Послание 8. К Симеону-игумену

Your fatherly holiness, who cares more about our affairs than we ourselves, in two handwritten letters told us strange and wondrous things. But God was so favorable to the bearers of the letters that, with the consent of the abbot, they were accepted into his monastery. Your piety did well in returning them with your edifying words to their fatherly and spiritual depths. I don’t know what to say about our brother, who left his title and was expelled from the monastery hostel as if from paradise. And we previously looked at this man as truly God-planted grapes, “the purest seed, fruitful” (Jer. 2:21). How now “the forest boar injured him and a lonely wild beast devoured him” (Ps. 79:14), and he turned, so to speak, into mortal bitterness? Is it because he gave himself up to the untamed beasts of passions—by this I mean carnivory and lust—and now one can see how in his mental thoughts he is devoured by them and tormented, as if by the mouths of lions? The Divine Basil, as you know, says that the fall of one who has recklessly excommunicated and rejected his father is the same as that of one who has violated the holy vow himself, therefore they are equally condemned to excommunication and other penances. However, we sinners pray that he will again look at the former light from his soul, dulled by passions and darkened, and again return home to his kind father and beloved community. We exhort the brothers themselves to remain courageous in their communal deeds and not to hesitate because of the fall of the wicked, but on this occasion to cleave more and more to the true faith and indissoluble union, even to the shedding of blood, as the God-bearing Fathers teach, so that for the perfection of their obedient life they will receive the crown of martyrdom on the day of Judgment and rejoice together with Dositheus, Acacius and Dometian, the men completely holy, having spent their lives in complete obedience. For now, as Your Reverence says in the rest of the letter, disorder and disobedience reign, since almost everyone, one might say, relies on human customs and on the institutions of their neighbors, contrary to the commandments of God, and more want to lead the lifestyle of such and such an abbot than of our Divine Fathers. Therefore, the shepherds, of whom I am the first, became foolish; We do not seek the Lord and do not adhere to an impeccable and unchanging way of life, but - as if the law of God had become obsolete, the Gospel had been abolished, the spiritual rules had become weak and, I will say something more ungodly, as if the unchangeable God had changed! This applies to those who speak and refer to times, days and generations - then one, and now another. But I object that such a difference did not arise from time. For neither the sky acquired a different appearance or a different movement, nor did the luminary - the cause of the day - take on a different radiance, nor did the universe begin to rush around and turn contrary to the previous order; “He has appointed them,” the Scripture says, “for ever and ever; he has given a commandment, and it will not pass away” (Ps. 149:6). But this happened, Most Holy One, from a change in free will, impoverished by divine love and turning its affection to perishable things, not wanting and not daring to follow praiseworthy examples and display the original and paternal God-like image, but following ugly, absurd and monstrous examples. That is why we carry in our souls idols that look partly human, partly dog, partly, perhaps, a leopard, partly a fish, or some kind of reptile - your reverence will accept this as an allegory. So, those who in error talk like this, let them either tear up the Gospel, the testimonies and commandments of the Lord, and all the holy writings handed down with an open face, or, without doing this, abandon childish and foolish judgments, as truly reaching “the full stature of Christ, a perfect man” (Eph. 4:13), according to the divine saying. Let them do this themselves and teach others; or, without doing either one or the other of what has been said, let them blame their own negligence and intemperance. For perhaps the time for admonition will come for them too. But woe to me, most honest father, that I, being myself subject to everything said and involved in every vice and impiety, began to reproach others and prescribe laws. Let the insensitive stones weep and weep for me, who am exposed to danger every hour and scatter the flock of Christ, entrusted to me, the unworthy. It is I who am forced to answer you by your command, venerable one. But you, strengthened by the power of the Spirit and observance of the commandments of the law and the Fathers, may you remain motionless, unshakable and undaunted by the varied rumors brought to you by some, like winds and disturbances. Walk the royal path of pure life, not paying attention to the blatant idle talk of people on both sides and constantly praying for our humility with great zeal. You might be interested in: