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I don’t think it has ever been easy to be young. We have all gone through or will go through that period of personal searching and trying to find our purpose in life. Today’s times, however, subject young people to radical ideas and we are presented with ways of life that are against nature. For this reason, exposing young people to a life in the Church and a community of similar age with healthy values is, I would say, more important than ever. Only in this way will we stay on the right path and acquire the courage to endure the trials we go through. As Saint Paisius the Athonite said, “A young person should join other spiritually mature young people to be helped and brought into a spiritual atmosphere. Let’s not make things more difficult than they are.”

A phenomenon that, as far as I have observed, is very widespread, especially among young people, is what I call the compartmentalization of the soul. Every day, our classmates at school or college subtly urge us to be like the world, even if they don’t do it on purpose. Little by little, we conform to their lifestyle and end up acting like Christians only on Sundays at church. We form a small compartment in the soul for spirituality, and the rest of the soul remains empty and gathers dust.

Father Seraphim Rose tells the story of a young pilgrim visiting the monastery of Platina who, after a period spent at another monastery in America, spoke with zeal about the clergy, about hesychasm, the prayer of the heart, authentic monasticism and the ascetic wisdom of the Holy Fathers. One day, Father Seraphim saw the young man walking around the monastery singing rock music, snapping his fingers and jumping to the beat. Surprised, Father asked him if he didn’t think this might be against his concern for spiritual things, and the young man shrugged his shoulders and replied: “No, there is no contradiction. Whenever I want spirituality, I simply listen to a talk by a clergyman.” Meaning, he could take out the rock music tape and put on one with a sermon from his clergyman to get back into his spiritual mode.

In my experience, when I used to fall into this habit of compartmentalizing my soul, I was able to turn it around, thanks in large part to a group of spiritually disciplined young people. When young people spend more time together and pray together, an atmosphere of modesty, reverence and brotherhood is automatically formed between them, which reminds everyone that Orthodoxy is a complete way of life, which must be fully cultivated if it is to bear fruit.

Another necessity often found among our young people is loneliness. The importance of social interactions for emotional and mental health is well known. And for Christians, there is also the distinction between worldly and spiritual interactions with other Christians, understanding that God made man to live in a community of prayer. When Christians come together, they help and pray for each other, they strengthen each other’s faith. But unfortunately, not only does the modern world not seek to promote the Orthodox way of life, but it even persecutes it. Those who have read the life of Father Gheorghe Calciu know about the methods used in prisons by the communists to destroy the trust between Christians. Among other things, Christians who were friends were forced to torture each other to destroy the trust between them and make them feel hopeless and alone.

Since then, it has been known that man is more easily destroyed when he is alone. And with today’s youth, the same goal is being attempted in a much more subtle way. The ordinary man has less and less in common with the Orthodox Christian, and the relations between people are becoming more and more superficial. Paradoxically, a person ends up feeling lonely, even though he is surrounded by people.

At Orthodox youth events, like those of ROYA, we can recharge our soul’s batteries and cure loneliness with the most powerful medicine: communion with Orthodox Christians of the same age. Personally, a few days spent at a ROYA retreat ends up eliminating any shred of loneliness from me for weeks after the event is over. And, over the years, relationships formed out of love for Christ and love of Truth inevitably remain more stable, being based on the first purpose in life, namely the salvation of people.

Stefan Geleriu