Слово 74. О видах добродетелей

Asceticism is the mother of holiness, from which the first knowledge of the sensation of the mysteries of God is born, which is called the first degree of spiritual knowledge. Let no one deceive himself and let no one dream of divination 588. For a defiled soul does not enter the pure Kingdom and is not united with the spirits of saints. Conceal the kindness of your chastity with tears, fasting and inner silence. A little sorrow for the sake of God is better than a great deed done without sorrow, because voluntary sorrow gives proof of faith through love; and the matter of peace is a consequence of satiation of consciousness 589. Therefore, the saints, out of the love of Christ, showed themselves to be skillful in sorrows, and not in peace, because what is done without labor is the truth of worldly people, who give alms from the outside, but do not gain anything in themselves 590. But you, ascetic and imitator of the sufferings of Christ, strive within yourself so that you may be worthy to taste the glory of Christ. For if we suffer with Christ, we will also be glorified with Him (see Rom. 8:17). The mind will not be glorified with Jesus if the body does not suffer for Christ. Therefore, whoever neglects human glory is made worthy of the glory of God, and his body is glorified along with his soul. For the glory of the body is chaste submission to God, and the glory of the mind is the true contemplation of God 591. True submission is twofold: in deeds and in reproach. Therefore, when the body suffers, the heart also has compassion with it. If you do not know God, it is impossible for you to arouse love for Him. You cannot love God if you do not see Him. And seeing God is a consequence of knowing Him, because seeing Him does not precede knowing Him. Grant me, O Lord, to know and love You not with the knowledge that is acquired through learning with waste of the mind, but grant me with that knowledge in which the mind, contemplating You, glorifies Your nature in contemplation, secretly stealing the sense of the world from thought. Vouchsafe me to rise above the vision of the will that gives rise to dreams, and to see You, bound by the bonds of the cross, in this second part of the crucifixion of the mind, which, free from the influence of thoughts on it, rests in the unceasing, supernatural contemplation of You. Make my love for You grow in me, so that, following Your love, I may leave this world for me. Arouse in me the understanding of Your humility, with which You lived in the world, in this monastery, in which You clothed yourself from our members, through the mediation of the Holy Virgin, so that in constant and unforgettable remembrance of this I may accept with sweetness the humility of my nature. There are two ways to ascend to the cross: one is by crucifixion of the body, and the other is by entering into contemplation; the first is a consequence of liberation from passions, and the second is a consequence of the effectiveness of the deeds of the spirit. The mind does not submit unless the body submits to it. The kingdom of the mind is the crucifixion of the body: and the mind does not submit to God if freedom is not subjugated to the mind. It is difficult to teach anything high to a beginner or an infant. “Woe to you, O city, where your king is young” (Eccl. 10:16). Whoever submits himself to God is close to having everything submit to him. He who knows himself is given knowledge of everything, because to know himself is complete knowledge of everything; and as a result of the submission 592 of your soul, everything will be subject to you. While humility reigns in your life, your soul submits to you, and with it everything will submit to you, because the peace of God is born in your heart. But while you are outside of it, not only passions, but also circumstances will constantly pursue you. Truly, Lord, if we do not humble ourselves, You do not cease to humble us. True humility is a product of knowledge, and true knowledge is a product of temptation. In the Syriac text: “let no one deceive himself or be deceived by visions,” that is, let no one think that without first purifying his soul one can achieve spiritual knowledge. In the Syriac text: “and a deed done in peace comes from a satiated mood” (i.e. from mental boredom). In the Syriac text: “...who try to justify themselves through their (possessions), but do not themselves strive for perfection.” In the Syriac text: “the exaltation of the body is the humble submission of (it) to God, and the exaltation of the spirit is the contemplation of the truth about God.” You might be interested in: