Слово 31

(1) There are two most important matters, of which in one there is destruction, in the other salvation. – (2) Pride grows with a person. – (3) Everyone needs to realize that he is nothing. – (4) The main characteristic of a Christian is humility. – (5) There are two sacrifices acceptable to God, without which there is no salvation. – (6) What is the sign that someone is approaching God? 1. There are two most important things in real life: one is the greatest good, and the other is the greatest evil; the first, as the supreme good, elevates a person to heaven, and the other, as extreme evil, brings him down to the depths of hell; that is the truth, and this is a lie; that is, great peace, but this is immeasurable sorrow; the first is the height of rationality, the second is the edge of madness; the first is related and characteristic of man, the second is hostile and alien; the first is all straightness, the second is all crookedness; the first is joy and joy, the second is sadness and languor. What are these things? Humility and pride: one is all sin - this is pride, and the other is all truth, this is humility. Consider the sin that Adam sinned when he was in paradise, in glory and all pleasure, and you will see that he sinned not out of any necessity or weakness, or for any blessed pretext, but out of one contempt for the commandment of God, and this is from pride and ingratitude towards his Creator and God, which led him to apostasy (from God), into which the devil was the first to fall on his own. arbitrariness. 2. You need to know that pride is born in a person’s soul from ignorance of oneself, which gives rise to conceit, according to which they think that they have something, when they have nothing, and it grows with a person’s age. Why is it necessary for every person from childhood, before he knows anything else, to be taught to know himself - what he is from, what he is, and how he will end his life, that is, that he is seeded with corruptible nothingness and inconspicuous things, is formed among sewage, grows like grass; is made up of many mixtures, easily decomposed, that his whole life is a struggle with death, and in his insides, even before death, he carries what is stench and stench. For whoever does not know himself, what he is, little by little falls into pride and becomes violent and senseless. And what can be found more foolish than a man who, being completely covered with leprosy, is proud only because he wears light and gilded clothes, although he himself is shameful and full of ugliness? And when he goes out of his mind because of his pride, then he becomes an instrument of the devil in all his words and deeds and becomes an enemy of God. But what could be more disastrous than when someone sets himself up as an enemy of God? For when someone gets sick in body, he feels his illness and goes to the doctors, but someone who gets sick in his soul does not feel his illness, but on the contrary, the more sick he gets, the more insensitive he becomes, and therefore does not want to go to spiritual doctors. Thus, when you see that a person is proud, know that in proportion to his pride he suffers from mental insensibility, and take pity on him, for whoever is sick and does not feel that he is sick is close to death. Such is this sin that plunges the soul into death, for the proud is a sick, insensitive person who, that is, does not recognize or feel his illness, and this is the death of the soul. If it happens that one of these is still accustomed to teaching and admonishing others, then he is already a complete dead man, for whom a doctor is no longer required. 3. So, it is necessary to teach and teach a person self-knowledge, so that he knows himself and thus becomes humble. Humility is primarily rationality. Just as the proud is unreasonable and meaningless, so, on the contrary, the humble is reasonable and meaningful. Since in this way the madness and blindness of pride are so close to people and so strong in them, the All-Good God decreed that, along with joyful things, sorrows would also come upon us, so that through this we would learn to be humble and not proud. You can verify this from the dirty tricker of the flesh, the accomplice of Satan, who tormented the Apostle Paul, who worked miracles and was adorned with such precious (abundant - Ed.) glory of God. Why should we thank God more for sorrows than for consolation, and rejoice in sorrowful things as we rejoice in joyful things? So, every person needs to know himself that he is nothing. The one who does not know himself, that he is nothing, cannot be saved by Almighty God Himself, despite all that He wants to save him. And if someone brought the whole world as a gift to God (which is of course impossible), and did not think about himself that there is nothing, he cannot be saved in any way. 4. So, it is not required that a person give anything other than the knowledge of himself that he is nothing in exchange for his soul. Only in this way will he be able to offer God a contrite and humble heart - the only sacrifice that it is fitting for every pious person to offer to God. God will not despise this one sacrifice, knowing that man has nothing of his own that he could bring to Him, as Saint David says: even if you wanted sacrifices, you would give them, but you will not be pleased with burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart, God will not despise (Ps. 50:18-19). By this sacrifice all kings, nobles, nobles, lowborn, wise, unlearned, rich, poor, beggars, thieves, offenders, covetous people, debauchees, murderers and every kind of sinner were saved, are being saved and will be saved. The depth of humility - this saving sacrifice - must be measured by the measure of sins, that is, by the measure of the sins that a person has committed, so that he may also have humility with contrition. But even the most righteous, and the venerable, and the pure in heart, and all those who are saved are saved by nothing other than this sacrifice. And alms, and faith, and withdrawal from the world, and the greatest feat of martyrdom, and all other sacrifices are kindled from the ignition of this sacrifice, that is, contrition of the heart. This is a sacrifice for which there is no sin that overcomes God’s love for mankind. For this one sacrifice (so that it is and is preserved) there are illnesses, sorrows, cramped conditions, the fall itself, spiritual passions and the bodily passions that accompany them - all so that this sacrifice can be offered to God by all God-fearing people. Whoever acquires this sacrifice of contrition with humility has nowhere to fall, because he considers himself lower than everyone else. And God came down to earth and humbled Himself even to the point of death for no other purpose than to create a contrite and humble heart in those who believe in Him. He is the basis for the ascent along the ladder of virtues and the descent of the gift of miracles and signs - there is the resurrection of souls, which occurs even in this life, before the general resurrection of bodies - there is deliverance for which God the Father gave His Son, so that whoever believes would not perish, but have eternal life and, having this eternal life, know the one true God, and He sent Him, Jesus Christ (John 17:3). 6. True knowledge of God and fear of God give rise to a humble disposition, and humility gives rise to a meek disposition; meekness and humility, when converted into character, bring one closer to God. These two virtues are fused with one another and show a God-fearing person, and in proportion to the humility and meekness in which a God-fearing person has them, it is obvious how close he is to God, while, on the contrary, pride and anger show how far a person is from God. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most High God, humbled Himself even to the point of death on the cross, so that from Him all who believe in Him and those who are baptized, who eat His Body and drink His Blood, through which sacraments grant them immortality and eternal life, may borrow humility. For mystical communion with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most High God, brings three effective fruits: life, immortality and humility. Life and immortality operate through humility, and again, as a result of life and immortality, humility operates. Humility is required both before life and immortality, and after, and thus is both the first and the third: the first, because it is the cause of the other two, that is, life and immortality; the third, as embracing and holding them. So, a Christian who has not acquired for himself the humility of Christ, so that it constitutes a natural property of his, will no longer receive anything from Christ, and Christ benefits him in nothing. Such a one does not know either God or himself, for if he knew that without Christ it is impossible to do anything truly good and saving, then, of course, he would humble himself and, as in a royal robe, would put on the humility of Christ, through which Christians become kings, reign and dominate over passions and demons by His power. To the extent of true and perfect humility, there is also a measure of salvation. The parent and father of humility is a mind enlightened by the grace of Christ and with the help of this divine light, clearly seeing its own weakness, just as, on the contrary, the father of arrogance and pride is a mind covered in the darkness of ignorance, from which darkness oh, how would we all be freed and, enlightened by the divine light, come into humility, grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power with His beginningless Father and Life-giving Spirit for endless ages. Amen. You might be interested in: