Поучение 13 23 . О том, что должно внимать себе по отношению к различным явствам и о воздержании.

My brothers and fathers! Although we open our unclean lips to you every day; but, my honest and desired children, we consider this insufficient for our love for you and for caring for your salvation. Although we are sinners, we learn in this day and night, we abide in this, we breathe in this, we desire and seek this, this is our life and a praiseworthy death. So, take heed, my children, that good things do not come easy; in those who are inattentive, it is conveniently destroyed, and having been acquired over a long time, it is easily lost due to a little negligence. Be mindful of yourself regarding the present tense; now is spring time 24, exciting for the body; and our body, since there is earth, is drawn to earthly things. And just as the earth, manured and fertilized, vegetates and gives color, so our flesh, fattened by various foods and drinks, necessarily grows the thorns of passions. Curb it and discourage it, as the divine Apostle says, “and do not please the flesh in lust” (Rom. 13:14); but by giving her what is necessary and due, live in spirit. Observe moderation in both bread and wine. Let wine be given to drink for small consolation, during holidays and difficult work, or to the sick, or to those who are exhausted, or to those working on the road; as for the others, you should give them one cup, or many two, for you know well what the elders say 25. I am not telling you this, my children, to prevent you from eating food; “let the... waste be abolished,” as the Apostle says (1 Cor. 6:13); but wanting you to have true food, I bring these words to your memory. I want you to eat and drink, but in order and with the fear of God, in order to strengthen the body for the sake of necessary and necessary tasks. Don’t you know that through this abstinence and avoidance of the most pleasant worldly foods, that is, from eating meat and wine, baths and various tasty dishes, a truly Divine paradise is prepared for you, having the tree of life and the water of immortality, and the delights of the spirit, and the indescribable and inconceivable beauty of the indescribably visible and invisibly contemplated 26 eternal blessings. Our joy and pleasure are stored there. Soon, when death takes you there, you will eat and drink forever without being satisfied. And here, my children, even if we happen to be at the table of kings, this pleasure is not pleasure, but food for worms; their joy is not well-being, but misfortune; their joy is not joy, but sadness; their inheritance is not gain, but deprivation, and their happiness is truly vanity of vanities. This is what the greatest of kings, Solomon, spoke about enjoying the blessings of the world. You have as your beloved - abstinence, as your wife - obedience, for the daughters of the Lord - purity, virginity, alms, for the holy girls - tenderness and humility. Look up to the mountain sky, and see where we live, where Christ is, our Head and common Father of all, and our city, the highest Jerusalem, the mother of Peter and Paul and other saints. Truly, if you endure, you will be overcomers; if you stand, you will be crowned; if you die like this, the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven will be opened to you; and then remember me, damned and sinful, when you see that you are not sent away condemned. But pray for me too, my children, that God may save me and you and give me the spirit of reason and the perfection of the soul, so that I may dwell among you in a divine manner. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen. See Patrology Greek, Minya edition. Volume 99, page 688. Paris. 1860 In Novogrech, lane. εὐρύχωρος; in Ellinogrech. ἐαρινός; in Slav. spring. One day wine was sent to Mount Anthony; one of the hermits brought it to Av. I drink two cups of wine. Sisoy drank the first and took the second. But when he offered it to him for the third time, Sisoi did not take it, saying: don’t you, brother, know that there is Satan. Hon. Tales of the basement, St. and bl. Fathers. Page 297. You might be interested in: