Глава 7. Преподобного отца нашего Филофея Синайского. 40 глав о трезвении

Our venerable father Philotheus was the abbot of the verbal monastic herd in Sinai, and received from him the nickname Sinai. It is unknown at what time he lived and when he died. His real word, divided into 40 chapters, is beautifully composed, filled with great spiritual wisdom and soul-savingness. Why is it considered unfair to separate it from the composition of other paternal writings on sobriety. – And it requires great attention: for if anyone called it an accurate interpretation and a true rule of sobriety, preservation of the mind and purity of heart, he would not sin against the truth (from the Philokalia). 1) There is mental warfare in us, more severe than sensory. A worker of piety must be so flowing and pursue that goal with his mind that, like some margarite or valuable stone, he will perfectly treasure in his heart the memory of God. One must leave everything, even the body, and despise real life itself in order to acquire the only God in one’s heart. For St. Chrysostom said that intelligent vision of God alone is enough to destroy the evil ones. 2) Those who wage mental warfare must diligently choose for themselves, according to the instructions of the Divine Scriptures, spiritual activities and apply them to the mind like healing plasters. So in the morning, someone says, we must courageously and relentlessly stand at the door of the heart, with a strong memory of God and the unceasing prayer of Jesus Christ in the soul, and with this mental guard kill all the sinners of the earth, that is, with a faithful, strengthened and grief-admiring memory of God, cut off, for the sake of the Lord, the heads of the strong and the beginning of the war of raising thoughts: for, as we know, in Mental ascetic labors have their own certain divine order and order of action. - This is how one must force oneself (for the sake of the kingdom) until the appointed time for eating food comes. After this, having given thanks to the Lord, who, according to His one love for mankind, feeds us with twofold food, both spiritual and physical, we must torment ourselves with remembrance and contemplation of death. And the next day you have to take up your morning work again in a sovereign way. For even with this daily way of acting, we will barely be able to escape the snares of the mental enemy in the Lord. Such doing, however, having become outdated in us, gives rise to the following three virtues: Faith, Hope and Love, of which Faith disposes us to the true fear of God, and Hope, overcoming slavish fear, leads a person to the love of God. If Hope does not put one to shame, being able to give birth to a twofold love on which the law and the prophets hang; then, on its part, love also disappears, neither in this century, because here in its participant it is the cause of the fulfillment of divine laws, nor in the future. 3) It is very rare to find those who are silent in mind. This belongs only to those who use all means to attract Divine grace to themselves and be filled with the spiritual consolation flowing from it. - So, if, like them, we want to undergo mental work, this philosophy of Christ, in keeping the mind and sobriety, let us begin this path by abstaining from many foods, deciding to take food and drink, as much as possible, in small measure. Sobriety is rightly called the path, because it leads to the kingdom - both that which is within us, and to the future - and an intelligent brainchild (mental workshop), because it refines and whitens (polishes) the morals of the mind and transforms the passionate into the dispassionate. It is also like a window of light through which God appears to the mind. 4) Where there is humility, memory of God with sobriety and attention, and frequent prayer directed against enemies, there is the place of God, or the heaven of the heart, in which the horde of demons is afraid to stand for the sake of the fact that God dwells in this place. 5) There is nothing more embarrassing than verbosity and more harmful than intemperate tongue; and nothing can so much upset and destroy spiritual wealth. For what we create in ourselves every day is again ruined by verbosity, and what we gather through labor is again scattered by the soul through tongue-tiedness. What is worse than this (intemperate tongue)? He is unstoppable evil. It is necessary to put a limit on it, to curb it and constrain it, and, I will say this, force it to serve only need. – And who can express all the mental harm that comes from (intemperate) tongue? 6) The first door leading into the mental Jerusalem, into the attention of the mind, is the rational silence of the lips, although the mind is not yet silent; the second is measured (defined in small measure) abstinence in food and drink; the third, purifying the mind and body, is constant memory and reflection on death. Having once beheld the beauty of this latter, and, in spirit, and not with eye, having been stung and delighted by it, I desired to acquire her as my partner for the rest of my life, loving her beauty and splendor. How humble, how joyfully sad, how thoughtful she is, how afraid she is of future righteous torture and how afraid she is of prolongation (accidents) of life! From her sensual eyes she usually exudes healing living water, and from her mental eyes - an abundant source of wise thoughts, which, flowing and galloping, amuses the mind. It was this, as I said, Adam’s daughter, that is, the memory of death, that I always longed to have as a companion, to sleep with her, to talk with her, and with her to explore what would happen to me after the laying down of this body; but often pernicious oblivion did not allow me to do this - this darkened daughter of the devil. 7) There is a battle in which the spirits of evil fight in secret with the soul through thoughts. For since the soul is invisible, these evil forces, in accordance with its essence, attack it with invisible warfare. And you can see both those and her, and weapons, and plans (disposition of troops and warfare), and deceptive tricks and intimidating attacks (rapid onslaught to intimidate), and mutual hand-to-hand combat and victories and losses on both sides. There is only one thing missing in this mental warfare that we are describing, in comparison with the sensory warfare, a definite time for declaring war. For sensual warfare, a time is usually determined and its own rules are observed in relation to it; and this (mental) one, without presentation, suddenly strikes around the very depths of the heart, and having received the lots (elective: otherwise, having gained an advantage through the consent of the heart to what is suggested), it kills the soul through sin. For what purpose and for what purpose is this agitation and struggle being raised against us? For this reason, may we not fulfill the will of God, for which we pray, saying: “Thy will be done in us” (Luke 11:2), that is, the commandments of God. And if anyone, having established his mind from wandering in perfect sobriety in the Lord, begins to carefully observe their (invisible enemies) intrusions (into the heart), and entanglements (fights with a sober mind) occurring in the dreams of fantasies, he will learn this from experience. For this reason, the Lord, directing his goal against the evil demons, and, as God, foreseeing their plans, contrary to their goal, decreed his commandments, threatening those who violate them. 8) When we acquire some skill in abstinence and removal from visible evils produced by the five senses; then after this we will be able to guard our hearts with Jesus and be enlightened in it by Him, and with a certain warm disposition to taste His goodness with our minds. For there is no other reason why we adopted the law of purifying the heart than so that, when the clouds of evil thoughts are expelled from the atmosphere of the heart and dispersed by continuous attention, we could, as on a clear day, clearly see the Sun of Truth - Jesus, and be somewhat enlightened in our minds by the words of His majesty; for usually they are not revealed to everyone, but only to those who have purified their meaning. 9) We must every day keep ourselves in the mood in which we should appear before the face of God. For the Prophet Hosea says: “Keep mercy and judgment, and draw near to your God” (Hos. 12:6). Again the Prophet Malachi on behalf of God says: “The Son glorifies the Father, and the servant of his master fears: and if I am the Father, where is My glory? and if the Lord is I, then where is My fear? says God Almighty" (Mal. 1:6). The Apostle also writes: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:11). And wisdom inspires: “Guard your heart with all care: from these comes life” (Proverbs 4:23). And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself commands: “clean... the inside of the glass... so that the outside also... may be clean” (Matthew 23:26). 10) The fruit of inappropriate empty conversations is sometimes hatred towards us from those who listen; sometimes there is reproach and ridicule when they see the foolishness of our speeches; sometimes desecration of conscience, and sometimes condemnation from God and sadness of the Holy Spirit: which is more terrible than anything else. 11) Anyone who, purifying his heart and rooting out sin in the Lord from it, works hard to acquire divine knowledge and manages to see with his mind what is invisible to many, should not rise above anyone because of this. What among creatures is purer than the incorporeal, and what is the multi-knowing Angel? However, he too, having ascended, was cast down from heaven like lightning. His arrogance is imputed to him by God. - It is known how those who dig gold out of the earth act (i.e., be under everyone, as they are under the earth, in order to get the gold of knowledge). 12) The Apostle says: “Strive to abstain from everything” (1 Cor. 9:25). For it is impossible, with a belly full of food, to take up arms against the principles, against the invisible evil forces, those who are bound by this flesh, which is heavy and always lusts after the spirit. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink” (Rom. 14:17). “The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, for it can do less” (Rom. 8:7). It cannot, obviously, because being earthly, composed of juices, blood and phlegm, it always has an addiction to earthly things and enjoys the pernicious pleasures of the present age. “For the wisdom of the flesh is death... But those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:6, 8). 13) We need great humility if we sincerely care about keeping our minds in the Lord, firstly in relation to God, and (secondly) in relation to people. We must always crush our hearts in every possible way, seeking out and introducing into action everything that can humble it. As we know, the memory of our former life in the world crushes and humbles the heart, if we remember it as it should. Also, the memory of all sins from youth, when someone reviews them with the mind in parts, usually humbles us, and gives birth to tears, and moves us to whole-hearted thanksgiving to God, just like the always effective (brought to the senses) memory of death, which, moreover, gives birth to joyful crying with sweetness, and sobriety of the mind. What primarily humbles our wisdom and encourages us to lower our eyes to the ground is the memory of the passions of our Lord Jesus Christ, when someone goes through them in memory and remembers everything in detail. It also brings tears. Moreover, God’s great blessings truly humble the soul, especially to us, when someone lists them in detail and reviews them; for we have a war with proud (ungrateful to God) demons. 14) Do not, out of self-love, shun these saving spiritual healings, if you are such that you need them. For otherwise you are no longer a disciple of Christ, and not an imitator of Paul, who says about himself: “I am not worthy to be called an apostle” (1 Cor. 15:9); and in another place he confesses that he was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor and a troublemaker (1 Tim. 1:13). - You see, proud man, here is a saint, but he has not forgotten his former life? And all the saints, from the beginning until now, clothed themselves in this last holy robe of God (i.e., in humility). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, being an incomprehensible, unknown and ineffable God, was clothed in humility throughout His entire life in the flesh; so St. humility should rightly be called both Divine virtue and the Lord’s commandment and vestment. Also, the Angels, and all these bright Divine Powers, pass through and preserve this virtue, knowing by what fall the proud Satan fell, and how he, as an example of how Angels and people should fear the fall (into this sin), lies the evil one in the abyss, for his pride he was revealed to be more dishonest before God than any other creature. We also know how Adam fell because of pride. Having before our eyes such examples of this highly creative virtue, let us always humble ourselves in every possible way, as much as we have the strength, using the above-mentioned medicines. Let us humble ourselves in soul and body, in wisdom, in desire, in speech, in thoughts, in appearance, both externally and internally. What we especially need to take care of is that Jesus Christ, who is for us, the Son of God and God, does not become against us. “For the Lord resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Prov. 3:34). “Everyone who is high-hearted is unclean before the Lord” (Prov. 16:5); “He who humbles himself will exalt himself” (Luke 18:14). “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,” says the Savior (Matthew 11:29). - It’s fitting to pay attention. 15) “Take heed... to yourselves,” says the Lord, “lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony,” and so on. (Luke 21:34). “Strive and abstain from everything,” according to the word of the Apostle (1 Cor. 9:25). Knowing all such sayings addressed to us in divine scripture, let us spend our lives in abstinence. First of all, leaving behind the variety of foods, let us accustom our body to the custom and order of virtue, giving it food in moderation. For in this way the outbursts of lust are easily tamed and subordinated to reason, and if, in all convictions, the truth is told, then also the movements of anger. But it is also more convenient to abstain from other sins, since all-round abstinence is considered a virtue by those who practice the virtues by deed and experience, that is, to avoid every form of evil. Thus, the reason for purity, after God, the source and giver of all blessings, is equal and determined abstinence from eating too much every day. 16) Just as Satan, resisting God, in the desire that the will of God, that is, the commandments, should not be fulfilled, through us fights against God by trying to prevent its fulfillment: so again God, wanting us to fulfill His all-holy will, that is, as I said, the divine and life-giving commandments, through us with His wave, destroys the destructive intention the evil one. The enemy’s insane desire to resist God in order to entice him to transgress His commandments is subverted by God Himself through human weakness. And look, isn't that how it happens? - All Divine commandments lay down laws for the threefold nature of the soul, and make it healthy through what they command. Whoever strictly follows them, this tripartite becomes truly sound. But against this same tripartite soul, day and night the devil wages war. If Satan wages war against threefoldness; It is clear that through this he is fighting against the commandments of Christ: for Christ, through the commandments, imposes a law on the tripartite soul, i.e., the irritable, the willing and the mental powers of the soul. - And look; the threat that “he who is angry with his brother is guilty of judgment in vain” (Matthew 5:22), and then His commandments that follow are the healing of the irritable part. The enemy is trying to subvert this commandment, and the others laid down with it, within through thoughts of covetousness, rancor and envy. This opponent (ours and God’s) knows that the ruler of the irritable part is mental power. Why does it first shoot arrows at it through thoughts, as I have already said, of suspicion, envy, contentiousness, quarrelsomeness, deceit, vanity, and inclines the mental force to relinquish its inherent power, and giving the reins to irritation itself, leaving it without any control. Then irritation, throwing away its ruler, without restraint wears out through the lips in words everything that was previously invested in the heart, that was previously hoarded in it through enemy thoughts, with the negligence of the mind. The heart then appears filled not with the Spirit of God and not with divine thoughts, but with malice (not tamed): for, as the Lord says, “the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart” (Lk. 6:45). When, in this way, the evil one brings a person to the point that he begins to spew out in words what was previously secretly planned inside; then this captive (enemy) will not only say “cancer” or “freak” to his brother (Matthew 5:22), but will utter the most annoying words, and then go as far as murder. – These are the intrigues the evil one uses in relation to the commandment given to us by God not to be angry in vain. – But it would be possible not to get to the annoying words, and then to what follows them, if immediately after the attack of irritation, prayer and attention to what is happening inside were expelled from the heart (the thoughts that inflame it). This is how the murderer achieves his evil goal only when he finds someone, based on the influence of the thoughts he has placed in his heart, who is ready to violate the divine commandment. 17) And what is the desirable part prescribed by the Divine Master’s commandment? “He who has looked upon his wife to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:24). – And what kind of net does the evildoer weave in his mind against this commandment, seeing that such a commandment has been given? Since objects that can irritate lust are distant, he goes inside and there raises a lustful attack against the spoken commandment. – He does this by painting and imprinting prodigal images in his soul; it happens that even words are heard that excite passion; There are many other things that those who are experienced in mental warfare know. 18) What commandment finally gives guiding rules to mental power? “I tell you not to swear in any way... let your word be to her... and neither" (Matthew 5:34, 37). Also: “Whoever does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). And: “Enter through the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13). These are the commandments for the mental part! Our opponent, desiring and This mental power, like a valiant commander, to make at hand, first takes away her sanity, through thoughts of gluttony and negligence; thus depriving her of her inherent power over other forces, and laughing at her, like a drunken leader, forces her to fulfill her suggestions and desires, using irritability and lust as her aides. that is, even the irritable one, being abandoned by mental strength, begins to turn all five of our senses, like humble servants, into an instrument for obvious sins, and these are the sins and falls that result from this! When the mind from within does not curb and bind the feelings; then the eyes run everywhere out of curiosity, the ears love to listen to vain things, the sense of smell becomes pampered, the lips become uncontrollable, and the hands stretch out to touch what they should not. This will be followed instead of truth - untruth, instead of wisdom - foolishness, instead of chastity - fornication, instead of courage - timidity. And these four main virtues, that is, it is true, wisdom, chastity and courage are of such a kind that if they are healthy and strong in the soul, then they govern the tripartite soul well: a well-controlled tripartite keeps the feelings from everything without place. And then the mind, remaining in silence, with other forces controlled by God and in their obedience, conveniently gains the upper hand in mental warfare. When, through inattention, he allows other forces to become confused, then, being overcome by the excuses of the evil one, he transgresses the Divine commandments. The transgression of the commandments is followed in every possible way, either by corresponding repentance or torment in the next century. So, it is very good to keep the mind always sober; for through this, having established himself in the way that is natural for him to stand, he becomes a true keeper of the divine commandments. 19) The (sin-loving) soul, being fenced off as if by a wall and surrounded by spirits of evil, is bound by the bonds of darkness - and because of this darkness surrounding it cannot pray as it should: for it is bound by it in secret (in its secrets and depths, or without knowing how), and is blinded by its inner eyes. But when she (having come to her senses) begins to resort to God in prayer, and begins to be sober in prayer according to her strength; then, little by little, it begins to be resolved through the power of prayer and from darkness: otherwise there is no way to resolve it. At this time, she learns that there is another struggle inside the heart, another hidden confrontation, another war in the thoughts, stirred up by spirits of malice, as Holy Scripture testifies when it says: “If the possessing spirit comes upon you, do not leave your place” (Eccl. 10:4). The place of the mind is its firm standing in virtue and sobriety. – There is standing in both a virtuous and a sinful life. For the scripture says: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and does not stand in the way of sinners” (Ps. 1:1). And the Apostle teaches: “Become... Gird up your loins with truth” (Eph. 6:14). 20) Let us hold Christ tightly; for there are quite a few who are trying in every possible way to take him out of his soul. And we ourselves will not allow Jesus to deviate so much that the “people” (crowd) thinks “I am in the place” of the soul (John 5:13). But it is impossible to keep it without painful mental labor. Let us try to touch the traces of His life in the flesh (or feel, or follow the traces by touch) so that we can lead our lives humbly. Let us perceive His passion in order to compete with Him and patiently endure all sorrowful things. Let us taste His indescribable condescension towards us, so that from the sweet taste of this soul we may know how good the Lord is. Above all this, or above all this, let us believe Him without doubt in everything that He says, and every day let us receive the tea of ​​His providence directed towards us, and whatever happens, whatever we meet, let us accept it with gratitude, love and joyful contentment, so that we learn to look at the One God, Who rules everything according to the Divine laws of His wisdom. When we do all this, then we will not be far from God. (Let us know that) piety is perfection without end, as one of the God-bearing and perfect men in spirit said. 21) Whoever redeems the time of his life in a good way is constantly busy with the thought and memory of death, and through this he wisely removes the mind from passions; he usually sees more sharply the daily battles of demonic excuses than the one who spends life without mortal memory, hoping to cleanse the heart by the action of reason alone, and not by always keeping a sad and deplorable thought. Such a person, imagining with his quick-mindedness to hold in his hands all destructive passions, not knowing how he is bound by one, the worst of all, falls into arrogance (as someone who hopes to succeed in something) without God. He must be very sober so that his arrogance does not make him lose his meaning. For, as the Apostle Paul says (1 Cor. 8:1), souls, gaining knowledge from here and there, usually become puffed up before those who, as it seems to them, know less than them, for the reason, I think, that there is no spark of edifying love in them. And he who has an incessant thought of death is more keen-sighted than he who does not, noticing the attacks of demons, he conveniently drives them away and tramples them underfoot. 22) The sweet memory of God, that is, Jesus, with heartfelt anger and salutary grief, usually destroys all the charms of thoughts, various suggestions, words, dreams, dark imaginations, and in short, everything with which the all-destructive enemy is armed and with which he boldly advances, seeking to devour our souls. Jesus, being called, burns everything easily. For we have salvation in no one else except Christ Jesus. The Savior Himself said this, saying: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). 23) So, every hour and every moment, let us guard our hearts with every care from thoughts that cloud the spiritual mirror, in which Jesus Christ alone, Who is the wisdom and power of God the Father, must be imprinted and recorded. Let us continually seek the Kingdom of Heaven within our hearts; and of course, we will mysteriously find within ourselves grain, beads, kvass, and everything else, if we clear the eye of our mind. For this reason, our Lord Jesus Christ said: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), meaning through this the deity abiding within the heart. 24) Sobriety to the point of shining clears the conscience. Conscience, being so cleansed, expels all darkness from within, like light suddenly shining through the holiness of the cover lying on it. And after the expulsion of darkness, conscience, with continuous true sobriety, again shows what was forgotten, or what was hidden without being conscious. At the same time, through sobriety, she teaches invisible competition with enemies, led by the mind, and war in thoughts - teaches how to throw spears in this single combat, how to skillfully throw (at enemies) arrows of good thoughts, not allowing their arrows to hit the mind, like an arrow directing it to take refuge in Christ, this, instead of destructive darkness, the desired light. Anyone who has tasted this light understands what I am talking about. Eating this light with hunger more torments the soul, which feeds on it, but is never satisfied, and the more it tastes, the more it hungers. This light, which attracts the mind to itself, like the sun's eyes, a light inexplicable in itself, which nevertheless becomes interpretable, only not by word, but by the experience of the one who accepts its influence, or, more precisely, who is wounded by it, commands me to remain silent, although the mind would still like to enjoy the conversation about what is now being discussed. 25) “Have peace and holiness with everyone, for the sake of acquiring love and purity: for these are peace and holiness. We must arm ourselves with anger against only the demons who mentally war against us and rage. But listen to how the battle that is constantly going on in us should be fought, and do this: combine prayer with sobriety, and sobriety will strengthen prayer, and prayer will strengthen sobriety. Sobriety, constantly watching over everything inside, notices how enemies are trying to enter there, and blocking their entrance with its strength, at the same time calls on the help of the Lord Jesus Christ to drive away these crafty warriors. At the same time, attention blocks the entrance through contradiction; and the invoked Jesus drives away the demons with their dreams. 26) Guard your mind with extreme attention. As soon as you notice an (enemy’s) thought, immediately contradict it, but at the same time hasten to call on Christ the Lord for vengeance. The sweetest Jesus, while you are still speaking, will say: Behold, I am with you to give you intercession. But you, and after, through your prayer, all these enemies are pacified, again continue to diligently listen to your mind. Here again waves (of thoughts), larger than before, rush towards you one after another, so that from them it is as if your soul is already plunging into the abyss and is ready to perish. But Jesus again, excited by the disciple, as God forbids the evil winds (thoughts, and they subside). Having gained freedom from enemy attacks for an hour or a minute, glorify the one who saved you, and delve into the thought of death. 27) Let us complete our journey with all our heartfelt attention and spiritual feeling. Attention and prayer, being combined together every day, accomplish something similar to Elijah’s fiery chariot, lifting those involved in them to the heights of heaven. So what am I saying? For someone who has established himself in sobriety or is trying to establish himself in it, a pure heart becomes a mental sky, with its sun, moon and stars, and becomes the container of the incontainable God, according to a mysterious vision and ascension (delight of the mind). Whoever has love for Divine virtue, let him try at every moment to pronounce the name of the Lord and with all diligence to translate words into deeds. He who, with some force, restrains his five senses, by which the soul is usually damaged, makes in every possible way for the mind the easiest feat of the heart and warfare. And so manage to prevent all external (harmful to the soul attacks and impressions), and fight the thoughts that arise from them inside with God-given means, guided by spiritual art: through the work of vigils, curb the urges to sensual pleasures, be abstinent in eating and drinking, and thin your body enough to make heartfelt warfare easy for yourself in advance. With all this you will benefit yourself, and not anyone else. Torment your soul with the thought of death and gather up your scattered mind with the memory of Christ Jesus; especially at night, when the mind is usually clearer and brighter, clearly contemplating God and all that is divine. 28) Let us not deny the labors of bodily asceticism: for just as wheat comes from the earth, so from them grows spiritual joy and experience in goodness. Let us not reject the demand of conscience with false speculations, because it inspires us with what is salutary and active, and always expresses what our duty is and what we are obliged to, especially when it is cleared by a living, active and subtle sobriety of the mind. In this case, due to her purity, she usually pronounces a clear judgment (about everything that occurs) - a worthy and decisive judgment - excluding any hesitation. For the sake of all this, one should not be led astray by false reasoning; for she inside proclaims to us a life pleasing to God, and strictly rebuking the soul if it has defiled the meaning with sins, shows the way to correct sins, inspiring the fallen heart to repent, and showing it healing with sweet conviction. 29) The smoke coming out of the wood is hard on the eyes; but then he shows them the light and delights those whom he previously caused trouble. And attention, constantly keeping the smart eyes in tension, tires and burdens the head. But Jesus, called in prayer, comes and enlightens the heart. The memory of Him, together with the illumination (of our inner) also provides the highest of blessings (i.e., the Lord Himself). 30) The enemy, having become accustomed to disturbing our minds, wants to persuade us to feed on dust together with him, and, having been created in the image of God, to walk on our bellies. But God said: “I will put enmity between you and Him” (Gen. 3:15). For this reason, we must always sigh for God, so that through this we can spend every day without being wounded by the kindled arrows of the devil. “I will cover,” God says (in the Psalmist), “for I have known My name” (Ps. 90:14). And again: “His salvation is near to those who fear Him” (Ps. 85:10). 31) The blessed Apostle, a chosen vessel who speaks in Christ, having much experience in the internal, invisible, mental warfare that occurs within us, said in his letter to the Ephesians: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, and against the powers [and] against the rulers of the darkness of the world... the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). The Apostle Peter also says: “Be sober and watchful, for our adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: whom you resist in the firmament by faith” (1 Pet. 5:8, 9). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, talking about the difference in dispositions with which the words of the Gospel are heard, said: “Then the devil comes and takes the word from the heart,” which is the theft he commits, bringing evil oblivion “so that those who did not believe may be saved” (Luke 8:12). And again the Apostle (Paul) says: “I delight in... the law of God according to the inward man: and I see the law in my heart, warring against the law of my mind and taking me captive” (Rom. 7:22, 23). “They said all this, teaching us and letting us know what was hidden from us. 32) The mind, when it loses self-reproach and humility, usually becomes arrogant, thinking that it stands above many. Desiring to gain awareness of our weakness, let us philosophize as the one who said: “Brotherhood, I have not attained to myself; but forgetting the things that are behind, but reaching out to those that are before, I pursue with zeal the honor of the highest calling of Christ” (Phil. 3:13, 14). Again: “In this way I flow, not as if it were unknown; in this way I strive, not as if I were the air; but I mortify the body and enslave it, so that, if I preach to others, I myself will not be enslaved” (1 Cor. 9:26, 27). Do you see what humility is like and what at the same time is the desire for virtue? Do you see what humility is like in St. Pavel, such and such a husband? (But listen to what else he says). - “Christ,” he says, “has come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first” (1 Tim. 1:15). - And is it possible for us not to humble ourselves, having such badness of nature? For what is worse than dust? - And we should remember God, because for this we were created; and we should accustom ourselves to the feats of abstinence, so that it would be easier for our mother-in-law to follow the Lord ours. 33) It is impossible for someone who indulges in evil thoughts to be clean from sins according to the external person. For those who do not eradicate evil thoughts from their hearts, it is impossible not to reveal them in corresponding evil deeds. The reason that others look fornication is because the inner eye has previously gone astray and been darkened. Also, the reason for the desire to hear shameful things lies in the willing listening with the spiritual ears of everything that bad demons whisper inside to our detriment. We must purify ourselves in the Lord inside and outside; Each of us must preserve our feelings and cleanse ourselves daily from passionate influences and sins. Just as before in the days of our foolishness, when we revolved around the world in the vanity of the mind, we worked with all our minds and all our feelings for the delights of sin, so now, having turned to life according to God, we must work with all our minds and all our feelings to work for the living and true God, God’s truth and will. 34) In advance there is a preposition (προσβολη, - attack, action, when a thrown thing hits what is thrown); then a combination (συνδυασμος - doubling, attention is constrained by the object, so that all that is left is the soul and the object that has struck and occupied it); further, the addition (an object that caught one’s attention and attracted attention aroused desire and the soul agreed to it - it came together); for this captivity (the object has taken captive the soul that desired it and, like a bound slave, leads to the cause); finally, passion (παθος, - a disease of the soul), through frequent repetition (satisfaction of the same desire) and habit (to deeds with which it is satisfied), has become a quality in the soul (becoming a character trait). This is the field for gaining victory in the battle taking place within us! This is how the holy fathers define it. 35) And a preposition, they say, is a bare thought, or an image of some thing that has just been born in the heart and presented itself to the mind; combination is an interview with a presented (object or image) passionate or dispassionate; connection is the inclination of the soul to an object visible with the eye of the mind with pleasure; captivity is a violent and involuntary withdrawal of the heart (into captivity), retention in it and merging as if into one life (συνουσια) with the object that captivated, from which (merger) our good state disappears (peace is lost); Passion in general, they say, is implanted in the soul by a long-term addiction (to some subject). Of all these (actions or states), the first is sinless, the second - not entirely: the third - according to the state of the ascetic (perhaps according to the degree of achievement and confrontation); warfare is the cause of either crowns (when someone stands) or torment (when someone falls). 36) Captivity happens differently during prayer, and otherwise not during prayer. Passion is undoubtedly subject to either equivalent (counterweight) repentance or future torment. Whoever resists or is dispassionate about the first, that is, the pretext, cuts off everything shameful at one time. Such is the warfare of evil demons against monks and non-monks, in which there is both victory and victory, as we said. Crowns await those who overcome, and torment awaits those who fall and do not repent. Let us strive against them mentally, so that we do not carry out their evil advice in visible sinful deeds. Let us strive to find the Kingdom of Heaven within ourselves, cutting off all sin from our hearts. Through such wonderful work, we will maintain purity of heart and constant contrition before God. 37) Many of the monks do not know the delusion of the mind that he suffers from demons. They strive to be efficient in business, without worrying about the mind, and spend their lives in simplicity and artlessness. I think that having not tasted the purity of the heart, they do not know the darkness of inner passions at all. Those who do not know the warfare that St. speaks of. Paul, they may not be qualified by experience and goodness, and only sins committed by deed are considered falls, not taking into account mental victories and victories, which the sensory eye does not see, because they are hidden and known only to the one ascetic God, and the conscience of the ascetic. To such, it seems, the following word of Scripture is spoken: they say: “peace, peace: and there is no less peace” (Ezek. 13:10). For those brethren who, out of simplicity, are in such a state, we need to pray and teach them as much as possible, so that they avoid only visible evil deeds, but also from the evil that operates in the heart. For those who have a divine desire to cleanse the spiritual eye (the actual visuality of the soul), there is another work of Christ, and another sacrament. 38) The deepened memory of death truly combines many virtues. She is the parent of weeping, the leader of all-round abstinence, a reminder of Gehenna, the mother of prayer and tears, the guardian of the heart, the source of self-deepening and prudence, whose children - the deep fear of God and the cleansing of the heart from passionate thoughts - embrace many of the sovereign commandments. In such a heart one can then see struggle and feat endured with extreme difficulty. And this is all the concern of many of Christ’s fighters. 39) Some unexpected adventure or misfortune usually upsets mental attention and, tearing the mind out of a saving good mood, extinguishing the desire for the best, carries it away to sinful strife and strife. The reason for such a detrimental disaster for us is that we have no concern for temptations (every minute ready to attack us, we don’t know from which side). 40) None of the sorrows that are always ready to meet us will upset or sadden us, as long as, having realized the inevitability of it, we always keep it in mind. Why does the divine Apostle Paul say: “I am pleased with weaknesses, with sorrows, with needs” (2 Cor. 12:10). And again: “all... who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. The original title of this collection: “Patristic instructions on prayer and sobriety or attention in the heart to God.” To the author's text of the collection (from St. Basil the Great to St. Barsanuphius and John inclusive), the publishers added quotes about prayer from the letters of St. himself. Feofan. You might be interested in: