A Word about Divine and Holy Love

Essay by blzh. Theodoret of Cyrus “The Tale of Divine and Holy Love” was written in 449. Initially, it was an independent work, which was later added to the “History of the God-Lovers” as the final 31 chapter. The essay contains theoretical discussions about asceticism. After describing the exploits of the ascetics of the blessed. Theodoret wonders where they got the strength for their exploits. He comes to the conclusion that it was Divine love that moved them, the only one that allows them to overcome the laws and limits set by nature. The author does not deny free will and its tendency towards good. A person, armed with Divine love, acquires almost limitless abilities for doing good, surpassing the abilities of his nature. Trust in God, prayer, reading and meditation on the Holy Scriptures are an integral part of monastic work. All this helps to acquire grace that strengthens one in virtue. This publication presents a pre-revolutionary translation. What kind of devotees of virtue are, how many crowns they deserve and how brilliant they are, this is clearly evident from the stories we have written about them 1 . For even if in these stories their deeds are not all counted, then a little is enough to show the distinctive feature of their whole life, because the touchstone, without spending all the gold brought to it, but by being rubbed a little against it, shows its goodness or low quality. And in the same way, an arrow will know with accuracy from the few arrows he has fired whether he will hit the Target well or will shoot wide due to inexperience in the art. You can also recognize (I won’t talk about each separately) other artists: fast walkers, representatives of tragedies, helmsmen, shipbuilders, doctors, farmers and in general anyone else who practices art. A small test is enough to show those who know the art and expose the ignorance of those who bear only the name of the knower. Therefore, as I said, if a little of what everyone succeeded in is described, this is enough to study the entire way of life. In the present word, we must explore, consider and find out exactly by what motives the ascetics preferred this way of life and by what thoughts they reached the very top of wisdom. That, not relying on bodily strength, they loved what is higher than human nature, surpassed the laws laid down for it, overcame the obstacles presented to the ascetics of piety, the teacher in this is clear experience, because none of those who have acquired this wisdom have ever shown their patience. Even if shepherds get wet in the rain, this is not always the case. They live in caves, but they also enter houses and cover their feet with shoes, dress other parts of the body with warm clothes, and eat food two, three, and sometimes four times a day. Meat and wine warm the body better than any hearth; Such food, when it is digested, as if filtered through the narrow neck of a vessel, enters the liver and turns into blood there, and enters the heart through a tubular vein; from there, having warmed up, it passes, as if through some kind of water pipes, scattered blood veins to all parts of the body; and wherever it reaches, it not only irrigates, but also heats up like fire, and warms the body better than lush clothes. For it is not the shirt, the lower and outer clothing, as others suggest, that impart warmth to the body, otherwise these clothes would warm both wood and stone when placed on them; but no one has ever seen wood or stone warm under clothing. Therefore, they do not impart warmth to the body - on the contrary, they retain the warmth of the body and, just as they protect against the attack of cold air, so, taking into themselves the vapors emanating from the body, they themselves are heated by them and, heated, cover the body. Experience bears witness to this; Often, when lying down on a cold bed, with the touch of the body we make the bed warm, which was not long ago cold. Therefore, food warms the body more than any clothing, and those who partake of it when full have sufficient protection from the attacks of the cold, because they arm the body with it and make it able to endure the cold season. But those who do not take food and drink every day, and when they do eat, do not wait for satiety, but curb the strong urge to eat, and do not eat what can warm the body, but either eat grains, like dumb people, or eat only soaked vegetables, can they gain any warmth for themselves from such food? Will this produce any drops or any drop of blood? Therefore, the state of others does not at all resemble the state of ascetics. And the clothes of both are not the same, because the ascetics have the coarsest clothes and are least capable of keeping them warm. And the nutrition is not the same, but just the opposite. For shepherds and others who do something similar, every time is a time for eating, because it is determined by desire, and if hunger strikes early in the morning, they immediately start eating and eat whatever happens, for they have no rule, they eat this, but they don’t eat that, on the contrary, whatever they want, everyone eats without fear. But here everything is determined: days, times, gender, and measure of food, but satiety with food is not allowed. Therefore, let none of those dissatisfied with their lot attempt, by presenting to us as farmers, shepherds and rowers, to belittle the exploits of these greatest ascetics. For the farmer, having toiled during the day, rests at home at night, and his wife renders him all kinds of services. And the shepherd, in the same way, uses everything that we said before. And the servant on the ship exposes his body to the sun’s rays, but finds relief for the body in the waters, bathes as much as he wants, and uses the coolness of the waters as a healing medicine against the heat of the rays. But ascetics do not receive any favor from anyone, because they do not live with wives who come up with all kinds of consolation for their husbands; and when the sultry ray of the sun hits them, they do not seek refreshment in the water; and in winter they do not protect themselves from the cold with food; and night rest is not turned into some kind of cure for daytime labors. Their nocturnal feats are both harder and more numerous than those of the day, because they enter into a struggle with sleep and do not yield to it a sweet victory over themselves, but overcome its pleasant dominance and perform all-night hymns to the Lord. Therefore, none of the ascetics who had learned wisdom showed their patience. And if no other person is able to withstand such labors, then it is clear that love for God makes ascetics capable of reaching beyond the limits of nature, and, inflamed by fire from above, with love they endure the attack of the cold and temper the heat of the sun's rays with heavenly dew. Love nourishes, waters, clothes, gives them wings, it teaches them to fly, makes them capable of soaring above the sky, and, as far as it is possible for them, reveals to them the Beloved, by the presentation of this contemplation it inflames desire, arouses commitment and kindles the strongest flame. Just as those who are carried away by carnal love in the sight of their beloved find food for their devotion and thereby intensify this passion, so those who are wounded by divine love, imagining this divine and pure Beauty, make the arrows of love sharper and, the more they desire to enjoy, the further they are from saturation. Carnal pleasure is followed by satiety, but divine love does not allow the laws of satiety. Such was the great lawmaker Moses; He has repeatedly, as far as is possible for man, been honored with divine contemplation, repeatedly enjoyed the blissful voice, spent forty days continuously inside a dark cloud and accepted God’s law, not only did he not feel full, but acquired an even stronger and warmer lust. It was as if he fell into a kind of sleep from the rapture of this love, and, driven into extreme self-forgetfulness by this devotion, he did not know his own nature, but he longed to see what is not permissible to see, as if not imagining God’s sovereignty in his mind and thinking about one love, he said to the God of all: “Behold, you have spoken to me: grace is with me, and with you more.” everyone. If I have found grace before You, show me Himself to You, so that I can see You with understanding” (Ex. 33: 12 – 13). He was brought into such rapture by divine love, and this rapture did not quench his thirst, but made it even stronger; the addition of drink served to arouse greater lust, and the desire increased with pleasure. Just as fire, the more combustible substance is given to it, the greater its effectiveness, because with this addition of substance it increases and does not weaken, so love for God is inflamed by the contemplation of the divine and receives from this a stronger and more ardent effectiveness. And the more someone engages in the divine, the more he kindles the flame of love in himself. And this is taught to us not only by the great Moses, but also by that holy bride about whom the godly Paul says: “I have betrothed you to one husband to present a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). For in the Song of Songs she calls out to the Bridegroom: “Show me Thy visage, and make Thy voice heard unto me: for Thy voice is sweet, and Thy image is beautiful” (Song. 2:14). Filled with love by hearing about the Bridegroom, he is not content with this hearing, but desires to hear His very voice. And, inspired by stories about His beauty, he desires the sight itself, expressing his commitment with spoken praises, and says: “Show me Your visage, and make Your voice heard by me: for Your voice is sweet, and Your image is beautiful.” Having loved this beauty, the mediator and guide of this Bride, the godly wise Paul, spoke this word filled with love: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Is it tribulation, or distress, or famine, or persecution, or nakedness, or trouble, or a sword? For it is written: For your sake we are put to death all day long: we are counted as sheep of the slaughter” (Rom. 8:35-36). Then he shows the reason for patience, for he says: “In all these we overcome because we love God” (Rom. 8:37). Considering who we are and what blessings we have enjoyed, considering that we were not the first to love, but we ourselves were loved and then repaid with love, and were loved when we hated, “having once been reconciled to the enemy” (Rom. 5:10), and they did not themselves beg to grant us this reconciliation, but the Only Begotten was given to us as an intercessor, and we, who offended, were comforted by the offended; and beyond this, imagining in our minds the life-giving cross of Him crucified for us, saving suffering, the end of the torment of death, the hope of resurrection given to us - taking all this and similar things into account, we overcome the sorrows that we encounter and, contrasting the remembrance of good deeds with the temporary suffering of the body, we lovingly endure the attack of grief, because, comparing the sorrows of everyday life with love for the Lord, we find them extremely light. If we collect together all the imaginary pleasantries and pleasures, then the divine love opposed to them shows that they are more incompetent than a shadow and more short-lived than spring flowers. The apostle clearly expresses this, both in the words already cited and in what he says next. “For we have known,” he says, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor lower powers, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God, even in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). Since above, having presented only one sad thing, he compared “tribulation, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, trouble, sword,” i.e. violent death, then here it is fair to add the joyful to the sorrowful, to death - life, to the sensory - mental, to the visible - invisible forces, to the present and transitory - the future and constantly abiding, in addition - the depth of Gehenna and the height of the kingdom; but having compared this and having found that everything: both sad and joyful, is inferior to love and that the loss of love is more unbearable than torment in Gehenna, and, showing that if only this were possible, then with divine love he would prefer threatening torment to the promised Heavenly Kingdom without love, the apostle, in the rapture of love, seeks out the non-existent and intensifies even to compare this with the love of God, for he says: “Neither height nor depth, not any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, even in Christ Jesus our Lord,” that is, not only do I prefer love for the Savior and Redeemer to everything in the aggregate, visible and invisible, but even if another creature were revealed, higher and better than this one, it would not convince me to change love. But if someone offers me something joyful, only without love, I will not accept it. And if someone causes me sorrow for love, they will be desirable and extremely kind to me. And for the sake of love, hunger is more pleasant to me than any pleasure, persecution is sweeter than peace, nakedness is more attractive than scarlet and gold-woven garments, misfortune is sweeter than any security, violent death is preferable to any life, because the very cause of suffering becomes a joy for me, since I accept these adversities for the Lover and at the same time the Beloved. “He who knew no sin, create sin for us, so that we may be the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21); “He is rich for our poverty, so that we through His poverty may be made rich” (2 Cor. 8:9), and: “He redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13), and: “He humbled Himself, being obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8), and: “Christ is still a sinner for us.” for us I will die” (Rom. 5:8). Having imagined this and similar things in my mind, I would not have accepted the Kingdom of Heaven without love for this, I would not have avoided punishment in Gehenna, if it were possible, having this love, to endure torment. The apostle clearly teaches this in another place: “For the love of God will support us who have judged this: for He alone died for all, so that those who live may not live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Therefore, “those who live not for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was Risen,” are ready to willingly do and endure everything for Him. And, comparing sufferings that are great and difficult by nature with love, the apostle calls them small and bearable. For he says: “Even though our light sorrow is now multiplied into prosperity, it makes us heavy with eternal glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). Then he teaches how comparisons should be made: “We do not look at things that are visible, but at the same time they are invisible: what is visible is temporary, but what is invisible is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18), that is, we must compare the future with the present, the eternal with the temporal, and the glory with sorrow, because sorrow is momentary, but glory is eternal, and therefore the first is easy and easily portable, and the second is valuable and complete. And of course, the apostle here refers to this word “by increase” to both: the lightness of sorrow and the burden of glory; that is, one is abundantly small, light and short-lived, and the other is abundantly glorious, valuable, complete and eternal. And in another place, like this, he cries: “I have grace in weaknesses, in annoyances, in troubles; in exiles, in disorganizations according to Christ: for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). Having been wounded by this love, the great Peter, even forewarned of his future renunciation, did not dare to hide, but considered it better to renounce by following than to confess by fleeing. And that following was the product of love, and not courage, is evidenced by the fact itself, because even after renunciation he did not dare to leave the Teacher, but although he “cryed bitterly,” as history shows (Matthew 26:75), and lamented about his defeat, he did not give in to flight, held by the bonds of love, and, having heard the good news of the resurrection, he was the first to enter the tomb. And also, while fishing in Galilee, and then learning that the Lord Himself was standing on the shore and talking with them, he did not want to use a ship slowly cutting through the surface of the sea, but would like, having taken wings, to reach the shore as quickly as possible by air. Since by nature he was deprived of wings, he uses water instead of air and hands instead of wings and swims to the Beloved, and as a reward for his haste, he takes preference over others. For when the Lord commanded him to sit down and divided the food he had found, he immediately began a conversation with him, and, apparently asking and finding out how much he loved, in reality revealing to others the love of the great Peter, he said: Simon Peter, “Do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:15). And Peter called Him Himself as a witness of love, for he said: “Lord, You know that I love You”: human souls are open to You, you clearly know the movements of the mind, nothing human is hidden from You; you know everything, both the latest and the ancient. The Master added to this: “Feed My sheep” (John 21:16), that is, although I have no need for anything, I nevertheless consider caring for My sheep to be the highest benefit and taking care of them as care for Me Myself. Therefore, you must have the same care for slaves like you that you yourself use, feed them as I feed myself, shepherd them as I graze, and, whatever gratitude you owe to Me, repay it through them. The Bishop asked about the same thing again on another occasion, and on another occasion the great Peter answered, and on another occasion he accepted ordination from the Shepherd 2 . When the question was asked the third time, Blessed Peter did not answer with such courage and fearlessness, “but” he was filled with fear, gave room to confusion in his soul, hesitated to give a decisive answer and was afraid, fearing that the Master might not foresee a second renunciation and would mock his expressions of love. For his mind returns to the former, brings to his memory, as he had repeatedly stated before, that he would not leave his teacher even until death, but he heard: “Before even the alector will not cry, you have denied Me three times” (Matthew 26:34) - and finds that it was not his promise that was fulfilled, but the Lord’s prediction was confirmed. The memory of this filled Peter with fear and did not allow him to boldly utter a decent answer. He felt the sharp and stinging stings and yields to the Master’s knowledge, does not object as before, does not assert: “Even if I am and die with You, I will not deny You” (Matthew 26:35), but says that the Master Himself is a witness of his love, and confesses that the exact knowledge of this belongs to Him alone, the Creator of all things. For he said: “Lord, You weigh everything,” You know, “You weigh, because I love You” (John 21:17). That I love You, and you know and testify to this, but whether I will remain in love, You Yourself know even more clearly, and I will not say anything about the future, I will not argue about what I do not know; learned by experience not to contradict the Lord. You are the source of truth, You are the abyss of knowledge: I am trained to remain within the limits set by You. But the Master, seeing his fear and knowing exactly his love, destroys fear by predicting his death, gives a testimony of love, confirms Peter’s confession and applies the medicine of confession to the scab of renunciation. That is why, I think, the Lord demanded a threefold confession in order to apply healing equal to the scabs and to fully open the flame of love to the disciples who were there. Therefore, the prediction of Peter’s death encouraged him, and taught others that his renunciation was according to God’s will, and not according to Peter’s thought. And our Savior and Lord Himself made it clear, saying to Peter: “Simon, Simon, Satan asks you to sow like wheat: I have prayed for you, so that your faith will not fail; to your brethren, give them the help that you yourself use, and do not drive away those who creep, but raise up those in danger. For this reason, I allow you to stumble and do not allow you to fall, preparing in you support for those who waver. So this great pillar strengthened the shocked universe and did not allow it to fall completely, but raised it up, made it unshakable and, accepting the command to feed the sheep of God, when he was subjected to reproach for this, endured when they beat him, rejoiced and, leaving with his colleague from the evil Sanhedrin, rejoiced, “for for the name” of the Master “he was deemed worthy to receive dishonor” (Acts. 5:41), and being thrown into prison, he admired and rejoiced. And when Nero was condemned by Nero to accept death on the cross for the Crucified One, he begged the executioner to nail him to the tree, but not as the Lord, fearing, probably, that the sameness of suffering would not lead the foolish to equal honor, therefore he begged to be nailed with his hands down and his feet up, for he had learned to choose for himself the last place not only in honor, but also in dishonor. But if it were possible to endure this death ten or fifty times, I would accept it with all pleasure, inflamed by divine love. The divine Paul also cries out for this, then saying: “I die all the days: this is your praise, even I am imam in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 15:31), then saying: “Christ’s fellows have been crucified: I live as no one, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:19-20). Therefore, he who has accepted divine love neglects everything earthly, tramples on all carnal pleasures, despises wealth, and glory, and honor from people, thinks that the scarlet is no different from a spider’s web, likens precious stones to flints scattered on the shore, does not consider bodily health to be the most blissful state, does not call poverty misfortune, does not measure well-being by wealth and luxury; but he rightly thinks that all this is always like river streams that flow past trees planted on the banks and do not stop at any of them. For poverty and wealth, health and illness, honor and dishonor, and everything else that accompanies human nature, as we see, like river streams, do not always remain with the same people, but change owners and constantly move from one to another. Many, after abundance, fall into extreme poverty, and many of the poor are among the rich. Yes, both illness and health travel, so to speak, through all bodies, whether they are languishing with hunger or in luxury. Virtue and wisdom are the only constant good. The hand of a robber, the tongue of a slanderer, and a cloud of enemy arrows and spears cannot overcome love of wisdom. It is not the prey of fever, the toy of the waves, and does not suffer damage from a shipwreck. Time does not diminish, but increases its strength. And food for him is love of God. For it is impossible to succeed in wisdom without becoming an ardent lover of God - it would be better to say that this very thing is called philosophy, because God is Wisdom and is called wisdom. Blessed Paul says about the God of all: “To the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God” (1 Tim. 1:17) - and about the Only Begotten he says: “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24), and also: “Wisdom has been given to us from God, and righteousness and sanctification and deliverance” (1 Cor. 1:30). Therefore, in reality, a man of wisdom can rightly be called a lover of God. But the lover of God neglects everything else and, looking only at the Beloved, prefers pleasing Him to everything in the aggregate: one thing he says, and does, and thinks, whatever is pleasing and favorable to the Beloved; he turns away from everything that He forbids. Not caring about this love and becoming unappreciative of the Benefactor, Adam reaped thorns, labors and troubles as a reward for his ingratitude. Having kept this love for the Giver of blessings strong, neglecting the pleasure of the womb and preferring to please God over everything else, Abel was adorned with unfading crowns and, remaining unforgettable in the memory of an entire family, reaps praise for himself. Having acquired true and sincere love, Enoch sowed well and reaped even better, and as a reward for pleasing God, he received transfiguration, immortal life to this day, and throughout the present century, glorious and immortal memory. Who can say anything about Noah's love for God? He was not seduced by the corruption of the lawless, but when everyone turned away and chose the opposite path, he alone walked the straight path, preferring the Creator to everything in the aggregate, for which he alone with his children received salvation, was left to be the seed of nature, preserved to be the spark of the race. So the great bishop Melchizedek, disgusted by the lack of meaning of those who preferred to honor idols, dedicated his priesthood to the Creator of all things, for which he accepted this great reward: he became the prototype and shadow of the One who, in the very truth, “has no father, no mother, no clergy, no beginning by day, no end to life” (Heb. 7:3). But our word, reaching forward, comes to the one who is called a friend of God, who has precisely preserved and taught the laws of friendship. For who among those who have learned at least a little of the divine does not know how the great patriarch Abraham was obedient to God’s calling, how he left his father’s home and preferred a foreign country to his fatherland, when he loved the One who called and deigned to place everything else below His friendship?! Often falling into many difficulties, he did not leave his Beloved as if he had not yet fulfilled the promise. But even though he was tormented by thirst, when he was forbidden to drink water from the wells he himself had dug, he was not indignant at the Caller and did not take revenge on those who had offended him. He suffered from hunger and did not extinguish the torch of love within himself. They also took away his wife, who shone with beauty, was adorned with chastity and made life pleasant for him in everything; but together with his wife they did not take away his love for God. Whether God helped him, trained him in patience and allowed him to take upon himself the attacks of untruth, he always remained equally loving. He became an old man and did not become a father, but did not change his favor towards the One who promised to make him and did not yet make him a father. When, at a later time, the promise was fulfilled, Sarah's barrenness was overcome, the limits of old age were surpassed and he became the father of Isaac, and then for a short time he enjoyed this joy: as soon as his son became a youth, he heard the command to sacrifice him to the Giver, to return the gift to the Giver, to be a priest of the promised fruit and to sacrifice Isaac - the great source of nations, to stain his hands with the blood of his only begotten son. However, although all this and much more was contained in the sacrifice, the patriarch did not resist, did not point out the rights of nature, did not present the promises given to him, did not mention who would take care of him in old age, who would give him burial, but, rejecting every human thought, opposing love to love, opposing the law to the law, the law of nature - the law of God, he hastened to make the sacrifice, without hesitating to strike, if only The great-gifted one, having accepted zeal, did not immediately prevent the murder. But I don’t know if any word is enough to describe this love?! For he who did not spare even his only begotten son, when the Beloved commanded it, what would he not sacrifice for Him? The great Isaac himself and his son, Patriarch Jacob, acquired the same love for the Lord. The love of God of both is praised by the Divine Scriptures; and the God of all things does not at all separate the branches from the root, but calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their godly fruit is also Joseph, an old man among the young, but a young man among the old. His love for God and envy did not destroy him, and slavery did not extinguish him, and the flattery of his mistress did not steal him, threat and fear did not weaken him, slander, prison, length of time did not overcome him, power, power, luxury, wealth were not torn from his heart; but equally he looked at the Beloved and fulfilled His laws. Having acquired this love, Moses, neglecting to stay in the royal palaces, “would rather suffer with the people of God than have the temporary sweetness of sin” (Heb. 11:25). And should we continue to spread the word beyond measure? Guided and adorned by divine love, the entire fellowship of the prophets succeeded in the accomplishment of virtue and left behind them an ever-memorable glory. Yes, both the face of the apostles and the hosts of martyrs, having taken this fire into themselves, despised everything visible and preferred countless types of deaths to all the pleasures of life. Having loved divine beauty, thinking about God’s love for us, imagining thousands of blessings in their minds, they felt ashamed not to desire this indescribable beauty and to become ungrateful to the Benefactor. That is why they kept their covenant with Him until death. Having loved this beauty, the new devotees of virtue, whose lives we have briefly described, embarked on these great feats that overcome human nature. And this was clearly taught to them by the Divine Scriptures. For they sing with the great David: “O Lord my God, you are greatly exalted: you are clothed in confession and great glory, you are clothed in light like a robe, you are stretching out the sky like a skin” (Ps. 103:1-2) - and everything else that reveals to us God’s wisdom and power. And again: “The Lord reigned, clothed with beauty; the Lord clothed himself with strength and girded himself: for set straight the world, which cannot move” (Ps. 92:1). And here wisdom, beauty and power are also proclaimed. And in another place David says: “He is more beautiful in kindness than the sons of men” (Ps. 44:3). Here he praised the human beauty of God the Word, but he also praises wisdom, for he says: “Grace was poured out on Your lips”; also shows strength: “Gird Your sword upon Your mighty thigh: with Your beauty and Your kindness: and advance, and prosper, and reign for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness” (Ps. 44:4-5), for this is His beauty, and wealth and strength. And Isaiah cries out: “Who is this who came from Edom, whose scarlet robe was from Bozrah? This one is red in His utensils, green in strength” (Is. 63:1). For even human clothing does not hide divine beauty, but even the one clothed with it emits the sparkle of beauty in order to induce and attract those who look on to love. The holy bride also says this, talking with him in the Song of Songs: “Thy name is poured out in peace. For this reason, for the sake of the maiden, I loved Thee: I drew Thee: they flowed after Thee into the stench of Thy world” (Song. 1, 2 - 3). For young souls, partaking of Your fragrance, hasten, desiring to comprehend You, and by this fragrance, as if tied by some kind of chain, they do not agree to break these bonds. They are sweet and voluntarily imposed upon oneself. The words of the divine Paul also agree with this: “The aroma of Christ is in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing: for I have the stench of death in death; Therefore, those who are taught about Christ by the Divine Scripture that He is beautiful, that He has unspeakable wealth, that He, the source of wisdom, can do whatever He pleases, is guided by immeasurable love for mankind, exudes rivers of meekness, desires to do good to all people only, taught by God-bearing men, that His benefits are of thousands of types and they exceed the mind, and these ascetics were stung by the delightful arrows of love and, being members of the Bride, we cry with her: “We are wounded by love” (Song 5:8). For the great John cries: Behold, “The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Yes, and the prophet Isaiah foretold the future as already accomplished, saying: “He was plagued for our sins, and he was tormented for our iniquities, the punishment of our peace was on Him. By His striping we are healed” (Is. 53:5), and what else was said by the prophet about saving suffering. Paul also preaches, crying out: “Who did not spare even His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; why then does He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32) And again: “Let us serve according to Christ, as I pray to God: we pray according to Christ, be reconciled to God. For he who knows no sin, create sin for us, so that we may be God’s righteousness toward Him” (2 Cor. 5:20-21). Finding this and similar things in those who have become servants of God’s Word, they receive the wounds of divine love from everywhere and, neglecting everything, imagine the Beloved in their minds and, before the expected incorruption, make their body spiritual. And we will accept this love and, attracted by the beauty of the Bridegroom, desiring the promised blessings, motivated by the multitude of blessings, and fearing falling under responsibility for ingratitude, we will become lovers and guardians of His laws. For this is the law of friendship - to love the same thing, to hate the same thing. Therefore, God said to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3), and David says to God: “But your friends, God, were very honest to me” (Ps. 139:17), and again: “Have you not hated those who hate you, the Lord? And about all your stories? I hated with complete hatred: I was in the enemy” (Ps. 138:21-22); and in another place: “I hated the lawbreakers, but I loved your law” (Ps. 119:3); and in another place: “If I have loved Your law, O Lord, I have my instruction all day long” (Ps. 119:97). Therefore, a clear sign of love for God is observance of His divine laws: “Whoever loves Me will keep My commandments,” said the Lord Christ (John 14:23). With Him be glory, honor and worship to the Father and with the All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages! Amen. This Word completes the work of Bl. Theodoret entitled “God’s loving legend, or ascetic life.” That is, through the utterance of the words: Feed My sheep, the Lord confirmed Peter a second time in the rank of apostle. You might be interested in: