthood even while still on earth.
But what about us? Why would a saint want to be friends with me? I have nothing to offer a great saint. Our typically friendships are based on a healthy give/take balance. With the saints, there is nothing I feel that I can give to them. Despite this, there is something about our human states, that makes the saints want to befriend us, similar to a mentor or older sibling.
Throughout the history of time, we see the heavenly guiding those on earth. When Isaiah stood in the presence of God, he was immediately drawn to repentance. Not because of his sins, but because of whose presence he was in. It was at this moment that the Holy Spirit implored him to uncover his sinfulness before the Almighty. He says;
“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
The awareness of his sinful state did not draw him to despair but to joy at the grace and mercy that comes to the repentant. He goes on to say;
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
Through repentance, the heavenly hosts came to him to lift him up from his sin. For in any trials or tribulations that are given over to God, the heavenly come to the aid of us all. Prayer is not a quick fix to all our problems, but when praying with a repentant and contrite heart, we are elevated about all worldly concerns. The heavenly look upon this state with joy at the return of another one of Christ’s beloved children. When in communion with the heavenly, things are put into perspective; we look to the eternal and not the temporal. Isaiah was therefore, made clean and in turn, a vessel for God’s light to the nations. He goes on to say;
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
For Isaiah, the strength that was given through the Seraphim that touched his lips gave him assurance he needed to commence his quest. The spiritual path is not one that we could ever do alone. We were meant to be in communion with those around us, especially the heavenly.
Father Lazarus El Antony says,
“Your prayers, your calling on the name of God, of Jesus, of St Mary, of St Anthony, of any saint, the saint which is closest to you – they will help you. The holy ones will help you.
We are not alone, this is not an empty place. How can I live here by myself on my own power? I cannot. Before I became a monk I was used to a sedentary life: I was a lecturer in university, I was never going outside of my car and my office and my house and here I am living in the mountain – how can this be? Not by my power, but by the help of the witnesses who are around me, the holy ones who help me to support me…these falls remind me, that I am in the hands of the holy ones.
And I advise all Christian youth, to put their lives in the hands of the holy ones who are around them; to hold them up, to support them.”
The best thing about friendship with the saints is that they choose you. They want to know you. They see something in you. The saints see your struggle, they understand and they want nothing more than to bring you back to Christ in repentance. A great way to figure out who your saint is, is to start reading some of their stories. Read the Synaxarium, find your saint!
There is a humility in pursuing a friendship with someone on a higher spiritual level, similar to our own spiritual guides. While humility is a complex thing, the saints would keep us grounded. They give something to strive for every day. For every time you think you did okay, the saints did better. For every time you didn’t do well, they were born the same and they had the same struggles. They overcame so that they could guide us to the means of repentance. In a world full of doubt and uncertainty, a friendship with the saints can relieve the associated anxiety. Your only quest now is to choose from the multitude of amazing saints…
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