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(1) About dispassion and about the talents that those who succeed in it are awarded little by little. – (2) What is the perfection of spiritual age in Christ? 1. Just as someone who wants to purely see the light of the sun must have clean eyes of his body, so someone who undertakes to talk about dispassion must have the eyes of his soul freed from every evil lust and every passionate thought, so that, without being disturbed and disturbed in his mind by any passion, he can purely look at the height and depth of it, or understand as it should his many and great gifts and actions, and clearly state them in word. For if he begins to talk about his manifestations and properties with an indignant mind and an unclean heart, then, not being able to reveal his actions with a free word, he will be deprived of those few benefits that he may have received from him, because by acting in this way, he in some way despises and dishonors him and overshadows his lordship. For it is written: To him who has it will be given, and it will abound; But from the one who does not have, and thinks he has, it will be taken from him (Matthew 25:29). Those who have dispassion obviously love him and are loved beyond measure by him, and when they talk about him insatiably, they become even more dispassionate, inflamed with the love they have for him. But those who are tied and in some way bound by even the slightest lust of the world and worldly things, or by some kind of mental or physical passion, these are far from him and much removed from his haven. Why, when they begin to talk about dispassion and try to raise their minds to its heights, they also lose the peace that they thought they had before, for the reason that they eat like fish, and are dragged hither and thither by the lust of the passion to which they are attached. And they suffer righteously, for, as the Apostle says, by him who is overcome, to this he also works (2 Pet. 2:19). They, however, being darkened in their minds by the passion to which they are enslaved, do not lay the blame for the darkening on themselves, but dare to lay it on the powerlessness of omnipotent dispassion, and this happens to them because they have not experienced at all what the mental feeling, contemplation and all-effective action of this dispassion are, but, thinking about what relates to it in their own thoughts and considerations, with a high opinion of their external learning, they sometimes philosophize about it in one way, sometimes in another, and are exhausted in their efforts on what they do not know. Despite all this, they will never agree to confess or feel their weakness caused to them by unbelief, negligence and a long-term habit of a passionate life, but they claim that other people are all similar to them and have the same passions. For vanity and envy do not allow them to admit that anyone else is superior to them in virtue and wisdom. But godly and spiritual fathers do not act in this way and do not go against the truth - do not tell you such blasphemy against the saints; and what they have enlightened in their minds from blissful dispassion and what they have previously learned from experience, they speak and affirm. I say boldly what I was honored to learn from these fathers, so as not to be condemned, like a slave who hid his talent. And just as the words spoken by Christ the Lord make it clear: many are called, but few are chosen, - and: in the house of my Father there are many abodes - so you all know that there are many saints, but few dispassionate ones, and that among both there is a great difference. But pay attention to the exact meaning of what I will say. Another is the dispassion of the soul, another is the dispassion of the body. The dispassion of the soul sanctifies the body; but the dispassion of the body, alone, cannot fully benefit the one who acquired it. Another is the stillness (for worse) of bodily desires (even on earth) and the very passions of the soul, and another is the acquisition of virtues. The immobility of bodily (even on earth) abilities comes from nature, and the acquisition of virtues from will (with the help of grace), and it usually completely stops all natural movements. The other is the dislike of anything that is pleasant and joyful in the world, and the other is the desire for heavenly and eternal blessings, for other people (not zealous for salvation) despised the worldly pleasant and joyful things, and most of them for other reasons (not in the types of salvation), and very few took care of the eternal blessings. Another is not seeking glory from people, and another is loving glory from God and always seeking it, for very many hated human glory, because they were possessed by other passions, and very few were honored to receive glory, even from God, with much labor and sweat. It is another to be content with poor clothes and not desire rich ones, and another is to seek to be clothed in the light of God, for many despised rich clothes, because they were dragged along by many many other desires, and only those who were worthy to become sons of light and day were clothed in the divine light. It is another thing to speak humble words, and another thing to have humble wisdom. Another thing, again, is humility, and another is the color of humility, and another is its fruit. One is the beauty of its fruit, and another is its sweetness, and another is the actions that come from this fruit. From what I said about humility, some are in our power, and others are not in our power. It is in our power to think about what disposes us to humility, to philosophize about it, to reason, to speak and to do this, but holy humility itself, with its essential properties, gifts and actions, is not in our power, but is a gift of God, so that no one would even think of boasting about this. There is another way to not be sad and not to be angry when faced with dishonor, reproach, temptations and sorrows encountered, and another thing is to wish for this with thanksgiving when something like this happens. Another thing, again, is to pray to God for those who cause this, another thing is to forgive them, another thing is to love them with all your heart, as benefactors, and another thing is to imprint in your mind the faces of each of them and kiss them dispassionately, like your sincere friends, with tears of pure love, so that there is absolutely no sign of insult or passion in your soul. The greatest of all that has been said is when someone, at the very time of temptation, has the same disposition towards those who revile him to his face or slander him, and towards all others who either condemn him, or despise him and disparage him, or spit in his face, also towards those who apparently pretend to be friends, but secretly act against him in the same way as those said before - and this is not hidden from him, but he knows it. And from this, again, the highest and most perfect thing without comparison is, it seems to me, that if someone completely forgets the temptations he has endured and never remembers those that saddened him or somehow dishonored him, neither when they are present, nor when they are absent, but he has them on a par with his friends without any discrimination, just as much when he talks with them, just as much when he eats food with them. All this is the essence of the work and excellence of men who walk in the light. Those who feel that they are far from such orders and rules of life, let them not delude themselves and deceive themselves, but let them know most surely that they are walking in darkness. Another thing, again, is to fear God, and another thing is to fulfill His commandments, as it is written: Fear the Lord, all His saints (Ps. 33:10), and also: turn away from evil and do good (15). One is inaction (abandonment from activities), and another is silence, and another, again, is silence. The other is removal and migration from one place to another, and the other is wandering. One is not sinning, and another is keeping the commandments. One thing is to resist enemies and fight with them, and another thing is to defeat them completely, subdue and kill them: the first is the work of the ascetic and saints, zealously striving for perfection, and the second is the work of the impassive and perfect, who, through many labors and sweats, completely defeated their enemies and were adorned, like some shining garment, with the life-giving death of Christ. Many people strived to achieve the perfections shown, some for one purpose, others for another goal. But very few approached this with true fear of God, with sincere love and undoubted faith - who alone, assisted by the grace of God, soon become accustomed to doing the commandments and succeed in all the above-mentioned differences, every hour growing in virtues. Others are left to wander, as in the impassable (pathless, judging by the word of the psalm (Ps. 106:40): in the impassable, not along the path) desert, about which it is written: I let them go according to the plans of their hearts, they will go in their plans (Ps. 80:13). And even though they were not tempted to have God in their minds, (for this reason) God gave them over to an unskilled mind, to do things unlike them (Rom. 1:28). So, those who, on the rock of obedience to the holy fathers, laid a good foundation of faith and hope, with fear and trembling, and on this basis build fidelity to the commandments that the spiritual fathers give them, observing them, as if God Himself had imposed them on them, such immediately succeed in denying themselves. To create not one’s own will, but the will of one’s spiritual father, according to the commandment of God, and thus to practice virtue—this gives rise not only to rejection of oneself, but also to the death of the entire world. Then, when such a person leaves the world with all the feeling of his soul and begins to be outside it, as in the desert, then he is overcome by inexplicable fear and trembling and begins to cry out to God from the heart, as Jonah cried out from the belly of the whale of the sea, Daniel - from the lion’s den, the three youths - from the fiery furnace, Manasseh - from the midst of the brass bull. These painful and sorrowful groans of his and the voice of his prayer, immediately hearing, the All-Good Lord, who gave His life to death for us sinners, removes him, like from the inside of a whale, from the abyss of ignorance and darkness brought on by peace, so that he does not return there again, not even in thought - frees him, as from the lion’s den, from evil lusts that kidnap and They devour human souls, and, as if from a furnace of fire, from the passionate attractions that dominate in all people, they burn us like fire, corrupt us, force us into inappropriate acts and kindle the flame of passions inside us. From all this, I say, the Lord frees him, watering him with the grace of the Holy Spirit and thereby making him unburnable - freeing him, like from the inside of a copper ox, from this flesh, earthy, heavy and passionate, in which our living soul is completely motionless and reluctant to any virtue and doing the commandments of God, being held tightly, tightly knitted and burdened by this flesh, as naturally connected to her. When in this way the soul is freed from the tyranny of the flesh (I do not say - separated from the body through its death), then it begins to cry out with the Prophet, saying: Thou hast torn my sackcloth in pieces, and thou hast girded me with gladness, that my glory may sing to Thee (Ps. 29:12-13), - and also gives thanks along with Paul, saying: I thank God Jesus Christ our Lord, that The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death (Rom. 7:25, 8:2). When by the grace of Christ all this is accomplished in him, as I said, and when he is freed from ignorance and darkness brought on by the love of peace, when he is delivered from evil and nasty desires and from the lusts of this mortal flesh, which enslaves us to the law of sin, then what will he do from this moment onwards? Will he use this freedom to calm himself and be carefree? – Stop making such speeches and holding such assumptions. Such assumptions can only apply to people who are truly slaves and not free. The one who has been honored to receive the said freedom knows that he has been freed from the law of sin in order to no longer work for sin, but to work for the truth, which is Christ the Lord - the Sun of righteousness, as He is called and is. To show you what kind of love for God such a person shows from that moment onwards, I will present this to you with examples from human affairs that happen to us every day. Imagine that some kind of king, compassionate and humane, seeing a slave who was enslaved willingly to the tyrant who seduced him, mercilessly burdened with work in making bricks, making stones and digging ditches and serving the unclean lusts of that evil tyrant, goes with his own face and despoils him and frees him from such a shameful and difficult service, and again takes him to the royal chambers to serve without any reproach for his previous fall. This slave, freed from such and such sorrows, naturally, then in every possible way strives to show himself as a more zealous and quick executor of the king’s commands than his other fellow servants who did not experience captivity, in order to testify to his greatest and warmest love for him, always bearing in memory what evils he freed him from. Think the same thing about those who have received help from God, as I said. And just as this king, seeing that that servant fulfills his every desire with great readiness and with all humility, although he does not need his service on his own, having many other servants, nevertheless, because of the good feelings of that servant, shows special love for him, so the same thing happens with the one about whom we said. For just as he who has received freedom of spirit from God will never tire and will never cease to do the will of God again and again, with the warmest readiness, so the eternal King and God will never deprive him of the benefits of eternal life, but will supply him with them richly - and as much as he sees that he daily increases his love and service for Him, so much will he multiply and Your gifts to him. The benefits and gifts that God gives to His servants are countless, and no one can fully comprehend them. He gives them some in this life, and others He gives them in the future life. About these gifts that the gracious God gives to those who love Him in this life, I will also tell your love a little something, some from Divine Scripture, and others from what I myself have learned experimentally. Since people show special zeal and care for three things: either for wealth, or for glory, or for freedom and joy, and the pleasure delivered by these two, then our Master and God to those who, having left everything, took up their cross and followed Him, without turning back, first of all richly bestows these same three. Instead of corruptible wealth, He gives them all of Himself. Did you understand the meaning of this word? Have you heard a terrible miracle? Just as the rich of this world spend their wealth on their needs, habits and desired pleasures, so our good Master gives Himself to His true and faithful servants, fulfills their every desire and need, as they desire, and even more than they desire, supplies them richly with every good and always gives them incorruptible and eternal pleasure. Firstly, they are full of indescribable joy that they have acquired and have in themselves not the world and not the blessings of this world, but the Creator and Lord and Lord of all. After this, they are dressed in light, by Himself, I say, by Christ and God, completely in all of them, they see themselves adorned with indescribable glory, like some kind of bright and divine decoration, and they cover their faces, unable to bear to look at the incomprehensible and excessive radiance of this decoration of theirs, so that they are looking for some hidden place, so that, having taken refuge in it, they can, as it were, lay aside a great burden. this glory and this radiance. Then the Lord Christ Himself becomes for them both food and drink, everlasting and immortal: for those who are still infants in Christ, imperfect and cannot eat solid food, the Lord appears as a kind of light and shining nipple, which is inserted into their mouths and allows them to suck from Himself, for whom Christ is both food and drink, and gives them such great sweetness and pleasure that they they don’t want, or, better said, they can’t tear themselves away from him; for those, again, who have already been milked (fed with milk. - Ed. ), Christ is a child-loving father, gives them children, teaches and corrects, for just as a loving father sits his children at his meal and eats with them, and when he sees that they are neglecting their lessons and doing other useless things, then he deprives them of his meal and orders his servants not to give them food, teaching them in this way not to neglect their lessons, so our good Master and God acts in relation to His servants - His children according to philanthropy and grace; for Christ gives himself to them, the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world, and they feed on Him and with Him always in abundance, and through the communion of this bread they move to the eternal life, sanctified by soul and body. And when they neglect His commandments and, willfully indulging in laziness, despise them and indulge in the affairs of this world, which are useless and inconsistent with piety, then He, the Nourisher of everything, deprives them of Himself, and through this of all that we have spoken about, and even more. Such, when, having come to their senses and thinking about what good they have lost, they turn again to Him and seek Him, as usually happened, but do not find Him, then they begin to shed tears and cry inconsolably, subject themselves to all kinds of sensory deprivations, willing and expressing readiness for all sorrow, temptation and dishonor, so that only the humane Father, seeing their sorrow and arbitrary suffering, took pity on them and, returning to them, again gave Himself to them. And this is what happens: they acquire the veneration of Christ, are restored to their former closeness and glory with even greater boldness, are introduced again to the taste of these blessings, which no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and has not risen in the heart of man, and more than before they begin to reverence their Father and tremble, as before the formidable Master, fearing lest they fall again into the same sins. inattention and not to be driven away from the blessings of your Father. This is what those who sincerely repent of heart disease do, and for this they again receive the benefits we are talking about. But those who are afraid of the labors of repentance, are faint-hearted in sorrows and oppressions at his request, indulge in laziness and careless peace - such as unworthy and not real sons, or, better said, as despisers who prefer bodily pleasures to eternal blessings and even to God Himself, are no longer honored to taste this spiritual sweetness, nor to be clothed with the clothing of divine glory, but remain righteously deprived of the riches of goodness God, and are like dogs that have no owner. For how these dogs wander through the streets and haystacks in order to find somewhere a bone or a piece of old skin and gnaw them, or to attack the place where an animal has been slain and lick the blood, and if they encounter carrion, they rush at it and eat insatiably, and do not want to leave it, but they squabble with other dogs and drive them away until they eat and the very insides and only bare bones will not be left, so these too go around the gates of the rich and the poor in order to gather into their bosom, if anyone happens to give them anything, gold, silver or something else. Since they have lost this true and incorruptible wealth, then when they happen to gain something, it seems to them for a short time that they are full, satisfied and nothing more is required for them. However, when unbelief and hopelessness take hold of them, like hunger, then they again turn to their former begging, full of concern for the present alone, unhappy and worthy of tears, especially because for the sake of the temporary and insignificant they neglect the eternal, all-blessed life. And they are unrequited. God showed them the riches of His goodness, made them worthy to taste heavenly grace and made them partakers of the Holy Spirit, as the divine Paul says. But they did not glorify Him as God, did not love Him, did not revere His boundless goodness and did not thank Him, but they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened, and they, who claim to be wise, became fools. But those who fear God do not do this, but joyfully endure the teaching punishments of the Father, their Master, as grateful servants and as true sons, saying: I will endure the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him (Mic. 7:9). And one more thing: the passions of this present time are unworthy of the glory that desires to appear in us (Rom. 8:18). They say this and humbly persevere in the patience of the Lord’s teaching punishment and in constant repentance, they are not faint-hearted and are not burdened by it, but use it as a guide, according to the method we have said, and are always in their father’s house, adorned with light attire, eating food with their Father, seeing His glory and wealth, which they have to inherit. When they are raised and trained in this way, and reach the age of a perfect man, then the All-Good Father gives all His blessings into their hands. 2. But let us first say that there is a measure of spiritual age and the height of the fulfillment of Christ, and then we will describe the blessings of the Heavenly Father and show which of them He gives into the hands of those who believe in Him. Listen carefully. The measure of the age of fulfillment of Christ is made up of such features of spiritual life that are contemplated spiritually. I begin to depict the features of this age from the bottom: its feet are faith, and holy humility is its solid and unshakable foundation. Shins, knees, thighs - non-covetousness, nakedness from everything, wandering, submission, which occurs with the mind through the love of Christ, obedience and willing service. The innermost and innermost parts (presumably the nerves) are unceasing mental prayer, the sweetness generated by the outpouring of tears, the joy of the heart and its unceasing consolation and peace. Tendons and muscles (with bones) - constancy and patience in prayers (at home) and in church services, and a burning desire to contemplate God and talk with Him, generated by prayers and church services, as the divine David sings: kindle my womb and my heart (Ps. 25:2); and Saint Paul says: therefore gird up your loins with truth (Eph. 6:14); and the Apostle Peter: Having girded your loins, being sober, have full hope in the grace brought to you by the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:13). Here he calls grace the gift of the Holy Spirit, which makes us partakers and accomplices of God. The belly, stomach and the entire shell of the innards are the working forces of the soul, in the middle of which, like the heart, stands the rational force, which has under it and along with it the forces of desire and irritability. However, it is not they that are actually meant by the above-mentioned parts, but most of all what directs these forces to a single one and connects them with each other, namely: meekness, simplicity, gentleness, compassion, reverence and fear of God, which, like ribs, membranes, coverings and ligaments, compress those forces, cover and do not allow them to turn to the visible things of this world or desire anything from They are also not allowed to envy those who have them, to be angry because of them and to bear a grudge. When there is no passionate aspiration of these three forces outside, that is, towards visible things, then they remain hidden inside. And when they remain inside alone with themselves and are attentively observed by the said good dispositions, then the rational power reasons sensibly and correctly distinguishes good from evil, and shows definitely and powerfully to the desirable power which things it should be inclined to desire, which to love, which to avert; an irritable force stands between these two, like a submissive slave, ready to diligently serve their desires, and always helps them, awakens them and moves them to courage and assistance to good people and opposition to evil people. But since God, who created everything, is incomparably better than everything created, then it is completely blessed for a person who is respected by rational power and has acquired an untroubled mind, as we said, and not carried away by passionate plans, instead of everything else, or above all else, to honor and love the Creator of all and the Lord, and to Him alone turn all his desire, showing Him to him in some way and saying: listen to me and look (at God), touch with fear and trembling, taste the immortal sweets, smell the spiritual world and know that there is no one else as beautiful as God, or so pleasant, or so sweet, or so powerful, or so wise, or so glorious, or one who could give life, make incorruptible and immortal. When a person’s desire tastes all this and is satisfied, then all his irritable power will unite with the rational and desirable, and the three become one in the contemplation of the triple unity of the Trinitarian Deity and in this joyful shine of their own Lord. Then there remains no trace of the separation of these three, but they are one. When these three forces of the soul - rational, irritable and desirable, from the simplicity of the one and only good turn to the consideration and distinction of evil and good things existing here in the world, then desire, thought, and feeling inseparably rush towards what is contrary to the will of God. For then the irritable force moves only towards these and among these things. I would have much more to say about what corresponds to the stomach in spiritual life, about spiritual food and drink, about spiritual hunger and thirst, but so as not to lengthen my words too much, and so that, by making the mysterious and hidden things generally known and obvious, I would not give a reason to those who like to collect other people’s words and get rich in other people’s works and treasures, to take advantage of this in an inappropriate way, I am silent about that, leaving that hidden, so that those who wish can seek it through active knowledge. But let us return again to our subject. Up to the belly and stomach, we have already formed a body of spiritual age in Christ Jesus. Now we should ascend to the head in order to imagine the spiritual body in its fullness and integrity. So, what is in the body of spiritual age about Christ: chest, back, shoulders, muscles, arms, neck? – Under his breasts understand compassion, in which there are breasts of philanthropy, flowing and richly giving the milk of alms to orphans, widows and all others in need, as the Apostle says: put on... the wombs of generosity (Col. 3:12). But where this milk is drawn into the nipples and how it is prepared, I leave this to you to find out for yourself. Understand by the back that the truly spiritual willingly take upon themselves and lift the burdens of others, and with joy bear the plagues and passions of Christ, as the Apostle says: We must bear the strength of the infirmities of the weak (Rom. 15:1). And one more thing: other things, no one gives me labor: for I bear the wounds of the Lord Jesus on my body (Gal. 6:17), and the Lord says through the Prophet: I put my cloaks on the wounds and my cheeks on the blows (Is. 50:6), - which, although it will not happen to us to suffer, we must always wait for it and be ready for it every hour. By shoulders and muscles we mean patience and endurance in temptations and sorrows. By them and with them, that is, by patience and endurance, the activity of the hands is directed and carried on; “hands” I mean active power and readiness to obey God’s commandments in every possible way and fulfill them. These, that is, active strength (energy) and readiness for all obedience, without patience and endurance cannot be established and strengthened, or cannot be acquired. Next to such hands, the spiritual body has other, spiritual hands, with which it comforts the faint-hearted and impatient, raises those who fall, binds the broken, pouring oil and wine on their wounds; with these same hands it does many other things for the brethren every day, in word and deed; or it touches the hem of the Lady's robe, brings bread to His Lord and puts the cup in His hands, and thus feeds Him, who feeds every breath with His single wave - feeds, I say, that food about which He Himself said that He desires it, and desires it with a strong desire. And blessed is he who knows this, and has it, and brings it to his Master, because Christ the Lord, sitting on the Cherubim, will receive him into the kingdom of heaven, seat him and give him rest, and, having girded himself, will serve Him, according to His false promise. The neck of this spiritual body is an undoubted hope. Behold, by the grace and help of God we have depicted the entire spiritual body, with almost all the members of a perfect man. One of his heads remains unidentified. But perhaps you will think that all the members have already been shown, and not a single one has been forgotten, that is, perhaps you will think that what has been said is enough for the completeness of virtue and the salvation of the soul. However, it is not so, my brothers, no, it is not so. For just as a body, having all members, but not having a head, is dead and inactive; and again, the head itself is alone without the rest of the body, although it is still a head, but being separated from the body, it cannot show its effectiveness (energy), this also happens with the spiritual body, the composition of which we depicted above, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit - that everything that we said about it is vain and useless without the head, although many think rashly that by making these headless members and privately acquiring them they have corrected everything completely and completely. Being dead, they do not feel what good they are deprived of, I mean, the head. Those members that we spoke about and which we considered separately from one another, for the most convenient concept of their meaning and action, without a head and without a natural connection of one with the other cannot be completely composed and established (formed and firmly standing in the soul). For just as the body of a small child can in no way grow if it does not have a head; when these two are united and help each other (for example, the body receives food through the mouth, then from the body it is sent to the head in the form of a nutritious fluid - blood), then the whole person feeds and grows in this way, and the same thing happens in the spiritual body (that is, that it feeds, lives and grows), when the head is established on top of it. Listen carefully, remembering what I said before, and I will explain it to you more clearly. So, you have faith and humility - the foundations of the virtues, and on top of these two you have established all the other virtues that I indicated before, from which the entire body (of the spiritual person) is built and raised to the neck - hope, which stands above all the other body of virtues. However, she alone, without connection with the head, dies along with the other members of this body, for then she has nowhere to receive breath, or the sighing of the Spirit, which gives life and moves the whole body and all its members, and has nowhere to receive incorruptible food. So, in order not to leave the measure of the age of Christ unfinished, let us place holy love on top of hope - truly the head of the virtues, as the lips of Christ say - the divine Paul: now faith, hope, love, these three remain; Greater than these are the loves (1 Cor. 13:13). And one more thing: even if an imam has faith, he leaves behind mountains, but he is not an imam for love, I am nothing. And even if I give away all my possessions, and even if I give up my body and burn it, I have no love, it will not profit me at all (1 Cor. 13:2-3). All the virtues I have shown before are accomplished by faith, being inspired in zeal for them, taught by them and strengthened by hope - a mediator between them and love. This, which I have now said, is invisible and insensible to those who are still imperfect, for those who are imperfect in virtue do not feel it and do not understand it. But when faith, inspired by hope, accomplishes all the virtues, then it nourishes and warms the head, that is, love, with them, and makes it grow through them. Again, the more the head is nourished and grows, the more it imparts strength to the rest of the body of virtues and makes it more zealous for greater and greater success. Thus, little by little, all the members of the entire spiritual body grow, being in a living, close and inextricable connection with holy love. This love is the head of all virtues, there is Christ and our God, who for this purpose came down to earth, became man, taking upon Himself our earthly flesh, in order to make us essentially partakers of His Divinity, or to give us all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to make us spiritual and incorruptible and to lead us to heaven. This love, as the divine Paul says, is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5) and is therefore a participation in the grace of Christ, through which we are united with God. John the Theologian also speaks about this love: perfect love casts out fear... Be afraid that you are not perfect in love (1 John 4:18). And one more thing: you see what kind of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God (1 John 3:1). Here he calls love the grace of the Holy Spirit, through which we receive sonship and become children of God. None of the people can see this love, nor receive it, nor combine with it, nor acquire it, obviously as their spiritual head, if they do not maintain a firm and unshakable faith in Christ and if, with all their zeal, they do not reward it with the virtues I have said. The one who has not seen her, has not united with her and has not tasted her sweetness, cannot love her properly, for anyone who has not seen him, how can he love, as the Apostle says: do not love a brother who you have seen, God who you have not seen, how can you love? (1 John 4:20). And again, if he does not love Him with all his soul and with all his heart, first according to natural thoughts and according to the love for Him that exists in us, then he will not be worthy to see Him. For He Himself said: He who loves Me will be loved by My Father; Then, he says, I will love him, and I will appear to him myself (John 14:21). From this it is clear that if someone does not love God with all his soul and does not show this love by rejecting himself and the whole world, then he will not be worthy to see Him mysteriously through the revelation of the Holy Spirit - he does not have Him as his head, but is a body that is dead and motionless for spiritual affairs, and deprived of the life of all - Christ. Those who were worthy to unite with Him and acquire Him as their head (please pay attention to this word) are themselves gods by grace, like the Son of God. Oh wonderful miracle! The Father dresses them in the first garment, that is, in the garment of the Lord, which He wore before the foundation of the world. For, as the divine Paul says, those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ (Gal. 3:27), and together in the Holy Spirit, who divinely changes them all with some wondrous, ineffable and divine change - about which David speaks: this is the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 77:11), - and the confidant of Christ, Saint John: beloved, now We are children of God, and not being revealed to those who are in the world, that we will be: but we are informed of the Spirit, whom He has given to us, that when He appears, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2). The Father also gives them the mind of Christ, may it shine over their head and reveal to them secrets that human language cannot express in words. At the same time, He gives them new eyes and new hearing. – And why talk a lot about something that is impossible to say everything? – All of Himself, the Son and the Word of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, dwells in them. Each of these becomes consciously, with the testimony of intelligent feeling, a church of God, and then he cries out with boldness, saying: “I live as no one, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). And again: when a child was born, like a child, he said, like a child, he was wise, like a child, he thought; When the man was gone, he rejected the child (1 Cor. 13:11). For this reason I endure everything (2 Tim. 2:10), covering everything (1 Cor. 13:7), I bless the reproached, I endure the persecuted, I pray to the blasphemed (1 Cor. 4:12-13), that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2 Cor. 12:9). This is the perfect age of spiritual men, which, however, has no completion. It is perfect because it is possible for us; it is incomplete, because its perfection is hidden in God. Its fullness is death for Christ and His commandments; so that just as Christ fulfilled the whole law and gave Himself for the salvation of the whole world, enduring the cross and death and at the same time praying to His Father for those who crucified Him, saying: Father, forgive them their sin, for they do not know what they are doing - so we must also have the determination to die for Christ and His commandments and for the salvation of our brothers, so that we have no hope in ourselves, but in the one God who raises the dead. Even if we do not happen to die a violent and martyr’s death, our loving God will count to us the fact that we died of our own will (that is, we had the determination and were ready to die for Him) as the actual suffering of death, as the Apostle also says: I die all the days (1 Cor. 15:31), - not because he died many times by deed itself, but by will. In addition, we must also pray to God for those who sadden us for any reason or condemn us, and for those who are constantly at enmity against us out of their malice - and for all people, faithful and unfaithful, may God enlighten them, so that the faithful achieve the perfection of virtues, and the unfaithful get rid of error and enter into the true faith. Before this, what I said, it is impossible for a person to ever think of doing it by himself or by deed, unless the love of God is first richly poured into his soul, and if for the sake of this love Christ does not dwell in him, Who said: without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). But no one can receive such grace unless he first denies himself, as the Savior commanded, unless he becomes a servant of the Lord with full zeal and loves Him with all his soul. And whoever has not received such grace, let him not deceive himself, but let him know that he has not yet been vouchsafed and will never be vouchsafed to be united with God, with intelligent feeling, consciousness and contemplation. For those who have received the grace of God and become perfect men, and have acquired perfect spiritual age, to the extent we have said, are all united with God and see Him as much as they themselves are visible from Him. God dwells in them consciously, again, and they consciously dwell with God inseparably. When they finally come to such a state and become truly perfect, then their heavenly Father will give them His existence (υπαρχοντα του - property, property) into their hands. Under your hands here is an undoubted assurance, that is, that He will give them His existence with a sure assurance, and the existence of God is the immortal, incorruptible, immutable, unchangeable, eternal, inexplicable beauty of glory, which the Son had with God and His Father before the existence of the world, as the Word and the Son of the Father itself speaks about this: You, Father, have glorified me with Yourself with the glory that You had no peace before (John 17:5). And again: I also gave the glory that you gave to me, that they may be one, as we are one... as you, Father, are in me and I am in you (John 17:22, 21). From God our Father pours out light, unapproachable for all sinners, but approachable for the righteous, which shines in them and becomes for them an inexplicable joy, a peace that surpasses every mind, sweetness, pleasure and joy in insatiable saturation, now and in endless ages. I will say briefly (being surprised by all this myself and not having the strength to say anything more) - the honest and faithful God, even from this present life, gives to His faithful, as a guarantee, the firstfruits of all those blessings, the beauty of which the eye, darkened by passions, has not seen, the ear, shut up by ignorance, has not heard of, and the heart of man has not entered into what God has prepared for those who love Him. So this is the essence (property, good) of the Father, about which I promised to tell you, and in this way, as you have heard, He gives it to those who love Him and spend their lives on earth as if they lived in heaven, and despite the fact that they have to die, so the essence, as if they were now glorified by immortality, walk in the darkness of the world, as if they walked in the days and in the non-evening light, breathe, as if inhaling the air of paradise sweets, having in themselves the tree of life and the food of Angels, the bread of heaven, which, by feeding, all immaterial angelic ranks are revived to immortality. Such heavenly people, and being in the midst of the world and worldly affairs, cry out with Paul in truth: our life is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), - where holy love, which unites with its lovers, illuminates them abundantly and makes them dispassionate - angels truly. Whoever, before being completely united with love, calls himself dispassionate, or teaches others to be dispassionate, or takes up the deeds of dispassionate people, or, again, does not believe in the deeds that dispassionate people do - he is like a small child who, before the time of his age, puts on the weapons of his husbands, promises to teach others the art of war, says that he is also a husband, puts himself on an equal footing with the military leaders and undertakes to go to war with them - which is not only impossible, but also worthy of all laughter. He will, of course, get entangled in the very weapons he has put on, fall and hurt himself, and perhaps so that he will no longer be able to get up. And it serves him right. For if God determined that Moses, as a timid man, should not go out to war, how much more should he, who is still a child, barely able to walk and dress, wait until he reaches the age of a husband, and before that not undertake the impossible. Such an attempt in relation to spiritual warfare is even more incongruous. This warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, and against the powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12), - the weapons of our army are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4) and visible, but spiritual and invisible, - and this warfare itself is invisible, and is waged against invisible enemies. Why is it that all those who, thinking about themselves that they are something, show before people that they are timid, courageous and experienced in such warfare, have succeeded in the science of it, are wise and teaching both in how to defeat evil spirits, and in what to do if they win, and in every possible way through idle talk and interweaving of theorizing to convince everyone about themselves that they are some kind of combatants and conquerors of enemies - they are all very bad act if they know nothing about this warfare from their own experience. And this is all the worse because, once they have appeared on Wednesday in such a capacity, it is already difficult for them to refuse. Such people usually, despite the fact that they are convicted and condemned by their conscience, that they are inexperienced and untrained in this battle, cannot in any way agree to confess their powerlessness and ignorance in this matter, because vanity and man-pleasing strongly take possession of them, and they are afraid that they might lose human glory. Why, so as not to appear before their neighbors what they are in their souls, and so that people do not understand that they are naked from spiritual weapons, that they are still weak and imperfect, they cover themselves with the rubble of hypocrisy and sheep’s skin, and with hypocritical words they try to show everyone that they are perfect men, have reached the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ and have become dispassionate, which others have acquired through sweat and labor great. Despite all this concealment, however, deeds often expose them. For just as they did not establish the foundations of faith and hope on stone and did not erect the building of virtues on this foundation, by which I mean Christ, then, being unsteady and unskillful, when faced with an uprising of temptations and a storm of thoughts, they stumble and fall poor. And in general, if everyone saw what they are like in their souls, then these, wearing, like a mask, the mask of only piety, and not piety itself, would not dare, as I think, to appear in the eyes of people or stand before the face of a person - especially those of them who seem to themselves more wise and verbal than others and think that they wear a kind of royal face, before whom the common people revere and who are revered by many of the simple ones as wise, pious and chaste, although they do not at all resemble such, due to the secret dispositions of the soul, which are filled with all evil. But it’s time for us to turn to something else. Deign now to learn from the glory of truly holy and impassive men, you who want, who, that is, desire and seek with all your heart, and to acquire such glory yourself. I present to you a picture in which you will see all the decoration of their weapons and their splendor, and then each of us, comparing ourselves with those saints, will know the extent of perfection, and how much we all stand below them in courage, dignity and strength. So, look at the sky on any cloudless night, as it is, then look at the disk of the moon, full of brilliant and pure light, and around this all-bright moon - at the circle that happens around it many times. Having considered all this well, turn your mind to the saints who are still in this world with their bodies. These saints are like the sky, their heart is like the disk of the moon, and holy love is an omnipotent and all-effective light, incomparably more brilliant than the light of the sun. This love kindles and illuminates their heart and, growing more and more every day, fills them completely with light, for love does not diminish or cease, like the light of the moon, but is always preserved all-bright through the zeal and good deeds of the saints. Holy dispassion is like a round crown that surrounds the saints, enclosing them among itself, covering them from everywhere, like a tent, keeping them unharmed not only from any sin, but also from every evil thought, making them intemperate and free from all enemies, and even unapproachable for them. Do you see what the glory of the saints is, you who truly desire it? Did you understand the greatness of the image that I presented to you, and how much lower each of us is than the glory and splendor of the saints? This image represents what happens in us. I pointed it out, but I didn't invent it. It was created by the Creator of all things, God. The artistic Word of God depicted in creation, as on some kind of table, what was to come later in the work of salvation, or re-creation of us, so that, looking at the image represented by sensory things, we would not disbelieve that in our time the truth revealed by them happens and is accomplished spiritually. But, knowing that each of us is created by God as a second world, large inside this small visible world, as Gregory the Theologian testifies with me, we will not allow ourselves to be in any way worse than the dumb or even soulless creatures created by the man-loving God for our instruction, but we will imitate everything that is good and avoid, as much as we can, imitation of evil. - However, I will leave everything else, because there is a lot of it, and, having stated this one thing as a reminder to you, I will finish my word. Let everyone who listens to me know that just as we see that day comes after night and night again after day, we must believe and be convinced that we, who are in the darkness of sin from our birth, can, through faith and fulfillment of the commandments, come out of it and enter into the divine day and into spiritual enlightenment, how to again pass from this light and day into the darkness and night of sin, when, due to negligence and contempt for the commandments, we begin to fall into previous sins ours. So let us imitate, at least in this respect, our servant of the sun. Just as it never ceases to shine and illuminate the creation, but always fulfills what is commanded to it by God, so let us not allow ourselves to sit through negligence in the darkness of sensual pleasures and passions, but let us take greater care, fulfilling the command of Him who said: repent, the kingdom of heaven is approaching, cleanse yourself with daily and unceasing repentance, and with tears shed because of it and for his sake, and with every other good deed, and we strive again to enter the non-evening light of God, since we are the sons of light. Thus, by our own example, we ourselves will become a non-evening day for our neighbors, and a new earth, and a new heaven, having within us the Sun of righteousness shining on them, that is, proclaiming to them the commandments of God and His glory not with empty and vain words, but with deeds themselves, and thereby becoming for the most careless brethren active teachers of everything that should be done and making them unresponsive. So, let us not encourage the brethren to be careless, saying to them: how is it possible for people to do this or that? - and thereby making them more remiss in fulfilling the commandments. For that many things are impossible for many, I also admit this; but for which ones? - For those who, like me, are careless and do not want to despise the world and put all its blessings into their minds; for those who are completely devoted to vain glory, hunger for wealth and rejoice in human praise and honor; for those who, in addition, are possessed, the poor, by pride and vanity; for those who willingly, like unclean animals, wallow in the cloak of sinful passions and bad deeds, who, having the dwelling of their souls abolished from Christ, Who dwells in the faithful, cry out to them every day: you will be in a world of sorrow, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world - give consent to the devil to dwell in them. For those who, by the power of faith, have denied themselves and followed Christ, with hope, love and humility, and have found Him to dwell within them, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for such everything is possible and feasible, as the Apostle says: I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). Those who have treasured this Christ within themselves, invisibly contemplate His inexplicable beauty, hold Him uncontrollably, incomprehensibly comprehend His formless image, His unformable appearance and His indescribable face, which is unadorned with unseen vision and unartistic beauty. What is it that they comprehend and contemplate? This is the simple light of His Divinity. This is what they richly contemplate with their intelligent eyes. Touching Him with their immaterial hands, with uncontrollable and abundant love they taste Him tastelessly with the spiritual lips of their mind and soul. But they can never be completely satisfied with His vision, beauty and sweetness. For He, always appearing more and more new, gives them more and more sweetness, and thereby kindles in them a stronger and stronger desire for Himself. If sometimes He does not appear or appear to them so clearly, then this causes them such illness and such languor, as if they had completely lost Him. If sometimes He desires to completely hide from them for a short time, then at that time their languor is as if dying and their heart disease is unbearable and inexplicable. To better understand in an example the tediousness and burning of such love, imagine that some poor man falls in love with a girl descended from a royal family, adorned with a royal crown and possessing beauty above all the wives in the world. She sits in her chambers, and he, her lover, often comes to her and stands outside, as if despised and rejected because of poverty and his great insignificance. If this girl, through some small and narrow window, stretches out her hand, all decorated with gold, and gives it to her poor lover, and he, grabbing her immediately and seeing her inexplicable beauty, begins to kiss her, hoping that he will finally marry this princess and will reign with her, which she promised him before with an oath; then, after such hope and joy, if this princess pulls her hand out of his hands, pulls her back inside to her and completely hides him from him, then will she not thereby cause this poor and unfortunate man unbearable grief? And will not the furnace of love kindle in him an even more flaming furnace? I believe that you will confirm my word. But if this usually happens in visible and sensory bodies and in perishable and fleeting things, then isn’t it even more so, isn’t it with incomparably greater power that the same thing should happen in the mental and invisible realm, and in relation to that which is incorruptible and eternal? For the more excellent the eternal blessings of the temporal ones, the stronger the love they generate for themselves in the souls of their lovers. And for this reason, love for God does not allow them to be possessed, even if only a little, by lust or addiction to any thing. Such people do not want anything, neither fame, nor pleasures, nor money - they have neither the desire nor the permission to even think about it. But like the groom, although looking at the image of his bride, painted with paints, he clings tightly to it and keeps looking at it, and does not want to take his eyes off it, thus feeding the flame of love for the bride, but when he later sees the bride herself and the fact that she does not look like the image that he so lovingly looked at, but is incomparably more beautiful, and when, moreover, he hugs and kisses her, then he no longer wants to look at her portrait, which he had previously looked at so much. persistently looked, transferring his thoughts from him to his bride, so the same thing, and even to a higher degree, is experienced by those who contemplate and imprint in their minds the power and wisdom of their Creator from the greatness and beauty of visible creations, and from them, as from some icon, little by little succeeding, they come to the love and faith, and pure fear that they should have for Him; but when later they are essentially united with God Himself and are worthy to see Him Himself and become partakers of Him, then they no longer pay such careful attention to how His creatures portray Him - to this shadow of Him in the visible, because they already then cease to have a feeling for the visible, as before, and their mind constantly remains in that which is above the senses, and in some way is dissolved with that and is clothed in the lightness of the Divine nature in Christ Jesus, to whom glory forever. 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