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September marked the beginning of a new series of spiritual evenings, which defines the Gospel image of a Christian, highlighting characteristics that the Lord conveys in His teachings and parables as ones worthy of imitation.

A first characteristic is heroism. The heroism required of Christians finds its best definition from Elder Arsenie Papacioc: “The fighter is one who likes competition. The hero is one who conquers himself.” There is no following Christ without this type of heroism. Following Christ implies conquering oneself. And this calls for great heroism!

In the Savior’s teaching, we often find exhortations that imply heroism. “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34-35). Heroism is encompassed especially in this “let him deny himself”. Meaning, to resist my own will, my caprices, my opinions, my logic, and everything that belongs to me. In society, we see this model of heroism especially in mothers. Just as they deny themselves out of love for their child, we likewise should deny ourselves out of love for God. This self-denial, however, cannot be achieved without the Lord’s help.

The Holy Apostles needed great heroism in order to follow Christ: “And when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:40-42). Therefore, even the saints needed great heroism to fulfill their vocation in Christ.

We see immense self-denial in Saint Paul, who exclaims: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). This is a heroic attitude. When a person comprehends that everything is subject to death, that nothing can save him and that only Christ is the Savior, that Christ is sweet and gives me confidence that I can follow Him, then I heroically start off toward Him and leave everything else behind. So, self-denial is followed by surging eagerly toward Christ, as Saint Paul says further: “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching toward those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Another attribute of heroism is gratitude, glorifying God regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves. Elder Zacharias Zacharou teaches: “Thanksgiving is a powerful shortcut in the spiritual life. If man does not start pitying himself when his life resembles hell, but instead gives thanks to God, he will meet Him Who descended into the depths of hell for his salvation.”

Another manifestation of heroism is nobility. Saint Paisios of Mount Athos describes it beautifully: “Spiritual nobility is spiritual superiority, it is sacrifice. A noble soul sets expectations only for himself, and not for others. He sacrifices himself for others without expecting recompense. He forgets everything he gives, but remembers even the smallest gift he receives. He has magnanimity, humility, simplicity, modesty, honor… he has everything. He has the greatest joy and spiritual delight. […] Spiritual nobility has God’s grace, it is – how can I put it? – a divine quality. Wherever there is nobility, one’s activity is done quietly, secretly. Therefore, Christ finds rest in nobility and gives His blessing to the noble soul.” The saint also explains how we can acquire this virtue: “Act humbly, with pure zeal, and always have self-sacrifice. Cultivate spiritual sensitivity. Remain unflustered when another person disturbs you, and rejoice that you are disturbed but don’t disturb back.”

Heroism can be put into practice only if we also have experienced divine consolation. Elder Zacharias Zacharou says: “We depend on consolation from above in order to work and fulfill the two great commandments. Consolation from above conquers any temptation, because when it touches our soul, we feel God’s gentle care and love. The problem becomes how to humble ourselves. The more humbly we approach Him, the richer the consolation that we receive from Him. We do not, however, approach God with the goal of being consoled; we approach Him so that He can correct our life and lift us up from our spiritual poverty.”