Поучение 45 50 . В пяток сырной недели. О воздержании и молитве.

Brothers and Fathers! Many times I have praised and continue to praise the image and order of monastic life; and I do this not out of flattery and seduction, but I teach you the truth, and I say that monastic, or better to say, angelic life is a commendable thing. I don’t want to condemn the laity through this, but I want to encourage you to good deeds of true life. For you know what turmoil and unrest are still taking place in the world, what disorderly cries and shouts and satanic games, drunkenness and rejoicing and other similar things; and all these are the works and actions of the devil; and if those who create them do not repent of them, they will be subjected to great torment. But our life does not consist in eating a lot and drinking a lot, jumping and having fun throwing a disc 51; if anyone does this, according to the law he should not receive communion even on Easter day itself. What does it consist of? It is to chant and glorify the Lord day and night, but devoted to the order and charter that the holy fathers bequeathed to us: i.e. move from psalmody to psalmody, from reading to reading and from prayer to prayer: then pay attention to yourself and guard your mind, so that the devil does not somehow deceive us, and sow in our hearts evil and nasty thoughts, or bad thoughts, or pride, or fornication, or any other sin, then internally study in the psalms and other sayings of the Divine Scriptures; sometimes, when the time requires, to remain silent in one’s cell, sometimes to do handicrafts, or to talk for spiritual benefit, one must serve each other, each according to his own obedience, which is entrusted to him; We must love each other and have compassion as brothers, as one body; for we, in the words of the Apostle, are “one body and one spirit... in one hope of our calling” (Eph. 4:4). Everything is beautiful and in order, yes. If physical consolation is required for the sake of the holiday, then this is not contrary to piety, as long as it is according to the rank and as befits monks; We have evidence of this from the Holy Gospel. Listen to what Christ says to Judas: “Whatever you do, do it quickly... But no one knows this from those who are reclining, to whom this was spoken to him. But I know that the ark named Judas spent it, as Jesus said to him: buy what we require for the feast, or give alms to the poor” (John 13:27, 28, 29); that is, as if for this reason Christ said to Judas: whatever you do, do it quickly. Meanwhile, the Lord told him this about the betrayal that Judas intended to commit. The apostles did not understand why the Lord said this to Judas. You see, brethren, that both the Lord and the Apostles had concern for the holiday and for the poor, which we, the humble, as you know, try to do according to our strength. Blessed is God, who has vouchsafed us this life, not for our good deeds, which we have accomplished, for we have not done a single good deed on earth before God, but only out of His immeasurable goodness. Therefore, each of us must, with a contrite and humble heart, give great thanks to our benefactor God. This happens in monastic life, as we said, but in the world there is poverty in such matters; for the laity spend the whole day and night worrying about wealth and unrighteous acquisitions, and in other worldly passions - fornication, adultery, kidnapping, untruth, deception, blasphemy, oaths and reproaches; one starts a lawsuit with another, one drags the other to an unlawful trial, and much other evil happens in the world; why the Divine Chrysostom says: “not many of the worldly will be saved.” These words are scary, but they are true. Therefore, we should cry not only for our sins, but also because of this saying. For are we and the laity not brethren? Are we not of the same dust, and were we not baptized in the same holy font? If someone sees an animal going into the abyss, will he not regret it? How much more should we grieve and cry for our Christian brothers? Therefore, blessed Paul mourned the enemies of the cross of Christ, praying for them with unceasing heartfelt sorrow (Rom. 9:2). In a similar way, the Prophet Jeremiah mourned the death of the Jews, and not only mourned them, but also committed his mourning to writing and left it for reading. And Moses, the Seer of God, cried out to God, saying: “If... forgive them their sin... forgive them; Otherwise, blot out even me from Your book” (Ex. 32:32). In short, every saint grieved for sinners and prayed to God for them. So, if we want to follow in the footsteps of the saints, then we will care not only about our own salvation, but also to pray for the whole world, complaining about sinners, heretics and other ungodly pagans who are in the darkness of unbelief, and briefly speak about all people, as the Apostle Paul commands us, saying that we should make prayers and thanksgiving (1 Tim. 2:1). And then we will gain more benefits than those for whom we pray and remember, and we will receive cleansing and remission of our sins, and we will inherit eternal life in the kingdom of heaven; about Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. See Patrol. Minya. Volume. 99, p. 579. A flat stone circle, used in games in ancient times. You might be interested in: