Глава 9. Св. великих старцев Варсонофия и Иоанна. Наставления о молитве и трезвении

These numbers indicate the question and answer number 1) Pay close attention to yourself so that you always have God before you, so that the prophetic word may also be fulfilled on you: “I have seen the Lord before me, as if he is at my right hand, so that I will not be moved” (Ps. 15:8). 2) Regarding warmth and coldness, I will say: it is known that the Lord called Himself fire (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29) warming and kindling hearts and bellies (Ps. 25:2). So, if we feel coldness, let us call on God, and He will come and warm our hearts with His perfect love, not only for Himself, but also for our neighbor, and from the presence of His warmth the coldness of the hater of good will be driven away. “I have endured the Lord,” says the scripture, “and have heard and heard my prayer,” so what? “And raise me up from the pit of passions and from the clay of the mire” (Ps. 39:2, 3). The insensitivity of the heart also belongs to this pit. 3) Every thought (intention to do something) that is not preceded by the silence of humility does not come from God, but clearly from the left side. Our Lord comes with quietness; yet the enemy happens with confusion and rebellion. So, beloved, do everything that depends on you, presenting the fear of God before your eyes and bring thanks to the Lord (when done). 4) May that spiritual fire burn in your heart forever, about which the Lord Christ said: “Fire has come to cast upon the earth” (Luke 12:49), may the peace of the Lord be established in your heart (Col. 3:15), may you be cleansed from anger and irritability - these fierce passions. May the Lord grant your soul to settle in gentleness and meekness, so that you may become a pet of Christ and a gentle lamb (Jer. 11:19). Let your eyes see God like the eyes of one who is pure in heart (Matthew 5:8). 5) Don't want to get rules from me. Maintain your reasoning like a helmsman who, following the wind, guides his boat. Do everything wisely, and this will lead you to eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 6) When we pray and God is slow to hear, he does so for our benefit, in order to teach us patience; and therefore there is no need to lose heart, saying: we prayed and were not heard. God knows what is good for man. 7) Be careful that it does not suddenly strike your ears: “Behold, the bridegroom... come out to meet Him” (Matthew 25:6). Remember what was said about the doors, that they were shut; hurry up, so that you will not be left outside with the foolish virgins. Move your thoughts from this vain age to another age; leave earthly things and seek heavenly things; leave the corruptible and you will find the imperishable. Run with the thought of the temporal and you will come closer to the eternal; die completely, so that you may live completely in Christ Jesus our Lord. 8) Do not be afraid of any of the temptations that rise up against you, to your own temptation; for God will not betray you. When something like this befalls you, do not bother to find the reasons for it, but call on the name of Jesus, saying: Jesus, help me, and He will hear you: “For he is near to all who call on Him” (Ps. 145:12). Do not give in to cowardice, but strive diligently forward, and you will achieve what you want in Christ Jesus our Lord. 9) The brightest teaching of our Savior is this: “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Whoever sincerely says this prayer leaves his own will and places everything on the will of God. 10) Scripture says: “let great talk come from your mouth” (1 Samuel 2:3). And you dared to open your mouth before God and say that the passions have weakened in you, instead of saying: they all lie in me as in a storehouse. For this you were abandoned, and all your damnation was revealed. Keep vigil over yourself unremittingly in order to destroy the eight foreign nations. 11) To do something untimely is the fulfillment of one’s will, and comes from arrogance. 12) You must ascend with Christ to the cross, be nailed and pierced with a spear. Be patient and give thanks for everything, according to the word: “Give thanks in everything” (1 Sol. 5:18). It is obvious that one should give thanks in times of need, in illness, and in joy. Continually call on God, and He will be with you and give you strength in His name. 13) Strengthen your heart, placing on it without embarrassment the sign of the cross, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and believing that this helps us trample on the head of the enemy. 14) If you want to be calm in everything, be dead in your attitude towards every person, and you will calm down. 15) If we are wanderers, then we will be wanderers. Let us not consider ourselves to be something, and when no one gives us any meaning, we will be calm. Try above all to die for every person, and you will be saved. Tell your thoughts: I have died and am lying in a grave. 16) Let us not accept confusion from evil thoughts in order to rebel and be embarrassed against our neighbor: this does not happen otherwise than through the action of the devil. 17) When the thought of doing something according to the will of God inspires you, and you find joy in this matter, and at the same time sorrow that counteracts it, then know that this thought is from God and force yourself to endure, according to the word of the Apostle: “I mortify my body and enslave it, lest by preaching to others I myself should not be enslaved” (1 Cor. 9:27). and fulfill the will of God. And the thoughts that come from demons are, first of all, filled with confusion and sadness, and follow themselves secretly and subtly; for enemies dress in sheep’s clothing, that is, they instill thoughts that are apparently right, but inwardly “they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15), that is, they delight and “deceive the hearts of the gentle” (Rom. 16:18) with what seems good, but is actually evil. Scripture says about the serpent that he is the wisest, and therefore always guard his head, so that he does not find a hole in you, and settling in it, does not cause devastation. Know that if, when you hear, think, or see something, although your heart is not much troubled, then it is demonic. If you have not yet reached the spiritual level (and cannot reason your thoughts yourself), then humble yourself before the teacher (open your thoughts to him) - let him “punish you with mercy” (Ps. 141:5), and do nothing without advice (Sir. 32:21), even if something seems apparently good to you; for the light of demons subsequently turns into darkness. 18) The real path is that what we pass and leave behind does not attract us back, otherwise we will appear in the place from which we came, worthy of condemnation, and our work will be in vain. Leave your will behind you, and humble yourself throughout your life, and you will be saved. 19) Awaken your mental eye, which is slumbering from despondency, so that you do not fall asleep into death (Ps. 119:28, 12:4). Stay awake, so that your mind will know how to watch over your good land, lest thorns grow in it and choke the seed. Be careful, for “wickedness walks around” (Ps. 11:9). 20) “Our Father” (the entire prayer) is commanded to be said by both the perfect and the sinful. Perfect so that, having realized whose sons they had become, they would try not to fall away from Him; sinners so that they, with shame, calling Him Father, Whom they often insulted, would condemn themselves and come to repentance. 21) If you pray unceasingly according to the word of the Apostle (1 Thess. 5:18), then there is no need for duration when you get up to pray; for your mind remains in it all day long. When sitting at needlework, you should read or speak the psalms orally, and at the end of each psalm, pray while sitting, such as: “God, have mercy on me, the accursed!” If your thoughts bother you, then add: “God! You see my sorrow, help me.” But from time to time it is necessary to stand up for prayer and kneel, with similar words. When singing or reciting psalms by heart, one should pronounce them out loud if there is no one nearby. 22) As for the night, pray in the evening for two hours, counting them from sunset, and after finishing the doxology, sleep for six hours, then get up for vigil, and stay awake for the remaining four hours. 23) If you want to wash away defilements, wash them with tears: for they cleanly wash away all defilements. Until your throat is silent, cry out to Jesus: “Master, save us, we are perishing” (Luke 8:24). Cleanse your heart from the ashes, and ignite that fire that the Lord came to cast on the earth: He will destroy all this and make your gold pure. We need much sobriety. 25) It is amazing how worldly people, looking for acquisitions, do not pay attention to wild animals, nor to the attacks of robbers, nor to the dangers of the sea, nor to death itself, and do not weaken in soul, just to acquire what they want, although they do not know for sure whether they will receive it; We, the accursed and lazy, who have received the power to step on snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, and who have heard this: “I am, do not be afraid” (John 6:20), knowing without a doubt that we are not fighting with our own strength, but with the strength of God who strengthens us, we become exhausted and despondent. Why is this so? Because our flesh was not nailed to the fear of God (Ps. 119:120), and we never forgot to “carry away our bread at the sound of our groaning” (Ps. 101:5, 6). That is why we move from one to another because we did not completely accept the fire that the Lord came to cast on the earth (Luke 12:49). This fire would burn and destroy the thorns in our mental field. Self-indulgence, carelessness and love for the body do not allow us to rebel. 26) Perfect prayer consists of talking with God without scattering your thoughts, collecting all your thoughts and feelings. Man enters a state where he will die for all people; for the world and for everything that is in it. And such a person should say nothing more to God in prayer other than: Thy will be done in me, and have in mind that he stands before God and converses with Him. 27) Nothing destroys the memories of what you saw, heard, or did except prayer, combined with humility, labor and tears, and with the cutting off of your will. 28) To guard your heart means to have a sober mind and clean from thoughts that lead to abuse. At first the mind neglects its thoughts, and then, when the enemy sees negligence, it tries to introduce abuse into it. If you want to find out about a thought, whether it is your enemy or a friend, say a prayer and ask him: “Are you ours, or from the adversaries” (Joshua 5:13), - and he will tell you the truth, for betrayal comes from negligence. Do not contradict (thoughts), because the enemies desire this (and seeing the contradiction) will not stop attacking; but pray against them to the Lord, casting them before Him is His weakness, and He can not only drive away, but also completely abolish them. 29) To stay in a cell means to remember one’s sins, to cry and lament about them, to be vigilant over oneself so that the mind is not captivated; and if he is captured, then try to quickly bring him back to his place. 30) The mind becomes ferocious (like a beast bitten by a beast) when a person does not hasten to reproach himself first. Such a mind bears traces of biting teeth and tearing nails (mental beasts), which is why it needs healing, that is, repentance. 31) When the body rises up against you; run hastily with prayer to Jesus, and you will calm down. 32) Condemning another happens to you because self-justification has not yet died in you: condemn yourself, and you will stop judging others. 33) Fear is the sister of despair. It weakens the heart and turns it away from God. Let us flee from it and awaken Jesus, who sleeps within us, by exclaiming: “Master, save us; we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25). And He, having risen, will rebuke the winds and they will subside, and He will say to us: “I am, do not be afraid” (John 6:20). 34) Where did Jesus go so far away that you couldn’t approach Him and ask Him to come to your aid? Does not your ear hear that your lips sing: “The Lord is near to all who call on Him... in truth... He will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their prayer, and I will save” (Ps. 145:19)? Cling to Him, and He will deliver you both from internal masters and from their external slaves. 35) Pray for the goodness of the One who “desires for all men to be saved and to come into the understanding of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), so that He will grant you spiritual wakefulness, kindling the spiritual fire that came to bring down to earth (Luke 12:49) Lord and Master of heaven and earth. God grants this grace to all who ask with difficulty and diligence; and she, having come, enlightens the eyes of the mind, drives away the sleep of relaxation and negligence and cleanses the weapons that have rusted in the land of laziness. 36) Jesus does not reject anyone: even at the eleventh hour He hired laborers into His vineyard. Cling to Him and work hard to receive your reward on an equal basis with everyone else. God has given you a mind, commit it to Him, devoting it to heavenly things, “seeking the highest, philosophizing on things on high” (Col. 3:1, 2), and directing it there, where He Himself dwells. This is the only way that everyone can free themselves from the old man. Jesus told the Apostles: “You... are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Be salt to yourself, salting and drying up (in yourself) rottenness and (destroying) worms, i.e., evil thoughts. Our God and Savior wants us to be saved; but we must cry out unceasingly: save me, Lord. - And it will save you. 37) The measure that must be sought is that in order to change and be cleansed of the old man and acquire the sanctification of soul and body. 38) If you get carried away and sin against someone in deed or word, go to him and bow down, asking for forgiveness. And God, seeing this, will protect you from your enemies. 39) When will despondency stop? - When our Lord comes, and a joyful voice will be heard about his name in the ears of the lame man sitting at the red door: “Rise and walk”; then he enters the sanctuary, “walking and jumping and praising God” (Acts 3:6, 8); then the sleep of despondency and laziness will cease; then the slumber of despondency and laziness flies away from the leaders; then the five wise virgins light their lamps and rejoice with the groom in the holy chamber without embarrassment, singing in agreement: “See, see, how good the Lord is” (Ps. 33:9). Then the wars, and desecrations, and movements cease, and the holy peace of the Holy Trinity is established, the treasure is sealed, and becomes inaccessible to theft. 40) Just as the demons were irritated against Job when God testified about him, and how, foreseeing that the time was approaching for the young man to be cleansed, they “shaken him” (Mark 9:20): so when they see that someone has succeeded, they tempt him out of envy. This happens by God’s permission, so that a person recognizes his weakness and does not become proud of his (received) gift. 41) Having a name or glory above his work does not in the least harm the one who does not enjoy it or does not agree with what is said about him, just like someone slandered for murder, but who did nothing of the kind (slander does not harm). Such a person must think: that people have a good opinion of me, without knowing what I am like. 42) Do you have the instruction of St. The Apostle Paul, who says: “Keep hold of every good thing that tempts” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Every deed that a person does in the fear of God benefits his soul. So, talk with the fathers if this conversation benefits you. I believe that it is good to talk for God’s sake, and not to talk for God’s sake is also good. 43) Soften your heart, and it will be renewed; The more you soften it, the more you will find in it thoughts for eternal life about Christ Jesus our Lord. 44) To cut off one’s will from one who is in one’s cell means not to care about bodily peace in all its forms; The carnal will is to give rest to the body in some case, and therefore, if you do not give it rest, know that by staying in the cell, you are cutting off your will. - And the will inspired by demons is to justify oneself and believe in oneself - and then that person is caught by them. 45) Is it good to practice the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” or is it better to study the divine scriptures and verse the Psalms? – You must do both: a little of this and a little of the other alternately, according to what is written: “Do these things appropriately, and do not forsake them” (Matthew 23:23). 46) Say prayers, at the end of your prayer rule, for the peace of St. churches, about the king, rulers, about all people, beggars, widows and others - good; for this is the Apostolic testament. But in doing this, one must recognize oneself as unworthy and without the strength to do so. – It is good to pray for everyone who asks for prayer. For the Apostolic word is: “Pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). And some prayed for the Apostles. He who neglects the commandment condemns himself; and therefore, whether you can or cannot, force yourself to fulfill the commandment. 47) Visiting your brother is good, but idle talk is bad. The most important thing is to teach you what to do; visit your neighbor and refrain from idle talk, imitating the conversation of the holy fathers. 48) What is good and evil will? - All bodily rest is abominable to our God; for He himself said: “bring the narrow and strait path into the belly” (Matthew 7:14). Choosing this path is a good will, and the one who adheres to it in every matter arbitrarily chooses grief for himself according to his strength. Or don’t you know what the Apostle says: “I put to death my body and make it into slavery” (1 Cor. 9:27). Do you see that the divine man enslaves his body by will, although it resisted it? He who has a good desire for salvation adds a little sorrow to each of his actions required by need. For example: I can sleep on a soft bed, but choosing a little grief, of my own free will, I lie down on matting - and the like. - This is the will of God. The carnal will consists in the opposite of this, that is, to have peace in everything. It's hard to escape! And how mistaken is he who thinks to be saved by resting himself in everything! – The Kingdom of Heaven is received only by those who force themselves (Matthew 11:12). If we don’t force ourselves a little, how can we be saved? 49) In the morning thoughts attack. What should I do? – When someone is idle, he is occupied with the thoughts that come to him. When he is busy, he does not have time to receive them. So, from early morning, hold the millstone (your mind is in your power), and you will grind wheat into bread for food. If your opponent warns you, then instead of wheat you will grind tares with it (the millstone-mind). 50) How to become worthy of pure and spiritual prayer? - since our Lord Jesus Christ said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; press, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9); then pray to the good God Himself that He will send the Holy Spirit of the Comforter; and He, having come, will teach you everything and reveal to you all the mysteries. Look for it in your guide; He will not allow delusion or dissipation in the heart, he will not allow negligence and despondency, or slumber of thought; will enlighten the eyes, strengthen the heart, elevate the mind. Cling to Him, believe in Him, love Him; for He makes wise the foolish, delights the mind, gives strength, purity, joy and truth; teaches long-suffering and meekness, love and peace, and bestows them. 51) The Lord does not require physical service from a sick person, but spiritual service, that is, prayer; for He says: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). - Give the body a little less than it demands: for the fatherly path is to not be burdened with either drink or food during your stay. 52) Do not allow yourself to reason about thoughts that come to you; but cast down your weakness before God, saying: Lord! I am in Your hands, help me and deliver me from their hands. Tell your Abba the thought that lingers in you and struggles with you, and he, with the help of God, will heal you. 53) Do not give up studying the psalms; for this also relates to spiritual work, and try to pronounce them by heart: it is useful for you. 54) Do not be scolded, O foolish one! You don’t have to trust your enemies. If you neglect yourself and become careless, your enemies will come again. A warrior during peace studies what will be required of him during battle. Look what the Lord said to the serpent: “Your head will be kept, and you will keep his heel” (Gen. 3:15). A person should not leave taking care of himself until his last breath. So, pay attention to yourself, brother, and beware of anger, vanity, sleep and other passions, knowing that the enemy does not sleep and is not careless. 55) Cleanse your heart from the thoughts of the old man. The gifts of God are contained only in the pure and are given to them. While your heart is moved by anger, remembrance and similar passions of the old man, wisdom will not enter into it. If you desire the gifts of God, cast out the vessels of alien things (passions) from yourself, and God’s gifts will enter into you by themselves. 56) If you want to know the real path, then know that it is this: to accept the one who strikes as one who warms, the one who is dishonored as one who glorifies, the one who annoys as one who honors, and the one who oppresses as one who soothes. If they do not give you what is customary, do not grieve, but say: if it were the will of God, then I would receive it; consider yourself unworthy and give up self-justification. If, when you say something, you say: I said well, or when you comprehend something with your mind, you say: you comprehended well, - you did this well, well that, then you are far from the path of God. 57) The enemy is fiercely angry at us; but if we humble ourselves, the Lord will abolish it. We will always reproach ourselves; and victory will always be on our side. Three things are always victorious: to reproach yourself, to leave your will behind you, and to consider yourself lower than all creation. 58) Let us try to cleanse our hearts from the passions of the old man, which God hates: we are His churches, and God does not live in a church defiled by passions. 59) Let God take care of you, place all your concerns on Him, and He will arrange everything that concerns you as He pleases. He who devotes himself to God must surrender everything to Him with all his heart, even to the point of death. God does not require anything from you except thanksgiving, patience and prayer for the forgiveness of sins. 60) Know that those who desire peace in everything will one day hear: receive good things in your belly (Luke 16:25). Let us not weaken; we have a merciful God, who knows our weakness more than we do. So as not to be faint-hearted and burdened, look to the end of patience. God is close, who said “I will not leave the imam to you, but the imam will depart from you” (Heb. 13:5; Joshua 1:5). 61) Don’t grieve about sensual fasting (if you can’t bear it): it means nothing without the spiritual. God does not require fasting from those who are weak in body, but from those who are strong and healthy; condescend a little to the body, and it will not be a sin. God does not require you to fast (when your body is not powerful); because he knows the disease that he sent you. - Thank God for everything. 62) What should you exercise daily? – You should practice a little psalmody, pray a little orally; It takes time to test and observe your thoughts. He who has a lot of different foods at dinner eats a lot and with pleasure; and whoever eats the same food every day not only tastes it without pleasure, but sometimes feels, perhaps, disgust from it. This is what happens in our situation. Only perfect people can train themselves to eat the same food every day without disgust. In psalmody and oral prayer, do not bind yourself, but do as much as the Lord strengthens you; Do not give up reading and inner prayer either. A little of this, a little of that, and you’ll spend the day pleasing God. Our perfect fathers did not have a specific rule, but throughout the whole day they fulfilled their rule: they practiced a little in psalmody, a little read prayers orally, a little tested their thoughts, little but cared about food, and did all this with the fear of God. For it is said: “Everything you do... do it for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). 63) How should one test one’s thoughts, and how to avoid captivity? – The test of thoughts is this: when a thought comes to you, consider what happens from it. I’ll give you an example for this: imagine that someone has annoyed you, and a thought prompts you to say something to him; and you tell your thoughts: if I express it to him, I will embarrass him through this and he will grieve at me: so I will be patient a little and it will pass. So, with every bad thought, ask yourself what the bad thoughts lead to - and they will stop. – Regarding capture, know that it requires great vigilance. The Fathers say: if your mind is drawn into fornication, remind it of chastity; if he is carried away into gluttony, bring him fasting as a reminder. Do the same in relation to other passions. 64) To pray without ceasing is a measure of dispassion; and through this the coming of the Spirit is revealed, Who teaches everything. If everything, then prayer. For the Apostle says: “We do not know what we pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26). 65) Should there be a rule? - Be like a person who eats and drinks as long as it pleases him: so, if the desire to read comes to you, and you see tenderness in your heart, read as much as you can, and when singing psalms do the same, try, according to your strength, to constantly bring thanks to God, and cry out: “Lord, have mercy,” and do not be afraid: God’s gifts are immutable. 66) Give thanks to God for everything; for thanksgiving makes intercession for infirmities. Let your rule be to live, listening to your thoughts and having the fear of God, saying to yourself: how will I meet God? How did I spend the past tense?. 67) Under no circumstances consider yourself to be something, and do not seek equality with others; - and you won’t be embarrassed by anything, so that they don’t do something unpleasant to you. Remember, however, that if you begin to exact anything from your brother; then God will exact from you for everything you have done since your youth. 68) If, while admonishing another, you feel confusion in your heart; then such admonition is not pleasing to God. It is mixed with self-justification and occurs through the action of the devil. 69) Let us hate bodily rest, lest it remove us from God, for it is abominable to Him. God does not allow us to grieve much, because without sorrow there is no success in the fear of God. 70) Humility consists of considering oneself to be earth and ashes - in deed, and not just in words, and to say: who am I? And who considers me for anything? 71) You then strive well when you carefully pay attention to yourself, so as not to fall away from the fear of God and from thanksgiving to God. Blessed are you if you have truly become strange and poor, for such will inherit the kingdom of God. 72) If internal work according to God does not help a person, then he works in vain in external things. Internal dealing with heart disease produces true silence of the heart; such silence produces humility, and humility makes a person a village of God; from the indwelling of God (into man), the evil demons and their leader the devil with their shameful passions are driven out, and man becomes the church of God, sanctified, enlightened, purified and filled with all goodness, goodness and joy. This man becomes a God-bearer. Work, according to the strength of your inner man, to humble your thoughts; and then God will open the eyes of your heart to see the true light and be able to say: by grace I have been saved in Christ Jesus our Lord. 73) Whoever wants to please God, even if he forces himself to cut off his will before his neighbor: this partly applies to what the Lord said: “the kingdom of heaven is in need, and the needy women take it away” (Matthew 11:12). 74) Until the physical is subordinated to the spiritual, the passions in us cannot weaken. 75) Acquire extreme humility and obedience in everything, for they are the eradicators of all passions and the planters of all good things. 76) Warm your heart in the fear of God, awakening it from the mental sleep brought on by the two worst passions: oblivion and negligence. Having warmed up, it will accept the desire for future blessings, and from now on you will have care about them, and through this care, not only mental, but also sensory sleep will recede from you, and then you will say, like David: “a fire will kindle in my teaching” (Ps. 39:4). What is said about these two passions is applicable to everyone: they are all like brushwood and burn from this spiritual fire. 77) I will tell you about spiritual exploits that, without guarding the mind, they are not imputed to a person as anything. 78) Whether you are reading or studying psalms (by memory), constantly remember God, who said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). 79) Our death and life are in our own hands (Deut. 30:19). If we do not repeat our previous sins, then we already have their forgiveness from God, if only we do not doubt again. “Behold, you were healthy: let no one sin, lest anything happen to him worse” (John 5:14). Be a stranger to hopelessness; cling to God with love, faith, hope, and you will have eternal life in Him. 80) At any time, if a person is able to cut off his will in everything, and have a humble heart and death always before his eyes; then he can be saved by the grace of God. 81) What does it mean to make a beginning, if not to move away from everything that is hated by God? How to move away from this? – Do not do anything without asking and advice, and also do not say anything inappropriate, and, moreover, recognize yourself as unreasonable, unsalted, humiliated and completely insignificant. 82) Your will prevents you from coming to tenderness; for if a person does not cut off his will, he cannot acquire heart disease. Unbelief does not allow you to cut off your will; and unbelief comes from the fact that we desire human glory. – If you truly want to mourn your sins, pay attention to yourself and die for every person. Cut off these three things: will, self-justification, people-pleasing; and truly tenderness will come to you and God will cover you from all evil. 83) Do not be deceived by filling your belly, and do not delight yourself by taking food or drink, except to satisfy your bodily needs. Be careful not to judge anyone; be submissive, and thus you will come to humility, and all passions will disappear from you. 84) Do not think that salvation is an easy task: it requires much sweat of labor and compulsion. Don't relax by pleasing your body; otherwise it will overthrow you. And great men are deposed by him if they do not pay attention to themselves. 85) Abba Isaiah says that while a person feels the sweetness of sins, they have not yet been forgiven. I feel their sweetness and the thought confuses me that there is no forgiveness for me. – The word of Abba Isaiah refers to someone who does not only feel the sweetness of sin, but also enjoys it. The one to whom, although a sinful sweetness comes to mind, but who does not allow the effect of this sweetness to be prolonged, but contradicts and strives against it, his previous sins are forgiven. 86) The servant (deacon) must be like a cherub: all eyes, all mind; he must reflect and meditate on heavenly things, with fear and trembling, and praise; for he bears the body and blood of the immortal King. He also represents the face of the Seraphim, because he sings praise and overshadows the hidden mysteries with rhipida, as if with holy wings, thereby forming his exaltation from the earth and from everything material. He needs to constantly sing with his mind, in the church of the inner man, the victorious song of the magnificent glory of our God: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the heavens and the earth are filled with Your glory” (Isa. 6:3). 87) If you begin to constantly condemn yourself, then your heart will be contrite and turn to repentance, and He who spoke through St. the prophet: “You have spoken of your iniquities before, that you may be justified” (Is. 43:26), will justify you and free you from all condemnation. For the scripture says: “God justifies. Who is to judge? (Rom. 8:33, 34). 88) There is natural irritability, and there is unnatural irritability. The natural one resists the fulfillment of lustful desires, and it does not require healing, like the healthy one. The unnatural rebels if lustful desires are not fulfilled. This latter requires stronger healing than lust. 89) God created the soul and body dispassionate, but through disobedience they fell into passions. Passions burn out of humility, as if from fire. 90) To eradicate evil passion (fornication), labor of the heart and body is necessary; heartfelt, so that the heart continually prays to God; bodily, so that a person mortifies and enslaves his body to the best of his ability. It is necessary in every possible way to prevent agreement with the thought. The agreement with the thought in general is that when a person likes something, he delights in it in his heart and reflects on it with pleasure. If someone contradicts a thought and fights with it so as not to accept it: this is not agreement, but fight, and this leads a person to experience and success. 91) When someone says: pray for me, say in your heart: “May God have mercy on us,” and that is enough. And remembering him is always the work of perfect people who can pray for each other. 92) (Against lust) - take care of your eyes, and do not eat enough. Acquire humility, which dissolves all the networks of the enemy. Do not give in to the enemy, and pray constantly saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from shameful passions,” and God will have mercy on you. - It happens that a person is tempted by his lust from negligence about himself, - from the fact that he allows his heart to reflect on what he has done before, or on similar matters. If you allow your thoughts to revolve in this, then the battle will increase until you fall, although not in the body, then in the spirit, in accordance with the thoughts. Such a person himself lights a fire in his substance. Be sober and carefully guard yourself from evil memories, so as not to get carried away by passionate thoughts, move away from meetings and conversations and from any reason for sin, fearing that you yourself will kindle a fire within yourself. Adapt all the orders of your life to this. Love humility and crying, and try to cut off your will in everything. Do not relax yourself with conversations, for they will not allow you to succeed in God. Strengthen your senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch - and you will prosper through the grace of Christ. Be careful not to show the Chaldeans the treasures of your house (2 Kings 20:12–18), otherwise they will take you captive and take you to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:13), (that is, do not boast in yourself: for through this you will show the demons your spiritual treasures and they will take you captive). Move towards Jesus in order to reach Him. If you want to succeed, work hard. 93) Resist the thoughts of fornication with a strong heart: for fighters, if they do not strive, are not crowned. The job of a monk is to endure abuse and resist it with the courage of the heart. And I (Abba Barsanuphius) in my youth was repeatedly and strongly tempted by the demon of fornication and labored, struggling against such thoughts, contradicting them and not agreeing with him, but imagining before my eyes eternal torment. For five years I did this every day, and God relieved me of these thoughts. This warfare is abolished by unceasing prayer with crying. 94) If you want to get rid of shameful passions, do not treat anyone freely; through this you will be freed from vanity, for man-pleasing is mixed with vanity, and free circulation is mixed with man-pleasing, and free circulation is the mother of all passions. 95) Nothing is faster than the mind; bring him to God in every need and he will give you the necessary admonition or the necessary help. 96) Without heart disease, no one receives the gift of discerning thoughts. When God gives someone this gift, then he will always be able to discern thoughts through His Spirit. 97) Teach me how my heart must work in order to achieve the gift of reasoning; write about the unceasing memory of God. – Your heartfelt work should consist in constantly praying to God, that He will not allow you to get lost or follow your own desires: through this you will achieve reasoning. – Make a beginning about unceasing memory, that is, teaching, and do not be afraid; God will strengthen and establish you. But this is in hope, so that you may reap if you do not faint (1 Cor. 9:10; Gal. 6:3). 98) Sometimes warmth comes, sometimes it goes away; sometimes the memory of God is diligently preserved, and sometimes it is barely held on under compulsion; besides, my heart, without my desire, exudes passionate or crazy memories, or timeless thoughts: what to do? – Try to acquire warmth and prayer through heart disease, and God will give you to always have them. They are driven out by oblivion, which itself is born from negligence. The gift of sobriety does not allow thoughts to enter, and if they enter, it does not allow them to cause harm. May God give you sobriety and vigor. 99) Don't weaken; but, while you have time, do it, humble yourself, be obedient, obey, and God will help you, giving grace to the humble but resisting the proud (1 Pet. 5:5). Continually say: “Jesus, help me,” and it will help. 100) In the morning you will collect yourself a little; but then, case after case, they entertain you and in the evening you appear, gloomy and despondent; what to do? I died. “You shouldn’t despair because of this.” The helmsman, when the ship is beaten by waves, does not despair of his salvation, but steers the ship until he brings it to the pier. So you, seeing that you have become carried away and scattered in your work, call yourself to the beginning of the path, speaking with the prophet: “And I said: now I have begun” (Ps. 76:11). Also consider the cases you encounter and discuss how to conduct them, keeping up with your inner work. Care for God's sake is a spiritual work performed and accomplished for the salvation of the soul. Try, to the best of your ability, not to entangle yourself in petty matters, limiting yourself to what is most necessary. – Be reasonably attentive to yourself, and God will help you. 101) May the Lord give you spiritual understanding so that you can act wisely in all your affairs. Refrain your tongue from idle talk, your belly from lust, and do not irritate your neighbor. Don’t be insolent, consider yourself to be nothing, keep love for everyone and always have God in your mind, remembering, “When will I appear to the face of God?” (Ps. 41:3). Save this and your land will bear fruit a hundredfold to God. 102) What does it mean to impute nothing to yourself? - means not to compare yourself with anyone, and not to talk about a good deed: and I did it. Beware of arrogance, so as not to lose everything. 103) It is not yet that I consider myself lower than every creature; but when I test my conscience, I find myself worthy of considering myself lower than every creature. - Now you have just entered the right path. This is the very truth. May God bring you to the point where you consider yourself lower than every creature. 104) Which way can one achieve salvation more quickly, through work or through humility? – True work cannot be without humility; for labor in itself is vanity and is not counted as anything. Scripture says: “See my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins” (Ps. 24:18). So whoever combines humility with labor quickly achieves (the goal). He who has humility with humiliation (in the external position) also achieves; for humiliation replaces labor. And whoever has only humility, although he succeeds, but not so quickly. Anyone who wants to acquire true humility should under no circumstances consider himself to be anything. This is what true humility consists of. 105) How to get rid of oblivion? - He who receives that fire, which the Lord came to bring to earth (Luke 12:49), does not know oblivion and captivity, for he always feels this fire. Take the example of sensual fire. No matter what a person is doing, if a burning coal falls on him, he can no longer remain in his hobby. If you want to get rid of captivity and oblivion, then you can achieve this only by acquiring spiritual fire within yourself; for only from its warmth will oblivion and captivity disappear. This fire is acquired by striving for God. If your heart does not seek the Lord day and night with illness, you cannot succeed. If, leaving everything else, you take up this, then you will achieve this: “Become devoid and understand” (Ps. 45:11). 106) Humility consists in under no circumstances considering oneself for something, cutting off one’s own will in everything, obeying everyone, and enduring without embarrassment what befalls one from the outside. This is true humility, in which vanity has no place. -The humble person should not try to show his humility in words, but it is enough for him to say: “forgive me, or pray for me.” One should also not be called upon to perform low deeds; for both lead to vanity, hinder prosperity and do more harm than good; but when they command something, do not contradict it and carry it out with obedience; that's what leads to success. – Humiliation is of two kinds: one is heartfelt, and the other comes from reproaches received from outside. Humiliation received from the outside is more cordial; for it is easier to humiliate oneself than to endure humiliation from others, because the latter produces a much greater illness in the heart. 107) (When someone praises, is it good to contradict him, speaking humbly about himself). - It is much more useful to remain silent. For if someone answers, it means that he accepts praise; and this is already vanity. Even when he thinks that he answers humbly, there is already vanity; for if he hears the same words that he speaks about himself from another, he cannot bear them. 108) Freedom of speech and speech, as well as gluttony, cannot be curbed without heart disease, without sobriety and crying. All passions are overcome by humility, which everyone acquires through labor. 109) Crying does not come from tears, but tears from crying. If a person, not paying attention to the sins of others, looks at his own, then he begins to cry. For through this his thoughts gather, and gathering in this way, they give birth in the heart to sorrow for God (2 Cor. 7:10), and this sorrow is tears. 110) Do not be arrogant, because you will harm yourself. The fathers set a time for attention to their thoughts, saying: in the morning, test yourself how you spent the night, and in the evening, how you spent the day. And in the middle of the day, when you are burdened with thoughts, look at yourself. 111) If a passionate thought enters the heart, how should one reflect it, by contradicting it, or by pronouncing a prohibition and, as it were, becoming angry with it, or by resorting to God and throwing down one’s weakness before Him? - The passions are the same sorrows, and the Lord did not separate them, but said: “Call Me in the day of your sorrow, and wear you out, and glorify Me” (Ps. 49:15). And therefore, in relation to any passion, there is nothing more useful than calling on the name of God. It is not proper for everyone to contradict, but only for the strong about God, to whom demons obey. If one of the weak contradicts, the demons scold him because, being in their power, he contradicts them. Also, to forbid them the work of the great men who have power over them. How many of the saints forbade the devil, like Michael the Archangel, who did this because he had power? We who are weak can only resort to the name of Jesus; for passions, as it is said, are demons - and they leave (from invoking this name). 112) Pay attention to yourself and strain in every possible way to fulfill the commandments. If you are defeated in any way, do not weaken, do not despair, but get up again, and God will help you. Always cast yourself before the goodness of the Lord with tears, that He may free you from passions. 113) Avoid conversations about many things, for from them negligence, relaxation, disobedience and fierce insolence are born. 114) Thought tells me that silence is most necessary, and that it is useful to me; Is it fair for him to suggest this to me? What does silence consist of, if not to restrain your heart from giving and receiving, from gluttony and other similar actions. When the Lord convicted the scribe through the parable of the one who fell into the hands of thieves, and asked him: who was his neighbor, the scribe answered: “he showed mercy to him” (Luke 10:37); and the Lord also said in scripture: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7). If you also believe that mercy is greater than sacrifice, then incline your heart to mercy. Silence gives a person a reason for arrogance before he acquires himself, that is, he is blameless. – Only then does true silence take place when a person has already bore the cross. And so, if you have compassion (for your neighbors), you will receive help; if you restrain yourself from compassion, wanting to ascend into something that is beyond your measure, then know that you will lose even what you have. And so do not deviate either inward or outward; but keep in the middle, “knowing that this is the will of the Lord, for the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). 115) What does it mean: do not deviate either inward or outward, but stay in the middle? - This means: do not dare to remain silent and do not neglect yourself when you are in the midst of care - this is the middle path, safe from falls: in silence (when you are alone with yourself) you must have humility, and when you are in care, vigilance over yourself, and keep your thoughts; and all this is not limited to any specific hour, much less days. 116) One should not remain silent about one’s thoughts; for he who hides his thoughts remains unhealed, and is corrected only by frequently asking the spiritual fathers about them. 117) Whoever keeps his flock (thoughts) like Jacob (Gen. 31:40), sleep departs from him; and when he falls asleep a little, his sleep is like someone else's wakefulness; for the fire of his heart does not allow him to fall into sleep, and he sings with David: “enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep into death” (Ps. 12:4). He who reaches this measure and has already tasted its sweetness understands what has been said; such a person does not become intoxicated with sensual sleep, but only uses natural sleep. 118) If your thoughts gather when you close your eyes for God’s sake during the service; then do not pay attention to some, even if it seems strange to the brothers standing with you. 119) First clothe yourself with leaves, and then, when God commands, you will bear fruit. 120) Do not be discouraged, falling and rising, crawling and reproaching yourself, until the Lord shows you mercy; just don’t be careless; - Just pay attention to yourself according to your strength, and God will help you. 121) Do not say anything with embarrassment, because evil does not give birth to good; but be patient until your thoughts calm down, and then say peacefully (what needs to be corrected). 122) Beware of pride, self-justification and vanity, contrasting them with humility, fear of God and reasoning. Try to remain in these virtues according to your strength, and God will help you. 123) Whoever says to his thoughts “I and God are alone in the world; and if I do not fulfill His will, I will no longer belong to Him, but to someone else”; and daily awaits his departure from the body, thinking about how he can meet God, such a person discovers the path of salvation. 124) Let us pay attention to ourselves with the fear of God, and if the gracious God, out of His love for mankind, eases our struggle, then even then we will not be negligent: for many, having received relief, neglected themselves and fell headlong. But we, having received relief, will thank God (remembering) what He delivered us from, and we will remain in prayer so as not to fall again into the same passions or into others. So if someone eats something and his stomach, or spleen, or liver hurts, and with the diligence and knowledge of the doctor he will be healed; then he no longer indulges in negligence about himself, remembering the former danger, so as not to come to an even worse situation, just as the Lord said to the one healed by him: “Behold, you are healthy: let no one sin, lest it be worse” (John 5:14). Good warriors, even during times of peace, constantly learn the art of warfare; for the time of war does not allow one to conveniently learn what is necessary for war; it is said: “Be prepared and not be troubled” (Ps. 119:60). A person cannot remain without care and warfare until his last breath, lest he otherwise fall to the ground, as if caught by a crafty enemy, who may he abolish the Lord from us “by the Spirit of his mouth” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Remember what the elder said: if a person creates a new heaven and a new earth, then even then he cannot be without care. 125) The Apostle Paul, realizing the power of patience, wrote the following: “I will require patience, that having done the will of God, you may receive the promises” (Heb. 10:36). Anyone who wants to ascend to the cross with Christ must be a fellow participant in His suffering. 126) About oblivion: he who has reached the point where he forgets to take his bread because of the voice of his groaning (Ps. 102:5, 6) is not overcome by the enemy’s oblivion. 127) If you do not lose heart from work, you will acquire humility, and when you acquire humility, you will also receive forgiveness of sins; for it is said: “See my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins” (Ps. 24:18). When you humble yourself, you will receive grace, and grace will help you. Attend to the work of God with hope, and God will arrange your work without your knowledge. 128) When you cannot question the elder, you must pray three times about every matter; and after this, look where your heart bows, even if it’s a hair’s breadth, and do so; for the notification is noticeable and in every way understandable to the heart. 129) What is false knowledge (false intelligence)? - It consists of believing in your thoughts that things are exactly as they seem. Whoever wants to get rid of this should not believe in anything of his own, but ask his elder about everything. 130) If you want to be saved, then repent, cut off everything that causes death to you, and say with David: “Today I have begun” (Ps. 76:11). So, from now on, leave your will, self-justification, contempt and negligence, and instead stick to humility, obedience and obedience. Consider yourself humble in everything, and you will be saved. 131) Cutting off one’s will consists in cutting off one’s will in good things and fulfilling the will of the saints, and in bad things oneself running away from evil. 132) (about subtle and gross thoughts, such as fornication, adultery, envy, etc.). – He who tries to think about subtle thoughts, and does not care about coarse ones, is like a person whose house is unclean and full of various rubbish, among which is small rubbish; and, having decided to clean it, he began to take out small rubbish from the house first, and left behind stones and other things that he stumbled over. Even if he takes out all the small rubbish, his house will not yet receive beauty; and when he takes away the stones and so on, then he will not leave any rubbish behind, because he, too, does something disgraceful. 133) How can I ensure that the fear of God remains unshakable in my cruel heart? – One must do everything with the fear of God, and having prepared the heart (disposing the heart for this according to the strength of one’s heart), call on God to grant him this fear. When you present this fear before your eyes in every action, it will become unshakable in our hearts. 134) It happens many times that the fear of God comes to my mind, and remembering that judgment, I am immediately moved, how should I accept the memory of this? - When this comes to your memory, that is, (when you feel) tenderness about what you have sinned in knowledge and ignorance, then be careful, lest this happen through the action of the devil, for greater condemnation. And if you ask: how to recognize a true memory from one that comes through the action of the devil, then listen: when such a memory comes to you, and you try to show correction by deeds; then this is true memory, through which sins are forgiven. And when you see that, having remembered (the fear of God and judgment), you are touched, and then again fall into the same or worse sins, then let it be known to you what recollection from the contrary is, and that the demons put them in you to condemn your soul. Here are two clear paths for you. So, if you want to fear condemnation, avoid it. 135) Let the morning and evening hours be a good time for testing your thoughts, during which you ask yourself: how did I spend the night or day? And if you see any sin, try to correct yourself with God’s help. 136) How is it that my soul, having many wounds, does not cry? – Who knows what he lost, he will cry about it. And whoever desires something makes many journeys and endures many sorrows, waiting to get what he wants. 137) Let us try to do the work of God not for the sake of anything else, but only for the sake of the one God. If not, then your work is in vain. So, while doing good, let us be vigilant over ourselves, so that somehow, for the sake of our will, we do not make our labor useless. 138) If, having examined wisely and thoroughly, you find in anything that seems good to you, vanity, or embarrassment, or something similar; then know that it is not from God; for God's goodness always increases enlightenment and humility of the heart: and brings silence to man. 139) If (seemingly) good, after testing, turns out to be evil, then it must be rejected: just as someone, having tasted food that seemed good and feeling its bitterness, immediately spits it out of his mouth. 140) It often happens from the movement of natural thoughts to think good; but this too must be offered to God; for our nature is His creation. And we must know that we cannot bring this (i.e. good) into fulfillment except by the commandment of God: that is, when we offer it before our eyes, then our heart is confirmed in it to fulfill the good. 141) For humility of thought, when you have done all the good deeds and kept all the commandments, remember the one who said: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, as we are unworthy servants: for whatever we ought to do, we have done” (Luke 17:10), especially when we have not yet reached the point of fulfilling even one commandment. One should always think this way, and reproach oneself when doing a good deed, and say to oneself: I don’t know whether it pleases God. It is a great thing to do according to the will of God, and to fulfill the will of God is even greater: this is the totality of all the commandments; for to do something according to the will of God is a private matter and less than fulfilling the will of God. That is why the Apostle said: “those who are behind... forgetting, those who are before... stretching out” (Phil. 3:13). And no matter how much he stretched forward, he did not stop, but he always saw himself as insufficient and therefore prospered. 142) If someone does good without the goal of pleasing God, this good turns out to be evil, according to the intention of the doer. Everyone should try to always do good, and subsequently, by the grace of God, it will be given to him that his deeds will be accomplished out of the fear of God. 143) When you happen to do something good, you should know that it is a gift from God, (given to you) by the goodness of God: for God has mercy on everyone. Pay attention to yourself so that, through your weakness, you do not destroy the mercy He shows to you, which extends to all sinners. Do not lose what God has given you for good in evil; This gift is lost when you praise yourself and forget God who has blessed you. Moreover, you will bring condemnation upon yourself as soon as you dare to attribute to yourself that for which you should give thanks to the lover of mankind. The Apostle says: “Why did you not receive it? And if... you accepted what you boasted about, why not accept it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). And so never be tempted to believe a thought that praises you for a good deed. All good is God's. 144) Saints are worthy to have the Holy Spirit within them and become His church. Scripture says: “I will dwell in them and resemble them” (2 Cor. 6:16). Sinners are alien to this, according to what has been said: “wisdom will not enter into an evil-doing soul” (Wisdom 1:4). But they are preserved by the grace of God (for repentance). 145) When your heart is lifted up during the singing of psalms, remember what is written: “let not those who grieve be lifted up in themselves” (Ps. 65:7). -To be upset means precisely not to sing wisely with the fear of God. Test whether your thought is not entertained when singing psalmody and you will certainly find that it is entertained, and then. and you grieve God. 146) When I am burdened with thoughts while singing psalmody, or without it, and call on the name of God for help, the enemy inspires me that the constant invocation of the name of God leads to exaltation, for a person may think that he is doing well. How should one think about this? “We know that the sick always demand a doctor and his healing, and the overwhelmed incessantly rush to refuge so that drowning does not befall them. For this reason, the Prophet cries out, saying: “Lord, you have been our refuge throughout all generations” (Ps. 80:1) and also: “God is our refuge and strength, a helper in the sorrows that have come upon us greatly” (Ps. 45:2). If He is our refuge, then let us remember what He says: “Call upon Me in the day of your tribulation, and wear you out, and glorify Me” (Ps. 49:15). And so let us learn that in times of sorrow, we must certainly call on the merciful God. When calling on the name of God, let us not be exalted in thought. Who, except a madman, exalts himself when he receives help from someone. But we, as those who need God, calling on His name for help against those who oppose us, if we are not insane, should not be exalted in thought, for out of need we call and come running in sorrow. Moreover, we must know that constantly calling on the name of God is a healing that kills not only passions, but also their very action. Just as a doctor seeks (decent) healing or a plaster for the wound of a sufferer, and they act, and the patient does not know how this (is done): so in the same way the name of God, being called upon, kills all passions, although we do not know how this is done. 147) When it seems to me that my thoughts are silent and are not disturbed or burdened, is it good even then to learn in calling on the name of the Lord Christ? For my thought tells me: now that we are in the world, there is no need for this. – We should not think that we have this peace as long as we recognize ourselves as sinners, for the scriptures say: there is no peace for a sinner (Isaiah 48:22). If there is no peace for the sinner; then what is this (your) world like? - Let us be afraid, for it is written: “When... they say: peace and confirmation... all destruction will suddenly attack them, like sickness in the womb of someone, and they will not be able to escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). It also happens that enemies cunningly allow the heart to feel silence for a short time in order for the invocation of the name of God to cease: for they are not unaware that from invoking Him they are weakened. Knowing this, let us not cease to call on the name of God for help: for this is prayer, and the scripture says: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The incessant has no end. 148) If during psalmody, or prayer, or reading, a bad thought comes: should one pay attention to it and leave psalmody, prayer, or reading for a while in order to resist it with pure thoughts? Neglect it, delve more carefully into psalmody, prayer or reading in order to borrow power from the words you pronounce. If we begin to exercise ourselves in the thoughts of the enemy, we will never be able to do anything good, (listening to) what the enemy suggests. When you see that its intricacy interferes with psalmody, prayer or reading; then even then do not enter into a debate with them, because this is not a matter of your strength, but try to call on the name of God, and God will help you and abolish the tricks of your enemies. 149) How to acquire tenderness in prayer, reading and psalmody? – Tenderness comes from constant remembrance. And so, the one praying must bring to mind his deeds, and how those who do similar things are judged, and that terrible voice: “Depart from Me, the curse, into everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41). And when reading and psalmody (tenderness depends on the fact), that the person arouses his mind to the attention of the words spoken by him and receives into his soul the power contained in them; from the good - to be zealous for what is good, from those who speak about retribution for evil - in order to avoid what threatens those who do evil. listen to me” (Ps. 39:2). Learning from this, hope that God’s mercy will soon visit you. 150) When I try to carefully delve into the meaning of the psalmist’s sayings, it often happens that I turn from them to evil thoughts. – When you see that the enemy has managed to attack you through the very words of psalmody; then you do not need to try with special care to delve into the power of the sayings of the psalms, but read them with attention and without having fun: for if you only pronounce the words of the psalms, then your enemies know their power and cannot resist you, and such psalm singing will serve you instead of praying to God and to defeat your enemies. 151) When, in the midst of practicing psalmody, or when meeting people, my thoughts bother me, and I, not having the convenience of calling on God with my lips, call on Him in my heart, or just remember Him, isn’t this enough to help me? – If during psalmody, or when you are with people, you happen to call on God, do not think that without verbal pronunciation you are not calling on Him, but remember that He is a knower of the heart and looks at the heart, and call on Him in your heart. This is what is said in scripture: “Shut your doors and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6:6). Let us close our lips and pray to Him in our hearts: for whoever closes his mouth and calls on God, or prays to Him in his heart, fulfills the commandment that prescribes this. If you do not call on the name of God in your heart, but only remember about God, then there is even more speed (convenience) in this - and it is enough to help you. 152) Is it good to always think (about God) in your heart, or to pray to Him heartily without the help of the tongue? When it happens that I practice this, my thought plunges into absent-mindedness, and I remain as if in sleepy dreams. – Not to deviate with the mind, and not to plunge too much into distraction or daydreaming, is the work of the perfect, who can control their mind and always keep it in the fear of God. And he who cannot have constant sobriety according to God, let him convey the teaching to the tongue (that is, let him repeat the word addressed to God with his tongue). We see something similar with those who swim in the sea: those of them who are skilled boldly plunge themselves into the sea, knowing that it cannot drown those who are well trained in the art of swimming. Anyone who begins to learn this art, feeling that he is in a deep place, for fear of drowning, hurries to get out of the depths to the shore, and after resting a little, he rushes into the depths again and practices in such a way as to completely learn this art until he reaches the level of those who have studied it before him. 153) When I pray about many things, should each of them be mentioned in prayer? – If you want to pray about many things, then since God knows what we need, pray like this: “Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, guide me according to Your will!” If about passions, then say: “heal me according to Your will.” When talking about temptations, say: “You know what is useful to me, help my weakness and grant me, according to Your will, deliverance from temptations.” 154) In prayer, it is especially necessary to observe so that everything is left to the will of Almighty God; and the very purpose of prayer should be so that what we ask is according to the will of God. 155) When I sit reading or doing needlework and want to pray, my thought prompts me to turn to the east, what should I do? – Whether you sit, walk, are busy with something, eat, or do anything else for the sake of bodily needs, you happen to be facing east or west, do not hesitate to pray; for we have received the commandment to do this continually and in every place. Just be careful not to do it carelessly. 156) The thought inspires me: you sin in everything and therefore you must say with every word, deed and thought: I have sinned; for if you do not say: I have sinned, then (it means) you consider yourself not to have sinned. “We must always have such confidence that we sin in everything, in word, in deed, and in thought, but in any case we cannot say: I have sinned.” This is suggested by demons who want to make us despondent. They inspire us with the idea that if we do not speak in this way about each of our deeds, then we consider ourselves to have not sinned. But let us remember Ecclesiastes, who says: “a time to speak and a time to be silent” (Eccl. 3:7). And in the morning for the (past) night, and in the evening for the day, let us say with tenderness in our prayer to the Lord God: Master! Forgive me of all your holy names, and heal my soul for those who have sinned against you (Ps. 40:5). And this is enough for you, just as if someone having a regular lender takes money from him at different times, and not being able to pay him exactly every time, pays off suddenly; so here too. 157) What should I do when my mind is lost during psalmody? – If your thoughts wander into distraction, then return and begin with those words of the preceding psalm that are retained in your memory. If, having returned once, twice or three times, you find it difficult to remember the words at which your reading was interrupted, or, having remembered, you find it difficult to find the place from which you should continue reading; then start the same psalm over again. The goal of the enemy is to hinder praise through oblivion. Reading the psalms presented in sequential order is doxology, and not being distracted (at the same time) is possible only for those who have pure feelings; but we are still weak. When we notice our absent-mindedness, let us return sobriety to the understanding of what we read, so that otherwise it does not serve us as a condemnation. 158) If I amuse myself in prayer, what should I do? – When you pray to God and are distracted by your mind, then strive until you pray without distraction, and stay alert with your mind so as not to be distracted. If this continues, then at the end of the prayer, reproach yourself internally and say with tenderness: Lord, have mercy on me, and forgive me all my sins, and you will receive forgiveness for all sins, and for the absent-mindedness that occurred during prayer. 159) When my brother reads the psalms, my thoughts are sometimes peaceful, and sometimes amused. What should I do? – When your thoughts remain peaceful and you see that you receive tenderness from reading your brother, then stick to this matter. And as soon as you see that your mind is carried away into other thoughts, then rebuke and force yourself to listen to your brother’s praise. – If you see that he is getting carried away again, forbid him again, and do this up to three times. And when he remains (in this), then distract him from reading, but do not leave him in idleness, but think about judgment and eternal torment, and pray to the holy name of God, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. 160) If someone, standing at psalmody with the brethren, does not know the psalms that they read, what is more beneficial for him: to listen to them, or to read those that he knows? - For someone who does not know the psalms that the brethren read, instead of listening to them, it will be more useful to read those that he himself knows; for absent-mindedness is mixed with listening. 161) The movement (against evil thoughts) should consist in not inclining towards an evil thought, and not agreeing with it, but serenely resorting to God. So, if a thought enters, do not be embarrassed, but consider what it wants to do and resist, calmly calling on the Lord. The Lord, having come to the land of Judea, that is, into the human heart, will cast out demons. So cry to Him, like the disciples: “Master, save us, we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25); and He, having awakened, will rebuke the winds of thought, and they will subside; for His is the power and the glory forever. 162) As much as you have the strength, humiliate yourself day and night, forcing yourself to see yourself lower than every person. This is the true path and there is no other besides it. 163) If I see someone acting indecently, can I judge this indecency? And how can we avoid the resulting condemnation of our neighbor? – We cannot help but recognize an act that is truly indecent as indecent; for otherwise, how can we avoid the harm that comes from it? The one who does such a thing should not be condemned, both according to the word of scripture: “Judge not... lest ye be condemned” (Luke 6:37), and because we must recognize ourselves as sinners more than anyone else, and also because we must consider our brother’s sins as our own, and hate only the devil who deceived him. Whenever someone pushes another into a pit, we blame not the one who fell into the pit, but the one who pushed him: exactly the same here. – It happens that a person does something that seems indecent to those who see it, but it is done according to the good intention of the person doing it. “And we also don’t know whether a brother who has sinned will not, through repentance, become pleasing to God, through his humility and confession.” The Pharisee went away condemned for his arrogance. Knowing this, let us imitate the publican’s humility and condemn ourselves in order to be justified; and flee from Pharisaic exaltation, so as not to be condemned. 164) When I am with others, I am embarrassed from modesty, my speech is unreasonable, and senseless laughter joins my words. What should I do? – The fear of God is alien to all confusion, all disorder and rumors. So, before the conversation, let us establish ourselves in the fear of God and delve carefully into our hearts, from which we are embarrassed and laugh: for in the fear of God there is no laughter. Scripture says about the insane that they “raise their voice in laughter” (Sir. 21:23). And the word of the foolish is confused and devoid of grace. About the righteous he says that his laughter is “barely to the point of grinning.” And so if we arouse in ourselves the remembrance of God and the thought that we must talk with our brethren with humility and silent thoughts, and reflecting on this, we will always have before our eyes the terrible judgment of God; then such preparation will drive out from our hearts every evil thought: for where there is silence, meekness and humility, there God dwells. Most of all, let us remember that it is necessary for us to call on the holy name of God, for where God is, there is all that is good, and it is obvious that where the devil is, there is all that is evil. 165) Free circulation is of two kinds: one comes from shamelessness and is the root of all evil, and the other comes from gaiety; however, this latter is not entirely useful to those who adhere to it. But since only the strong and strong can avoid both, and we, due to our weakness, cannot do this; then at least let us sometimes allow that free behavior that stems from gaiety, watching, so as not to give our brother a reason for temptation through it. – And in laughter one should not give oneself freedom, but restrain one’s thoughts in order to decently avoid that laughter. For let those who give themselves freedom in it know that from this they fall into fornication. 166) From the desire to please people, a person comes to vanity. When it increases, pride comes. 167) Should one be curious about divine mysteries? And by approaching them, is the sinner condemned as unworthy? - Arriving at St. church for receiving the body and blood of Christ and when accepting them, pay attention to yourself so that you undoubtedly believe the truth of this (sacrament). And how this happens, do not be curious, but believe as it is said: “this is My body... this is My blood” (Matthew 26:26, 28; Mark 14:22, 24). The Lord gave them to us for the remission of sins. We hope that whoever believes this way will not be condemned, and whoever does not believe is already condemned. So, do not forbid yourself to approach condemning yourself as a sinner, but recognize that the sinner who approaches the Savior is rewarded with remission of sins. And in the scriptures we see those who approached Him with faith and heard that Divine voice: “Your many sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2, 5; Mark 2:5; Luke 7:47, 48). Listen to the Lord himself, who says: “I did not come to save the righteous, but sinners” (Luke 5:32). And so, recognizing yourself as a sinner, approach Him who is able to save the lost (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10). 168) When many bad thoughts come to me and I am ashamed to tell anyone about them, what should I do? - Say to God: “Master, forgive me that I thought contrary to Your will, whether in knowledge or ignorance; For Your mercy is forever, Amen.” 169) What should I do, I suffer from lust? - Tire yourself as much as you can, however according to your strength: do not rely on this, however, but on the love and protection of God, and do not give in to despondency, for despondency is the beginning of all evil. 170) What should I do? I am worried about the battle of gluttony, love of money, covetousness and other passions? – When the passion of gluttony is fighting, then strive with all your might for God’s sake not to give the body as much as it requires. - And with regard to the love of money (covetousness), act in the same way - while the war bothers you, do not acquire anything superfluous, even up to a shirt and an earthen vessel, and strive in the smallest things (against covetousness). When, with the help of God, you overcome this battle, then acquire what you need according to God. And with other passions, act in the same way (i.e., actively opposite). 171) To a brother who is easily inflamed with anger: – if you forced yourself to die for every person and take a little humility, you could have peace and would be freed from many troubles. May your heart humble itself before God and His grace intercede for us in everything. 172) If you (due to weakness) perform psalmody and prayer while sitting, but with tenderness; this does not prevent your service from being pleasing to God; for whoever does it while standing, but absent-mindedly, his work is counted as nothing. 173) Whether you stand, or sit, or lie down, let your heart be alert in your psalm service. Give yourself over to prayer, constantly resorting to God, day and night, and then the enemies who are fighting your soul will retreat in shame. 174) What is the sign that I have trust in God, and what is the sign of forgiveness of sins? – A sign of trust in God is to reject from yourself every thought of caring for the flesh and not at all think that you have anything in this age, for otherwise you will have hope in that and not in God. – The sign of forgiveness of sins is to hate them and do no more. And when a person thinks about them and his heart delights in them, or he actually commits them: this is a sign that his sins have not yet been forgiven him, but he is still accused of them. 175) Should you read dogmatic books? “I wouldn’t want you to study these books, because they raise the mind to grief; but it is better to learn from the words of the elders, who humble the mind down. I did not say this to disparage dogmatic books, but I am only giving you advice, for food comes in different forms. 176) Scripture says: “If the possessive spirit comes upon you, do not leave your place” (Eccl. 10:4). What does it mean? - This means: do not allow the thought to “come upon you” and do not talk with it, but resort to God; for if you want to give it (a thought) an answer, you will get carried away into thinking about it, which will distract you from the warmth of prayer. 177) When I hear someone speak badly about me: what should I do? - Immediately get up in prayer and pray first for him, then for yourself, saying: Lord Jesus Christ! have mercy on this brother and me, your indecent servant, and protect us from the evil one, through the prayers of your saints, amen. 178) Whoever begins to slander another (and comes to his senses), should quickly stop and change the conversation to another, more useful one, but not hesitate in this one either, so that from too much talk he (again) does not fall into slander. 179) Listening to slander with pleasure is also slander and deserves equal condemnation. 180) There is natural despondency from powerlessness, and there is despondency from the demon. If you want to recognize them, recognize them this way: the demonic comes before the time at which you should give yourself rest; for when a person begins to do something, before a third or a quarter of the work is completed, it forces him to leave the work and get up. Then you don’t need to listen to him, but you should say a prayer and sit at the task with patience, and the enemy, seeing that a person is praying about this, will stop fighting him, because he does not want to give a reason for prayer. 181) Say (abbot) to the brethren: “Let no one hide his thoughts, for if anyone hides his thoughts, evil spirits rejoice, (strengthening) to destroy his soul.” And if one of the brothers declares his thoughts to you, then cry out mentally: “Lord, whatever You want for the salvation of a brother’s soul, give it to me, so that I can tell him and so that I can speak Your word, and not mine.” 182) Consider yourself (abbot), lower than everyone, and equally the ruler of everyone, who must answer for the rank that you have accepted. 183) If I see that someone is doing something and tell someone else about it, saying that I do not condemn, but we are only talking: is there slander in my thoughts? - When a person speaks and feels a passionate movement, this is already slander. If he is free from passion, this is not slander, but is said so that evil does not increase. 184) Who has sin and evil in himself voluntarily, and who does not voluntarily? – Those who voluntarily have evil within themselves are those who betray their freedom to evil, delight in it and become friends with it. Such people have peace with Satan and do not fight with him in their thoughts. Those who, according to the word of the Apostle (Rom. 7:23), do not arbitrarily have evil in themselves are those who, according to the word of the Apostle (Rom. 7:23), feel an opposing, opposing force in their members, and there is some dark power and veil over them, but only in thoughts with which they do not agree, do not delight in them, do not obey them, but contradict, oppose, speak in spite of, resist, are angry with themselves. 185) As the body is one, but there are many members, and if one member is missing; then the body is not perfect; conclude the same about the inner man, the members of which are many virtues. If one of them is missing, then a person is no longer perfect. And just as a craftsman who knows his craft well and, due to the quickness of his mind, is also engaged in other crafts, is not called a master of them, but only a master of his craft, so here: a person who has all the virtues is recognized by that, and from that receives the name through which the grace of the Spirit shines most in him. 186) When I see someone despising a sacred thing or blaspheming the holy faith, then, as if out of jealousy, I am embarrassed at him: is this good? – You have already heard that correction (of evil) is not accomplished through evil, but through good. And so, with meekness and long-suffering, speak to the one who does this, admonishing him with the fear of God. If you see that you yourself are embarrassed, then you should not say anything. 187) What should I do? I’m soon carried away by passions? - Do not enter into an alliance with them, and turn away your eyes from seeing vanity (Ps. 119:37), and your hands from covetousness, and God will deliver you from them. Behave decently, do not eat or drink until you are full, and these passions will subside in you, and you will have peace. 188) The thought instills fear in me, saying: the devil can make you sin, even if you don’t want to; because you have become submissive to him. - I am very sad about this. – Do not think that the devil has power over anyone: the cause of sin lies in our free will, and not in coercion from someone who supposedly received power (over us); a person is neither forced to salvation nor forced to sin. Did the devil deceive Eve with his power, or with his advice? His power is nowhere to be seen; otherwise no one could avoid (sin) whenever he had power. We are like a free person who arbitrarily gave himself into slavery to another - and in time he comes to his senses and repents. But at the same time, if he does not resort to his (enemy’s) strongest, he cannot deliver himself: and when he does, then (his imaginary master), knowing that he is not his own slave, does not dare to do anything to him for the sake of the Almighty. And it is so obvious that the devil has no power over man; Tell your thoughts too: as if I am a debtor, but I have resorted to Him who is able to deliver me, Who called me and says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), and I must always stay awake so as not to fall again into the hands of the enemy. 189) When you talk about the life of the holy fathers and their answers, you must condemn yourself, saying: woe is me! How can I talk about the virtues of our fathers, but I myself have not acquired anything and have not succeeded at all? - Lest what the Apostle said to me be fulfilled: “Teaching... others, do you not teach yourself” (Rom. 2:21)? “When you speak like this within yourself, your heart will be touched, and your words will be humble.” 190) When talking to someone, is it good to call on the name of God? – And during the conversation, and before the conversation, and after the conversation, at every time and in every place one must call on the name of God. Scripture says: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17); for through this all temptation is abolished. 191) How can a person pray unceasingly? – When someone is alone, he should practice psalmody and pray with his lips and heart; If someone is at a bargain and in general together with others, then one should not pray with the lips, but with one’s mind. In this case, you must watch your eyes to avoid the scattering of thoughts and snares of the enemy. 192) When I pray or practice psalmody, and do not feel the power of the spoken words, due to insensitivity of heart: then what benefit does this (prayer) bring to me? – Although you do not feel (the power of what you say), the demons feel it, hear it and tremble. And so do not stop practicing psalmody and prayer, and little by little, with the help of God, your insensibility will be transformed into gentleness. 193) When all those sitting at the table are worldly people, what should we do, not having anyone who could bless (the meal)? – It is good for worldly people to bless God when they start eating, for food is sanctified by the memory of God. This blessing does not have the same meaning as the blessing of a clergyman: it is only praise and remembrance of God, for it is fitting for everyone to remember God and glorify Him; and therefore it is good to do this even to the worldly, when there is no one among them who could bless the food. 194) The Lord said: “Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4); and according to the word of the Apostle, one must always be joyful (1 Thess. 5:16), and accessible to everyone (Rom. 12:10). Tell me, what is the responsibility of crying for a person, and what is the responsibility of always being joyful? And is it possible for both of them - both crying and joyfulness - to be together? – Crying is sorrow for God, which is born of repentance: the signs of repentance are: fasting, psalmody, prayer, teaching in the word of God. Joy is cheerfulness according to God, which is decently revealed when meeting others both in person and in word. Let your heart remain weeping, and your face and words maintain decent gaiety. 195) If someone enters a church during a service and leaves it before the end: is this not a sin? – The perfect and godly thing is for the one who enters the church to listen to the Scripture and remain at the service until its complete end; for without a good reason one should not leave the church before the end of the service; because this is disgrace. If there is a need, then it is forgiven; but even in this case, a person should not justify himself, but ask for forgiveness from God, saying: Master! forgive me that I could not fulfill my duty. 196) Is it possible to talk in church? – No one should at all converse in the house of God during the holy liturgy, but should practice prayer and carefully listen to the Divine Scripture, which proclaims what serves for the salvation of our souls. And as soon as there is a need to say something, then one should say it briefly, for the sake of reverence and fear at the present time, and consider this matter only as a condemnation of oneself. 197) The thought presents to me the lack of my necessary means, suggesting that I cannot feed myself with my household, and from this sadness attacks me; what does it mean? - This is human sadness. If we had hope in God, then He Himself would govern us according to His will, and so, “cast your sorrow upon the Lord” (Ps. 54:23), and He is able to give you and your household (everything you need) without sorrow and sorrow. Tell Him: Thy will be done, and He will not leave you in sorrow and sorrow. 198) Is it not sinful to do anything on Sunday? – Doing something for the glory of God is not a sin; for the Apostle said: “day and night... working, lest we burden anyone” (1 Thess. 2:9); to do something not according to God, with contempt (for the Day of Resurrection), out of covetousness and in the form of low self-interest is a sin. However, in general it is useful on Sunday, on the Lord's holidays and on the days of remembrance of St. Apostles, to abstain from work and come to church, for this is taught by the tradition of the holy Apostles. 199) My cattle is sick, wouldn’t it be foolish to call someone to speak to them? - Charming is prohibited by God, and should not be used under any circumstances; for to violate God’s command is spiritual destruction; It’s better to treat your cattle in a different way, ask for advice from doctors - there is no sin in this, or sprinkle it with holy water. 200) God created man free, and He Himself says: “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). How can freedom be reconciled with the fact that nothing can be done without God? – God created man free so that he could incline towards good; but inclining towards it with his will, he is not able to do good without the help of God, for it is written: “neither willing nor able, but God who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16). And so, when a person inclines his heart to goodness and calls on God for help; then God, listening to his good zeal, will give him strength to do, and thus there is a place for both - both the freedom of man and the help given to him from God; for good things come from God and are accomplished through His Saints. And so God is glorified in everyone and glorifies them. 201) Immanuel is interpreted: “God is with us.” And so test yourselves whether God is truly with us. If we have withdrawn from evils and become alien to their inventor, the devil, then truly God is with us. And if the sweetness of evil deeds has become bitter for us, and we delight in the desire for good deeds, and in order to always have residence in heaven, then truly God is with us. If we look at all people equally, and all days (sorrowful and prosperous) are equal for us; then truly God is with us. If we love those who hate us, revile us, reproach us, despise us, cause loss, and oppress us, just as we love those who love us, praise us, bring us gain and give us peace; then truly God is with us. The sign of someone who has achieved this measure is that such a person always has God with him, for God is always with him. If there is neither God with him, nor he has God with him, then of necessity he must have with him the opposite, and from this the rest is clear to those who have intelligence. 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: