11. Духовные наставления Старца Назария

This elder, Hegumen Nazarius, the guardian of virginity and chastity from his youth, was gifted by God with abundant spiritual reasoning. He taught the brethren and everyone who came to him with amazing prudence, and especially humility, meekness and obedience. He showed love to those who sinned without contempt and a desire to save them, trying in every possible way with advice to eradicate the passions nesting in them. He was meek, humble, and his heart burned with love for God, so that at no time did he stop saying the Jesus Prayer, always fingering his rosary in his hands with it. Of many, here are some of his instructions to those who came to the monastery and wanted salvation: 1) To undergo holy obedience with the rejection of one’s will. 2) Have a clear and frank conscience. 3) Offer fervent prayer with humility, sobriety and in memory of death. 4) The deed is in the hands, the prayer is in the lips, the eyes are in tears, the whole mind is in the thought of God. 5) Without the blessing below, who to take from, or where to go, or what virtue to start doing. If there is a blessing anywhere, there is the grace of God, cleansing and strengthening and uniting with God himself; and where there is no blessing, there is the wrath of God, there is darkness, disorder and separation from God. 6) Maintain mental and physical silence. 7) Talk about yourself, judge yourself, that is, your deeds, words and thoughts. 8) To love poverty and lack of wealth as if it were a valuable treasure. 9) To consider dishonor for honor, blasphemy for praise, insult for reward, every temptation and suffering for the most excellent reward. This creation will not move forever. Put off your will like a shameful garment; humility is a barrier, patience is confirmation, love is a cover; and where there is love, there is God; and where God is, there are all good things, according to what is written: to him who loves God, all things work for good. Abide in love, God abides in God and God abides in him. Love covers a multitude of sins. Arise, fallen one, open the eyes of your soul, be satisfied with the bread that is the word of God, and drink wine from the cup of the wisdom of God. If sadness happens to you, then read this scripture willingly and with love, and believe that with the help of God’s grace you will be comforted. Confirm yourself in this truth that every Divine Scripture instructs, teaches, punishes and reinforces the procession of salvation, so that our procession will always be according to God. Instructions on the love of God We all have a desire to follow the higher calling, to where from time immemorial an eternal home, filled with unspeakable joy, has been prepared for us. For our life in heaven is from there, and we are waiting for the Savior. (Phil. 3:20). So, whoever wants to receive this eternity must certainly know God’s love for us, and, his love for God, what it consists of and how He loved us, so we must love Him. But let’s take a closer look at how He cleansed our sins. He endured cruel torment in order to atone for our crimes; He accepted a shameful death in order to give us life and salvation. So, when He did not spare Himself solely for us, then shouldn’t we Christians love Him, shouldn’t we walk in His footsteps. So, we must have love and obedience for Him, which He requires of us; we must constantly remember God’s love for us, seek perfect love for Him, it is gained by fulfilling God’s Commandments, we must know that without good deeds you cannot show love for Him. So consider how good and merciful the Lord is, He gave Christians the law for nothing other than the destruction of our malice, for cleansing from sins and defeating the passions that war against the Law of God. Therefore, we must not only keep the commandments of God, but also bring gifts according to the commandments: just as the Holy Fathers brought each according to his strength: some five talents, others ten, others thirty; likewise, we must thrive in doing good and in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Apostle Paul with an oath frightens anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed (1 Cor. 6:22). O God, our Savior, love has kindled within us, so that we may love You as You please. Are we worthy of His love, being dust and ashes, yet He loved us. How much displeasure we feel without having love for Him; how much without it we are overwhelmed by waves of disasters and suffer, but although sometimes we reject Him, He does not reject us; we run from Him, but He seeks us and calls us to Himself: come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28). Our God, we reject Your love, but You never cease to love us. We often accept satanic suggestions, more than Thy Law, we, not sparing ourselves and our salvation, are diligent in the deeds of evil, and despite the fact that man often says: I love God! What a contradiction! He thinks that he loves God, but does not fulfill His commandments; what kind of love is this? This is pure hypocrisy! If you love Christ God, endure as He endured and do everything that pleases Him; – He taught and created; Your love must certainly be such as to do good, to endure, not to be embarrassed about anything that comes your way, but to thank Him in everything, not in words and tongue, but in your very deeds, heart, mind; You must love Him with all your soul, strength and thoughts. So, everyone should love God with faith and hope and try to fulfill His commandments and commandments. Consider, beloved: this age is not peace and repose, but a struggle, an army, a marketplace, a purchase, a school, a sea voyage; For these reasons you must strive, not lose heart, not be in idleness, but exercise yourself in the works of God. Know that for every struggle there is victory, be strong, fight, win, for often opposing forces are found, like lions roar and look for someone to devour, beware, lest you be defeated, look diligently, behold, they sell crowns, acquire them, lest it be in vain to return without a purchase, try not to deprive yourself of the Grace of God, otherwise You will be alien to retribution and, moreover, you will be judged evilly and perish. Consider diligently whether there is battle and warfare all the days: the flesh rises up against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. How can we monks not accept soul-saving advice, how can we not be moved by such good instructions? Christ the Savior, the Prophets, the Apostles and all the Saints, with great regret and love, call and exhort us to get away as much as possible and move away from the delights of the world. Christ praises Mary, saying: Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42). Thus we must choose what is good and shun the world, for it lies in evil. Inoku must completely withdraw from the World. If anyone wants to follow Me, the Savior commands, he must certainly deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24). This procession must be nothing other than one in order to completely withdraw from the world. And David cries out: behold, he went away in flight and settled into the wilderness, because he saw lawlessness and strife in the city day and night (Psalm 14:8-10). Know that the Son of God came to earth not to destroy human souls, but to guide us on the true path. By the way of His life, and not just by words, He taught to despise the world. The Lord had no peace in the world, and commanded those who follow Him to flee it. The life of the world is charming and deceptive, its labor is fruitless, its joy is dangerous, its wealth is meager, its honor is illusory, fickle, insignificant! And woe to those who hope for his imaginary benefits! Because of this, many die without repentance, blessed and blessed are those who remove themselves from the world and from its lusts. The God-bearing and God-inspired Fathers, with the help of the grace of God, managed to live in this life and advise us how we should strive in it. And know that monastic life is based on the Divine Commandment; even before the Law of Moses, ascetic life shone forth in Enoch and Melchizedek, under the Law in Elijah, John the Baptist, and during the time of grace in entire cathedrals and regiments of monastics. Without wandering, without dozing, but watching diligently, you must certainly acquire virtues, so seek them day and night, and having known them, study and strive in them, be a true Christian, who, having made vows to God and building a dwelling place of virtues in his heart, fulfills them without obscurity. If you carry something good with you, take care of yourself before God, but do not boast about it, but rather succeed in doing good. Bring to God as a gift and burnt offering, not dumb animals, but a most worthy offering - devour yourself every day, just as all the saints killed themselves for the sake of Christ; you want to be a monk, this means: to leave behind the old and make yourself new, yesterday you were in the image of the world, but now you have put on something else, so think differently, speak differently, look differently, walk differently, do differently. A monk must certainly be a doer of all the Commandments of the Lord, an imitator of the order and order of the incorporeal, a cognizer of God and all love for Him and one’s neighbor. A monk must always adhere to God’s words in everything, and not a little not pay attention to the voice of feelings or passions. A monk must have a divinely enlightened mind, an undefiled body, silent lips and a pure tongue; a monk must have in his soul and heart unceasing sorrow for his sins, frequent tears and sighing and incessant remembrance of death and the Last Judgment, rejection of himself in everything, withdrawal from the World, contempt for everything pleasant to sensuality, that is, take on self-willed hatred like the old man, subject himself to a cruel, cramped, difficult, sorrowful feat and at the same time have uncomplaining patience and love with thanksgiving. A monk must be without anger, not wicked, not proud, poor in everything, not acquisitive, not selfish, must have silent meekness, deep humility, obedience and obedience to all who live piously. In your body you must be somehow alien, and, so to speak, dead, prepare your spirit for the Holy Spirit as a dwelling, your tongue is grateful in everything. It is fitting for him, constantly rejoicing and singing, to remain in prayer and reading Divine books. Such a monk must be and so invariably fulfill his vows, so as to make not only visible feats, but heartfelt and spiritual sacrifices. Listen diligently to what Christ the Savior said: (Matthew 5:20) Unless your righteousness comes to pass, no more than the scribe and the Pharisee, do not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, if you want to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, you must certainly surpass the sinners living on earth a hundredfold in virtues, and live like an Angel on earth. (Matt. 11:12.). The kingdom of heaven is in need and those in need delight it, that is, the need must be endured in bodily and mental struggles. As Christ endured, so His disciples and all the Saints endured, worked and rejected the world, their wants, passions and all worldly desires. Keep the Commandments of Christ with all-zealous and ardent love. Thus, if you also want to gain access to the Heavenly Kingdom, then you too must endure the needs, place the yoke of Christ’s work on your neck; it burdens the body, but carries the soul to heaven. Do not grumble, when it is right for you to be in fasting, in vigils, in obedience, in peace, in solitude and spiritual silence, in singing, in prayers, in tears and in handicrafts, in patience with all sorrows that come to you from demons and from people. If you live like an angel, you will find the Kingdom of Heaven within yourself, for Christ says (Luke 17:21): The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Then nothing worldly can hold in your soul, then, when you learn that you are a novice of Christ, you took His Cross, that is, sorrows, exploits and virtues, and fleeing from the midst of this world, you leave all its charms, its deeds and come to the heavenly Jerusalem. Try, beloved, as much as possible, to throw away everything worldly and carnal and obey this useful suggestion of mine; Take my advice with diligence and with ardent love and consider how you should begin to reject those in the world. In order to know the true path, at the beginning you must certainly heed these saving words. Christ says (Luke 9:62): no one lays down his own and turns back in vain, is led into the Kingdom of God; The Holy Apostle Peter says: (2. Peter 2: 21 and 22) it is better for them not to know the way of righteousness, than for those who have known to turn back. If a true parable happened to them: a dog returned to his vomit. So know that everyone who, for the sake of God, renounces the World and everything that is in it, must certainly fulfill his vow, and always diligently try to cleave to God as quickly and sincerely as possible. And if you, having entered deeply into yourself, carefully examine yourself, you will realize that you have not yet completely removed yourself from the world and have not freed yourself from all worldly desires, and therefore you must try to draw closer to God. You must certainly, with all your soul and thoughts, take care of the rejection of the world, and have great care for the mortification of the flesh and dispose yourself to this exercise exactly as if to learn the most excellent art, which is not wiser, more important and more excellent on earth, so that all the passions that are constantly warring in you in subtlety can be recognized and managed to curb them through fasting, that is, abstinence; Try to become accustomed to living a virtuous life in all respects, so that your departure from the world will not be in vain. Take this brief instruction as a rule and walk according to it until the grace of Christ from above visits you and admonishes you to accept the image of a man who perfectly fulfills Christ’s commandments. With great zeal, ardent love and the warmest disposition towards monastic life, you must diligently try to delve into the Holy Scriptures, be admonished and know in detail all the traditions of the Holy Fathers about how a perfect, average and novice should live, who wants to put on the image of a monk, and how one should force oneself to these states, establish oneself in them, and how to act to cleanse oneself from sins and to receive Kingdom of Heaven. Think that you are a monk and should not only be called a monk in words, but be a different kind of life. John Climacus in the 1st word about the rejection of the world writes that not everyone who is baptized will be saved, but does the works of God, not everyone who takes monastic vows will be saved, but keeping monastic vows, and that not everyone in monasteries is monks, but the creators of monastic deeds are monks. Fathers, beloved, consider diligently the path of peaceful and glorious monastic life. How many have lived with God in a monastic form and are now with the Angels? If you, beloved, desire a silent and good monastic life, then choose what is good for yourself. Know that, according to your monastic vow, you must force yourself in everything; stop your will, obey the Lord, go with love to the path of your fathers. About staying in the cell and leaving it Be very careful if the thought comes to go to your cell without permission for anything, to anyone; sometimes the tempter encourages us to think that we have a blessed need for this, when in fact there is none; In this case, be as careful as possible! Do not leave your cell untimely except for a great and necessary need, but watch this diligently so as not to be removed from your cell; try to overcome this evil thought, but if, by impartial reasoning, we completely admit that you have a blessed need for departure for the love of your neighbor, in order to serve the weak sick, or another need for the Spiritual Father. If you leave your cell for a blessed reason, then while walking, try, as much as possible, not to look around anywhere, do not be curious with your eyes at anything, and when on the way someone accidentally meets you, or you see something harmful or who you see talking to each other untimely, do not stop, but bow to them in silence and go past them on your way on your way, as soon as possible. Return to your cell with a calm spirit, and if they say anything to you, or stop you, then you bow to them again, saying: forgive me, I’m going about business, I need to hurry up and fulfill my obedience and run back quickly to your business. When you come to the one to whom you are sent, try as much as possible not to say too much or sit unnecessarily. When you go to someone, then observe this rule, so that on the way to his cell you reflect with yourself in this way: I am going to him, but do I dare, the accursed one, who is practicing in the contemplation of God, in prayers and in holy silence, to disturb the abiding holy man? Here, bring your sins before your eyes and say within yourself, not with your lips, but with your soul and heart: If I go into the cell and the Father or unclean brother sees me coming, will he tolerate my uncleanness, will he not begin to reproach me, drive me out of the cell, like a stinking dog; will he not say out of confusion of his soul: why did you come to ruin my holy exercise and desecrate my cell, get out, careless about your soul; and if this happens to me, can I endure and endure the reproof with thanksgiving? “Prepare yourself, you accursed one, for patience, so that through impatience you will not accept any more shame or insult the holy man.” You must have this kind of reasoning, and not just like someone playing with thoughts, do this, but recognizing your inner impurity and unworthiness, humiliate yourself, truly from the soul and heart, then do it and make it a law for yourself, for if you reason like this, you will pacify your soul with the knowledge of your sins and self-reproach; then you will come from strength to strength by the grace of God, and Christ will not leave you, lifting up the humble, but will visit your soul with spiritual joy and inexpressible pleasure. Just do all these things, according to the above, with all your heart, soul and thoughts. One must remain in such holy wisdom, no matter where it happens, in the cell, or in obedience, until the Divine Liturgy itself or another upcoming Church service. Watch out for yourself, as best you can, in this: if your thoughts begin to whisper in your ears, like the serpent to Eve, proud, or judgmental of your neighbor, or vain; then be aware of this soul-harmful cunning man. He will certainly be the first to attack you with arrogance, as if everyone is doing bad things, but you are doing everything right and good. Be as careful as possible so as not to fall into it, try not to allow thoughts of condemning your neighbor into your mind. Beware of praising yourself, saying in your mind: oh, how I did this and that well, did not stand with those who talk idle, or did not do this and that, now I have fulfilled the commandment of Christ. Be as careful as possible that you do not accept thoughts of self-justification and self-praise into your heart and soul; for this soul-destroying evil lurks, quietly, quickly and even imperceptibly entering the soul and heart, as if through small, insensitive and subtle holes. It happens that even completely unknown thoughts instill and take root passions in the very depths of the heart. In order to avoid the contempt and condemnation of your neighbors, as well as vanity, arrogance and pride and other similar things, in order to firmly block the entrance to your soul, for this you must, with all your heart and with all your soul, imagine yourself as a complete stranger, stupid, unreasonable, understanding nothing and unable to do anything. Accept this discussion about wandering so that you can remove yourself from human rantings, vain conversations, and you will certainly save yourself from laughter, condemnation, blasphemy and harmful idle talk, soul-destroying vanity and arrogance. Humble yourself with all your heart, soul and thoughts: for the Sweetest Jesus loves with humble wisdom those who are saved and those who desire, with heartfelt and ardent love, perfect correction and wants to bring the truth into the minds of all of us. About the Communion of the Divine Holy Mysteries Having reached the time of the Divine Liturgy, hasten as much as possible to the beginning of it and enter the Church with admiration and ardent love, stand with fear and trembling, imagine in your mind and soul and heart the Son of God, for your iniquities we are slain and burned, for the salvation of all who believe in Him. If you had the intention and wish to partake of the Divine Mysteries, and if there is a Spiritual Father worthy of you to receive this communion; then keep that entire week in dry eating, remain in true fasting, abstain from abundant and indulgent food and drink, try to remain in vigil, in love for God and in diligent prayers, in contrition of heart, in lamentations, in lamentations and sighs of the heart and in tears. Know that nothing can cleanse the filthiness of the soul and body more than through tears, contrition of the heart, lamentations and sighs, heartfelt and most earnest and warmest prayers and other God-pleasing deeds, and through true repentance to cleanse oneself. Pay attention diligently, lest you join those who crucified Christ, lest you become like Judas the traitor. Consider diligently what you eat, what food it is, whether you are not accepting God Himself; what do you eat, isn’t it the true manna that came down from heaven, so that you may live forever. For this you must have great and firm faith, and you must certainly remove yourself from all vices and make your soul and body the purest: for you are preparing the entrance for the Holy One within yourself. Look with what incomprehensible honor you are honored. When you partake of this Divine Sacrament, the purest Angels stand invisibly, tremble and cannot see from horror? And you, mortal and filled with all uncleanness, feed on this and unite with the Divine Shrine. Consider carefully who you dare to take in? The Most Holy God Himself. With whom do you want to be in one union? With him who created us. Be terrified and tremble, for the Divine Fire touches your mouth, filled with idle talk, foul language, and all uncleanness. Beware, lest your tongue be scorched, O many evil, lawless and unrighteous one. What do you want to sprinkle it with? Be terrified at the blood of the terrible Judge, lest you fall to His righteous judgment. Thank God for the ineffable mercy of God that He vouchsafes this to you. At the same time, understand this too, that if you had or would have Angelic purity or immaculate holiness and the Reverence of John the Baptist; even then, without the special mercy of God, you cannot be worthy of this Divine Sacrament. Give thanks for the ineffable mercy of the Lord, that He is a terrible and incomprehensible God, who does not disdain our badness, but unites Himself with us, out of uncountable love for us. For this reason, you must thank the Lord with all your might, not only in words, but in deed and thought. Try, as much as possible, to keep yourself from talking too much, have a pure and holy exercise, and not only remain in reverence before communion, but also after receiving this Shrine, be careful from everything that is contrary. Try to always be with Christ the King and God and do not remove Him from yourself. And so, after the service of the Divine Liturgy, enter the cell with silence of tongue, mind and all feelings, remain in prayer and thanksgiving. At the same time, we must also think about this: you, of course, are indignant at Judas the traitor, also at those who were crucified and pierced with a nail and a spear of Christ; Pay attention to yourself, lest you too be guilty, as a traitor to the body and blood of Christ. Judas betrayed Christ once: but don’t you betray him many times when you are not faithful to His word and His commandments? He suffered wounds from the crucifiers once: but don’t you inflict wounds on Him many times with different ungodly passions and sins; because He suffered for every sin. Delve into yourself, into your soul, heart and thoughts: don’t you see in yourself an abyss of passions and sins, blasphemy, theft, gluttony, lust, drunkenness, envy, wickedness, flattery, brotherly hatred, rancor, slander, condemnation of your neighbor, slander, lack of love, unmercifulness, pride, rage, anger, and all kinds of uncleanness? Having such vileness in yourself, are you not caring about your soul? Try, as much as possible, with heartfelt contrition, sighs and frequent tears, to wash away the filth of your soul and body. Be in apprehension, so that you do not accept the Holy Ones with your unclean soul into judgment. Consider that you are partaking of the unspoken sacrament of sacraments, the sweetness of all sweets, and the holiness of all holiness, from which you yourself become a Saint. Incomprehensible God, who will utter Your mighty powers? who can praise You worthily? who can measure the depths of Your mercy. Think, brother, that all our Forefathers and all the Prophets hungered and thirsted for this mysterious food and drink, that is, the body and blood of Christ, from the first-created Adam, but did not receive it: but you, who are far from them by your unworthiness, partake of the Divine Table. If someone thought within himself: I am a Priest and therefore worthy: then, on the contrary, with such thoughts he would be unworthy to perform the sacred act: for as it was in the womb of the Most Holy Virgin, so here on Altar the body and blood of Christ are the action of the good will of Almighty God and the Holy Spirit. See that this happens above the nature, meaning and reason of man; and therefore no one can worthily receive communion except one who believes in deep humility and has strong hope in the Lord. Look what Christ the Savior says with His most pure lips: This is My body, says; I do not give an image of a body, but my body, in the form of bread, taste and eat for the remission of sins; This is My blood, not an image of blood, but drink My blood under the guise of wine for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:26, 27, 28.) Why should you diligently consider with what fear, trembling and true humility, humiliation and contrition of heart, sighs and tears, with ardent love, with undoubted faith and hope, with reverence and joy and the greatest gratitude from all your soul and heart you should approach this communion Divine. You must certainly act according to this instruction, namely: when approaching the holy altar, imagine in yourself that you are truly honored to be with Christ and the holy Apostles at the Last Supper. When they open the gates and say: with the fear of God: fall in horror to the ground before Almighty God and the Judge; and try, as much as possible, not to erase the above from your thoughts, but imagine and think about it all. Having your hands folded crosswise and pressed to your chest, tilt your head a little, have a reverent gaze, your eyes filled with tears, and read the prayer: I believe, Lord, and I confess to the end. Read it with all your heart with sighing, with fear and trembling, and heartfelt contrition. Tremble as you stand and think, lest you bring the flesh and blood of the Lord to justice. Ask the most merciful God to visit you with His grace at this very moment, so that you can show contrition and tenderness, and shed warm tears. And after reading the aforementioned prayer with zeal, bow down to the ground; pray again to the most merciful God, that you may be worthy to partake of this most Divine sacrament without sin, and thus thinking, look diligently and tenderly at the Holy Chalice and pray that the Divine fire will not scorch you, but will heal your soul and body upon receiving it. Hope and believe that he will consume all the sinful thorns living in you, if you imagine and feel this way, as shown here. But this, as soon as you see the Priestly hand stretched out with the holy sacrament and bringing it to your lips: then do not think that you are receiving this Divine gift from the Priestly hand, but imagine and believe with all your soul that you are receiving from the hand of Christ Himself, standing invisibly and putting it into your mouth. Imagine and believe, undoubtedly, that you are truly eating the very flesh of the Lady, as if you are now drinking blood and water flowing from the very side of Christ; that you see Christ hanging on the cross, and now from His wounds you cut blood, and light, and life. Thus receive communion: thus believe without doubt; Imagine this constantly in your mind. With such ideas and feelings, approaching and saying in your mind: “Open the gates and rivets of my heart, so that the King of glory, Christ, may come in, enter my light, and enlighten my darkness; descend into my belly and resurrect my deadness; Look to my physician and heal my wounds; Enter into the Divine fire, and the thorns of my sins fell; kindle my womb and my heart with the flame of your love; Come, my King, and destroy the sinful kingdom from Me; sit on the throne of my heart, and you alone reign in me, my King and Lord.” With such good intentions, partake of the Divine Mysteries. At the same time, do not forget frequent sighs and contrition: constantly cry, lament, reproach yourself that you are completely unworthy, that you have not yet put off the flesh and the world, and have not yet killed yourself from bodily passions, but are filled with unclean desires and wrong spiritual movements, lazy in spiritual work, sad and careless in listening to the words of God; that you are the smallest and meager and unrefined and unworthy vessel to receive the source of the animal, which the Heavens of Heavens cannot embrace. The Saints bowed to Him and all the Saints with great reverence, joy and gratitude, united by communion with the body and blood of Christ, became enlightened like the sun, and live with them forever. With such desire and great zeal, try as best you can to resort to the sweetest source of goodness. Damned one, be afraid, so as not to perish among the evil ones, be jealous of the good ones. And having lived righteously, many suffer from gluttony and fall into the ditch of lust, so that they lead a worldly life, not a monastic one, forgetting their monastic promises. Anyone who, having entered monasticism, then begins to grieve over worldly life, because he does not enjoy the luxurious life of the world, is close to disastrous passions. Know that gluttony and voluptuousness in food are the mother of many vices. Always remember this too, that every evil devilish passion in a person is born secretly and takes possession of him unnoticed, listen and know that it originates more from intemperance and satiety of the belly. It is through this net that a person is caught first and most quickly. This initial passion seems good, pleasant and blessed in appearance; but it has in itself the hidden poison of all deadly passions. If a person becomes infected with it, then it takes a lot of work to remove it from oneself. Who will submit to this passion and not reject it, no matter how much strength he has; he is in danger of falling deep; and whoever abstains from it will remain safe from many passions and without ulcers. And so consider that this spiritually harmful evil drags a person into the abyss; you, beloved brother, try to save yourself from it, do not be satiated, do not get drunk and do not please your belly, so as not to die. For if you allow yourself to get used to gluttony, then you will have to put in a lot of work and patience in order to get rid of it and strengthen yourself in abstinence. In your cell, do not lose the Jesus Prayer from your thoughts and try to acquire spiritual tenderness of heart in the silence and deep silence of your mind. Gather your mind and all your thoughts; stand for prayer; direct your mind and heart to God; pray for spiritual shepherds, for relatives, for friends, for benefactors, for the Emperor and for the whole world. Repent, ask for mercy from your Creator, so that He may forgive you the sins you have committed and join you to those who repent and deliver you from eternal torment. Think about this constantly, that no one can be justified before the Lord by works, and no one can be pure before his Creator: everyone is sinful and weak; We all demand God’s help and mercy. Try so that your thoughts cannot at all float around and do nothing from this world, in such silence and deep silence of your mind, stand, lower your head, put your hand to your chest, put your nose together, keep your eyes close, so that you cannot see anything earthly, and, having gathered your mind and heart together, see God on the throne, sitting and judging, dealing with fear and awe of the Archangels and Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim, with all the heavenly powers; remember hell and tartarus, to which He can condemn you: pray with your mind, crush your heart, cry, groan, sigh, condemn yourself, reproach your soul for irritating your Creator, the Redeemer, with many iniquities; remaining in contrition and repenting, ask for mercy from the Creator, so that he may forgive you the sins you have committed and deliver you from eternal torment. See diligently, so that there is warm love and a non-lazy desire, so that your prayer occurs with all your soul and heart without grumbling, organize cell prayers for yourself after every church rule, as far as possible, after Vespers, mark the place where you want to rest a little from your work, and so lie down and until sleep touches you, do not let the Jesus Prayer from your lips and mind and heart, while through which sleep will come to you peacefully and sweetly calm you; your guardian Guardian Angel will protect you from all the enemy’s dreams. If you wake up before the appointed hour, then, without becoming lazy, get up and pray a little to your God and the Holy Guardian who awakened you; Believe for sure that your Guardian motivates you to do this, why should you not be lazy, pray so that you do not drive him away from you, and having prayed, then lie down and say a prayer until you fall asleep. About prayer especially in church Be sure to rise at midnight before the morning praise; stand before God and openly pray to Him. Having arrived at the time of the morning praise, arise with zeal and hasten as quickly as possible to the beginning of the Church Divine Service. Having come to Church for conciliar prayer, stand in a comfortable place, gather all the thoughts of your mind, so that you do not dream and fly around all the countries and objects that excite our passions; Beware as much as possible from the sight of the eye on the sides, which entertains the mind and seduces the feelings, and often burdens your conscience and soul; try as much as possible to deeply deepen church reading and singing into your heart, and imprint it on its tablets. Be as careful as possible so that you don’t dare not only talk about anything, but also look at anyone or anything. Pay attention to church reading and singing, try as much as possible to prevent your mind from becoming idle. If you cannot understand while listening to church singing and readings, then with reverence secretly say the Jesus Prayer as follows: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, try to deepen this prayer into your soul and heart. Create it with your mind and thought, do not allow it to leave your mouth for even a little while; connect it as much as possible with your breathing, and as much as you have the strength, try to force yourself to heartfelt contrition, and not without tears repent of your sins. If there are no tears, then there should be, but at the very least, contrition and groaning of the heart, see that the church service does not take place without this. At the same time, try to maintain deep silence, so that while singing, or reading, or listening, you can have an undisturbed mind, an immaculate heart and pure thoughts, for through this you can satisfy your soul with spiritual food, which is the word of God. At the same time, do not be arrogant, but humble yourself (Luke 14:11). The Lord God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Plant this in your soul and heart, guard it diligently, so as not to become exalted. If you get tears from this, then try so that these tears serve for the benefit of your soul and wash away your wickedness and iniquities. You must always remain in such humility and repentance, praying and waiting, until the grace of God visits your soul from above with its Divine enlightenment. Standing in the church of God, imagine that you are standing before God in heaven itself with the Highest powers and doing with them everything that they do. Imagining this, set a law for yourself so that you do not at all leave the meeting of your brethren from the Church until the end of the service. At the end of the morning doxology, going to your cell from the church, take care as much as possible so that you don’t get involved with anyone or say anything, and above all, avoid harmful idle talk and laughter; but go hastily to your cell, without letting go of the Jesus Prayer from your lips and mind. Having arrived at the cell, close the door, and if you can, then stand and with zeal, attention and gratitude, pray a little for yourself, for your parents, for your benefactors, and for the whole world; make several bows to the ground or from the waist with prayer. Therefore, take a book and read a little, curb your mind and thoughts with prayer. Be careful that your thoughts do not wander to unhelpful objects that are harmful to the soul. It is appropriate to do this and protect yourself without fail after any church rule, having had little rest. If you have some work entrusted to you or general obedience for bodily labor; then take on it, reflecting within yourself, as if this task was determined for you from Christ Himself, and not as from a person. Why rise hastily with love, remain in service without grumbling, work, exhaust your flesh. If there is no common service or work entrusted to you, then do your own handicraft, whatever you know how, or satiate your soul with reading books, or with something else that does not interfere with our salvation. Pay attention without laziness, do not weaken your body, do not lean against a wall or church pillar; but connect the nose equally one to the other, and firmly establish it to the ground; put your hand to your chest; lower your head to the earth, and direct your mind to the heavenly villages. I ask you, lover of virtue, accept all these words with heartfelt love, and make them the beginning of virtue, for whoever wants to live piously and pleasing to God, does every work of God not with negligence, but with zeal and zeal, in order to quickly be transformed into a perfect man, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ. If you stand perfectly in order, as was said above, and from this standing you become very weak, or from an accidental bodily illness, or old age, you are exhausted: then sit wherever there is in the Church, so as not to tempt your brother. Consider within yourself whether you are weakening from despondency and laziness, or whether from the distraction of thoughts and bodily passions you are losing strength and courage. In these considerations, reproach yourself for impatience, weakness, decrepitude, laziness, and as if you are ashamed of God and His Angels and men, and think in your conscience that he who endures to the end will be saved. (Mark 13:13.). If, while standing in prayer, you are absolutely unable to bear some natural need, or a great illness that has happened to you; reproach yourself in the same way for the above, or if, due to the obedience handed to you, you leave the church; Then, even then, with self-abasement, think to yourself that you have lost the coexistence and pleasure of your heavenly cohabitants. And if you reason like this and reproach your soul; but endure to the end: then you will come from strength to strength, and you will receive physical health and spiritual enlightenment from God invisibly. If you are exhausted from work, or from illness, or because of your old age, as stated above, and you are not able to fulfill it, then you can, for these reasons, cancel these labors: and instead, pray a little while sitting and lying down with a rosary. Pay close attention to this, so as not to remain at all idle in your cell, for idleness is the first teacher of all evil, and if it takes root in anyone, he will need a lot of work to destroy it. Be careful not to be tempted by looking at anything or anyone or hearing anything and condemning your neighbor for anything, or daringly doing anything against him; Avoid boldness like poison; it is very harmful to every person and leads him to arrogance. Sinner, restrain yourself from judging your neighbor. Although you will see the sinner with your own eyes, try as much as possible not to condemn him, for there is only one Judge of all, the Son of God. Leave the burden of your neighbor to the Almighty, look, take care of the correction of your infirmities, for you will give an answer for your own sins, and not for others. Do not reject the commandments of God that are given to you, do not condemn and will not be condemned, justify your neighbor, and do not condemn: so that you do not become like a bathhouse, which exposes and removes all uncleanness, but itself always remains full of uncleanness; do not rejoice at the fall of your neighbor; for demons and only the adversaries of our salvation have joy in this, because they themselves have already perished and cannot rise. Try not to judge, but to pray, cry and weep for those who fall, and rejoice for those who rise from the fall and are saved, so that you yourself are not condemned by the terrible judgment from the righteous Judge. Try to obtain justification before the Almighty, always say these words to yourself: who am I? I am a sinner and a lawless one. Therefore, you must reprove yourself, and not others, according to what was said: speak your iniquities first, so that you may be justified (Is. 43:26). Listen, beloved brother, to God’s Providence, which teaches us to be careful, so that we are in every possible way guarded against condemnation; There is a word about this in the Prologue of September 27th day. There was a certain man of holy life, who heard from his brother about a certain brother that he had fallen into fornication, and the man of holy life, sighing, said these words: Oh! that brother did evil. And for this word, what a terrible vision he saw. After some time, the Holy Angel, at the command of God, presented the soul of the sinner to the one who condemned him, and the verb to the one who condemned him: see, you have condemned him; The old man was surprised. The angel again spoke to the elder: because you are a judge of the righteous and the sinner; Lords, what do you say about this humble soul, will you have mercy or give her over to torment? He said this and was invisible. This husband condemned himself, throughout his life he remained in bitter sorrow and inconsolable weeping. He fell at the feet of the Holy Angel, asking for forgiveness, and was barely forgiven through tears and repentance. On the 22nd day of October in the Prologue it is written: The Holy Life of the husband John of Savai, announcing himself, says: I heard about a certain brother who has a reputation for evil, and said: - Oh! and behold, I began to wake up in the horror of sleep and saw myself standing on the place of execution, and the Lord Jesus Christ standing between two thieves; We rushed to worship Him, and as we drew closer, we saw Christ turning to the approaching Angels, and saying to them: cast out this one, for I am the Antichrist; Before My Judgment, judge your brother. I will drive you out of the door, and as if I were dead, my mantle held on and remained there. And Abiy got excited, spoke to the brother who came and said to him: this day is evil for me. Brother says: for what? Then I told him the whole phenomenon, how I had lost God’s protection and grace, and from that day, according to the Lord’s word, I had wandered for seven years in the deserts, neither eating bread, nor going under a roof, nor talking with a man, until I saw my Lord, returning my mantle. Consider, sinner, that God alone must justify and condemn His creation; He sees everyone's deeds and thoughts, judges everyone against his strength and reason. Who can test the unknown fate of God and condemn his neighbor? The Lord is the One who created everyone and created everything, He tests hearts and thoughts. In everything, consider diligently whether you are judging your own vice in the sin of another. Like a sinless and innocent person, you torture your neighbor in a small sin, but you don’t see or feel your own and many sins, isn’t this terrible? “The Lord Creator tolerates your iniquities until the time, and you condemn and reproach your brother for sin, and do not think that you yourself are causing the Lord to cease his patience with you and condemn you forever. Take care of yourself, so that you don’t appear empty before God. If you carry something good with you, then do not boast yourself, but rather succeed in doing good, and according to the extent of God-pleasing deeds, show yourself new, right, changed in everything for the better. Be a true Christian who makes vows to God, building in your heart a dwelling place of virtues, and fulfills them without rigidity. Life in the world is charming, labor is fruitless, honor is fickle and insignificant. Woe to those who hope in her. Because of this, many die without repentance. Blessed and blessed are those who remove themselves from the world and its lusts. If you can abstain so as to take food once a day, and then after sunset, arrange this for yourself with the advice and blessing of an elder who has acquired experience and judgment. If you are worthy to sit with everyone at a meal, then think to yourself: who am I unworthy who came here, and how do I want to take part in the meal with the holy fathers? Thinking like this within yourself, imagine yourself as the most sinful of all, a wanderer, an alien and a beggar. And sitting with your brethren at the table, have fear and shame before them, as if you were sitting before kings and princes. Make yourself not daring even against anything or in front of anyone. Always choose the lowest and, if possible, the last place. Don’t look around at anything and don’t be curious. Don't look at how someone sits, or eats, or drinks. Take care as much as possible so as not to have harmful boldness: do not dare, before the blessing from the Priest, or your oldest brother, to encroach on anything at the meal. Although someone will be younger than you, consider that you are not worthy to begin to eat or drink before your brother. Wait until everyone begins to eat or drink: then you too will eat with thanksgiving, with humility and reverence. Beware, as much as possible, of testing the food - whether it tastes good or not, or what it is, or whether there is a lot of something offered to someone, or not enough: but try to have a pure mind. Do not let the prayer to the Lord Jesus out of your thoughts, and mix it with your tongue with food, that is, have food in your mouth dissolved in prayer. From such dissolution, you will not feel any unpleasant taste in the food and you will not envy anyone for anything, whether it’s a lot or a little something that’s been offered to anyone. Believe firmly in this, that Jesus will sweeten the food offered to your throat, and everything will be pleasant to you. Reproach yourself, thinking that you are unworthy of such communication; and give thanks as you partake of the common meal with the brethren. Be careful that your mind is not touched by any grumbling or envy in order to taste more of the best food. If you happen to feel such a thought in your mind: then deprive yourself of the best food, or do not allow yourself to eat at all that day, so that in the future your mind will not dare to accept this voluptuous desire. So, take communion with the offered dishes with silence and prayer and do everything as described above. At the same time, be careful in this too: saturate your body so that you do not feel full or burdened; but there would still be some greed and felt hunger. Nourish your soul more from what happens during the meal, reading the inspired words and stories of the Holy Fathers. Try as much as possible so that your soul and body are not separated from each other in attention and care: nourish the sensual body with food, and saturate and adorn the intelligent soul with Divine words. Are you not self-condemned, my soul, in your sins? Think, damned sinner, where are your promises to Christ, and sweeping away Satan in his deeds? where is the observance of God's commandments? where is the likeness to Christ? Where are your physical and mental virtues, which in Christianity you swore to perform? – also, where is the vow given in monastic form? where there is strong faith, even in God, so that he can leave the mountains. Where is your diligence, man, to remain day and night in unceasing care for your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord, which are more precious than gold and precious stones: O accursed one! Fear, lest you perish among the wicked: be jealous of the good and live righteously. So, always thinking and reproaching yourself, set aside for yourself every day, according to the necessary requirements of nature, to eat food and drink. Not only avoid satiety as much as possible, but also beware of complete satiation. Remember what has been said above, that you need to eat and drink so much that you still feel hunger and thirst. With such Godly dispositions, while enjoying the meal, beware of addiction to the best and most delicious foods. Beware of this crafty serpent, like Eve, whispering to you. It seemed good to see and good for Adam and Eve to taste the forbidden fruit: but since they did not want to deprive themselves of tasting this fruit, they lost a lot and were expelled from paradise. Therefore, if one food appears to your eyes and mind better than another and your thought says to you: leave this and fill yourself with that better food: then try as best you can to overcome such a thought and desire of yours. Reproach yourself and believe that you are not worthy of food and drink. Therefore, offer it to your neighbor, but do not eat or drink it yourself: for your thoughts desire it out of passion. Be careful that your contrition does not drive away your heartfelt contrition through your delicacy. For from the addiction of the desire for pleasant food and drink is born the evil and soul-destroying gluttony and drunkenness. Try to curb yourself little by little by abstinence and protect yourself from great addiction. Pay diligent attention to this: if a brother or someone strange comes to visit you for the love of God, or on some business before the Liturgy, then do not dare to allow him to eat or drink anything. Do the same if someone comes after dinner: satiate your body with breakfast, and feed your soul with prayer and reasoning, or reading from the lives of the Holy Fathers. Also, constantly reproach yourself for being unworthy of these services, or imagine sitting with the brethren. After the meal, go in silence to your cell, close the door, and, if you can, bow a few times with prayer and thanksgiving, then take a book, read a little, and reflect on what you have read. If it’s summer days and after a meal you need rest from previous work, then lie down on the prepared place and sleep a little, just try as much as possible to remove as much sleep from yourself as possible. Note that if at the meal you did everything according to the above, ate and drank with prayer, ate in moderation and rose without satiety, then sleep sweetly in health and soon rise, for your angel will awaken you soon. If it’s winter days and you don’t need sleep, then after a little prayer and reading, as it is said, take up handicrafts and try to do them with your hands, and constantly have prayer in your mouth and in your mind. Be careful not to allow your mind to become idle and spend your time this way. Having arrived in time for the evening singing, hurry to the beginning, as explained above; Having entered the Cathedral, stand with fear, pay attention to yourself, and confess before God fervently and in everything do as it is indicated above in the Church to stand. Be diligent about this, too, so that you come to ask for food not with the same thoughts as someone who has earned it through labor and fasting; no, think that you are unworthy, but that perhaps God will notify this father to give you food. For this you must humble yourself from your soul and reproach yourself as being lazy and weak. With such a disposition, if someone who comes is given a small amount of bread and water, then thank God and strengthen your weakness. Observe also that, if there is a special church rule in the Monastery after Vespers or after dinner, do not leave this church meeting without extreme need, but participate in it with reverence and zeal, just like in other parts of the Church service, according to the prescribed order.