Поучение 90 103 . В неделю четвертую. О том, что похвально и боголепно уму размышлять о неизреченной красоте творений Божиих.

Brothers and Fathers! Always and at all times, let the mind and heart of a person be awake, let them learn the work of God and the work of asceticism, and not be drawn here and there like a captive, but think entirely about the Divine. Is the water running low in the sea, or is there wind in the air? So, incomparably, good thoughts in us should no longer become scarce, so that we can always direct our gaze into the endless abyss of God’s miracles, into which the mind is immersed with love, that is, with love, let it learn from them, and not become entangled with sinful thoughts. For the mind is natural to constant mobility and instability, and it can never stand still in one place, but in every possible way rushes to where we turn it, either for good or for evil. And if we turn our minds to the good, then we can speak with the Prophet David: “Lord, by Thy will give strength to my kindness,” and if to evil, then the next verse, “but thou didst turn away Thy face, and was troubled” (Ps. 29:8). For this is the disgust of God’s face when a person’s mind revolves in wickedness and vanity; and again the exercise in deceit causes the soul harmful confusion and evil. Therefore, let us always try to turn our minds to the contemplation of what is right and good, and look only at it. What is this? Angelic and heavenly powers, these indescribable beauties of paradise, the bright dwellings of the Apostles, Prophets, martyrs and all the righteous. Let our mind look at this heavenly breadth, at the ray of the sun, at the light of the moon, at the choirs of stars, and at everything that is subject to the senses 104. And let us not stop there, like the pagans who idolized the heavenly bodies, but let us recognize the artist God, who created them and preserves their beauty and splendor not deteriorating and unchanged. So, at first, in paradise, God adorned us humans very splendidly, giving us the dignity of being His image and likeness, just as Christ shone forth during the Transfiguration and Resurrection. And although through disobedience we have become blackened and disfigured, and have lost that first grace; but God again adorned and transformed us in the grace of Christ by the washing of life, that is, by holy baptism “and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out on us richly by our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5,6). And although we were again blackened by sin another time, He enlightened us a third time with the Angelic image of virgin monastic life, which is like another baptism, having forgiven us our sins and erased the handwriting written against us by the devil. So, may our soul remain in its beauty; so that she may be honored to hear: “You are all good, my neighbor, and there is no vice in you” (Song. 4:7). And if we become defiled (for we are prone to sin, and no one is pure from defilement, and no one can say that he has a pure soul and heart), then we will again be cleansed with tears, according to what was said: “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Ps. 50:9). And again: “Wash yourself and you will be clean; take away wickedness from your souls” (Isa. 1:16). And blessed is the soul that always purifies itself in this way, and abandons all attachment to the world and to its very flesh, and only loves God, and has all of God in its mind, and sweetly and joyfully awaits death every day. For truly death is coming, and we have a necessary debt to pay. But so that at this hour we may find ourselves venerable and righteous, so that the body of each of us, as a chosen vessel and chariot of righteousness, may appear honest and worthy of kissing for those who see it and sing (funeral songs over it): and may our soul itself, taken by the holy Angels, enter into the eternal life of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen. See Patrolology, vol. 99, p. 638. Corrected according to the Latin translation. You might be interested in: