Поучение 17. О том, чтобы не утаивать нам лукавых помыслов, но открывать чрез исповедь.

What should I talk to you about now, in my present teaching, if not about those three damned brothers who fled, who were torn away from our good society, on the one hand, so that you would be more firm, having been strengthened by their fall, and on the other, so that I, mourning them, would ease the sadness of my heart. For although I am unworthy, yet I am your father and shepherd; and no father is without sorrow over his son’s death; If this happens in the physical, is it not more so in the spiritual? And one more thing: not a single shepherd whose sheep is stolen by a wolf is left without sorrow, but grieves a lot and looks for the lost one. Truly, even now, the “beast” has kidnapped, not Joseph, as it is written about this (Gen. 37:20), but my children Petronius, Malchus and Aetia, the evil beast, the mental wolf, the fierce dragon, the insidious serpent, who drove out the ancient Adam and Eve from paradise through deception and bitter taste; Now, in a similar way, he expelled these brothers from the hostel, as if from another paradise. And if he expelled others, either from here or from another place, now is not the time to talk about this; for the same devil does all such things from the beginning to the end of the world. How can I not mourn them and not groan? How can I not grieve my soul and not be sad, thinking about their destruction? Three youths, three young men, fickle, uneducated. Will not Satan, therefore, lead them hither and thither, and will he not plunge them into the rapids and crush their bones like mortal vessels? However, I reproached them not because the bearded and old can preserve themselves by excommunicating from the brotherhood, but because, having fallen, they can fall into even greater evil as a result of their young age. O recklessness and darkness of thoughts! What should we do now? To you who are healthy, who still stand firm and have preserved yourselves, I now turn my word. Do we want to suffer illness like them? Shall we seek destruction with them? No way, oh children! How can this be? You just don’t need to accept the serpent’s advice and hide the serpent in your heart, but open it immediately, and then it will run away from you like from fire. For if those brothers had kept themselves, they would not have been subjected to this. But you, children, beware, being Christ’s sheep, do not voluntarily become the prey of the devil, and living in the paradise of Christ’s commandments, do not succumb in any way to the charms of the evil serpent, so as not to be cast out into the dark place of sin. Living like an angel, do not be darkened by disastrous self-indulgence; endure and endure everything, and keep the commandments of Christ. Let no one go into the congregation of the wicked, or sit with the wicked. The wicked and evil one is the one who advises and persuades his brother to flee, or to fulfill some other passion, to the destruction of himself and the one who follows him. Brother! when such a one takes you away and begins to pour out his poison with his tongue in private, jump away from him, as I have said many times; stand far away and cover your ears so that you can save both him and yourself. When he sees you grieving because of the temptation that has befallen you, then he tries to seduce you. But don’t listen to him when he assures you that you have the right to grieve; for this is the serpent, and he is plotting to drive you out. When he begins to blame paradise, i.e. the hostel, or the companions, i.e. your brothers, such and such, or such and such a thing; drive him away and speak what is right against him, so that you can bring him to your senses and save yourself. And what do they say: “Brother! Let's run away and get rid of this place. The abbot here is a heavy man, the cellarer is unreasonable, and he is very stingy; in the necessary lack; everyone commands, everyone commands: who can bear the burden of labor, or save, or be saved in this place? So, let's get out of here!" Where? To anathema. For as soon as they come out, and if it were possible for anyone to see what was in their souls, then in every possible way he would see them darkened, frightened in thoughts, frantic and having nothing sound: neither intentions, nor reasoning; they run hither and thither, and stumble like lost sheep. Do not think, my children, that I say this out of hatred for them; no! But they are subjected to even more cruel and incomparably greater things, which I cannot express. Pray and pray for them, so that they may be found and return, either by themselves or through us. And you, as I said before about this, be strong, avoiding cases of failure, and fighting the good fight, so that you may be crowned in heaven. I have heard that some of you carelessly speak of these brothers with respect, while they are not worthy to be called by name; but you call them only by a simple name, damning them. For the Apostles did not treat the traitor with respect, and did not even call him an apostle, but Judas, traitor and tatem. It's about those. And each of you must patiently continue in the obedience that has happened, and continue as commanded, whether it be simple work or some other kind of obedience. To seek, strive and desire the fulfillment of one’s will is a sign of the disorderly, untrained and crafty. So, having known evil, let no one again do anything so as not to be subjected to penance for the outrage. Do you know what St. Dorotheus says? He who has achieved the cutting off of the will has achieved perfect peace. He who desires and loves peace must adhere to this path, that is, cutting off his will, and he will soon achieve future eternal peace. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the prayers of my Father, give you unity in good, and to have one mind, to endure and endure the labors of asceticism until death, until the outcome into eternal life, for the inheritance of the Kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory, and power, and splendor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: