Поучение 7. О том, что оставившие все и последовавшие Христу, получат воздаяние, хотя бы они были люди уничиженные.

My fathers, brothers and children! You, like the rich and good earth, accepting my humble word, always bear fruit and grow, like a garden, decorated with the beauties of virtues. For I see, my children, and I know your deeds and your thoroughness, and I accept one meekness, another zeal, another silence, another psalmody, another doing 17, another vigilance, from one this, from another another, and from all the incessant and irresistible diligence in organizing our communal life. I am surprised how some forgot their former passionate habits, since little by little they forced themselves for the Lord’s sake, changed and became, as it were, different, courageously enduring the present and living like virtuous brothers. For truly everything is possible for the love of Christ, since it convinces the high and draws them to humility, and those accustomed to eating and drinking incontinently to abstinence, and the rich to poverty. And not only am I surprised by this, but also by everyone who left everything for the sake of the Gospel of Christ; for some left their parents, some brothers, some wives, others loved ones, some fatherland, others houses, and others gave up their habits; for self-sacrifice is the same in everyone. It often turns out that those who are looked upon as inferior, and who are considered unworthy to stand on an equal footing with some of the superiors, endure incomparably greater labor; even if there was nothing else, but in this one thing, that he was able to free himself from the violence and torment of nature and the love of his parents and relatives, or from arbitrary habits. This alone can count him as martyrdom, and it is enough to say to Christ, like the Supreme Apostle Peter: “Behold, we have left everything and died after You: what... will happen to us?” . And the Lord will say to him: “at the second coming you will sit... on a double throne, judging the deceived ten tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:27,28). If such great rewards are destined for us, brothers and Fathers, then why don’t we all force ourselves to perform virtues? Why not endure all sorrow and distress for the sake of Christ - abstinence, vigil, reproach, obedience, obedience, praise, singing, or something else difficult, saying the prophetic word: “For for Your sake we are slain all the day, counted as sheep of the slaughter” (Ps. 43:23)? And in truth, my children, you are not far from this voice. For will you not also be strengthened daily by the cutting off of your will, by the blows of reproof, by remaining in obedience, and by the blood of your hearts? Although not sensually, you will become like the martyrs, and will receive, in the words of the Apostle, “an unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). I do not lie to you, my children, and I do not deceive you; Let this not happen! But I also lag very far behind the truth, and perhaps only somewhat portray things as clouded by my words. However, I tell you that you are worthy of great rewards if you complete your life; and blessed is he who is not only a listener of what is read and said, but also a doer. It would be beneficial for me, the all-condemned one, to endure reproach, reproach, reproach, reproach and all the good passions of Christ, in order to still here receive permission for my sins and achieve heavenly glory. For to be subjected to persecution, death, or something else that is sorrowful, but not frightening, inducing fear, but fearless, shows on the one hand that the world loves its body, and on the other, that the soul is incomparably more glorious and honorable (the body), with which the body also inherits the promised benefits. Therefore, children, may the light of a true mind shine upon you, and may the love of God separate you from the world, and may the desire of eternal life mortify your lusts, and may God lead and elevate you to a high measure and to the goal of piety, may He strengthen your hearts and strengthen your thoughts. And let none of you be deprived of that good part and inheritance that our previously deceased brothers received; because without a doubt we will all go there, we will get to know each other, and we will see each other with a different kind of knowledge. And if we are worthy, then we will inherit those blessings, “which no eye has seen... ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not sighed” (1 Cor. 2:9) about Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. According to Greek ἐργασία. This word, in addition to external labor, work, also means smart doing. You might be interested in: