Часть 11. В неделю четвертую Великого поста

On the fourth week of Great Lent (depiction of the life of St. John Climacus; how to become a complete imitator of St. John) This Sunday is dedicated to the memory of our holy father John, the writer of The Ladder. And there is nothing to say about why this is the case in the Holy Church. Holy fasting was established not only to purify us, but also to strengthen us in goodness - not only to make a good beginning, but also to move forward on the path to perfection. So, so that anyone, having worked a little in doing good, having accomplished several feats or having lived a sedate life for some time, does not think that he has already accomplished everything or has gone far on the path to perfection, Saint John of the Climacus is now brought to each of us as a reminder, so that, remembering him, we would picture in our minds his holy “Ladder” and, having measured our labors with it, we could more accurately determine what has been accomplished by us and what remains for us to go through. To help you in this matter, it would be best to briefly describe to you the holy “Ladder” of ascent to godlike perfection. But I think that the same can be achieved by depicting the life of Saint John of the Climacus, for not only through writing, but also through his life, he shows us the ladder along which everyone who wants to improve in spiritual life must climb. So listen. The biography of Saint John Climacus is short, but it combines a lot in a small way, or, better yet, everything. This is how his life went. From a young age, he loved the Lord and, despite the flattering hopes that his natural talents and extensive learning gave, he left the world and moved far from his homeland - to Sinai, so that by wandering he could free himself from many obstacles to spiritual life and in the area have a clear indication of what and where he should look. Having thus made a good start, from the very moment he enters the monastery he devotes himself whole-heartedly to an experienced mentor and puts himself in such a state as if his soul had neither its own mind nor its own will. Having thus suppressed self-confidence and self-will, he soon gets rid of the arrogance characteristic of gifted people, acquires heavenly simplicity and is perfect in the works and virtues of obedience. When his mentor then departed to the Lord, Saint John, burning with love for greater perfection, already strengthened in the virtues of monasticism - both external and internal - entered the field of silence. Having chosen a convenient place for this feat in five fields (about one kilometer) from the church of the Lord, he spent forty years living there in solitude in strict abstinence and asceticism, in unceasing prayer and contemplation of God, and even more so in tears, which were his bread day and night. But he soon ascends to the highest degree of purity and becomes a vessel of God’s special gifts: insight, boldness in prayer and miracles. Then, when it was necessary to elect an abbot, the brethren all unanimously made him leader over them, like a newly-minted Moses, and he, descending from the mountain of divine contemplation, offered, like God-written tablets, his holy “Ladder,” where he depicted the image of perfect Christian life, which he himself had experienced and inscribed in his heart by the grace of God. Guiding these chosen monks in this way, he reaches the limit of visible life and departs to the Heavenly Jerusalem. This is the entire course of the saint’s life. I did not touch on the details, having in mind to indicate only those steps along which he ascended to perfection in teaching us. And it is easy for anyone to notice that there were three most important ones: abandonment of the world with all its hopes, labors of novitiate at the will of the leader, then silence, which made him worthy of the special gifts of God and the wise guidance. These degrees are common to all saints who have shone with Christian perfections on earth, as you can see for yourself by carefully reading the life of any of them. We all need to go through the same degrees if we want not only to appear, but to be true Christians. Wouldn’t anyone think: “This is the life of a hermit monk, and we laymen live in human cohabitation: how can we apply his life to us? Even if someone would like to imitate, they will not be able to, because we are in completely different circumstances.” But, brethren, strength is not in form. We cannot go through the three shown degrees in the form in which they were passed by St. John and are passed by all non-laymen, but we can go through them in the same way as they can be passed in the world and cohabitation with the laity, in a different form, but in the same strength. First of all, let's give them a real name. Renunciation of everything, or abandonment of the world, is clear to you. Obedience is a life of good works, not of one’s own will, but at the direction of another. Finally, silence is the desire to be constantly in the heart with the One God, which when one achieves, begins to manifest the powers of God, or special gifts. See now how this can be performed by a layman and even performed by you. What St. John has is the abandonment of the world and removal to the monastery of Sinai, you and I have the abandonment of a sinful and passionate life and the turning of the mind and heart to pleasing God, for the world is an image of a passionate sinful life, and the monastic monastery is a symbol of a virtuous life. Whoever leaves sin and sets the intention to live holy does the same as someone else who leaves the world and enters the monastery. If during this fast you sincerely repented and decided not to offend God with your sins, then you became imitators of Saint John when he, leaving the world, retired to the monastery of Sinai. It remains for you to remain in this intention and in fulfilling its requirements in order to become imitators of it in the second degree of its ascent to perfection. In the second degree, in the monastery, Saint John carried out the work of obedience under the guidance of his elder leader. In our everyday life, what should this novitiate consist of? In fulfilling the commandments, which determine the way of life of each of you as a family man, as a member of civil society and as a son of the Church. Do what the commandments command, and you will be a good obedient. You are a servant - fulfill the commandments of a servant, a father or mother - fulfill the commandments of your parents, you are a son - fulfill the commandments of sonship, a judge - fulfill the commandments of justice, a trader - trade as commanded. Whatever the civil order requires, do it. And do everything that the Holy Church commands, from small to large. All this is saving obedience, when one acts not according to one’s own will, but according to what is prescribed. Saint John had a leader. Who are your leaders? Pastors of the Church. Go, ask and understand every time, and act according to their instructions. They will not express their will to you, but the commandments of the Gospel and the decrees of the Holy Church of God. Whoever, thus leaving sin, begins to live in the labors of doing good and fulfilling the comprehensive commandments of God, under the guidance of legal shepherds, will be an imitator of St. John in his second degree of perfection. How, finally, can one imitate him in silence? Here's how. See what silence is? Externally, this means moving away from everyone and being alone, but internally, this is the elimination of all mental entertainment and the gathering of oneself inside the heart, so that one can remain there unconditionally, before the face of the One All-Seeing God. External silence is not in your hands and can only happen by chance in everyday life, but internal solitude is in your hands. Arrange it for yourself, taking every possible care to go inside yourself, into your inner cell, as often as possible, and there stand alone before the One God. Whether you are at home, on the road, at a post, or in church, strain not to let your attention come from your heart and do not take the eye of your mind off the sight of God. And you will be solitary or silent. The need for silent inward abiding is born in the soul as a result of conscientious labor in fulfilling the commandments of God. As long as passions and sinful habits persist in the heart, one cannot have inner silence: this is so by their nature. The work of doing good and fulfilling God's commandments removes passions and sinful habits from our nature. Then the urge to be one with the Lord is born. And so, look: those who have become stronger in good deeds and dispositions, often - either during prayer at home and in church, or during pious meditation and reading - go deep inside and are immersed in such silence that they do not notice how time passes, and, despite external labor, for example, during prayer or standing in church, they would not want to stop it, so as to always be in this blissful state. These are the beginnings of inner silence, which is also possible in family life. All that remains is to continue life in the same work of doing good, taking every possible care and praying to be in these states more often and seeking so that what happens from time to time becomes continuous. And it will be. The Lord will not abandon the labor of love. You just need to remove from life everything that can upset this good mood and extinguish the blissful warmth of inner silence. This is how each of you can become a complete imitator of St. John. Only, brethren, “tread this way, that ye may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). Rise “to the measure of the stature of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). See what a sample! Before him, everything we have is nothing. Why stare at our little things. “Forgetting what is behind, stretch yourselves to what is before,” “for the honor of the high calling... in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). Amen. On the fourth week of Lent (the main content of “The Ladder” and a brief outline of our entire path to the Lord, under the guise of climbing the ladder) Following the veneration of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross, which took place last Sunday and week, now the Holy Church brings to our memory our venerable and God-bearing father John Climacus, all with the same goal of encouraging us to feats of self-correction and success in virtues. You know that Saint John compiled a soul-saving book called “The Spiritual Ladder Leading to Heaven.” Here is depicted a continuous chain of virtues, or their degrees, from which, from one to another, and thus ascending from one degree to another, the Christian finally enters the spiritual Heaven, in which he becomes “one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). Directing our thoughts to this final limit of Christian life, the Holy Church wants to tell us: “Do not be afraid of the cross of self-crucifixion and do not run away from bearing the cross. asceticism. See where it leads and be inspired. There is something to work for!” And this ladder is definitely strong enough to infuse this spirit of courageous jealousy into every soul. Thus, she explains everything: the beginning of every virtue, and its growth, and obstacles, and ways to overcome them, and through this makes it so easy to practice them that the reader immediately wants to embark on a feat in order to succeed in them. Why can’t I help but want those who are able to know this book and use it for their salvation. And I myself would retell it all to you, but where can I do this? The whole book! I will at least indicate its main content and give a brief outline of our entire path to the Lord, under the guise of climbing a ladder. The ladder of the Holy Climacus has thirty steps, according to the number of years of the hidden life of the Lord and Savior, after which He began to “create and teach” (Acts 1:1). Like the ladder seen by the patriarch Jacob (Gen. 28:12), one end of it is established on the earth in order to be accessible to us earth-born, and the other rests on Heaven, indicating the final limit of our destiny. Angels ascended and descended along Jacob’s ladder, meaning that Christian virtues are an angelic work and are accomplished with the help of holy Angels. At the top of the ladder, Saint Jacob sees the Lord (Gen. 28:13): the ladder of Christian virtues also leads to the Lord, through which everyone, ascending from strength to strength, reaches “a perfect man, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), reaches that perfection to which the Lord obliges: “Be ye... perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” ( Matthew 5:48), that unity with God for which the Lord prayed: “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21). This indescribable goodness, brothers, foreseeing, courageously, let us approach this ladder and cheerfully force ourselves to climb it without laziness. Let us set about courageously and cheerfully force ourselves to make a good start to this ascent. If everywhere a good beginning is half the battle, even more so in spiritual life, of which it is completely destined. Because look, what does the first step require here? Demands to leave the land. Just as in the everyday order it is impossible to step on the stairs without separating from the earth, above which one inevitably rises as one enters the first step, so in the spiritual order the first degree of ascent to Christian perfection is the abandonment of the earth - sin, that is, removal from sinful deeds and passionate feelings and dispositions, which is accomplished in Repentance, when, having rejected everything that is unkind and having mourned, they make a good determination to please the One God. Whoever has reached this determination has taken the first step, entered the first step. Just as someone who seems rooted to the ground cannot climb the ladder, so it is impossible for someone who is still burdened with sins to even think about ascending to perfection. First turn away from evil and you will begin to do good. “Evasion from evil,” says Saint Climacus, “is the beginning of repentance, the beginning of repentance is the beginning of salvation, and the beginning of salvation is a good determination to please God.” Having stepped onto the stairs, how do they then ascend? Acting with your arms and legs, stepping first with your right foot, sometimes with your left foot and straining with all members of the body. So, one who has repented and had a good determination to please God immediately enters into work that requires strain on both mental and physical strength and their merciless fatigue. For he needs to resist himself in bad things and force himself to do good, to pay attention to himself and to everything he encounters, to choose the best from many, not to preempt and not to lag behind, not to ignore the small attacks of sin, to remove obstacles, to guess the methods in the attacks of enemies and to fight them without laying down arms. All this and the like constitutes the work of struggling with passions and the success of doing good, which determines the very ascent to perfection. For what is perfection if not the eradication of passion and the implantation of a good disposition in its place. This is our main work. And more than one step must be crossed before it ends. You cannot suddenly eradicate all passions and instill all virtues. Both happen gradually. And the belittlement of every passion has its own degrees, as well as the affirmation of every good disposition. Why does Saint Climacus’s depiction of this work end with the twenty-sixth degree? What is he not teaching here, what passion is he not arming himself against! Armed against pride and vanity, cunning and deceit, love of money and covetousness, gluttony and unchastity, prolixity and slander, anger and memory-loathing, lies and slander, laziness and drowsiness, cowardice and timidity and other things. Teaches humility, gentleness, courage, vigilance and zeal for prayer, non-covetousness, chastity, abstinence, meekness, prudent silence, obedience, remembrance of death, crying, kindness and so on. The eradication of every passion and the inculcation of the opposite virtue constitutes a special stage that must be passed in order to proceed to the next. In all this there is a rank and order, for everyone, however, his own, which he learns about, however, in reality. “Those who attempt to ascend to Heaven with their bodies,” says Climacus, “truly need self-coercion and constant self-harm. A good determination to please God gives birth to work. These works are the practice of virtues, or constant training in them. The fruit of this training is skill in them. From habituation comes rooting in goodness.” This is the limit of labor in climbing the ladder of virtues. They say that the higher you are from the earth, the less gravity there is towards the earth and, therefore, the easier it is for someone who ascends the mountain to struggle with their gravity. And there is a line beyond which bodies completely cease to gravitate towards the earth, that is, they become completely without gravity. So it is in the degrees of spiritual perfection: the higher one ascends in it, the less earthly things burden him. Otherwise, the firmer one becomes in virtues, through constant habituation in them, the less one struggles with sins and passions. And there is also such a height of perfection, where passions almost completely freeze and the soul enjoys the peace of being in goodness, in which it acts unhindered, freely, naturally, naturally, as it were, just as it is natural, for example, to breathe and circulate blood. This degree is achieved when every virtue is completely rooted in the soul and dispassion and purity shines forth. This is spiritual Heaven - the upper end of the ladder. Those who have reached this limit belong to the Beatitudes prescribed by the Lord (Matt. 5, 3–12) and the top of the Beatitudes - the indwelling of God, seen by Jacob at the top of the ladder. “Completely dispassionate,” says Saint Climacus, “is the one who has raised his mind above every creature and presented his soul to the face of the Lord. Dispassion is the heart's sky of the mind, it is the heavenly chamber of the Heavenly King. The fruit of dispassion is the fullness of love and the perfect indwelling of God in those who through this dispassion have become pure in heart, about whom it is said: “For they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). This is where the sacred ladder leads and ends! And this is the picture that the Holy Church now wants to paint in our minds and, of course, not for the sake of curiosity or idle talk, but in order to give us the incentive and opportunity to examine ourselves conscientiously and determine unmistakably - where do we stand and what degree do we occupy? Did you step onto the ladder and, having entered, did you go far up, did you rise high from the ground, and is the final end of the ascent at least visible? Of course, it may be difficult and even impossible to determine your degree numerically, but it is not difficult to determine degrees that differ in sharp features. How hard is it to determine, for example, your first degree? Whoever is unable to give a definitive answer, has he repented and made a firm intention to please the Lord? Who is also unable to say whether, out of repentance for sins, he has entered into a struggle with passions, whether he is struggling with them or succumbing to them? So what will we say to you, brothers? Did you take the stairs? Have you even taken this step? Let everyone's conscience answer this. I will add that even if someone takes a step, everything is fine. He's already on the stairs, already on his way. Let a lot of work still need to be done until clear traces of perfection appear in it, but a start has been made. Just don’t weaken and don’t be lazy, move forward as much as you can. Your march will be blessed and, if it is constant and unwavering, it will undoubtedly be crowned with success. So at least this is good. But it is bad if the first step has not yet been taken, if someone is devoted to passions and does not think about leaving them, or does think, but puts everything off day by day, or, pitying his beloved passion, wants to replace it with some good, without giving it up, or, not having sharp passions and vicious deeds, lives, however, as he lives, not caring about the purity of his heart. All such people and those like them are not on the good path, they have not yet stepped on the ladder that leads to God, and they must take this first step. That is why “The Ladder” is remembered to us during Lent, so that if anyone, having understood its lessons, finds that he is still wandering outside of it, he will have time to come to his senses and repent. This is what everyone who still needs to do this should hurry to do. And then increase your zeal to correct yourself and establish good skills in yourself. After all, others are not standing, but everyone is walking. Why should we lag behind? And that’s all, brethren, let us be mothers-in-law (1 Cor. 9:24), “forgetting what is behind, but reaching out to what is before” (Phil. 3:13). Anyone who stops no longer walks. He who does not go further inevitably lags behind or even moves further back. We do not have a moment without work and there is no task that would not be either pleasing or displeasing to God. This is because we are persons and everywhere we put our intention, according to which actions are turned either to the glory of God, or to the pleasure of our selfhood, and therefore serve either to advance our progress or to hinder it. He who is attentive to himself and everything around him cannot stop, but no matter what step he takes, he continues forward in his perfection, gathers from everything with the Lord and grows rich from everything. “Beware that you walk dangerously, not as if you were unwise, but as if you were wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). On the fourth week of Lent (about the ladder leading to heaven and about not sparing the flesh) What means does not the Holy Church of God use to keep our thoughts constantly excited and invigorated in our labors of pleasing God and zeal for the salvation of the soul, especially in these days of fasting! Last Sunday she offered our honor and worship the Cross of the Lord in order to tell us: “Do not be afraid of the cross of self-denial and self-crucifixion, the Lord Himself bore the entire weight of the Cross, but only its comforting fruits remain for you.” Now she offers to our memory and attention the ladder that leads to Heaven, indicates an example of ascent along it in its writer, St. John, and depicts the very beatitude in the Gospel reading about the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3-12). She now says to each of us: “Do not spare labor, look at the blissful end that awaits the workers, and be inspired: hurry, drive, flow, and you will achieve it.” She does the same thing that the managers and founders of the lists do. Just as these latter show rewards to the one who outstrips others on the run, so that everyone can see whether there is something to work from, so she does the same - she points out all-round bliss and sentences everyone: “Do you want such bliss? Work hard. Without labor, and intense labor, we will get nothing.” This is the lesson I pass on to you today. As obedient sons of the Church, of course you will accept it. I will add, however: accept it willingly, take it not into consideration, but into execution. I consider it necessary to make this addition, because everyone is ready to receive bliss, but very many people resist working for this sake, many people allow themselves all sorts of benefits, and yet they still hope to gain a share of the good together with others. Indeed, the Lord is abundantly merciful and is ready to bless everyone. But we ourselves cannot in any way change the paths indicated by the Lord and, according to our own taste, prescribe for ourselves the conditions for obtaining bliss, which, however, are not in our hands. Look how the Apostle Paul encourages himself and others to work and warns against benefits. “Don’t you know,” he says, “how those who flow into disgrace are all going to waste?” (1 Cor. 9:24). With what effort on the lists does everyone strain their strength to overtake others? And what is this for? So that the corruptible may receive a crown. Shouldn't we be mothers-in-law with greater zeal in order to receive an incorruptible crown? “Take heed,” he adds, “tend, and tread, that ye may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). How does a mother-in-law need to achieve this? You need to abstain from everything. “But strive (that is, running, as in a race) and abstain from everyone” (1 Cor. 9:25), says the holy Apostle immediately. To abstain from everything, or to have all-round abstinence – I think it’s clear what it means. It means fasting, vigil, solitude, exhaustion of the body and mortification of all flesh, or, as our ascetic fathers said, to have a harsh and cruel life. If you want a mother-in-law so as to receive an imperishable crown, go through a harsh and cruel life. So that no one would think of somehow freeing himself from this, the Apostle depicts himself as flowing in the same way. “And I,” he says, “flow in the same way, and I strive in the same way.” How exactly is this? “I kill my body and make it into slavery” (1 Cor. 9:26-27). The apostle, the vessel of grace, mortifies his body and enslaves. After this, who will not need this? And don’t think that this is the fruit of excess jealousy. No. “I can’t be without this,” he says, “it’s dangerous.” “Let it not be that while I preach to others, I myself will be turned away” (1 Cor. 9:27). The Apostle, the organizer of the Kingdom of God, the leader of all to salvation, is afraid of being excluded if he does not enslave and kill his body. Who, after this, will hope to be the key without killing and enslaving the body? I deliberately dwelled more on this apostolic place in order to impress upon us that the illness we almost all have in common—pity and indulgence of the flesh—is not at all suitable for those who seek and hope for the Kingdom of God. If you want the Kingdom, do not spare the flesh. If you have pity on the flesh, you will not receive the Kingdom. Oh! How we dislike this strict and harsh life, which mortifies the flesh! And what subterfuges do we not use to get ourselves away from him! Now it’s fasting, but who fasts properly? Some people value fasting completely, others conduct it in such a way that the flesh does not feel any cruelty. And what won’t these people say to justify themselves? There is nothing to say about those who do not care about salvation: they live only in the flesh. And even the zealots of piety are inclined in every way to nourish and warm their flesh. “I,” he says, “will engage in the thought of God, I will go to church, I will read saving books, I will give alms and whatever else I am ready to do, and let the body be given all peace and contentment - in food, sleep, ease of effort and the elimination of all inconveniences.” And what else do they say? They say that this mortification of the flesh is a bodily work, but we are spiritual, by spiritual works we will achieve the Kingdom of Heaven - immaterial. To all these and similar considerations I will say one thing: to what extent was the Apostle Paul spiritual? And who can compare with him in clear knowledge of how we need to act?! Do you see what I wrote? He pointed out the imperishable crown. And he ordered everyone who wants to delight him to kill and enslave the body. I did not insert anything else and did not place any other medium. Here is the mortification of the body, and there is an incorruptible crown. If you want the latter, take the former. All reasoning aside. If someone began to bother me: “Explain both the bewilderments in this matter,” I would say: “What is there to reason about? Do you understand what an imperishable crown means? Of course, understandable. Is it clear what mortification and enslavement of the flesh means? And this, of course, is understandable. Go, mortify and enslave the flesh, and you will receive an imperishable crown. And if you act differently, you will not only not receive the crown, but you will find yourself ineligible, as the holy Apostle fears both for himself and for us. Do you know what is said about the inaccessible? It is said: “Cast the unspeakable servant into utter darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). What a disappointing end to the rest of the flesh! And I’ll add that we are not appointed to reason and “contend with words for any reason” (2 Tim. 2:14), but why are we appointed? Ordained to preach the word. “Preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2), - the holy Apostle Paul commands Timothy, and through him, to all of us. What word? So I will collect this word regarding what we are talking about. “They who are Christ's are the flesh crucified with passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Listen! It became that whoever does not crucify the flesh is not Christ’s, not a Christian. For this reason, walk “not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4). “And do not please the flesh through lust” (Rom. 13:14). “We must not be of the flesh, but to live according to the flesh. If you live according to the flesh, you must die; if you put to death the deeds of the flesh with the spirit, you will live” (Rom. 8:12-13). “For those who are in the flesh, the carnal philosophizes... and cannot please God... for wisdom... of the flesh is death... there is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:5, 8, 6-7). fighting against the law of our mind and taking us captive through the law of sin that is in our lives” (Rom. 7:23). I'll limit myself to this. Do you see how? And this kind of mercilessness of the flesh is preached and commanded throughout the entire space of Divine Scripture! There was no point in reasoning, no point in inventing various twists to spare the flesh. Whoever wants to nourish and warm his flesh is not a child of Scripture and is alien to its spirit. Alien to the spirit, alien to the promises. From this side, see all the motherly care of us by the Holy Church in the establishment of holy fasts. And our whole life must pass in the mortification and enslavement of the flesh. Otherwise, you will immediately end up among the excluded, and then you will suffer their bitter fate. So that any of us does not fall into this fate through oblivion or some kind of enthusiasm for business, the Holy Church reminds us of the mortification of the flesh every week - on Wednesday and Friday, and at every time of the year - with long fasts, especially with this Great Lent of the Holy Pentecost, so that when fasting comes, and against our will, we take up the work of mortification and enslavement of the flesh and enter the field leading to receiving incorruptible crown. So, if at other times we give ourselves all sorts of benefits, at least let’s work our flesh a little by fasting. If at another time you have all kinds of celebrations for the flesh and all sorts of benefits during Lent, then won’t the following reproachful word of the Apostle apply to us? “Many...,” he says, “they walk, as they have been told to you many times, but now... Weeping, I say, the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose belly is God, and whose glory is in their cold, who are wise on earth” (Phil. 3:18-19). It's already halfway through the post. Blessed are the labors of those who have hitherto mortified their flesh, and may the confidence in the inevitability of this path inspire them to continue. But even those who have deprived themselves of this benefit still have time to become participants in it. The field is open, and the bright crown at the end is visible. Enter vigorously into the feat. Having become jealous, you will still have time to overtake those who have gone so far from you. What is lost in the length of time, you can make up for by exerting your strength in inspiration and, thus, not by dreamy expectation, but by undoubtedly and truly joining the host of those who, according to the Apostle, “flow in such a way that they will certainly be “comprehended” (1 Cor. 9:24). Amen. On the fourth week of Lent (an excellent alphabet for everyone, or about three series of labors) I have already told you two or three times about how dangerous it is to fall into the same sins after repenting of them, and how, therefore, you must take every effort not to fall into this folly and thereby plunge yourself into extreme misfortune. I think that those who have heeded this and have made the good intention not to deviate from this vow have a desire to know how it is more convenient to achieve this good goal, how we need to arrange ourselves both externally and internally in order to avoid new falls, and what rules to adhere to in order to overcome every temptation and persevere in goodness. I want to satisfy this desire of yours, and not on my own behalf, but on behalf of St. John Climacus, to whose memory this Sunday is dedicated. You know, of course, that Saint John wrote the book “The Spiritual Ladder,” from which he gets his nickname. In this book, he explained in detail how a repentant person should act in order to remain in goodness and not fall again into the former impurities. I will extract from it the main thing that relates to this subject. “It’s difficult,” he says, “to easily overcome previous bad skills. However, I know that everything is possible with God, but “nothing is impossible” for Him (Job 42:2). Thus, God can do everything and is ready to do everything for us in us. But we must not only resort to Him in prayer, but also use our own efforts and labors, in accordance with our intentions. And this intention and work must precede and attract God’s help. All success depends on our own desire and our own efforts, although not otherwise than with the assistance of God, however, if the first, that is, desire and effort, is not preceded, the second, that is, God’s assistance, will not follow.” God's assistance is undeniable, but what should we ourselves focus our efforts and labors on? In response to this, Saint Climacus points out as many works and exploits as there are letters in the Greek alphabet, and calls it the alphabet, in the idea that just as those who learn to read need to learn the basics in advance, so those who want to stay away from sins and succeed in virtues must first learn the exploits that he is counting. “Here,” he says, “is an excellent alphabet for everyone: fasting, sackcloth, ashes, tears, silence, vigil, cold, labor, suffering, contrition, putting aside worldly cares, voluntary humiliation of oneself, silence, fear of Judgment, guarding the heart, not plundering thoughts, the desire for death, flight from the body, and so on.” I do not list all the indicated feats because it is difficult for you to remember them. Better yet, I’ll put both those listed and those not listed into rows, so that it’s easier for you to remember them and apply them to your work. The first series of feats relates to the body. Take the body in your hands, be its master, not its slave. Place your feat on every member of it and bind it all. Refine your belly with abstinence and fasting, train your hands to work, tie your tongue with silence, do not allow your eyes to see everything and your ears to hear everything, avoid freedom of movement, sleep and all rest of the flesh. In general, try to torture the flesh and teach it to live a cruel life, without any self-pity, remembering the Apostle’s commandment “not to create” for the flesh “to please... in lust” (Rom. 13, 14) and the misfortune that Israel suffered from carnal knowledge, in which “weakness, thickening, widening and forgetting God who created it” (Deut. 32, 15). The second series of labors relates to the soul. The first thing here is to go inside yourself and keep your attention to yourself and your inward stay constant, avoiding in every possible way the plunder of thoughts on various matters and subjects. To succeed in this, choose for yourself one of the following two positions and rivet your attention and feelings to it, namely: affirm in your thoughts that you are either in a state of death, or standing at the Judgment, when the final decision is ready to be pronounced to you: “Come, blessed one” (Matthew 25:34), or: “Depart, cursed one” (Matthew 25:41). But strain to perceive this and feel it. As soon as you perceive this, all thoughts will immediately fall away and you will stand alone before the face of God, in fear begging Him to be merciful to you. This is an urgent law for you. No good feeling is so sobering as the feeling of fear of death and God's Judgment. Why, as soon as you wake up, immediately rush to restore this feeling of fear and stand with it at the Court of God, and then do not deviate from it all day long, no matter what you do or what you are busy with. This will be your most faithful bulwark against sinful attractions and temptations. The third series of feats relates to the establishment of a new order of affairs and activities. Just as before, when we worked against sin, everything was adapted to satisfying our passions, so now, when we have fallen behind sin, everything must be adapted to resisting passions. A new order must be introduced everywhere: in one’s studies, in family affairs, in relations with third parties. Sit down and calculate and establish everything: how, what, when it should be, so that your good intention is not upset and you do not slip back into the old one. And when you organize your affairs, keep two thoughts: eliminate all reasons and cases that could arouse your passion from which you suffer, and do not be at all afraid of what your friends will say or will say about you because of the change in life that cannot now be hidden. Fear rather the Lord, Who said: “Whoever... is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, and the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). That's it! Keep your flesh in constant restlessness and embitterment, but focus your soul on yourself, focus on the Judgment of God and change all the orders of your life, without fear or shame of anyone. Do this and you will be safe from falls. I will mean this in certain words: acquire ruthlessness towards the flesh, disregard for people’s opinions about you and the fear of God, through the fear of death and Judgment, while paying attention to yourself. When you arrange yourself this way, the enemy will not attack you. You will be like in a hail of fences. And if the enemy approaches, he will be immediately repulsed and defeated. With your attention you will notice his attack and, grasping it with self-pity and lack of fear of human judgments, you will strike with the fear of Judgment. Self-pity, carelessness about what they will say, and fear of Judgment are three double-edged swords against which no enemy temptation can withstand. As long as all these weapons are intact within you and in strength, the enemy will not come to you. Why, if you have stocked up on them and keep them, the enemy will not tempt you with anything, but will direct all his cunning to snatching these tools from you, that is, either to dispel your attention, or to force you to give relief to the flesh and man-pleasing, or to extinguish the fear of Judgment and put a chill in your heart. If he succeeds in this, he will begin to tempt you into sin, but if he does not succeed, he will retreat from you. Knowing this, most of all, guard your tools, stand persistently at the Judgment of God, flee from all rest of the flesh and keep the new order of life unchanged, even if you are constantly scolded and even beaten. And you will undoubtedly stand with the assistance of God’s grace. “With all this, however,” says Saint Climacus, “one must vigilantly watch where and how the wind blows, in order to direct the sails accordingly.” The enemy does not sleep and will use all sorts of tricks to deceive you. First, he will completely retreat and stop bothering you with temptations, so that you think that you have already completely freed yourself from your passion, and, indulging in carelessness, weaken your attention. If you overlook this trick and weaken your attention, the enemy will draw you into many thoughts and, before you come to your senses, will combine your heart with passionate deeds, after which you will become your own accuser. If he doesn’t succeed in this, he will begin to approach you with subtle and instantaneous thoughts in order to lure you out of your fortress and disarm and capture you in the open. Look how it happens. In the midst of some task, the thought will fly like an arrow that you, tea, have already done enough. Such a thought flies by, and it’s as if it doesn’t exist. But its trace, like a scratch, remains on the soul, and as soon as you let it pass without attention, your strength will immediately begin to relax and urges will arise in your soul: either to indulge yourself, or to have fun, or to put aside the usual strictness in your routine. Give in to the latter, and you won't be far from falling. If the enemy does not succeed in this, then he will begin to incite you to unnecessary feats: either to a great fast, or to long prayers, or to solitude, or to something else, beyond the measure that we set for ourselves in outlining the order of our new life. These excesses always weaken your strength, upset order and create confusion, in which it will be easy for the enemy to defeat you. If he doesn’t succeed here either, he will begin to weave his evil into every good thing you have, just as ivy climbs around good trees. You will engage in edifying thoughts about God, but he will lead you into questioning and inquisitiveness about the mysteries of Scripture, which cool and develop destructive conceit. You will take care not to offend anyone, but he will tempt you into harmful people-pleasing. You will be afraid not to judge, and he will hasten to make you indifferent to both good and evil. “So in many other ways the enemy weaves his enemy,” says St. John, “gluttony to love of hobbies, severity to prudence, double-mindedness to meekness, conceit to joy, laziness to hope, and so on.” You see how many plantings, as these attempts on the enemy are called by people experienced in fighting him. You see how much bait there is, and increase your attention and vigilance. To help with this, do this: find yourself a good spiritual father and, having entrusted everything you have to him, pray to the Lord that He will always allow him to tell you good things for your creation. Or, if you can, find yourself a like-minded brother and, together with him, engage in mutual frankness and mutual admonition and strengthening of each other. If you know how to read, stock up on soul-saving books and, while studying them, look in them for admonition to yourself and for clarification of perplexing cases in your thoughts, feelings and movements of the heart. In these ways, with a sincere desire to avoid evil and a prayerful approach to God, you will always be able to unravel the intricacies of the enemy, see the evil prepared for you and then repel it with your spiritual weapons. Save all this, and you will be saved from falls. “But remember that the crown of this work,” says Saint John, “is when the fire of God enters our sanctuary.” For then the previously ingrained bad inclinations will no longer bother us. “Our God is a fire that consumes” (Heb. 12:29) every kindling and movement of passion, every inclination rooted in us and every blindness, internally and externally noticed and known. Then carelessness, insensibility, recklessness and blindness will not approach you - these are the producers of every fall into sins and a sinful state. Amen. You might be interested in: