Слово 27

(1) Soulful instructions for every Christian. 1. Beloved in the Lord, my brothers! Listen, I ask you, what, out of my duty, I offer you every day in word; Joyfully accept the instructions I give you as soul-saving ones, and take care to carry them out with diligence for your own good. Look how false and fickle the blessings of this world are, and yet how few people are who are not carried away by them! How few are there who are not enslaved by the love of sensuality, nor overcome by the desire for human glory, nor overcome by the love of money, nor vulnerable by the thorns of the cares and worries of life! And this is the reason why human thought is so fickle and convertible! He can establish himself and stand on one thing only when he rejects everything corruptible, created and visible, overcomes the darkness surrounding him and merges with the eternal, invisible, constant and abiding. For whatever the nature of the thought is, such is the state of the thought: being occupied with the constant, it is constant; doing something fickle, he gets worried. The troubles of the world show that its blessings are not real blessings, and the troubles of thought make it clear that its condition is not worthy. But what is the thought here, such will be the fate of the soul there. Look around and see: everything in this troubled world begins to be and ceases - here it begins to be, here it ceases; but the human soul, like a single invisible force between the visible and the mental between the corporeal, begins to be here and does not cease here, but passes away forever, as if it were immortal. While she is in this body, through the body she sees and cognizes the material, but as soon as she is separated from the body, at that very hour she is separated from intercourse with everything material, ceases to see this and think about it, but enters into relationships with the invisible and mental, and is occupied with this. And if she shines with the light of Christ’s commandments, then she enters the boundless light of the All-Good Divinity and begins to taste great and endless joy; if it is surrounded by the darkness of sins, then it departs - woe is me! - into endless darkness, dissolved with burning fire. Since all this is truly true, and you yourself admit it, why are we still hesitating and not in a hurry to avoid this bitter darkness? Why do we say: woe to the money-lovers, glory-lovers and sensualists, and do not we try to recognize and feel that we ourselves are in the same state as we ourselves - both money-loving, and voluptuous, and voluptuous? Why do we say that truly blessed are those who seek God and place all their hope in Him alone, but do not feel our own misfortune, like those who move away from God and do not place their hope in Him? Why do you think that you believe in God and confess Him, but in fact you do not want to know Him, and do not believe Him in the words that He speaks to us? What do you hope for, leaving behind true and eternal blessings and completely abandoning yourself to vain and corruptible things? Tell me, my brother, how do you say this: I know all this, I know that I am mortal and that everything visible passes away like a shadow, that death is unknown and has no definite time, that the glory of the righteous is eternal and that the shame and torment of sinners are endless, and yet, saying all this, you do not flee from evil? If, as you say, you see and know everything, then how do you stumble as if blind, and in fact appear completely darkened and insensitive mentally and physically? If you know what is good, why do you do evil, as if you are completely thoughtless? If you know that everything visible passes away like a shadow, aren’t you ashamed to be glad to see these shadows and treasure perishable and temporary treasures? O beloved! Or don’t you notice that you are pouring water into a leaky vessel, like a foolish child, but you think that you are reasonable? It is a great evil when someone falls into conceit, thinking that he knows when he does not know, or what he has when he does not have, for, thinking that he knows or what he has, he no longer cares to know and acquire, and remains with nothing. Oh man! Do you believe that Christ is God? – If you believe, fear Him and keep His commandments. If you do not believe, then ask the very demons, and from those very ones whom you have enslaved and will follow, know that there is no other God but Him, and that He is the Ruler, the Judge and the King of all, is the Creator of light and the Lord of life, is the ineffable and unapproachable Light. At His coming, His enemies and all those who did not fulfill His commandments will disappear from His presence, just as the darkness of the night disappears from the sun when it rises. He will forever abide with the righteous and the righteous with Him, being honored with the bliss of contemplating Him, according to the measure of faith that they had in Him, and sinners during the time of light will be covered with darkness, during the time of glorification they will be put to shame, during the time of joy they will be stricken with sorrow and given over to torment in a merciless burning fire, according to the types of their passions and sins, while the righteous will be adorned with crowns according to different types. to their virtues. This is what I found in the Divine Scriptures and what I learned from them, and now, to convince you of the same, I did not put off writing this out of my love for you! I explained everything to you, I did not hide my talent, I did not envy your salvation. From this hour onwards, everyone can choose for himself what he pleases. I have fulfilled my duty towards you, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: