Слово 1. Об отречении от мира и о житии монашеском

The fear of God is the beginning of virtue. They say that it is a product of faith and is sown in the heart when the mind is removed from worldly worries, so that it can gather its thoughts, whirling from soaring, in contemplation of future restoration. In order to lay the foundation of virtue, it is best for a person to keep himself away from the affairs of life and to abide in the word of light of the right and holy paths, which the Psalmist indicated and named by the Spirit (see Ps. 23:3; 119:35). There is hardly, and perhaps not at all, a person who, even if he is equal to the angels in morals, can endure honor; and this comes, as others will say, from a rapid inclination to change. The beginning of the path of life is to always learn with your mind the words of God and spend your life in poverty. Drinking oneself in one way promotes improvement in another. If you hydrate yourself with the study of the words of God, this will help you to thrive in poverty; and success in non-covetousness gives you the leisure to excel in studying the words of God. The assistance of both contributes to the rapid construction of a whole edifice of virtues. No one can approach God unless he withdraws from the world. I do not call removal from the body, but removal from worldly affairs. This is virtue, so that a person does not occupy his mind with the world. The heart cannot remain in silence and be without dreams while the feelings are busy with something 42; bodily passions do not become inactive and evil thoughts do not become impoverished without desertion. Until the soul comes to the rapture of faith in God, by accepting the power of its sensation, it will not heal the weakness of the senses, will not be able to forcefully trample on the visible substance, which serves as a barrier to the internal, and will not feel in itself the rational generation of freedom; and the fruit of both is salvation from snares. Without the first 43 there is no second 44; and where the second is legal, there the third 45 is tied as if with a bridle 46 . When grace increases in a person, then, by the desire for righteousness, the fear of death becomes easily despised for him, and he finds many reasons in his soul why he must endure sorrow for the sake of the fear of God. Everything that is considered harmful to the body and suddenly affects nature, and therefore leads to suffering, is considered nothing in his eyes in comparison with what he hopes for in the future. Without allowing temptations, it is impossible for us to know the truth. A person finds exact confirmation of this in the thought that God has great providence for man and that there is no person who is not under His Providence, and especially clearly, as if at the direction of a finger, he sees this in those who seek God and in those who endure suffering for His sake. But when the impoverishment of grace increases in a person, then everything said appears in him in almost the opposite form. His knowledge, due to research, is greater than faith, but there is not trust in God in every matter, and God’s Providence for man is denied. Such a person is constantly exposed in this 47 to the machinations of those who lie in wait “to shoot him down in the darkness” (Ps. 10:2) with their arrows. The beginning of true life in man is the fear of God. But he does not tolerate being in someone’s soul along with the soaring of the mind 48; because when serving the senses, the heart is distracted from the delight of God, for internal thoughts by their sensation, as they say, are connected in the very senses that serve them 49 . Doubt in the heart brings fear into the soul. And faith can make the will firm even when members are cut off. To the extent that love for the flesh prevails in you, to such an extent you cannot be courageous and fearless in the many confrontations surrounding what you love. He who desires honor for himself cannot lack reasons for sorrow. There is no person who, with a change in circumstances, would not feel in his mind a change in attitude towards the task at hand. If lust, as they say, is a product of feelings, then let those who assert about themselves that they maintain peace of mind even during entertainment be silent. Chaste is not the one who, in work, during struggle and achievement, says about himself that then shameful thoughts cease in him, but who, with the truth of his heart, disciplines the contemplation of his mind, so that he does not shamelessly listen to obscene thoughts. And when the honesty of his conscience testifies to his fidelity with the look of his eyes, then shame is likened to a curtain hung in the innermost receptacle of thoughts. And his integrity, like a chaste virgin, is preserved to Christ by faith. To avert the dispositions 50 preoccupied by the soul towards obscenity and to eliminate the disturbing memories rising in the flesh, producing a rebellious flame, nothing is as sufficient as immersing oneself in the love of studying the Divine Scripture and comprehending the depth of its thoughts. When thoughts are immersed in the pleasure of comprehending the wisdom hidden in words, then a person, thanks to the power that draws enlightenment from them, leaves the world behind him, forgets everything that is in the world. And it erases in the soul all memories, all effective images of the reification of the world, and often destroys the very need for ordinary thoughts visiting nature. The soul itself is delighted at the new ideas it encounters in the sea of ​​the mysteries of Scripture. And again, if the mind floats on the surface of the waters, that is, the sea of the Divine Scriptures, and cannot penetrate with its thoughts the Scriptures to the very depths, to comprehend all the treasures hidden in its depths, then this very fact that the mind is occupied with zeal for understanding the Scriptures is enough for it to firmly bind its thoughts with a single thought about the wonderful and prevent them, as one of the God-bearing said, from striving for physical nature, while the heart is weak and cannot endure the bitterness 51 encountered during external and internal battles. And you know how painful a bad thought is. And if the heart is not occupied with knowledge, it cannot overcome the rebellion of bodily excitement. Just as the speed of a scale's oscillation in a windy storm is hindered by the weight of what is being weighed, so the oscillation of the mind is hampered by shame and fear. And as fear and shame become impoverished, there is a reason for the mind to constantly wander, and then, as fear is removed from the soul, the yoke of the mind, as if free, oscillates back and forth. But just as the yoke of a scale, if its bowls are burdened with a very heavy load, is not easily shaken by the blow of the wind, so the mind, under the burden of the fear of God and shame, is hardly seduced by what causes it to waver. And to the extent that fear becomes scarce in the mind, vicissitude and changeability begin to possess it. Manage to put the fear of God at the foundation of your procession, and in a few days, without making circles along the way, you will be at the gates of the Kingdom. In everything that you encounter in the Scriptures, seek the purpose of the word, so that you can penetrate into the depths of the thoughts of the saints and understand them with great accuracy. Those who are guided in their lives to enlightenment by divine grace always feel that a mental ray, as it were, passes through the verses of what is written and distinguishes bare words to the mind from what is said to spiritual knowledge with great thought. If a person reads meaningful verses without delving into them, then his heart remains poor, and the holy power fades away in him, which, with the wonderful understanding of the soul, gives the heart the sweetest taste. Every thing usually strives for what is akin to it. And the soul, which has within itself the portion of the spirit, when it hears a speech containing hidden spiritual power, ardently accepts the content of this speech. Not every person is awakened to surprise by what is said spiritually and what has hidden great power in itself. The word about virtue requires a heart that is not concerned with the earth and close communication with it. In a person whose mind is burdened with concern for what is transitory, virtue does not awaken the thought to love it and seek its possession. Detachment from matter in its origin precedes union with God, although often, by the gift of grace, in others the latter turns out to precede the former; because love is covered by love 52. The usual order of bestowing grace is different from the order common to people. You maintain the general rank. If grace comes to you first, that is her business. And if he does not come, then gradually go the way of all people, in which they walked, to ascend to the spiritual pillar. Any deed done contemplatively and fulfilled according to the commandment given for it is not at all visible with bodily eyes. And every work done actively can be difficult, because the commandment, which is only one, namely activity for the sake of the carnal and the incorporeal, has a need for both, contemplation and activity. For the one is the combination of contemplation of activity. Deeds that show concern for cleanliness do not suppress the feeling aroused by the remembrance of past actions, but the sadness felt during this remembrance is borrowed from the mind. And from now on, the process of remembering is carried out in the mind with benefit. The insatiability of the soul in acquiring virtue exceeds some of the visible desires of the body associated with it 53 . Every thing is beautiful in measure. Without measure, even what is considered beautiful turns into harm. Do you want to be in communion with God with your mind, accepting into yourself the feeling of this pleasure, not enslaved to the feelings? Serve alms. When it is found within you, then this holy beauty is depicted in you, with which you become like God. The comprehensiveness of the act of almsgiving 54 produces in the soul, without any delay of time, communion with the single radiance of the glory of the Divine 55 . Spiritual unity is unceasing remembrance; it continuously burns in the heart with fiery love, in non-deviation from the commandments, borrowing strength to remain in union, not with violence to nature and not according to nature. For there 56 (man) finds support for spiritual contemplation, so that it is firmly established on it. Therefore, the heart comes into delight, closing its twofold feelings, carnal and spiritual. There is no other path to spiritual love, which imprints an invisible image 57, unless a person first begins to be generous to the same extent as the Father is perfect, as our Lord said; for thus He commanded those who obey Him to lay this foundation 58 . There is another word that is effective, and another that is beautiful. And without knowledge of things, wisdom knows how to decorate its words, speak the truth without knowing it, and talk about virtue, although the person himself has not experienced its practice. But the word from activity is a treasury of hope; and wisdom not justified by activity is a guarantee of shame. That an artist who paints water on the walls and cannot quench his thirst with that water, and that a person who sees beautiful dreams is the same word, not justified by activity. Whoever speaks about virtue that he himself has experienced in practice, conveys this to the one who listens to him, just as someone gives to another the money earned by their labor. And whoever, out of his own acquisition, sows teaching into the ears of those who listen to him, he opens his mouth with boldness, speaking to his spiritual children, as the aged Jacob said to the chaste Joseph: “I will give you a single portion “from above your brethren, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow” (Gen. 48:22). Every person who lives uncleanly desires a temporary life. The second according to him is the one who is deprived of knowledge 59. Someone beautifully said that the fear of death saddens a man who is condemned by his conscience. And whoever has a good testimony in himself desires death as much as life. Do not recognize him as a true sage who, for the sake of this life, enslaves his mind to fear and fear. Consider everything good and bad that happens to the flesh as a dream. For it is not in death alone that you renounce this, but often even before death it leaves you and moves away. And if any of this has communion 60 with your soul, then consider it your acquisition in this age; it will go with you into the next century. And if this is something good, then rejoice and thank God in your mind. If this is something bad, then be sad, and sigh, and try to free yourself from this while you are in the body. Be sure that for every good deed, done in you consciously or unconsciously, the mediators for you were baptism and faith, through which you were called by our Lord Jesus Christ to His good deeds. With the Father and the Holy Spirit, to Him be glory, and honor, and thanksgiving, and worship forever and ever! Amen. That is, while the senses care about external objects. The thought is dark; according to the Syriac text, this place after the word “internal” reads like this: “Reason is the cause of freedom, and the fruit of both is inclination. Without the first, the second is impossible; and where there is no second, there the third is, as it were, restrained by a bridle.” That is, in the question of God's Providence. That is, with the distraction of the mind by earthly things. According to the Syriac text, this passage reads as follows: “For the internal movements encounter obstacles from the senses, which should serve them in their (internal movements) perception of their object.” This refers to evil thoughts caused by external objects that excite passions. That is, love for God is replaced by love for earthly things (according to the Syriac text). That is, the soul’s desire for virtue exceeds the body’s passion for visible objects (according to the Syriac text). Meaning: the totality of good deeds, concentrated in mercy (according to the Syriac text). That is, the glory of the Divine, which alone shines (according to the Syriac text). That is, in constant keeping of the commandments. And precisely when he says: “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36); and again: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor: and have treasure in heaven: and come after Me” (Matthew 19:21); and: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). You might be interested in: