Слово 77. О телесном движении

Movement in the lower members of the body, which occurs without intensified thoughts of senseless voluptuousness, which is excited with inflammation and involuntarily drags the soul into disaster, is, without a doubt, a consequence of the satiety of the belly. If the belly observes, perhaps, moderation in food, but the members involuntarily, in any way, begin to move, then know that the source of passion is in the body itself. And in this struggle, consider for yourself a strong and insurmountable weapon - to move away from the sight of women, because the enemy cannot produce in us what nature is able to do with its strength. For do not think that nature forgets what was naturally sown into it by God for the birth of children and for the testing of those who are in this feat. But moving away from objects of desire mortifies lust in the members, produces oblivion about it and destroys it. Thoughts about objects that are distant are different, they pass only in thought and produce a slight and barely perceptible movement. The thoughts that, by the vision of an object, plunge the mind into self-forgetfulness, excite passions by the proximity (of the object), feed lust in a person, like oil fuels the burning of a lamp, ignite a passion that has already become dead and extinguished, and disturb the abyss of the body with the movement of the ship of thought. That natural movement that lives in us strictly for the sake of childbearing, without the addition of anything from the outside, cannot confuse our will, and distract it from purity, and disturb chastity, because God did not give nature the power to overcome the good will rushing towards Him. But when someone is excited either by irritability or lust, then it is not a natural force that forces him to go beyond the limits of nature and step out of his duties, but what we add to nature at our own discretion. Whatever God created, He created everything beautifully and proportionately. And as long as the measure of natural proportionality is correctly preserved in us, natural movements cannot force us to deviate from the path 614; on the contrary, only decorous movements are aroused in the body, which only let us know that there is a natural passion in us, but do not provoke passion and confusion, thereby preventing the flow of chastity, and do not darken the mind with irritability, and do not lead from a peaceful state to an angry state. If we sometimes get carried away by the sensual (which is why irritability usually takes on an unnatural desire) and indulge in either eating or drinking in excess quantities, or getting close to women and looking at them, or talking about them, which ignites and quickly spreads the fire of lust in the body, then we change our natural meekness into ferocity, or because of the abundance of moisture in the body, or because visions of different things. Sometimes there is a movement in the members due to God’s permission for our conceit, and it is no longer the same as the one indicated above. For we call those battles free, and in them the path of common nature is visible. We know about this battle, which happens as a result of being allowed to do so because of our conceit, that when we have been attentive to ourselves for a long time and have worked, even considering ourselves to be somewhat successful, we are allowed to endure this battle in order to learn humility. Other battles, which are beyond our strength without this reason, come from our laziness. For nature, when through gluttony it accepts into itself some addition to the sensual, no longer agrees to maintain the order that was established at its creation. Whoever voluntarily rejected sorrows (asceticism) and the endless stay in the cell is forced to love sins. For without sorrows we cannot free ourselves from the deception of wisdom. To the extent that these labors increase, the battles decrease, because sorrows and troubles kill voluptuousness in passions, and peace nourishes and increases them. So, I clearly understood that God and His Angels rejoice when we are in need, and the devil and his agents rejoice when we are at rest. If the commandments of God are carried out in sorrows and oppression, and we have despised them, then it already means that we manage to despise those who commanded the commandments Himself because of the passions born from our peace, and we bring into action the cause of virtue, that is, oppression and sorrow, and, as we acquire peace for ourselves, we give place to passions in ourselves, because in an oppressed body thoughts cannot indulge in vain soaring. When someone joyfully endures labors and sorrows, then he can greatly curb his thoughts, because these thoughts are rendered inactive by labor. When a person remembers his previous sins and punishes himself, 615 then God takes care to put him to rest. God rejoices that for deviating from the path of God he himself imposed punishment on himself, which serves as a sign of repentance. And the more he puts pressure on his soul, the more his honor is increased by God. Any joy, the cause of which is not virtue, immediately arouses lustful movements in the one who has acquired it. Understand that we said this about all passionate, and not about natural, lust. To our God be glory forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: