Слово 44. О том, как рассудительному должно пребывать на безмолвии

Listen, beloved, if you want your deeds not to be in vain and your days not to be idle and not devoid of benefit, which the prudent hope from silence, then let your entry into it be with reasoning, and not in the hope of something, 252 so as not to become like many. On the contrary, let there be a goal in your thoughts towards which to direct the affairs of your life. Ask those who know more about this, and those who know from experience, and not from mere speculation. And do not stop doing this until you have learned the deeds of silence in all paths. With every step you take, find out whether you are following the path or have deviated from it and are following some path outside the real road. And just by obvious deeds, do not be convinced that you are accurately living a silent life. If you want to gain something and comprehend it through your own experience, then let there be secret signs and omens in your soul at every step you take, and by them you will recognize the truth of your fathers and the charm of the enemy. Until you become wiser on your path, let this little thing serve you: when, during silence, you notice in your mind that your thought can freely act with the thoughts of your gums 253, and in its power over any of them there is no compulsion to it, then know that your silence is correct. And also, when you perform a service 254, if during various services you are, as far as possible, from soaring your mind 255, and suddenly the verse on your tongue is stopped, and this imposes the shackles of silence on your soul, without the participation of your freedom, and this follows a long stay in silence, then know that you are stretching forward in your silence and that meekness has begun to deepen in you. For silence alone without righteousness is worthy of condemnation. One life of the wise and prudent is recognized as the only member excommunicated from the assistance of other members. And again, when you notice in your soul that with every thought that arises in it, with every remembrance and during contemplations that happen in your silence, your eyes fill with tears, and tears without compulsion wet your cheeks, then know that an opening has begun to appear before you as a barrier to the destruction of those who resist. And if you find in yourself that at times your thought, without prior thought, outside the usual order, plunges inside you and remains in this state for about an hour or some time, and then you notice that your members seem to be in great exhaustion and peace reigns in your thoughts, and the same thing is always repeated with you, then know that a cloud has begun to overshadow your tabernacle. If, when you have spent enough time in silence, you find thoughts in your soul that divide it into different parts and take possession of it, and as if forcibly every hour it is surrounded by these thoughts, and its thought is always raised to what it has done, or wants to embark on vain searches, then know that you are working in vain in silence, and your soul spends its time in the soaring of the mind, and the reasons for this There are external or internal negligence about what should be done, and even more so about vigil and reading. And you immediately arrange your business 257. If, when you enter these days 258, you do not find peace from the passions that trouble you, then do not be surprised. If the depths of the world, after the sun's rays move away from it, remain warm for a long time, and also the smell of medicine and the smoke of the world, spreading in the air, remain for a considerable time before they dissipate and disappear, then all the more passions, like dogs accustomed to licking blood in a butcher's shop, when they are not given their usual food, stand at the door and bark until the strength of their former skill is crushed. When negligence begins to creep into your soul like a thief, and in darkness it returns, and the house 259 is close to being filled with darkness, then the following signs appear: you will secretly feel within yourself that you are exhausted in your faith, you are superior in what is visible 260, your hope 261 is diminished, you suffer a loss in someone close to you, and your whole soul is fulfilled reproaches in your mouth and in your heart against every person, and against every thing, and against everything you encounter with your thoughts and feelings, and against the Most High Himself, and you are afraid of bodily harm, for which reason cowardice takes possession of you every hour, and at times your soul is excited by such fear that you are frightened and run from your shadow; because by unbelief you have eclipsed faith (by faith we mean not the basis of the common confession, but this mental power, which with the light of the mind strengthens the heart and with the testimony of conscience arouses in the soul great hope in God, so that it does not worry about itself, but carelessly casts its care in everything on God). When you stretch forward, you will find the following clear signs close to your soul: you are strengthened in everything by hope and enriched by prayer, your mind never lacks what serves for good, 262 no matter what you encounter, you feel the weakness of human nature, and each such case protects you from pride. On the other hand, the shortcomings of your neighbor become unworthy of attention in your eyes, and with the same desire 263 you desire to leave the body with which you would remain in the next century. About every sorrowful adventure for us that meets you openly and secretly, with all caution, far from conceit, you find that in justice and in court all this has come closer to you 264. And for everything you will bring confession 265 and thanksgiving. These are the signs of those who are sober, cautious, who remain in silence and who want to achieve strictness of life. The weakened have no need for these subtle signs that threaten them with fall, because they are far from the hidden virtues. When one of them begins to penetrate your soul, understand at that hour which side you have begun to lean towards: for you will soon find out what kind of community you are. May God give us true knowledge! Amen. That is, not for reasons alien to the essence and direct purpose of silence. One, without other feats and virtues. Rather, try to arrange order in your work. Your spiritual well-being. You abound in visible things. According to the Serbian translation: “having found everything close to you in truth and justice.” You might be interested in: