Часть 9. В неделю вторую Великого поста

In the second week of Great Lent (what parts of our nature are there, what attacks are on them and what are the weapons of our spiritual warfare against them) For many of you, a week has already passed since, having reconciled with the Lord, you are walking along the path of a new, God-pleasing life. It has become clear, I believe, to you that most of your time in the work of salvation is spent in struggle. That's how it should be. The enemy, from whose territory you have left, without losing hope of capturing you again in his hands, is building intrigues and passions that you set out to refuse and refuse, which, however, have not frozen and are not even too weakened, rise again in greater or lesser force and demand satisfaction. These attacks from both sides are attacked and felt. Why should they be reflected and give room for abuse. This is already the law of life in Christ Jesus! Every Christian seeking salvation must necessarily go through three stages, namely: begin with repentance and turning to God, and then, through a struggle with passions, enter the realm of purity. Repentance is the starting point, purity is the final end, the fight against passions fills all the space between these two limits. You are already, by an inevitable law, in a struggle. Take heart and may your heart be strong! You are warriors. As warriors, you need weapons. I want to point them out to you so that, knowing what to fight with, you will not be at a loss with thoughts about it in the hour of battle. The Holy Apostle Paul, arming Christians for battle, commanded them: “Put on the full armor of God, for that you are able” (Eph. 6:11). “Put on” not just one weapon, but all of them, so that not a single part is open and unarmed. Just as warriors going to war take a sword, a spear or a gun in their hands, cover their head with a helmet, their face with a net, their chest with armor, other parts with a shield, in a word, against every part they have the appropriate defensive weapon, so in spiritual warfare we, as warriors, must arm every part of our nature with the appropriate weapon. The enemy makes his attack on every part of our nature; each of them is attacked by his passion and his sin. The defender needs, in contrast to the attack, to protect every part of himself with his weapon. Look, what kind of units we have, what attacks on them and what weapons are used against them. Let's begin to sort through the composition of our nature part by part and decently arm it. We have a body. The life of the body is supported by the harmonious action of its various parts and functions. Satisfying the needs of the body is the law of nature, but passion approaches them, it loses its measure and proper form and becomes sin. Our body must be nourished. The nutritional organs are taste with the larynx and stomach. The passions that attack this part are: polyeating, sweet eating - luxury in the table and its seasonings, gluttony and drunkenness. The weapons with which to repel this part are abstinence and fasting. Our body feels. Sensory organs are nerves with feelings. There are many passions attacking this part. Each sense has its own temptation: the eye has its own, the ear has its own, taste has its own. Everyone has a common passion for pleasant stimulation of the senses, or for sensual pleasures. The tool with which this part must be equipped is called by the holy fathers the preservation of the senses, especially sight and hearing, from all tempting impressions, most of all through solitude and avoidance of encounters with tempting things, persons and places. Our body has movement. The organs of this function are muscles with arms and legs. The passions that attack this part are, on the one hand, laziness and drowsiness, on the other, frivolity, restlessness, passion for games and amusements, dancing, acting, fighting, etc. The weapon with which this part must be defended is: work, vigil, bows, sedate regularity of movements. There is a tongue in the body - the organ of speech. The passions that attack him are: idle talk, idle talk, gossip, quarrels, blasphemy. The weapon with which to protect him is the prudent silence of the lips. Such is our body, such are its passions and such are the weapons against them. The totality of these tools is called bodily exploits by the holy fathers. This is how the body must be taken into hand and taught to live a pious life. “They who are Christ's are the flesh crucified with passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Let's move on to the soul. Here, imagination and memory come first - a spiritual store with an indicator of its treasures. The passions that confuse this ability are: daydreaming, absent-mindedness, or theft of the mind, fantasizing, fueled by reading novels and empty conversations. The weapon against them is attention, or sobriety, and cheerfulness of spirit. Imagination is followed by reason and reason, the task of which is to recognize everything. The enemies that act unfavorably on them are: inquisitiveness, doubt, pride, self-confidence, stubbornness of opinions, lack of convictions. The tools with which they need to be armed are: reading the word of God and the writings of the Fathers, conversation with people experienced in spiritual life, personal reflection in submission to the voice of the Church. Along with reason stands will - the active ability of desires and enterprises. The passions that torment her are: over-concern, self-interest, self-will, rebelliousness, insolence and freedom. The weapon against them is all-round obedience, or submission, subordinate to legal orders and regulations: everyday, civil, church, and that given by the spiritual father. Next in the same row is taste - the ability of aesthetic pleasures. The passions that overcome him are: fashion, panache, passion for entertainment, balls, theaters. The spiritual tools for protecting it are: spiritual singing, icons, and especially going to churches, which represent the most complete satisfaction of the needs of uncorrupted taste. Such is the soul, such are its passions, such are the weapons against them. The totality of these tools constitutes a circle of spiritual exploits, through which we glorify God “in our souls” (1 Cor. 6:20) and “equip our souls” (Heb. 10:39) and “purify” (1 Pet. 1:22). Finally, above the soul is the spirit, the power directed towards God and Divine things. The enemies here are: unbelief, forgetfulness of God, fearlessness, burning of conscience, dislike for the sacred, despair. The weapons against them are faith and devoted love to God, enlivened by hope and active in walking before God, in unceasingly turning the mind and heart to God, or in unceasing prayer. I am shortening the instructions in order to give freedom to your tired attention, drawn into an unusual area of ​​​​objects. I will only list in a row all the weapons of our spiritual warfare. They are precisely: faith, prayer, going to church and remaining in all church rites, comprehensive obedience, reading the word of God and the holy fathers, lively conversation with experienced people and contemplation of God, sober attention to oneself, bodily labor, vigil, bowing, solitude, preservation of feelings, silence, abstinence, fasting. The same weapons, not in letter, but in spirit, are indicated by the holy Apostle Paul when, having commanded Christians to put on all the weapons of God (Eph. 6:11), he then lists them. “Stand ...,” he says, “gird your loins with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and put on your shoes for the preparation of the gospel of peace; and take up the shield of faith over all, in which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one; and take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; through all prayer and supplication praying always in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:14-18). Thus, both the apostolic instruction and the consideration of the parts of our nature indicate to us all the listed weapons as a necessary condition for success in spiritual warfare. Otherwise, they are called exploits and are physical, mental and spiritual. And so you see that all godly men and wives who sought salvation underwent these feats steadily and because they passed through, overcame passions, were pure and were saved. Do you want to stand firm in the battle you lead? Begin to strive for good deeds. Each feat is a constraint on the passion opposite to it, and everything taken together is a constraint on all passions, by which the latter are held as if under siege, and are partly marred by the exclusion of food from them, and are most directly affected by opposition. Be constant, firm and unyielding - and you will soon see success. Do not look at those who run away from exploits, considering them to be a matter of arbitrariness. You won't find any winners among them. For when they run away, what do they do? They expose themselves from all sides to attacks from enemies. They are like warriors who walk among their enemies without any weapons, undressed and barefoot. Enemies hit them anywhere and with anything and everywhere inflict wounds and kill them. No. Anyone who wants to stand firm in battle without delay must put on the numbered weapons and put on them all, leaving none behind. For if you omit even one, you will open some part of yourself to the blows of your enemies, and you will receive a wound, perhaps not an easy one, a wound to death. Even if a warrior is completely covered and his head is open, the enemy will inflict a wound on his head and kill him. Even if his legs are open, the enemy will knock down his legs and take him prisoner, even though he is armed in all other parts. So it is in spiritual warfare: let go of just one weapon, one feat, and the enemies will rush there, as if into a breach in the wall of a city, and will cause devastation according to the warrior’s mistake. Don’t go to church, break your fast, give free rein to your eyes and ears: how much harm will come from this? You can get such a defeat that you won’t recover, but the first time it seems like a small thing. “Put on all the weapons, take on all the feats - what a burden it is!” - who will think. Exactly, it’s a burden, but what can we do when we cannot be without this burden? If you don’t want to be captured by the enemy or killed by him, carry the weapons necessary to repel and defeat him and to protect yourself. But this is our consolation: the more patiently and unforgivingly someone carries these weapons, the lighter they become and the more relaxed their use is, not like in sensory weapons. Here, the more one acts with a weapon, the more one becomes tired, and in spiritual warfare, the more persistently and tirelessly one acts with what weapon, the less one gets tired and the weapon becomes more and more light, and, finally, it becomes almost imperceptibly heavy, although at the same time the strength and liveliness of action increases to an unexpected degree. Take going to church. At first, perhaps, it is difficult and not entirely pleasant, then the more one walks, the more pleasant the walking becomes and the easier it becomes, and finally, being in the church becomes so sweet that one does not want to leave it, and when one enters it, one feels such strength within oneself that one is not afraid of any enemy. Likewise, any other spiritual weapon, through long-term use, becomes so close to us that it is not a burden, but a great lightness that can be felt in spiritual work and warfare with passions and lusts. The burden remains when for some reason someone is forced not to complete the task of heroism to which he is accustomed and in which he has always found reinforcement. So, do not refuse, but force yourself to go through everything prescribed. God will be your Helper, just start and continue without fail. Now Lent is the most favorable time for such skills. Those who fasted, of course, already used all spiritual weapons, and those who fasted further will use them. All that remains is to apply a little force to yourself by starting to keep up with them. And then, God willing, you will like them so much that you won’t want to part with them forever. One has only to cleave a little to exploits, they will more and more turn into our need, nourish and delight us. They are not contrary to our nature, but akin to it in its pure form - which vouches for their success in prevailing over us. May God grant you all to experience their saving power! Then there will be no strength to distract you from them. Amen. In the second week of Lent (the most important techniques to ensure the success of your struggle) In Holy Baptism we are reborn for a new life, we become a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), created in “Christ Jesus for good works... that we may walk in them” (Eph. 2:10), so that one born in this way from God “does not commit sin” (1 John 3:9), while he remains in his rank and acts according to the principles of the new birth. When we step out of this rank, we fall and commit sin again. But now we bring Repentance, confess, partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ - and again we are accepted into the first rank and into the first benefits granted to those who receive new birth in Holy Baptism. One would now expect that the apostolic word should again be applied to us: “He who is born of God does not commit sin” (1 John 3:9). And so, however, both in ourselves and in others we see sin reigning, even in these sanctifying days, even after holy fasting and our strict vows. What is this? Has God's promise become false? Or has God's grace failed? No. And “the great ... promise of God, in Him is her and in Him is Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20), and in whom grace is, he can “do all things” “through the Lord who strengthens him” (Phil. 4:13). The reason for this sad phenomenon is not outside of us, but in ourselves: in the fact that we, on our part, do not use the efforts obligatory for us and do not use, as we should, the means indicated to us. Guilty is the doctor unsuccessful in treatment when the patient does not listen to his instructions and does not take the medicines prescribed to him? The Lord promised to give strength and does. But on our part there must be resistance to sin and struggle with it. He who does not overcome sin, who does not overcome it, falls and remains in sin, on the contrary, he who resists sin is always ready with help from grace, by which, although not without difficulty, he can always evade evil. and do good. So, the main thing on our part is the fight against sin. Fight, don’t give in and you will overcome. And there will be no sin in you. If others begin to act in the same way, then it will not be in them either. And there will be a bright kingdom of holiness and truth everywhere. A fighter must have weapons and be able to use them, or know how to fight. Another time I depicted to you the full armor of Christianity and explained the need to put on it. Remember these weapons. This is the essence: fasting, solitude, vigil, keeping feelings, bowing, going to church, reading the word of God and the Fathers' writings, comprehensive obedience, sober attention to oneself, prayer, faith. You have seen how they flow from our nature and from the nature of warfare itself. And you can be sure that all of them are essential in the cause of our warfare against sin. But suppose that someone has armed himself with all of them: has he done everything? No. We still need to act with them, and not act haphazardly, but expediently. I don’t undertake to depict to you everything about how spiritual warfare is waged. This subject is very broad. I will indicate only the most important techniques, which, however, are enough to ensure the success of your fight. First. Do not think about raising a war against the entire horde of passions, but arm yourself every time against the passion that is fighting against you. Pride is at war, fight with pride, anger is at war, fight with anger, envy overcomes, fight with envy. Whichever enemy is in front of you, fight it, and direct all your military forces and all your attention to it. It is an enemy trick that he diverts our forces in another direction, and not to where the danger is. Second. Hurry to separate yourself from the enemy and oppose yourself to him, and him to yourself. Spiritual warfare is not the same as sensual warfare. In the sensual, the enemy comes straight to the face and is visible. But in spiritual warfare, both the enemy and we are in the same soul and in the same heart, and all the trouble we have is mostly because we do not know how to distinguish the enemy from ourselves and disconnect from him. We think that the passionate movement that worries us is us, our nature, a natural demand that must be satisfied, whereas it is not us, not the need of nature, but our enemy, coming from everywhere. This delusion is the source of all our sins and wrong deeds. If at first we managed to separate passion from ourselves as something alien, enemy, then we would not be inclined to satisfy it, but would be inspired by hatred and resistance. Third. Having separated the passion that worries us from ourselves and recognizing it as an enemy, begin to fight against it, fight it, turning over one weapon after another until it runs away and hides from us, or until the soul calms down. Fast, pray, read, meditate, talk to your spiritual father, go to church, bow at home. In a word, use everything you think is suitable to defeat the enemy. Sometimes passion quickly disappears, sometimes it fights for a long time. Our task is not to weaken, but to endure courageously in the achievement of military exploits, until not a trace of the enemy remains on the earth of our soul. Fourth. The enemy has been driven away, the passion has been extinguished, the soul has calmed down. Never think that you have killed this passion. No. She only withdrew for a while, unable to withstand the pressure of your forces. But, as soon as an opportunity arises, he will immediately rise up again and begin to fight. You overcame passion in only one case, but it will find thousands of such cases and again begin to fight and challenge you. Moreover, one passion will be eliminated - another will appear, and our arena is never empty and idle. This means that a Christian should never lay down all his armor, but be in it day and night. He is a permanent warrior who must always be ready for battle. This is “patience” (Rev 13:10). “Through your patience gain your souls” (Luke 21:19), for only “he who endures... to the end will be saved” (Luke 13:13). That's the whole program of abuse! Having recognized as an enemy your passion, which is now fighting you, hit it with your weapons, using one after another until you drive it away. Driven away? Stand and watch, waiting for the attack of the same or another passion. And when she attacks, do to her the same as you did to the first one. So every day, every hour and every minute. Ask: “When will it end?” In fact, everyone will see for themselves when the end of the battle will come for them. When the fighting ends, then it will be over, but no one can determine this in advance. All we can say in advance is that the more vigorously one fights, not succumbing to any passionate impulse, the sooner passions will begin to weaken, and as this unyielding warfare continues, peace and silence will begin to settle in the soul. There is hope that the soul will finally come to such a peaceful dispensation in which, as in midnight silence, deep silence will reign - a sign that the enemies have been driven far away or that everyone has been put in place. Then the soul will internally celebrate the never-ending Sabbath, crying out: “I have passed through fire and water, and brought us to rest!” (Ps.65, 12). The merciful Lord, our Leader, may he help all of you, workers in battle, to achieve this great good! Amen. On the second week of Lent (how does it happen that when we destroy ourselves, we do not destroy ourselves, but save them) Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “Whoever ... wants to save his soul will destroy it; and whoever will destroy his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel, he will save it” (Mark 8:35). These words need to be deeply imprinted in their hearts by those who, having confessed, repented and received the Holy Mysteries, have now entered into a struggle with themselves, with their passions, with those living in them sin. Know, fighters of Christ, that when you strike yourself, you cause labor, illness and sorrow to yourself, you do not manifest any slander against yourself, but you arrange your salvation, you do not lose, but gain, you do not become depleted, but become fatter, and grow. So that this is clearer to you and your courage in the struggle with yourself more unrelenting, I will explain to you how it happens that when we destroy ourselves, we do not destroy, but save. This will become clear to you when you clearly imagine what happened to us in the fall. There lay the foundation for such a mysterious way of acting in relation to ourselves. Saint Macarius of Egypt often refers to this subject in his conversations and tries to bring it closer to our concept with various comparisons. He says that in the primitive state, man was pure, perfect and adorned with all the virtues: fear of God, faith, meekness, humility, mercy, self-control, purity, non-covetousness, brotherly love - in a word, all the perfections in which the image and likeness of God shone in him. But when he heeded the suggestion of the evil one and transgressed the commandment, then another man entered into him, completely opposite to the first, who, having dissolved with him, closed him, constrained him and drowned him out, as if member were superimposed on member, head against head, chest against chest, arms against arms, and so on: each member against the corresponding member, so that that first person was no longer visible, but only this stranger was visible, in everything, as it is said, the opposite of the first: passionate, unclean, proud, God-fighting, evil, covetous, envious, incontinent, lustful, brother-hating, filled with all uncleanness and unrighteousness. Thus the man became double. Actually, man is human nature, as it came from the hands of the Creator, and this alien, unclean and passionate is not a man, but only a ghost of a person, and does not live, but only shows a ghost of life, in fact it is dead or, better, deadening in relation to a true man. It seems that we ourselves, our own person, should stand on the side of the right, primitive man. But it is unknown what happened to us that we recoiled from him and took the side of the newcomer, passionate to the point that we only consider him to be ourselves. This is why it happens that, no matter what passion a person is overcome by, he stands for it as for himself. It doesn’t even occur to him that he is acting here not for himself, but for someone else, against himself. When, for example, someone is angry and, due to the inspiration of anger, goes against someone, he feels that he is standing up for himself, he wants to protect himself. Then neither anger nor any other passion is us and does not belong to human nature. This is all alien, alien, hostile to us, destroying us. This is this passionate person, alien to us and a stranger, whom, however, through deception we began to consider ourselves, our soul, and the Lord commands to destroy and put to death, if anyone wants to save his soul, that soul that is constrained, closed and muffled by this stranger, or the alien passionate soul. And this really happens. So it will be with us. For if we begin to do this by deed, we begin, that is, to destroy our soul, then the consequence of this will be that the true man in us will be freed from under the yoke of the alien man and will live the god-like life characteristic of him, and the alien man, living in a ghostly way, will be consumed in us and in our entire being, thus, true life will reign, which, as you see, comes from self-mortification and self-destruction. It has become obvious to you, I believe, what it means to destroy your soul in order to save it, and why this salvation cannot be achieved otherwise than by destroying yourself. But at the same time, let it be obvious to you that in the matter of spiritual warfare, our main and initial technique should be to split into two with the passionate person who has come within us, to push him away from ourselves, to recognize him not only as ourselves, but also as our enemy, destroying us. Just as in our ordinary affairs we will not act against anyone until we become friends with him and do not recognize his hostility towards us, so in our spiritual life, until we become friends with passions and do not recognize their hostility to us, we will not act against them. But we will not act against them, and we will not kill them. If we do not kill them, then they will kill us. So, we need to split into two. Put yourself on one side, and push the passionate person to the other. Put him against yourself and begin to fight and war with him, so that, member by member, cutting off in him, finally and completely kill him and throw him out of yourself, remaining pure and perfect, as the Lord wants and as He created us. Let me remind you that the division should have already taken place in you precisely through the power and action of repentance. For what is repentance? A person begins to abhor everything unclean, passionate and sinful and, wanting to get rid of and cleanse himself from it, he sets the firm intention of dedicating his life to the Lord and fulfilling His holy commandments, without indulging in anything the passions and no longer succumbing to their attractions. This is what repentance is! It is that inner turn by which a person splits within himself with consciousness and freedom, moving from passions to the side of holiness - truth. So, a split in you has already occurred. Look, you won't become friends again. For as soon as you become friends, the fighting will stop. And now your main business is to fight, your life is in it. So you need to constantly renew and revive your initial division with passions, to fuel your hostility with them. A passionate person may have been pushed away, but he is still alive and will draw you towards him with both flattery and threat. Your job is to stand at your post, without entering into any transactions or agreements with him and always positioning yourself opposite to what he suggests. He will, for example, attract you to lust, and you strain yourself to purity; he will kindle anger, and you dispose yourself to meekness; he will inspire pride and vanity, and you teach yourself humility. So it is in everything. Resist evil and force yourself to do good. And this is both your main task in battle and the main condition for your success in it and your inner peace. With this kind of work on yourself, you will make the passionate person weaken more and more, not only not receiving food and satisfaction, but also constantly being amazed, and the spiritual person will become stronger and stronger, until finally he completely freezes and this last one remains. This is all I wanted to explain to you now, so that when the enemy begins to make sweet speeches to you: “Why are you torturing yourself and, denying yourself everything, are you destroying yourself?”, you, inspired by courage, would answer him: “We are not torturing ourselves, but you, we are not destroying ourselves, but we are hitting you in the head, the flattering enemy and destroyer of ours,” and you would continue the merciless struggle of your passions towards yourself, not pampering you in any way. not giving them rest from their continuous opposition and defeat. In conclusion, I will add my sincere good wishes to you, may “your evils that are on earth be put to death: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness,” and may you also put aside “anger, rage, malice, blasphemy, obscene language from your lips” (Col. 3:5, 8). So you will put off “the old man with his deeds” and put on “the new” (Col. 3:9-10). And it will be possible to say about you in the words of the Apostle: “I died” (Col. 3:3), but in such a way that through this death you passed “into the life” (1 John 3:14), “and this life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). May this be for you by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who revived us through His death and in our self-mortification, reviving and affirming His life in us! Amen. On the second week of Great Lent (fighters of passions, do not weaken and do not listen to their flattering speeches) Those who work with passions cherish passions like dear children, but even to those who have already entered into the fight against them, the enemy often approaches with flattering speech to feel sorry for themselves and not fight them with such ruthlessness and mercilessness. If the passionate knew what tormentors passions are, they would immediately reject them from themselves, like the fiends of hell. But you, fighters of passions, do not weaken and do not listen to their flattering speeches, knowing that they want to open hell under your feet and cast you down there. For listen to what the holy Apostle Paul says about them. “Christ,” he says, “will appear, our life... Put to death your children who are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness, which is idolatry, for their sake the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience... Put aside also anger, rage, malice, blasphemy, slander from your lips” (Col. 3, 4-6, 8). Short This instruction can be expressed this way: the Lord will come to judge the living and the dead and will condemn to eternal torment all whose hearts turn out to be filled with passions. From now on, take diligence and labor to cleanse yourself of these passions. Heed this inspiration and do not weaken in your struggle with passions. Hell awaits the passionate; for indulging their passions they will be given over to eternal torment. I want to add to this that the passions themselves are hell and the passionate already anticipates the torments of hell. There are people who do not believe that there will be fire, worms, gnashing of teeth and other bodily torments that await sinners in hell. It is wicked to think so, and these people are in a dangerous and destructive delusion. But let's just say it to them. Let it be your way! With all this, however, you cannot deny that after separation from the body the soul will remain alive, feeling and conscious of itself, and that the passions with which it worked here will remain in it and will pass with it into that life. If so, then this alone will be enough to create the most painful hell. The passions with which the soul lived here, not finding satisfaction for itself, will burn and sharpen it there, like fire and a worm: they will torment it with continuous, most painful torment. Passions are not some kind of light thought or desire, which appear and disappear without leaving a trace. No, these are the inner and strong urges of a vicious heart. They enter deeply into the nature of the soul and, through a long reign over it, they dissolve with it and articulate with it, so that you cannot throw them away or shake them off as easily as rubbish is easily thrown away or dust is swept away. But since they are not natural to the soul, but enter into it as a result of our love of sin, then because of this unnaturalness they will torment and torment the soul. This is all the same as someone who takes poison: it burns and torments the body, because it is contrary to its structure. Or the same as if someone put a snake inside himself and it, remaining alive, gnawed at his insides. So the passions, accepted inside the soul, like snakes and poison, will gnaw and torment it, and then it would like to throw them out of itself, but it will not be able to, for it has related and fused them with itself, and then it will not have the saving means of healing, which are offered here by the Holy Church in Repentance and Confession. And thus she will forever be tormented by them continuously and unbearably, carrying within herself the fire of hell, eternally scorching and not extinguished. Let's use another comparison. Have you heard about torture? For example, they will feed someone else salty food and lock him up, not allowing him to drink. They say that he experiences such a painful burning sensation that he is not happy with life. But who is burning him and torturing him? Nobody from outside. He carries within himself a painful burning sensation. There is nothing to satisfy his thirst, and thirst torments him. Likewise, passions are internal burning thirsts, they are kindled lusts of a sin-loving soul. Here on earth, if you satisfy them, they remain silent for a while. But then again they forcefully demand satisfaction and bother them until they are satisfied again. In the next world there will be nothing to satisfy them, for all their objects are earthly objects. These objects remain here, but the passions in the soul and with the soul will move there and will thirst for satisfaction, thirst and torment the soul with this thirst, because it will have nothing with which to satisfy them. And the longer the soul lives, the more it will languish and be tormented by unsatisfied passions. This degree of torment, without stopping, will continue to grow and grow and there will be no end to this increase and intensification. This is hell! Envy is a worm, anger and rage are fire, hatred is gnashing of teeth, lust is pitch darkness! This hell of passions still begins here, for who among the passionate enjoys peace? Only here they do not reveal all their torment over the soul. Here the body and the community deflect and moderate their blows. This will not happen there and they will attack the soul with all their poisonousness. I will give you the words of the Venerable Abba Dorotheus on this subject: “Being in this body, the soul receives relief from its passions and some consolation: a person eats, drinks, sleeps, talks, walks with his dear friends. When it leaves the body, its soul remains, however, with its passions and therefore is always tormented by them: filled with them, it is scorched by their rebellion and tormented by them. Just as someone suffering from a fever suffers from an internal fire, so a passionate soul will always be tormented, unhappy, by its evil habit, always having a bitter memory and painful effect from the passions that constantly burn and scorch it. When this is so, then truly we will face a most difficult end if we are not careful about ourselves. That’s why I always tell you: try to cultivate good dispositions in yourself in order to find them there, for what a person has here comes with him from here and will have the same there.” I will apply the same to my conversation. Let us take care, while we are alive, to cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of passions and in their place implant all sorts of virtues. Of course, this requires work, and a lot of work. How could it be otherwise? You can't do anything without work. Whoever has neglected his field and allowed it to be overgrown with all sorts of bad herbs, and then decides to clear it, he, of course, plucking out thorns and prickly unsuitable herbs, wounds and cuts his hands. But does he consider it anything? Nothing. He hardly even notices this work in anticipation that he will finally have a fruitful field or garden with flowers and fruit trees that will give him every pleasure. Likewise, a soul overgrown with thorns of passions cannot be cleansed without painful labors and struggles. But when, having cleared it of them, we plant good seeds, it blossoms with all sorts of virtues and all kinds of spiritual beauties, which will attract the eyes of both Heavenly and earthly. Then there will be a spiritual paradise in the soul and the Lord Himself, as He once did in the earthly paradise, will walk in it, filling it with ineffable consolations, as He Himself promised through the Prophet, saying: “Purify yourself... and I will dwell in you and become like God to you” (2 Cor. 6:16). Having this promise in mind, do not weaken in courage, having entered into the struggle with passions and lusts. Inflame your jealousy with the aspiration of that bright state that will be yours after overcoming passions, just as wrestlers in the arenas are inflamed with efforts to defeat their opponents with the gifts that are promised to them for overcoming them. Help you, Lord, in this saving work! Amen. On the second week of Great Lent (what is the crucifixion of peace to us and us to the world) “Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the world was crucified, and to the world” (Gal. 6:14), says the holy Apostle Paul. I want to explain to you what the Apostle means when he says: “to whom peace has been crucified, and to the world.” For you, who after Confession and Holy Communion have entered the path on which “the flesh is crucified with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24), need to have guiding instructions in this complicated matter in order to act in a direct and faithful manner. And one of the first instructions is contained in the quoted words of the Apostle, and you will have it when you understand what the crucifixion of the world to us and us to the world is. As a guide to the interpretation of this, let us take the thoughts of our holy father, Abba Dorotheus, from his first teaching on renunciation of the world. He interpreted this passage for monks, but in such a way that its interpretation can be applied not to monks. He says that when a person renounces the world, leaves his home, parents, relatives, his property, his village or city, goes to a monastery and becomes a monk, then he can say: “The world has been crucified to me” (Gal. 6:14). There is no peace for me; it remains far beyond the walls of the monastery. I left him, and he does not see me on the streets, nor in the marketplaces, nor in his conversations, nor in any of his affairs. “The world has been crucified to me,” he died as if he were no longer there. But, saying this, a monk, who has taken refuge within the walls of a monastery from the world and its visible delights, can in himself, in his heart, live for the world, preserve worldly passions and, sitting in his cell, think about the world and its beauty and mentally enjoy its joys. In this case, he cannot say that he too was crucified to the world. For although he has left the world in body, he lives in the world and in all its joys in his heart. When, with the help of God, knowing the power of the monastic vows, he not only outwardly leaves the world, sharing with it the desert or the fence of the monastery, but also internally, in his heart, extinguishes every addiction to it, every co-indulgence and even thought about it, then he can say that not only the world has been crucified to him, but he has also been crucified to the world, that is, that he no longer lives in the world: in his heart there are other thoughts, other feelings and dispositions, to another he lives in a better and more perfect world, but to this he was crucified. I think that this interpretation is understandable for you, but at the same time I assume that you are immediately ready to reject from yourself any obligation imposed on you by the interpreted words of the Apostle, saying: “So this comes to the monks, so that we may have peace crucified to ourselves and crucify ourselves to the world, and not to us, the laity.” No, not like that, brothers! The Apostle, in his person, gave the law to all Christians and obliged everyone to arrange themselves in such a way that everyone could say: “Peace is crucified to me, and to the world.” Look how this can and should happen in you. Take into account that the word “world” does not, in fact, mean human coexistence, not everyday affairs, but everything sinful, passionate, ungodly. The world is that in which “the lust of the flesh, the lust of selfishness, and the pride of life” are characterized (1 John 2:16), or where all sin reigns. In this sense, the words: “Peace was crucified to me, and I was crucified to the world” will mean the same as: “Every sin was crucified to me, and I was crucified to every sin.” How does this happen and when does it happen? Note in advance that every sin has two sides: one is sinful deeds, and the other is sinful passion. Passion serves as the source and cause of sinful deeds, and deeds are the product and expression of passion. So, for example, anger or anger is a sinful passion that lives in the heart, and the deeds in which it is expressed are: outbursts of anger, abuse, quarrels, disputes, fights, murders. There is only one passion, but how many things does it have to do? And they all come from her alone. Likewise, voluptuousness, or sensuality, is a sinful passion for sensual pleasures, and its deeds are: polyeating, sweet eating, heavy drinking, sweet drinking, partying in taverns, on promenades, in indecent houses, in theaters, at balls, parties. The same must be understood about any passion. Every passion, one in the heart, is expressed outwardly by the body through many deeds. After this, it is not difficult for you to understand how it happens that sin, or the world, is crucified to us, and how it happens that we are crucified to sin, or the world. When someone abandons sinful or passionate deeds, then sin, or the world, is crucified to him, and when someone extinguishes and eradicates the very sinful passion in himself, then he is crucified to sin, or the world. So, for example, when someone leaves hangouts, theaters, taverns, parties, etc., so that no one ever sees him in any indecent activities or places, but everyone always sees him in good and sedate behavior, then it means that sin, or the world, in this part of it died for him, or was crucified to him. But at the same time, it is still impossible to say with certainty that he himself was crucified to sin, or to the world. For although he is not in those places and deeds with his body, he can be there with his heart and mind. He is not in the theater in body, but he can think about it and say with pleasure: “It would be nice to be there.” He is not in the tavern and on festivities in body, but he can be there with his mind and heart, he can think and desire how to get there, regretting that he is not there. In all these and similar cases, although sin, or the world, has been crucified to him, he himself has not yet been crucified to sin, or the world, still loves it, still desires it and delights in it. He conquered himself enough to move away from sinful deeds, but he had not yet broken his heart, he had not yet taught him not to love sinful deeds, to turn away from them and hate them. Before God he is still a lover of sin, or a lover of peace. For God does not look at deeds alone, but rather at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Why should we not only lag behind passionate and sinful deeds, but overcome and extinguish the passions themselves so that we do not enjoy any passionate objects and deeds, but have an aversion to them and abhor them. Now when someone reaches this state, when someone not only will not do sinful deeds, but will also extinguish the very addiction to them in himself, then he can say about himself that he, too, has been crucified to the world. So, put on one side all sinful and passionate deeds, and on the other - sinful passions, and think like this: when you leave all passionate deeds, then it will mean that the world has been crucified to you, and when you extinguish the passions themselves, then it will mean that you have been crucified to the world. It is in this mind that we will apply the law to you, the laity, so that you may have peace for yourself crucified and yourself for the world to crucify. The first is expressed by the fact that a vicious person leaves a dissolute, bad, shameful life and begins to live sedately, correcting his behavior. And the second is expressed by the fact that not only does someone behave correctly, but he also keeps the feelings of his heart correct, pure and pleasing to God. The first is easier, and the second is more difficult. Why doesn’t everyone who is good in outward behavior also have a good heart? This was the reason that the Apostle did not stop at just the crucifixion of the world, or sin, to us, but added the crucifixion of us to the world. “It’s not enough,” he seems to say, “it’s not enough that your behavior is correct. Go into your heart, reconsider your feelings and dispositions there, and make them all holy and pleasing to God.” This apostolic commandment is fulfilled by the one who, having entered into himself, ascends to God with his mind and, constantly straining to contemplate Him within himself, by the thought of Him tests the rightness of every thought and feeling and drives away everything that is wrong as contrary to God, who, having established the fear of God in himself, strictly listens to himself and without pity cuts off any unclean disposition, whether accompanying deeds or preceding and following to them, and thus purifies every deed and presents it pure to God, as an undefiled sacrifice and a fat burnt offering. What will you choose? One must choose one or the other. Whoever gets entangled in passionate matters, leave them and correct your behavior. If you have corrected your behavior, do not stop at this alone, but go inside yourself and correct your very heart, extinguishing in it the passions that make behavior that is correct for people faulty before the face of God, Who sees the heart and according to it justifies or condemns a person. Then each of you with the Apostle can say: “Peace has been crucified to me, and to the world” (Gal. 6:14). Amen. You might be interested in: