О блуде

Abstinence gives birth to chastity, but gluttony is the mother of intemperance. Oil feeds the flame of the lamp, and the treatment of women kindles the fire of voluptuousness. An unladen ship is overwhelmed by the pressure of waves, and an incontinent mind is overwhelmed by lustful thoughts. Fornication will take satiety to its aid, because it will lose its mind, become at one with its opponents, and will fight together with its enemies to the end. He who loves silence remains unscathed by the arrows of the enemy, and he who interferes with the crowd often receives wounds. The view of a woman is a poisonous arrow, it stings the soul, pours poison into it and, the longer it lasts, the greater the rot it produces. He who protects himself from these arrows does not go to public meetings, does not indulge in distractions at festivals. For it is better to remain calmly at home and remain in prayer, rather than, thinking to honor the holiday, to quickly become the prey of enemies. Avoid dating women if you want to be chaste, and don't give them the freedom to ever trust you. For at first they either really have or hypocritically show respect, and later they shamelessly dare to do anything; on the first date, they lower their gaze, speak meekly, shed tears with compassion, are decently dressed, sigh sadly, offer questions about cleanliness and listen carefully. You see them the second time, and their gaze is raised a little higher, and the third time they look, smiling shamelessly, and even burst into loud laughter; Finally, they come dressed up, clearly show themselves before you, give a look that heralds passion, raise their eyebrows, do not leave their eyelashes alone, expose their necks, reveal bliss throughout their whole body, utter words that caress passion, and with their very reprimand try to seduce the ear, until with all their might they surround the soul. And this is done for you like a fishing rod that snares you into death, like a cunningly woven net that draws you into destruction. Let them not deceive you with modest speeches, because they contain harmful animal poison! It is better to approach a burning fire than to approach a young woman when you yourself are young, because when you approach the fire and feel pain, you will immediately jump away, and having been mollified by women’s speeches, you will not suddenly move away. The grass that grows near water grows, and the passion of lewdness grows in community with women. He who fills his belly and promises to be chaste is like someone who claims to stop the power of fire that burns the straw. Just as it is impossible to restrain the swiftness of the fire spreading through the straw, so it is impossible to stop the desire for lewdness, ignited by satiety. The pillar is supported by the foundation, and the passion of fornication rests in satiety. The stormed ship hurries to the pier, and the chaste soul seeks the desert. The ship runs away from sea waves that threaten danger, and the soul runs away from women’s faces that cause death. The sight of an elegant woman drowns you worse than a wave. You can still swim out of the waves for the love of life, but the seductive appearance of a woman convinces you to neglect life itself. The desert bush avoids the fiery flame harmlessly, and the chaste one, far from women, is not inflamed by the passion of lewdness. Just as the memory of fire does not burn thoughts, so passion has no power when there is no food for it. If you have mercy on the enemy, then you will have an enemy, and if you spare passion, he will rise up against you. The sight of a woman excites an intemperate man to voluptuousness, but a chaste man's desire to glorify God. If passion remains undisturbed when dating women, do not trust the dispassion it promises. For even a dog, surrounded by a crowd, wags its tail, and when it comes out of the crowd, it shows its characteristic anger. When the memory of a woman becomes dispassionate, then conclude that you have entered the limits of chastity. And when the image of her that you imagine prompts you to contemplate and her arrows touch your soul, then think of yourself that you are still outside of virtue. But even in the first case, do not dwell on such thoughts and do not mentally talk for a long time with the female image, because passion loves to return back and danger is close to it. Just as proportionate melting purifies silver, and if continued in excess produces loss in it, so a chaste habit spoils the long-term image in a woman’s thoughts. Talk briefly with the face that appears to you, so that the flame of voluptuousness does not ignite in you and set fire to the threshing floor of your soul. Just as a spark remaining long in straw produces ignition, so prolonged remembrance of a woman kindles lust. You might be interested in: