Letters to Theoktista, the Emperor's sister

In letters to Theoktista, sister of the Emperor Mauritius, St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov) addresses her not only as a close person, but also as a person of high position, capable of influencing public and church life. He shares with her his thoughts about spiritual life, reminding her of Christian virtues and the importance of humility and repentance. The saint calls Theoktista to mercy and good deeds, setting an example of the Christian path of life and pointing out the importance of serving God in all areas of life. That the slander of people cannot cause us any harm or anxiety, if only we have a clear and innocent conscience. I inform you that I learned from some messengers both about the sedition that arose against you due to the frivolity of the people, and that this caused you considerable grief. If this last news is true, then I am very surprised that on earth you are confused by human speech, while you have found confirmation of your heart in heaven: righteous Job was in a different state of mind when his friends, having come to him for consolation, prostrated him to reproach; he said to them: and now behold, I have heard in heaven, and I am a witness in the highest (Job 16:19); Likewise, everyone who has a witness to his life in heaven must be calm and indifferent to all people’s opinions about him. The great ascetic of virtue, the Apostle Paul, speaks about this: for this is our boasting, the testimony of our conscience (2 Cor. 1:12); He repeats the same thing in another place: let everyone test his own work, and then let him have praise in himself, and not in other things (Gal. 6:4); - why, if praise delights us, and slander brings melancholy to the soul, then this means that our glory is found not in us, but in the mouths of others. But the fools received their lamps without taking oil with them: but the wise took oil in vessels with their lamps (Matthew 25:3,4), i.e. good deeds, about which it is written: so let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16): in the same way, we will only find oil in vessels with lamps when we seek the praise of good deeds and the shine of their glory not in the approval of our neighbors, but we preserve it in ourselves, in the testimony of our conscience. In any case, no matter what we do, or what they say about us in absentia, we must present all this to the court of conscience - and if it does not condemn us, then we will be free from condemnation, even if everyone blames us, then we are subject to accusation, even if others extol us with praise. That is why the Eternal Truth says about John: Why did you go out into the desert to see? Is a reed shaken by the wind (Matthew 11:7)? It should be noted that these words are used here in a negative sense, and not in the affirmative, as can be seen from the following speech: but why is it worth seeing? Is a person clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear soft things are in the houses of kings (Matthew 11:8); for John’s clothing, according to the Gospel, was hard, and therefore the expression: clothed in soft garments indicates those people who are deceived by caresses and praises; one cannot also take in the affirmative sense the expression in which John is called a reed shaken by the wind; for this expression also contains a completely opposite idea, i.e. that no breath could shake John and crush the strength of his spirit. On the contrary, the likeness of a reed shaken by the wind is very appropriate for us, if only the caresses and praise of people lead us to admiration, and slander and reproaches plunge them into sadness. But I am sure that this pitiful state of mind is far from you, from your heart; For I know that you diligently read the instructions of the teacher of languages, who says: If he had yet pleased men, Christ’s servant would never have been (Gal. 1:10); I am no less confident that if slander and slander disturbed your peace and caused any sorrow in your soul, then Almighty God allowed this for a good purpose, for He promised His chosen not joys and pleasures in this life, but the bitterness of misfortunes and sorrows, so that they, having drunk the cup of sorrows and disasters, as a measure recognized as necessary even in ordinary medical art, would taste later and the sweetness of eternal life. Jesus Christ says: the world will rejoice: but you will be sad (John 16:20), about what? about what promise? He explains this in the following words: then I will see you, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (John 16:22); why again he says to his disciples: through your patience gain your souls (Luke 21:19). Investigate diligently, I ask you, and judge: will patience be possible if there are no people who insult us? I don't know an Abel who didn't have Cain; and if the good did not endure any insults from the evil, then they themselves would not be completely perfect, because they would not have one of the means for their moral improvement; in this regard, the community of the evil is a purification for the good. Noah had three sons in the ark, but one of them subsequently mocked his father, and although he himself did not lose his former blessing, he brought a curse on his son for reproaching his father. Abraham, before entering into a new marriage with Heturah, had two sons, one from a slave, and the other from a free woman: but the son born of a slave, according to the flesh, persecuted the son born of a free woman, according to the promise. Therefore, the great teacher of languages ​​says: just as he was then born according to the flesh as a spiritual pursuer, so is he now (Gal. 4:29). Again, Isaac had two sons: but his son, who turned out to be spiritual, was forced to flee from the threats of his carnal son. Jacob had twelve sons: but one of them, who loved his father more than the others and was mutually loved, was sold by his brothers to Egypt. Absalom pursued his father David, whose life required purification. The righteous Job says about the community of the wicked: he was a brother to the Sirins, a friend of the birds (Job 30:29). The Lord said to Ezekiel: Son of man! I will send you to the house of Israel, who grieve me...and sons who are cruel and hard-hearted... And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their presence: they will become enraged and circle around you, for you live in the midst of scorpions (Ezek. 2:3-7). In the person of the Apostles there was also one wicked one, who was accepted into the holy society so that the other eleven Apostles would not remain without testing. One of them, the Supreme Apostle Peter, says: deliver the righteous Lot from the wicked in the uncleanness of their life: for by sight and hearing the righteous man lives in them, day by day the soul of the righteous is tormented by lawless deeds (2 Peter 2:7-8). Another supreme Apostle, Paul, writes: May you be blameless and perfect, children of God without blame in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in whom he appears as lights in the world, holding the word of animals (Phil. 2:15-16). So, since we find evidence in the Holy Scriptures that there cannot be good people without evil people in this life, you must accept the words of the insane with patience and generosity, consoled by the undoubted hope in the mercy of Almighty God, who sometimes allows evil people to cause us some trouble even for good deeds in order to preserve for us the full reward in eternal retribution. Therefore, the Heavenly Truth in the Holy Gospel says: blessed are you, when they revile you, and destroy you, and say all kinds of evil things against you, who lie, for my sake (Matthew 5:11). Jesus Christ, citing as our consolation and as an example his own dishonor, says: if you have discredited the lord of Beelzebub’s house, how much more than his household (Matthew 10:25)? Many praise the lives of virtuous people more than what is proper and through this open the way for them to vanity; Therefore, Almighty God allows evil people to insult their chosen ones with slander and slander, also in order to protect them from arrogance and pride, which flattery and excessive praise easily instill in the soul. The teacher of languages ​​testifies that his ministry was marked by glory and dishonor, evil and praise: like lies and truth (2 Cor. 6:8). If there were people who spread bad fame about Paul, calling him a deceiver and a flatterer, then I ask: which Christian today can avoid being offended for the name of Christ? We know the holiness of life and the greatness of the virtues of the Forerunner of our Savior, John, whose saving sermon in the desert adorned the name not only of the Prophet, but also of the Angel: but as the history of his death testifies, the enemies of this righteous man, after his death, burned his very body. Until now we have spoken only about holy people. But what can we say about the Holy of Holies itself, i.e. about God, who became man for us? Jesus Christ suffered reproach from his enemies not only during his life, but also after death; During his life they said about Him that He had a demon in Him (Matthew 11:18), and after death they called him a deceiver and a flatterer: remember, the enemies of Jesus said to Pilate, that the flatterer He said is still alive, after three days I will rise (Matthew 27:63). Shouldn't we, sinners, endure more insults from unrighteous people? But at the same time, we should be consoled by the thought that on the day of common retribution, we and our blasphemers will appear before the court of the eternal judge, Jesus Christ. Who in life and in death Himself innocently endured countless insults from His enemies. I am writing this short message to you, my beloved and venerable daughter, in order to heal your soul from the sorrow that the slander of people has caused you. But since the confusion of insane people can be calmed by gentle measures, I consider it criminal to neglect the good that can come from here. So, since worried minds can not only be tamed, but also brought to reason, we must in every possible way avoid the possibility of tempting them. There are temptations that must be eradicated with every diligence; but there are temptations that we should only despise, and not eradicate. This can be proven by the testimony of Holy Scripture, where the truth itself says: what goes into the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of the mouth defiles a person (Matt. 15:11); why, when the disciples of Jesus Christ said to Him: Do you know that the Pharisee heard the word and was tempted (Matthew 15:12), then He answered: Every garden that my Heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone: ​​the leaders are blind and blind (Matthew 15:13–14); Meanwhile, as the tax collectors demanded tribute from Jesus Christ, although He privately proved to Peter that this demand was unfair, He did not find it necessary to speak about this injustice openly before the tax collectors; why did he say to Peter: but let us not tempt them, going to the sea, cast a fishing rod, and, having already had a fish, take it, and open its mouth, and you will find a statir; give to them for Me and for each other (Matthew 17:27). Why does the Lord say about some who are tempted by His words: leave them: the leaders are blind; on the contrary, protecting others from temptation, does he command to pay them a tribute that He should not pay? Why does he, allowing one temptation, suppress the occasion for another? By this the Savior teaches us to despise those temptations that can make us the cause of new crimes where we begin to eradicate them, and that, on the contrary, we suppress all reasons for temptation where we can do this without harm to ourselves and others. But the temptations of evil people who reproach you are of such a kind that you, with the help of the Lord, can stop them with meek measures; and for this you must call to yourself those of the unwise who are more prejudiced against you than others, and privately justify yourself to them in everything of which they accuse you in vain, not at all considering this meek measure an insult to the high honor befitting your royal family; for we are all brothers in the Lord, who created us and redeemed us with his blood, and therefore we should never despise our other brothers in anything, no matter how poor and despised they may be. The Apostle Peter was the dispenser of the Kingdom of Heaven, and had the power to bind and loose, so that those whom he bound and loosed on earth were also bound or loosed in heaven; he walked on the sea, healed the sick with his shadow, struck unrepentant sinners with death, and raised the dead with his word; but when, at the inspiration of the Spirit, he visited the house of Cornelius, a pagan, and returned to Jerusalem, the believers demanded an answer from him, why he went to the pagans, ate with them and enlightened them with holy baptism. And, although Peter was the supreme Apostle, filled with grace and the gift of miracles, he preferred the demand of the believers to his power over them, and explained his case before them with all the details, i.e. how he saw the heavens open, and a certain vessel descending like a great shroud, tied at the four edges, and lowered to the ground at the bottom: in it were every four-legged creature of the earth and beasts, and creeping things, and birds of the air (Acts 10:11-12), as he heard a voice: Rising up, Peter, kill and eat (Acts. 10:13), how three men came to him and asked him to visit the house of Cornelius, how the Holy Spirit commanded him to go with them, how the same Holy Spirit, who usually descended on those baptized in Judea after baptism, descended on the pagans before baptism. On the contrary, if Peter, when believers reproached him for communicating with pagans, wanted to use the power that he had in the holy Church, then he could answer that the sheep entrusted to his care do not dare to expose their shepherd. But the Apostle Peter would not have been a teacher of humility if he had opposed his authority to the reproaches of believers. Therefore, to calm them down, he used meek measures, and to justify himself in the act of which they accused him, he even presented witnesses, saying: “Now these six brethren came with me” (Acts 11:12). So, if the Supreme Apostle, who performed extraordinary signs and wonders, did not despise the reproaches of the believers, and with meekness brought justification before them; then all the more must we, sinners, use meek measures to justify ourselves before those who accuse us of anything. Against those who, under the guise of jealousy and zeal in faith, dissolve the marital union. I consider it my duty to speak here also about those who, under the guise of zeal and zeal in faith, dissolve the marital union, and about those who think that baptism does not wash us from all sins, or believe that three years of repentance for sins gives the right to spend the rest of our lives in the pleasures and impurity of sin. Those of them who reveal that they were forced into error are not subject to anathema; but, there is no doubt that those who remain stagnant in their error and stubbornly stand for it do not belong to the holy Christian society: not only I and all the Orthodox Bishops, but also the universal Church anathematizes such people; for they do not think and speak as the truth requires. Therefore, if they say that for faith one must dissolve the marital union, then one must remember that this is contrary to Divine law; for Jesus Christ says: if God joins together, let not man put asunder (Matthew 19:6), and further: if anyone lets his wife go, unless he commits adultery and marries another woman, he commits adultery (Matthew 19:9). Who reproached the heavenly Lawgiver? In addition, we know another saying of Him: and both will become one flesh (Matthew 19:5): this saying shows that husband and wife are one flesh. What fruits can be expected where one and the same flesh is at odds with itself, where a husband, under the guise of jealousy and zeal for faith, leaves his wife, or a wife leaves him while her husband is still alive, where one of the spouses takes the path of abstinence, and the other deviates to the paths of vices? On the contrary, no one condemns those who, by mutual consent, stop the marital union and embark on the feat of abstinence; for the Lord does not forbid this, and we know many saints who, after a married life marked by feats of chastity and abstinence, became rulers of the holy Church. Holy men embarked on the path of abstinence for two reasons: one, in order to increase their merits before God; others in order to make amends for their past sins before Him. Thus, the once pious Jewish youths, taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, preferred vegetables and simple products of the earth to the rich Royal meal, not because they considered it a crime to eat what God created for human food, but in order to ascend to the heights of virtues through abstinence. Once David, who had criminally entered into marriage with someone else’s wife, and for this suffered defeat in battle, wanted to quench his thirst with water from the well of Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 11:17); but when his courageous companions, who paved the way to the reservoir with the sword through the regiments of foreigners, brought him this water, he refused to drink it, and the drink of the Lord (1 Chronicles 11:18). No one forbade David to drink the water drawn from the reservoir of Bethlehem, and he, if he wanted, could quench his thirst with it; but since he remembered that he had once done something that was forbidden to do, he acted very prudently that in this case he abstained from what was not subject to prohibition. And he, who was once not afraid to shed the blood of men who died in battle from his guilt, subsequently showed an example of abstinence even in water, considering it as if it were the blood of the warriors who remained alive, who drew it with the danger of their own lives, and said: if I drink the blood of these men in their souls, I brought it with my souls; and did not desire to drink it (1 Chronicles 11:19). Therefore, good spouses who want to either increase their merits before God or make amends for their previous sins before Him are never forbidden to take vows of abstinence and seek a better life, if only they have voluntary and mutual consent to this. But if either the wife does not approve of the desires of her husband who loves abstinence, or the husband condemns his wife for the same love of abstinence, then the dissolution of the marital union is forbidden, for it is written: the wife does not own her body, but the husband: in the same way, the husband does not own his body, but the wife (1 Cor. 7:4). About those who think that in baptism only external, superficial, and not complete cleansing of sins takes place. Nothing is so offensive to faith as the error of those who think that in baptism only external, superficial, and not complete cleansing of sins is granted; for this delusion strives to destroy the sacrament of faith, in which our soul penetrates into the mystery of heavenly purity, and anticipates the bliss of that state when, having been completely resolved from all sins, it will achieve union with the One about whom the Prophet says: It is good for me to cleave to God (Psalm 73:28). It is known that the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea is an image of our baptism: but just as the Israelites were freed from the Egyptians who pursued them from behind, who all drowned in the sea, so now those who are immersed in the saving waters of baptism are freed and cleansed from all their previous sins. On the other hand, just as the Israelites, having freed themselves from the Egyptians, found new enemies ahead, in the desert, so we too, after baptism, in the desert of the world and its temptations, are again exposed to sins - these are our new enemies and we will not be freed from them until we remain in this life, until we reach the promised fatherland; for countless temptations will not cease to pursue us and block our path to the land of the living. Why does the one who says that in baptism not all sins are cleansed should also agree that the Egyptians did not all drown in the Red Sea, in which the image of our baptism took place; but if he agrees that the entire Egyptian army was drowned in the sea, then he must also accept that baptism cleanses us from all our previous sins; for, taking the shadow, he must also take the body. The Lord says in the Gospel: he who is exhausted does not require only to wash his nose, for he is all clean (John 13:10). But can a washed-up person be completely clean if not all sins are washed away in baptism? It is obvious that one cannot be called completely pure in whom something unclean and sinful remains. So, no one should contradict the voice of the Truth, which says: he who has been washed is completely pure, and does not even have any traces of sinful impurity; for the Lord himself recognizes him as completely pure, having redeemed us from sins. About those who think that three years of repentance for sins can buy them the right to spend the rest of their lives in the pleasures of the flesh and the impurity of sin. Some people devoted to the world think that through three years of repentance for sins, they can acquire the right to spend the rest of their lives in the pleasures of the flesh and the impurity of sin; but these people do not see that their foolishness is contrary to the teachings of the Gospel faith, while we have much evidence against them in the Holy Scriptures. Thus, the holy Apostle Paul says: he who sows to his flesh, from the flesh he will reap corruption (Gal. 6:8), and in another place: those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8), - lower corruption inherits incorruption (1 Cor. 15:50). Therefore, those who think that a little time spent in repentance for sins is enough to cleanse them, and, moreover, to such an extent that it gives them the right to indulge in sin again, are like those animals about which the Apostle Peter speaks in the parable he cited in his epistle: for a true parable happened to them: a dog returned to his vomit, and a pig washed in a pot ( 2 Peter 2:22). Truly, the power of repentance against sins is great, but only in this case when we firmly abide in it and continue the feat of it; for it is written: He who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13). Why is it written again: wash yourself from the dead, and touch him again, what benefit does the bath have for him (Sir.34:25)? Here every vicious deed that is not animated by the spirit of piety and truth and leads to death is called dead; Consequently, the one who, having remembered his previous sins and having washed them with tears of repentance, again indulges in sinful uncleanness, is washed from the dead and again touches it; and therefore the soul does not gain any benefit through washing from dead and unclean deeds if it, indulging in former vices that it has already mourned, does not turn again to the path of repentance and does not lament about newly committed sins; for true repentance requires not only that we mourn our sins, but also that, having mourned them, we never indulge in them again. So those who resort to repentance only in order to wash away their sins and indulge in them again, say about themselves that they are not Christians: since they reject the saving obligations that the Church places on their sinful wounds, and do not value the forgiveness and remission of sins that it bestows on believers. These people, as stubborn followers of a grave error, are unworthy of our detailed discussion about them and are subject to condemnation and damnation, because they, accepting lies instead of truth and suppressing it with untruth, thereby righteously remain bound in sins. Why, without any doubt, we, as before, have betrayed and now anathematize all those who, under the name of Christians, either spread the error shown above, or themselves follow it in secret. But since there are many among believers who burn with excessive zeal for the faith and persecute those whom they consider heretics, and through this they themselves become the cause of heresies, their spread and multiplication, then some measures must be taken against these zealots; They are similar to those about whom the Apostle Paul said: For I testify to them that they have the zeal of God, but not according to understanding (Rom. 10:2). And therefore, my beloved daughter, who dedicated her life to works of mercy, reading and tears, this unreasonable zeal for faith must be limited by exhortation and meekness in order to acquire the glory of eternal reward for ourselves and others. My fatherly love for you prompted me to tell you all this, so sincere and great that I grow in spirit when your joy increases, and on the contrary, I weaken in spirit when the joy in your heart diminishes. May Almighty God preserve you with his heavenly grace, as well as our most pious Emperor, and our most pious Empress, and may he prolong in their peace and quiet your pious life, which is so necessary for raising your young children in the faith. How much devotion I have for you in my soul, Venerable One, I cannot express this in words and I don’t even take the trouble to explain it to you: since even without my words you can, by the inspiration of your own heart, understand what my devotion to you is. However, I wonder why you deprived me of your former favor after the Pastoral ministry recently entrusted to me, through which, under the guise of Bishopric, I was again brought to the disgrace of the world, and was so preoccupied with earthly affairs that in worldly life, as I remember, I was never so preoccupied with them. I have now lost the high consolations that peace gave me, and although I have exalted myself outwardly, I have humbled myself inwardly. Therefore, I mourn my distant exile from the face of my Creator. Previously, I tried every day to be outside the world and the flesh, I tried to remove all bodily deceptions from the eyes of my soul, I wanted to contemplate the highest joys with immaterial eyes, and striving for the face of God not only with words, but also with the very inside of my heart, I cried out to God: My heart says to you: I will seek the Lord (Psalm. 26:8); and I seek Your face, O Lord. Fearing nothing and not wanting anything from the world, it seemed that I stood on some height, and almost thought that what the Lord had promised through the mouth of the prophet had already been fulfilled for me: and he will lead you to the blessings of the earth (Is. 58:14). For he is exalted to the heights of the earth whose mind looks with contempt on what seems high and glorious in the present age. But suddenly thrown down from on high by a whirlwind of temptation, I am overwhelmed with fear and horror, and although I fear nothing for myself, I tremble for those who are entrusted to my care. On all sides, waves of affairs shake me and storms disturb me, so that I can truly say about myself: I came to the depths of the sea, and the storm drowned me (Psalm 68:3). After my duties, I would like to enter into myself, but, agitated by the rebellion of vain thoughts, I am unable to do this. Such an internal state produces in me that I can no longer follow the voice of the Prophet, who says: you who have been deceived, turn in your hearts (Is. 46:8); but on the contrary, being overwhelmed by reckless thoughts, I must only exclaim: my heart, leave me (Psalm 39:13). I loved the beauty of the contemplative life - this barren Rachel, but kind-eyed and beautiful in face, who in her peace, although she gives birth less, nevertheless sees more spiritual light. But I don’t know how it happened that at night Leah was given to me as my wife, i.e. active life - prolific, but not far-sighted, less seeing, although more giving birth. Like Mary, I hastened to sit at the feet of the Lord in order to listen to the word coming from his mouth; but like Martha, he is forced to deal with everyday affairs and worry about many things. After expelling from myself, as I imagined, a legion of demons, I wanted to forget those I knew and find peace at the feet of the Savior; but behold, against my will and desire, they say to me: go to your house to yours, and tell them what great things the Lord has done (Mark 5:19). But who can, amid so many earthly worries, proclaim the miracles of God, when it is difficult even to bring them to mind? It seems to me that I belong to the number of those about whom it is written: I am the one who has overthrown, having at times become proud (Psalm 72:18). It is not said: He brought them down when they were exalted, but when they were exalted; for sinners, when visibly exalted, being supported by temporary honor, then inwardly fall. Thus their very rise is their fall; for by relying on false glory, they become alien to the true glory. That is why it is said in another place: disappearing like smoke disappearing (Psalm 36:20). For just as smoke, rising upward, diminishes and disperses through space, disappears: the same thing happens to a sinner when happiness accompanies him in real life. What shows his exaltation serves to degrade him. That is why it is also written: My God, lay me down like a stake (Psalm 82:14); for the wheel, when the rear part rises up, then the front part goes down. Our backside consists of worldly goods that we must leave behind; and the things that are in front are eternal, unchangeable goods, to the inheritance of which we are called, according to the word of Paul, who says: Forgetting the things that are behind, but reaching out to the things that are before (Phil. 3:13). So the sinner, prospering in the present life, like a wheel, is humbled in the front, and exalted in the back. since, acquiring in this life the glory that he must leave, he deprives himself of that glory that will follow this life. Although many, however, are so able to have external well-being that it does not make them worse internally; which is why it is written: See that the Lord will not reject the gentle (Job 36:5), and according to the saying of Solomon: a wise man will complete the building (Proverbs 1:5): but this is difficult and very painful for me; What we do not accept voluntarily, we use unwisely. So, the Most Serene Emperor commanded the monkey to be a lion: it will, according to his command, be called a lion, but in reality it cannot be one. Therefore, let him attribute all my faults and omissions not to me, but to his piety, when he entrusted to the weak such a service that requires a strong man.