Поучение 25. О том, что игумен должен изъискивать и употреблять все средства, чтобы проходящие поприще мученического повиновения были в благодушии, дабы, одержав над врагами победу, они получили в награду вечные венцы от Подвигоположника Бога.

Brothers and fathers! Those who fight in national battles have their own teachers who guide them, teach them the art of war, and show them how and from where to attack their enemies in order to more easily defeat them, and much more that contributes to victory. So we, the humble, should do with you, the fighters and sufferers of Christ, who are fighting in the field of martyrdom; We must say and do for you everything that serves to consolate you, to courage, to complacency, to patience, to trustworthiness, which leads you to skill in your good deed, so that you can defeat your enemies and receive crowns, not temporary, but eternal from the Hero of God. Let us see, if you please, how they prepare for war, and from their example we will see what is required for us. When the time of warfare comes, and even before this time, they do not live as before, and as it happens, but they prepare, fast and undergo difficulties in order to become accustomed to the labors that await them, and use all kinds of training, so that they are even forbidden to spend time in idleness, and to consume food and drink that do not benefit them, and they seek out and use other means to moderately nourish and strengthen the body. And their conversation day and night is about nothing other than how to act in order to win, how to attack, when they enter the scene of action, and where to retreat, or who will defeat whom among the enemies. So they use a lot of work. For what? In order to win, to receive perishable crowns and temporary rewards, to please the audience and shame the vanquished. If they do this with such thoughtfulness and deliberation; How much care, care, consideration, care, vigilance and attention should we and you have about this and that, to this and that, in your opinion? For our adversary, rival and enemy is not inexperienced and not a beginner, not careless and not lazy; but when confronting us, he has great and inexpressible concern about where to attack us, how to strike us, where to wound us, how to throw and thrust arrows at us, catch us in nets, and how to cast down and bring down the humble monk and sufferer of piety. So, isn’t our feat great? Don't we need great care? Isn't that great care? Don’t we need to raise our hands to heaven and say: “Look, O Lord, from Thy holy habitation” (Deut. 26:15), “raise up Thy power, and come to save us” (Ps. 79:3). We need to learn a lot and heed this, and never turn our minds and thoughts anywhere except to this, and moreover, with humility and contrition of heart, with hope and courage of the soul, with pure and tested faith and with obedience, so that the enemy, seeing this, will be afraid and turn back. The Lord will never allow an ascetic of virtue to fall into despondency if he calls on Him for help; us, then who can resist, or who can defeat us? No one. But if thousands and thousands of enemies arise, he will not be afraid; for in the Name of the Lord he will conquer and destroy them, although not in a short time. For the enemy does not stop fighting for many, many years; but cannot in any way stop zeal when, with God’s help, we hope for victory and eternal pleasure. There they spend one day fighting, and the winners are crowned, rejoice and have fun; but their joy is not constant, but only for a while, and again they appear as if they have not won. This is not the case in the labors before us; for if anyone is worthy of victory, he is blessed and most blessed; because if he is one day crowned with incorruptible crowns, then there will be no end to his joy and rejoicing, glory, lordship and gladness, and not in a small field, and not before a small temporary and quickly dispersing assembly, but where the face and presence of the Angels, where there is fear and unspeakable trembling, where deeds and words are revealed, where the trumpet sounds and where there is a universal cry, where the sky twists, the earth boils and it shakes, the stars fall, the sun darkens, the moon darkens, all the elements change, the river flows and bubbles with great noise; deadly and poisonous worms boil and strive to devour the bodies of sinners; The darkest abysses open up and await the condemned, bonds are preparing to bind veins, bones and limbs. And who can express all the sorrow that will greet sinners, as well as joy and gladness that will greet the righteous? Woe, woe then to the vanquished; for despised and dishonored before the angelic powers, he will stand in sorrow and lamentation, with a downcast face, not even daring to raise his eyes for his madness and recklessness; Then bound, dragged and beaten, he will be handed over to terrible angels, who will plunge him into eternal torment along with the demons who deceived him, to the destruction of the flesh that has done evil, and to the burning of the soul that listened to the evil one, and will be given over to endless torment. What is the benefit to such a person, even if he lived to the end of the century, even if he enjoyed everything desired in the world, all the sweets and delights? Truly he suffered a great deprivation, was subjected to a miserable deception; in the full sense, he received one piece of copper, and lost countless talents of gold; truly he sold himself for one copper denarius, and bought eternal torment; truly chose the pleasure of one day, or better yet, not one hour, and lost the endless Kingdom. He is pitiful, as if he had done something worthy of pity; he is damned, as if he had acted wretchedly. It would be better if he were condemned as a dumb animal than, being rational, subjected to eternal torment. But come, look at the ascetic of Christ, who judged prudently, who sold everything, both will and desires, and acquired one bead of Christ, whom the flatterer could not deceive with the pleasures here. Let’s say with the Apostle, he was counted “as a flatterer” (2 Cor. 6:8), not deceived by passions, but keeping his soul unenslaved from passions, and desiring only to be a servant of the Lord; He was not subjected to ridicule like many, but he ridiculed and laughed at the world and those mocked by it - those who clung to the evil, crafty and harmful, as if to the good, desired and useful: he was abstinent, rejected carnal pleasures, loved virginity, non-covetousness, prayer and other virtues, and hated sins and iniquities. So wisely he reasoned; even if he had all human well-being, and renounced it and left it for the sake of God, then he did not do anything great, but left, as it were, one piece of copper, or the insignificant glory of one day, and received countless treasures and endless honor; that's what he became like. Look how he will rejoice there, have fun, rejoice, how he will bless his good determination, his good mentors and the right hands of his primates. And, let us not continue the word, there will be no end to the joy of one, but for the other, on the contrary, grief, sadness and torment with great shame and disgrace will have no end. So, even if we were stones, we must come to our senses and praise the good deed that we have done, the greatest and most blessed, that is, that we left the world, became monks and spend our lives in virginity. Why did I say this? So that we can add ascent to ascent, zeal to zeal, and, as if having received wings and warmed our hearts, we may fly with virtue towards God, in no way giving room to the devil to possess us. So, let vanity disappear, let disobedience flee, let grumbling, slander, insolence, verbosity, laziness, contentiousness, bickering, envy, slander and every vile passion be driven away. And let good, longed-for and god-creating humility, uncalled-for obedience, Christ-bearing virginity, enlightening tenderness, joyful crying, and all other sacred deeds remain with boldness and shine. So that all of us, as participants in these works, may be heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory and power forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: