Слово 6. О милосердии Владыки, по которому с высоты величия Своего снизошел к немощи человеческой, и об искушениях

And our Lord, providing in accordance with His mercy and according to the measure of His grace, if you understand it meaningfully, commanded to pray for bodily temptations. For, knowing that our nature, due to the earthy and mortal body, is weak and unable to resist temptations when it occurs in them, and therefore falls away from the truth, turns back and is overcome by sorrows, he commanded us to pray so that we would not fall into temptations suddenly, if even without them it is possible to please God. And if a person, striving for high virtue, suddenly falls into terrible temptations and cannot stand it, then he cannot at that time achieve perfection in virtue. We should not have partiality either towards ourselves or towards others, out of fear of abandoning a noble and honest cause, in which the life of the soul is hidden, and presenting pretexts and teachings that pander to weakness, for example this: “Pray, so that you will not fall into misfortune” (Matthew 26:41). For it is said of such that they sin in secret under the pretext of a commandment. Therefore, if a person befalls and temptation befalls him, and he is forced to violate one of these commandments, that is, to abandon chastity or monastic life, or to renounce the faith, or not to strive for Christ, or to leave one of the commandments without fulfilling, then if he is afraid and does not resist the temptations courageously, he will fall away from the truth. Therefore, with all our might we will neglect the body, surrender our souls to God, and in the name of the Lord we will enter into the struggle against temptations. And Who saved Joseph in the land of Egypt and showed in him the likeness and example of chastity, Who kept Daniel unharmed in the lion's den and the three young men in the fiery cave, Who delivered Jeremiah from the pit and gave him mercy in the Chaldean camp, Who brought Peter out of prison with the doors closed and saved Paul from the host of the Jews, in short, Who is always in every place, in every He is inherent in the country with His servants and shows His strength and victory in them, observes them in many extraordinary circumstances, shows them His salvation in all their sorrows, May He strengthen us and save us among the waves surrounding us! Amen. Let there be in our souls as much zeal against the devil and his henchmen as there was in the Maccabees, and the holy prophets, and the apostles, and the martyrs, and the saints, and the righteous, who established the Divine laws and commandments of the Spirit in terrible places, under the most difficult temptations, and cast down the world and the body behind them, and stood firm in their righteousness, not yielding victory over themselves to the dangers that, along with their souls, surrounded and bodies, but defeating them courageously. Their names are written in the book of life even before the Coming of Christ, and their teaching, by God’s command, is observed for our instruction and strengthening, as the Apostle testifies (see Rom. 15:4), so that we may become wise and know the ways of God, and have before our eyes the stories about them and their lives. As animate and living images, they took them as a model, followed their path and became like them. Oh, how sweet are Divine words to the thoughtful soul! They are the same for the soul as food is for the body, strengthening it. Tales of the righteous are as desirable to the ears of the meek as constant watering to a newly planted plant. So, beloved, as a kind of good medicine for weak eyes, keep in your mind the Providence of God, by which everything is protected from the beginning to the present day; keep the remembrance of this in yourself at every hour, meditate and worry about this, extract instructions from this for yourself in order to become accustomed to keeping in your soul the remembrance of the greatness of God’s honor and thereby gain your soul eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who, as God and man, became the Intercessor of God and men. The ranks of Angels cannot approach the glory surrounding His Throne of Honor; but for our sake He appeared in a humiliated and humble form, as Isaiah says: “I saw Him, and was not named for appearance or kindness” (Is. 53:2). He, who by nature is invisible to all creation, took on a body and completed the economy for the salvation and life of all nations who found purification in Him. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: