Часть вторая. Св. Григорий Богослов, как учитель пастырства

Chapter 1. General teaching about shepherding, its divine institution, importance, tasks and responsibilities "To rule by the most cunning man and changeable animals, there is art - from the arts and science from the sciences.” (1, 20). The teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian on shepherding is in close connection with his general worldview on the economy of God’s salvation of the human race. Therefore, in order to fully enter into the circle of ideas of St. father on this issue, it is necessary to briefly outline the point of view of his soteriological theory. Man, God's creation, is among the creatures a creature in the middle between the material and spiritual worlds, combining in an amazing way the beginnings of both. “There was a time,” says the Theologian, when the lofty Word of the mind established a world that had not existed before. It spoke, and everything that He desired was accomplished. But when all this - earth, sky and sea - made up the world, a spectator of wisdom, the mother of all, and a reverent king of the earth became needed. Then the Word said: heaven is inhabited by immaculate minds, good angels... But the earth is adorned only by unreasonable animals. Therefore, it pleases Me to create such a kind of creation, which would contain both, a kind of creatures between mortals and immortals - an intelligent person who would be amused by My deeds, would be a wise secret of heaven, a great ruler of the earth, a new Angel from dust, a singer of My power and My mind. Thus spoke the Word, and, taking part of the newly created earth, with immortal hands he composed my image and gave it His life, because he sent into it a spirit, which is a stream of the invisible Divinity. Thus, from dust and breath, man was created - the image of the Immortal" 647. Hence, like the earth, man is tied to this life, and as a particle of the Divine he carries in his chest the love for the future life 648. The human soul, like a stream of the invisible Divinity, both by nature and origin, “is involved in the heavenly nobility and hastens towards it, although it is associated with the worst” 649, - i.e. feather. Like God's breath and being heavenly, it only tolerates confusion with earthy things. This is Light, enclosed in a cave, but Divine and unquenchable, always striving for its prototype 650. To fulfill his destiny and the resulting goal from the very composition of his nature - to be on earth a singer of God's power and mind and a participant in eternal blessings - man was created free, although the All-Wise Creator did not leave him to himself, but bound him with a commandment. “Because the incorruptible Son created His man so that he would acquire a new glory, changing the earthly things in himself in the last days, and as God marched from here to God, he did not give him his own freedom, and did not completely bind him, but, having put the law into his nature and imprinted good inclinations in his heart, he placed him in the midst of an ever-blooming paradise, although in such a balance between good and evil that he could, by his own choice, incline towards one or the other. another, however, pure from sin and alien to all duplicity” 651. To distinguish between good and evil, the Lord gave a commandment necessary for two purposes: “Firstly, so that the soul could inherit the glory on high for the feat and for the struggle with the earth, and, having been tempted here by them, like gold with fire, received what was hoped for as a reward for virtue, and not only as a gift from God. And, of course, this is the height of God’s goodness, that good is made our property, not only instilled in us by nature, but also cultivated by our will and movements of freedom, inclined to one side or the other. Secondly, so that the soul can, gradually freeing itself from fatness, attract and raise grief to itself, so that it, becoming a leader for the service substance and turning it into service to God, is for the body what God is for the soul” 652. Man had a glorious feat ahead of him: with his free will, with the help of God-given powers, to ascend to the highest perfection, but this “king of the earth, a new angel from dust, perverted the whole order when, through the cunning of an envious murderer, heeding the persuasiveness of a woman’s word, he violated the commandment and put on leather vestments - heavy flesh - and became a corpse-bearer, receiving a difficult life as his inheritance... And this the newly implanted sin passed on to unfortunate people from the ancestor... Just as a sailor carried away by stormy waves is carried back and then, either giving the sail to the lightest wind, or with difficulty on the oars, sets sail again, so we, who have sailed far from the great God, again, not without difficulty, make the longed-for voyage” 653. The return voyage turned out to be beyond the strength of man. The disastrous consequences of sin were not long in showing themselves. “The first thing in Adam that was affected was the mind, as doctors say about diseases,” i.e. the image of God was distorted, and the body took precedence over the mind, drawing it to the contemplation of the earthly, sensual. Darkness of the mind, the continuous struggle of the spirit with the flesh, illness and “Death of the body, dependence on the devil - this is the legacy from Adam to his children and the entire human race, “for in them the evil devil tried to implant evil and death” 654. The desire for the Highest mind and the thirst for contemplation of God, inherent in the very nature of the soul, were the reason that the soul, “faded with desire, being, as if in the throes of death, and not suffering torment from the dominion of the flesh, set off on a new voyage, in order either to make something into a god from the visible, or from the beauty and improvement of the visible to know God, to use sight as a guide to the invisible, but in the splendor of the visible will not lose sight of God" 655. The result of the new voyage was idolatry. “For this reason, some began to worship the sun, some the moon, some the images of the dead... Some gods were left on earth, others were hidden underground, and others were elevated to heaven... To further the seduction, some fable was added, first accepted with faith by non-malicious friends, then not caught by anyone in a lie, and over the years acquiring new power" 656. Even the chosen Jewish people “destroyed their minds, did not obey the prophets, killed them, despised the written Law, and for all this they were rejected.” “When the many different admonitions - punishments, floods, wars, unexpected upheavals in the fate of people, cities, nations, etc. - sent by God to block the growing enemies, turned out to not achieve their goal, then, finally, due to severe illnesses, the strongest medicine became necessary: ​​the disease required the strongest help... And it was given. The Word of God itself, eternal, invisible... bears flesh for the sake of flesh, is united with the rational soul for the sake of the human soul, becomes human in everything except sin” 657. Combining in Himself two natures - Divine and human, and appearing as a mediator of two peoples, the Foretold Christ God granted mortals a double cleansing - one of the eternal Spirit, and with it He cleansed in man the previous damage born of the flesh, the other - of our blood. Now God did not create man as a god, but placed him in balance, comfortable bending here and there. That is why it is supported by many supports 658. To satisfy the natural and natural desire of man for the highest and superior, a new field opens up with new grace-filled forces, these “new supports”. The very title of a Christian is based on faith in the One “who inspired the soul, snatched it from the world, who joined it to the heavenly world and made man a god and a partaker of heavenly bliss 659.” Hence, the deification of man came from the very fact of the union in the God-Man of “other and other”: here both appeared in fusion – “both God became man and man became deified” 660. It also resolves the deepest, fundamental problem of moral life, which consists in the gradual self-education of the spirit while constantly struggling with the desires of the flesh. Reborn in Christ, a person who has received from Him “both being and being” lives not his own personal life, but Christ’s. “To Him we move, or, more precisely, we return, so that, having put aside the old man, we put on the new, and just as we died with Adam, so we will live with Christ, born with Christ, crucified, buried and raised together” 661. Constantly carrying in his heart the image of the Divine Sufferer and firmly trusting in His help, a Christian purifies himself morally in the fight against his own passions, plucking out from his being the seeds of vice and developing in himself the sprouts of a higher, divine life. Thus, there is a gradual renewal of his inner man from earthly to spiritual. “For to me,” continues St. Father, it is necessary to undergo this saving change, so that, just as the sorrowful comes from the pleasant, so from the sorrowful the pleasant again emerges” 662. From now on, the task of a Christian is to become a god. “Let us become like Christ, for Christ also became like us; let us become gods for His sake, for he also became man for us”... 663 The best sacrifice on the part of man to the One who accepted the worst in order to give people the best is “if we present ourselves to Him, understanding the power of the sacrament and having become everything for Christ, as He is for us 664. Only by following in everything the example of the Author of our life and the Perfecter of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, is it possible to fulfill the tasks of spiritual and moral life and to successfully navigate towards the intended goal. Having laid the foundation of a new life, the Lord gathered His children into one, around Him, as the best and most loving Father. For those who voluntarily recognize Him as king and submit to Him, He founded a kingdom on earth - St. Church 665 so that the acquisition of spiritual perfection and the implementation of the moral ideal is achieved not separately by each member individually, but in a common kingdom of individuals united by unity of moral purpose, sameness of spiritual aspirations, identity of religious concepts, mutual love, unanimity and mutual assistance. Church members are parts of one body. “We, the worshipers of God, have grown together, become unanimous and equal in honor, we burn with zeal not against each other, but for one with each other, we have become compassionate and ready to ease mutual burdens, forming one harmonious body and bringing for the common benefit everything that anyone is rich in” 666. Among the members of the Church there should be the same unanimity, peace and love that is observed in the natural body. Mutual correction of shortcomings, support of the weak, consolation of the weary, brotherly, and not domineering relations should reign among Christians 667. But just as in the body there are the most important organs before the least, or just as in a family there are elders, or leaders for the younger, so in the Church, in order to achieve moral-educational and church-administrative goals, the assembly of believers is divided into leaders - shepherds and those being educated - the flock, into spiritual superiors and subordinates. Thus, the general idea of ​​the church also contains another particular idea of ​​Christian pastoral leadership, as an institution specially established to achieve the moral and educational goal of the Church. “The order in the churches was distributed so that some were flocks, and others were shepherds, some were in charge, and others were subordinates; who formed, as it were, the head, some - the arms, some - the legs... The whole body is one of various parts put together... Not all members have the same way of acting, although they all equally need each other for friendly and mutual action. So it is with us in the common body of Christ. One commands and presides, and the other leads and is governed; both do not act in the same way, but both are made one in the one Christ. And although there is one Spirit, the gifts are not equal... Let us respect and observe this order” 668. So, in the church body there are two classes or categories of persons: shepherds and flocks. On the teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian about the first class in the Church - shepherding, and we will stop. Moving on to the most detailed presentation of this teaching, we see that St. the father in his teaching on shepherding tells us: 1) The very concept of it. What is shepherding, according to the teachings of St. father? Shepherding is not leadership, as those people who treat it in the same way as other secular official advantages over others tend to consider it. Such an idea of ​​it as a purely external superiority would be completely incompatible with the spirit of shepherding and would misunderstand it in its very essence, at its root. The Holy Father is deeply outraged by those people who strive for pastoral positions, as such. “I am ashamed,” he says for others who, being no better than others (if not worse), with unwashed hands, as they say, with unclean souls, take up the most holy work; and before they became worthy to begin the priesthood, they burst into the sanctuary, crowding and pushing around the saint. meals, as if honoring this dignity not as a model of virtue, but as a means of subsistence, not as a service subject to responsibility, but as an authority that does not give an account” 669. Shepherding is “not command, but, more correctly, service,” based on the indisputable moral superiority of some over others. The very fact of the existence of shepherding as an institution does not contradict the moral law. “It is not the least strange and not out of order that many of the godly wise from the subordinates reach the level of superior; This is not contrary to the rules prescribed by wisdom, and is not reprehensible, just like the fact that a skilled shipbuilder is given control of the ship’s bow... or a courageous warrior is made the leader of a detachment” 670. The concept of the shepherd of St. the father draws from the analogy of the church organization with the human body (as we mentioned above). “Just as in the body, he says, some are in charge and, as it were, presiding, and others are under command and control: so in the churches God decreed that some for whom this is more useful, guided by word and deed to their duty, remain flocks and subordinates; others, standing above others in virtue and closeness to God, were shepherds and teachers for the perfection of the church, and had the same relationship to others as the soul to the body and the mind to the soul, so that both, insufficient and abundant, being, like bodily members, united and conjugated into one composition, together and connected with the union of the Spirit, represented one body, perfect and truly worthy of Christ - our head" 671 . Thus, from the characteristics of shepherding, the idea of ​​leadership as something external, alien to his spirit, should be completely excluded. Further likening St. the father of shepherding “children's leadership, not leadership” 672 more accurately reveals to us his point of view on this issue: shepherding is the leadership of the younger by the elder, the inexperienced by the experienced. As such, it must be an act of only free choice, both on the part of the shepherd and on the part of the flock, or, as the saint likes to put it. father, “the leadership of those who want over those who want, for, according to our law, we must lead not by force or need, but by will. If in general the authorities cannot be established by coercion, because those controlled by force, at every opportunity, try to free themselves: especially ours, not so much the authorities as the child-bearing, most of all respects freedom. For the mystery of salvation is for those who wish, and not for those who are forced” 673: Hence, if shepherding is childbearing, then, as such, it can only be built on the moral authority of the educator, who, of course, must have perfections that place him in the eyes of those being educated at the proper height. 2) The need for the shepherd of St. the father sees in the very nature of man. Shepherding is necessary “because of the inconstancy and changeability of the structure of human nature; why for him it is no less difficult to maintain dignity and harmony (harmony of forces), and first to improve himself and become worthy of the perception of the Divine” 674. In particular, shepherding needs: a) for the beginning of faith, for confirmation in it and growth in good deeds, “because the most necessary thing is the gospel of the salvation of the world” 675; b) for the further moral success of Christians. “Of course,” says St. father, - this is the height of God’s goodness, that good is made our property, but it is not only instilled in us with nature, but is also cultivated by our will and movements of freedom, inclined to both sides” 676. This cultivation, growing good in God's field, fighting the thorns that hinder the growth of good crops, is the purpose of shepherding. Workers are needed for every field; for the field of God such are shepherds, who are all the more necessary because man is destined for endless perfection through renunciation of fleshly fatness and through the gradual ascent of grief. Guidance in this constant movement towards the highest perfection, support, help - require the existence of a shepherd. Further, the need for the shepherd of St. the father derives from the comparison of physical healing with spiritual healing. A shepherd is needed for the soul just as a doctor is needed for a sick body. Moreover, to the extent that the soul is more important than the body, it becomes more necessary for a healer of ailments to “observe and heal morals, passions, behavior, free will, and everything like that in us; to pluck out what has grown into us that is brutal and wild, and in its place to introduce and root everything that is meek and noble, to establish the proper relationship between soul and body, not allowing the best to be ruled by the worst, which would be the greatest injustice, but subordinating the lower by nature to the superior and sovereign, as undoubtedly required by “God’s law, which is beautifully set for all creation, both visible and supersensible.” 677. The activity of the shepherd is to restore in man the image of God, damaged by sin, St. the father compares the work of a painter on finishing a picture, or a ship builder on a seaworthy ship, or a carpenter on creating a house 678. Further, “most people are thin, and without a directional sign they are prone to vice. Few go to perfection" 679. Therefore, guidance, guidance or direction is extremely important for believers, for “any of them, being under proper guidance, will not be able and who will not dare to speak and strive for the truth” 680. The mentioned St. Gregory, childcare has the deepest basis for its existence in the indisputable fact that “man is as yielding to the arguments of reason as copper is to fire” 681; that, therefore, with the proper zeal of the teacher, there cannot be such a deficiency in the behavior of the flock entrusted to him that would turn out to be completely incorrigible and irreparable. c) Shepherding is necessary for order in the church body, which order, according to St. father, is a necessary condition for the improvement of any organization, and the church in particular. “I don’t think,” he says, “that anarchy and disorder are more useful than order and leadership, both for everything else and for people; on the contrary, they are least useful to people who are threatened with the most important danger. For them, if they do not comply with the first requirement of reason, so as not to sin, the second is important - so that those who have sinned are returned to the true path” 682. d) Shepherding is necessary, finally, for the performance of divine services, this important aspect of church and social life, which is why the presence of the priesthood is a clear sign of God’s mercy towards people, just as its absence is a punishment. “Where and by whom,” he asks, “would our mysterious and uplifting divine service, which is most excellent and honorable among us, be performed among us, if there were no king, no prince, no priesthood, no sacrifice, or all that, which, as the most important, was deprived of the rebellious of ancient times as punishment for great crimes?” 683. 3) According to the teachings of St. father, shepherding is of divine origin. It, being an essential and indispensable institution in the Church of Christ, does not have an accidental origin, but was intended by God Himself. “God has decreed that there should be shepherds and teachers,” 684 he teaches. - He protects them 685 and helps them, “He himself shepherds the shepherds and leads the leaders, supports their right hand, guides them according to His will and instructs His flock to fall prudently, skillfully” 686. The Lord Himself “provides for Himself a shepherd to rule” 687, choosing him according to His will 688. Pastoral ministry, therefore, is the result “not of human mercy, but of the gift of God’s grace,” 689 and an act of “preferring Christ” 690. “The shepherd is the organ of God, the verbal organ, which was tuned and into which the Good Artist Spirit strikes” 691. But “a shepherd can broadcast God’s wisdom only when he has this commission” 692. Even the election of this or that flock is also not a matter of chance or coincidence, but of God’s providence for His Church. For during the mysterious union of the shepherd with the flock, “St. Spirit; He entrusts the flock to the shepherd, who become his people; Angels bring her to the shepherd" 693. 4) From the concepts of shepherding and its divine origin, the greatness and importance of pastoral ministry is revealed. “Pastors, according to the teachings of St. father, - ministers and collaborators of God's childcare and healing of human weakness, returning the old Adam to where he fell, and leading to the tree of life, from which the fruit of the tree of knowledge, untimely and unwisely eaten, removed people" 694. The shepherd is destined “to be a god, to stand with the angels, to praise with the archangels, to offer sacrifices on the altar above, to perform sacred acts with Christ, to recreate creation, to restore the image of God, to create for the heavenly world and, even more, to create as gods” 695. As such, shepherds are very important in their activities. They are “the foundations of the world, the light of life, the support of the word, the secret guides to a bright and endless life. They are Christ-bearers" 696. The Holy Father calls the shepherd the earthly Christ. “Give the first place to God, and then the next to the priest, the earthly Christ, the leader of your life” 697. He, the priest, is “the head of the fullness of Christ (the Church)” 698, caring “for the purification of the image in as many people as possible”; for just as, in comparison with one plant, a garden is better and larger, in comparison with one star, the whole sky and all its decorations, and in comparison with a member, a body: so before God, a whole and well-ordered Church is preferable to a person.”699 “The shepherd is a leader of brides who rebukes souls for Christ” 700. And since the shepherds who create and restore the image of God in people are “gods in relation to one-day creatures” 701, but for this reason St. the father commands to honor the shepherd. “First of all, fear God, honor your parents, speak with praise of priests and have respect for the elders” 702. For the pastoral word, prayer or oath, entails either long-term benefit or temporary sorrow 703. 5) The purpose and objectives of the pastoral ministry of St. Gregory the Theologian defines the above comparison of shepherding with healing. Just as the goal of healing is to restore physical strength in a person, the goal of spiritual healing is to give wings to the soul, to kidnap it from the world and hand it over to God; preserve the image of God, if it is intact; support if in danger; update if damaged; to infuse Christ into the heart by the Spirit; in short: “to make the one who belongs to the heavenly rank a god and a partaker of heavenly bliss” 704. To achieve this common and highest goal, in order to “present to the Lord a chosen people, a holy language, a royal priesthood” 705; so as not to waste the sheep of the pasture, not to destroy those for whom the Good Shepherd laid down his soul, but to lead them from unbelief to faith, from the present life to the future peace” 706, and to betray them to God, for he who surrenders to Him will himself be a gain, because God Himself becomes the property of the one who surrenders to Him 707 In order to teach the flock to walk the right path, the royal path, without deviating to the right, not to the left, but under the guidance of the Spirit to walk the narrow path as if it were a long one, and abandoning the unkind paths 708, to make light not only the soul, but also the body that clothes the beautiful soul, so that this double scarlet robe “translucent with a delicate silver-like appearance” 709 would help a person, even if only by adoption, “to become a god, to stand luminously before the Most High God and rejoice with the angels” 710: - to achieve all these goals, the pastorate must take a number of such expedient actions of general and private counseling that would lead the shepherd’s concerns to achieve the desired result. To do this, first of all, one must cleanse the wings of the flock and give them (the flock) such a teaching that “will lift them up, lift them into the ether, like light-winged birds” 711. Then, one must “quench the hunger of hearing the Word of the Lord” 712 by offering the rich word, feeding souls with it and breaking up spiritual bread for the hungry, or, like ancient Moses, “bringing down food from heaven like rain” 713; then one must “wash the salty ear with a sweet, intoxicating word,” taking care that the meal is filled with good food, and that no one is left hungry at the feast of faith 714. It is necessary, further, to teach sound doctrine, to create spiritual chastity 715, “to make the people sound in the faith” 716, so that they “become, like a light in the world, a life-giving power for other people, present with perfect lights to the Great Light, purer and clearer, illuminated by the Trinity” 717. Remembering that God rejoices in nothing so much as the correction and salvation of man, which is served by all the word and every sacrament, shepherds must “cleanse everyone from sin and make everyone white, like snow, like wave” 718, must teach to live for the One Christ, to be comforted by Him, for Him, ascending from here, to renounce the heart from earthly things..., enrich the mind with pure ideas, “touch even the heavenly Trinity, establish Her image in your heart and prepare a godlike people with pure sacrifices, make a bloodless, heartfelt sacrifice” 719. When thinking about the heartfelt sacrifice of St. the father equates the goal and task of shepherding to the construction of “the tabernacle of God’s Church, created from various ornaments of virtue, introduced in varying degrees - some less, others more, but all equally, during the construction of the Spirit, composed and combined into a perfect work, into the dwelling of Christ, into the holy church... For the creation of this tabernacle, no one teaches St. father, may he not be lean and barren, may not a single soul be deprived of fertility and childbearing. But let everyone bear fruit to God according to his own strength and abilities 720. Every soul is fit here. Therefore, the shepherd must teach every soul piety, teaching it not only to speak often about God, but also to remain silent more, for a tongue not governed by reason is a stumbling block for people. In these types, the shepherd has to instill in his flock the idea that it is safer to listen than to speak, it is more desirable to learn than to teach, expressing piety less in words, but more in deeds, and revealing one’s love for God in avoiding evil by observing the commandments, excelling in virtue, living in the spirit, walking in the spirit, collecting for oneself for the construction in the future life solid and durable substances, and not quickly flammable, being and here as pure and immaculate children of God in the midst of an evil and corrupt generation 721 ... The shepherd must cleanse each soul, wipe off the rust of vices from it, correct, enlighten, illuminate 722 the weak to lift, the fallen to restore, the erring to convert, the lost to seek and preserve the strong 723, using for this a variety of healing methods - sometimes philanthropy, sometimes severity, then confusion and dissolution, and philanthropy and severity; thanking some, reproaching others, denouncing others 724, but all by attracting them to the construction of God, building them up like an artist 725, bringing them closer to God and creating them gods 726. 6) Consideration of the purpose and objectives of pastoral ministry reveals its extraordinary difficulty. “I didn’t think and now I don’t think,” says St. Gregory the Theologian, - so that it means the same thing - to lead a herd of sheep or oxen, and to control human souls. There it is enough for the oxen or sheep to become the most well-fed and fat... But no one cares about the virtue of the sheep and oxen. But to be able to rule over people is much more difficult, especially to have such authority as ours, which is based on God’s law and leads to God, in which, the greater the height and dignity, the greater the danger.” This difficulty is increased by the fact that “vice is a task that conveniently arouses competition and can be performed without difficulty; why is it easiest to become vicious, even if no one guides us in it; on the contrary, the acquisition of virtue is a rare and difficult task, even though there are many attractions and incentives to it” 727. On this path of vices and the inculcation of virtues, pastors have to overcome significant difficulties and obstacles. If a healer of the body is forced to fight the whims of the patient and take all measures to ensure that “these whims do not interfere with the art that prescribes when and on whom cauterization, cutting and other, even more cruel methods of treatment should be used, then although all this turns out to be very difficult and difficult, it is not as much as the healer of the soul to observe and heal morals, passions, behavior, free will and everything like that, to pluck out what has grown.” brutal and wild, and in its place introduce and take root everything that is meek and noble, and establish the proper relationship between soul and body” 728. With all this, spiritual healing is incomparably more difficult than physical healing, because the body does not seek means to fight with its doctor, as the soul of a sinner does. “A body protected by a doctor,” says St. the father, as he is by nature, remains such, and by himself does not in the least plot or contrive against the means used by art; on the contrary, the medical art masters the substance; Is it possible that sometimes some temporary disorder will occur from the will of the patient, which, however, is not difficult to prevent and stop 729. Not so in spiritual healing. Here the shepherd has to fight the evil will and misunderstood pride of the sinner. “In us,” says St. father, - wisdom, pride and the fact that we know how and do not tolerate easily giving up victory over ourselves, serve as the greatest obstacle to virtue and constitute, as it were, a militia against those who give us help. No matter how much effort we should make to reveal a disease to doctors, we use so much effort to avoid healing. We are brave against ourselves and skillful to the detriment of our health. Then we slavishly hide our sin. Concealing it in the depths of the soul, like some festering and malignant scab, as if, by hiding it from people, we will hide it from the great eye and judgment of God; then, under various pretexts, we excuse our sins and come up with excuses for our passions, then, finally, we are clearly not ashamed of either sin or those who heal sin; We go, as they say, with an open head to all lawlessness" 730... If in general “conceit takes away from a person most of what he is,” then in the matter of correcting morals, it, together with vanity, is the greatest obstacle to virtue for people 731. Therefore, it is not surprising if, due to the indicated opposition on the part of the person himself, the shepherd often has to “sow on a stone or speak into the ears of the deaf” 732. Due to the above arguments, the spiritual art of medicine is much more difficult than the art of healing the body. But it is also more difficult because the latter looks little into the depths and is more concerned with the visible; on the contrary, “our healing and care all relate to the hidden heart of man, and our warfare is with the enemy who is at war and opposed within us, who, using weapons against us ourselves (which is most terrible of all), betrays us to sinful death” 733. Therefore, “it is not easy to change what has become a custom and has been respected for a long time” 734. The difficulty of pastoral service is also determined by the fact that in the matter of correcting morals and acquiring virtue, it is always more convenient to damage than to preserve 735. Therefore, “it is easier to re-imprint the truth in the soul, which is like wax that has not yet been written, than according to old writings, that is, after the accepted rules and dogmas, to inscribe the word of piety, in which case it merges and mixes with the first. It is true that it is better to walk along a beaten and smooth road than along a rough and untrodden one, and it is easier to plow land that has been repeatedly cut and softened by the plow; however, it is better to write on a soul that has not yet been furrowed by unsuitable teaching, and on which the mark of vice has not been deeply etched. Otherwise, the pious painter will have two things to do - to erase the previous images, and in their place to write better ones worthy of preservation” 736. To clarify the difficulties of spiritual healing, St. the father further uses the comparison of pastoral activity with the taming of animals. “It’s difficult to tame or control one animal,” he says. “The flock - the body of the church - this many-formed and varied beast - made up of many large and small, gentle and fierce beasts, a heterogeneous monstrous creature, composed of many and different morals and minds... To control such a monstrous creature would, without a doubt, require a lot of work and effort” 737. Hence, it is not surprising if shepherds are first of all subjected to oppression and attacks both from external enemies - from pagans and persecutors 738 - and from internal ones - from their flocks, who drive away from themselves, as enemies, those who should be loved as benefactors, hating those who reprove, abhorring the word of the righteous, like those who torment the flesh of their neighbors, intending to cause even greater harm to their well-wishers, the more evil they do to themselves 739. Hence, the life of a zealous shepherd is continuous “sacrifice of oneself, oneself for the benefit of others,” “constant burning in fire, i.e. in many temptations" 740, "daily self-sacrifice for the good of the flock" 741, which "does not rest in a green place, is not brought up on calm waters, but seeks rapids, deserts and abysses where it can scatter and perish" 742. And if doctors of the body must endure certain labors, vigils, worries, and, as one of their sages said, collect sorrows for themselves from other people’s misfortunes, and all this often just so that a person who is obviously unfit and vicious will live more days on earth... then what kind of feat is due to spiritual doctors, who are in danger of losing the salvation of the soul, the blessed and immortal soul, which will be eternally either punished for depravity, or praised for virtue"? 743 In particular, it is especially difficult for a shepherd “his first duty is to distribute the word of the Divine, and lofty... a task that is not only difficult, but also requires a lot of spirit - to give to everyone in time the life-giving words and with reasoning to lead the economy of salvation... So, if someone approaches this task with boldness and considers it worthy for any mind, then one must marvel at the wisdom, not to say the feeble-mindedness of such a person” 744 . Due to the stated difficulties of pastoral ministry, everyone must assist the word and work of the pastor with all their might 745. From those approaching it, special virtues are required 746, without which it is safer to listen and obey than to teach and command 747. “If even such God-chosen people as Moses, Aaron, judges, David, prophets, apostles, with many labors and efforts, each in his time passed the title of chief,” then what kind of labors and feats are assigned to each shepherd 748? The shepherd needs not only great and perfect faith, not only his own zeal, expressed and actually shown in word and deed, but to a greater extent - “God’s assistance, if he wants the souls entrusted to him, which are most preferable to him, to be well healed, cleansed and valued most of all” 749. 7) Pastoral service, then, is not only difficult, but also extremely responsible for its bearers. “If houses, cities, faces, chariots, herds,” compares St. father, - everything suffers harm from the ignorance of their ruler, then God’s acquisitions, that people for whom God descended from the heavenly throne, exhausted His glory in the mortal womb, waver even more from the lack of dignity of the leaders and primates..., at the great price of redemption, they gave up His body to suffer and, to deliver us from sin, poured out the Divine blood” 750. Therefore, God does not leave shepherds without responsibility if they harm His people or prove unworthy. “I recognize that it is not safe to take upon yourself the care of souls and mediation between God and people,” says St. father 751. Let unworthy shepherds be afraid of the fate of the sons of Aaron and Elijah, let them always be in the memory of shepherds 752. Those rebuke to the Old Testament priests who “pray to the bones”; blessed Micah, who does not tolerate unrighteous shepherds; prr. Joel and Habakkuk, mourning the humiliation of worthy leaders of the people, Malachi and 3axapias, cruelly reproaching the priests for despising the name of the Lord; Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who lament the wickedness of the leaders, have the same attitude towards the New Testament shepherds. “Woe to the shepherds, who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture,” says the Lord (Jeremiah 23:1) 753. “Those who cling to any authority must be afraid lest, having tied their hands and feet, they will not be thrown out of the bridal chamber as intruders into the circle of those reclining there - if they, having not themselves learned to be good flocks, are obliged by the position of ruling the flock, driving out all fear from their hearts and replacing it with shamelessness” 754 ... Shepherds must be careful lest they hear the following about those entrusted to their care: “I will require their souls at your hands” (Ezek. 3:18), for fear that those who approach shepherding poorly will turn out to be stubble that approaches the fire and is destroyed by it 755. So terrible are the threats and terrible are the punishments for those who readily, as if it were the easiest task, take on leadership 756. Teaching virtues and cultivating good morals in the flock “one must be afraid not to turn out to be bad painters of wonderful virtue, especially an unsuitable original for other painters... so as not to fit the proverb: they undertake to heal others, but they themselves are covered with scabs” 757. They must always remember their duty, “what it means to care for souls, and whether this requires short-term activities 758; must remember the duty of a true shepherd, who cares about the salvation of the flock, and not about feeding himself at the expense of it 759. The shepherd will have to give an account not only of fulfilling his duty, but also of acquiring growth, not only talent, but also profit, “to show the fertility of his field, whether he sowed in vain” 760. For in the corruption of the precious members of the flock of Christ, or in causing any damage to them, not the flock, but the shepherds 761 will be blamed and accused. In considering his duties, the shepherd should not be guided by human opinions, but have reason and God’s justifications as his advisors, 762 fearing in every way that through his fault “the truth does not go lame” 763, or that through his negligence some evil may occur 764 The timidity that accompanied St. is understandable from here. Gregory the Theologian upon his entry into pastoral ministry 765. He saw in it serious “reasons for the most intense fear and the most extreme danger for the conscious and the importance of success and the harmful consequences of sinning in business” when the time came to give himself to the head of the fullness of Christ. Since it was impossible to avoid this, he did it not with joy or willingly, but out of necessity, preferring to bow out from afar with the benefits of service and, finding it more pleasant to live with a small and meager piece of bread and eke out days in safety and serenity, rather than rush into long-term and great danger for greater benefits. He thought that “for a person placed high, it is already a loss if he does not accept more, does not extend his virtues to many, but stops at a small number of people, and as if illuminates a small house with a large light or covers a child’s body with youthful armor. But for a person of little importance, it is safest to bear a small burden, not to arouse laughter and not to increase the danger by placing upon oneself something beyond one’s strength” 766 . He accepted the yoke of service only by yielding to threats of punishment for disobedience, overcome by the fear of being disobedient, 767 crying and complaining about his lack of dignity. When he was anointed and given the Spirit, he experienced a feeling of pleasure mixed with horror, for on the one hand he considered himself a thin and untuned organ 768, and on the other he saw in the pastoral title something great, self-sufficient and delivering some kind of wonderful pleasure 769. 8) “The awareness of the importance and responsibility of pastoral service should not, however, completely deter persons who are fully worthy and called to it from accepting it, for sometimes it is just as opportune to give up victory over oneself, as is the time for any other matter; and it is better to be honestly defeated than, by refusing, to win with harm and illegally” 770. “Just as soliciting an authority that is not given would mean insolence, so rejecting what is given would mean disobedience, and both are together ignorance... Against the fear of being a boss, perhaps the law of obedience will help, because God, in His goodness, rewards faith and makes a perfect leader of the one who trusts in Him and places all their hopes in Him. But it is unknown who will be a helper and what hope will inspire in case of disobedience”? 771. Therefore, “it is best and safest to maintain a middle ground between desire and fear, and in one to yield to desire, in the other to the Spirit... And not to completely run away from service, so as not to reject grace, so that it would be dangerous; and not take on a burden beyond your strength, which would be burdensome... On the contrary, it is pious and safe to balance service with strength” 772. Various kinds of temptations and obstacles in the work of pastoral ministry are not surprising: “nothing great happens without temptation; for, according to the natural order, the unimportant is accompanied by convenience, and the high by difficulty. Let the enemies shout and widen their mouths, like dogs barking in vain" - the shepherd must firmly and fearlessly walk his path, remembering that he is walking in the footsteps of Christ" 773. Let thoughts about the height of his rank and his own unworthiness not leave the shepherd day and night, dry out his brain, exhaust his flesh, deprive him of vigor, and do not allow him to walk with his eyes raised high. This is a saving fear of pride, especially if his pastoral affairs turn out to be successful. “This humbles the heart, shortens the mind, puts bonds on the tongue, and makes one think not about the authorities, but about how to avoid the coming anger oneself, to purify oneself, to become wise, to become a light, a leader.”... Greatness, height, dignity, pure beings - let all this hold him down and make him humble 774. Prayerful hope for God's help will help the shepherd to carry out his high and responsible ministry with dignity and shamelessness 775. Thus, worthy performance of duties imposes on the shepherd the duty to acquire the necessary virtues that would contribute to him in his great work. To the presentation of the teachings of St. father about the qualities required of a shepherd, we now move on. Chapter 2. The teaching of St. father about the qualities of persons of pastoral rank “We have a purpose for every word and deeds - to carry to the perfection of those which have been entrusted to us." (1, 218). As has already been noted, the greatness and dignity of the pastoral title imposes certain obligations on its bearers, the satisfaction of which determines the very possibility of the title. St. Gregory the Theologian, outlining his thoughts about the ideal qualities of a shepherd, presents a number of requirements, which can be classified as follows. 1) A pastor must have a calling to pastoral service and be well prepared to undertake it. “If you are a man about Christ, your senses are trained and you have the clear light of knowledge, then speak God’s wisdom, spoken in perfect and hidden secrets, and, when an opportunity opens, you have an assignment,” - so in general terms St. the father characterizes the candidate for the shepherd 776. More specifically, by vocation he means an internal spiritual disposition and readiness to devote oneself to serving God, accompanied by devotion to the will of God, consciousness of the legal capacity to undergo it and constant humble labor to prepare oneself into the chosen vessel of God. This inner will of man is sometimes combined with the pre-election of God. And just as from the harmonious union of human free will with God’s grace, great and glorious leaders and shepherds of the church appeared, so, on the contrary, due to incomplete devotion to God, due to not completely consuming evil and the remaining enmity of spirit and flesh, sad results arose. Hence, woe to a man if, having received the right to teach others, he does not feel his own unworthiness..., but boldly considers himself a worthy leader of brides, discouraging the souls of people..., Whom the abyss covers, darkness hides, Who enlightens the mind, runs away from the speed and agility of the mind, he always moves away as much as he is comprehended, and brings grief to his beloved by running away and, as it were, breaking out from the hands... No less grief, obviously, for a person if, in self-delusion, he considers proud self-exaltation to be a calling. Such conceit takes away from a person most of what he is, and vanity is for people the greatest obstacle to virtue” 777. As an example of a shepherd who worthily combined vocation with pre-election, St. Gregory the Theologian introduces himself. “Although I,” he says, “was called from youth, even to Him (Christ) I am committed from falsehood, I was brought to Him as a gift according to a maternal vow, and then myself, when dangers strengthened me, love grew and reason helped, I voluntarily gave everything to the One who accepted and saved me - both property, and nobility, and the very gift of speech - however, I am afraid that by tying my hands and feet, I will not They threw me out of the bridal chamber, as if I did not have the wedding robe on me and had brazenly intruded into the circle of those reclining there... From all this I drew one benefit, that I despised all this, and I found something to prefer to Christ. The words of God became sweet to me like a honeycomb. I called upon reason and gave the voice of my wisdom, learned to moderate anger, bridle the tongue, discipline the eye, tame the belly, trample upon earthly glory... But, I confess, I am still weak for external warfare. That’s why he turned his back and hid his face in flight... I’m not even talking about the internal battle that is within us, in our passions, and which is raised against us day and night, now openly, now secretly, this body of humility and the distraction of life, disturbing and exciting us through sensuality and temporary pleasures, and the dirt of dust with which we are mixed, and the sinful law, warring against the spiritual law. Why, hardly anyone is able to overcome the nature that drags them down, unless they have already taught themselves long-term wisdom and gradually torn away from the low and associated with darkness what is noble and light-like in the soul, or have been awarded the mercy of God, or, in addition to both, have made all possible efforts to lift their gaze to grief. But I have not, if possible, overcome the dust, until my mind is purified, until I am far superior to others in my closeness to God - I do not recognize it as safe to take upon myself the care of souls and mediation between God and people, which is the duty of a priest 778 . An example of man’s disastrous inconsistency with God’s pre-election is St. father exposes King Saul. “I cannot blame myself for fear and lamentation on the occasion of the anointing,” he says... “For just as the sun exposes the weakness of the eye, so God, by His coming, reveals the weakness of the soul, and for some He is light, and for others He is fire, depending on what substance and what quality He encounters in each. How should we think about Saul? And he was anointed, having received the Spirit, he himself became spiritual, he even prophesied, moreover, quite unexpectedly and unusually... since he did not completely surrender himself to the Spirit and did not completely turn into another man, as was predicted (1 Sam. 10:6), but a certain spark of the former evil and a somewhat bad name remained in him, the struggle of the flesh and the spirit still continued..., then he was rejected... From this we can know unless it is that grace does not concern unworthy people and a bad and untuned organ)... Often grace itself, bringing into arrogance and puffing up, removed from God those who approached Him wrongly, and we are already deposed in our very exaltation” 779 . Hence, if shepherding is determined by election and pre-election, then “it is bad and contrary to order for everyone to desire leadership” 780. On the contrary, “it is good to deviate somewhat from the calling of God, as Moses and Jeremiah and others did in ancient times, for delay before God is sometimes better and more precious than the haste of others” 781. “It is better to learn than to teach others: teaching is a great thing, but learning is a safe thing” 782, for the death of unworthy shepherds is terrible and pitiful 783. But we would draw the wrong conclusion and misinterpret the thoughts of St. father, if, citing universal human weakness, they recognized it as possible for everyone to shirk pastoral service. “It is equally bad and equally contrary to order,” he says, “for everyone to desire authority, and for no one to accept it... When everyone began to avoid this authority, then the beautiful fullness of the church would lack the most significant, and it would no longer be beautiful” 784. Turning to examples from history and considering the most skillful men of antiquity, St. Gregory finds that “of those whom grace pre-elected to the rank of leader or prophet, some readily followed the chosen one, while others were slow to accept the gift, but neither one nor the other was condemned, both those who renounced for fear and those who agreed for zeal. For some were afraid of the importance of the service, while others obeyed by faith in the Caller" 785. “Do not honor me as fearful beyond measure,” St. complements his thought. father about his own unworthiness - “praise even my foresight” 786. Jonah's fate is memorable to him. “But if for Jonah, perhaps, it was excusable to renounce the prophetic ministry, would there be any excuse and room for justification left for me,” he says, “if I began to persist longer and deny the easy or heavy, but still, yoke of ministry placed on me? Threats are terrible, punishments for disobedience are terrible, as well as for the opposite of this, if someone is not a little embarrassed, does not deny, as soon as they lightly call him to accept the authorities, but readily, as the easiest and most convenient thing, takes on something in which it is not safe to change the intention and the customary one to correct with a new one” 787. Following the example of St. Gregory the Theologian, it is best for a shepherd to choose the middle between those who are too daring and between those who are too fearful - to be more fearful than those who grab hold of any authority, and more daring than those who run away from everyone. He should stand directly and faithfully in the midst of these fears, not asking his superiors for what is not given and not rejecting what is given. “For the former would mean insolence, the latter disobedience, and both together would mean ignorance” 788. One should accept the very title of pastoral with reverence, fear of God and reasoning 789. After the fear of God and faith in the Caller, the best way to overcome fearfulness of the pastoral calling is, in the opinion of St. father, serious preparation and, moreover, quite long. This is not the kind of preparation when we “almost before we cut our first hair and leave childish babble, before we enter the courts of God, learn the names of the saints. books, if we only confirm two or three words about piety, and then from hearsay, and not from a book..., if we deftly know how to put on a cloak, or look like a philosopher from the waist up, we are already wise, and teachers, and high in the divine, the first of the scribes and lawyers, we dedicate ourselves to the heavenly and desire the honors of leaders 790. No, we need thorough preparation, without which it is impermissible and even criminal to begin pastoral work. “On the contrary, it is better to hand over the reins of government over oneself to others who are most skillful than to be ignorant rulers of others, it is better to incline a humble ear than to move an untaught tongue... For one who does not know either what he should say or what he should do, it is better to learn than to teach without knowing... And therefore, to take on the labor of teaching others while he himself has not yet learned enough, and, as the proverb goes, to a great extent learning to make pots in a clay vessel, that is, to exercise piety over the souls of others, in my opinion, is characteristic only of extremely unreasonable and daring people, not prudent if they do not feel their ignorance, daring if, realizing it, they dare to do something” 791. Pastoral preparation should be reflected, first of all, in a certain gradualness in the continuation of pastoral duties, starting with the lowest and simplest, in determining a certain “limit of when to teach and when to learn,” leaving which limit in negligence is very regrettable and deplorable in its consequences 792. “First of all, you need to become worthy of the church,” teaches St. father - “and then the altar, and first worthy of the altar, and then the chairmanship” 793. “The one who is still a baby, feeds on milk, has not made any effort and has not learned to understand the hidden wisdom of God - who is not yet included in Israel, is not included in the army of God, is not able to properly take on the cross of Christ; who has not become, perhaps, some kind of honorary member of the body of Christ: will he willingly and joyfully accept to be placed at the head of the fullness of Christ? 794 The early elevation to the highest degrees of the pastoral title of St. Gregory the Theologian condemns it as a disorder in the church system, as a desecration of church order, as an unworthy element introduced into church and public life by arbitrariness and the machinations of strong people. And vice versa, he attributes the gradual passage of the steps of the church-hierarchical ladder, with increasing self-improvement and success in virtue, to the diverse love of mankind and God’s view of people. “I don’t praise the disorder and disorganization that we have, that is. when those who wish to preside are hastily raised to the heights,” he says... I praise the law of the seafarers, according to which the captain of the ship was first given an oar, and from the oar he was raised to the stern, and, having fulfilled the first instructions, after many voyages on the sea, after a long-term observation of the winds, he was seated at the helm. The same order applies to military affairs: first the warrior, then the leader of the detachment, and finally the military leader. And this is the best and most useful order for the subordinates. And our (pastoral) work would be better, much more respectable, if the same were observed. And now there is a danger that the most holy order will not become the most ridiculed among us, because the presidency is acquired not by virtue, but by vices, and the thrones are occupied not by the most worthy, but by the strongest... There is neither a doctor nor a painter who has not previously delved into the properties of ailments, or has not mixed different colors, or has not painted. And the chairman in the church is conveniently sought out without working, without preparing for the office, as soon as he sows, he already grows, like the giants in the fable. One day we make saints and command those who have not learned anything to be wise, and have nothing in themselves except for one will, ascending to a degree... So quickly the exalted one becomes arrogant, thinking that, having received power, he has become wiser - so little does he know himself, so much has power deprived him of the ability to reason 795 . Each primate, further, entering into a close spiritual connection with the flock entrusted to him by God, brings with him one or another spiritual inheritance: teaching, faith, virtue. Those who approach this without preparation and the accompanying experience, being for that very reason alien priests, illegitimate and unworthy of the rank, bring nothing with them, just as they have not worked at all for virtue, finding themselves together as students and teachers of piety, and when they themselves have not yet been purified, they begin to purify others. And what good can those who “yesterday were blasphemers, and now priests, yesterday not daring to approach the shrine, and now secret leaders, outdated in vices and new in piety, a product of human mercy, and not a work of the grace of the Spirit, - they marked their entire path with violence and oppress piety itself” 796 . Finally, in the satire “To the Bishops” by St. Father, you angrily ridicule the audacity of unprepared and unworthy candidates for the pastorate, who, despite their obvious unfitness, boldly enter through the unlocked door to the highest hierarchical degrees. Among the persons whom he ironically invites to spiritual leadership are “people with a barely visible fluff on their beards, ignorant of heavenly things, newly enlightened. Come here,” he sneers, “all the servants of sin,” who have become a reproach to people, gluttons, liars, offenders, deceivers and under... Come boldly: a wide throne is ready for everyone; come and bow your young necks under your outstretched right hands... Don’t stay away from anyone, whether you are a farmer, or a carpenter, or a tanner, or an animal catcher, or you are engaged in blacksmithing; no one should look for another divine leader; It is better to rule yourself than to submit to the ruler. Throw from your hands some the big ax, some the handle of the plow, some the bellows, some the firewood, some the tongs, and everyone come here; Everyone crowd around the divine meal, crowding and crowding others. If you are strong, persecute another, despite the fact that he is perfect, has worked hard on the throne, is old, worn out by the flesh, undivine, despiser of the world, lives in God, a dead man among the living and a good priest of the King 797 . From the examples of Moses and Aaron, who entered inside the cloud, while others remained outside it, from the example of the tribe of Levi, one chosen to serve the tabernacle, from the examples of the Ammonites and Moabites, who were not admitted to the great church - St. the father concludes how strictly the preparedness and virtue of the ministers even of the Old Testament were protected. “If we again assign a reward to vice,” he says, “and lower the requirements for the servants of the Church, then, oh, destruction! Will any singer, skilled in composing lamentable songs, mourn for this? 798 So, the gradual passage of the duties of the pastoral title, starting with the simplest and lowest, in connection with the long-term training of oneself in wisdom and the gradual rejection from the soul of everything that is low in it and associated with darkness, is a necessary preparatory period, neglecting which it is unsafe to take care of souls 799. If the task of pastoral service is to purify the royal image in people, to make them wise and prepare them for living churches of God, then the shepherd himself, first of all, needs to become what he should make those entrusted to him 800 . “He is not worthy of the great God, and the sacrifice, and the bishop, who does not present himself as a living sacrifice to God, or, better to say, does not himself become a holy and living church of the living God... Therefore, we must first purify ourselves, and then converse with the pure... and purify others, become wise, then become wise; become light, then enlighten; draw closer to God, then lead others to Him; sanctify, then sanctify" 801. “It is not a good order to first teach and then study, even if it was not about a divine and such a lofty subject (like shepherding), but about something unimportant and worthless” 802. “Spiritual order requires that you first purify yourself with active wisdom, then, opening the mouth of your mind, attract the spirit and fulfill the duties of shepherds” 803. “Many now strive to become primates,” St. notes with regret. father, - but not everyone is worthy of him..., To assume power and control of souls to someone who has not yet learned to be a good flock” is reprehensible 804. Shepherding is not such an easy and uncomplicated matter that anyone just has to want it, and he will become a good shepherd 805. For the graceful passage of shepherding, which distracts from the world, leads to God, exhausts the body, unites with the Spirit, avoids darkness, gathers the flock into the fold..., rules souls, teaches by word, deed and example..., knowledge of the divine and human is needed, wisdom is needed, which is higher than all arts. But if for dancing and playing the pipe, which arts are much lower than the mentioned wisdom, there are sciences, and they are learned, and this requires time, continuous work and effort, sometimes you need to spend money, find people who would explain the science, undertake long journeys, and also do and endure everything that acquires experience, then the art of herding - ποιμαῖηχή - is also a science, having its own statutes that need to be studied. We need to learn love for the flock, care and prudence, attentiveness, vigilance, pastoral labors and techniques, what pastures to lead the flock to, what sources to go to, or what pastures and sources to avoid, and finally, who and how to shepherd 806. As much as the goal of the pastoral art - to create as gods - is higher than the goals of all other arts, so important is it to form a defender of the truth, called to be a god for others, especially knowing the greatness of God and human weakness, and also whose shepherds are ministers, where they themselves are placed and where they are preparing others? 807. It goes without saying that the acquisition of pastoral experience or “good skill in spiritual matters” 808 is such a serious matter that in it “even extreme old age is a short-term respite, for gray hair with prudence is better than inexperienced youth, prudent slowness is better than imprudent haste..., a small amount of gold is compared to many talents of lead, a little light is better than great darkness. And as for haste, precipitate and excessive zeal, it is dangerous that they do not become like... that foundation laid on the sand, which did not stand with a little rain and wind... Who will undertake, like some clay product made in one day, to form a shepherd? 809 Therefore, if anywhere, then in the matter of educating and preparing a shepherd, haste and precocity are especially harmful. That's why St. the father strenuously postponed the time of accepting the burden of pastoral service, considering himself poorly prepared and suitable for this high rank. After receiving an extensive education 810 and general classical and spiritual wisdom, he humbly asked “to teach him the pastoral art” 811. 2) A pastor must have both general mental development and education and specifically pastoral knowledge; he must firmly know and confess the truths of the faith and be able to teach them to believers. “Let’s say,” says St. father, - that another is blameless and has ascended to the very top of virtue: I still don’t see how, having stocked up on knowledge, what kind of strength he relied on, he would dare to take on such leadership. For to rule over man, the most cunning and changeable animal, in my opinion, is truly the art of the arts and the science of the sciences. Anyone can be convinced of Him if the healing of souls is compared with the healing of bodies; he will know how difficult the latter is, and will understand how much our healing is even more difficult, and at the same time preferable, both in terms of the nature of the person being treated, and in the power of knowledge, and in terms of the purpose of healing” 812. A shepherd is a spiritual doctor, for whom “it is important not only to know and heal one’s own weaknesses and illnesses, but it is much more important to be able to heal and skillfully cleanse others. Therefore, what information does he need in order to heal others and to heal himself, in order to correct the way of life and conquer the dust of the spirit,” in accordance with the spiritual needs, needs and position of each member of his flock 813. Then, using the example of ap. Paul St. the father shows what it means to have care for souls, and whether the activities are short-term or small, this information requires 814. It requires general mental development from the pastor, according to St. father, - his first duty is the distribution of words, accessible not to every mind, but only to a trained, disciplined mind. “For me, it seems to me that it is not a simple and not a small matter that requires a small spirit - to give everyone in time the life of the word and with reasoning to lead the house-building of the truth of our dogmas,” he explains his thought 815. Shepherds must be “knowledgeable rulers of others, otherwise it is better for them to incline a submissive ear than to move an unlearned tongue; must constantly enrich the mind with pure ideas, touch even the heavenly Trinity, contemplate the One Glory in the Three Virtues, make a bloodless heartfelt sacrifice... The shepherd must open the mouth, lips and tongue, and expand them by attracting and filling the Spirit, bind the lips with divine feeling, so that they can dissolve in good time, and fill the tongue with joy, so that it becomes an organ of divine sweet singing: one must know this St. the Scriptures, so that they were written, as it were, three times in the breadth of the heart; must have the highest knowledge, must have the mind of Christ, and be able to enrich others with it, be a living dwelling of Christ in the spirit, in order to experimentally and speculatively explore the powers of Christ from the highest and first to the lowest and last, freely move from law to grace, learn to understand the wisdom of God, hidden in mystery” 816. If knowledge in general and “learning constitutes the inalienable property of those who acquire it and is the greatest glory in life for its owners, so that nothing can be preferred to learning” 817, then for a shepherd knowledge in general, and religious knowledge in particular, is not only obligatory, but its absence is not excusable. “Perhaps,” says St. Gregory the Theologian, - we would excuse the (ignorant) commoners; but how can one forgive this to a teacher who... must help others in ignorance? If it is unforgivable for anyone, no matter how rude and ignorant, not to know any Roman law, and if there is no such law that would cover what was done out of ignorance, then isn’t it strange for those who are secretly leading to salvation not to know the principles of salvation, even if in everything else they were very simple and of a shallow mind? 818. Shepherds, further, are called to be perfect, “the wisest, artist-builders, breadwinners and drinkers of human souls” 819. For this, they must and even are obliged to have learning and, moreover, not dumb, dry and creeping on the earth, but living, vital, capable of responding to any “controversial sayings” 820. Due to the duty of his rank, a shepherd always has to fight various enemies of the faith. “In order not to experience the fate of inexperienced fighters who, having exhausted their strength in vain and only exemplary struggles, turn out to be powerless for a real fight that delivers victory, for which they are proclaimed crowned” 821, the shepherd needs to have solid learning and experience in the fight against unbelievers and heretics. Why St. father and adds: “I believe that everyone who has intelligence recognizes learning as the first good for us (pastors), and not only this most noble and our learning, which, despising all the ornaments and fertility of speech, is embraced for the only salvation and for the beauty of the intellect, but also for external learning, which many of the Christians, according to a bad understanding, disdain as evil, dangerous and moving away from God" 822. Comparing caring for a person with caring for an animal, St. The father draws a conclusion from this comparison about the need for a shepherd to have broad mental development and knowledge. “If you want to manage the beast well and observe it, then you,” he instructs, the leader of the beast, need to acquire multifaceted and varied information for this and use a walk appropriate to each property of the beast... Thus, since the general body of the Church is like one complex and heterogeneous living being, composed of many and different morals and minds, then the primate is absolutely necessary to be both simple in relation to rightness in everything, and as many-sided and varied as possible for decent treatment with everyone, and equally capable of useful conversation with everyone” 823. This pastoral versatility and the ability for varied treatment and useful conversation are achieved by nothing other than extensive pastoral awareness and a large supply of mental baggage. Mental development and theological knowledge are extremely necessary for the pastor for apologetic and polemical purposes, as already mentioned. The Holy Father especially insists on this thought. For a pastor, in his opinion, it is even “unreasonable to replace the evidence and arguments of the truths of faith,” which scientific arguments he is forced to turn to due to the duty of his calling, with “the ghost of an unaccountable faith... but accurate research and direct conclusions should make clear the reliability of speculation” 824. The shepherd of the Church always has to fight “against the inventors of vain sayings,” “against the entanglements of words and deceptions,” “against the speculations of new theologians, who dishonor everything in order to make others ungodly” 825. How much learning does a shepherd need to expose these entanglements and prove that “the teaching of the new theologians is blasphemy and not theology?” 826. A pastor needs firm knowledge and confession of the pure teachings of faith to confirm his flock in the faith of pure confession. “To one who discusses the subjects of faith in a large gathering of people of all ages and different abilities,” argues St. father,” “which, like a multi-stringed organ, requires unequal stresses, it is difficult to find a word that would edify everyone and illuminate everyone with the light of knowledge. It is already difficult because, as there is danger on three sides, i.e. from thought, word and hearing, it is impossible not to stumble, if not in everything, then at least in one thing. For if the mind is not enlightened, or the word is weak, or the ear is not cleared, and therefore does not accommodate the word; then from one of these reasons, as well as from all of them, the truth necessarily persists” 827. Having mentioned the opposition of those people who, “the more fervent in faith, the more stubbornly they heed the word, considering obedience to it not piety, but betrayal of the truth, and are more likely to give up everything than their thoughts with which they came, and the habit of dogmas in which they were brought up,” St. the father dwells on those people who, “due to ignorance and the consequence of it - insolence, with greed, like pigs, rush to every teaching.” Such people, having neither their own opinion nor any model, bad or good, for the teaching about God, are ready to listen to every teaching and every teacher in order to choose the best and safest from everything, and they trust such a choice to themselves - the bad judges of truth. And then, moving and returning from one probability to another, loaded and suppressed by teachings of all kinds, having changed many teachers and scattering many writings frivolously, like dust in the wind, when both hearing and mind are tired, they begin to show the same aversion to every teaching, and imprint in themselves the disastrous rule - to ridicule and despise the Christian faith itself, as something unstable and not having anything sound in itself, making an ignorant conclusion from those teaching to teaching, like a person who “having troubled eyes or damaged ears, blames the sun or sounds - the first, that it is dark and does not shine, and the latter, that they are weak and soundless” 828. But mental development alone, neither in combination with theological knowledge, is far from sufficient for pastoral work. To the possession of “sacred philosophy” 829 and to theological erudition one must add sincere conviction in the correctness of one’s teaching, ardent faith in it. Otherwise, cold, rational faith will always be strong only through logical arguments and conclusions; not having heartfelt warmth and penetration with it, it will respond with a false feeling. Personal sincerity and conviction are necessary for the pastor at every step. He must always remember that the best means of attracting wavering minds to obedience to the mind of Christ and keeping them in the faith is the personal ardent faith of the shepherds and teachers themselves, and then the stability and immutability of a pure confession 830, combined with unshakable devotion to it 831 - qualities that are the best means of inducing the teaching to conclude in a sense favorable to the faith. Finally, the pastor must be able to teach the right teaching of the faith to believers. The word of the shepherd, being “for some - infants by faith - milk and plants, for others - perfect - higher and more solid food, but for all, strengthening them in Christ and allowing them to grow in praiseworthy growth, which is produced by the word, which makes him well nourished into a man and brings him to the measure of spiritual age,” must be the word of pure teaching without the admixture of extraneous teachings. There should be nothing black in the shepherd’s writing, so that the same does not appear in the writings he inscribes on the tablets of his flock” 832. His thought to St. the father characteristically and aptly expresses himself in these words. “We are incapable of messing with the word of truth and mixing wine with water, i.e. a teaching that gladdens the human heart, with a teaching that is vulgar and cheap, dragged along the earth, lost and flowing in vain, as many do. In order to gain profit for themselves from such mischief, they talk with those who come about this and that, one way or another, to please everyone, like some ventriloquists and vain talkers, for their own concern they use words that are spoken from the earth and go into the earth, as if the more they are glorified among the people, the more they harm themselves and destroy themselves, shedding the innocent blood of the simplest souls, which will be exacted at our hands » 833. The shepherd of the Church must always remember whose disciple he is, whose teaching he teaches, and what punishment he will be subject to for the infidelity of his teaching. He must begin to serve the word in the same way as is required of those entering the priesthood, that is, having purified his lips and thoughts, taking care that his word “be a pious and saving teaching for the whole world” 834. He must also show strength in speech in order to “clearly express what is intelligible” 835; must acquire experience in teaching, so that “his lips can dissolve in good time, and his tongue can be filled with joy and be an organ of divine sweet singing” 836. The shepherd must “be wiser than humanly” 837. Himself “having experienced all the depths of the Spirit, from these depths he must draw everything necessary to form morals, distract from the present and move into the future, having for himself the example of the great fathers and teachers of the church” 838. 3) The pastor of the church must have high moral qualities. If in general for believers it is impossible to indicate “the limit of moral improvement, then for the shepherd of the Church, in particular, due to his duty, a measure of goodness and ascent to perfection cannot be determined.” The Holy Father makes a number of strict, but quite fair demands on the pastor. In his opinion, the shepherd, first of all, must himself have what he wants to teach others. He himself must lead a godly life if he wants to teach it to his flock, for it is impossible to revive a living and virtuous faith to someone whose faith is dead and fruitless 839 . “The first thing we should be afraid of,” he says, “is that we will not turn out to be bad painters of someone else’s virtue, especially an unsuitable original for other painters, maybe not bad, but many, or that we will not come under the proverb: we undertake to heal others, but ourselves are covered with scabs. Secondly, if any of us kept himself, even as pure as possible from all sin, then I don’t know if this is enough for someone who is preparing to teach others virtue? To whom this is entrusted, he not only must not be blameless, but must be distinguished by virtue. He is obliged not only to erase bad images in his soul, but also to imprint better ones, so that he may surpass others in virtue more than he is superior to them in merit. He should not even know the measure of good and in the ascent to perfection, consider not so much a profit what is acquired, but a loss of what is not achieved, and always turn what has been accomplished into a step towards the highest, and not think highly of himself, if he surpasses many, but recognize it as a loss if he does not correspond to his rank in some way. He should measure his successes by the commandment, and not by the example of his neighbors... On the contrary, he should consider it a vice in a private person that he has done something bad, deserves punishment and is strictly tormented by the law itself, and in a leader and primate - even the fact that he has not achieved possible perfection and does not constantly succeed in goodness, because he needs, by the superiority of his virtue, to attract the people to order, and not to curb by force, but to bring to order conviction" 840. According to St. father, who, the higher in merit or position in society, the more excellent he should be in virtue. The Shepherd of the Church, and especially the Primate, called to lead the Church, is faced with the feat of constant improvement in virtue. If anyone, then most of all the pastor, the wish of St. father: “Exceed yourself” 841. Finally, the thought of St. father, that a certain degree of moral height serves as a condition for possessing the truth and, therefore, if for the pastor of the Church the understanding of the truth is the main thing, without which one cannot even be a Christian, then moral depravity is extremely harmful and dangerous in the knowledge of the truths of faith 842. In particular, the shepherd needs: a) “zeal for virtue, as his own will, expressed and actually demonstrated in word and deed, if he wants the souls entrusted to him, which are most preferable to him, to be well healed, cleansed and valued most of all” 843; b) experience in defeating bad skills and bringing back good ones. For shepherds, as ministers and collaborators of God’s healing and teaching, especially as those who preside over others, “it is important to know and heal their own weaknesses and ailments in order to be able to heal and skillfully cleanse others, so that this will benefit both those who need healing and those appointed to heal” 844 ; c) the presence of qualities that determine the entry and passage of the pastoral rank. “Who, having believed himself according to the rules and definitions that Paul decreed for bishops and elders, namely: to be sober, chaste, not drunkards, not murderers, edifying, not reproachful in everything and immune from anything bad, who, I say, will not find himself much deviating from the correctness of the rules? What laws does Jesus give to his disciples when he sends them to preach? The essential thing in them, without mentioning the details, is that the disciples should be so virtuous, so well-ordered and consistent with their rank, and, if I must express it briefly, so heavenly, that the gospel was spread no less through their lives as through words.”845 The service of a priest must be immaculate, angelic, for this service, as worthy of their own service, is respected by the angels who serve the Pure One 846; d) acquiring that spirit of fear of God and the feeling of constant walking before God, which are the result of long-term exercise in virtue. “It is not so important to observe the image of goodness,” instructs St. father, how to renew your fear of God. The former is a matter of skill, the latter is a matter of good will; and we find the former in many, but we see few examples of the latter” 847 e) possessing, in possible perfection, both Christian virtues and universal human virtues, for example, honesty, nobility. Only in the pastorate, as a class open to all believers, is nobility and goodness judged not by blood, but by morals, by qualities of character and behavior 848 . In the Old Testament decrees that even bodily vices in both priests and sacrificial animals should be subjected to strict examination, as well as in the laws that the perfect should be offered by the perfect, St. the father sees a symbolic demand for spiritual integrity from the ministers of the Church. If it was forbidden to touch sacred objects, eat sacrifices, enter the sanctuary, etc., for those who were even slightly unclean in soul and body, if access to the Holy Places was limited for those eligible and it was not possible for everyone to touch the veil, or the sanctuary, or the ark, then “knowing all this, and together with the fact that everyone is unworthy of the Great God, the Bishop and the Sacrifice, - how can “He who has not sanctified his hands with venerable deeds... who has not made every member a weapon of righteousness, who has not put aside all deadness... who has not demonstrated his virtues through experience, will he be clothed in the image and dignity of a priest?” 849 Uncertainty about one's own success in virtue or the consciousness of one's lack of power in it should be the cause of the strongest fear and pose the most extreme danger for a candidate at the head of the fullness of Christ, if he is aware of both the importance of success and the harmful consequences of sinning in this matter. His thoughts on this matter are St. the father is figuratively depicted in the following picture. “Let another, I reasoned, who is very experienced in navigation and trade, sails for purchase, crosses vast seas, always fights the winds and waves, gaining a lot, if possible, and suffering a lot. But for me, who sticks to land, navigates the shallow and easy path of life, bows to benefits and the sea from afar, it is more pleasant to live as best I can, with a small and meager piece of bread, and eke out my days in safety and tranquility, than to rush into long-term and great danger for greater benefits. For a person placed high, even that is already a loss if he does not accept more, does not extend his virtues to many, but stops at a small number of people and, as if with a large light, illuminates a small house, or covers a child’s body with youthful armor. But for a person of little importance, the safest thing to do is to bear a small burden, not to excite laughter and not to increase the danger by placing upon oneself something beyond one’s strength. For, as we hear, it is decent to build a tower only for those who have something to complete it with” 850. The shepherd is faced with constant feats of gradual ascension through deeds, in order to acquire the highest purity through purification. He should not be like those who only collect materials for construction, but do not begin the construction itself. The shepherd needs not to appear virtuous, but to be virtuous in practice, not to dream of perfection, but to strive for it in reality 851. The Holy Father considers a true theologian not the one who thinks highly, but the one who lives holy. “Do you want to eventually become a theologian and worthy of a deity? - he asks. – Keep the commandments and do not go against the commandments. For deeds, like steps, lead to contemplation. Work with your body for your soul... The kingdom of heaven is nothing other than the achievement of the purest and most perfect” 852. The Holy Father also points out the source of holy feelings from which a pastor can draw strength to succeed in perfection. This is reading books of spiritual, moral and ascetic content. It “purifies the soul and body, makes a person a church pleasing to God, an organ into which the Spirit strikes, a singer of God’s glory and God’s power... Through it I am formed, I come into order, from one person I become another, I am changed by divine change” 853. If it were necessary to characterize the moral character of a shepherd in a few words, then his distinguishing feature should be piety and, with an edifying life, possession of the word 854. “Nothing is more worthy to God than a word purified and a soul perfected by the teachings of truth” 855. The shepherd of the Church should not diverge his words from his deeds, so that he teaches this way, but lives and labors differently. “On the contrary, everything in it must be supported by one another, and, as in one lyre, everything must be tuned in the same way - life, teaching, exploits, and disasters. He must bring peace and blessing to everyone, attracting everyone to Christ, imitating the properties of the two praised stones, being an adamant for some, a magnet for others. He must live and teach in such a way that his deeds and morals serve as an example for others, and his teaching is an accurate expression of the true faith” 856. For a shepherd, beauty should be virtue, greatness should be theology, procession should be unceasing striving and ascent to God, power should be sowing and distributing the word 857. The entire life of a shepherd, his actions, and behavior should be an expression of concern only for everything pleasing to God, and not for the worldly 858. “Beware, O priests,” warns St. father, “so that your tongue, which should be like a harp, does not sound anything discordant... One source does not produce a sweet and bitter stream” 859. In his life and in his qualities, the shepherd must be “deserving of greater approval, be in all respects adorned with the glory of virtue,” must be one of those who arouse envy, not regret, one of those who are not inferior to everyone in everything, but who can otherwise resist for the common good,” for benefit in the future life 860. Already from the stated thoughts of St. Father’s statement about the moral qualities of a shepherd makes it clear what high demands he places on a candidate for shepherding. He demands from him a certain perfection in virtue, as an expression of the highest moral purity and holiness of life. The shepherd must not only be virtuous, but high in virtue, its example and teacher 861. Following St. Gregory the Theologian, he should perhaps ask himself questions more often: “I am a virgin in the flesh, but am I a virgin in my heart? In words I am heavenly, but in my heart am I not clinging to the earth? 862. “Like gold and silver, circulating everywhere, in every circumstance and deed it should not sound like a counterfeit and unclean coin, and should not at all contain a bad substance that would require the strongest fire” 863. The authority of a shepherd lies in his virtue 864. He must not only be moral, but impeccable both in his previous and present activities, as befits a teacher of piety and a secret guide to the shrine, called to make sacrifices not so much for himself as for human ignorance 865. He must be so blameless that he can boldly look into everyone’s eyes and say: “tell me my lies” 866. The healer of others must be healthy himself 867, because “it is indecent to fight evil sorrows for one who should be a healer of illnesses in others” 868. The guiding eye must be bright. “Especially to you, the altar servers,” teaches St. Father, I advise you not to be an eye full of darkness, so as not to be the first in a vicious life. For if the light is dark, what will the darkness itself be?” 869. Remembering the inclination towards sin, by which a person is always on the way, and his destiny towards a majestic goal, the shepherd must experience the properties of spiritual struggle and the methods of successfully marching to heights 870. He should not, like a head over heels spinning in one place, although it appears to be moving, remain in one place, in one position and not improve in goodness. He must go ahead and ahead of others 871 . While educating others in virtue, he must be vigilant about himself, so that his feet do not stumble in anything” 872. Remembering that “the devil enters a person’s heart at first with unimportant sins, and then rushes in like a big muddy river until he swallows him up like an abyss” 873, the shepherd must not only be chaste, but not even give a suspicion of anything vile 874 must constantly renounce the whiteness of the flesh, cleanse and renew himself with a bright life 875. “Let us run around in good colors,” exhorts St. father of fellow shepherds - and look within yourself. Lust is a sweet bait, a valuable poison... Enter into yourself... 876 It is necessary to say even more than what has been said about the requirements of moral height presented to St. father to the shepherds: he wants asceticism from the shepherds, which should manifest itself both in success in virtue and in the internal struggle with passionate desires. Solitary acts of prayer, self-discipline, and exercise in spiritual life are obligatory for those who wish to be a teacher of spiritual life for people of any time and occasion, gender and age. The shepherd must always learn to sacrifice his personal interests and feelings for the duty of his calling 877. Setting an example of prudence, not anger, not vindictiveness, he must learn to control his thoughts 878. “The lustful eye is the most arrogant and insatiable of feelings: it often even touches the inviolable” 879. The body always wages war against a person’s desire to suppress and limit passionate movements. It, a relative and co-servant of the soul, is always both a gentle enemy and an insidious friend, reminding a person that he, the image of God, is mixed with dirt, that he is high and low, earthly and heavenly 880. “Carrying in the body the same Satan who was a tribute to the apostle. Paul,” the shepherd has the opportunity to fight him by tearful confession of his infirmities and frequent celebration of the liturgy 881. In addition, St. the father, in order to mortify the passionate movements of the flesh, to wither the beauty that attracts intrigues, to gain mercy for those who humbly resort to God, strongly recommends to the shepherd fasting and sleeping on the bare ground, “For God is not so well pleased by any service as by suffering, and He rewards tears with mercy” 882. Following the example of the Lord, who performed His miracles on the people, and retired to the desert to pray, the shepherd needs to immerse himself in silence as often as possible for an imperturbable conversation with God, for the “highest exercise”, in order to at least somewhat raise his mind from the fickle, vain to the eternal 883. Calluses on the knees, streams of tears, a fasting appearance are the best witnesses to the ascetic labors of the shepherd 884. 4) St. Gregory the Theologian presents to the pastor a number of wishes regarding his appearance, his family, and his relationships with colleagues and co-pastors. Wanting to see priests respectable in rank and years 885, and demanding from them a reverent approach to their high and sacred duties 886, St. the father convinces them “not to do the holy uncleanly, the high - base, the honest - dishonorably, the spiritual - according to the earth. “Everything about us, the spiritual, must be spiritual: action, movement, desire, words, even gait and clothing, even motion, because the mind extends to everything and in everything forms a person according to God” 887. “Do not forbid giving yourself coolness, but stop immoderation.” If it is true that a person’s clothing, his manner of wearing it, gait, movement, etc., is his language, then the shepherd must carefully observe this language of his, which eloquently testifies to the inner content of its owner. However, according to St. father, the shepherd’s concern for a stately appearance, combined with contempt for simplicity, is reprehensible, “as if everything common and ordinary is worthy of contempt” 889. Hence, the majesty of appearance should be a consequence of noble simplicity and naturalness. Members of the pastor's family must behave decently so that outsiders are not tempted by their behavior. “It is most pleasant for people to talk about other people’s affairs”... They turn, as it were, into a constant occupation of reproaching and being offended by the behavior of the members of the shepherd’s family, if they see that the latter follow the century, and do not set for themselves the only glory, and security, and enrichment in courageously confronting time and placing themselves as far as possible from all uncleanness and defilement. How, in this case, will the shepherds convince another not to get carried away with time, how to punish those who are guilty of something, when they themselves tolerate something similar in their family? 890 The entire environment of the pastor’s family and everyday life should be an expression of that Christian spirit, the preacher of which the shepherd is by vocation. It would be, in particular, criminal if his meal were “smeared with the shame of incense” and “his flesh grew wider than the flesh of an elephant” when others need the most essential things for life 891. The relationships between pastors and fellow pastors should show feelings of solidarity and mutual respect. The petty spirit of envy and rivalry, such as that which makes those engaged in the same craft look askance, suspiciously and unfriendly at their competitors in the profession, must be completely banished from the sphere of their relations. “And the potter looks askance at the potter, and the carpenter at the carpenter” 892. Such feelings should not exist between educated and cultured people. In relation to shepherds, they would testify to their lack of understanding of the spirit of their ministry and the tasks of the title. The Holy Father suffered deeply in his soul when he saw the enmity between the shepherds. “In the world there live robbers who are bound by crime, accomplices of theft, conspirators of rebellion, accomplices of adulterers. In the world there live singers of the same choir, and warriors of the same detachment, and swimmers of the same ship. Only we (the shepherds) do not agree,” he notes bitterly 893. But there is peace and peace. “Horses are pleasant to horses, eagles are pleasant to eagles; the jackdaw sits down next to the jackdaw" 894. Among co-servants and co-shepherds, one must distinguish between the good and the bad, and, while maintaining relations with the former, the shepherd must avoid the latter. “Human life can be either divine or vicious, although outwardly this difference is often not noticeable. So the hearts of the prayer books of the great-glorious Christ are also different. One is the ever-present servant of human power, depending on the circumstances, like a cane shaken by the wind, bending this way and that, and giving not a cure, but an example of every vice. The other, with trembling and reverent hands, offers the gift of thanksgiving to the Flesh of Christ and the great sufferings that God endured on earth to deliver us from original ailments. Such a person lives for the One Christ, is comforted by Him, ascending from here for Him, renouncing his heart from earthly things... Such a person does not care about wealth, about great thrones, about human glory that creeps down. And wearing the skin of a powerful royal lion, he does not hide the servility of a fox under it, so as not to be a carrion, a cunning, a villain, and to lapse into all types of vice” 895. The shepherd must look in the midst of which prayer books he moves, “witnessed by the hand of the immortal God and the terrible day that will consume the light substance with fire, that he is not a co-throne or a co-worker with such, and does not want to participate with them either in council, or in voyages, or on the road, but wants to go his own way, staying away from evil co-workers and imprinting in his heart divine thoughts that are not mixed with the worst, and enlightened ones" 896 ... One must avoid bad shepherds for another reason - to maintain the authority of the pastoral class, namely, so as not to give food to slander, not to give a reason to accuse the whole class of shepherds of evil, and at the same time “our high and venerable sacrament.” “People’s speeches,” says St. father, - they are attracted to shepherds in the same way as foam is to a stone, like the winds are to a pine or other thick and tall tree... No matter how strong someone is in his soul and sincere in piety, they do not even want to believe that he is faithful, unfeignedly virtuous and free from pretense. On the contrary, one of us is clearly thin; in another, truthfulness is just a guise and embellishment, deceiving with appearance. Although not everyone seems black, because there are blacks, not everyone is ignoble, ignoble, unmanly, incontinent, because there are many of them..., however, the accusation of evil behavior is conveniently extended to everyone and made a general accusation of the whole (class), not only because many, but also because some are evil. But what is much more terrible than this is that the accusation does not stop at us alone (the shepherds), but extends even to our high and venerable sacrament. For with our judges the same thing happens as with almost all those who want to judge other people’s affairs: some of them are quite lenient and humane, while others are very cruel and merciless. And the first to reproach us alone for vices, leaving our teaching without reproach. Others, especially when they meet many bad people among those honored with leadership, accuse the law itself, as if it teaches evil.”897 5) Relationships with the flock require from the shepherd “a skillful shepherding that distracts from the world, leads to God, exhausts the body, unites with the Spirit, gathers the body into a fence and shepherds it” 898. The law of pastoral ministry commands the shepherd to rejoice with those who rejoice and to groan in sorrow with those who flock 899. The pastoral love of the primate should be the main guiding principle in his activity 900, “so that he is not one of those shepherds who eat milk, dress in waves, slaughter fat things, insult with labor... who feed themselves, not sheep; - but they belong to the number of those shepherds who can say about themselves with Paul: who faints, and does not faint? Who is tempted and I am not inflamed with care? I’m not looking for yours, but for you” 901. A shepherd must always be ready to sacrifice everything for the good of his flock, not to hide his talents, not to bury his talent in the ground, but to instruct the souls entrusted to him with the word of truth and make them conform to the spirit” 902. He should live no more for himself than for others, trying to go and lead the flock in a straight path, not taking on different appearances, not taking into account circumstances and affairs, becoming one way or another, changing different colors, just as a polyp takes on the color of the stone to which it sticks; but always remaining the same - unshakable among fluctuations, incorruptible among vicissitudes, being a rock that, when struck by winds and waves, stands unshakably and crushes those who attack it” 903. For a shepherd, the flock is glory, joy, and a crown of praise. Just as a building or a painting are silent exponents or indicators of the genius of an architect or painter, so the flock bears traces of the pastoral love and influence of its primate, testifying to his inner qualities 904. In practical everyday relations, the shepherd must take a tone that does not lower his necessity in the life of believers as a light, a judge, an angel of God from the pedestal of an impartial and equal attitude to the passion for judgment common in everyday life, according to which “people find it most pleasant to talk about other people’s affairs, especially if they are carried away either by favor or hatred” 905. Finally, the shepherd needs to have certain goals in mind, a certain clear ideal, and apply certain and premeditated means to achieve it. His pastoral activities should not be only “on occasion”, with the nature of chance. His ideal is not something vague, vague, but thoughtful, intended, akin to his soul. Just as the leader of a detachment cannot count on success in the fight against an enemy whom he does not exactly imagine, so a shepherd cannot lead his flock to an ideal that has not been clarified in the consciousness of himself, their spiritual leader. The Holy Father repeatedly protects the pastor from being carried away by vague ideals and random means. “Drive your horse to the target... Always try to ensure that your arrow hits the very target” 906. Private relationships with the flock require from the shepherd love for the flock, prudence, care for them, attentiveness, vigilance, with meekness, strict treatment, and when doing business - evenness of spirit and calmness 907. The shepherd must feel so closely related and closely connected with his flock that he does not have the patience to live in separation from them, but in order to have a common spirit and common feelings. Truly, one day constitutes an entire human life for those who suffer from love... And there is nothing unusual in this. The shepherd grieves for the calf that has fallen behind the flock, for the sheep that is missing ten, and the bird grieves for the nest that is not left for long. One, taking a pipe, calls the lost ones, and if they obey, he rejoices over them more than over the rest of the flock. And the other one flies screaming to the nest, falls to the chirping chicks and hugs them with her wings. What kind of affection should a good shepherd have for the verbal sheep, whom he loves and about whose protection from all sorts of enemies he constantly worries” 908. The good shepherd, who lays down his life for his flock, knows her well, being himself known by her 909. The shepherd must not forget the physical needs and needs of his flock, who are often poor and hungry. While teaching others mercy and compassion, one cannot remain an indifferent spectator of their misfortunes. In organizing assistance to the needy, his example is as necessary as leadership in spiritual matters. And therefore, he must repeat to himself more often: “God forbid that I should live richly when the poor are in need, or enjoy health if I do not give help to the sick... Let the mighty wind kill and the whirlwind scatter my crops, if only for myself alone I sow”... and remember that property, this soon-decaying acquisition, can only be sanctified if we possess it as we should, making the poor people its partners 910 . Being an example to follow for his flock, just as if “whoever paints a picture from an original image puts the original in front of him, and then the picture takes on the copied image” 911, so the good shepherd is an example of self-sacrifice when he fulfills the position of a guard, announcing to the rebellious people about the coming sword and recognizing their sins as his own 912; then - true modesty, delivered not in clothes, but in the well-being of the soul, and expressed not by the bending of the neck, not by the thickness of the mustache, not by shaving the head, not by gait, but by a humble opinion of oneself 913; then – simplicity and kindness 914; then - devotion to the will of God and trust in Him 915. In general, in relations with his flock, the shepherd must “combine within himself the wisdom of the serpent in the judgment of evil and the gentleness of the dove in the judgment of good, not allowing prudence to become evil, and simplicity to reach the point of dementia” 916. His relationship with his spiritual children should be completely benevolent, peace-loving, in a word, fatherly, for the law of fatherly love requires sparing children” 917. For a shepherd, the flock is children united with him by a common spirit and common feelings 918. His instructions to his flock are the commandments of a meekly advising and heartfeltly loving father 919. He “talks captivatingly, jokes edifyingly, denounces without insulting, does not lead a reprimand to insolence, and praise to an indulgence, but in praise and reprimand he avoids immoderation, using them with reasoning and observing the time of every thing 920. The shepherd must show equal impartiality, evenness and impartiality towards all his flock. Being the judge of their cases, both out of duty and at their request, he should not imitate the custom of “those judges who easily forgive the most important guilt of significant people, rather than a small one of insignificant ones” 921. If we wanted, perhaps, to more accurately and briefly characterize the relationship of the shepherd to the flock, as St. father, then for this there can hardly be anything better than his next testament: “be a life-giving force for all people” 922 But when discussing the peacefulness of the shepherd, we must make a reservation. According to St. father, the peacefulness of the shepherd should not turn into indulgence in the weaknesses of his flock, into indulgence in them. “Peace is good with peace,” says St. father. “With the cessation of the world, the world ceases to be the world... But not every world should be treasured. There is wonderful disagreement and the most destructive unanimity... One must love the good world, which has a good goal and unites with God. By the meaning of his title, the shepherd is one of those people who are often unpleasantly affected by what is pleasant to others 924. In his works, St. Gregory the Theologian left us a description of many outstanding shepherds: Athanasius the Great, St. Cyprian, St. Vasily V. and others 925. For example, here are the features he draws of St. Athanasius, as a shepherd: “As high as he was in deeds, he was so humble in heart; in virtue he is inaccessible to anyone, but in his behavior he is approachable to everyone, meek, not angry, compassionate, pleasant in conversation, even more pleasant in disposition, angelic in appearance, even more angelic in heart; when he reprimanded, he was calm; when he praised, he was edifying. He did not spoil any of these good qualities by immoderation, he had fatherly reprimands and praises befitting a superior, and gentleness did not constitute weakness, and severity did not constitute cruelty; on the contrary, the first was represented by condescension, the latter by prudence, and both by wisdom. He needed few words, because his life was enough to instruct others; he rarely needed a rod, because a word was enough... He was simple in character, varied in management; wise in word, even wiser in mind, hospitable, intercessor of those who ask, abominator of evil."... 926 In approximately the same terms he characterizes the "pastoral art" of St. Basil the Great 927. 6) For completeness of presentation of the thoughts of St. Gregory the Theologian about the ideal of a shepherd, we still have to get acquainted with the names with which he endows it, characteristically expressing with these very names those signs and traits with which priests should appear, for “the word priest is not one empty name” 928. A) As mediators between God and people and as bearers of the highest ideals of spiritual and moral life, pastors are called: a) “the organs of God, the organs of words, which the good artist, the Spirit, has set up and strikes... He strikes the mind, and the shepherd speaks the word”; his wisdom only speaks the promptings of the Spirit 929; b) guardians of the people, announcing to the rebellious people about the coming sword - retribution for not confessing sins and for not correcting vices and attachment to them 930: c) servants and mysteries of God, seers into heaven, the firstfruits of the Christian race, support of faith, precious pearls, stones of the church, for which Christ is the foundation and cornerstone; stones destined to be the first workers in the implementation of God's economy of salvation for the human race 931; d) workers of God's laws and sacraments, as those called upon to organize the spiritual, moral and church-administrative life of Christian society 932; e) illustrious guardians of souls, carrying on their hands the creation of the great God, bringing people into preferential unity with God; - the foundations of the world, the light of life, the support of the word, the secret guides to a bright and endless life, Christ-bearers since they are authorized to be bearers of the highest life 933; f) good priests of the Tsar, they are, as it were, commanders of the Church at war with the enemies of the Church, with the fall of which leaders the entire army bows down; as if helmsmen, without whom a seaworthy ship capsizes with a destructive wind or is crushed against rocks; as if they were stewards, without whom, or in whose ignorance, just like houses, cities, faces, chariots and flocks, the Church suffers harm. Therefore, due to his always readiness to be the first to take upon himself all the dangers that threaten his flock, the shepherd is “a martyr without blood, a crown bearer without wounds” 934; g) the shepherd is the lamp of the Church, just as the lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, “just as the eye must be clean in order for the body to move correctly, otherwise, if the eye is unclean, then the body also moves incorrectly; so, together with the primate of the Church, as he will be, the Church will either be in danger or saved” 935. B) As leaders of believers to salvation and their creators into chosen vessels of God, the shepherd - a) earthly Christ, educator in Christian life. The ways of the shepherd coincide with the ways of Christ; therefore, “hurry after the shepherd on wings,” teaches St. father, “submit to him silently; Rejoice with him when you stretch upward, and submit to him when you fall, so that, having come to fear, you will rise high again” 936; b) a guide to life and, as it were, the leader of a flock of birds flying away after those that flew ahead; he is a teacher of souls, taking care of decent treatment in every way and nutrition, according to the strength of each; he is a bridal leader, discouraging souls for Christ and fearing that one of them will not be thrown out of the bridal chamber, as not having a wedding garment and brazenly intruding into the circle of those reclining there 937; c) the handbook of God’s love for mankind, testifying to God’s unchanging mercy towards every repentant sinner, for “His anger is unnatural, but His mercy is natural; We force Him to anger, but He Himself strives for mercy” 938; d) - a good educator and teacher, willingly dying and rising with Christ, putting on the new man, the new creation, those born according to God; - an artist building on the foundation the building of a faithful servant of Christ; an architect and painter, according to whose works, which speak louder than words, their own merits are judged; shepherd - “the archbishop of God’s tabernacle, who used every substance and art in his work, weaving everything together so that the grace and harmony of a single beauty were formed”; the shipbuilder of that ship and the architect of that house, in which the believer is given the opportunity to live safely, even if he does not put any special labor on his own to build them 939; e) a shepherd - a builder of the word - Christian teaching, a truthful dispenser who lives a firm word, acting in accordance with the will of his Heavenly Master; distributor of wheat, new food for those who are perfectly hungry, i.e. thirsty for the true teaching of Christ; the manager of the feast, taking care not to let his guests go hungry, but to feed everyone abundantly and generously, in accordance with his needs and requests 940; f) the shepherd is the parent of those faithful to a pious life, a copyist into the hearts of the flock of what is written, signifying the right faith with good letters and taking care of the unchanging preservation of what is written, despite the changing times; a pious eloquent writer, trying to erase old evil images and images and to draw new, better and worthy of preservation: a good adviser, armed with three armor - experience, friendship and courage; a good merchant, demanding not only duty, but also growth of virtue, not only talent, but also profit; - a good sower who takes care of the fruiting of the seed according to everyone’s strength - a hundred times, sixty or thirty times 941 g) finally, for those who are morally sick, the shepherd is a spiritual doctor, healing according to the example and commandments of the meek, philanthropic Christ who bore our infirmities 942. Chapter 3. The teaching of St. father about the means of pastoral influence “Either don’t teach at all, or teach with a good life” (V. 170). Achieving the tasks of pastoral ministry - to bring chosen people to God, the royal priesthood, the holy language, and to ensure that the image 943 is purified in a larger number of people - is possible with the help of means of pastoral influence. The most important of these seem to be: the exemplary life of shepherds in combination with their verbal teaching, prayer, almsgiving and good deeds in general. According to the thought of the Heavenly Shepherd, “the gospel of His disciples and their successors must spread no less through their lives than through the word” 944. In the skillful conduct of shepherding, in governing souls, in perfecting people, “teaching by word, deed and example are weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the wrist” 945. To the presentation of the thoughts of St. Gregory the Theologian about these means of pastoral influence, or weapons of warfare and about the methods of their use, we move on. A good exemplary life should be recognized as the first, most important and indispensable means of pastoral influence, because the method of visual teaching is the most natural and effective. “Or don’t teach at all,” commands St. Father, “or teach a good life. Otherwise, you will attract with one hand and push away with the other... Fewer words will be needed if you do what you should. The painter teaches more with his paintings... Especially to you, the altar servers,” he continues, “I advise you not to be an eye full of darkness, so as not to be the first in a vicious life... Be more attached to God than stand for the teaching about God. Any word can be challenged with words, but with what can you challenge life?” 946. A good life is the best indicator of heartfelt following of Christ. The need of a grateful human heart is to bring gifts to its Master. “Even though you bring everything to God, you will not bring Him anything worthy. The best gift to God is good morals: to follow the good Master, to flee from worldly lusts, from the deceptive world and the ruler of the world, to devote oneself entirely to God... bring tears, cleansing from sins, ascent and the effort to stretch forward” 947. For a shepherd, good morals are not only an indicator of personal devotion to God, but also a powerful means of pastoral influence on his flock, by virtue of the indicated duty to teach with a good life, in this case being likened to “good painters who teach students by showing them many examples 948.” According to St. father, “an example of a good life, convincing for everyone, especially convincing for the common people, who are captivated not so much by words as by deeds - by this silent exhortation” 949. Therefore, “he who has enough good life to instruct others does not need many words” 950. But learning by example is a double-edged sword; it can also have a downside. “Since the life of a shepherd is a model and lesson of piety,” and he is called upon by his example to teach the people the correction of a vicious life 951, then “one who is preparing to teach others virtues should be distinguished by virtue and avoid in every possible way that his personal life does not produce the greater the evil, the more people he controls, because a vice that spreads to many is more significant than a vice that stops at one” 952. The shepherd must remember that “it is not so convenient for fabric to take on indelible paint, and close things take on a stench or incense from one another, it does not spread so quickly in the air and some harmful evaporation is communicated to animals from the air, producing an infection and called infection, as subordinates, in a short time, usually take upon themselves the vices of their superior, and even vices are much easier than those that are contrary to vice - virtue. This is why vice especially takes precedence over virtue... What is especially sad is that vice is a task that conveniently incites competition and can be carried out without difficulty, that the easiest thing to do is to become vicious, even if no one guides us in it; on the contrary, the acquisition of virtue is a rare and difficult task, even if there are many attractions and incentives to it... Virtue is inconvenient for human nature, like fire is for moist matter, but most people are ready and capable of accepting evil, like reeds, which, due to its dryness, it is easily flammable and burns in the wind from a spark. For everyone rather accepts a small vice to a greater extent than a high virtue to a small extent. So a small amount of wormwood immediately imparts bitterness to all the honey, but honey, even in double measure, does not impart its sweetness to wormwood” 953. The shepherd must remember this complacency of human nature towards evil more than towards good, and about the better preference for bad habits over good ones, and try not to give the slightest temptation with his life. “Pull out the small stone,” St. explains his thought metaphorically. father - he will drag the whole river with him into an open place; the hardest dam can hardly hold and block it” 954. So, the best way for a shepherd to attract people to moral order is to bring them to order by conviction and disposition to voluntarily follow the good example of their mentor and leader, whom the excellence of virtue should exalt. Other means, such as violence, are completely unsuitable and unreliable. “For everything that is done involuntarily, besides being violent and unpraiseworthy, is also fragile. What is forced, like a plant forcibly bent by hand, is quickly left in the wild and usually returns to its previous position. On the contrary, what is done according to free will, what is held together by the bonds of heartfelt affection, is both very legal and at the same time reliable. For this reason, the law and the Lawmaker Himself especially commands to shepherd the flock not by need, but by will” 955. If the example of a good life of a shepherd, conditioned by the high moral merits of himself, is a true education that directs a person to achieve the goal of his life 956, then it is self-evident, “what feat is required of the shepherd and what information does he need in order to heal others well and to heal himself, in order to correct his lifestyle and conquer the spirit?” 957 Just as it is not safe for someone walking on a high-stretched rope to deviate to the sides, and a small deviation, apparently, leads to a larger one, but his safety depends on balance: so in the pastoral work, whoever, out of bad life or ignorance, deviates in one direction or the other, it is very dangerous for him that he himself will fall and will involve the governed in him. On the contrary, we must follow the most royal path and beware so as not to deviate either on our own or ours... Hence, how much work is there for a good shepherd who wants to be the leader of his flock according to the law of direct and fair shepherding, which would be worthy of our true Shepherd!” 958. Finally, a good life according to Christian laws and customs, which have been preserved and established not by human considerations, but by the power of God and long-term constancy, is a necessary means in educational terms: “It is impossible to achieve wisdom without living wisely” 959. Thus, for the proper fulfillment of pastoral duties, an exemplary life is needed as the best means of pastoral influence. This is life, according to St. father, testifying to the inner high content of the shepherd's soul, is an indicator of true wisdom, as a necessary means when following the law of true shepherding. “The first wisdom,” he says, “is a praiseworthy life, purified or purified, for the most pure and all-blessed God, who requires from us one sacrifice - purification... I praise and kiss that wisdom with which the humble were glorified, for which the humble were preferred, with which the fishermen caught the whole universe in the net of the Gospel, defeating the abolished wisdom with a perfect and abbreviated word. Not the sage who is wise in words, whose tongue is slanted, but whose soul is untrained, who is like coffins, which on the outside are handsome and beautiful, but inside are full of dead bones and hide a great stench - but the one who, although he speaks little about virtue, nevertheless shows a lot in action, and confirms with his life in word” 960. In the deeds, and not in the words of the shepherd, they draw the flock strength they need for religious and moral life 961. “Work with your body for the soul,” this is the advice of St. the father should not be forgotten by those who themselves must strive for the kingdom of heaven, which is nothing other than the achievement of the purest and most perfect, and lead others after themselves. “Deeds, like steps, lead to a higher spiritual and religious life 962. The fruitfulness and vitality of the pastoral gospel is known not by good words, but by the good deeds of the flock 963. Therefore, talking about God is a great thing, but much more is purifying oneself for God 964. And our salvation is not so much in words as in deeds, for grace is given not to those who speak well, but to those who live well.”965 2) Teaching by word, or “life-giving” of the word, constituting the most important duty of the pastoral title, 966 is the most important means, after a good life, of the shepherd’s beneficial influence on his flock. It enlightens the ignorant; it forces those who are mistaken to change their faith and change, and believers to strengthen themselves in their confession, producing either internally or externally a well-timed blow in their heart, like iron hitting flint, often igniting the lamp of truth from a small spark 967 . The word, teaching, preaching is the best way to sow the word of God into human hearts; this is sowing that bears fruit in a kind and fruitful heart 968. It is a way of buying human souls in the marketplace of the world for the kingdom of heaven 969. The Word is the sword of Christ, separating the faithful from the unfaithful, the worst from the best, stirring up a son against his father, a daughter against his mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law 970. The word of the shepherd is a trumpet that fills most of the air, the voice of God that embraces the world and shakes the universe 971. By serving with the word, the shepherd offers the most fitting thanksgiving sacrifice; it is the best way to triumph, spiritually 972. It is a gift, gold, more valuable than precious stones, more valuable than fabrics, a holy sacrifice under the law. It is the best wealth of the shepherd - his glory, praise, pride. It makes him a bold preacher 973. “As a minister of the word, I,” says St. father, - I will never voluntarily neglect this acquisition, but I appreciate, love it and have fun about it more than about everything in the aggregate that makes most people happy; I make him an accomplice throughout my life, a good adviser, interlocutor and leader on the path to heavenly things and a zealous companion. And since I despise everything that is deeper, then all my love after God is turned to the word, or, better to say, to God, because the word leads to God... I seek the gifts of wisdom and the word... Through the word I curb impulses of anger, with it I lull drying envy, with it I calm the sadness that fetters the heart, with it I calm voluptuousness, with it I set the measure of hatred, but not friendship... The word in abundance makes me humble and generous in poverty; it encourages me to walk with those who walk firmly, to extend a helping hand to those who fall, to sympathize with those who are weak and to rejoice with those who are strong. With him, both the fatherland and the foreign side are equal for me, and resettlement for me is nothing more than a transition from one foreign place to another, not mine. The word for me divides the lire, and removes from one, leads to another. It teaches me not to be lifted up by the right arms of truth, and in both unfortunate and regrettable circumstances it speaks wisdom to me, making the present easier for the future. In a word I offer a verbal meal and a spiritual and eternal cup” 974. As far as can be seen from the presented eulogy to the word, the latter is a powerful weapon in the hands of a dedicated shepherd. From the personal example of St. Gregory the Theologian, and especially from the Constantinople period of his life, one can see how much useful and great a shepherd can do with the help of eloquence alone, accompanied by a good life. Glorifying the power and meaning of the word of St. father devotes a lot of space. Here's another one of them. “Of course, in this life the most important thing for me is the word,” he says, “for those who have this gift, it is not squandered wealth, not stealthy, good acquisition... Above all else, I respect you, O power of eloquence. For the gift of speech serves as the foundation of my life; by it I am distinguished from beasts, I erected cities, invented laws, I glorify the great God, I extol to the heavens the bright virtue, I tame the power of terrible sin that is disastrous for me, I separate the worlds... To be strong in words and living alone is not a boring life, and for those who covet celebrity, a glorious, unfading crown... To be strong in words is a great cure for passions; Hereby I subdue the boiling anger, which is a clouding of the mind; In this way I lull sorrow and set a measure of joy, I do not lament too much in difficult circumstances, and I do not become proud of well-being... The gift of speech guides kings, and attracts people, flourishes in public assemblies, reigns at feasts, calms battles, makes a person meek, gentle and gentle with gentle speech, softening everyone, no matter how stubborn someone may be, just as the power of fire softens iron” 975. Representing, thus, world power, the word in the mouth of a shepherd is a universal means with which he gives everyone, in accordance with their individual needs, according to differences in age and habits, the necessary spiritual food 976. The Word is pastoral bread and water for hungry and thirsty souls 977. It is a pastoral treat 978 . The Word is “the bread of angels: with it souls who hunger for God and seek food that does not quickly perish and pass away, but eternally abiding, are fed and given water to drink” 979. But since “the pastoral word is not an empty word, lost in the air and not penetrating further than the ear, but a word that the Spirit writes not with ink, but with grace, these are words that are not lightly inscribed on the surface and conveniently erased, but deeply embedded” 980, then the word must be used with due caution and circumspection. This is required by both the dignity of the listener and the purpose of the word. “The judge of the word will be the listener who knows how to compare the word with the truth,” if not with his mind and understanding, then, as is the case with a commoner, with his inner feeling 981. Woe to the shepherd if he creates doubt or sows distrust in the heart of the listener towards his words. His pastoral instructions will be fruitless and in vain. And since, further, the purpose of the word (as well as deeds) is to lead to perfection those who are entrusted to the shepherd 982, then the shepherd needs to know reliably whether his words are convincing, whether they have the proper power 983. For the word to be effective, preparation and very serious preparation is required. St. the father repeatedly instructs the shepherd to first cleanse himself, so that only the pure touches the pure, and then to cleanse others; First, learn to philosophize as perfectly as possible, beautifully squandering the bad things you have collected, i.e. teachings, often collected not from sacred, but from pagan sources - as was the example of St. father - and then rely on the power of your word 984. From what has been said, we conclude that perfect wisdom is conditioned by caution in the use of words. Abuse of it, even involuntary, is unacceptable. “Those who have formed within themselves the gift of speech,” instructs St. Gregory B., - do not rely too much on this gift, do not philosophize to the point of excess and over reason, do not want to gain the upper hand in everything, even with harm, but in some cases, if only it would be useful, give in to victory over yourself... Bring the word as a gift to the Word; turn learning into a weapon of justification, not death" 985. When using the word, the shepherd must know how to use the word and find a way so as not to prolong it beyond measure, completely beyond the limits of time, and not to cause great harm to those present if otherwise is kept silent; must be able to maintain the middle in order to save time and satisfy the wishes of the listeners; for being burdened with words is as unpleasant to the ear as excess food is to the body 986 . The shepherd must adapt his words to the abilities of the listeners: “to those who are cunning in words, who love nasty idle talk and the contradictions of a false mind,” his speech must be cunning, refined, with noble, selective words, far, however, from being carried away by this to the reduction of speech about important things to idle talk or play with words 987. “The common people, according to St. father, should be led away from the path of words, and turned to another safer kind of virtue, where negligence is less harmful, and immoderation is not contrary to piety, pointing out to them that the path of words and speculation is not the only one, and the same food is not suitable for everyone” 988 . “Not everyone..., not always..., not in front of everyone and not touching everything, can talk about God, but one must know when, in front of whom and how much” 989. “Speak, but with fear; speak, but know to whom, how much, where and how to speak” 990. “This, when the time; gather and destroy granaries, also when the time comes; and plant at the right time and pick the ripe grapes; boldly put the ship to sea in the spring, and bring it into the harbour, when winter comes and the sea begins to rage” 991. The shepherd must observe decency in everything. “For one is mysterious, the other is characteristic of spectacles; one is appropriate for churches, and the other for marketplaces; one is decent for the sober, the other for the drunk” 992. We need special caution in words in order to speak intelligently and listen intelligently, for our salvation is not in words, but in deeds 993. The pastor must adapt to the circumstances of modern life. Therefore, sometimes it is better for him to be thrifty with the truth, yielding to time, which often darkens the Church like a cloud, than to bring the truth into decline with clear preaching 994. Hence, silence and concession at one time are criminal, at another - commendable, testifying to wise pastoral prudence 995. “Look,” says St. father, - on the rules of competitions and on the feats of wrestlers: among them, those who lie below often win victories over those who were above” 996. For the shepherd’s word to be effective, it must be a wise word in content, and not verbose, for “an abundant word, perhaps delivering a little pleasure, soon flies away and disappears along with the vibration of the air, producing nothing more, and only captivates the ear captivated by it with eloquence; and a wise word penetrates the mind; having widened his lips, he fulfills them with the spirit, experiences his birth and cultivates many things with a few words” 997. In the word of the shepherd there should be nothing rash, watery or conveniently blooming, but it should be dense, firm, free from both roughness and excess 998. It should not be too soft and flattering for human self-love, for such a word is not pleasing to the Most Perfect Word. It should not contain “small pleasing to friends, but there should be pious advice spoken from the depths of the heart, borrowed from heavenly books and the one who has a respectful ear to them, making him better, purified, godlike” 999. If the shepherd himself has been enlightened by the light of knowledge, has seen into the depths of the Spirit, has explored with God everything that is known about God, if he has a strong ability to think logically, if word and thought live in complete harmony with him, then the word of such a shepherd is capable of bearing fruit - “forming morals, teaching high virtue, distracting from the present and moving into the future” 1000. Such a word in its action approaches that creative word that formed the world and gave man a particle of divine dignity 1001. As a great master of words, St. Gregory the Theologian left us several valuable methodological instructions regarding the use of the word. So, for example, from the side of the word one should care primarily not about the beauty or style of speech, not about the grace and selection of beautiful expressions, not about its scientific validity, but about its clarity, simplicity, edification and accessibility. Adaptability to the current state of listeners and its comprehensibility should be more important than scientificity. Faith is not the result of scientific research, but a region of heartfelt feelings. “Let others worry about the finishing of speech and the acquisition of praise, but we care little about the appearance of speech, for our salvation lies in its edification” 1002. From the point of view of the method of presentation, Christian wisdom must be taught “dogmatically, and not competitively, in the way of fishermen, and not of Aristotle, spiritually, and not in a cunning way, according to the statutes of the Church, and not of the marketplace, for benefit, and not for vanity,” drawing the power necessary for the word in its own strength, and not in pagan rhetoric 1003. “The pastoral word receives its purpose and purpose from the extent to which it fulfills its main task - to make the truths of the faith accessible to all Christians. “There would be nothing more unjust than our faith,” says St. father, - if it were the lot of only the wise and abundant in words and mental arguments, and the common people would have to remain without acquiring faith, just as without gold, without silver and without everything that is so dearly valued on earth and which many covet" 1004. St. Gregory the Theologian especially strongly scourges the passion for theological disputes, which infected all his contemporaries from the highest to the lowest strata of the population and often violated church unanimity in faith. The pastor's word must be free from such bias. “Let’s take care of the enemy’s tongues,” he admonishes. Will we really not give up the strong habit of arguing? Until now we will not understand which objects and to what extent are accessible to our research, and which are beyond our strength? Can we really not distinguish what research is possible at the present time, given the unity of things that clouds thought, and what should be left to the future century, future freedom? Shall we not separate for ourselves what should not be asked questions at all, what should be asked in moderation, what can be conceded to those who are eager to argue, what should be left to faith alone, and what to reason?” 1005. Then, to enliven and beauty the word, the shepherd can use metaphors, similarities, and comparisons from the surrounding nature. Speech by St. Gregory is replete with such techniques, for example, the 26th Sermon, pronounced by him upon his return from the village to Constantinople, after Maxim’s attempt on the throne, in which there is a beautiful description of the contemplation of a sea storm and those inspired by St. Gregory's thoughts on this matter. The shepherd skillfully and aptly takes advantage of the opportunity to derive moral teaching from the comparison of the sea with human life, the wind with temptations, the waves with human attacks, the motionless rock with a man fixed on a rock, on which believers are established and whom they serve 1006. St. does not deny the father of permissibility in private conversation and jokes, of course, in moderation. “The gray haired woman jokes, too, but her jokes are sedate jokes. She mixes childish innocence with Christ... And laughing with some importance, she thereby delights the heart” 1007. The most particular application and use of methods presented by St. the father leaves it to pastoral discretion and adaptability. “It is difficult for someone who speaks about the lofty truths of faith, especially in a large gathering of people of all ages and different abilities, which, like a many-stringed organ, requires unequal emphasis, to find a word that would edify everyone and illuminate everyone with the light of knowledge. Difficult already because, as danger from three sides, i.e. from thought, word and hearing, then it is impossible (for someone) not to stumble, if not in everything, then at least in one thing. For if the mind is not enlightened, or if the word is weak, or the ear is not cleared, and therefore does not accommodate the word, then for one of these reasons, as for all, the truth must be suppressed 1008. 3) To the stated means of pastoral influence, one must also add the pastor’s prayer for himself and for his flock and deeds of Christian love. Although a prayerful mood should accompany both teaching by word and example of life, however, prayer is considered by St. father and as a self-sufficient means of pastoral counseling. “If for a beginner every word and deed the best order is to begin with God and end with God,” he instructs, “then for a shepherd in his difficult, highly responsible and important service, prayer to God for his admonition and for the sending of help and blessings on his labors and on his flock is both natural and obligatory, for “God, in his love for mankind, can open many and extraordinary paths to salvation.” 1009. For this reason, it should be noted, all the words of St. the father either begins or ends with a prayerful appeal to the Lord, sometimes with praise to Him, sometimes with thanksgiving, sometimes with a request for the needs of the flock 1010, in the hope that “the Lord does not despise the gray hairs of the father praying for his children” 1011. In the mouth of a shepherd, prayer must be combined with bold intercession for the people and guarantee for them before God to appease God's justice and restrain His wrath, being like Moses and Aaron in everything 1012. “To her, beloved children, to her, who participate with me in punishment and in God’s love for mankind! Save your souls with your tears. I know that I, a servant of the Lord, am commanded to cry out relentlessly for myself and for the people in a pitiful form, with a pitiful voice, sparing neither labor, nor words, nor anything that only appeases God; the greater our dignity, so that by our example we can teach the people contrition and correction of a vicious life, followed by God’s long-suffering and cessation of punishment” 1013. Here is a sample of pastoral prayer for spiritual children! Intercessory prayer must be combined with the offering of a bloodless sacrifice, through which the shepherd raises people to God 1014. Finally, prayer is the most powerful means of pastoral confrontation with enemies and offenders. “I stood,” says St. father, - in the midst of the priests throwing stones at me and using prayer in defense from the stones,” and, as we know, remained unharmed 1015. He used prayer, combined with tears, both “when wickedness spread, and when persecution of the right word was initiated by the representatives of the Word” 1016. The prayer was opposed by St. Gregory the Theologian to his enemies when they threatened his life 1017. According to him, his father, Bishop Gregory, repelled Julian with prayers and supplications when he was advancing on the city 1018. Almsgiving and the philanthropic participation of the pastor in the fate of the sick, needy and disadvantaged, these primarily clients of the Church, is one of the powerful means of pastoral influence. “Love of humanity, in the words of St. father, should be considered the only guarantee of our physical and mental safety” 1019. This kind of concern, testifying to the burning of the shepherd’s heart, is a sure means of attracting human souls to Christ. In the 14th Sermon “On Love for the Poor,” spoken in Basiliad, an almshouse built by St. Basil for lepers - there are many rich thoughts of St. father on this issue. Using the example of lepers, these living dead, not villains, but unfortunates, often innocent of their suffering, the shepherd teaches sympathy for them, obliging them not so much to rejoice in the prosperous state of their body as to grieve over the bodily suffering of their brothers, showing that we are all one, members of one great body; teach piety and mercy, obliging either to leave everything for Christ, or to share your property with Christ; warns against arrogant reliance on one’s prosperity, which is no more constant than the wind or the tracks of a ship on the water; finally, he clearly shows how one can acquire the future with the present, the eternal with the temporary, and save one’s soul through alms 1020. The Holy Father praises St. Vasily, and for the fact, among other things, that “this noble and shining man did not disdain to honor illness with the kiss of his lips, he embraced the sick as if they were brothers, teaching them a rich and silent admonition” 1021. Finally, it should be noted that St. Gregory the Theologian had a negative attitude towards physical pressure and violent measures, usually, apparently, practiced by the shepherds of that time. He testifies about himself: “to lay a hand on someone is completely outside the customs of our court, and we reject this, leaving it to our haters” 1022. In Homily 42, farewell to the Constantinople flock, he takes credit for the fact that he did not offend anyone, did not take revenge on the offenders, did not punish, did not expel, did not confiscate the estates of his opponents, and did not resort to the assistance of the authorities, for “what communication has the word with earthly power?” “I did not make a shield for my unreason out of insolence, recognizing it as legal not to force, but to convince” 1023. He also praises his father by saying that “his love for mankind was more than human. Among the threats there were sometimes wheels and whips, and the executors of punishment appeared; there was the danger of squeezing the ears, a blow to the cheek, a blow to the jaw... but that ended the threat. They stripped the criminal of his clothes and shoes, spread him out on the ground, and then turned his anger not on the offender, but on the one who diligently cooperated, as a servant of evil. Could anyone be more merciful and more worthy of bringing gifts to God? 1024. Likewise, St. He praises Athanasius V. for the fact that “he rarely needed a rod, and even less often he needed to use a section, because a rod that hit lightly was enough” 1025. 4) In relation to heretics, erring and sinning St. Gregory the Theologian was an ardent supporter of lenient treatment of them and the peaceful resolution of all puzzling questions. “I will not praise,” he says, “the word of Solomon, who legitimizes time, both for every thing, for war and peace... It is better, as long as possible, to bow to the world, because this is both higher and more pleasing to God. Unity of mind is necessary in society as well as in the home. For the general composition of the Church, it is better and more decent than anything else. It is in no way reasonable to assume that although God commands to forgive those who have sinned against us not only seven times, but several times more, we can do evil to those who have not offended us; Although we know what bliss is in store for peacemakers, we cannot think that by fighting we are doing what is pleasing to God, who suffered for us and stopped the internal warfare within us. Let’s not think like that” 1026 ... The shepherd and God's love for mankind should move toward mercy. “Since God is exhausted for our sake, suffers weakening and diminishing glory, then we, knowing that man is a changeable being and by nature fickle, must redeem mercy for ourselves with mercy. How blessed would your highness be if it were purity, and not arrogance, which gives laws that are unenforceable for man, and correction that ends in despair... Equally bad are remission of sins that does not correct, and condemnation that knows no mercy; the former completely weakens the reins, and the latter strangles with excessive tension... Prove to me your purity, and I will approve of your cruelty... God rejoices in nothing more than the correction and salvation of a person; For this purpose is all the word and every sacrament" 1027. According to St. father, harsh measures in relation to those who err and sinners would testify to the powerlessness and failure of those who practice them. “It doesn’t matter to impose a ban; Anyone who wants to can do this without difficulty; What is required of a pious and intelligent person is that he replace what is prohibited with his own reasoning” 1028. Violent measures do not correspond to the spirit of Christian society and are fruitless. “The gospel was not introduced suddenly, not at the first start of the work. For what? We needed to know that we were not being forced, but persuaded. For what is involuntary is also fragile, just as a stream or a plant is not held back for long by force. Voluntary is both stronger and more reliable. And the first is the business of the one who uses violence, and the last is actually ours. The first is characteristic of violent power, and the latter is characteristic of God’s justice” 1029. The Holy Father recognizes “it is legal not to force, but to convince, finding this more useful both for ourselves and for those whom we bring to God. The voluntary is forever firm, because it is bound by insoluble bonds of love” 1030. “It is not the business of a shepherd to start a prue and dissolve the body of the Church, which itself is always under attack and in a dangerous position from enemies” 1031. Therefore, in the use of although bitter, but necessary measures, he praises the custom of doctors who give medicine to the sick, skillfully seasoned with something pleasant, if only it is accepted. “For it is not easy to change something that has become a custom and has been respected for a long time” 1032. He recognizes meekness and philanthropy in relation to those of different minds, combined with a strict but pacifying study of the causes of discord, “more useful than lengthy works and speeches, to which a little ambition is always attached, and preferable to many vigils and reclining on the bare ground, which benefit only those who practice them” 1033. He reasoned that “to fall into illness is the common destiny of nature and human weakness, which extends to everyone, and to the strongest in body and spirit, but to rise from illness is a matter of reasoning and grace, which wonderfully rewards those who resort to it.” Therefore, those who sin and those who separate themselves appear to the Holy One. Gregory by the same brethren, and not by malicious and incorrigible people, even if they did not behave like brothers 1034. However, it is not proper for the office of a shepherd to achieve unity with those who have been rejected by servility and ignoble actions. The shepherd must look not only at the present, but also provide for the future. Noting that softness of character results in compliance and timidity, and severity results in obstinacy and self-will, the shepherd helps one another, and dissolves stubbornness with meekness, and compliance with firmness. It is not the power that must be used in advance, but the power that must be conquered with mercy and brought to obedience by recognizing the success in virtue of one and the error of others 1035 . Likewise, in deciding cases of those who sin and those who break away from church unity, St. the father strongly recommends meekness, patience, caution and slowness in punishment. “Do not leave your brother quickly, either by condemning him or despairing of him; but here show yourself, while you can, humble. Here, prefer your brother without harm to yourself, here, where to condemn and humiliate means to separate from Christ and from the only hope, it means to pluck out the undetected wheat, which may become more honest than you, along with the tares. On the contrary, partly an enemy or an unmerciful doctor who knows only one remedy - to cauterize and cut; partly know yourself and your weakness. It is not the same thing to cut a plant, or some short-term flower, and a person. You are the image of God, and you converse with the image of God. You, who judge another, will be judged yourself... Therefore, do not quickly cut off and throw away a member, until it is unknown whether this will not harm healthy members... Give advice. Ban it, please. You have a rule of healing; you are a disciple of Christ, meek, loving of mankind and who bore our infirmities... Be patient with the stench of your brother... Sin is not the kind of poison of a viper, from which immediately upon being wounded you suffer excruciating pain, or death itself, so that you would be excused to flee from the beast, or kill it. On the contrary, if you can, heal your brother”... 1036. A champion of the same meek measures against heretics and enemies of the faith was St. Gregory the Theologian in his practice, firmly adhering to these principles. In a letter to Theodore, bishop. Tiansky, he explains the reasons for such an attitude towards the heretics who committed violence against him in the church of Anastasia. “I consider it important to punish those who have offended us, but much higher and more divine than this is to patiently endure the insult. The first stops the mouth of vice, and the second convinces one to become good.” Having then given examples of God’s love for mankind, he calls for people to imitate him. “We do not want to experience for ourselves how heavy the reward for sin is. You see the order in which goodness acts. First it legitimizes, then it encourages, it promises, it threatens, it reproaches, it fights, it takes possession, it threatens again, when it is also forced, it strikes, but gradually gives room for correction. Therefore, we ourselves will not strike suddenly; for it is not safe; but, being chaste with fear, we will overcome with love for mankind and oblige to reverence, torturing us more with conscience than with anger... We will not destroy such a great and glorious cause in such a short time, through slander, perhaps through the envy of the evil one, but let us wish to turn out to be more philanthropic than perfect, more lovers of the poor than lovers of truth” 1037. But we would misunderstand the attitude of St. father to the erring, if, on the basis of the above excerpts, it was concluded that he did not take any restrictive measures in relation to heresies, did not oppose them, and thereby gave them the opportunity to plunder his flock. No, his whole life testifies to nothing other than the fact that he “did not consider it sufficient to mourn the disaster in silence and only raise his hands to God, seek from Him an end to the evils that beset him, and meanwhile rest himself.” On the contrary, he charged himself with the duty of “fighting tirelessly, not sparing his head, not giving sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, not being afraid of war and the beast (Julian) rising against the Church - this fullness of the evil one, even if he threatened with fire, sword, beasts, rapids, abysses, even if he surpassed in inhumanity all those who have ever gone on a rampage, invented the most tormenting hitherto unknown executions.” He sought all possible means to “stop the general fire of the Church and destroy the darkness that surrounded it” 1038. He strictly separated those who teach from the teaching, those who are mistaken from error, and, treating the former with condescension, he declared irreconcilable enmity towards the latter. “Look,” he says, “the tongues of the opponents have become meek, and those who take up arms against the Divine are silent before me. And these are the fruits of the Spirit, and these are the fruits of my work. For I teach, not as an unlearned person, but I strike my opponents with reproaches, as many do, who fight not with teaching, but with those who teach, and sometimes cover up the weakness of their conclusions with reproaches... We prove our warfare for Christ by the fact that we fight, imitating Christ, who is peaceful, meek and bore our infirmities... But we do not make peace to the detriment of the teaching of the truth, conceding something for the sake of glory, we are called lenient, and we keep the peace, fighting legally, without going beyond our limits and the rules of the Spirit. So I understand this and make it a law for all builders of souls and dispensers of the word: neither to harden with severity, nor to puff up with indulgence, but to observe prudence in speech, and not to exceed the limits in either one or the other” 1039. In using the means of pastoral influence, the shepherd must show wise adaptation to the mental state of each member of his flock and to his external situation - gender, age, economic and social conditions. In other words, the pastor must widely practice the art of private pastoral counseling, as an activity adapted to the individual characteristics of each believer. The need and benefits of such counseling are undeniable. “Pay attention to this wise word,” notes St. father, - most people are thin and, without a directional sign, prone to vice. Few go to perfection. It’s difficult for me to stop the flow, but letting it flow down the slope is very easy” 1040. Thoughts on private counseling were developed by St. Gregory the Theologian quite thoroughly. “The shepherd should not think,” he teaches, “that the same thing is proper for everyone; since not everyone has the same age, the same facial features, the nature of animals is not the same, the qualities of the earth, the beauty and greatness of the stars are not the same... Lions and other animals do not have the same aspirations, as well as husbands and wives, old and young; on the contrary; differing a lot at each age and gender" 1041. Comparing spiritual healing with physical healing, St. The father takes moral teaching from medical practice for spiritual healing. “The healer of the body takes into account the place, case, age, season and the like, gives medicines, prescribes a way of life, warns against harmful things, so that the whims of the patient do not interfere with the art: sometimes, when and on whom it is necessary, he uses cauterization, cutting and other, even more cruel methods of treatment. Although all this turns out to be very difficult and difficult, however, it is not so much as observing and healing morals, passions, behavior, free will” 1042. “The art of medicine looks little inside, but is more concerned with the visible: spiritual healing all relates to the inner man, it fights against sinful death, which is more terrible than physical. Therefore, if it is desirable that human souls, which are most preferable, be well healed and cleansed, then you need to have the art of healing and cleansing them, so that both the healer and the healed will benefit from this” 1043. “If in bodily healing the healthy or sick state of the flesh, poverty and wealth, glory and disgrace, humiliation and nobility, etc., bring great benefit, then in spiritual healing everything that, being indifferent in itself, becomes better or worse according to the use or arbitrariness of those who possess it, is important” 1044. Therefore, where “there is a danger of losing the salvation of the soul, the blessed and immortal soul, which will be eternally either punished for viciousness, or glorified for virtue, what feat is required and what information is needed in order to well correct the way of life and conquer the spirit? For the concepts and aspirations of man and woman, of old age and youth, of poverty and wealth, of cheerful and sad, of sick and healthy, of superiors and subordinates, of wise and ignorant, of timid and courageous, of angry and meek, of those who stand firm and those who fall, are not the same. And if we take a closer look, what a difference there is between those who have entered into marriage and those who are celibate! And among the latter again - between the desert dwellers, between those in hostels and between those remaining in the world! Between those who are experienced and successful in contemplation and between those who simply do their duty! Between city dwellers and rural dwellers, between the simple-hearted and the cunning, between those busy with business and those living idlely, between those who have suffered a betrayal of happiness and the successful ones who have not encountered failures! All of these differ from each other in desires and aspirations - sometimes more than they differ in bodily appearance, or (if you like) in the combination and dissolution of the elements of which we are composed; and therefore it is not easy to have control over them. But just as different bodies are given medicine and food, some are suitable for the healthy, others for the sick: so souls are healed in different ways and in a different way” 1045. The individual characteristics of each believer require different treatment measures. “Witnesses of such healing are the sick themselves. Some are edified by the word, others are corrected by example. For some, a scourge is needed, and for others, a bridle, for some are lazy and incapable of doing good, and such should be aroused by blows of words; others are beyond measure ardent in spirit and uncontrollable in their aspirations, like young, strong horses running further than their goal, and such can be corrected by a curbing and restraining word. For some, praise is useful, for others - reproach; but both in time; on the contrary, without time and without reason they harm. Some are corrected by admonition, others by reprimand, and the latter either by public reproof or by secret admonition. For some are accustomed to neglecting admonitions made in private, but come to their senses if they are reproached in front of many, while others, when the reproaches are made public, lose shame, but they are humbled by a secret reprimand, and for such condescension they reward themselves with humility. Others, puffed up by the thought that their affairs are secrets, which is what they care about, consider themselves smarter than others, and in such people it is necessary to carefully observe all, even the most unimportant, actions; and in others it is better not to notice anything else, and, as they say, seeing not seeing, hearing not hearing, so as not to suppress them with jealousy of denunciations, to arouse them to perseverance, and, finally, not to make them daring to do anything, destroying shame in them - this is a means of instilling humility. Sometimes you need to be angry without being angry, to show contempt without being despised, to lose hope without despair, as much as everyone’s nature requires; others must be healed by meekness, humility and participation in their best hopes for themselves. Some are useful to win; from others it is often more useful to be defeated yourself; and one should praise and criticize - one has wealth and power, and another has poverty and disorder of affairs. For our healing is not the same as virtue and vice, of which the first is always and for everyone the best and most useful, and the last is the worst and most harmful; We have the same thing, for example, severity or meekness, as well as everything else that I have calculated, not always, even for the same people, it turns out to be either the most saving or the most dangerous. On the contrary, for some one thing is good and useful, and for others another, the opposite of the first - according to what time and circumstances require, and as the temperament of the person being treated allows. Although no matter how much care and intelligence one uses, it is impossible to depict everything in words and grasp it in thought in such detail that the entire course of healing can be briefly seen; however, in actual experience and in practice, this becomes known to both medical science and the doctor... In our business... it is very dangerous that, due to a bad life or ignorance... the shepherd himself falls into sin, and draws the governed into it 1046. Another analogy of St. the father sees in the treatment of animals. “If someone wanted to tame and tame a multiform and diverse beast, made up of many, large and small, gentle and fierce animals; then, without a doubt, it would take a lot of work and effort to control such a monstrous creature of such different properties; because not all animals love the same sounds of voice, food, caresses, whistling and other ways of following them; on the contrary, for some one thing is pleasant and unpleasant, and for others another, according to the nature and habit of each. What should the guardian of such a beast do? Of course, if you want to manage the beast well and take care of it, you must acquire multifaceted and varied information for this, and use a walk appropriate to each property of the beast. Thus, since the general body of the Church, like one complex and heterogeneous living being, is composed of many and different morals and minds; then it is absolutely necessary for the primate to be both simple, relatively correct in everything, and as many-sided and varied as possible in order to treat everyone decently, and equally capable of useful conversation with everyone. For some, due to their abilities, are infants, and one might say, not yet strong enough, and require milk for food, that is, the simplest and most basic lessons, and cannot take verbal food befitting a husband. And if someone were offered, they would not be able to afford such food; then, having tasted and become burdened, they would have suffered damage even in their former strength. Others, who have sufficiently trained their senses to distinguish between true and false, have a need... for higher and more solid food. And if they began to give them milk to drink and feed them with plants - the food of the weak, then they would rightfully be upset that they are not strengthened according to Christ, they are not allowed to grow in praiseworthy growth, which is produced by the word, which makes a man well fed by it and brings it to the measure of spiritual age" 1047. People are also different in their attitude towards the gospel preached to them. Some have unenlightened minds, others have uncleared ears. Some listen more to the word, others less. Hearing it in the hearts of some produces a timely blow and fertilizes their understanding; in the hearts of others it does not cause an echo 1048. “Some are rich in the gift of contemplation, stand above many in spiritual success; the other is poor in mind and poor in language, does not know figures of speech, riddles of the sages, etc. But everyone has the means to be saved through the assimilation of grace. Just as in human life there is a lot of difference between the kinds and rules of life, of which some are higher, others lower, some are more noble, others are less glorious, so in the Divine life there are many paths to virtue... Or, although one food is not suitable for everyone, everyone needs their own, according to the difference in age and habits” 1049. “Do not set a long-tailed monkey as a model for a lion,” this is how St. succinctly expresses himself in his figurative language. father of the truth of partial pastoral counseling 1050. Practical examples of private counseling from St. the father sees in the work of the Lord, who “is made to the Jews a Jew, to those under the law to be made under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, to the weak, to be made weak, in order to save the weak. He becomes everything to everyone in order to win everyone... He changes places one after another... Now he teaches on the mountain, now he talks on the plain, now he goes into the ship, now he rebukes the storms and sometimes cries. He is condescending to everyone, endures everything, becomes a fisherman, casts nets just to extract fish from the depths, i.e. a person swimming in the fickle and salty waves of life" 1051. Likewise, St. ap. Paul used a variety of methods of healing: now love for mankind, now severity, now confusion and dissolution, and love for mankind and severity, so as not to weaken with meekness, nor to harden with severity. He lays down the laws for slaves and masters, superiors and subordinates, husbands and wives, parents and children, marriage and celibacy, abstinence and luxury, wisdom and ignorance, circumcision and uncircumcision, those who live according to Christ and according to the world, flesh and spirit. He thanks for some, reproaches others; He calls some his joy and crown, others he accuses of madness. He who walks rightly is accompanied and sympathized with; and those who walk cunningly are stopped. He now excommunicates, now affirms love, now cries, now has fun; sometimes he gives milk to drink, sometimes he touches secrets; sometimes he descends, sometimes he leads him to heights; sometimes he threatens with a club, sometimes he embraces him with a spirit of meekness; sometimes he exalts himself with the high, sometimes he humbles himself with the humble 1052. St. Gregory glorifies the pastoral adaptability of his father, - in a word of praise to him, - which united in itself the wisdom of the serpent in the judgment of evil and the gentleness of the dove in the judgment of good, not allowing prudence to become evil and simplicity to reach imbecility" 1053. The same qualities of St. Gregory notes in the pastoral activity of St. Basil the Great 1054 and St. Athanasius the Great. He especially praises the art of private counseling and the pastoral diversity in the management of St. Athanasius, who influenced others “by praising some and punishing others moderately: inciting some to slowness, curbing ardor in others; caring for others so that they do not fall somehow, and for others, giving them the means to correct themselves after they have fallen; being quiet with those who humble themselves, exalted with those who are pompous..., really in oneself, combining everything that the pagans attributed in parts to one of their gods” 1055. St. himself Gregory the Theologian, at the very beginning of his pastoral activity, in Homily 9, “Protective on Ordination,” asks his father to “teach him his love for the flock, care and prudence, attentiveness and victories.” “Tell me which pastures to lead the flock to, which springs to go to, or which pastures and waters to avoid; whom to shepherd with a club and whom to shepherd with a pipe; when to take out to pasture and when to call from pasture... how to raise the weak, raise the fallen, convert the erring, recover the lost, preserve the strong; How can I learn this and observe this in accordance with the true and your teaching about the duty of a shepherd... Teach me this, strengthen me with these rules...” 1056 Taught and reinforced, he widely used the techniques of private counseling in his pastoral practice, shepherding and guiding each member of his flock into the Kingdom of Heaven according to his position and condition. So, for example, considering himself obliged to give laws to the legislators themselves, he exhorted kings to be merciful towards their subjects, for whom they should be gods, and taught them humility. He persuaded the dignitaries of the court to rely more on God, and not on earthly power; to those proud of their nobility by origin, he pointed out their ignoble ancestors and thereby humbled their pride; he admonished the sages and sophists by exposing the wrongness of their teaching; he called on the rich to lighten “their ship” with alms; He exhorted the inhabitants of the “first city - the capital” to be first in morals, to excel in virtue and not to give temptation with their behavior 1057. Otherwise he admonished the female sex, otherwise - the male; and from the first otherwise married and otherwise virgins 1058. Otherwise, he convinced the angry boss and his subordinates who were otherwise guilty 1059. He spoke differently to the villagers, differently to the soldiers, differently to the city rulers, differently to the philosophers and rhetoricians 1060; otherwise for the boss and royal official 1061, otherwise for monks and virgins, and otherwise for those living in the world and getting married 1062; otherwise rich, otherwise poor 1063; otherwise modest women, otherwise those who love dresses 1064; otherwise good, otherwise vicious 1065; otherwise patient, otherwise cowardly, otherwise slanderous 1066; otherwise faithful, otherwise separated, otherwise brotherly loving, otherwise self-loving 1067; otherwise he talks as a consolation to those mourning death, otherwise to those lamenting about separation, otherwise about famine 1068; differently to those who love to theologize inappropriately, differently to curious co-questioners 1069, differently to those who superstitiously postpone baptism, differently to those who wrongly theologize, differently to those who are tempted, differently to offenders 1070; otherwise to our own, otherwise to strangers 1071; otherwise he admonished the healthy, otherwise the sick 1072; otherwise oppressors, otherwise covetous, otherwise greedy usurers 1073. The letters of St. are especially replete with features of private pastoral counseling. father, his private messages and poems. Guiding everyone to salvation in different ways, St. Gregory the Theologian gives one piece of advice to every husband and wife, old and young, city dweller and villager, commoner and boss, rich and poor - since everyone is called upon by one feat: “get ready to fight for the disgrace of the world, do not relax, do not hesitate, do not waste time, which is no longer possible to return. For the present is the time of doing, and the future is the time of reward” 1074. In this field of active ascent to moral improvement and acquisition of the joys of an eternally blissful life, shepherds must be ahead of everyone, remembering that “crowns are given to those who labored, and not to those who sat on top” 1075. Chapter 4. Shepherd as a member of society “A leader needs hands, an adviser needs prudence (I, 48). The shepherd, as a person placed in a certain relationship with the people around him and acting in the given conditions of life, one way or another, responds to the events taking place around him, takes part in public life, is a member of not only the church society, but also the state one, and acquires a special appearance not only as a religious figure, but also as a social one. This situation puts the shepherd in an ambivalent attitude towards life and can be significant from two sides. Namely: on the one hand, shepherds, cutting into life, can make beneficial changes in it, as cultural workers, public figures, bearers of the highest ideals. On the other hand, moving in the world, shepherds themselves become infected with worldly customs and vices, then bring disharmony into pastoral life, deteriorate in their morals, and then their bad influence on the lives of others is inversely proportional to their positive inner content. Until the time when St. Gregory of Nazianzus, a Christian society just emerging from a state of humiliation, had a rather bright appearance. Oppression and persecution taught him to desire the purest and most complete happiness; The pastoral class, sacrificing itself for the good of its neighbors, in the crucible of external misfortunes and struggles, was purified and became internally stronger and stronger. But in the time of St. Gregory the Theologian’s position as a Christian teacher was not associated with external danger; on the contrary, it was often accompanied by honor, wealth and strong influence. The structure of church and social life has now moved away from the simplicity of the times of the apostles and early Christians. The bishops put aside the pilgrim staff of the messengers of Christ, and in chariots with magnificent retinues they appeared in the palace of the emperors, where they were given the same honors as the first dignitaries of the empire. They took care that their voice had power in the royal council. All this increased the means and reasons for the corruption of the morals of the clergy and gave rise to many defects among them, which deeply outraged St. father and gave him rich food for his satyrs. Present some characteristic features of this aspect of the church-social life of pastors and indicate the attitude of St. father will form the subject of the present last chapter of this book. 1) The first stumbling block and temptation for the pastors of that time was the question of attitude towards material wealth. The Church, as a persecuted society, during the first three centuries did not have the legal capacity to acquire and own property, although it actually owned religious buildings and tombs. According to the rules of St. The apostles custom (1 Cor. 16:2) to make collections every Sunday for the needs of the community; church sums were collected from Christians, which were placed at the disposal of the bishop or presbyter for the poor, strangers, sick and clergy. Over time, donations and contributions of money, land and other property begin to flow into the Church, and the custom of bringing firstfruits and tithes to the Church begins to be introduced. Regular church incomes arose, which the bishop was forbidden to appropriate, although he was allowed to provide himself and the clergy with food and clothing 1076. Since the 4th century, the Church has been enriched with movable and immovable property, partly at the expense of closed pagan temples, partly specially invested in the provision of new Christian churches from emperors and private individuals, through donations and bequests. A significant treasury was collected in the churches, the division of which remained under the authority of the bishop 1077. But bishops or their proxies begin to abuse church property, trying to prove their right to dispose of it without control from the community. They begin to spend enormous amounts of money on representation, on luxurious receptions and outings, on furnishings and furnishings with luxury goods, they begin to pay special attention to strengthening their funds, to raising income, “to calculating annual income,” and they begin to show greed for gold. All this was done at the expense of the poor, to whom, in theory, all the property of the Church belongs 1078. St. Gregory the Theologian was deeply indignant at the fact that the work of pastoring was reduced to a profession, that it was looked upon as one of the sources of income. He himself loved pastoring with all his soul and inspired others to love it for its own sake and for the sake of the great goal that it pursues. “Whoever practices goodness of any kind is not steadfast in virtue: for the goal is missed, and he will abandon the good deed, just as someone who sails for profit does not continue sailing if he does not see profit. But whoever honors and loves good for the sake of good itself, since he loves something constant and has a constant disposition towards good, he is one and the same and does not change... And therefore he will not transform, take on different forms, adapt to circumstances and deeds, become one thing or another, change different colors, just as a polyp takes on the color of the stone to which it adheres, but always remains the same... like an unshakable rock" 1079... We have already seen how St. the father treated material goods and the arrangement of his external decorum 1080. An extremely undemanding lifestyle, the most ordinary, simple food and clothing, together with non-acquisitiveness and ascetic behavior, were more than covered by part of the income from family estates and placed him in an independent position to church income. “Have I gained anything from this people? - he asked the people of Constantinople in his farewell speech; Have I increased my property to any extent, of which I see examples in many?.. On the contrary, I have kept the priesthood pure and undefiled. If I have loved dominion, or the height of thrones, or if I have loved to trample the courts of kings: then let me have no other glory, and if I gain it, then let me lose it!” 1081. But St. father taught as he lived. Church revenues, which formed part of the income of bishops, he recognized entirely as the property of the poor and the altars. 1082 He considered those shepherds who only eat milk, clothe themselves with the wave, slaughter or sell the fat, and leave the rest to the beasts and rapids, to graze themselves, not sheep, as bad.” he called on such people to be unselfish and to acquire the souls of their flock, and not their property 1083. “If, in any case, insatiability is bad,” he taught, “then it is even worse for a spiritual person to be insatiable” 1084. The good shepherd will not allow himself to “be enriched by the poverty of others, he will not mix his wealth with other people’s tears, from which it, like rust and moth, will be lost and vomited” 1085. He will not be “insatiable, like Solomon’s drinker” 1086. “There is good covetousness: the benefit of churches. She and the common salvation are pastoral acquisitions. For what more should the beholder of grief care about? When the whole is in a good or bad situation, then, of necessity, each member of society comes to a similar state” 1087. The only property of the shepherd is his own body, which, moreover, he offers entirely to God and the duty of his calling, and the necessary coverings for the body. His wealth is to have nothing for himself, and to live with a single cross, which for a shepherd is more expensive than many acquisitions 1088. He has “one great wealth - Christ; let the world own the rest” 1089. “Enrich yourself,” he teaches, “not with property, but with piety, not with gold, but with virtue” 1090. “Trust no more in earthly prosperity than in the wind or writing on water” 1091. He condemns the passion for covetousness with a characteristic saying: “do not squeeze what you take in your hands and it blurs” 1092. According to St. father, the shepherd must serve Christ entirely, without dividing his love between Him and the world. “I don’t accept your half-hearted piety,” he says; It is not good if, as in a closed round dance, one holds on with the right hand and the other with the left; so you too, touching the Divine together and separating from Him, half belong to Christ, and half belong to the world, the flesh” 1093. According to the teachings of St. Gregory the Theologian, the sign of true and worthy shepherds and their difference from the unworthy is that the first, both in days of public calamity and in ordinary times, not with the poor, but with a generous disposition of spirit, gather “those wounded by hunger, and some even barely breathing, husbands and wives, babies, elders, all the aged,” and do not hesitate to satisfy their needs, both spiritual and physical, “covering their nakedness and not despising half-bloods" 1094. They themselves imitate their Teacher, who girded himself with laziness and did not disdain to wash the feet of his disciples, and by his active example they incite their flock to be merciful and charitable, teaching them in this also to imitate God’s love for mankind. “The most divine thing about a person is that he can do good. You can become a god without doing anything: don’t miss the opportunity to become deified” 1095. “God will reward people with the same measure that we ourselves measure out to people here” 1096. Finally, the shepherd must be wary of arousing a bad and shameful opinion about himself that he is “at odds with the poor” 1097. So, the title of pastor should not be accepted for carnal purposes, although spiritual benefits are usually put forward, not for one’s own pleasure or glorification from strangers, which is characteristic of a worldly person, for whom there is no other bliss than real life. “For many,” St. explains his thought. father, - did that this title is considered great, autocratic and delivering some kind of wonderful pleasure, even though it was necessary to be the primate and ruler of the flock, which is small, insignificant and brings more annoyance than pleasure 1098. The greatness of the inner mood of the flock, the prayerful spirit, living churches of the living God, animated sacrifices, reasonable burnt offerings, the unity of the flock with the shepherd and among themselves, preventing thieves and strangers from entering it - these are the desired virtues of his flock for the shepherd, and not some other external, spatial or quantitative dimensions 1099. 2) Shepherds of the times of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, along with a prosperous, well-fed life, brought into the pastorate those vices that usually accompany it: carelessness and neglect of the flock, intemperance, satiety. The ascetic mood of the shepherds, their readiness for constant prayerful intercession and self-collection disappeared. The majority of shepherds led a secular lifestyle, diligently attended public places of entertainment, participated in horse races and competitions, caressed and fawned over their superiors, and were pompous and arrogant towards their inferiors 1100 . The vicious lifestyle of most modern saints. the father of shepherds, especially of large cities and in particular the capital - Constantinople, provoked open reproaches and censures on his part. Threatening with the judgment of God and various punishments for obscenity, he calls such shepherds “leaders and teachers of evil,” and their vices – muddy corruption and intoxication, with which those around them become drunk, and their prayers and sacrifices – unworthy gifts 1101. “You have shattered the shepherds and scattered the sheep,” he cried in the words of St. Jeremiah 1102. Such shepherds oppress piety and need to make sacrifices more for themselves than for human ignorance 1103. He admonished them by pointing out the temptation that they instill with their behavior among the flock, puffed up by the thought that their deeds are secret, while their actions, even unimportant ones, are noticed by everyone, drawing a sad conclusion from the teachers to the teaching, bringing the vices of shepherding to public spectacles and ridiculing it on a par with the most depraved people in the assumption that “nothing is so delightful to the ear and sight as Christian and especially; a clergyman desecrated by a spectacle" 1104. In view of the contagiousness of bad examples, the only benefit from the depravity of shepherds is that their behavior “is so disgusting that those who look at them will inevitably go the opposite path” 1105. But such general disgrace weighs heavily on worthy shepherds. Therefore, vicious shepherds for the body of church society are the same as “pray to the bones” 1106. Then, through the vices of shepherds and the temptation produced by them, virtue is devalued and the difficult work of moral progress is easily destroyed. Therefore, St. the father had the right to exclaim: “Faith in God has perished, people’s faith has perished! Where should anyone turn, whose neighbor should they become? If the lamps have become like this, if the light is like this, then judge what is the darkness?... Such are the leaders... and the people are not far behind.” Everyone is wise in evil, even without a leader. There is no difference between good and evil, between prudent gray hair and reckless youth, between a hard-working, God-fearing life and between a dissolute life!... One law: for him to have the advantage who is more vicious than all... Yes, the one who wants everything to merge into one - Christ, man, the sun, star, darkness, good and evil angel... so that gold, and silver, and iron, a pearl with a stone, a drain of sewage and a clean source so that everything merges into primordial chaos" 1107. On the contrary, the good shepherd has a good life and good morals; the degree of priesthood for him is a direct consequence of the known height of his virtuous life and the reward for virtue 1108. The content of pastoral activity - teaching to know God and sincerely honor Him in word and deed 1109 - will be the constant, ever-present content of his life, and such constancy in virtue is very valuable, because individual short-term impulses towards good are fragile and of little value. “What is rare is not a law for the Church,” teaches St. father, - since one swallow does not show spring, or one line does not make a geometer, or one short voyage does not make a sailor” 1110. Hence, the good shepherd will not indulge in amusements when others are in need and suffer, will not deviate so far from God’s truthfulness, will not despise creation for creation, but will try to cultivate Christian virtues and good morals in his flock, experimentally showing in himself how one must be chaste, courageously stand against matter, become a man of spiritual desires and give oneself entirely as a sacrifice to God and one’s neighbors, so that completely and perceive ourselves for eternal life 1111. The good shepherd seeks rest from his labors not in vicious inclinations or among bad associations, but in activities that ennoble and elevate his spirit 1112. The joy of a shepherd and the delight of his working life is the success of his disciples in faith and virtue, the growth of his pastoral sowing and the good harvest of fruits; this is a disinterested joy not only about proper growth, but also about the spiritual gain in virtue of the flock, for which gain the shepherd would not think twice if he had to acquire these spiritual benefits with drops of blood 1113. According to the teachings of St. father, private pastoral life must skillfully combine the features of both solitary contemplative and socially active life, as can be seen in the example of St. Gregory the Theologian. For a shepherd, his home is the same church, where he is renewed in spirit and gains strength for social activities. This is his laboratory, where all his pastoral affairs are conceived and matured, just as “Jesus performed his deeds before the people, and his prayers were mostly free, in the deserts... What lesson was taught here? He, I think, needs to be immersed in silence for an undisturbed conversation with God,” he reasons 1114. “Conversation with God” is the spring and source of pastoral service: he receives both strength and grace-filled illumination in this silent relationship with the Supreme Being. This once again proves the necessity and beneficialness of asceticism for a pastor. True, such a situation of life will not be entirely usual for its accepted order, it will be inconsistent with the life surrounding the shepherd. But, after all, a shepherd should not follow life, but also across it, if it is not pious. He is the kind of person “who is unpleasantly affected by what is pleasant for others, and who enjoys what is distressing for others” 1115. 3) St. gave abundant food for satyrs. Gregory, there was a disorder in the distribution of the highest spiritual positions in the church hierarchy, expressed in the fact that these positions were filled by ignorant, unworthy persons, unprepared for their passage. “It is almost incredible,” says Ullmann, “through what machinations, with what arbitrariness, with what even violence, many bishops achieved their place of honor.”... The decisive influence on the choice of bishops was alternately exercised by the power of the court, the partiality of the clergy and monks, and the will of the people, who often defended their claims to the right of election, previously granted to them, and then gradually taken away, often quite violently, often through rebellion and bloodshed 1116. His indignation at such unrest St. the father expressed in poems “About his life, about the differences in life and against false priests, to the bishops, in farewell words and about flight, and, especially, in the large poem XII in 836 verses, “De se ipso et de episcopis” 1117. According to St. father, seekers of sacred degrees resorted to various baseness during ordination. Depending on who at the moment depended on the provision of a hierarchical position, they “bowed to the pride of the officials, especially those who had power at court and were incapable of anything other than collecting money. It is difficult to say with what zeal and with what intrigues they then came to the very gates of the Tsars; they accused each other, misinterpreted each other, used even piety for evil, in a word, they dared to do all sorts of shameful things” 1118; they cringed, bent, fell at the feet of the strong, sent as intercessors one of their friends who were most disposed towards them and powerful among the authorities, sprinkled gold, justifying themselves by saying that now everything is servile to time. Therefore, often jokingly, they acquire something that cannot be obtained by other means, and is not even bought. In their caressing and ingratiation, the pretenders to the throne knew no limits: they kissed bloody hands, caressed the chin in order to achieve, even if it was a small favor. And they were very flattered if the strong and noble placed them with them, thereby satisfying their petty vanity 1119. When the election depended on the people, then the seekers of thrones and degrees humiliated themselves before the people, they were ready to “reject the words of the Spirit out of concern for gaining love from the people; they arranged entertainment and shows for the people, visiting them themselves to please the crowd. In pursuit of popularity and glory, such “they themselves became like those competing on the lists in dexterity and resourcefulness, or overtaking each other, and this is not in order to moderate passion, curb pride with teachings, or cause tears with sources of tears, but in order to taste one cruel poison that causes undoubted death - to satisfy the passion of chasing passion” 1120. Where the interests of several applicants collided, quarrels, feuds, enmity, and intrigues developed, not stopping at any crime 1121. If we take into account that each contender had his own party of like-minded people, then it is easy to imagine what scenes were played out in the struggle for thrones, although piety was presented as a pretext for hatred. “These leaders and teachers of the nations, givers of the Spirit, shining from the heights of their thrones with the saving teaching and constantly preaching peace among the churches with a broadcast voice, rebelled against each other with such bitterness that, with menacing exclamations, gathering supporters for themselves, accusing others, they themselves were subjected to accusations, indulging in strong movements, running from place to place, plundering what they could only seize before others, in passions for lust and unity of command, destroyed the entire universe" 1122. At the altar servers, according to St. father, some kind of illness specific to their class developed, “a remnant of the original illness: it was an innate evil - never-ending envy, destructive, never calming down, which hurts everything either openly or secretly” 1123. In combination with other shameful and destructive passions - insatiability and hypocrisy, both of these vices were the cause of deep discord and enmity, making the altar servers “indomitable warriors who proclaimed peace and boasted in blood” 1124. Therefore, the meetings of such shepherds of St. the father calls “a gathering of Christ sellers,” “noisy gatherings of geese” or cranes that fight among themselves without any reason,” meetings where there is discord, confusion, and, above all, where all the secret shames of the warring parties are collected in one place” 1125. It goes without saying that under such conditions there could be no talk of any gradual movement from lower to higher places, or of the degree of preparedness for one or another service. All these shortcomings of St. Gregory the Theologian brightly highlighted it with his pictorial, figurative language. “We are somehow overly philanthropic,” he says, “we placed a preaching pulpit in front of the altars and cried out to everyone: come here, whoever wants to, has changed his faith at least two or three times. It's time for the market... No one leaves without profit. Time is most changeable, perhaps the bone will lie on the other side; you didn’t succeed, swords again”... “It’s funny to see what’s happening now. The entrance to the unlocked door is open to everyone, and it seems to me that I hear a herald who stands in the middle and proclaims: come here, all servants of sin, who have become a reproach to people, gluttons..., shameless..., vagabonds..., murderers, people with a barely visible fluff on their beard..., ignoramuses in heavenly things, newly enlightened..., come boldly: a wide throne is ready for everyone; come and bow your young necks under your outstretched right hands: they reach out to everyone, even those who don’t want to! Again manna is given - everyone collects this extraordinary rain into their bosom, some more and some poorer... No one should stay away, whether you are a farmer or a carpenter, a tanner or a blacksmith; no one should look for another divine leader; It is better to rule yourself than to submit to the ruler... Throw away from your hands, some the big ax, some the handle of the plow... and everyone come here; Everyone crowd around the divine meal, crowding and crowding others. If you are strong, drive another... Thus says the loud preacher... 1126. Or in another place: “How easily it is now to become leaders of society, who, without any labor, are suddenly prepared for dignity! Oh, the rapid transformation of morals!.. Just yesterday you were among mimics and actors (what happened after the performance - let someone else say), now you yourself are a new spectacle for us. Recently you were a lover of horses and a rider... but now you are modest and shy... Yesterday, as a speaker, you sold the law, passing laws, today you are a judge and a new Daniel. Yesterday, interpreting the law with a drawn sword, you turned the tribunal into a den of robbers, stealing and raping, and how modest you are today! Hardly anyone changes clothes as easily as you change your morals..." 1127. “It would be even more comforting,” adds St. father, - if only such people would stick to the middle, and not openly betray themselves to the opposite side. These bishops, who have now just learned to know God..., yesterday they were blasphemers, and now they are priests, yesterday they did not dare to approach the shrine, and now they are secret leaders, outdated in vices and new in piety, a product of human mercy, and not a work of the grace of the Spirit; They marked their entire path with violence and, finally, oppress piety itself; It is not their morals that give them their degree, but their morals that give them their degree” 1128. Needless to say, St. Gregory the Theologian severely condemned such an order in replacing episcopal thrones and considered it necessary to streamline both the method of transition from lower positions to higher ones, and the morals of the clergy. One of the motives for his flight from the priesthood he cited was that he “was ashamed of others who, being no better than others, if not worse, with unwashed hands, as they say, with unclean souls, take on the most holy work and, before becoming worthy to begin the priesthood, burst into the sanctuary, crowd and push around the Holy Place. meals, as if honoring this rank not as a model of virtue, but as a means of subsistence; not by service subject to responsibility, but by superiors who do not give an answer... Other vices from time to time intensified and then ceased, but nothing has ever happened, both now and before, in such a multitude as these shameful deeds and sins are now among Christians” 1129. We have already outlined the thoughts of St. father that the precocity of enthronement prevented adequate preparation of candidates for the shepherd. Now let us note his teaching that the violation of completely natural and legal principles in the distribution of sacred offices and the mutual bickering of the primates because of them led to a lowering of moral principles and thereby caused irreparable harm to the Church. “Nowadays the word priest is recognized as one empty name, and it would be better if it were one empty name. Now all fear has been banished from the heart, and shamelessness has taken its place; whoever wishes, both knowledge and the depths of the Spirit are open to everyone... We are all pious only because we condemn the wickedness of others; and we provide judgment to godless people, we cast holy things over to dogs, we cast pearls before swine, divulging the divine to those whose ears and hearts are not sanctified... For us, the most perfect person is the one who speaks more evil of his neighbor” 1130. Meanwhile, “if those who wish to preside... were honored according to order and according to the law of spiritual ascent, if the best and most useful order for those in command, usual in any matter - naval, military, were observed, when the highest position corresponds to the wealth of knowledge and experience in their field, then the work of shepherding would be much more respectable... And now there is a danger that the most holy rank will not become the most ridiculed, because chairmanship is acquired not by virtue, but by intrigues, and thrones are occupied not by the most worthy, but by the strongest” 1131. All this depreciates virtue and, as it were, crowns vice 1132. Can those who are themselves covered with scabs heal others? Can the vicious be teachers when it is difficult for the innocent? 1133. Civil strife and the abuse of shepherds make Christians a new disgrace, but not for angels and men, like Paul, but for almost everyone leading a bad life - both at every time and in every place - in the marketplace, at drunken feasts, among merriments, among lamentations 1134. Bad people among those honored as primates give rise to reproaches of faith and to accusations of the law itself that it allegedly teaches evil morals. If in general peace and unanimity are desired in any organization, then in shepherding they are a necessary connecting principle, without which it cannot stand 1135. 4) In addition to the decrease in his moral level in the pastorate, St. Gregory the Theologian also testified to his decline in mental development. This decline was closely dependent on his morals described above, which led to a disdainful attitude towards science and scientific and literary pursuits. Easy, illegal access to the highest spiritual positions, bypassing careful long-term preparation and serious theological knowledge, which the church life of that time required of the pastor, and the opportunity to bypass scientific education, led to the lack of education of many members of the pastorate. If the benefits of the pastoral title can be enjoyed without theological education, then, in the opinion of the candidates of that time, who or what could make them work so hard and fruitlessly? It is clear that many members of the clergy indulged in laziness, got carried away by extraneous pursuits, and in their justification they invented various evidence in favor of the fact that academic studies are not only unnecessary, but even harmful for the pastor. Some of these, in a strange self-delusion, did not want to hear anything about any requirements regarding mental development, as soon as they were given the grace-filled power through ordination, which power, in their understanding, was supposed to replace the natural development of the mind. At the same time, they abused the examples of those respected fishermen and tax collectors who, although they had no theological education and were simple in speech, nevertheless conquered the whole world with the power of their words 1136. Others, who moved to pastoral ministry directly from various everyday professions, often of a low grade, due to their lack of preparation, not only did not have any theological education, but were downright ignorant. Shepherds, according to St. father, often did not even know the first elements of faith 1137. And since they were for the most part vicious people, their ignorance was not at all covered by their piety. Still others, finally, out of a false pious fear of becoming infected with paganism, which concentrated the learning of that time, degraded the importance of external learning in comparison with revelation 1138. None of these objections to the scientific education of St. the father did not leave without a thorough refutation, declaring himself, at the same time, an ardent defender of this great world power and leaving us with instructions on how to use pagan learning. To those who denied the need for scientific education for a pastor, boldly comparing themselves with the godly apostles, he offered to show the same power of miracles that they had if they were as holy in life as these inspired men. The Holy Father, with a sharp knife of sarcasm, opened up the purulent scab of ignorance, laziness, depravity and hypocrisy, hiding behind their supposedly plausible argument. “You refer to the apostles, who, not being scholars, conquered the world by the power of words... This is true. But these were the apostles, and this was given to them so that the effect of the word they preached would be all the more wonderful. But give me the faith of at least one apostle, show me one who, like the apostles, would live without money, without a specific home, without shoes, rich in hope alone... Show me one who would cast out demons, heal lepers, raise the dead... After that we will make you an accomplice of the angels... You refer to the apostles. Matthew was a publican, but he is a virgin, and is glorified not as a publican, but as a vessel of the Holy One. Spirit; Peter is the head of the disciples, but he is the rock of faith, and appears not as a fisherman, but as a teacher of faith" 1139. To those who disparaged learning, ostensibly out of fear of a pagan infection, but in fact guided by hypocritical considerations, he replied that “one should not disparage learning, as some talk about this, but on the contrary, one must recognize as stupid and ignorant those who, holding such an opinion, would like to see everyone like themselves, in order to hide their own shortcoming in a common lack and avoid being accused of ignorance” 1140. He responded to all opponents of science with praises of not only Christian, but also external learning, which, if any Christian abhors, it is because of a bad understanding 1141. We already know that St. my father valued science above all and most dearly, and in particular the queen of sciences - eloquence, considering the possession of it to be his inalienable treasure, an inseparable acquisition; he was proud of it as a high gift from God, as an object of his glory. The memories of his school years and the long years of labor spent collecting knowledge in the centers of learning of that time were his favorite memories of the experience, filling his soul with joy in the difficult moments of his ascetic life. "Science! Dear Athens! Early conditions to lead a divine life!” 1142. Hearing unkind comments about learning for St. Gregory, a Greek by birth, an old Hellenic in mind, brought up on a high mental culture; to hear from people who hypocritically justified their ignorance, who condemned and humiliated, in essence, the Great Mind, the source of human knowledge - how sad it was to hear all this and to reckon with such an opinion of the ignorant for a person who “had almost exhausted the sweet cup of science with his greedy mind” and was sad that he had not “still tasted everything as he would have liked, and had not yet flown around on full sails.” a whole sea of sciences!” 1143. He praises St. Cyprian for the variety of his information and for the height of his knowledge 1144. Eulogies from St. Vasily V. is a complete panegyric to science. He glorifies his friend for his success in philosophy, “truly sublime and extending to the heavenly, i.e. in the active and speculative, as well as in that part of it that deals with logical arguments and oppositions, as well as competitions, and is called dialectics - in astronomy, geometry, the science of the relationship of numbers and in medical science, this fruit of wisdom and hard work; he calls it “a ship, as much loaded with learning as this can accommodate human nature” 1145. Julian’s attempt to close schools for Christians under the plausible pretext that divine revelation provides all the information Christians need, he denounces as a cunning attempt to deprive the Church of one of its most important benefits and cause irreparable harm to the cause of the Gospel, reducing it to a religion for the ignorant and weakening it by depriving it of the opportunity to fight enemies with the same weapons 1146. Julian’s other motive, that Hellenic education belongs to paganism, he calls unreasonable, malicious and arbitrary, “for Hellenic literature belongs not to paganism, but to language and is a universal property,” which is why the prohibition on Christians being educated in words and thereby allegedly stealing other people’s property is untenable. “This would mean the same thing if we were not allowed to use all the arts that were invented by the Greeks, but to appropriate them to ourselves by the same similarity of name” 1147. We saw how St. Gregory the Theologian cared about the scientific education of Christian boys, seeing this as the best means of “making them doves out of whirlwinds,” in the characteristic expression of St. Basil the Great in a letter to Libanius 1148. He chose teachers for the young men, wrote them letters of recommendation, and inquired about their successes 1149. A witty letter on behalf of a mother sending her son to Livanius will remain an eternal memory of the attitude of St. father to science 1150. Then, he himself willingly corresponded with rhetoricians and exchanged books 1151. Finally, in two epistles - “From Nikovul son to father” and “From Nikovul father to son” 1152, St. the father outlined in detail his view on the scientific education of Christian youth, thereby giving all pastors fatherly instruction on this issue. These messages are so fascinating that it is impossible not to quote them. The Holy Father puts a touching plea into the mouth of Nikobul the son to give him an education: “You gave birth to me, father, and raised me. This is not a great deed: animals do the same for their young. You give food to both slaves and oxen... I do not desire gold, silver, silk fabrics, or the shine of precious stones... To others I provide noble marriage, thrones, and amusements. Perish everything that the whirlwind of bitter life brings, with which here and there the dust that is unfaithful to everyone swirls... In return for everything, now, parent, I wish one thing - to be strong in words. The power of eloquence is wonderful, but it is also wonderful to have a mind enriched with history, because history is the storehouse of wisdom, the mind of many. Not unimportant are grammar, logic and that science through which improved men form good morals in a person, like cottage cheese that takes the form of a wicker vessel. The witty research conveyed by the sages in books is not unimportant... They, the sages, understood the nature of things, both air, and earth, and sea, and heaven. Their research tries to comprehend the laws of God's universe and world governance. Their thoughts strive for the Divine Spirit and His glorification, having Christ as their leader in their flights. They long to contemplate with pure eyes the truth itself.”... The son asks his father to provide funds for an educational journey through the centers of learning of that time. “Give me what makes a person happy.” Perhaps the father is accumulating wealth for his son in order to see him wealthy and happy. But what is the pleasure of having a monkey at home - this is an ugliness in human form, decorated with golden loops? The outfit does not change the funny and stupid appearance. What joy is it for a donkey to wear talents of gold? The donkey, although hung with gold, does not stop crying like a donkey. What is the use of hiding a lead sword that is useless for a combatant in a silver scabbard? And such is the man who exalts himself by appearance alone.” The son promises, on his part, to make every effort to justify his father’s expenses, asks his father not to spare property for his education, and convinces his mother to join his requests, “to call them parents not only of earthly nature, but also of an immortal soul.” “For you, father, I am more valuable than any property... Be for your son not a man, but a God!” 1153. The father answers his son: “Wanting to be strong in words, you, my son, want beautiful things. And I myself delight in the word that King Christ gave to people as the light of life, as the preeminent of the gifts sent down to us from the heavenly circle. And He especially loves his name – “The Word”. Meeting the wonderful aspirations of his son and glorifying the importance of education, the father gives his young and inexperienced son a number of instructions. He wants to see in the young man more modesty, less arrogance; more humility, less insolence; he wants to force him to teach his mind humility, caution in words, not giving them freedom, cutting off everything unnecessary, limiting his ardent impetuosity, in a word - cultivating in himself good morals and virtue. He instructs his son which of the three paths of life he should choose, and how to look at academic studies in order to become not only a scientist, but virtuous, chaste, or, as the saint likes to put it. father, wise" 1154. Without giving long-winded comments on these words, let us note the clear and definite thought of St. father that scientific education is necessary for a person to tame passions and the formation of morals, for the development of God-given abilities, for understanding beauty and truth, for striving for the Highest Being 1155. True education not only does not teach paganism or vices, but attracts to God, forms wisdom as the totality of mental and moral success, teaches dominion over passions and encourages us to strive for good in every possible way 1156. Without education a person cannot be completely happy. After what has been stated, it is self-evident how untenable is the opinion of those individuals who, on the basis of the letters of St. father to Gregory of Nyssa regarding the latter's opening of a school of rhetoric, to the rhetorician Eudoxius with advice to abandon his profession, to Adamantius on the issue of sending him books of rhetorical content - they consider him an opponent of classical education 1157. It must be stated that St. Gregory the Theologian, respecting secular education and defending its necessity from the attacks of hypocritical ignoramuses, did not, however, attach unconditional importance to it and did not give preference to learning over theology, but demanded from it a service attitude towards the latter. “Your information is based on Hellenic literature,” instructs St. Father Seleucus, - subdue, as is proper, in service to the freedom of true dogmas and the wise understanding of the Scriptures. For justice itself demands that spiritual wisdom, as heavenly and originating from God, should dominate over profane learning, as over a servant who should not be arrogant in vain, but trained in humble service. For let earthly wisdom be the slave of divine wisdom" 1158. “It is important to study philosophy, but it is even more important to learn the fear of God” 1159. Philosophy is external wisdom. From it we must borrow everything that can further our wisdom, because we need strength in the Word, and discard what cannot make us better. Philosophy is necessary and important, however, the first and most important thing is to know God and sincerely honor him in word and deed 1160. This is the teaching of St. father. If from this point of view we look at his letters above, we will see that their meaning is different than what is sometimes given to them: St. He reprimands Gregory of Nyssa not for devoting himself to rhetorical studies, since he himself at one time indulged in them, but for preferring for this the position of reader and sacred edible books - salty and undrinkable, the title of Christian - to the rhetorician; from Eudoxius the rhetorician, as a teacher of morals, he demands a corresponding moral height and calls him to the highest perfection, from childish babble, which in itself is his occupation in comparison with the absolute truth - to the One Eternal Good; Likewise, he advises Adamantius to ask and seek more divine books, rather than secular ones, to try not to babble like a child, but to look into true learning 1161. Let's go back to where we started. If scientific studies are necessary and beneficial for people, then for a shepherd they are obligatory, “for a leader needs hands, an adviser needs prudence” 1162. “Education gives great strength to a shepherd, like an ax to a woodcutter” 1163. The shepherd also needs it as a preparatory means for the correct understanding of “the books written by the Spirit through the tongues of holy men, so that, then, with the help of high books and divine prophets, we can become knowledgeable in heavenly things, appear enlightened by God himself and ascend higher and higher, as far as it is possible for us, one-day-old creatures, to ascend here to God” 1164. “When your mind,” writes St. father to the same Seleucus, - as soon as he has sufficiently tested his strength in various works of literature in the field, then occupy him with inspired scriptures, collecting the great wealth of the two testaments" 1165. According to St. father, the shepherd must be at the height of his contemporary level of scientific education. This is evident from the arguments that he gave to substantiate his teaching on the importance of education for a pastor. It is precisely this that is needed as an apologetic means in order to, with the help of a logically developed and true wisdom-saturated mind, stop the mouth of a false-named education, as if it is carried away only by seductive words, captivating the ear and heart with sweet speech, elegance of inventions and richness of expressions, for the fruit of one false-named philosophy is often cities built on words, meaningless terms, decompositions of a mixture and etc.; it is needed in order to humble the arrogance of Hellenic philosophers and disgrace their superstition and polytheistic atheism, their vile fables; it is necessary in order for the pastor “not to be poor in mind and poor in language, to know figures of speech, sayings and riddles of the wise, Pyrrhon’s ways of insisting, delaying, opposing, Chrysippian methods of solving syllogisms, the evilness of Aristotle’s tricks, the charm of Plato’s eloquence, - to know and refute everything that, like the Egyptian plagues, harm has crept into our Church, like robber and terrible teachings" 1166. Engaging in pagan philosophy cannot be an alien or reprehensible matter for a shepherd because pagan scientists, “pierced by the arrows of the great deity, came close to the truth, for they looked into divine books, did not wander in complete darkness, but were occasionally illuminated by lightning” 1167. Hence, philosophy and theology, as having a common source of origin, are not alien to each other, but related. However, in order for the study of philosophy, or scientific education in general, to bring proper benefits, one must know how to use pagan learning. The Holy Father gives a number of such instructions, which are very necessary for the shepherd in the work of his education and leadership of his flock. According to St. father, the study of philosophy is a double-edged sword, because “because of the passion for it, young people get angry and go crazy” 1168. “You, my son,” he instructs the aforementioned Seleucus, “preserve good morals, this wealth in the proper sense, which belongs to you and is akin to you, do not allow it to rust by exercising in the sciences, study poetic books, historical writings, eloquent works of history, subtle reasonings of philosophers. But handle all this wisely; with wisdom, collect useful things from everywhere, with prudence, avoid everything that is harmful in every writer, imitate the work of the wise bee, which lands on every flower, but very cleverly takes from each only what is useful. Her mentor is nature itself, and you have reason. Reap abundantly what can bring benefit, and if something brings harm, noticing something bad, fly away quickly; because the human mind is fleeting. Therefore, whatever is written in praise of virtue, study carefully, confirm the thought and the beauty of the speech. And what nonsense they talked about the gods, what immodest fables they wrote, according to the teachings of demons, fairy tales worthy of laughter and tears, fear that as you fear snares and nets. So, go around the thorns, pick the roses. This is the best rule for you on how to read pagan scriptures" 1169. Undoubtedly, there is much that is bad in pagan learning, since it has passed through the consciousness of pagans for centuries. But there is no reason to completely and indiscriminately condemn her for this. “Heaven, earth, air and everything that is on them should not be despised because some have misunderstood and, instead of God, have given them divine worship. On the contrary, we, having taken advantage of what is convenient for life and pleasure in them, will avoid everything dangerous and will not, with madmen, rebel the creature against the Creator, but from creation we will conclude about the Creator... Also about fire, about food, about iron and about the rest - it cannot be said that any of these things is in itself the most useful or the most harmful; but this depends on the arbitrariness of those who use it. Even among reptiles there are such reptiles that we mix them into healing compositions. Likewise, in the sciences it is necessary to borrow research and speculation, but discard everything that leads to demons, to error and into the depths of destruction. We must extract from them what is useful even for piety itself, having learned from the worst through the best and turning their weakness into the firmness of our teaching... And from the verbal sciences we must borrow that one thing that can further our wisdom 1170. There is much in the pagan writings that is tempting for both the mind and the heart of a person, especially a young and inexperienced one. “There are many people who resemble mangy people, or those infected with some other disease, animals who lead the simple-minded into temptation... But you, my good one,” St. cordially instructs. father, - like one who knows how to recognize the goodness of silver, borrow from outsiders what is good, and discard what does not make you better” 1171. As for, then, various kinds of mysteries and rituals, closely related to pagan learning, then for a Christian, every rite and every sacrament is extravagance, a dark invention of demons and the work of a pitiful mind, which time helped, and which was closed by fable” 1172. As an example of a normal attitude towards external learning, St. the father exposes himself and St. Basil the Great. “My cheeks had not yet become pubescent,” he testifies of himself, “I was possessed by some kind of fiery love for the sciences. And I tried to give teachings that were not entirely pure to help the true teachings, so that those who had not learned anything but vain and empty eloquence would not be exalted, and so that I myself might not get entangled in the intricacies of false reasoning... With love, I devoted myself to alien and earthly wisdom, turned to controversial sayings... One glory was pleasant for me - to be distinguished by the knowledge that the East and West had collected and the beauty of Hellas - Athens; I worked on this a lot and for a long time. But having cast all this knowledge down, I laid it at the feet of Christ, so that they yielded to the Word of the Great God, Which overshadows every convolution and varied word of the human mind” 1173. 5) Closely related to the stated shortcomings of the pastoral class of that time, and in particular to the derogation of the taste for serious scientific education, is the noted and condemned St. Gregory the Theologian’s passion for theological debates and the instability of the religious principles of his contemporaries. Not receiving a serious education and treating it with contempt for the most part, the pastors of that time, and, after them, their flocks, arrogantly considered themselves capable and entitled to indulge in theological wisdom and research, getting entangled in them and bringing confusion into the religious life of society. A lot of heresies, rumors, and teachers appeared. Everything argued and contradicted. The truth was brought out of the churches into the streets and squares. “The devil from a bloodsucker became a scientist,” according to Bossuet’s characteristic definition 1174. The Holy Father tried in every possible way to distract his contemporaries from this dangerous path to a more reliable path. In “A Sermon on Maintaining Good Order in Conversation and on the fact that not every person can talk about God at all times,” dedicated to this issue, he points out the harm of natural Greek fervor in words and deeds, which from excess exceeds the limits of perfection and virtue. He tries to cool everyone's passion for teaching. You can't be everyone's teacher. Each member must fulfill its purpose, as is seen in the bodily organism. “The eye does not walk, but shows the way, the foot does not look, the ear does not speak... So it is with us - in the common body of Christ. Let one teach, another study, and another do with his own hands, to give to those who demand and those in need... We will not all be tongues, always ready, not all prophets, not all apostles, not all interpreters... The way of knowledge is better than an arrogant opinion that boasts... Speak when you have something better than silence, but love silence, where silence is better than speech... You don’t know what a gift God is silence! How good it is not to have the need for any word, but to use the freedom to choose something else, and avoid another, and to be for yourself a treasure keeper of both speech and silence! For every word, by its nature, is rotten and easily shaken, and the word about God is even more so, the higher the subject, the stronger the jealousy and the graver the danger... Theology is a very difficult thing, for God is Light and the Highest Light. It is not possible for everyone to enter into communication with Him... But with us, if we have randomly memorized two or three sayings from Scripture, and not in connection and without proper admonition, we must become highly intelligent and become scolders and atheists” 1175. The same in “Homily I on Theology”: “Not everyone can philosophize about God, because people who have tested themselves, who have spent their lives in contemplation, and, above all, have purified their body and soul, are capable of this... I do not even forbid theology..., but timelessness, and not the teaching of doctrine, but non-compliance with the measure. Honey, despite the fact that it is honey, if taken in excess and to the point of satiety, produces vomiting. Even the beautiful is not beautiful if it is produced out of order... It is impossible, having rejected reverence, to philosophize out loud to everyone, both enemy and friend, both well-intentioned and malicious” 1176. Inappropriate disputes and research for drawing up new definitions of religion help as little in clarifying the truth as if someone “began to bend a plant, crooked on one side, with all his effort to the opposite, correcting the crookedness with the curvature, and was not content with straightening it only to the middle, stopping within the limits of piety” 1177. The best way to fight this evil is to entrust the interpretation of Holy Scripture and theology to people called to it, and to choose the truer path of salvation - not words, but deeds, not teaching, but life, as accessible and convenient to everyone 1178. “If this advice were followed, then this excessive, sweet-tongued and clever theology would not have access to the courts of God. On the contrary, to say or hear something new about God and satisfying one’s curiosity would mean the same as playing with stones, or amusing the audience with various body movements. Piety lies in simplicity and nobility of speech, and not in pretentiousness... And despise this new piety, this petty wisdom, expressed in word disputes, more than the fabrics of spiders, which trap flies, but are easily broken through by wasps, not to mention fingers. Teach to be afraid of only one thing, namely, to undermine faith with your false thinking” 1179. Correct philosophy about God is accessible only to a spiritualized person, with an enlightened mind, not mixed with worthless and wandering images, just as the fragrance of the world is not mixed with dirt, a pure person and worthy of the Divine 1180. 6) Pastors, as members of society, are not only teachers, bearers of the highest ideals, but also their embodiment in life. By their personal example, they help the Christian leaven to ferment in the morals of society and process them, rebuilding the entire way of life on the principles of Christianity. If the usual way of life is based on selfishness, then pastors, as the embodiment of the new principle brought into life by the Gospel, the principle of love and selfless service to people, will necessarily make a beneficial change in everyday relationships, replacing old guiding ideas with new ones. The teacher of such exemplary advanced shepherding is St. Gregory the Theologian, and we will now dwell on some of his views on issues of social life. a) In the teaching of St. father’s attitude towards material wealth, we see that in his eyes they did not have the meaning that is usually attributed to them. As we already know, for him it was wealth to collect knowledge, master eloquence and form good morals. He valued material wealth as a means of fraternal communication between believers. His “Word of love for the poor will remain an eternal reproach for heartless people who live only for themselves. This is a continuous cry for attention to the poor, for the fulfillment of the constantly forgotten and trampled commandment of love for one’s neighbors. According to St. father, the possession of property is possible only when it is properly used and when the poor are partners in it. Otherwise, its possession is a sign of mental illness, the passion of covetousness, which is much more painful than the physical one, because it passes into eternal life. “God forbid me,” he exclaims, “neither to live richly when others are in need, nor to enjoy health when I do not give help to heal their wounds, nor to have sufficient food, nor clothing, nor a restful shelter, when I do not share bread with them, do not provide them with clothing as much as possible and do not give them peace under my roof! For we must either leave everything for Christ, so that, having taken up the cross, we truly follow Him or share our property with Christ, so that the very possession of property will be illuminated through the fact that we will possess it as we should, and the poor will be partakers in it... If I begin to build barns, collecting treasures from and for Mammon, then let them this very night extort my soul to demand an account. in the evil acquisition of wealth" 1181. It is impossible to consider earthly goods as anything significant for the reason that they are as unreliable as the wake of a ship on the water, that they are fleeting, flow quickly, “given for an hour,” and like pebbles in a game, they are thrown from place to place and passed on to one or the other... Nothing here can be called one’s own; Everything will either be taken away by time, or envy will transfer it into the wrong hands” 1182. Moreover, earthly goods are directly harmful, since they expose those who own them to a lot of troubles and vicissitudes; they deceive and so bind to themselves with their charm that their owners become slaves, are subjected to often insoluble bonds and lose their human dignity 1183. Finally, the possession of gold, silver, expensive and unnecessary clothing, semi-precious stones and other valuables can be downright criminal if, in its origin, this wealth is the result of wars, civil strife, violence 1184. The only thing that makes it permissible to have wealth is charity. “The beggar is the creation of God’s hand and, therefore, should not be despised... he is your wonderful intercessor” 1185. “Be a god for the unfortunate, for nothing makes a person more like God than charity” 1186. “Love of humanity should be considered the only guarantee of our safety – physical and mental” 1187. The Holy Father was preoccupied with resolving the question of when there would be not a single poor person, and he resolved it in the sense of the broadest donation of property to the benefit of those in need, deeply indignant at the usual disposal of it only for personal needs and calling this order the ignorance of his own experience, what an evil inhumanity” 1188. At the same time, he cruelly ridiculed the passion for wealth, which plunges others into many sorrows and deprivations. “If you want to get rich, then become the chief of robbers” 1189. b) Social differences (as well as property differences) appeared in the human race over time and the cause of their origin is violence and untruth, which produced them. “It wasn’t like that at first. He who created man in the beginning made him free, limiting him to only one law of commandment; made him rich among the sweets of paradise, and at the same time deigned to grant these benefits to the entire human race. Then freedom and wealth consisted solely in keeping the commandment, and true poverty and slavery lay in transgressing it. But from the time when envy and discord appeared, when the insidious dominion of the serpent began, constantly and imperceptibly attracting us to evil with the delicious bait of pleasure, and arming daring people against the weak, - from that time on, kinship between people was dissolved, their alienation from each other was expressed in various names of titles, and covetousness, calling on the law to the aid of its power, forced us to forget about nobility human nature" 1190. The Christian must keep in mind this initial equality of rights and have it as a guide, and not the subsequent division, must look not at the law of the ruler, but at the law of the Creator 1191. What measures should be taken to smooth out social inequalities? Only spiritual and moral ones. “Help, as much as you can, nature, almost original freedom, respect yourself, cover up the dishonor inflicted on your family” 1192 - these are the testaments of St. father. Relations between superiors and inferiors, superiors and subordinates, should also be an expression of mutual love and memory of the original equality of all, not overshadowed by violence and laws. But the conclusion from this St. the father does that for order and improvement you need to obey the authorities and the laws. “Let us submit to God and to each other, and to the rulers of the earth,” he teaches, “to God for all reasons, to each other for brotherly love, to the rulers for the sake of prosperity, and all the more so inasmuch as they are meek and forbearing. Among our laws there is one law - a laudable law and beautifully established by the Spirit, Who gave His laws, comparing the possible and the best. According to this law, as slaves, they must be obedient to shepherds and teachers; so are all who are obliged to give tribute - to obey all the powers that be, not only for anger, but also for conscience, and not to make the law hateful; when doing evil, do not bring yourself to the sword, but, purifying yourself with fear, earn praise from the authorities” 1193. Instilling in his subordinates the duty of obedience to the authorities, St. the father instructed representatives of power by pointing out their responsibility before God for its abuse. “You rule with Christ, and you govern with Christ. He gave you a sword not to act, but to threaten, and may this sword be kept to the Giver as a pure gift. You yourself are the image of God, and you guide the image of God, which must be taken care of here, and with which we must move into another life, and into it we will all pass... Therefore, abide with God, and not with the ruler of the world, with Christ the Lord, and not with the fierce tormentor. Imitate God’s love for mankind... You can become a god without doing anything: don’t miss the opportunity to become deified” 1194. The purpose of leadership is to sow virtue. “Being a boss often means the same thing as being a helper of virtue and an opponent of vice” 1195. But such ideal relationships between superiors and subordinates are always violated in practice. The role of the shepherd in such cases, according to the teachings of St. father, may have the right to grieve and intercede with the higher for the lower, with the rich for the poor, with the oppressors for the oppressed. And we saw how widely St. himself used this moral right. father. From his letters we learn what kind of moral force the authority of the respected shepherd represented, how they submitted to this force, obeyed it, moved under its influence towards the fulfillment of the Gospel law and the establishment of better mutual relations, ones that would brighten up the bitterness of the heavy life cross of those to whom it befell, giving them the opportunity to lift up their spirit in grief and patiently wait for a better heaven and a better earth on which truth lives. IV. 197 – Word 7 about the soul. I. 192–193. St. Gregory the Theologian. VI. 68–71. St. Gregory the Theologian. II. 135; I. 48. 59; IV. 43. IV. 299; V. 176; III. 124. Ullman, Gregorius v. Naz. Gotha, 1866, 365. A. Vinet “Past. Theol, Paris, 1850. 149. V. 220; II. 162; I. 34; I. 51. I. 4; III. 125, 173; V. 152; IV. 80; III. 261–263. I. 10; V. 81; III. 150; I. 246; III. 196. V. 220; III. 262; I. 34; V. 108; II. 241. IV. 100; II. 131; V. 218. Carmen de se ipso et de episc Migne, c c, s git. 37, p. 1186; Art. 270–275, VI, 191. III. 12; II. 216; I. 248 etc. II. 40, 83–84; IV. 18–10. III. 247; I. 109; VI. 132, 158–161. Ap. Right 38, 40, Ap. fast. VIII. 31. A. P. Lebedev. Collection Op. vol. X, ch. 6th. IV. 37; III. 166, 141; VI. 47; II. 193, I. 43. IV. 74:II. 50, 57; III. 55. I. 27, 28, 33, 54, 60; VI. 57. II. 127–28; III. 251–259. G. Ullmann, op. cit., p. 356. Migne. R s. s. gr., t 37. pp. 1166–1227. Migne, c s; With. 1193, verses 393–424 (vol. 37) Migne, c. With. XII, Art. 190–195; c 1179 (vol. 37). Migne, c. Op. verses 197–224. IV. 53, 299; V. 176; III. 124; V. 317. St. Vas. V., tvor., vol. VII. 288. Letters 125–128, 132–134, etc. – VI. 194 et seq. VI. 268; IV. 63; II. 221. I. 16, 165; II. 218–232; IV. 53; VI. 8, III. 127–128; IV. 158. VI. 8; III. 168; IV. 231. VI. 5; II. 142. St. Gregory the Theologian.