Слово 23. Послание, писанное к одному брату, любителю безмолвия

Since I know that you love silence and that the devil, knowing the will of your mind, under pretexts of goodness entangles you in many ways until he crushes and overcomes you in virtue, which contains many types of good, then so that I, as a member closely connected with you, good brother, can help your good desire with a useful word, I took care to write what I myself acquired from men wise in virtue, and in The Scriptures, and from the fathers, and from our own experience. For if a person does not neglect both honors and dishonor and, for the sake of silence, endures reproach, desecration, harm, even beatings, does not become a laughing stock and those who see him do not consider him a holy fool and a fool, then he will not be able to remain in the good intention of silence, because if a person once opens the door for some reason, then the devil will not stop showing him some of these motives, under many pretexts, for frequent and countless meetings with people. Therefore, if you, brother, truly love the virtue of such silence, which does not tolerate dispersion, rejection, or separation, and with which the ancients conquered, then you will find in this case the opportunity to fulfill your laudable desire, as soon as you become like your fathers and accept the intention in yourself to show their lives. But they loved complete silence, did not care to show love to their loved ones, did not try to use their strength to calm them down, and were not ashamed to avoid meeting those who were considered respectable people. So they walked and were not condemned by wise and leading people as neglecting brothers, contemptuous, or careless, or devoid of reason, which was said in their justification by those who worship silence and hermitage more than community with people. “A person,” he says, “who experiences the sweetness of silence in his cell, does not run away from meeting him as someone who neglects his neighbor, but for the sake of the fruit that he gathers from silence.” “Why,” he asks, “Abba Arseny indulged in flight and did not stop when he met someone?” Abba Theodore, if he met someone, his meeting was like a sword. He did not greet anyone when he was outside his cell. But Saint Arseny did not greet even those who came to him with greetings. For at one time one of the fathers came to see Abba Arseny, and the elder opened the door, thinking that it was his servant; but when he saw who the newcomer was, he threw himself on his face, and, begging for a long time to get up, with the assurance of the newcomer that he would accept the blessing and leave, the saint refused, saying: “I will not get up until you leave.” And he didn’t get up until he left. And the blessed one did this so that if one day he gave them his hand, they would not return to him again. Look at the continuation of the word and then you will not say that perhaps Arseny neglected this father or someone else, due to his insignificance, and for the sake of his honor he showed partiality and talked with him. On the contrary, Arseny equally ran away from everyone, both small and great. One thing was before his eyes - for the sake of silence, to neglect communication with people, whether it be a great or small person, and for the sake of the honor of silence and silence, to bear reproach from everyone. And we know that the archbishop, Blessed Theophilus, came to him, and with him was the judge of that country, who had a desire to see the saint and honor him. But Arseny, when he sat before them, did not even with a small word honor their high rank, although they really wanted to hear his word. And when the archbishop began to ask him about this, the good old man was silent for a while and then said: “Will you keep my word if I tell you?” They agreed by saying, “Yes.” The elder told them: “If you hear that Arseny is here, do not approach there.” Do you see the wonderful disposition of the old man? Do you see his disdain for human conversation? Here is a man who has known the fruit of silence. The blessed one did not reason that the universal teacher and head of the Church had come, but imagined the following in his thoughts: “Once and forever I died for the world, what is the use of a dead man alive?” And Abba Macarius reproached him with a reproach filled with love, saying: “Why are you running from us?” The elder presented him with a wonderful and praiseworthy excuse, answering: “God knows that I love you; but I cannot be together with God and with people.” And he was taught this wonderful knowledge by no other person than the voice of God. For it was said to him: “Run, Arseny, people, and you will be saved.” Let no idle and conversation-loving person be so shameless as to refute this, distorting Arsenie’s words, and let him not say, contrary to this, that this is a human invention and was invented for the benefit of silence. On the contrary, this is the teaching of Heaven. And let us not think that this was said to Arseny in the sense that he should run away and move away from the world, and not in the sense that he should also run away from the brethren! After he left the world, went and settled in the monastery, he again prayed to God, asking: how can he live virtuously? - and said: “Show me the way, Lord, how to be saved,” and thought that he would hear something different; but for the second time I heard again the same Master’s voice: “Run, Arseny, be silent and silent. And although there is a lot of benefit (he was told) in meeting and talking with the brethren, it is not so much useful for you to talk with them as to run away from them.” And when blessed Arseny accepted this in Divine revelation, and since, when he was still in the world, he was commanded to run, and then, when he was with his brethren, the same thing was said, then he was convinced and knew that in order to acquire a good life, it was not enough for him to run only from worldly things, he must run away from everyone equally. For can anyone resist and contradict the Divine voice? Yes, and the divine Anthony was told in revelation: “If you want to remain silent, go not only to Thebaid, but even to the inner desert.” Therefore, if God commands us to run away from everyone and loves silence so much when those who love Him abide in it, who will pretend to be any pretext for being in conversation and getting close to people? If flight and caution were useful to Arseny and Anthony, how much more useful are they to the weak? And if God honored those, both in word and in sight, and whose help the whole world needed, more for their silence than for helping the entire brotherhood, or better yet, all of humanity, then how much more is silence necessary for someone who is not able to protect himself well? We also know about another certain saint that his brother became ill and was imprisoned in another cell. And since the saint, throughout his illness, overcame his compassion and did not come to see him, the sick man, approaching his departure from life, sent to tell him: “If you have not come to me until now, then come now so that I can see you before I depart from the world, or come here at night, and I will kiss you and leave you.” But the blessed one did not agree even at this hour, when nature usually demands our compassion for each other and transgresses the determination of the will, but said: “If I go out, I will not purify my heart before God, because I was negligent in visiting my spiritual brothers, but I preferred my nature to Christ.” And his brother died, but he did not see him. Therefore, let no one, out of laziness of thoughts, pretend that this is impossible, let no one overthrow and turn his silence into nothing, rejecting God’s Providence for him. If the saints have conquered nature itself, no matter how strong it is, and if Christ loves it when silence is honored, while His children are neglected, then what other necessity can you have that you could not neglect when you fall under it? This commandment, which says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,” and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37), more than the whole world, and nature, and everything that is in nature, is fully fulfilled when you remain in your silence. And the commandment to love one’s neighbor is contained within him. Do you want, according to the Gospel commandment, to acquire in your soul love for your neighbor? Get away from him, and then the flame of love for him will kindle in you, and you will rejoice when you see him, as when you see a bright Angel. Do you also want those who love you to thirst to see you? On certain days only have a meeting with them. Experience is truly a teacher for everyone. Be healthy. To our God be thanksgiving and glory forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: