Today is the Sunday of the exile from Paradise. We’re meant to keep fresh in our minds the regret and nostalgia for a homeland from which our sins have made us exiles and refugees.

In Genesis 2 we see man living in free and perfect fellowship with his Creator. But in chapter 3, sin makes man incapable of living without a barrier between him and God: “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Man is walled off from face-to-face fellowship with his Lord, because man’s passions make him a stranger to the character of God.

Jeremiah, in exile, writes in Ps 136 (137) “By the waters of Babylon…” in an effort to keep fresh in himself and his generation the pain of separation from a homeland many have never even seen. “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my throat, if I remember thee not, If I set not Jerusalem above all other…”

Paradise is the presence of God, the place of union with the Creator – whether in Eden, or in the heavens for the Thief (“Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”) or on the renewed earth in the Resurrection. In prayer, we are taught to bring the mind down into the heart, where God dwells; this Garden is walled off because of our passions, but by purification and illumination – and with much tribulation (Ac 14:22) – we may enter again into the joy of the Lord.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian writes:

The kingdom of heaven is within you (Luke 17:21). Insofar as the Son of God dwells in you, the kingdom of heaven lies within you also. Here within are the riches of heaven, if you desire them. Here, O sinner, is the kingdom of God within you. Enter into yourself, seek more eagerly and you will find it without great travail. Outside you is death, and the door to death is sin. Enter within yourself and remain in your heart, for there is God.

— Quoted in The Art of Prayer

But “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mt 11:12). We will not enter into paradise without a struggle. This is why Jeremiah in his psalm, and Saint Silouan in his “Lament for Adam,” intentionally keep alive in themselves the pain of loss and a “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Mt 5:6) — to draw them back, as often as necessary, to the remembrance of God; to satisfaction with nothing less than the Pearl that costs everything (cf. Mt 13:45-46).

The Lament of Adam

by Saint Silouan the Athonite

Adam, father of all mankind, in paradise knew the sweetness of the love of God; and so when for his sin he was driven forth from the garden of Eden, and was widowed of the love of God, he suffered grievously and lamented with a great moan. And the whole desert rang with his lamentations, for his soul was racked as he thought, ‘I have distressed my beloved God’. He sorrowed less after paradise and the beauty thereof; for he sorrowed that he was bereft of the love of God, which insatiably, at every instant, draws the soul to Him.

In the same way the soul which has known God through the Holy Spirit, but has afterwards lost grace experiences the torment that Adam suffered. There is an aching and a deep regret in the soul that has grieved the beloved Lord.

Adam pined on earth, and wept bitterly, and the earth was not pleasing to him. He was heartsick for God, and this was his cry:

My soul wearies for the Lord,

and I seek Him in tears.

How should I not seek Him?

When I was with Him my soul was glad and at rest, and the enemy could not come nigh me;

But now the spirit of evil has gained power over me, harassing and oppressing my soul,

So that I weary for the Lord even unto death,

And my spirit strains to God,

and there is naught on earth can make me glad, Nor can my soul take comfort in any thing,

but longs once more to see the Lord,

that her hunger may be appeased.

I cannot forget Him for a single moment,

and my soul languishes after Him,

and from the multitude of my afflictions I lift up my voice and cry:

‘Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy on Thy fallen creature.’

Thus did Adam lament, and the tears steamed down his face on to his beard, on to the ground beneath his feet, and the whole desert heard the sound of his moaning. The beasts and the birds were hushed in grief; while Adam wept because peace and love were lost to all men on account of his sin.

Adam knew great grief when he was banished from paradise, but when he saw his son Abel slain by Cain his brother, Adam’s grief was even heavier. His soul was heavy, and he lamented and thought:

Peoples and nations will descend from me, and multiply, and suffering will be their lot, and they will live in enmity and seek to slay one another.

And his sorrow stretched wide as the sea, and only the soul that has come to know the Lord and the magnitude of His love for us can understand.

I, too, have lost grace and call with Adam:

Be merciful unto me, O Lord! Bestow on me the spirit of humility and love.

O love of the Lord! He who has known Thee seeks Thee, tireless, day and night, crying with a loud voice:

“I pine for Thee, O Lord, and seek Thee in tears.

How should I not seek Thee?

Thou didst give me to know Thee by the Holy Spirit,

And in her knowing of God my soul is drawn to seek Thee in tears.”

Adam wept:

The desert cannot pleasure me; nor the high mountains, nor meadow nor forest, nor the singing of birds.

I have no pleasure in any thing.

My soul sorrows with a great sorrow:

I have grieved God.

And were the Lord to set me down in paradise again,

There, too, would I sorrow and weep — ‘O why did I grieve my beloved God?’

The soul of Adam fell sick when he was exiled from paradise, and many were the tears he shed in his distress. Likewise every soul that has known the Lord yearns for Him, and cries:

Where art Thou, O Lord? Where art Thou, my Light? Why hast Thou hidden Thy face from me?

Long is it since my soul beheld Thee,

And she wearies after Thee and seeks Thee in tears. Where is my Lord?

Why is it that my soul sees Him not? What hinders Him from dwelling in me?

This hinders Him: Christ-like humility and love for my enemies are not in me.

God is love insaturable, love impossible to describe.

Adam walked the earth, weeping from his heart’s manifold ills, while the thoughts of his mind were on God; and when his body grew faint, and he could no longer shed tears, still his spirit burned with longing for God, for he could not forget paradise and the beauty thereof; but even more was it the power of His love which caused the soul of Adam to reach out towards God.

I write of thee, O Adam:

But thou art witness,

my feeble understanding cannot fathom thy longing after God, Nor how thou didst carry the burden of repentance.

O Adam, thou dost see how I, thy child, suffer here on earth. Small is the fire within me, and the flame of my love flickers low. O Adam, sing unto us the song of the Lord,

That my soul may rejoice in the Lord

And be moved to praise and glorify Him

as the Cherubim and Seraphim praise Him in the heavens

And all the hosts of heavenly angels

sing to Him the thrice-holy hymn.

O Adam, our father, sing unto us the Lord’s song,

That the whole earth may hear

And all thy sons may lift their minds to God

and delight in the strains of the heavenly anthem,

And forget their sorrows on earth.

The Holy Spirit is love and sweetness for the soul, mind and body. And those who have come to know God by the Holy Spirit stretch upward day and night, insatiable, to the living God, for the love of God is very sweet. But when the soul loses grace her tears flow as she seeks the Holy Spirit anew.

But the man who has not known God through the Holy Spirit cannot seek Him with tears, and his soul is ever harrowed by the passions; his mind is on earthly things. Contemplation is not for him, and he cannot come to know Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is made known through the Holy Spirit.

Adam knew God in paradise, and after his fall sought Him in tears.

O Adam, our father, tell us, thy sons, of the Lord.

Thy soul didst know God on earth,

Knew paradise too, and the sweetness and gladness thereof,

And now thou livest in heaven and dost behold the glory of the Lord. Tell of how our Lord is glorified for His sufferings.

Speak to us of the songs that are sung in heaven, how sweet they are, For they are sung in the Holy Spirit.

Tell us of the glory of the Lord,

of His great mercy and how He loveth His creature.

Tell us of the Most Holy Mother of God,

how she is magnified in the heavens,

And the hymns that call her blessed.

Tell us how the Saints rejoice there, radiant with grace.

Tell us how they love the Lord,

and in what humility they stand before God.

O Adam, comfort and cheer our troubled souls.

Speak to us of the things thou dost behold in heaven.

Why art thou silent?

Lo, the whole earth is in travail.

Art thou so filled with the love of God that thou canst not think of us? Or thou beholdest the Mother of God in glory,

and canst not tear thyself from the sight,

And wouldst not bestow a word of tenderness on us who sorrow, That we might forget the affliction there on earth?

O Adam, our father,

thou dost see the wretchedness of thy sons on earth.

Why then art thou silent?

And Adam speaks:

My children, leave me in peace.

I cannot wrench myself from the love of God to speak with you.

My soul is wounded with love of the Lord and rejoices in His beauty. How should I remember the earth?

Those who live before the Face of the Most High

cannot think on earthly things.

O Adam, our father, thou hast forsaken us, thine orphans, though misery is our portion here on earth.

Tell us what we may do to be pleasing to God?

Look upon thy children scattered over the face of the earth, our minds scattered too.

Many have forgotten God.

They live in darkness and journey to the abysses of hell.

Trouble me not. I see the Mother of God in glory –

How can I tear myself away to speak with you?

I see the holy Prophets and Apostles,

and all they are in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. I walk in the gardens of paradise,

and everywhere behold the glory of the Lord.

For the Lord is in me and hath made me like unto Himself.

O Adam, yet we are they children!

Tell us in our tribulation how we may inherit paradise,

That we too, like thee, may behold the glory of the Lord.

Our souls long for the Lord,

while thou dost live in heaven and rejoice in the glory of the Lord. We beseech thee – comfort us.

Why cry ye out to me, my children?

The Lord loveth you and hath given you commandments.

Be faithful to them, love one another, and ye shall find rest in God. Let not an hour pass without ye repent of your transgressions, That ye may be ready to meet the Lord.

The Lord said: ‘I love them that love me,

and glorify them that glorify me.’

O Adam, pray for us, thy children.

Our souls are sad from many sorrows.

O Adam, our father, thou dwellest in heaven

and dost behold the Lord seated in glory

On the right hand of God the Father.

Thou dost see the Cherubim and Seraphim and all the Saints And thou dost hear celestial songs

whose sweetness maketh thy soul forgetful of the earth.

But we here on earth are sad, and e weary greatly after God. There is little fire within us with which to love the Lord ardently. Inspire us, what must we do to gain paradise?

Adam makes answer:

Leave me in peace, my children, for from sweetness of the love of God I cannot think about the earth.

O Adam, our souls are weary, and we are heavy-laden with sorrow. Speak a word of comfort to us.

Sing to us from the songs thou hearest in heaven,

That the whole earth may hear and men forget their afflictions.

O Adam, we are very sad.

Leave me in peace.

The time of my tribulation is past.

From the beauty of paradise and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit I can no longer be mindful of the earth.

But this I tell you:

The Lord loveth you, and do you live in love

and be obedient to those in authority over you.

Humble your hearts, and the Spirit of God will live in you.

He cometh softly into the soul and giveth her peace,

And bearth wordless witness to salvation.

Sing to God in love and lowliness of Spirit,

for the Lord rejoiceth therein.

O Adam, our father, what are we to do?

We sing but love and humility are not in us.

Repent before the Lord, and entreat of Him.

He loveth man and will give all things.

I too repented deeply and sorrowed much that I had grieved God, And that peace and love were lost on earth because of my sin.

My tears ran down my face.

My breast was wet with my tears, and the earth under my feet; And the desert heard the sound of my moaning.

You cannot apprehend my sorrow,

nor how I lamented for God and for paradise.

In paradise was I joyful and glad:

the Spirit of God rejoiced me, and suffering was a strange to me. But when I was driven forth from paradise

The beasts and the birds that were gentle and had loved me turned into wild things

And were afraid and ran from me.

Evil thoughts goaded me.

The sun and the wind scorched me.

The rain fell on me.

I was plagued by sickness and all the afflictions of the earth. But I endured all things, trusting steadfastly in God.

Do ye, then, bear the travail of repentance.

Greet tribulation. Wear down your bodies. Humble yourselves And love your enemies,

That the Holy Spirit may take up His abode in you,

And then shall ye know and attain the kingdom of heaven. But come not night me:

Now from love of God

have I forgotten the earth and all that therein is.

Forgotten even is the paradise I lost,

for I behold the glory of the Lord

And the glory of the Saints

whom the light of God’s countenance maketh radiant

as the Lord Himself.

O Adam, sing unto us a heavenly song,

That the whole earth may hearken

and delight in the peace of love towards God.

We would hear those songs:

Sweet are they for they are sung in the Holy Spirit.

Adam lost the earthly paradise and sought it weeping. But the Lord through His love on the Cross gave Adam another paradise, fairer than the old – a paradise in heave where shines the Light of the Holy Trinity.

What shall we render unto the Lord for His love to us?

— From St. Silouan the Athonite, by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov)