Часть 2

Hymn No. 17 That those who are already united with God here through the communion of the Holy Spirit will remain with him after death. For those who are not, the opposite will happen (42:14) 134 The beginning of life is the end for me, The end of life is the beginning for me, I don't know where I'm coming from, Where I am, where I will go, I don’t know. I, like the earth, am born from the earth 135, Like dust from dust 136, being, of course, From decay - perishable and entirely mortal. I live on earth for a few days And I die - I leave this life To another life. I leave my body But I know that it will rise again 137 And he will live forever, endlessly. My God! Look at me now And have pity on me and have mercy. Now, my strength has already left me, I am approaching old age and death. The prince of peace comes to test My deeds are bad and vices. The executioners appeared - they want to grab And take you with you into the abysses of hell. So hurry up, all-merciful God, Dear One, have pity on me, Don't remember my sins now And don't leave me. Don't let me die From the hands of the enemy, who hourly Threatens me, gnashing his teeth And saying, “What do you trust in? You cannot escape my networks! You used to despise my laws And you tried to follow Christ, Now you are in my hands, insignificant, And now you won't leave me: I will not let go of my prey! I kicked Adam and Eve out of paradise 138, I made Cain a fratricide 139, I have deceived and deceived many, Misled, seduced into sin - And the human race perished in the waves of the flood 140. I cunningly captivated King David To adultery and then to murder 141. And I declared war on all the saints, And he killed and destroyed many. So are you, pathetic, thinking of being saved? From my hands and avoid reprisals?“ Master, Judge, Creator and God, Creator of my soul and body! When I hear words like these, I tremble, tremble and am terrified. I cry bitterly before You, Christ, And he, the villain, scares me again: “You don’t fast, you don’t bow, You don't perform night vigils, You don’t pray and don’t work, Which you started when you were young. For this I will separate you from Christ, I’ll take you with me into the unquenchable fire.” But, Lord, Master, You know - I don't rely on my deeds And I believe salvation is not in work, But I resort to Your love, I hope in Your mercy And I expect that for nothing - without my merits You will save me, as you once did the harlot 142, Like the prodigal son, who goes to his father's house He returned with the words: “I have sinned” 143. It is with this faith that I came to You, It was with this hope that I came running, With this hope I came to You. So let him not boast now, Master, Let the wicked prince not say: "Where is your Christ? Where is your Intercessor now? He Himself gives you into my hands.” After all, if the evil one takes me captive, Neglect or negligence, But everything will fall on you, as if You left me. And again he will say: “Look, look what you trusted in! Look who you've approached, you crazy one, Look who you thought you were He loves like an heir and a brother, As a friend, son. Look, he's I left you a long time ago, abandoned you And betrayed me, He betrayed you! Look - your God hates you!“ Do you hear, God, don't leave me, Do not let me perish, O my King. Who once brought me out of darkness, Freed from the jaws of the devil, Suddenly Himself put me In Your heavenly, ineffable light 144. Savior! I see you again And the heart is again wounded by love, And I can't look at you, But it’s also impossible for me not to look. God, I can’t not see you, I can’t bear to be separated from You! After all, Your beauty is unapproachable, Beautiful appearance, unspeakable glory. Which of the people could contemplate You? Who could ever see God? 145 Whose eye can recognize God? Whose mind is to comprehend the One who is above all, Who holds the whole universe with his hand, Who Himself is Everything, but Himself and outside of everything, Who fills the entire cosmos with himself 146, But at the same time - I will say again - outside Mysteriously lives and exists. However, I see You like the sun, I contemplate you like a star I carry you in my heart constantly, Like an expensive shining diamond, I look at You like a lamp, Burning brightly in the depths of the vessel. And at the same time I feel that You You don’t want to reveal all of yourself to me, You don't make me all light And I cannot in all its entirety To know Your greatness and glory. Therefore, it seems to me that I have no life inside me, And my life is You. I'm crying bitterly I cry hopelessly, like a rich man, Who suddenly became poor and inglorious. Seeing this, the enemy says to me: “You will not be saved, you have fallen away from God, Again you were mistaken in your hopes. And access to God is closed for you.” Without answering the devil a word, I blew on him and he disappeared 147. So, I ask and implore You: Be merciful to me, Savior, At that terrible hour when the soul Will be forever separated from the body, So that the enemies running towards me I put to shame with just one breath, So that, protected by the light of the Divine, I would cross, unharmed, And I would stand before Your judgment seat, Having divine grace Inside, which is me, Christ, Saves by making you invulnerable. Who dares to appear before You, Not endowed with this grace? Who can see the glory of the Divine, Not enlightened by grace from above? How can a person see God? How can our base nature Understand the nature of the Divine? God is uncreated, we are His creatures, He is imperishable, we are corruption and dust. He is the Spirit who is above all the incorporeal, Creator of heavenly spirits and Lord, And we are earthly and simple bodies. He is the eternal and divine Creator, And we are just worms, dust and ashes. And which of us could see God, Whenever the Lord Himself would not send To us His Divine Spirit, Which to our weak nature, Gives such strength, strength, power, What makes a person earthly? Capable of seeing the glory of the Divine. Because it’s impossible in any other way See Him coming in glory. Thus the sinners will be separated forever From the righteous, the unclean from the pure. All those who had no light during their lifetime, They will be covered forever in black darkness. And those who were with God in life, At that hour they will be united with Him forever And will never be deprived Communion of the mysterious with God. But those who have passed on to another life Deprived of Divine light - How can they unite with Him there? I would like to hear an answer from you, But it’s better to tell you about it myself. God, having become a man, communicated with people, Connecting with our nature, He introduced to the Divine nature All who believed in Him, and all Those who can prove their faith by works 148. So, only these, says the Lord, They are the only ones who have joined God, They alone will be saved, For the Lord himself, the Creator of the universe, Connected with our nature, As the holy Apostle Paul says, That the Church is the Body of the Divine 149, Free from wrinkles and imperfections, Free from blemish and stain 150, The Head of the Body is Jesus Christ 151. But if this is so, then who Of the unworthy, sinful and unclean Dare to approach God boldly? How can a sinner cleave to God? After all, if they leave now All sinners are from the Church and from the sacraments And contemplation of divine things They are deprived of not being saints, The way it was then - woe is me! - all of them Unite with the Divine Body And they will become members of Christ 152, Stained with dirt and vice? This will never happen, friends! Who are separated from the Body of Christ, From the Church and from the community of saints - Where will they go, to what kingdom? Where can they settle, tell me? After all, Abraham's bosom 153 and paradise and a place of eternal rest It belongs to those who are saved. And who are being saved? Holy people As the Gospel tells us. “There are many abodes,” said the Savior, But everyone is inside the palace” 154. Like the skies are alone, but there are stars in the sky Different from each other in size, Shine, shine, glory, beauty 155, So there is one palace, one kingdom, Or the Heavenly Jerusalem 156. And this kingdom, city and palace, Holy land - there is only one God! How is a person without God in this life? Finds no peace day or night, It will be so after death: outside of Him There will be no peace, no joy, No places devoid of grief and sadness. O brothers! Let's try now The hour of death has not yet overtaken us, Cling with your soul to God - Creator of all things, who for our sake Left heaven, came down to earth, Left the angels, moved into the womb Most Pure and Blessed Virgin, Inexpressibly born of Her, He appeared to save us all. Our salvation consists of - As we said and we will say again Not from ourselves - from God's lips - The fact that the great Light 157 came to earth, The dawn of the next century has appeared, And the Kingdom of God came to earth, The King of the universe himself came down to us from heaven And He became like us in everything, So that, having partaken of the light of the Divine, We shone with reflected light 158 And they became like Him, Partakers of the Kingdom of Grace And sharers of the glory of the Divine, Heirs of eternal blessings, whom No one in the world has ever seen it. That these blessings are the Holy Trinity, Father and God's Son and Holy Spirit. They are the source of blessings and the life of the universe, They are hope, glory and peace, They are the salvation and sweetness of the faithful And unspeakable joy for everyone, Who have partaken of God's radiance, Who feels that they have become related to God. Listen! We call you the Savior We are our God for the reason That He grants salvation to everyone. Deliverance from corruption, evil and death, Acquiring eternal blessings in God, That instead of death they give us life, Light - instead of darkness, and instead of slavery - freedom, That they give perfect freedom To everyone who has united with Christ And they remain in joy forever. And those who are removed from Christ, Those who did not seek God did not strive Unite with Him who have not reached Liberation from death and passions - Are they princes, nobles or kings, Even if they thought and imagined, That they live in joy and sweetness, In fact they never will They possess that great joy, Ineffable and inexplicable, Which all the servants of Christ know, Free from base desires. He won’t know that joy, won’t understand it And no one will ever see Of those who have not united with God, Who did not ardently cleave to Him? And who are not dissolved in Christ, To whom the power belongs, Praise and singing and honor and glory, And worship from every creature, From every breath 159 forever. Hymn No. 18 What does it mean to be “in the image” 160, and that a person is rightly considered the image of the prototype 161. And that he who loves enemies as benefactors is an imitator of God, and therefore, having become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, he becomes God by adoption and grace, being known only by those in whom the Holy Spirit works (44:34) 162 Glory, honor, praise and hymns Who brought the entire cosmos to life With creative words and will 163 – In three Persons, three Hypostases, But in the only nature Supreme Essence 164, Three Persons have one nature, In equal hypostases, Inseparable, inseparable, And giving me a living soul 165, The light let me see In the light there is the world, the moon and the sun, Stars, sky, earth, sea, Everything that fills this world She gave me both intelligence and words 166. But listen to what follows! God gave the word, that is, the mind, After all, verbal ones are from the Word This is the verbal image of the Word. - How? tell me, explain to me! – Listen further to the same word. But the soul is exactly the same These three 167 are one in unity, If you discard one of them, Having lost the ability to speak, All are like dumb people. Abide neither, mind nor word. Represent and Prototype: No Father at all, No Word. The Spirit is the Father, the Son is also the Spirit, Though He was clothed with flesh, But the Spirit, again, is God; From the heart, I’d better say - Never from God the Son 169, But the Son also abides in Him. Although it is not entirely clear, But you can't know him Your image from all defilement, If you can’t get the image - All bombarded with passions - And like snow, you won’t make 170 white Your whole divine image. Your image, then and then you, You will not understand and you will not know, In the unspeakable light of glory All your soul from filth Smart World 171 as far as you can And to your enemies with your love 172. This is love for all people, As friends, you do good to them, Like our own brothers, If you pray for everyone, Everyone cares: both evil and good, One thing - so that he does not die, If possible, then for many. You will become perfect But then for you the Creator - Listen to what I say next! – Compared to what it is now You have 173, but He will breathe The Holy Spirit inside you, This Spirit will dwell in you, And will completely melt down 174, Having made the corruptible incorruptible, He will renew, I say, What they can’t possibly know Everyone who is obsessed with passion, What is unknown to all the proud, Which is always from all the angry ones Flesh lovers, money lovers And gluttons and secret eaters 175, Idle talkers, foul talkers Who always argue with everyone, Who live without any rules 176, And from those who, magnifying themselves, Being nothing 177 of course Who are proud before others Growth, strength and health, Pure hearts 178, do not ask With the warmth of God's heart, To give them the Holy Spirit, Those who do not believe that this Spirit Nowadays, as before, He who does not believe does not ask, He who does not ask does not accept 179, Those who don’t accept are dead, of course. How can one not cry about the dead? It's dead to see the dead And the blind think they see And the deaf think they hear. They cannot feel with feeling, Staying in dead life 180. It is possible for the inanimate to live, And having hearing, do not hear. - How? Tell me. Listen further. Those who live here according to the flesh, Who only look at what is here, Revival to a new life Not granted by God 181, “Man was the first to eat earth, He was created from the earth, The second man is heavenly, For He came down from heaven” 182. Be careful about these words. After all, what was the first, earthy, People were born with earthy And what is the Heavenly Christ like? Those who believe in Lord 183, And baptized with the Spirit 184 . Scripture calls them 185, How it gives them a sign, a distinction, From the earth - He said - the first, For he was created with earthy From heaven - second, Lord All the earth, descended from heaven. The first brought death to all people, Life still brings everyone Light, immortality and incorruptibility 186. I heard that you are a servant Speaks heavenly mysteries? All must be those who believe And do they demonstrate faith in deeds? 187 You shouldn't doubt: What is the Heavenly Christ like? So should you be. What is the Lord of Heaven like? What came down from heaven to earth, Think so, believe so And try to become heavenly, As He Who Descended from Heaven said, Giver of life to the entire universe. He is the bread that comes down from above 188: They will never see death 189, After all, having become heavenly in life, And abandoned mortality, I could call myself that Before from heaven to earth King of earth, Lord of heaven? He took the body from us, As we have said many times 190 . This spirit is like the God of Heaven – What is “all this”? - What I mean Divine, wonderful, He - whomever he finds worthy - What's happening to them? Give me your word, oh my God, Spirit Divine and Eternal, He will accept those as God having recreated, he will recreate them 191 - How can the Spirit not join? - Just like he won’t accept Divine Spirit, incorruptible, Infinite and immortal, He grants all of them no decay, Whomever he deigns to inhabit. Abundant Life 192 He gives to them. As one in nature with Christ, Always united with Him, And in everything they are like Christ. After all, the Lord is not envious, He is not afraid that he is mortal, Seeing us, born people, Was and will be by nature 194. For He is our Benefactor, How can we unite with Him? He says, “How shall we remain?” How can He inhabit us? Try to perceive As our Lord and King said, May the Kingdom of Heaven be yours If you haven't tried here How do you want to dwell with Him? how do you want to enter the Kingdom? Reign, abide there Strive, all of you, diligently, So that the Lord will honor us Live in Your Heavenly Kingdom, Abide with Christ the Master, To reign with Him, Who Hymn No. 19 About the most accurate Theology and the fact that those who do not see the Glory of God are worse than the blind (45:45) 195 O my all-generous God, O my wonderful Creator, Shine even brighter with Your unearthly light, So that your heart will be filled with joy again! Yes, don’t be angry, God, yes, don’t leave me, But illuminate my soul with Your holy light, For Your heavenly light is You yourself, my God. And although we have given You many different names, You remain alone, for You Yourself are Unity. This unity of God is unspeakable, invisible And unknown to all material nature: When we explain Him, we call Him differently. This God's nature is Unity in three Persons, There is one Kingdom, Divinity and Power, There is Unity in Triad and Triad in Unity. There is one God, and not three of them, but He is one in three Persons, Homogeneous to each other in essence and nature, Equivalent entirely and always coequal, In the unity of those who remain unfused together, In separation, on the contrary, inseparable and united As Unity in three Persons, three Persons in Unity. After all, there is one Creator of all, Jesus Christ our God. With the Father Without Beginning and the Divine Spirit. The Holy Trinity is Unity in three Persons, Three in Unity are unfused, in three One is indivisible, That is, three is One, and one is Trinity. Understand, worship and always believe in it! That Unity, having appeared, shone, illuminated everything, Having taught yourself, given yourself over, all sorts of good things happen. That's why we often call this good Not just with one word, but in different ways: with light, Peace, joy, life, food, moisture, dew, A robe, a cover, a heavenly palace, Sunday, east, consolation, font, And fire, and water, and the source of life, And a river, and a stream, and wealth for the faithful, With our daily bread and life-giving wine, A new sweetest feast, a secret pleasure, An ever-shining sun, an ever-bright star And the lamp that shines brightly and clearly in the heart 196. In that Unity there is much: it destroys and builds 197, That Unity through the Word created this whole world, And now the whole creation contains 198 the Spirit of power. And It created the heavens and all the earth, Bringing them into being and composing them miraculously. And It created the animals with its power, Feathered birds and reptiles, fish and everything that we see. Finally, it created me as a ruler And he gave me all this as slaves for service, So that all my wishes and requests are fulfilled. What was commanded by the One God They saved everything and now they keep it, Only I, unworthy, did not show gratitude, Understanding, attention, obedience to God. After all, He created me, He gave me all blessings, I, having transgressed the commandment of God, found myself Obscene and pathetic, worse than all earthly creatures, Worse than fish and animals, and birds and reptiles. I have lost the road that leads to God, And from the glory given to me, I fell away - oh misfortune! – And he lost his luminous heavenly clothing. And, finding myself in the darkness, I lie in it until now And I don’t know that I am completely deprived of light. I say: “The sun is shining for me during the day, and I see Well, at night I light a lamp and I see. Do other people see something more? No, of course: all people see the same thing, And it’s impossible to see anything else here” 199. By saying this, I am seduced, I mock myself, I try to deceive myself, O Savior, Without wanting to know myself that I am completely blind, Not wanting to work and not wanting to see clearly, The condemned man does not want to admit to this blindness. I say: “Who has seen God - the Light of the whole world?” I say so vainly and insensitively, God, As if I don’t understand that I’m thinking wrong. The man who says he doesn't see the light Claiming loudly that this is impossible - Contemplate, O Master, the light of Divine glory - Shamelessly rejects all the writings of the prophets, All the books of the apostles, all Your commandments And the words, Jesus, are all Your condescension. If You shone upon us from the heights of heaven And he appeared in the darkness and came, the Merciful, To this world to be with us inseparably, And he said “I am the light of the world” 200, but we do not see You, Are we not all completely blind, my Christ? We are truly worse than the blind people in this world. We are not only blind, but also dead, God, After all, we do not see You - the life-giving Light! Those blind people are not able to see the sun sensually, But they live, Vladyka, they even move somehow, For the earthly sun does not give us life, But it only sends light so that we can see better. You combine within yourself the totality of all blessings And You give them to those people who contemplate Your light. You are the Source of life, You give life to us Together with all the blessings that reside in You. Whoever owns You, owns everything! May I, O Master, not lose You, Creator, I, humble and wanderer, will not be deprived of You, O Blessed One. Yes, I am a wanderer, my God, because You want it so, But I didn’t become a stranger here of my own free will - By Your grace, having seen the light of heaven, I realized myself in this world as a guest 201 And with an illuminated mind I knew that in the heavenly And you translate the invisible world of all people, Settling the worthy among the palaces of heaven, Dividing homes according to business - With how everyone tried in this temporary life Preserve, O Savior, all Your commands. Therefore, I beg you to do it there too, Although I have sinned a lot - more than anyone else in this life, And he is worthy of torment and all the executions in that world. But accept me, God, I fall to You: Like a harlot and a publican 202, I weep and weep. I don’t know how to cry like him, oh my Christ, I can’t wipe your feet with my hair, But You give me mercy and pour out love, You exude goodness - through this have mercy! Yes, nailed to the cross by His hands, Yes, nailed to the cross with His feet Pierced with a spear 203, merciful Savior, You have mercy, sparing me eternal torment, Honor me now to serve You, O Savior, And to appear before You and not be condemned, To move inside the palace, where with You, Master, I will remain in wondrous joy forever. Hymn No. 20 A word in the form of a dialogue between God and the author of these words 204. And about how, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, this Divine Father (Simeon) talked with God and from Him mysteriously learned the Divine and human (53) 205 Look, O Christ, at the sorrows, God, have mercy on the weak, Shine upon me even now, the Word, As you once shone upon me, So that I can see You, Light of the world 206, The joy and joy of the faithful, Immortal eternal life, The unspeakable sweetness of angels And paradise and the heavenly kingdom, And the crown of all the righteous 207, O God, Why are you hiding your face? Separating from me, my God, After all, you don’t want to be separated With everyone who loves You? Why are you crushing me? Why do you hit so mercilessly? You know that I love you Open up to me, as You said, I learned that You are not deceitful, O God, Those who love You, You love And you talk like with friends, Not like a mind with another mind, But like the original Logos, Like life in the hypostasis of the Word, And with those whom You give birth to By Your Holy Spirit, my God, Or brothers - I’d rather say - You speak to them, my Christ, You constantly see them all, Show love to the person And Your mercy, Savior, Who believed while in the flesh, In You, O Christ and my God, Open for me, and the doors of light Do not close it before me, Christ! - Why do you burden Me with your words? O son of earthly man? 208 Why are you talking unreasonably? As if I am hiding My face? Why do you think that the doors Why do you think wrongly? What about I'm separating from you? Why do you say that I burn, Your words are unfair There is nothing reasonable about them. What will I tell you? I was light before creation To all visible creatures on earth, And along with everything I was not, However, without merging with anything, I was with everything. I was nothing and I was not in everything. Among visible creations, That they live without feeling and with feeling 209, That they separated from me long ago Breathed a living soul into him 210, Understand what I'm telling you! I breathed a living soul into You - And she entered the body as into her own house 211, I accepted it as my instrument 212, And the unity of the two appeared. I call you, man, A living and intelligent creature 213, A double man, consisting Unspeakably of two natures: An unreasonable, visible body, Completely insensitive 214, And invisible, in the image of God 215, What lives among everyone - oh miracle! – Among the creatures of the earth, I say. – What creatures were you talking about? – About material and spiritual 216. What you see is real The angels of God are immaterial, So he stands between them - Among the sensual he is immaterial, And among the immaterial - sensual, And how sensual I made Lord of all that he sees, Like slaves, all earthly creations, And he glorified Me, the Creator. How intelligent by nature And able to mentally see I allowed him to see me, Having been honored with angelic honor 217. Understand what I told you! A man is double by nature, I contemplated all My creations, When he ate of the tree, At that very moment he became blind, finding himself In that mortal pitch darkness. He hoped to hide from Me 218, But he thought of it crazy For where could he hide from God? And in what place, tell me? But now you think even worse And even more unreasonable than this, It's like I'm hiding from you I don’t even want you to see Me! If I didn't want to be seen, Why did you become visible to everyone? Don't be completely unreasonable Primordial Adam, having gone blind, He was convicted by Me, the Lord, Adam did not resign himself at all, And he said: “The wife sinned, which You gave me 219, O God,”– That I was the cause of sin. And the wife puts all the blame on the serpent 220, And none of them are completely Didn't confess to his sin. And fell into this sensory world Wordless from the verbal, Material from spiritual Strange miracle! Like a body And the soul found itself without eyes, But the body, although it will go blind, From the heart he receives movement 221, And the soul, if it suddenly goes blind, From whom will it receive the movement? How can a soul live if it goes blind? And so they died, I say, Forefathers through foolishness, Finding ourselves held by decay, But, taking pity on them, from above I came down, invisible by nature, And took on heavy flesh Unchangingly remaining God, The Word of God became flesh 222 – He appeared as a man to everyone. Because I created Adam, And since he was completely blind, It became unbearable for me Remain in Divine Glory, Despising those who are blind, Seduced by the insidious serpent, Those whom I myself created. And I became a sensual person, Like all sensual people, Desiring unity with people. That he himself even became a man And became visible to everyone? How dare you speak? And completely invisible to you? Adam saw God and was alive, And when I violated the command, He went blind and became dead, Not wanting to repent at all And say: “I have sinned against You.” For this he was fair Condemned to return to the earth, From which 223 was created and taken. All this for all descendants, Inevitable, like punishment, However, this is not a punishment, But rather good for people. The imperishable be with the corruptible, For it is worse for them than to be separated, It would be bound to remain. If evil remained immortal Both in the body of people and in the soul. For if the soul of a person, Material perishable body And I completely merged with him, For two, I say, there are deaths: There is death of the body and death of the soul. The life of the one who died in soul, I never broke up with him This is life, I say, But look at the unfortunate ones, Possessed by the sacred disease 224, How their flesh is depleted terribly, The corruptible body decomposes, Like without arms, without legs and without eyes, Without lips, without ears, without nose, They ask God to deliver them From the flesh as quickly as possible. Then, I’ll say again, is it really Is living no worse than dying? For death for people means Deliverance from troubles and worries, The end of illness, suffering, Cutting off sins and untruths, Deliverance from all evil. And to those who lived holy and pure, Death gives unceasing joy. Consolation and eternal sweetness, Non-evening Divine light. But even before you're with the body I am separated, I tell you, Look at My condescension, Trust Me against all flesh 225. That I am the Creator and Creator; To all the people living in the world, Everything you need to do. Amen. Hymn No. 21 Prayer to God - petitionary and grateful for everything that happened to him (St. Simeon) (56:35) 226 Lord, give me reason, Lord, give me knowledge Do all Your commands. I am a man, as you know, I have sinned more than others All that you alone know. Separated from father and brothers, From friends and family, Vladyka, From the land where I was born and raised, From the house where I lived as a child 227, You brought me out, Merciful One, From Egypt, dark hell 228, For this is how You gave it to me, Master, Having separated from everything, I perceived You are the terrible right hand of me 229 And he gave me 230 father on earth, Laying at the feet of a saint Me, about Christ my Word, To You through the Holy Spirit, Weeping like Your prodigal son 231, I fell to You - You know But You have honored me again How poor is my tongue in words, That I can’t sing Your praises, Orphan and stranger, O God, In the land of exile he made 232. After all, yours are all wanderers of the world, What do You give to Yours, O God, Neither the eyes can see 233, Neither language can tell, Neither the world can accommodate 234. That's why the world hates us 235, Slanders, persecutes, persecutes, That's why he's ready to kill us 236 And he is capable of anything against us, But You deigned, Master, So that we may be strong in weakness 237, In poverty so that you are rich, In the midst of sorrow 238, living outside the world. We are with You, Lord God, The world is held only by our body. What is held back only by squabbling, After all, You promised that it would become At the last trumpet, Master 239. Together with my friends, Just one fruitless anger. Hymn No. 22 That he who loves God hates the world (57:25) 240 The shadow covers me, but I see the truth: 241 There is nothing else in it except solid hope. What hope? The one that the eyes do not see 242. What is this? Life loved by all 243. Well, what is life if not God, the Creator of all? Love Him with your heart, but hate this whole world 244. The world is death: is it worth loving something that passes away? 245 Hymn No. 23 The Path to Contemplation of the Divine Light 246 Who wants to see this non-evening light, He must always watch his heart From passionate movements, from bad thoughts, From anger, embarrassment, hypocritical oaths. I must pay attention to myself and not remember anger, Don't judge people even in the thoughts of your heart, Be internally pure, frank in words, Be sincere, meek, calm, humble 247. Let his meal not be rich, Let him keep prayer and fasting unremittingly. And all his feats, and any business, And every word - let it be with love 248. Hymn No. 24 General instruction with reproof to all: kings, bishops, priests, monks and laity, spoken and spoken from the mouth of God (58:50) 249 Give me, O Christ, wisdom in my words, Divine mind, enlightenment from above, After all, You know my words, weakness and poverty, My non-involvement in all external sciences. You know that I only have You, Knowledge, wisdom, life and word, Savior-God, protector in life, The breath of my soul, poor and needy. I am a wanderer, a stranger, unskilled in words, And You are my hope and support, My cover, refuge and consolation, My praise is You and wealth and glory. You wanted to snatch me away from the world, O Word and God, by Your grace, Although I am unworthy, insignificant and a wanderer, And worse than people and dumb animals. Daring at Your mercy, begging, Asking, falling to You, I say: Give me the right word, give me strength, give me strength Tell everyone who serves You as Lord - To princes and slaves, performers of the sacraments, who think that they see you, And they serve You, the King and Lord of all. O people! Kings and all the mighty of the world, Priests, bishops, monks And people of all ranks, ranks and classes 250, Don't consider it unnecessary to listen to me, Hear my voice and heed the word, Even though I am a completely insignificant person. Open the ears of your hearts to me, people, Hear, know what God is saying to you - The God of all is unapproachable, there is only one Almighty, The Eternal One, Who with His Hand contains The whole earth and everything that exists on it 251. Kings! It's good that you are fighting wars With wild peoples, if at the same time You yourself do not do pagan deeds, Customs, morals, advice, decisions, In deeds and words, if you have not rejected Me, all the King and Lord of the universe. But it would be better for you to keep My word And, strictly observing all My commands, In the most blessed poverty 252 live serenely! What good is it for you to protect your country from slavery? We ourselves will always remain slaves Passions and vices and evil demons, Having prepared for myself by my deeds Unbearable fire and eternal torment? All those good deeds and actions, What does a person do for Me? And for the sake of love and out of mercy for others. But first let everyone have mercy on himself, Let everyone strive to observe My words, Always repenting from the heart In everything that, of course, he has done before, And not returning to such actions. May the Lords always abide in words, In My commands and strict laws; May he observe everything even to death, Not a single word, not a single line 253 From books and Scriptures without neglecting. This is a sacrifice to Me, these are gifts to Me, And the fragrance and the offering: Without this, you are the worst of all pagans! Bishops, heads of dioceses, know: You are the image of all of My imprint 254, You are appointed to speak before Me, In the assemblies of the righteous you stand, You are called My disciples, Bearing My divine image. You are even above a small general meeting They received such great power Which I, God the Word, have been endowed by the Father. I am God by nature, but I became incarnate And I became twofold - in two actions, wills And in two natures. Indivisible, unmerged I am a man, but also a perfect God. And as a man, I have honored you all With your hands both hold and touch Me 255, How God always remains inaccessible And elusive for your mortal hands. I am invisible to those who cannot see, Slain for all - remained impregnable, Twofold in one all-holy Hypostasis. Among the bishops there are also those Who are immensely proud of their rank, Always exalted above others Considering them all to be insignificant and low. There are many bishops, that in life Very far from the dignity of the rank. I'm not talking here about those who Words are consistent with life, deeds, And life reflects the teaching and the word, But I speak of many bishops, Whose life is not like their edifications, And who don’t know my terrible secrets And they think that they are holding My fiery bread, But they despise my bread as simple, And they think they see a piece And they only eat bread, but invisible glory They can’t see mine at all. So, there are few worthy bishops. There are many who are high in rank, And they look humble - but with false humility, Nasty, bad, hypocritical humility. Always chasing after people's praise, I am despised, the Creator of the entire universe, As if I were a poor man, I was thin and despicable. They take My Body unworthily, Striving to surpass all people without having The garments of My grace, which They never had any way. Uninvited and boldly they enter My church, They enter the unspeakable palaces, where they are unworthy to look from the outside. But I, the merciful, tolerate their shamelessness. Having entered, they speak to Me as if to a friend: They do not want themselves to be slaves, but friends They show - and stand there without fear. Without My grace at all, They promise petitions to people Even though they themselves are guilty of many sins. They put on shiny robes 256, But they only seem clean on the outside: Their souls are dirtier than a swamp, They are more terrible than deadly poison These villains are righteous in appearance. Like the once nasty traitor Judas He took bread from Me and ate it unworthily, As if that bread were simple and ordinary, And immediately “over the bread” the devil entered into him 257 And made him a shameless traitor to God, As the executor of the insidious will, He made Judas his slave and servant, This will definitely happen in ignorance to those Who is bold and proud and unworthy They will touch My Divine Mysteries. Especially the heads of dioceses, thrones, Priests often have And before Communion, a seared conscience 258, And then - a completely condemned conscience. Entering My divine court 259 with boldness, Shamelessly stand in the altars and chatter, Without seeing Me and without feeling at all My unapproachable divine glory, After all, if they had seen it, they wouldn’t have dared Always act, they wouldn’t even dare Enter the vestibule of the Orthodox church. Yes, everything I wrote is true. And anyone who wants to will be convinced of this According to our deeds, worthless priests, And he won’t find any lies and admit them, What God tells everyone about this through me. He admits everything, if he himself, of course, Not just one of those who do all this And if he does not strive for cunning deception To cover up your own shame, but nevertheless Before all people and before the powers of heaven God will make “every secret of darkness” manifest 260. But which of us, the priests, today First I cleansed myself of vices And only then did he dare to become a priest? Who could boldly say that glory He despised the earthly and accepted the priesthood Only for the sake of heavenly divine glory? Who only loved Christ with all his soul, And did he reject all gold and wealth? 261 Who lives modestly and is satisfied with little? And who has never appropriated someone else's property? Who is not tormented by his conscience for taking bribes? And who didn’t try with the help of bribes Become a priest yourself and make another one, By buying and selling grace and the priesthood? 262 Who did not elevate an unworthy friend to the rank, Giving preference to him over the worthy? Who wouldn't want to be a bishop? Give friends, so that in foreign dioceses To have both influence and power in everything? But this is considered commonplace And even sinless among those who intervene They certainly want to get involved in the affairs of all dioceses 263. And who did not give at the behest of his superiors, At the request of the worldly, and princes, and rich Holy rank for those who should not And who is unworthy to be a shepherd in the Church? 264 Truly, there is no one in our time Of all of them, who would have a pure heart, Who would not be tormented by conscience for this, After all, he certainly did something One of the things mentioned above. But we all sin without fear every day, Without fighting evil, without showing good deeds, That's why we don't repent at all, Plunging headlong into the depths of sin, Staying in them insensibly all the time. Not knowing the taste of divine glory, We cannot reject earthly glory, And this love for human glory The soul never allows itself to be humbled, Neither should you condemn yourself voluntarily. So, if you understand everything, then tell me: Who chases human glory, Who really needs perishable wealth, Who wants to have too much gold? Who became insatiable in the theft of others, Grudge against those who don’t give so often, How can he say that he has God? What loves Christ, what has the Spirit? And whoever has not accepted Christ at all, He has no father and does not ask for the Spirit, So that he could dwell in it and walk tangibly, Who does not carry God alone in his heart, How can one serve immaculately? Who will teach holy humility, How will the divine will be taught? Who will intercede for such And who is able to reconcile him with God, Present him as a shameless servant Most pure and immaculate God, Who is invisible to all cherubim, Which is impregnable to all angels? Who will give him the strength to serve blamelessly? Sacred service, always performing Worthy of a bloodless, terrible sacrifice? 265 And some of the people, some of the angels of God Can he say it and do it? But I speak and proclaim to you all - No one will be seduced by my words! – Who, first of all, will not leave this world, Everything that is in the world, hating with my soul 266, And who does not love Christ alone? And for His sake no one will destroy a soul 267, Not knowing human life at all, But as if always, dying every hour, No one will weep for himself or cry, Having an attraction to Him alone, And who does not go through labors and sorrows And he will not accept the Holy Spirit inside his heart, which He gave to the apostles of God, So that with the help of the Spirit we can reject all passions, To practice good deeds with ease, Sources of tears to acquire, from which Soul cleansing, soul contemplation, Knowledge of the holy and divine will, Enlightenment with divine light from heaven, There is always contemplation of heavenly light, Dispassion and holiness are given to all people, Who are able to see the Lord And they always have Him in their hearts, Which are preserved by God, and themselves Keep His commands unharmed - So, whoever does not have all this in himself, Let him not try to become a priest, He does not seek to gain power over souls, Let him not dare to become a boss. But just as Christ Himself is offered to God, to His Father, and He offers Himself 268, Just so He brings us to the Master And He Himself takes it back again. Otherwise we will be condemned And to court the commission of such acts, After all, this is worse than murder and worse Fornication, fornication and other vices, Which we commit against people. We constantly sin against each other, But he who trades in the divine brazenly And who is not ashamed to sell grace, He boldly sins against the Lord God. Always present before the Word of Heaven And he must live as It commanded. Imitating him, let him say this: “Foxes all have holes, of course. And the birds of heaven have nests, But I can’t find where to lay my head” 269. A servant of Christ must not Have nothing of your own in this life 270, But only what is needed for the body, And everything else is for the poor and poor, For the church, of course, it should remain. But if he dares for personal needs Use church money with authority And what should be left for the poor Distribute to family and friends and acquaintances, Build houses, buy land for yourself, And to recruit many slaves and servants - Alas, this man will be condemned! He will be like one who has wasted All the wife's money is unreasonable and impudent, And then he can’t pay, There is no way to compensate for all losses: This one is taken and thrown into prison 271. So it will be with us who serve in the church, Those who boldly take church money For your own needs, for family and friends, Not caring at all about the poor and needy, Those who build houses, baths and towers, Abodes, castles. This will happen to everyone Those who save dowry, play weddings, And they don’t like their churches at all, Not caring or remembering them at all. Being away from them for a long time, We live in other states and countries, And we leave our wives as widows, Not remembering them and not caring at all. Some of us stay put But not out of love for the parishioners and the church, But just to live from rich incomes, They are spent on all sorts of evil debauchery. And which of us, priests, strives Save your soul, Christ's bride? Show me at least one among us - I will be happy with this too, believe me! But woe to all of us - priests, monks, Bishops, clergy of the seventh century 272 – That we trample the laws of Christ, It's like they're not worth anything. And if there was such a thing somewhere, Who is small before people, but great before God 273, Whoever, known by God, does not indulge in passions, We always expel him as a villain From our midst and from our meetings, Just as Christ was excommunicated From the Church, leaders, bishops And all the Jews, as He Himself told us And again He speaks with His clear voice. But God will exalt him 274 , God will accept him Both in this and in the future life, he will glorify With all the saints He loves. What does the Word of God say to monks? All those who try to live in godliness, Take more care of your inner image Then everything external will remain pure 275. After all, external benefits only bring people - And to you, and to all those who see your deeds, And what is inside is desirable for Me, Creator of all, and for the angelic hosts. But if you only care about the external, In beautiful clothes, in a beautiful appearance 276 Appearing before all people constantly, And if, practicing in external affairs, They forgot about the inner image of God, Don’t try to decorate or cleanse Through zeal, labor, and tears, My image, Who reveals himself before God and everyone Reasonable you and, of course, the gods, Then you are like whitewashed tombs, As I once told the Pharisees, Denouncing their madness and pride: “On the outside you are beautiful, but on the inside you are rotten, The bones are full of the dead, and the heart is rotting Filled with malice and bad intentions, Passions, thoughts, crafty worries” 277. And who among you seeks good deeds: Fasting, strict life, daily labors, Iron chains, hair shirts, calluses And a hard bed covered with hay, And all sorts of other voluntary suffering? All this is beautiful when combined Ascetic such deeds and hardships With rational and inner doing secret, With intelligence, understanding and hidden wisdom. And if without them, what’s the big deal? It is in vain that you consider yourself to be something Being nothing 278, and being proud in vain! Without secret doing you are all alike Dressed outside in beautiful robes, Inside, alas! - affected by leprosy. Greeting outsiders with the usual greeting, Take care of your inner work only, Being in labor, in everyday struggle, In sacred deeds and good deeds, So that you may be virgin in your thoughts before God, So that your mind is enlightened with all knowledge, So that you may be one with Me, the Word, In the words of My wisdom, in the knowledge of the best. My sacred people, all the people of Christ, Come quickly to the Lord and God! Come to Me, breaking the bonds of the world, And hate any deception of your feelings, Run away from the main causes of all evil: From the lust of sight, from the lust of the flesh, From pride in thoughts and pride in life 279, From all other vain thoughts. Know that everything in the world is not true The one who serves her with partiality and passion, It leads to destruction, having made me my enemy. Accept, O My people, the desire in your heart To My infinite divine benefits, Which I, having become incarnate on earth, I prepared it for you, like a true friend, May you always be with Me at meals And in the Kingdom of Heaven with all the saints I tasted unspeakably immortal blessings. Know yourself 280 that you are mortal and perishable, What little rest of your life are you 281 in the world. You will not take anything from the world with you Brilliant, sweet, kind in life, When you go to those villages from here, Only everything you have done in this temporary life - Both evil and good - you will take it. Know all the decay and mortality of earthly things, Leaving earthly things, ascend above the sky: To Himself, God of all and Savior of the world, I call you to live forever, So that you enjoy eternal blessings, which I will give to all who love God Always, continually, amen and forever! 282 The hymn belongs to the late period of creativity of the Rev. Simeon, as indicated by references to old age and approaching death. The meter of the anthem is a political fifteen-syllable. Lit. “like body from body.” Wed. Life 3:1–24 (about the temptation of Adam and Eve by the devil and their expulsion from paradise). Wed. Life 4:3–8 (about Cain’s murder of Abel). Wed. Life 6–7 (flood narrative). Wed. 2 Sam. 11:2–4; 14–17 (the story of how David took Bathsheba as his wife and contributed to the death of her husband Uriah). Wed. OK. 7:37–38 (about the woman who anointed the Lord with ointment). Wed. OK. 15 (words of the prodigal son from the parable). Lit. “who set me free in Your light.” Lit. “containing everything and being outside everything, and being All (i.e., He Who is All), and filling everything.” Blowing on the devil is one of the ancient Christian liturgical actions: it has been preserved to this day in the rite of announcement before the sacrament of Baptism (“and blow and spit on him”) and symbolizes the powerlessness and helplessness of the devil in the face of the grace of God. Lit. “they became second lights.” With this term St. Gregory the Theologian calls angels (Homily 28:31). Rev. Simeon applies the name “second lights” to people who have joined the Divine Light. Wed. Ps. 150 (glory: “let every breath praise the Lord”). According to the reading of some manuscripts: “in the image of God.” The hymn is written in Anacreontic octosyllabic and is translated in the original meter. This is one of the longest hymns of St. Simeon: in the original (and in our translation) it consists of 434 lines. Lit. “Who brought all creation from non-existence into existence with one word and His will.” Wed. Dionysius the Areopagite. About Divine names 1.1. Greek the word logos means not only “word”, but also “mind”, as well as the “literacy” of a person (i.e. his ability to express himself using words). Here and further in the hymn of St. Simeon uses the term in various meanings: the “mind” of man is the image of God the Word; soul – “the verbal image of the Word; etc. This play of meanings and shades is not always possible to reproduce in translation. The original is ta amfotera, which is usually translated as “both”, “both of them”, “both”. Hieromonk Panteleimon translated it as “both of them,” indicating in the footnote “that is, God and the Spirit” (Divine hymns, p. 147). However, these amfotera are compared in the text with mind, soul and word, from which it is clear that we are talking about three and not two Persons. In Greek, the word amfotera does not necessarily mean “two.” Wed. Acts 23:8: “For the Sadducees say that there is neither resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees admit both (ta amfotera).” Based on this usage, we translate “three They,” meaning all three Persons of the Holy Trinity. This phrase could be an answer to the question of Stephen of Nicomedia, “How do you separate the Father from the Son?” In hymn 21, answering this question, Rev. Simeon says that the Son is “not at all separated from the Father,” but “abides in the bosom of the Father” (see Hymn 21, 208–210). Lit. “Everything in your mind will be shown in your mind.” With this remark Rev. Simeon may have wanted to distance himself from the teachings of the Messalians, who argued that true Christians received a new soul upon their conversion. The verb anachonevo means “to remelt”, “to distinguish again”. Thus, we are talking not just about spiritual revival and purification, but about a radical change in the entire human nature under the influence of the Holy Spirit. “Secret eating” (lathrofagia) is the eating of food by a monk in secret from the rest of the brethren. Lit. “who live by their own rules” (Greek: idiorrythmoi). Wed. Ps. 50:12 ; Matt. 5:8. Lit. “in a mortified life.” Lit. “not at all born of God to live.” Rev. Simeon refers to his other writings, where he spoke about the same thing. For example, in one of the hymns he writes: “Taking (from us) the flesh, He gave us the Divine Spirit” (Hymn 15, 122). Those. makes new (Greek kainourgeo). Rev. Simeon uses the classical theological terms homofyes (of one nature), homoousios (of the same essence), homodoxos (of one glory), used by the Holy Fathers to express the unity between the Father and the Son. According to the teaching of the Eastern Fathers of the Church, thanks to deification, man becomes “by grace” what God is “by nature.” In the original, 25 lines of the hymn are written in twelve-syllable iambic trimater, and the remaining lines (26–127) are written in fifteen-syllable political verse. The names of God given here by Rev. Simeon, based on the Holy Scriptures: light (cf. John 8, etc.), peace (Mic. 5:5), joy (Ps. 15:11; 1 Chronicles 16:27), life (John 11:25), food and drink (John 6:55), clothing (Ps. 104:2), cover (Ps. 31:7), palace (Ps. 26:5), east (Luke 1:78), resurrection (John 11:25), rest (Heb. 4:1–10), fire (Ex. 24:17), water (Jer. 2:13), river (Apoc. 22:1), fountain of life (Jer. 2:13; Ps. 35:10), stream (Ps. 36:9; 41:2 ), bread and wine (Matt. 26:26–28), feast (Matt. 22:2–10), sweetness (Ps. 36:9), sun (Ps. 83:12), star (Apoc. 22:16), lamp (2 Sam. 22:29; Apoc. 21:23). We find a similar listing in Dionysius the Areopagite (On the Divine Names 1.6). Lit. “This One is Many: it destroys and builds.” Rev. Simeon seems to speak on behalf of his opponents, who argued that it is impossible to see God. The hymn is written in anacreontic octosyllabic. The hymn is missing both in the edition of Dionysius of Zagorei and in the Russian translation of Hieromonk Panteleimon. The hymn contains many allusions not only to biblical texts, but also to the statements of some ancient authors, especially in the part that talks about the nature of man and his place in the cosmos. Calling man zoon logikon (intelligent living being), or anthropos diplous (double man), God in the hymn of St. Simeon seems to speak in the language of Plato and Aristotle. Lit. “among animate and inanimate, insensitive and sensual.” The doctrine of the body as the home of the soul was borrowed from ancient philosophy and is quite widespread in patristics. Wed. Message to Diognetus: “The immortal soul dwells in a mortal dwelling.” The doctrine of the body as an instrument of the soul also has ancient origins: see Plato. Phaedo 85e-86b (comparing the body to the lyre). Lit. “reasonable living being”, “reasonable animal”. The term zoon logikon (“intelligent animal”) is borrowed from Pythagoras and Sect Empiricus; it appears frequently in early patristics. The body is insensitive in itself, i.e. without a soul. Lit. “about material and immaterial (material and immaterial).” Those. contemplation of God and conversation with Him. The doctrine that the body does not have its own motion, but is set in motion by the soul, is similarly expounded by Aristotle (On the Soul 406ab). In the patristic tradition, this teaching was quite firmly established. Those. leprosy. In Ancient Greece, epilepsy was called a “sacred disease,” but the Fathers of the Church (St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Climacus, etc.) use this expression in relation to leprosy. The anthem is written in political fifteen-syllables. Lit. “from the land of birth and the home of parents.” Wed. Ref. 12:41–42 (narrative of Israel's exodus from Egypt). Those. Rev. Simeon Studite. This is the shortest hymn of St. Simeon. It is written in political fifteen-syllables. Lit. “I am covered with shadow and I see the truth” (i.e. I live on earth, but I contemplate God). Lit. “The world is death, for what does it have that is imperishable?” This hymn, written in twelve-syllable iambic trimeter, is not included in the corpus of “Divine Hymns” by St. Simeon. It is a poetic epigram to the “Sermon on the Three Ways of Attention and Prayer,” which in the manuscript tradition is attributed to St. Simeon, however, in fact it belongs to another author (presumably it was written in the 13th century). Is this hymn a genuine work by Rev. Simeon, attached to the inauthentic “Word”, or the author of the “Word” wrote a hymn in the style of St. Simeon - it’s difficult to answer this question. In any case, in style, rhythm, and content, this hymn is so close to the true poetic works of St. Simeon, which can with a high degree of probability be considered to be from his pen. We are translating this hymn from the text of two 14th-century manuscripts. (Vatic. gr. 658; Vatic. gr. 730). The title of the hymn belongs to Hieromonk Panteleimon (Uspensky). Lit. “to be meek, humble, quiet, frank and a child of the world.” Lit. “Above all this beginning and end, let love have the head of virtues.” This large (over 400 lines) hymn, written in twelve-syllable iambic trimeter, is a kind of spiritual testament to St. Simeon. The hymn clearly revealed the author’s negative attitude towards the bishops, clergy and monks of his era, whom he accuses of pride, arrogance, lack of reverence, hypocrisy, greed, bribery, greed, simony and other vices. This kind of assessment, obviously, cannot be considered completely objective, if only because for many years Rev. Simeon was in opposition to the majority of the bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople: this opposition could not but leave the imprint of personal resentment on his attitude towards the highest church authorities. Despite what has been said, the denunciations of Rev. Simeon's remarks to the clergy are not unfounded: what he writes corresponds to reality to one degree or another, and therefore remains relevant to this day. This is how we render the Greek migades (“commoners”). Lit. “in whose hand is the breath of all things.” Wed. Dan. 5:23. Lit. “in blissful poverty.” We are talking about the sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion). Wed. In. 13 (glory: “and immediately Satan entered through the bread”). Wed. Matt. 10:26 ; 1 Cor. 4:5. Here is a play on words: who loved Christ (christon) and rejected gold (chryson). Simony, i.e. charging money for ordination to the priesthood was one of the most common vices of the highest clergy of different eras. Wed. 29th Apostolic Canon: “If a bishop or presbyter or deacon receives this dignity with the help of money, let him and the one who appointed him be deposed, and let him be cut off from communion, as Simon the Magus (was excommunicated) by Peter.” Church canons (8th canon of the Council of Ephesus, 9th canon of the Council of Antioch, etc.) prohibit the bishop of one diocese from interfering in the affairs of other dioceses. A bishop, priest or deacon who used the “influence of worldly superiors” to obtain holy orders, according to church canons, must be deposed (see 30th Apostolic Canon, 3rd Canon of the Council of Nicaea). This is an allusion to the prayer read during the Liturgy by the priest: “For you art the offerer and the offered, the acceptable and the given, O Christ our God...” In translating this way, we follow the reading of Dionysius of Zagorea. Byzantine legal practice provided for imprisonment for non-payment of debts. Those. seventh millennium “from the creation of the world,” according to the Byzantine calendar. According to this chronology, Christ was born in 5508, and the life time of St. Simeon fell on 6457–6530, i.e. mid-seventh millennium. Wed. Matt. 18:10; OK. 9:48. Those. this humble man who is great before God. Wed. OK. 1:52. Lit. “you decorate the appearance.” In this text, the appearance (agalma - image, statue) is contrasted with the image (eikon - image, icon). The saying “know thyself” was written on the church of Apollo at Delphi: see Plato. Protagoras 343ab. In the Byzantine era this saying was a saying. The expression “remaining life” is borrowed from the language of St. Gregory the Theologian (cf. Homily 40:17: “being the remnant of life”). So in the original: the word “amen” is not at the end of the phrase, but in the middle. You might be interested in: