Поучение 31. О кознях лукавых бесов, и о предлежащем воздаянии, тщательно совершающим свое служение.

My fathers, brothers and children! The duty of the abbot compels me to proclaim to you the way of God every day: for the priest and teacher, according to Scripture, “is the angel of God Almighty, and God will require the law from his mouth on those under him” (Malach. 2, 7). And I’m damned, I’m lazy and I don’t dare speak. For I have a defiled heart and unclean lips, while I live among holy people, and even more, I am their superior. However, the love of God captivates me, and I now teach you, now I confirm that in which I myself have been tempted, now I talk with you brotherly, now I teach you as sons; and I also confess that I and your child are most indecent. So, in what way, my most honest brothers, shall we correct our path? When we preserve the words of the Lord and the destinies of His righteousness. We have a great and constant war with the rulers of the darkness of this age, and their bitterness against us is strong, as Climacus writes (Step. 4, div. 35. Step. 26, div. 126). For they confuse us, revolt us, arouse lust in us, produce voluptuous movements 32, and kindle the fire of lusts (mainly in young people) and burn them; Their malice is varied, their food and drink are deadly. If a humble person is caught by one thing, through his inattention, or envy equal to murder, or love of glory, or secrecy, or sinful thoughts, and agreement with thoughts - for from this alone the soul can descend to hell; - or if someone is caught by any of the devil’s suggestions: then he is alienated from God and the kingdom of heaven, deprived of eternal life, loses endless joy, on the contrary, he inherits unquenchable fire, never-ending worms, dark tartar and a place with demons. But let no such thing befall you, my brethren. Let us run away from the snares of the devil, let us strive courageously against him, let us endure the fire of lust, and it will undoubtedly go out. For God’s all-powerful help will not leave us scorched for a long time, but we will soon enter into the coolness and dew of purity, chanting God with the holy youths. If envy attacks us, we will also arm ourselves against it; after a short temptation it will pass; it will stay maybe one hour, or three, or maybe even two days; let it be destroyed on our beds: for everything that we have thought in our hearts all day long, let us learn to destroy on our beds. Fight like a warrior of Christ, so that you may be crowned and not be tortured. Are you hurt? But you also hurt your enemies. Have you fallen, (what shall not happen)? Get up quickly. Have you been carried away by words into transgression, have you suffered temptation from your eyes, or captivity of your mind, or have you been caught in laughter? Convert again, correct yourself, repent, give glory to God, confess, shed warm tears from your soul, groan from the depths of your heart, mourn and lament, contrive, humble yourself. And this is the healing of the soul; for it is said: “When you return to breathe, then you will be saved and understand where you were” (Is. 30:15). And: “Even as I speak to you, he says to you: Behold, I have come” (Is. 58:9). And it is also said: “They became sad and went decrepit on their journeys. I saw his ways, and healed him” (Isa. 57:17, 18). You see what kind of God we have - how good He is, how merciful, how loving of mankind. “For there is cleansing for our sins” (1 John 2:2); for our sake he became poor and suffered for our salvation; was strangled, endured molestation, was wounded, accepted reproaches, was mocked, shed His most holy blood, and “by His stripes,” as it is written, “we were healed” (Is. 53:5). So, my brethren, come, let us come to Him, let us fall down before Him, and weep before Him, “for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand” (Ps. 94:7). Today, if we hear His voice, we will not grieve Him, and we will not crawl along like the disobedient and murmuring, and we will not be lazy about going to the land of His promise - where we will go along a narrow and sorrowful path - so as not to leave us the bones of our souls in the desert of torment. If they had then listened to Joshua, their leader, and Caleb, the son of Jephoniah, they would have inherited God’s promises. And since they, out of laziness and negligence, did not want to follow the difficult path and resist the pagans who resisted them, they were afraid, and those who had the irresistible power of God helping them were consumed, and their memory was completely lost. So it will be with us now, if you do not listen to us unworthy and do not convert. Do not remain in the love of flesh, thinking about the Egyptian passionate life, and slavish service to this world, from which you have been freed by the grace and mercy of God. Become zealous, with a warm heart; “Shod your feet for the preparation of the gospel of peace, putting on the breastplate of steadfast faith; arm yourself with spiritual armor” (Eph. 6:13–15) and follow the mental path; and we will overcome the foreign and barbarian passions that confront us, and we will defeat them; Let us mentally cross the Jordan with tears, and inherit that land in which immortal life flows, in which are the fruits of eternal blessings. With meager and unworthy words, I always, as now, try, my brothers, to instill boldness in your souls. However, take into your hearts this little that we have, and adding your good deeds to the meager and most insignificant word, multiply it by thirty, sixty and a hundred. To her, I beg you, my most honest brothers, my heart, my crown, my praise, my chosen people, or better yet, God’s chosen lot, the holy part, the royal priesthood; for I dare to go so far as to praise you; endure the labors of your life in the ministries entrusted to you. Cellarer! Work with joy; take heart economical; strengthen yourself, gardeners and gardeners; be well carpenters; be firm podkelari; Be strong, millers, and always have God and our humility with you; Rejoice, cook, and with your labors calm my children. Rejoice, guide, manager of God's services; be careful in your actions, do not upset God, and treat all your brothers with great humility. Rejoice in the Lord, caretaker of the sick with your assistant. Strengthen your handwriting, working in penmanship, for you are the inscribers of the laws of God and the scribes of the words of the Spirit, passing on books not only to the present, but also to subsequent generations; observe punctuation marks and evenness in letters, spelling, order and penmanship. Sexton, igniter of Divine lights, serve God pleasingly with great humility, so that the Church of God may be adorned with this. Bookkeeper, take care of the sacred books, as the most sacred tablets of God, exacting from those who read them if any of them puts the book in the wrong way, or dusty 33, or spoiled, or soiled due to the negligence of the reader, and put them in the bookkeeper with care and in order. Guardian of the sacred vessels, with fear and trembling, perform the service entrusted to you: with clean hands and an undefiled soul, touch the shrine, not in uncleanness, so that you are not burned. Keeper of brotherly clothing, be prosperous with your colleagues, keep brotherly clothing, and distribute them to everyone according to decency, and as you are commanded. Grape guard, cattleman, gatekeeper, consumer, dyer, all of you rejoice and rejoice with me. May you all be prosperous. Let no one grumble, grieve or be proud against his brother, for both the Lord and people hate such a person. Let no one do shameful acts of soul or body: let no one eat in secret, lie, slander, or start an untimely argument with anyone; let no one sit in idleness and invent excuses for sins; let him not be double-minded, slanderer, slanderer, troublemaker, long-winded, hypocrite, brother-hater, stubborn and obstinate. On the contrary, all of you, my beloved children, carefully follow the path of God and strive with zeal. Be simple, humble, compliant, bowing your necks down, obedient, friendly, turn away from insolence, love one another and have no guile; so that by doing this and leading our lives this way, we may accomplish the feat set before us, please God and enjoy future blessings. Oh, that we may all receive them through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, receives glory, power, honor and worship forever. Amen. In Slav. hypogastric movements. According to Greek κορνιακτισμὲνην. In glory book: decorated; typo, instead of asking. You might be interested in: