Inner life. Selected Teachings

Two words about the holy sacrament of Baptism Five Teachings on the Path to Salvation What does a person who has repented and entered on the good path of salvation need? The path is hard and sad Three words about bearing the cross Examples of recording good thoughts that come during thoughts of God and prayer, numbering 162 Saint Theophan (in the world Georgy Vasilyevich Govorov, 1815–1894), was Bishop of Tambov, then Vladimir, later left the episcopal see and lived in the Vyshenskaya Hermitage as a recluse. An outstanding spiritual writer, Saint Theophan compiled interpretations of the Sunday Gospels, the epistles of the Apostle Paul, and the 118th Psalm. A significant place in his legacy is occupied by works on moral theology. The teachings collected in this collection are devoted to the spiritual work of an Orthodox Christian walking along the path of salvation. The Holy Apostle Paul, speaking about the holy sacrament of Baptism, compares its hidden power with the death and resurrection of the Lord. By plunging, he says, into the font, we die; Coming out of the font, we are resurrected. We die in the font for a carnal and sinful life, and we rise from the font for a spiritual, holy, godly life. “Or do you not understand, just as we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into His death? We are therefore buried with Him through baptism into death: that as Christ has risen from the dead in the glory of the Father, so we too will begin to walk in newness of life... our old man may be crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be done away with, for we are not subject to sin” (Rom. 6:3-4, 6). Just as the risen Lord is bright, so our nature becomes bright, being renewed in the bath of rebirth by the grace of the Holy Spirit. But let us not think, brethren, that grace alone produces here, and that it produces only externally or somehow mechanically. No. Its saving action takes place invisibly - inside. The grace of the Spirit that flows in baptism captures a series of internal changes of the heart and movements of the spirit and from them forms a new, hidden heart of man in us. Why does the holy Apostle Peter call baptism “the good conscience of asking” God, the formation of a special, grace of a strong moral character. What and how it happens and should be here, I will explain to you with a few thoughts. The All-merciful Lord, having created man in His image and likeness, thereby showed him the final goal in internal communication with Himself, protecting it with known conditions at hand to man. God laid the path to achieving this goal in the zealous fulfillment of His holy will, which He imprinted on the pure and immaculate conscience of man; but he did not bind him in the direction of his activity, but gave him the freedom to act as he wanted, at his own discretion, so that he would arbitrarily and self-willingly determine himself to steadily walk in the known will of God. In order for man to have the opportunity to master his freedom, He, in the same spirit in which freedom dwells, introduced the fear of God, or the feeling of comprehensive dependence on God Almighty, All-Provider and All-Rewarder. These are all the elements of our spiritual life according to the original dispensation. Combining into one, it formed the most moral spiritual person, whose life was built and carried out in such a way that a person, feeling his complete dependence on God, self-willingly determined himself to steadily walk in the holy will of God, interpreted by conscience, in the confidence that through this he would remain in inner communion with God, the source of life, and bliss in him. This is what man is destined for, and this is how his life would always go, just as it always goes like this among the holy angels, if not for the fall. The fall upset the internal order of spiritual life. Man fell away from God, and direct communication with Him ceased; the feeling of dependence on Him froze or weakened, and man no longer had the strength to cope with freedom itself, which did not rush after the will of God, especially since conscience either completely ceased to interpret the will of God, or began to interpret it crookedly. Thus the elements of spiritual life disintegrated, and there was no more spiritual life. Meanwhile, the nature of man remained the same, and his purpose remained the same. Why could his restoration be accomplished no other way than through the restoration of his original spiritual powers and their elevation into a predetermined mutual relationship. This is what the sacrament of Baptism accomplishes after preliminary preparing a person for that by a series of moral changes... Let me give you one example to explain this. The Holy Apostle Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost. Those who listened, after listening to the sermon, exclaimed: what should we do? The holy apostle answered: repent; and in another place: “repent” and believe the Gospel, “and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ... and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Let's break it down here. The sermon enlightened the conscience, the enlightened conscience resurrected the feeling of dependence on God, or the fear of God, - and from the heart “a cry: what should we do? This is to repent,” to believe, to accept grace through baptism. To repent means to decide to leave deeds contrary to God, turn to God (Acts 3:19) and determine your freedom again to walk in His will, as it was originally determined. The repentant would be ready for this, but how to proceed to this when he feels, on the one hand, his moral powerlessness, and on the other, unpeace with God, whom he has always angered, and with his conscience, which he has always offended. In the healing of these main infirmities, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is given to him as the only means to peace and reunification with God and the grace of the Spirit as the support of moral strength. Do you notice how here, in the new grace-filled dispensation, all the former elements and forces of spiritual life, weakened and disintegrated in the fall, are raised again to their meaning and union! The feeling of dependence on God is resurrected in repentance, conscience is enlightened by the word, freedom is strengthened by grace, communication with God is mediated through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Intercessor of God and men... Thus all the elements, each with its own special revitalizing medicine, come to life. All that remains now is to merge them together, to collect them, like rays, into one focus. This is done in the font of baptism, which in this regard is, as it were, a gracious crucible, where from the previously restored elements of spiritual life, through all-effective grace, a new creation is created in Christ Jesus, the “hidden man of the heart” is formed. We emerge from the font new in precisely this sense; We feel like we have tasted a new life and begin to feel blissful. Look what is said about those who converted to the preaching of the holy Apostle Peter. Having received the word, it says, they were baptized, and immediately it is added: they began to remain in teaching, fellowship, prayer, they were all together, they had everything in common, as if they were one soul and one body, remaining with one accord in the church, constantly praising God, living in joy and simplicity of heart (Acts 2). As soon as they were baptized, they began to live a new life. This new life is recognized by all those who are baptized and is their destiny and inheritance. Having now collected into one thought all the principles of spiritually grace-filled life, corresponding to its original structure, we will see that everyone who is baptized in his inner mood is as follows: by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, having reconciled himself and receiving grace-filled power from Him, the Christian feels determined and strong to steadily walk in the will of God, about which he is zealous with readiness for all kinds of labor or sacrifice, feeling here also temporary joy in communion with God and anticipating the endless joy that will be in eternity. This is what “questioning the conscience is good for,” or the education of a Christian moral character. I bring this to you so that you do not forget that the power of baptism consists not only in the grace-filled renewal of the natural powers of the spirit, but also in a moral change of character or both. According to God’s dispensation, moral changes first take place in a person’s spirit, and then grace, indwelling a person through the sacrament, imprints them on him and thereby renews his very nature. A Christian no longer has only nature, but also grace. In appearance, he is the same as all non-Christians... but in reality he is a dissolution and confusion of nature and grace. Copper, for example, alone produces a dull sound, but when combined with silver it sounds cleaner and louder, although the difference is not noticeable in both. Copper alone is our nature; copper combined with silver is the same nature blessed in baptism. Take an apple from a wild apple tree and a garden apple. In appearance they may be completely similar, but the inner dignity of both is completely different. Thus, a Christian and a non-Christian seem to be the same in appearance, but their inner character is not only different, but also their composition is different. All the strength of Christians lies within. Christians themselves cannot help but be aware of this difference and change - not to the detriment of their humility, but to give glory to God who saves them. Not everything in a person perishes by falling. Traces of the former beauty remain on all his forces, only they are scattered and disintegrated. It's the same as a broken mirror. When the inner structure of spiritual life is resumed, then it is the same as a whole mirror, which clearly reflects all the features and parts of the face of the beholder. Turning inward, can a Christian fail to recognize within himself this wholeness given to him? Even before baptism, a person is the same as a paralytic in all his parts: neither standing nor moving. After baptism, he is the same as the healed paralytic about whom the Gospel says that he walked around jumping and rejoicing. So, can the feeling of vigor and strength inherent in a Christian blessed in baptism not be evidenced in consciousness? And one more image. Telescopes have three compositions. When these compositions are pushed into one another, the tube does not show things properly; and when they are moved apart in proportion, everything is clearly visible in them... The pipe is an image of our three-part structure: spirit, soul and body. In the fall, the spirit submitted to the soul, and the soul and spirit to the body, and man began to see his relationships poorly and behave badly in them. In a new, grace-filled birth, the spirit is elevated to its rights, holds the soul in its rank, and through it the body... man then receives a predetermined order of the parts of nature, clearly recognizes his relationship to Heaven and earth and holds himself worthily in these relationships. Can such a restoration be hidden from the eyes of the mind and conscience?! Do you see now what the power of holy baptism is and how its saving effects in us cannot hide from us?! Now go inside yourself and decide for yourself whether what holy baptism gives is there or not. If there is, let us thank the Lord, without self-exaltation, however, for everything is from Him; if not, we will expose ourselves, and reproach ourselves, and hasten to make up for this through the sacrament of repentance, in which sinners are again baptized not in the font, but in tears, although they receive a new life the same as that given in the font. Amen. Remember my last conversation. There we saw that the believer must come out of the baptismal font zealous exclusively for pleasing God, with a readiness to do anything for the sake of that sacrifice. This heat of zeal for God, with love and self-sacrifice, constitutes such an integral feature of Christian life that whoever has it lives, and whoever does not have it is either dead or frozen and asleep. This is the seed of life and together the life force. It is the fruit of the combination of grace and freedom. Man completely surrenders himself to God's guidance; grace, having come, receives it, fulfills it, combines with it, and from this hidden treasury of life comes a man of renewal (1 Pet. 2:9), zealous for good works (Titus 2:14), chosen to be holy and blameless before God in love (Eph. 1:4). When adults are baptized, they really become such immediately after baptism, for they immediately, on their own behalf, represent all the necessary dispositions of the heart to be combined with grace. Regarding those who are baptized as infants, the Divine economy of our salvation has deigned to establish such an order that everything that depends on the grace of God for the beginning of Christian life in us is given immediately, and renewal is accomplished by grace; that which depends on our freedom is postponed until age, until the first confession and communion, when a person self-consciously and self-willingly surrenders himself to grace - and then the renewal, which was previously accomplished as if independently of him, by grace alone, is assimilated to his person and begins to take place together with grace and freedom. Then he, too, becomes a strong zealot for Christian pleasing God, through the grace of God, exclusively with complete self-sacrifice. Everyone knows that up to this moment, so decisive in life, everything almost depends on parents and successors, and then on them, and on our freedom; further - and from those diverse combinations in life into which an incomprehensible combination of circumstances puts everyone. From the impact of all these influences on our consciousness and freedom and from how we use them, it turns out that for some it is all light, for others it is all darkness, for others it is neither light nor darkness... What I mean by this is that some, after a wonderful childhood and adolescence, having come to consciousness, love Christianity with a strong love and are zealous for it unswervingly, ascending from strength to strength and striving to achieve the fulfillment of Christ in the measure of their age; others soon deviate from the Lord into the path of passions, into slavery to the spirit of the world and its prince, and live in oblivion of God and ungodly orders; Still others do not know who they belong to - either Christ or the world: outwardly they participate in all the orders of Christian life, but turn their thoughts and hearts to another area and place their joy, pleasure and happiness in other objects - these are Christians who do not have the spirit of Christ! Their concern is not about the Lord, but about one thing: how to live peacefully and comfortably on earth, among all the orders into which the random situation of temporary life places them, without, however, revealing themselves to be alien to the Christian order and without declaring themselves to be outspoken fighters against God and Christ. So, if, turning back, we want to conscientiously determine what we are in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom we exclusively served in holy baptism, then some will turn out to be zealous lovers of the Lord and Christian life; others - devoted to the world and passions, Christ-fighters; still others are outward Christians with peace-loving hearts. Which of these should I address now? The first ones do not require a word. We can only, following them, glorify the Lord and please them... Blessed are you, having heeded the calling of the Lord!.. You walk in the light of His face and rejoice in His name at every hour, crying out: my heart disappears in You, O God, God of my heart and my God! Why extend a word to the latter when they are not here and never are?.. They have completely strayed onto the path of destruction. We can only regret them and pray. So, my word comes to you, external Christians, without the spirit of Christ, without a heart completely devoted to the Lord, without zeal for pleasing Him alone!.. Or not to you alone, but to us together, for I am the first from you. What will we tell ourselves! Ah, brothers, let us force ourselves to rise to a feeling of fear for ourselves and our eternal fate... Think about what all the true lovers of God say about us, both those who are still here on earth and those who are already in Heaven. What else can they say other than the following: these are people who, it seems, are from us, but are not ours. It seems simple, but what a terrible word! For if we are not theirs, then they are not ours and nothing more than theirs is ours. It became not our Christ, not ours, all His promises, not our paradise and eternal bliss. And if it’s not ours, we ourselves know that it must be ours... You see, what a disaster! Meanwhile, look around... everything here is almost Christian... Christian orders, Christian concepts, Christian speeches, many Christian rules and deeds!.. What is missing?.. A Christian heart is missing. It is directed in the wrong direction... its goodness is not in God, but in itself and in the world, and its paradise is not in Heaven, but on earth. What is missing is this strong, like death, zeal for pleasing God and salvation. It’s as if we fell asleep and froze... and we move as the flow of life moves us. Let us arouse this jealousy in ourselves... for who will do this except us?! We ourselves have become attached to the world, but we ourselves will tear ourselves away from it. Let us go into your heart - cold, careless and careless - and begin in a friendly manner to persuade it to come to its senses at last, to shake off the bonds of passions and peace, which have been self-imposed, and to strive for the Lord. Let us say to the soul this: you were created in the image and likeness of God. The infinite God was so pleased to arrange you so as to shine in you with His perfections, like the sun shines in a small drop of water, and to be visible in you and to you, and to everyone who sees you, earthly and heavenly. And you turned away from God and turned to the world, took on his vile image, and therefore began to wear the bestial likeness of the prince of this age. Remember your great and incomparable first nobility, regret your present disgrace and turn to the Lord to be renewed in the image of the One who created you. God is looking for you and, searching, surrounds you with all His mercies and care: your life is His, and everything you need for life is His - light, air, food, clothing, shelter, and everything that is in you and you is His. And what else is this? For your sake, He descended from Heaven, suffered, died on the Cross, resurrected, ascended to Heaven, sent the Holy Spirit and established the Church on earth, in which He combined everything necessary for your salvation, and, most importantly, by the way of birth and the order of your external life, He introduced you into this treasury of spiritual blessings!.. You see how much love! And for all this He demands from you one heart of yours. And a drop of water, warmed by the sun, rises up... Why are you hesitating to turn to the Lord, warmed on all sides by the warmth of His love?! Don’t you see, everyone around is coming to the Lord, the poor, the ignorant, and the unlearned. Why are you standing there, allowing everyone to precede you into the Kingdom? Like you're worse than others? Are you affected by what?!. Are you deprived of something that is given to everyone?!. Why are you standing there?! Move, hasten, before the door is closed and opened to receive all those who turn now. Why are you standing? Turn to the Lord and begin to work diligently for Him... Time flies... the forces grow old, become coarse and approach immobility in their wrong direction. Meanwhile, today and tomorrow is death. See that you don’t remain completely in this ossified coldness towards the Lord. Remember the terrible end, when God will finally turn away from those who do not turn to Him, will reject those who reject Him, and be moved by fear to rush to the Lord. Seek the Lord! God or the world... there is no middle ground. Or are you sleeping so carelessly that you don’t see anything?!! Everything is there - nothing here; there is truth - here is a ghost; there is peace - here there are painful worries; there is contentment - here there is unceasing languor; there is joy and joy - here there is only sorrow and anguish of the heart. You know all this, you have experienced it all, and yet you remain in the same bustle of mind and heart... Do you want to establish heaven on earth?.. For the eighth thousand already, the lovers of peace are running out of means to establish heaven on earth... And not only is there no success, on the contrary, everything is going for the worse... You won’t have time either, but will only be exhausted, chasing after the illusory good of the world, like children chasing a fleeing rainbow. With such and similar speeches, we will persuade our soul to love the Lord, to turn completely to Him... to finally become decisively jealous of our salvation. Will the same thing happen to us that happens to balloons... Being filled with gas, the finest element, with what speed they rush upward! Let us also fill our souls with heavenly truths and convictions. They will penetrate into the heart, attract desires, and there they will direct our entire being to Heaven and everything heavenly. However, what soul does not know all this? We all know that we must belong exclusively to the Lord in our hearts and turn everything towards pleasing Him alone - both small and great. But when we need to get down to business - to renounce everything - we begin to use various excuses in order to remain with our passions... “Where are we! - they say. “This high life belongs only to the chosen ones... But we - at least somehow... Whoever is chosen is especially called... Here is the Apostle Paul... and others, like him, apparently called...” To this I will say this: didn’t these chosen ones themselves go at the call of the Lord? Were they bound, as it were, attracted by grace? They heard the word, submitted and rushed to the Lord... Even though there are special chosen ones... and everything is special for them. But there is also a common path for everyone... We will follow this common path... In general, we are all chosen. As soon as the word of truth has touched our ears, it means that we are chosen... the Lord calls us, and we are unresponsive if we do not follow Him. Look how others treated... One heard: “Do not hide treasures on earth for yourselves” - and left everything... Another read: “A man is troubled in vain! treasures, and I don’t know who will collect them” - he left vanity and entered on a solid path of pleasing God. The third looked at the crucifix with the inscription: “This is what I did for you; what are you doing for Me?..” - and surrendered to the Lord with all my heart... What is this, are all extraordinary callings?! Yes, every day we hear and read a thousand such truths... Can we consider ourselves uncalled after this?.. No, brethren, it is not a calling, but a matter for us. How were these converts converted? They realized that there is no life except in the Lord, and they changed their unlike life. This should be the case for everyone. Internal change, or turning point, depends on conscientiousness in relation to the conscious truth. And this conscientiousness is always from us... if we apply it, we will overcome ourselves... No outsider will enter the inner sanctuary of the heart... There, everything is decided by a person with his conscience and consciousness... Let us stand within ourselves before the face of God and, having more vividly reproduced everything that God wants, and having realized the inevitability and urgency of that for salvation, let us place this covenant in our hearts: from now on I will begin to belong to the Lord with all my heart and to Him alone to work with all my strength... And our election will be accomplished, for election is the combination of our determination with the calling of God. “The Lord is near”... He comes to everyone and pokes at everyone’s heart, won’t anyone open it? If the heart is a closed vessel, who is to blame?! The fault is our lack of conscientiousness towards the learned truth. If it weren’t for this, everyone would always be directed towards the Lord. And how much is required?! After all, we are not completely alienated from the Lord. Only pleasing Him is not in the first place for us... is not our main business, but rather an afterthought. Our business is to please people and worldly customs. Now put pleasing the Lord in first place and rearrange everything else according to the demands of this single goal... and your inner mood will change... Everything will remain the same... only your heart will become new. That's it! Is this too much?! I would like to tell you much more about the same things, but I see that I have tired you... You can tell your soul the rest yourself... For who, besides ourselves, will help the Lord take possession of our hearts?.. Oh, if only we would submit to Him and surrender our hearts to Him... and face to face we would contemplate Him in ourselves, and everyone would revolve in His light, around Him... as all the luminaries, turned to Him and illuminated by Him, rotate around the sun... making up their own special harmonious choir! Amen. “To the teacher, what will I inherit after creating an eternal belly?” (Luke 10:25) This is how a lawyer once asked the Lord! And he questioned the Lord, tempting Him, as if curious only what the Teacher would say, for he himself knew what answer should be made to this. But you can ask about the path to salvation and not out of empty curiosity, but out of a sincere desire to receive a direct answer to it - unknown or forgotten, ask out of deep need, because the soul hurts and the heart is tormented by perplexity - what, having created the eternal life, will we inherit? Such painful bewilderment is all the more natural the more uncertain the sphere of thoughts surrounding the questioners, and the more differences of opinion they encounter in human writings and speeches. And is this not the situation we find ourselves in today? Look around and you will see that those who are from us say more than one thing. Another, for example, says: pray, and the Lord will save; another - cry, be distressed, and God will not humiliate you; third - do alms, and it will cover many sins; that one - fast and sneak into the house of God; and this one - abandoned everything and went away, running and settled in the desert. That's how many different answers we have! And these are all truths, saving rules, which you will inevitably encounter on the path of salvation. As for those who consider themselves to be from us, but have ceased to be ours - I mean Christians who have been carried away by the spirit of the age and superstition - to those who, having appropriated to themselves several sound concepts borrowed from Christianity, and having dreamed a lot about themselves, have left us and separated in heart from Christ the Lord, although they still confess Him with their tongues; As for them, there is even more sad and painful disagreement between them, which has deviated from the path of truth and wandered at the crossroads of lies. Have you yourself either heard during a conversation or read in a book how others speculate about the order of things that should be in their minds, instead of the one that now exists? There is no mention of saving the soul here. Eternal bliss, if it is allowed, is considered already possessed, as it were, according to some rights of humanity, and all concern is directed at how, in addition to this, we can sweeten earthly life and transform it from sorrowful to heavenly. In this spirit, another proclaims: do not trust anything except your mind, follow the instincts of your nature, be independent, live for your own pleasure and do not allow someone else’s hand to lie on your neck - and you will be happy; another preaches: where there are no public entertainments, theaters and the like, there life is not life. There you hear: you can’t go the straight road, you need the ability to live - the ability to conduct business in such a way as not to lose your interest and not allow others to notice your plans, intentions and feelings (they call this prudence...); It says here that if you don’t defend your honor and dignity, you will perish. Do you notice how gloomy all this is! And yet, it constitutes, one might say, the basis of the customs of the world and it can be found circulating freely in simple conversation, and in a large meeting, and in a printed book - more than one. Imagine now what must happen in the mind and heart of your friend, and sometimes, perhaps, your daughter and your son, when in one, another, third place they are met with similar speeches, when in one book they read such thoughts, in another and a third even worse - and this is not one day or month, but whole years; when, moreover, around them they see customs imbued with the same spirit, and here in their heart, tempted by temptations, whimsical thoughts arise that shake their good mood - imagine that all these varied impressions - at one time - will gather in a young, and perhaps not young, soul - that then the heart should feel, especially the heart that has not yet forgotten the Lord and treasures the word of truth that came from lips of the Divine? I hear from the depths of this heart a cry emanating, similar to the cry of the apostles, frightened by the storm, and Peter, who began to drown: Lord! Save me, I'm dying. God! What can I do to be saved? Mothers and fathers! Can you hear this scream? Don't think I got carried away. No! I deliberately wanted to find out how natural it is, especially now, to ask about the path to salvation, or about the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. And I am sure that if the Lord were here now among us, then all those who seek lasting good and see how the current spirit, the current teaching, the current order contradict each other, all of these with one voice would turn to the Lord, first of all, with the question: Lord! What shall we do that we may inherit eternal life? What can we do to be saved? But, brethren, the Lord is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Then He ordered the Jew to look for the answer in the law: “What is written in the law, how do you read it?” Nowadays He would command a Christian, without a doubt, to turn to the Holy Gospel - in general to the New Testament teaching or to the Church of God - and would ask him: what is contained here, as you understand? It is obvious that the Lord, having drawn the Jew’s attention to the law, wanted to inspire him: there is no need for you to ask, the path of salvation is spelled out in the law; do this and you will be saved. That is why the law was given to lead you to salvation. The same should be said to Christians, who are shaken by the perplexities inspired on them: there is no need for you to ask! Christianity is the only path to salvation. Be true Christians and you will be saved. What is the use of the Holy Church, what are the dogmas and commandments, what are the holy sacraments, our fasts, vigils, prayers, consecrations, and so on? All this, or all the contents of the Holy Church, is the right path to salvation. He who heartily accepts and diligently fulfills everything that the Holy Church commands is not outside the path of salvation. Therefore, if this is in us, then this is not the place for us to question, but to glorify; not to look for where salvation is, but to accept it ready-made, presented to us or encompassing us; with all our strength to give glory, honor and worship to the Lord, who saves us in His holy Church. What, that is, should we create? It is sacred to honor and unswervingly follow all the teachings, statutes and decrees of the Holy Church, without listening to any empty speculations of newfangled philosophy, which seeks to destroy everything without creating anything. I think that in our minds it is still unclear - what exactly needs to be done to be saved? Now I will answer you in a few words: believe in everything that the Holy Church commands you to believe, and, receiving the powers of grace through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites, prayers and institutions of the Holy Church, follow steadily the path of the commandments proclaimed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of lawful shepherds - and you will be saved. I will postpone a detailed disclosure of this until another time and will conclude my word with the prayer that the Lord will grant you light and reason, so that you will know Him and clearly understand the path of salvation, brought by Him to earth and established in the Church and which has already led so many holy people to heaven - so that you too will not be deprived of this good aspiration. Amen. From the past conversation we have left behind us an explanation of one rather important point. We told you that even now, with the great difference of opinion among the people around us, it is natural to ask: Lord! What, having created an eternal life, will we inherit? God! What can we do to be saved? We also said that such a question is unnecessary for a Christian living in the bosom of Christ’s Church, according to the spirit of Christianity; because Christianity is the only path to the Eternal Kingdom, or the path to salvation, paved by God on earth. Why should anyone walking along this saving path ask about the path to salvation? Be a true Christian and you will be in heaven; Be a true Christian and you will be saved. But perhaps it is not clear to everyone what it means to be a true Christian or what exactly in Christianity is offered as an integral condition of salvation and at the same time as a decisive sign that someone is going to eternal life, and not to destruction. The explanation of this point is left to us. Then we answered this with a general statement - now we will explain this in more detail, taking as our guide a comparison of the path to salvation with the ordinary path. Anyone who is about to set out on a journey, in order to successfully complete his journey, needs to know this path, know its direction and longitude, as well as everything that may be encountered along its length; and during the procession itself one must see both him and what he is surrounded by. Likewise, a Christian who wants to achieve the eternal life must know the path leading to it, and everything in contact with it, everything that is above it, and around it, and in front of it - it is necessary to illuminate the mental atmosphere with a collection of sound concepts about everything that exists and happens, it is necessary to know: what is God? What is this world, how does it stand and where is it going? What are we, why are we here and what awaits us beyond the grave? How should we behave in relation to everything around us: to the Supreme Being - God, to our brothers - humans and to the invisible world - angels and saints? He who knows all this walks in the light; but he who does not know this sits in darkness, and if he decides to walk, he will stumble, because the darkness blinds his eyes. And only Christianity disperses this darkness, giving correct answers to all this in its teaching. It teaches that God, worshiped in the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - having created everything with His one word, contains everything with the verb of His power and leads everything to His destiny, moreover, he watches over man and, having fallen, prenaturally restores him in Christ the Savior, admonishing him with revelations and guiding the commandments that define all his obligatory relationships and constitute the actual path that he should follow. go. The totality of all these concepts is the light that shows us the path and illuminates it. So, learn the Orthodox Christian teaching and hold it with all your heart - and you will see the path to the Kingdom, and everything surrounding this path, and everything that can be encountered in its continuation. This is the first one. But even if someone knows the way, and this path is illuminated, what is the use of this knowledge if there is no strength to walk along it? A sick, weakened, legless person, lying along the path along which it is necessary to go - and it is so necessary that if he does not go, he will die - he will only be more distressed by the fact that he knows and sees this path. We would have been in this position if the Lord, having enlightened us with the light of knowledge, had not given us the strength to follow the instructions of this light; for we cannot walk on our own, we have no strength, we are weakened, broken. But don't be embarrassed! “All... Divine powers... even for life and godliness” have already been prepared for us by the Lord, who called “us into His wonderful light” (2 Pet. 1:3), and they are given to every believer in the holy sacraments of the Church, given unenviously, in such abundance as anyone wishes and can contain. Baptism revives, confirmation strengthens, holy communion most sincerely unites with the Lord Jesus Christ, holy repentance raises up the fallen, who falls again after baptism, and so on. Every sacrament gives a special Divine power that a person needs on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven... So, knowing the sacraments contained in the Church, be a partaker of them as often as possible, with faith and according to the entire rite established in the holy Church of God - and the Divine powers needed to complete the path to the Kingdom of Heaven will never become scarce in you. This is the second one. But along the way, your strength may weaken and deplete, you may encounter temptations and hobbies. From the first the procession must stop; from the second - take the wrong direction; the end of both is destruction. How can this be? We need to renew our strength and weed out temptations and hobbies. What do you need for this? One thing is to unswervingly fulfill all the decrees of the Church and all its rites - sacred, prayerful and sanctifying. And here's why! In the holy sacraments we accept the grace of the Holy Spirit, like a Divine spark falling into our nature. Just as in order for a spark that fell into a substance to turn into a flame, air and the movement of this air are necessary, so a kind of atmosphere and movement of this atmosphere is necessary and in order for the spark of Divine grace, received by us in the sacraments, to penetrate into our nature and turn into a flame - this atmosphere constitutes our churchness: all the rites of sacred rites, prayers and the following of the Church, surrounding a person in all positions; and the movement of this atmosphere is the unceasing succession of the Church’s sacred rites one after another and the continuous participation of man in one or the other. Here we mean daily services: vespers, matins, liturgy, church holidays, processions of the cross, prayers for various occasions - in homes and churches, travel to holy places, and most of all, holy fasts with fasting and communion of the Holy Mysteries. The more diligently one participates in all these rites, the stronger and stronger the spark of grace will flare up in him until it turns into a flame that consumes his entire composition - mental and physical. Whoever acts this way will never run out of strength, he will never lose courage on the path and will not fall into carelessness. This same method is given to us in order to weed away from ourselves the lures and entertainments of the world. He who lives according to the rules of the Church, as if hidden behind a fence, is not afraid of its temptations. Churchliness is, as it were, a funeral service and a chastisement from the darkness produced by the breath of the worldly spirit. If this infection affects anyone, run to church and everything will go away; or be unswervingly faithful to the instructions of the Church - and the world will not find an opportunity to attack you; for everything that is in the world is also in our Church, only in its purest and most divine form... There are festivities there - we have holy holidays; there are balls - we have church services; there are theaters - we have divine rites. Everyone compare what is best, and do not get carried away by empty bait and do not abandon what is essential, fruitful and nutritious for its sake. So, live like a church, and you will live as if in a spiritual atmosphere and fence, and your strength will never weaken in you to continue your journey, and no bait will draw you to crossroads. This is the third. So as not to tire you, I will briefly tell you the fourth. There may be obstacles along the way that you won’t know how to overcome; nets may be laid that you cannot avoid; There may be combinations of paths in which you cannot figure out where to go; a cloud may come, which will completely hide the path and frighten you with thunder and lightning - who then should you turn to? What should I do? Who will help in all such cases? Angels from Heaven? But they appear only in emergency circumstances, leaving the usual course of affairs to our existing order. So who will help? Shepherds are spiritual fathers, who were given to the Church, according to the Apostle, in order to prevent Christians from being perplexed and to lead everyone steadily along the path to the eternal life, teaching everyone to come “to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). So, be submissive to the leadership of the spiritual fathers - and you will avoid crossroads and stumbling blocks on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, and you will soon and safely flow to the gates of heaven. This is all that Christianity offers us about the path of salvation: 1) to know and maintain Christian teaching, which communicates sound concepts about all things and indicates the very path to the Kingdom - in the commandments; 2) to be under the influence of the holy sacraments of the Church, through which strength is bestowed, even to life and piety; 3) participate in all sacred ceremonies, prayers and rites of the Church, as prescribed by the charter, in order to thereby kindle within oneself the spark of God’s grace and recapture the charm of the world; 4) entrust oneself to the leadership of legal shepherds and spiritual fathers and obey their leadership instructions. So, learn and hold in your heart everything that the Holy Church teaches, and, receiving the powers of grace through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of lawful shepherds - and you will undoubtedly reach the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved. Amen. In the past conversation, we reached the following conclusion: learn and hold in your heart everything that the Holy Church teaches, and, receiving Divine powers through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites and prayers of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of legitimate shepherds - and you will undoubtedly achieve the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved. And this is the answer, the direct and only answer to every questioner: what, having created the eternal life, will we inherit? All those who were saved were saved in this way and not in another way, and all those who are now being saved are saved in one way and not in another way. There is nothing more to say about this. But I am afraid that there is no one among you who judges this wrongly? Doesn’t anyone think that not everything that has been said is equally necessary or that not everything is necessary for everyone - that perhaps you can do without some things without thereby detracting from your salvation, others can be left to your own devices, not being necessary for everyone. Therefore, I find myself forced to explain to you that everything we have said, that is, the sound teaching of the faith, walking according to the commandments, receiving the sacraments, participating in all the prayers of the Church and the guidance of legitimate shepherds - all this is essential in the work of salvation, so that only there salvation is accomplished, where everything is together; Where anything is lacking, the work of salvation is exposed to great danger and spoiled. For what salvation can one expect who does not contain the true teachings of the faith and the Church and thinks incorrectly either about God, the world and man, or about our present state of corruption, or about the method of our restoration, which is one, or about death and our future fate, or about any dogma, when the Lord Himself says that if anyone rejects His “word” “in this adulterous and sinful generation,” he also will be rejected before the Father His own, Who is in Heaven (Mark 8:38)? And whoever the Lord rejects, where is his place? Already, probably, not in the Kingdom of Heaven. But there are people who say: believe as you want, just live well and do not be afraid of anything, as if you can live well without having sound concepts about the objects communicated by true faith. Don't be flattered, brothers! The composition of true life includes not only behavior, but also a sound way of thinking, so whoever lacks the latter should not be said to have lived a healthy and good life. On the other hand, to live well means to live pleasing to God; Godly life is all led according to the will of God, and one of the first definitions of God’s will regarding us is to believe in Him Whom He sent, that is, in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Divine teaching. This means that the one who says: Believe as you want, just live well, when truly believing is a commandment, is like a person who himself destroys the foundation on which he wants to build a house, or like someone who wants to cross a river in a boat, which he deliberately breaks under himself. What kind of salvation can one expect for someone who violates any of God’s commandments, for example: the commandment of truth or mercy, abstinence or hard work, purity or non-covetousness, marital fidelity or any other, belittling the severity of his sins with some kind of misinterpretation, for example: nature attracts, the heart demands; or trying to hide their ugly appearance from the conscience with some visible, not entirely difficult deeds of piety, for example: going to churches, arranging valuable icons and lighting lamps? What kind of salvation, I say, do you expect from such people, when it is directly said that if you want to “take it into your life, keep the commandments” (1 John 3:23; Matt. 19:17)? That the unrighteous, no matter what kind they may be, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9)? Of course, external works of piety are needed, and essential, in the matter of salvation, but not alone: ​​it is also necessary to fulfill all the other commandments of God. “It is fitting to do these things,” says the Lord, “and not forsake them” (Matthew 23:23). Just like walking without legs or flying without wings, it is impossible to reach the Kingdom of Heaven without fulfilling the commandments. How is it that others arbitrarily plan to work out their salvation on their own, not accepting Divine powers, even to life and piety, through the holy sacraments and without warming them up with the sacred rites and prayers of the Church? I have already explained that we, the fallen, are weak and cannot take a step on the good path without special grace-filled help; that this grace is accepted in the holy sacraments and, when accepted, is at first like a small spark, which is then kindled to a flame by active participation in all the rites of God’s holy Church. All this is clear by itself, and is recognized by one’s own experience, and is testified by everyone. But there are people who say: all this churchliness is needed for the simple, but for those who understand the matter, mental, spiritual or heartfelt service to God is enough. Blessed are you, simple souls, who unquestioningly accept everything and willingly obey every voice of the Church! You are like trees planted by the springs of water, which yield their fruit in its season. And those who understand the matter - in their own way, of course - are spiritually similar to skinny blades of grass growing on dry, rocky or sandy soil and showing barely weak signs of life within themselves; or even worse: they are like seeds that are still buried in the depths of the earth, not yet frozen or frozen. Imagine rain, snow, stormy weather in the yard, and put a man in the open air in such weather, not covered, as he should, with clothes - how long will he live? Those who shun the sacraments and all our life-giving churchliness find themselves in exactly these circumstances. Such people are pathetic! Selfishness and selfishness eat away at their bones. Finally, the Lord chose the apostles, the apostles handed over their work to the bishops, appointing presbyters to work with them. All of them together constitute the divinely established shepherd in the Church, whose job is to elevate everyone into a perfect husband, “according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), sanctifying with the sacraments, warming with sacred rites, and, moreover, guiding with advice in the multi-disciplined flow towards spiritual perfection. And thank the Lord that this is so! We are blind; Just as a blind man needs a guide, so we need a pointer to the path to the Kingdom of God - in many cases we need a person who, as it were, took us by the hand and led us out of the confusion of thoughts and feelings into which the enemy and our own lack of understanding sometimes plunges us. Don’t say that the leader of all is the word of God - we ourselves will read and see what is needed. The Word of God contains general instructions for everyone, and what exactly I need and in my circumstances must be explained to me by another - a living, experienced voice. Without this, I must wander along the crossroads and be in constant danger. And this is why we need the help of prudent pastoral advice. How is it that to others, and perhaps not a small number, it seems that they have no other obligatory relationship with their shepherd, except for an invitation, if necessary, to perform a sacrament or some other sacred rite? Such people forget that “if there is no government, like leaves fall, but salvation is in much counsel” (Prov. 11:14). From all that has been said, the same conclusion emerges again as before: if you want salvation, find out and hold in your heart everything that the Holy Church teaches, and, receiving Divine powers through the sacraments and warming them up through all the sacred rites and prayers of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of lawful shepherds - and you will undoubtedly achieve the Kingdom of God and be saved. All this is essential in the work of salvation; it is all necessary in its entirety and for everyone. Whoever does not accept or allow one thing, there is no salvation for him - he will not heal his infirmities and will not avoid illnesses. The Church of God is a healer, containing in its structure medicine, healing all our spiritual illnesses. The components of this healing are: Orthodox teaching, life according to the commandments, the sacraments with the sacred rites of the Church and the guidance of pastors. Just as in bodily illnesses healing is healing only when it is composed of all the substances indicated in the recipe, so in our spiritual illnesses healing can take place in us only when we accept all the elements that are part of the only help of prudent pastoral advice. How is it that to others, and perhaps not a small number, it seems that they have no other obligatory relationship with their shepherd, except for an invitation, if necessary, to perform a sacrament or some other sacred rite? Such people forget that “if there is no government, like leaves fall, but salvation is in much counsel” (Prov. 11:14). From all that has been said, the same conclusion emerges again as before: if you want salvation, find out and hold in your heart everything that the Holy Church teaches, and, receiving Divine powers through the sacraments and warming them up through all the sacred rites and prayers of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of lawful shepherds - and you will undoubtedly achieve the Kingdom of God and be saved. All this is essential in the work of salvation; it is all necessary in its entirety and for everyone. Whoever does not accept or allow one thing, there is no salvation for him - he will not heal his infirmities and will not avoid illnesses. The Church of God is a healer, containing in its structure medicine, healing all our spiritual illnesses. The components of this healing are: Orthodox teaching, life according to the commandments, the sacraments with the sacred rites of the Church and the guidance of pastors. Just as in bodily illnesses healing is healing only when it is composed of all the substances indicated in the recipe, so in our spiritual illness healing can take place in us only when we accept all the elements that are part of our only spiritual healing - Christianity, or the Church. Take away any element from physical healing - it will no longer have its effect. Do not accept anything that is inevitably part of Christianity, or the Church, and you will deprive yourself of the healing that is so necessary for you, and, consequently, you will remain in the same unhealed, destructive state - you will not be saved and will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen. Having previously discussed the path to salvation, we learned that whoever wants to save his soul needs to know and sacredly maintain the Divine teaching of the holy faith, it is necessary, moreover, to receive Divine powers through the holy sacraments and warm them up through all church sacred rites and then, with their help, walk the path of God’s commandments, under the guidance of lawful shepherds. We also saw how necessary all this is, and how necessary everything is in its entirety, so that in vain will he flatter himself with the hope of salvation if he arbitrarily rejects any of these elements that bring about salvation. Turning now to ourselves - to the order of life that reigns among us, what do we find? We find that all this is already operating in our circle, that we are not deprived of the lawful, divinely established shepherdhood, by which saving sacraments are performed for us with all sacred rites, the holy faith is preached and the commandments of God are interpreted; that, therefore, we have all the means to life and piety, or we live in a saving, so to speak, atmosphere. Salvation is so close to us that we can almost touch it. How bitter it will be for us if, at that hour when the dignity of each of us is decided, we find ourselves undone in our salvation! Thinking about this, you again cannot resist the question: what will we create? What shall we do with these divine means for salvation, so that we may be saved? 1. Let us thank the Lord, who has been so kind to us; let us thank him for the fact that as soon as we are born, we already enter into a saving environment and find ourselves ready with everything necessary for salvation and, before we come to consciousness, we are already rushing along the path of salvation - the general flow of those being saved. Just as in visible nature the smallest insect, when born, finds everything necessary for its existence around itself, so the Lord surrounds us with warm care, as soon as we are born, and then continues it until the end of our lives. From the cradle, our mother Church still takes us into her arms - revives us to a new life, nourishes and protects us on all our paths and does not retreat from us until she lowers us into the grave with a soothing prayer for those who remain and a powerless prayer for those who have departed: “in the blessed dormition, grant eternal peace, Lord, to the deceased servant (” or: “to the deceased servant).” What deserves all this? Nothing. There are many peoples who do not know the true path. Those who are born among them must strive hard to seek this path, and will they still find it? And we enter it without any effort on our part, we find it without looking. Why is this so? Only God knows that. But in every possible way, in this action of Divine providence one cannot help but see God’s special favor towards us. Let us thank the Lord for all this, who has provided so kindly for us! Let us give thanks for this and for the very conviction that we possess truly saving means; for in connection with this conviction there is another conviction - in God’s special closeness to us, in the fact that the one true God is our God and we are His people. And nothing can be higher than this good on earth. 2. Hearing this, not one of you may be ready to exclaim, as if already perceiving salvation: My Lord and my God! But do not forget, brothers, the word of the Lord: “Not everyone says to Me: Lord, Lord! will enter into the Kingdom" of God (Matthew 7:21). Here comes the question again: what else will we create? This is what we will do. With all our thoughts, with all our hearts and with all our strength, let us surrender ourselves to this Divine dispensation for our salvation, namely: a) let us maintain an “unshakable conviction” in the truth of this dispensation of salvation and its urgent necessity for everyone in general. Ah, brothers! Conquer the temptation of your mind and the superstitious wisdom of others that reaches your ears. Do not give in to doubts and do not allow the peace of your faith to be shaken by daring and proud questioning: “what is this for” and “why is this for?” It would be better “this way” or “that way”. Avoid these temptations. We are not the first. How many have already been saved this way?! We are sick, we are being treated. Does the doctor explain why he treats the patient this way and not differently? Let us remain silent and humbly submit to everything, as God’s dispensation; b) and not just this; Let us also apply “sympathy” to this entire dispensation, that is, we will set ourselves up in such a way that our heart finds pleasure in the worthy reception of the Holy Mysteries, and in all divine services and sacred rites, and in listening to the preaching of the truths of God, and in attention to the guidance and advice of pastors, and in any general matter prescribed by the law of God. Whoever has sympathy for something is drawn there. He who has sympathy for the works of salvation strives for them. If anyone has sympathy for something else, he runs to that. This is why it happens that while some are in a hurry to go to church, others are going to the theatre, to a ball or a party... But you yourself know what to expect from these latter? Translate your heart from these vain places to the joyful region of God and there you will find delight and the fullness of heart contentment. Where the treasure is, says the Lord, there the heart is also. It became where the heart is, there is the treasure. What kind of treasures does the world offer? And are they worth desecrating the heart, predestined to be the abode of God?! No one would have thought that it was possible to combine both! No, you can't. Our heart is one and simple, so where it is, everything is already there, and in anything else it is no longer there, and it cannot be there. Therefore, whoever is in the world with a heart is in the Church without a heart. And vice versa, whoever is in the Church with a heart is in the world without a heart. Somewhere it is inevitable to be without a heart. And without a heart - what kind of life is this! In the world it is good to be without a heart, but in the Church of God to be without a heart means to be a hypocrite in the eyes of God, before the all-seeing God. That’s why, in addition to everything written down, you must also add: c) “zealous, unforgiving and unmixed fulfillment of everything” that is required for salvation. There’s one thing, just one thing: if you want to be saved, stick to saving deeds; but if you don’t want to, as you want, just know that you cannot work for God and mammon. Let us decide, brethren, to walk firmly on the path of salvation, not deviating either on the right or the wrong way. Let us reject double-mindedness and straighten our lame legs! What can you say about a patient who lies in a good hospital, is treated by a good doctor, receives direct medicine against the disease and neglects all this - does not listen to the doctor, does not take medicine? What can you also say about someone who stands before a pure source, feels thirst and has the opportunity, even is forced, to quench it from this particular source and instead leaves it and runs to a river full of mud, reptiles and stench, and from there drinks water that does not quench his thirst? Of course, you won't approve of either one. But won’t we pronounce this sentence on ourselves if, having all the means to salvation, we do not use them properly? And won’t God’s reproach apply to us: “I have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and dug up for myself treasures of brokenness, which are not able to contain water” (Jer. 2:13). So, brethren, thanks be to the Lord that, in His great mercy, He has brought His salvation so close to us. But let’s do our best! The path of salvation is indicated and made clear. He is in front of us. But still we will not be saved if we do not go this way! Look again at the entire structure of this path! We said: learn and maintain the teaching of faith and, receiving power through the sacraments, follow the path of the commandments, under the guidance of shepherds. Here, the knowledge of faith and commandments, the sacraments with all the sacred rites and the guidance of shepherds constitute the organization of the path of salvation, which is outside of us. What is the main point of salvation? To follow this path. Let's go! “Behold, now is the time accepted; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Amen. While I was thinking of what to tell you at the end of our conversations about the path to salvation, a legend came to my mind that I read in one of the ancient fatherland books. It is very close to what we were talking about, and I do not consider it superfluous to convey it to you now in the form in which it is pictured in my head. One deep old man, who lived in a secluded desert, fell into despondency, and the darkness of his thoughts began to crush his soul, instilling in him bewilderment whether he was going the right way and whether there was any hope that his labors would finally be crowned with success. The elder sat with his head bowed. My heart ached, but my eyes did not shed tears. Dry grief tormented him. While he was so overcome with grief, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “Why are you troubled and why do thoughts enter your heart? You are not the first and you are not the last to follow this path. Many have already passed through it, many are coming, and many will pass through it to the bright abode of heaven. Go, I will show you the different paths that the sons of men walk, as well as where these paths lead. Look - and understand!” Obeying the angel's signal, the elder stood up and walked; but he barely took a few steps forward when he became beside himself and plunged into contemplation of the wondrous vision that opened to his intelligent eyes. He saw on his left side a thick darkness, like an impenetrable wall, inside which noise, alarm and confusion could be heard. Peering more carefully into the darkness, he saw a wide river along which the waves moved back and forth, right and left; and someone, every time a wave flashed before his eyes, seemed to clearly say in the elder’s ear: this is a wave of unbelief, carelessness, coldness; this is unmercifulness, debauchery, bribery; this is bliss, fun, envy, discord; and this is drunkenness, uncleanness, laziness, unfaithfulness of spouses, etc., etc.; and every wave turned a countless number of people before him, lifting them out of the river and again plunging them into its depths. In horror, the elder exclaimed: “Lord! Will all of these really perish and there is no hope of salvation for them?” The angel said to him: “Look further - and you will see the mercy and truth of God!” The old man looked at the river and saw it along its entire breadth and length covered with small boats, in which sat bright young men with all kinds of tools to save the drowning. They called everyone to them and shook hands with others, lowered poles and boards to others, threw ropes to others, and sometimes plunged hooks and hooks deep into the depths, would anyone grab hold of it? So what? Very few responded to their calling voice, and even fewer were those who properly used the instruments of salvation given to them. The majority rejected them with contempt and with some kind of wild pleasure plunged into this river, which emitted fumes, stench and fumes. The elder stretched his gaze into the distance of the river and at the end of it he saw the abyss into which it was cast. Young men in large numbers quickly swam in boats back and forth, at the very edge of the abyss, carefully giving help to everyone; but, despite this, every minute, at every point of the river, whole thousands of people, along with the river, were thrown into the abyss, from where only groans of despair and gnashing of teeth were heard. The elder covered his face and began to sob. And a voice came to him from Heaven: “It’s bitter, but who is to blame? Tell me, what else could I have done to save them that I would not have done? But they bitterly reject any help given to them. They will reject Me if I come to help them in the most bleak places of their suffering.” Having calmed down somewhat, the elder turned his eyes to the right side, to the bright east, and was consoled by a joyful vision. Those who, heeding the call of the bright young men, gave them a hand or grabbed some saving tool, were taken by them to the right bank. Here they were received by other persons, led into small slender buildings, scattered in large numbers along the entire length of the coast, where they were washed with clean water, clothed in clean clothes, girded, shod, given a staff and, having been strengthened with food, sent on their way - further to the east, commanding them not to look back, to walk without stopping, to look carefully at their feet and not to pass a single similar building without entering into it and not to strengthen oneself in it with food and advice from those to whose care these buildings are entrusted, as well as everyone who enters them. The elder ran his eyes along the shore and saw that along its entire length these redeemed ones were preparing to set off. Everyone's face showed joy and enthusiasm. It was clear that they all felt especially light and strong and, with some irresistibility, rushed along the path, the first stages of which were strewn with pleasant flowers. The elder then turned his gaze further to the east, and this is what was revealed to him! The pleasant meadow did not end far from the shore; Then the mountains began, lying in ridges in different directions. They walked, rising higher and higher and intersecting abysses, sometimes bare and rocky, sometimes covered with bushes and forests. Travelers and workers were visible everywhere along them. Another climbed a steep slope, another sat tired or stood in thought, another fought with a beast or a snake; one went directly to the east, and the other in an indirect direction, and the other cut transversely the paths of others; only everyone was in labor and sweat, in struggle and strain of strength, both mental and physical. A rare traveler always saw the road: often it completely disappeared or was fragmented into crossroads; in some places it was hidden by fog and darkness, in others it was cut off by an abyss or a steep cliff; there she was blocked by animals from the oak forest or poisonous reptiles from the gorges. But that's what's amazing! Scattered throughout the mountains were beautiful buildings, similar to those into which those rescued from the water were received for the first time. As soon as the traveler entered them, as he was commanded at the beginning, then, no matter how exhausted he was before that time, he came out of there cheerful and full of strength. Then the beasts and reptiles could not bear his gaze and fled from him; no obstacles stopped him for long, and he easily and quickly found a path that was hidden in some way according to the instructions he received in those buildings. Every time someone overcame an obstacle or defeated an enemy, he became stronger, taller and more stately; The higher one rose, the prettier and brighter he became. Towards the top of the mountain the area again became smooth and flowery; but those who entered it soon entered a bright cloud, or fog, from which they no longer emerged. The elder raised his eyes above this cloud and from behind it or from behind the mountain he saw a wonderful, indescribable beauty of light, from which sweet sounds came to him: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts!” The elder fell on his face in tenderness, and the word of the Lord rang loudly over him: “Be like this, that you may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). Rising to his feet again, the elder saw that from different heights of the mountain a considerable number of travelers in different places were quickly running back to the river, sometimes silently, sometimes screaming and blasphemous, abusive words. An appeal was addressed to each of them, both from above and from the sides: “Stop, stop!” But driven by some small murins, they did not heed caution and again plunged into the stinking river. Then the elder cried out in amazement: “Lord! What is this?” And I heard in response: “The fruit of arbitrariness and disobedience to the established order!” That was the end of the vision. The angel, showing him to the elder, finally asked him: “Are you comforted?” And the elder bowed to him to the ground. I think, brethren, there is no need to tell you much to interpret this vision. The river is the world; people immersed in it - living according to the spirit of the world, in passions, vices and sins; the bright young men in the boats are angels and, in general, grace calling for salvation; the abyss into which the river with people fell is destruction; a beautiful building on the right bank - the Church, where through the sacraments of repentance or baptism, converted sinners are washed from their sins, put on the garment of justification, girded with power from above and put on the path to salvation; climbing the mountain with different difficulties - different labors in cleansing the heart from passions; beasts and reptiles are enemies of salvation; smooth terrain towards the top - peace of the heart; a light cloud hiding travelers is a peaceful death; light from behind the mountain - blissful paradise; the buildings scattered throughout the mountain are churches of God. Whoever enters these buildings along the way, that is, receives the sacraments and participates in the sacred rites and prayers of the Church, uses the advice and guidance of pastors, he easily overcomes all obstacles and soon ascends to perfection. And whoever arbitrarily rejects them, not obeying the instructions and advice of the shepherds, soon falls, and the spirit of the world carries him away again. I consider it unnecessary to attach any admonition to this. I only beg you, brothers, be saved from this evil age! Amen. The one who has repented and entered the good path of salvation needs: 1) surrender yourself to the leader on this path; 2) impose rules on how to do what; 3) be ready for work and sorrow, for you have entered a narrow and regrettable path; 4) and in order to withstand everything, burn in spirit, or have ardent zeal for salvation and pleasing God. Just as a newborn child cannot live without a mother who cares for him, cherishes him, nurtures him, so a newborn in the spirit and a convert essentially needs a nurturer and nurturing, a leader and guidance for the first time. The need for a father-leader is self-evident. Anyone who begins to seek salvation cannot take on this matter himself or work out his own salvation according to his own understanding and desire, but from the very first time he must give himself over to someone for the science of this. He has entered on a new path, completely unknown to him - let him use the right guidance, and not stop at his own guesses. At first he walks as if in a fog or in some gloomy forest, and in the midst of nets - let him give his hand to the one who can lead him out of there and put him on the “spacious nose”. He is sick - how can you decide to treat yourself in the most subtle spiritual illnesses, when not only ordinary patients, but even doctors themselves do not treat their bodies? We can only learn what we are naturally born to do without learning; We usually learn arts and crafts: for example, writing, drawing, singing, and so on. But the work of salvation is the art of arts and the science of sciences - how can one do it without a teacher? Whoever acts in this way, at the very beginning of the path of salvation, admits the most destructive disposition in himself, namely: arrogance and self-confidence. True, “one... is” our “Teacher” the Lord (Matthew 23:8), and the Spirit of God always helps us in our weaknesses (Rom. 8:26), and His “anointing” “teaches” us “everything” (1 John 2:27), but the one who has just begun is in no way capable of such internal direct Divine guidance. There are times when it is inevitable to remain alone with him and the Lord does not shame the one who trusts. But cases of this kind should already be classified as extraordinary, miraculous. To dream of miracles in the ordinary order of things means to tempt God. The Lord, having appeared to the Apostle Paul, first sent him to Ananias (Acts 9:6), and then He Himself directly taught him (Gal.1:12), and this apostle, already taught by God, having entered the field of preaching, flows to the advice of other apostles, “let not... in vain,” he says, “I will flow or I will flow” (Gal. 2:2). The Lord can also educate through angels, as it was in our times in the American possessions; in ancient times, it often happened that angels brought instruction, food, and communion, as can be seen from the story of Saint Paphnutius about the four youths. But all this is the essence of the path to salvation, extraordinary guidance and upbringing, which is both ungodly and dangerous to expect for the reason that our enemy can take the form of a bright angel (2 Cor. 11:14). Therefore, one must adhere to the humblest part and submit to man for the sake of God, as to God. This path is justified by the experiences of all the saints who have shone like lights in the Christian firmament. The greatest saints of God have always used advice and guidance. Anthony the Great, Macarius of Egypt, Pachomius, Hilarion, Euthymius, Savva and the whole beginning of the work of their salvation believed in submitting themselves to their spiritual father and learned asceticism under his instruction. But they soon matured and improved without deviation or dangerous stumbling. On the contrary, the other path, personal in its own mind and heart, has always been considered a lost and disastrous path. How many striking experiences there were that the ascetic, as soon as he deviated from the leadership, immediately fell into delusion, was entangled by Satan and perished! St. John Cassian tells about Iron, an old man who spent fifty years in fasting, labor, vigils and prayer and surprised everyone with his severity, but then, precisely because he decided to remain with his own mind and will, he mistook Satan for an angel and, at his instigation, threw himself into an empty well at night in the hope that he would be taken in the arms of angels, and crashed so that on the third day after being pulled out of the well he died (interview 2, chapter 5). He also mentions the other two, who, of their own will and thought, rushed into the desert in the expectation that the Lord would nourish them there (ibid., Chapter 6). One of them, exhausted, saved himself by eating food given to him by the wild; and the other died, remaining here of his own free will. The same Cassian speaks of someone who received revelations from the demon, saw the light in his cell and was taught to sacrifice his son, which, however, did not come true (chapter 7); and also about a most active worker, whom the demon seduced into Judaism through dreams (chapter 8). A similar story is offered in the Prologue on the 9th day of January: a young ascetic willingly settled in a mountain cave, received revelations from a demon and believed him that he would be taken to Heaven, and would have died if grace had not preserved him and inspired him, although not with true disposition, to reveal this to the abbot. So, no one is more unhappy, no one is closer to destruction, who does not have a guide for himself on the path of God, especially who has barely fallen behind a bad way of life. Saint Dorotheos depicted this extensively and edifyingly in his word on this subject, which we can advise every aspirant to have with him and read often (see teaching 5). Saint Peter of Damascus, in his first book in the Philokalia, examines all people of all times, infinitely diverse in age, build, rank and condition, and finds among all of them, despite the difference to the contrary, those who are saved and those who perish. Thinking about this, he says, I was distressed in soul and in bewilderment asked to the point of exhaustion: what is the reason for this and what is the beginning of our salvation or destruction? He worked on this for a long time, searching with his mind for a correct solution, and this is the reasoning he found among the holy fathers: the beginning of all good and all evil is the mind given to man and the will according to reason. The beginning of salvation: let man leave his own wills and understandings and create God’s wills and understandings. Before the law, in the law and in grace, many are found saved, because they preferred the mind of God and His will over their own understandings and desires; and again, in all those times, many were found lost, because they preferred their own desires and understandings over God’s. The will of God (in particular cases) cannot be known otherwise than through reasoning, and reasoning is not one’s own, but confirmed by questioning those who have the gift of reasoning and those who are experienced. Only in this way will we find out what kind of activities God wants us to undergo. If this is not so, we cannot be saved in any way. Without this, even what we consider good does not happen for good, either because it is untimely or because it is not necessary. Also, Saint John Cassian, having proved that everything must be done with reasoning, in order to know what is true and from God reasoning and what false and feigned, devilish reasoning, speaks on behalf of Abba Moses: true reasoning does not come otherwise, if not from true humility, when not only what we want to do, but also what we think, we reveal to our fathers and we do not believe in anything of our own, but in Let us all follow the words of the elders, considering one thing good that they recognize as such. Such action not only enables a person to walk unharmed on the right path, but also keeps him safe from all the snares of the devil. For it is impossible for one who governs his life through the judgment and advice of those who have succeeded to fall from the delusion of demons, since by this very action of announcing and revealing evil thoughts to his fathers, he weakens them and makes them weaker. Just as a snake, brought from a dark hole into the light, tries to run away and hide, so evil thoughts, being revealed through confession and telling the fathers about them, run away from a person (interview 2, chapter 10). So great is the need and so innumerable the benefit of exposing oneself to the guidance of others, but not indiscriminately and to whom it happens. Many of the elders, as Saint Cassian also says, instead of benefiting, cause harm, instead of consolation, despair to those who ask, and this is justified by example. Saint Peter of Damascus says about himself that he himself suffered harm many times from those whom he asked. Why does he write: not everyone who is old in years is already capable of leadership, but who has entered dispassion and accepted the gift of reasoning. It is good not to hide your thoughts from your fathers, however, you should not tell them to everyone who happens to be, but to spiritual elders who have the gift of reasoning, wisdom, and not just those who have turned gray in years. Many, looking at one age of old age, revealed their thoughts and, instead of healing, due to the lack of skill of those who listened to them, fell into despair. Not everyone can lead, and this is not only due to their own lack of success and immaturity, but often due to the speed of maturity. Many, due to great simplicity and great heat of jealousy, very quickly pass through the first degrees and do not experience much. The inexperienced cannot even “help those who are tempted.” Moreover, reasoning is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, of which there are many, and not all are given to everyone, “but to everyone as God wills. The senses are trained in reasoning about good and evil, which are characteristic of everyone who has been purified, but to analyze all kinds of cases, to decide what is ordinary and extraordinary, and what can be allowed and what should be rejected—this can only be seen. In general, such lamps are formed by God and put to work by God. Look in the lives: the man of God strives in the labors of community life, goes into solitude, lives hidden from everyone; Finally it is said about him: the Lord revealed the light. The fit cannot hide; they begin to gather around him - and a crowded monastery is built; so with Anthony the Great, Savva the Sanctified, Anthony of Kiev-Pechersk, Sergius of Radonezh; so before, so now. From this it is clear that a true leader can only be one who has conquered the passions and through dispassion has become a vessel of the Holy Spirit, who teaches everything, or one who has passed the first degree and through the internal cross and crucifixion has perceived God or is perceived by Him and is acted and led by Him. Only such a person can be called an experienced, unpretentious, skillful, reliable leader. Saint John Climacus compares him to Moses in terms of boldness before God and with an angel in terms of purity and perfection in the spirit. Wanting to get out and escape from Egypt and from Pharaoh, truly we also need a certain Moses, an intercessor to God and according to God, who, standing in the midst of action and speculation, would raise his hands to God for us - so that those guided by him, having crossed the sea of ​​sin, that is, the passions, would put Amalek to flight. Those who are in delusion are those who, having placed their trust in themselves, imagine that they do not need a guide. Those who left Egypt had Moses as their guide, and those who escaped from Sodom had an angel. And some of them are like those who heal spiritual passions under the care of skilled doctors - like those who came from Egypt; others are like those who want to be stripped of the uncleanness of a distressed body, which is why they need to be assisted by an angel, or at least, I will say, someone equally angelic - for, due to the rottenness of the wounds, we need both a doctor and an ulcer healer (Homily 1, paragraph 7). What kind of leader a leader should be can be seen more fully in the same Saint John Climacus in his instructions to his abbot. There he is called a doctor, a helmsman, a teacher, a book written in the heart, having been taught and not from man, dispassionate, living in God, and so on. Apparently, that is, that he must be from those who have touched the last degrees of perfection. Basil the Great speaks about it this way: with much care and understanding, try to find for the leader of your life a man who is not charming, who is well able to instruct those who go to God, who is flourishing in virtues, who in his deeds has evidence of his love for God, who understands the Divine Scriptures, who is a little caring, who does not love money, who is not covetous, who is silent, who loves God, who loves the poor, who is not angry, unmindful of malice, full of edification for those who come close to him, unconceited, unproud, unaffectionate, not fickle, not preferring anything to God. These are the perfections of a true father! Without this, he will not be able, with all his zeal, to lead to salvation the souls who have entrusted themselves to him. The path leading to God can be learned from books, from the examples and teachings of holy fathers and shown to others; but the leader must not only indicate, but also the message, and not only the message, but, as it were, carry it on himself. He must be a strong intercessor in prayer before God and drive away invisible enemies, and for this he must have the boldness and strength of faith, attacking without blunder the entire force of the enemy - this is given, or acquired, at the “second” degree, that is, by those who are perfect. Saint John the Climacus appears in a dream and awakens a disciple on whom the mountain was ready to fall. Saint Barsanuphius had many experiences that his disciples, for the sake of his prayers, were delivered from the torment of passions and the oppression of demons. To lead, you need to see all the crossroads, know them experimentally and know how they deviate; and for this it is necessary to stand at a certain height, from which one could survey all the paths, and all those walking, and those among them who have entrusted themselves. With his word, as with his hand, he will instruct him how to walk straight, without deviation, quickly, among all the crossroads without wandering. Those who have not been cleansed of passions all stand on the same level, whether someone is a scientist or an unlearned person, whether someone has read the science of asceticism or not. The people who make up the crowd do not see where and how to go, but only push each other and walk as they walk, now here, now here, waiting to see if they will come across the right path to go out into the open space; meanwhile, by a voice that is outside the crowd, you can immediately get out. It's all about conquering the passions: he who has not conquered the passions cannot give a reliable rule for their conquest, because he himself is passionate and judges passionately. Then a smart, but untested leader will never lead far, no matter how much he wants to. Both he and the person being led will talk, reason about the ways of God, and all huddle in one place. Moreover, he must have some natural power over the student’s soul, so that it unquestioningly, silently submits to him, is like a follower. You cannot have the strength of the spirit without conquering the passions and receiving the Spirit of God. And without this, the word will always be powerless, fruitless, because it cannot give birth to that which it does not contain within itself, as the Monk Macarius the Great teaches. A true leader and a faithful mentor should be of such perfection! But he who entrusts himself to him, when the Lord deigns to find one, is subject to great and strict obligations. The essence of leadership and its power lie in the covenant between the spiritual father and the disciple, established before the face of God, in which the father takes upon himself the salvation of the disciple’s soul, and the disciple surrenders himself completely to him. This covenant is a significant difference between leadership and meetings and questioning. The instruction given in the latter does not bind, but in that every word is law; there the questioner still has the freedom to reason and consider, but here any consideration is inappropriate and disastrous. The student betrays himself completely. You, says Saint Basil the Great, give yourself to him completely abolished, that is, so that nothing is left for you or for your share, and everything belongs to your father; otherwise this remnant of the ancient leaven will spoil what is newly put into you, and all such mixture will be tasteless, displeasing to God, disgusting. Saint John of the Climacus gives an example of how one said to his mentor: just as iron is given to a forger, so I, most reverend father, have surrendered myself to you (Homily 4, paragraph 23). Like a painter's blank canvas or a sculptor's good substance, such is the student in the hands of his father. He took the yoke of Christ upon himself in the determination to please Him, and now, as Saint Climacus says, he strives to lay it from his own on someone else’s (ibid., paragraph 5). He is like someone who, on top of the water, supported by alien hands, intends to swim across the sea (ibid.). Therefore, he calls life under the guidance of voluntary death, a coffin, a sleepy journey, and safe navigation. The student is, as it were, not an actor, but a doer. This is from the student's side. For his part, the father gives decisive assurance of the salvation of his soul by himself, takes upon himself his sins and the answer before the Last Judgment of God. Saint Barsanuphius expresses this in many places and very often. For example, to one who asked: give me your word, my lord, that you answer God about me and there will be no harm to me, he answered: I lay down my sweet soul for you, “death” will only “separate between me and you” (answer 57); to another: understand what I am writing, and hide it from yourself: I will make you hear the heavenly, sovereign, Divine joy, you will be the heir of my gifts (answer 10); to another: I take half of your sins - and when he aggravated the request: I take it all, for the sake of obedience (answers 163, 164). What does he even promise? If you keep my commandment, rather than God’s, I confess that I am responsible for you on that day, on which God will judge the secrets of men (answer 58). And in another place he prays: Master, either bring my children with me into Thy Kingdom, or blot me out from Thy book (answer 110). But such a great promise is given under the condition of the student’s decisive, willing, unquestioning fulfillment of all the commandments of his father, from the heart, as God’s, so that as soon as deviation is allowed, the covenant is broken and the promise loses its binding force. The father undertakes, as it were, to lift the disciple’s soul to Heaven, but under the condition that this one also seeks, strains, and works. The Lord helps such a seeker by faith, and he, trusting in God, who wants to save everyone, has no doubt that everything will be his salvation, both in word and in deed. Actually, he becomes a mediator between him and God, an honest, faithful, safe mediator: what is said will be done. So, he says to one: let “my words be written in your heart, tie them on” your hands, “let them be before” your eyes... - and further: show them through deeds (answer 11). To another he says: I pray, I struggle day and night for your soul, but you also work hard, move forward, otherwise everything is fruitless. Seek salt and I will salt you (answers 24, 70). And one more thing: if you violate any of this, I am innocent; You will see and you will answer on the terrible day (answer 57). As a result of this, an inextricable, cordial, spiritual union is formed between them, according to which the father in the son and the son in the father remain co-dissolved in spirit; and this is not only for the time of upbringing, but for all eternity. Saint Barsanuphius writes to one mourner: seeing the sorrow and rebellion of the temptation that befell you, I became ill as fiercely as ever, especially remembering that the Apostle says: “whoever faints, I do not faint” (ibid.). To another he said: I am always with you; when you go to serve the community, my heart goes with you in every possible way, as it pleases God (answer 27). Or: by the grace of Christ the Son of God, I am not separated from you, but with your love I am ever present in the spirit (answer 55). Again: brother, as to my own soul I say, for the Lord has bound your soul to mine, saying: do not depart from him (answer 159). And the true disciple is depicted by Saint John Climacus like this: the soul, attached to its shepherd by Christ’s love and faith, will not leave him even to the shedding of blood, especially when it was once healed from its wounds through him. She remembers the words of the one who said: “neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers... no other creature can separate us from the love” of Christ. If it is not tied to someone in this way, woven and attached, then this person will spend his life in vain, acting hypocritically and feignedly before his father (Homily 4, paragraph 28). In this heartfelt union lies all the power and essence of the covenant. Through him, all the strength of the father is poured onto the weak student. Therefore, the enemy tries in every possible way to upset him and, with secret suggestions and even ghosts, inspires either distrust, suspicion, or a desire to move on to another, as there are examples of this in Saint Barsanuphius (answer 159 ff.). Because of its importance, this heartfelt union should be the first subject of the student’s prayer: mentally reveal to God your faith and unfeigned love for your superior, and God will secretly tell him about your love for him and make him equally favorable and friendly to you (Ladder, Homily 4, paragraph 45). Such a union, however, is a great spiritual sacrament performed by God Himself. Not every true father is for every student and not every true student is for every father. The Lord points out and leads the seeker with full faith and devotion to the one who can, by His power, lead him to salvation; and the true worthy father is advised in spirit to accept and bear the burden of this particular weakling. So from Saint Barsanuphius: John appeared and then did not come for a long time. When Abba Serid thought that he would no longer come, Saint Barsanuphius said: “in body” he remains with us, but in spirit, and will not be separated from now on and forever (answer 5); and even before he said: two years ago the Lord told me that he would come (answer 1). One of the disciples said to him: the Lord has sent you to me as a refuge and haven (answer 159); to another he said: We believe that the Lord brought you here: do not waste grace in vain (answer 163). From here it is obvious what kind of a disciple should be in relation to his father. Everything that relates here naturally follows from the spirit in which the disciple betrays himself to his father, and the union that is combined between them. The student must have complete and undoubted faith in his father - faith that he knows the path of God, can lead him to perfection along it and will bring him, that he is strong with God and God through him will show him the straight and unlost path; therefore, accept all his instructions as completely true, decisively saving and pleasing to God. This faith must be bright, pure and not overshadowed by even a weak cloud of doubt, for its weakening is also a weakening of the heartfelt union, and the weakening of the heartfelt union distorts the whole matter and makes it fruitless. Therefore, one must preserve this faith like the apple of one’s eye. As much as faith blooms in the heart, says Saint Climacus, so much does the body succeed in its service; and as soon as someone stumbles over the stone of faith, there is no doubt that he will fall, for it is true that everything “that is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23)... Those who obey in simplicity of heart, if, through curiosity about the superior commands, do not begin to inflict demonic tricks on themselves, then they will complete their path well in the Lord (Homily 4, paragraphs 7, 9). Therefore, the fathers themselves first of all made sure of the faith of those whom they accepted under their leadership, and if they noticed its absence, they did not accept it. So Saint Barsanuphius did not accept one under his leadership when he noticed unbelief in him; and when it crept (through demonic delusion) into the recipient, he hastened to heal him (answer 161). Those who have taken care of the Lord for our salvation, says Climacus, we must believe without any curiosity, even if it seems to us that they are establishing something contrary to our salvation. Then our trust in them, as in the crucible of humility, is tempted. For this is a sign of true trust, when someone, although he sees something somewhat contrary to his aspirations, nevertheless, since the authorities establish it, believes them undoubtedly (Homily 4, paragraph 104). You must honor your father in every possible way, have an honest, bright face; not only in word and feeling, even in thought, not to have anything darkening it or diminishing this light. If, says Climacus, we wish with all humility to bend our neck under the yoke of the Lord and unhypocritically entrust our salvation to another, then before we enter the monastery, we must, if we have any insight and intelligence, reason and test about our helmsman, we must tempt him, so as not to fall into our hands, I will say this, instead of a helmsman for a simple oarsman, instead of a doctor for a sick person, instead of an immaculate one for a sensualist, instead of a pier into the abyss and not prepare for shipwreck for themselves. Having entered the field of piety and rejection of the world, we should no longer judge with all severity about our good hero, although in him, as in a person, perhaps we will see some unimportant errors. Otherwise, with such strictness about matters, it crept (by demonic delusion) into the recipient, then he hastened to heal him (answer 161). You must honor your father in every possible way, have an honest, bright face; not only in word and feeling, even in thought, not to have anything darkening it or diminishing this light. If, says Climacus, we wish with all humility to bend our neck under the yoke of the Lord and unhypocritically entrust our salvation to another, then before we enter the monastery, we must, if we have any insight and intelligence, reason and test about our helmsman, we must tempt him, so as not to fall into our hands, I will say this, instead of a helmsman for a simple oarsman, instead of a doctor for a sick person, instead of an immaculate one for a sensualist, instead of a pier into the abyss and not prepare for shipwreck for themselves. Having entered the field of piety and rejection of the world, we should no longer judge with all severity about our good hero, although in him, as in a person, perhaps we will see some unimportant errors. Otherwise, with such a strict test regarding the affairs of our abbot, we will not receive any benefit from leaving the world. Those who wish to forever maintain undoubted trust in their mentors need to keep their good deeds indelibly and unforgettably in their hearts, so that with the memory of them they can stop the mouths of demons when they begin to instill in us distrust of them... If your thought compels you to condemn or blaspheme your mentor, then jump away from this, as if from fornication, and in no way Give this serpent no hope, no place, no entrance, below any attack, but, on the contrary, exclaim to him: oh, charming one! It was not I who passed judgment on my boss, but he was appointed as a judge over me (Homily 4, paragraphs 6–7)! This honor and unshakable reverence grows from faith and is confirmed by it; how, on the contrary, it is now weakening, as soon as faith weakens, and vice versa. That is why the enemy especially directs his arrows at these two points. Often he even builds ghosts to darken the honor of the father, in order to drive the disciple away from him, as Elisha, the disciple of Abba Isaiah, suffered. That’s why when, in “The Ladder,” the monk asks John Savvait, who advised him to surrender to his father: what if this father, through his negligence, sins in something? - then the elder said to this: even if you saw him committing sin, do not leave him, but say to yourself: friend, why did you come here? Then you will see how all exaltation in you will immediately disappear (Word 4, paragraph 112). In everything one should rely on the father or stand in the confidence that the satisfaction of every need will be corrected by the father’s prayer, every evil will be averted, every good will be given. Stay with me, Saint Barsanuphius often says, I will take you out and soon bring you into peace and introduce you to God; or this way: you will be my heir, you will be worthy of my gifts; or: you will lie together in the same cancer. All this is contained in faith, in that faith that the Lord, who seeks the salvation of all, will save him through his father and will do everything for him according to his faith. The disciple hopes that the Lord, in His goodness, for the sake of his father’s prayers, will have mercy, forgive sins, and will not deprive him of spiritual blessings. That is why he runs to his father with everything, like a son, in the undoubted hope that he will receive satisfaction - and he receives it. Saint Barsanuphius's disciples often say: say the word and it will be so; you are our refuge. When he fell ill, they cried out: where should we go? The natural consequence of faith, honor and hope should be to rest under the guidance of the father, as under a safe roof. By devotion to him, he suppresses all concern for himself, all care and fear. He, as it is written by Saint Barsanuphius, speaks from the heart to the father: I believe that the Lord will save my soul through you; Do with me whatever the Lord inspires you. I am no longer me (answer 57). If someone, says the Climacus, in good conscience has forever given himself up to his father, such a person does not fear his death as if he were sleeping, knowing for sure that when he leaves this life, an answer will be demanded not from him, but from his superior (Homily 4, paragraph 50). Therefore, he considers the matter of his salvation as decided. Do not forget, says Climacus, in your life this great ascetic, who, although for eighteen years with his bodily ears did not hear this word “save yourself” from his mentor, daily with his spiritual hearing he felt from God not the word “save yourself,” which means only the desire of the speaker, and that is unknown, but the speech “thou art saved,” which signifies the exact definition and certainty of a thing (ibid., p. 106). This is how the Lord Himself reassures the disciple decisively. On his side there remains only willing, diligent, living action according to the instructions and determination of the mentor - the father. For tranquility does not mean inactivity, but only the suppression of any concern about it and its fruits or success. The student must always be ready, in cheerful tension, and not in laziness. Saint John Climacus depicts him standing on unbound legs, of which he extends one foot to serve, and holds the other motionless during prayer (Homily 4, paragraph 2); he calls obedience a sleepy journey (ibid., p. 3): a journey - through labors and successes, but a sleepy one because all this is not built by him. Saint Barsanuphius often addresses those asking for his help with the following speech: work hard, move, sweat over what I said (answer 61). I am coming, he says, to the Lord for you, but if you also do not come, then the shame is great (answer 70). The spiritual father undertakes to save the student, but as if by his own efforts; wants to be a doer, but in him, to be his soul. And the student is reassured only in gratifying trustworthiness and certainty regarding his fate, but he himself is still in sweat and labor. Acting on the mania of the father-mentor obliges the following three actions: a) do not formulate anything with your mind and heart, neither regarding the past, nor regarding the present, nor regarding the future, or not trust yourself, your mind and heart in anything. Not knowing what it is, not even wanting to know and being afraid to think that it is this way without the father’s instructions. Do not decide for yourself: this and that is good or bad, whether in yourself or in others, but as your father says. Do not plot or determine anything, even one minute in advance, because it depends on the father. Thus, this non-composition is the decisive silence of any voluntary movement of forces within, emptiness, idleness from everything. It requires that nothing be determined by the mind, not tasted by the heart, not desired by the will; think, desire, taste, when and as you are told, but without that, stand in an empty, expectant state. This, according to Saint Climacus, is an uncurious life (Homily 4, paragraph 3), or distrust of oneself in all good deeds, even until the end of life (ibid., paragraph 5). This drowns out one’s own feeling, one’s own taste in things. It is good that according to the father it is good; It’s bad that it’s bad for him, even if it seems good to you. In this state, the abolished one stands in front of the mentor, ready to accept what is invested; b) but with all the desire and tension, it is absolutely impossible to put oneself in a silent position. Thoughts, determinations, judgments, plans, wishes, fears, lusts will be born; this and that will constantly be sharpened from within. Regarding all this, there is one law: “to reveal everything” to your mentor, both good and bad. This will always cleanse the inside. The mentor will have a reason to judge the student's condition; there will be no waste of time; all kinds of mental and heartfelt deviations will be eliminated; under the guidance of a mentor, you will gain experience in sorting out the thoughts of first your own, and then everyone else’s. That is why the holy fathers attribute to this revelation extraordinary power in the matter of salvation, even if it was not before the father-leader. With it, you can avoid any danger of getting lost or falling by meeting cautionary advice. Basil the Great commands this: each of his subordinates, if he wants to show commendable success and acquire the skill of living unswervingly according to the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, should not keep a single movement of his soul secret, but should reveal the secrets of his heart to those who are entrusted with compassionate and merciful care for the weak brethren. In this way, what is praiseworthy is approved, and what is not praiseworthy is awarded the appropriate healing; and through such a feat, little by little we will grow in the perfection of life (Rules set out at length in questions and answers, question 26). At the same time, one should not exclude oneself, as the same holy father teaches, from opening one’s thoughts and conferring on the fact that a calm conscience will not be overlooked. And in bodily illnesses, he says, it happens that the weak do not feel them, but believe the doctor’s observation more than their own insensibility; and in the spiritual. Tell someone else - and he will determine whether you are healthy or sick and what kind of weakness you have. This is what the apostles did. When the Lord said: “Only of you will betray Me,” then everyone, one after another, asked: “Is it not I?” (Brief Rules, 301). Saint Barsanuphius says: let no one hide his thoughts. Whoever hides his thoughts, the evil spirits rejoice, seeing the opportunity to destroy his soul (answer 583). He who hides thoughts remains unhealed, for they are healed only by frequently asking the spiritual fathers about them (answer 317). He who does not hide any serpent in his bosom shows real faith, but he who still hides outside the path of his salvation wanders, says Saint Climacus (Homily 4, paragraph 46). Such a rule to reveal everything great puts fear on the soul not only to do, but also to say something and think something bad, reminiscent of the judgment that is about to take place from the father-mentor; imposes fear on demons, because in this case they cannot in any way hide their machinations (ibid., paragraph 53). That is why they try to deviate from this and, fearing exposure, flee from the one who reveals himself in everything; they hate and cannot tolerate even the voice of frankness, as Saint Dorotheus teaches (lesson 5). And what a relief to the soul from this! For three years he languished alone under the weight of lack of frankness (Prologue, May 6th) and then, when he overcame himself, then a dark cloud came out of him - a sign that lack of frankness is a satanic work. Otherwise, how will the father use us when he does not know what is in us; and general instructions can also be found in books. That is why Saint Climacus teaches that just as one must reveal everything to one’s father the first time, tell one’s whole life, so in all subsequent times one must not deny oneself – to one’s confessor, the helper of one’s salvation, to confess with humility, as to God (Homily 4, paragraph 10, 63, 66). In one monastery, writes St. Climacus, I saw a small book on the innkeeper’s belt and, having asked what it was for, I learned that he wrote down in it everything that he thought throughout the day, and retold all these thoughts to his shepherd. And not only him, but also many other monks from that monastery I saw doing this. This charter was established by the great father of that monastery, as I later heard (ibid., paragraph 39). Every evening the good housebuilder regularly counts the daily profit or expense. But how will he know this if he does not write everything down in the account book every hour (ibid., paragraph 115); c) but the most important task of a student is sincere, unthinking, from faith and a pure heart, “unquestioning obedience” to his teacher and father in everything, down to the smallest iota. The student must be like an automaton, without his own soul, which is replaced by the soul of his father. Discipleship, according to Saint Climacus, is the complete rejection of one’s own soul, demonstrated in all precision through bodily actions, the mortification of bodily members in a living mind, inexperienced movement, rejection of one’s own reasoning, even if one were rich in it, the grave of the will... The disciple is a blessed and living dead (Homily 4, paragraph 3, 4). One must obey in simplicity, without thinking or examining whether what is commanded is good or bad, difficult or easy; constantly, patiently, steadily, without any guile or doubt of thoughts (ibid., paragraphs 5, 9). You must keep yourself in such a mood that, no matter what is done, it is done not because you came up with it or wanted it, but because it was so ordered. Anything you need, ask and do it; They don’t tell you, even if it’s difficult, but be patient. And if you don’t have orders and things to do, it’s better to sit, but don’t do it yourself, in your own way. Everything from itself and in its own way is the ruin of the spirit - the same as taking poison. Surrendered yourself to your father, and let him create from you and in you what he knows. Otherwise it will turn out: “one is the creator, and the other is the destroyer.” The latter makes both his own work and the work of others in vain, and the work of salvation turns into idleness. He who once obeys and another time fulfills his will, says Climacus (ibid., paragraph 60), is like someone who puts medicine into the eye at one time and lime at another. Seek obedience, do the will of another and be carefree. Blessed is he who has completely mortified his will and entrusted all the care of himself to his mentor according to God: he will stand at the right hand of the crucified Savior (ibid., paragraph 44). Of the three labors - fasting, purity and obedience - the first brings one halfway to God, the second leads to the entrance, and the last brings one before the very face of the Lord. What peace and tranquility he has in his soul! He is not at all embarrassed whether what he is doing is good, what others will say, what it will serve, whether it is pleasing to God. Even when, of two novices, the mentor’s will, as if incongruous, is fulfilled by one without hesitation, and the other not, at his own discretion, the first receives benefit, and the latter harms himself (Ladder, Homily 4, paragraph 108). Therefore, the general rule of all saints is: whoever lives by himself lives fruitlessly. Even if he does well, his conscience cannot be at peace even in this case. He must have constant indecision, vagueness, and most importantly, the mood of self-will remains the same. Do everything with advice. Without advice is like without a fence. If this is not safe, then what can we say about outright disobedience and contradiction! This is downright demonic. There is still hope of correction if someone contradicts an equal or inferior, but whoever goes against the mentor, there is nothing to say about that. He who refuses obedience surrenders to his own will, and from his will to the malice of his enemies - and perishes. He who obeys in everything soon reaches the measure of childhood, or the most perfect simplicity, as Saint Climacus depicts it (ibid., paragraph 121). By resolute obedience, some destroyed all internal warfare with passions forever; others have acquired complete insensitivity and painlessness to insults; others reached the highest degree of kindness and unconstrained simplicity, appearing as babies, having nothing cunning both in speech and in actions (ibid., paragraphs 20, 21). An example of this is Pavel the Simple. Basil the Great considers this obedience to be the primary virtue (Ascetic Rules for Ascetics in Community and Hermitage, Chapters 19, 22). He teaches it by the example of those studying some art, who, to the smallest extent, perform what is indicated with all accuracy; sets as an example the silent submission of Abraham when he was commanded to leave Chaldea and then sacrifice his son; on the contrary - the example of the Apostle Peter, who, after great praise for one contradiction, as if well-meaning, heard: “Follow Me, Satan!” To this very subject he also refers the passages of Scripture: “obey your teachers” (Heb. 13:17); “Listen to you, He listens to Me” (Luke 10:16). The whole set of legal relations to one’s father consists in not having one’s own will, one’s own understanding, one’s own taste: everything must be his father’s, according to his instructions, measured and established by him down to the slightest movement. The state of a person acting according to this rule, that is, under guidance, under command, not in his own way, is a state of obedience, exalted with great praise by the Holy Climacus and by all the holy fathers in general. The path of obedience, or complete renunciation of one’s mind and will and all control of oneself through surrendering oneself to a reliable and God-given leader, the father, is a short and short path, as it is called by Saint Climacus (Homily 4, paragraph 5). Those who enter it in the true spirit soon ascend to perfection and safely overcome all deviations, wanderings and delays. And this is both due to the mood of the student himself and to the effect of his father on him. The student has nothing of his own. Like the apostles who said to their Divine Teacher: “Behold...forsaken all,” and he says and feels: I am not mine, because neither thoughts, nor desires, nor words, nor deeds should be mine. Even if it was good, it is no longer good for me, since I do it according to my own desire and understanding. With this disposition and action, he constantly hits the very head of the serpent nesting in our heart - selfhood, the main property of which is to do everything in our own way and to please ourselves. And since all passions rest on the self, then as the self is extinguished, the passions subside, the soul brightens, approaches purity and dispassion. The fact that nothing self-made and self-initiated is allowed to emerge from the heart, all self-activity is marred; by the fact that everything illegitimate is revealed, it is exhausted, deprived of food, through the eruption of its offspring; the fact that everything is not done in her own way, she is wounded to the very heart. Not doing it your own way, even in this case, is saving, if someone, without a father, entrusts himself to another, even an unwise one, for the sole purpose of living in renunciation of his own reason and will. And success is high and fast. Akaki, with the holy Climacus, lived with a wayward elder and suffered beatings and false accusations, but for the sake of patience and obedience he accepted the crown of martyrdom, as it was revealed from above (Homily 4, paragraph 110). And John Savvait advises one of the three who came to him: choose a mentor, stricter and more severe than whom there would not be in the human race (ibid., paragraph 112). It can be seen that the steeper the renunciation of oneself, one’s will and one’s feelings, the more salutary it is. That is why the saints so desired life under someone else’s will. They grieve and are embarrassed when they remain on their own, because they feel that they have entered an unknown path. This is how the source of the selfish and sinful from within is stopped and blocked. But this also reflects the influx of all their excitement from outside. Whatever the world or Satan inspires, no consent is given to it, neither the mind nor the heart is attached to it, but, on the contrary, it is transmitted to the father by revelation and is thus cast out and disgraced. A hidden thought is an adulterous thought, but a true novice does not commit adultery in this way. He is dead, has turned into nothing, does not rely either on himself or on his deeds, and through this he becomes a spacious container and a ready companion of grace. This is the benefit of discipleship from the disposition of the disciple's spirit. It is rewarded even without a wise, experienced father; but what an experienced father further provides by his action on the student’s spirit or assistance to him and true guidance cannot be replaced by anything. As a “seeing” person, he immediately sees the student’s entire state, his mood, his main pain; and, as an “experienced” person, knows what and how to use to heal him. Any disease, precisely recognized and correctly treated with a healing medicine against it, soon succumbs. Saint Barsanuphius noticed anger and irritability in his disciple John and began to act directly against it in both word and deed (answer 10). Isidore, a person of princely dignity, ardent, ferocious and cruel, was ordered by his father, to whom he devoted himself, to stand at the gate and ask everyone: pray for me, I am possessed by an evil spirit - and he soon achieved the deepest humility and contrition (Ladder, Homily 4, p. 23). The person himself often cannot even see his own weakness and perishes in complacency. That is why it is wise if he comes to the one who sees and says: look, what is in me? The beholder will begin to act and drive out his infirmity from him. Thus, Saint Barsanuphius brought to the consciousness of one silent man, drowning in self-delusion, that he stood in arrogance and conceit, and led him to repentance, without which he would have died in his disastrous thoughts (answer 68 ff.). Only an enlightened and seeing father will reveal what is in us, only he will lead and lead to healing, because he acts unerringly. He who acts for salvation moves forward towards perfection; but not everything is useful to everyone: what helps one person is harmful to another, or at least can stop him, just as a long dress hinders him on the move. Who will say: do this, but don’t touch this, explaining at the same time how true and saving this is for us? An experienced mind, seeing the entire structure of our education in the spirit, from its first inception to perfection, and seeing what goes towards it and what does not. Only the true father, and only he alone, can do all this. What a person himself can’t think of, what he’s never ready to decide on! You never know what there is that is only specious and not salutary! Without warnings and instructions, he can become exhausted, waste his strength to no avail, or create unnecessary growths, which, like sores, will disgrace his inner man. Is it good to delve into Scripture and explore its mysteries? It’s good, especially when you have the ability, preparation, and thirst for it. Meanwhile, Saint Damascus was forbidden to write or think anything. Dositheos suffers punishment and reproach for asking questions about various passages of Scripture. Later it turned out that this was saving for both. He who has sufficiently pacified his passions, it is good for him to hasten to silence in order to be with God, but sometimes even an hour of anticipatory action does not lead to good. Saint Barsanuphius said to more than one: Be patient a little longer... I’ll tell you... and it will be good; so it was. Water is boiled, but for one task once, and for another twice or more - so here. Sometimes an indifferent thing can make a lot of noise. In general, the evenness of education, the haste of the march towards perfection without deviations, wanderings and any stops belongs exclusively to life under the guidance of the father, and, moreover, the one who sees. Without this, confusion, stagnation, and growths are inevitable. Finally, it happens that those who are zealous at first subside, weaken and become lethargic and lifeless, and often even fall. From what? From lack of exercise, experience of labor or movement of the spirit living within. When a person assigns to himself the rules of doing, then while the work of learning occupies him, he speaks in the spirit; but then, when he gets completely comfortable with it, both because this matter is done and because the spirit has grown and requires great things, everything that happened before no longer excites him: he easily, without tension, does what he does as usual. Who will provide him with something to exercise his strength? Who will put wood under the fire of jealousy? It is necessary that there be an inventor of things, and an experienced one at that, otherwise a stone can be placed instead of wood. This is how it happens: the father-guide constantly keeps the student in some friction under more and more difficult classes and thereby preserves the spirit. So, at Climacus, one abbot used different methods for this: he called one from the table and ordered him to stand without lunch; sent another out of the church; to the third, when he worshiped, he ordered him to lie on the ground while he read the entire rule, and so on. And then, when Climacus asked him: why is he doing this? “Then,” answered the abbot, “to give them a crown and set an example for others, but more so that the spirit does not weaken.” “But one might think that this is unfair and could cause harm.” “No,” the abbot noted, “whoever is united by love with my spirit, nothing will separate him” (Homily 4, paragraph 25 ff.). That is, all the fruitfulness of such work is determined by the initial covenant and union of the heart. But the father’s assistance is especially needed during the transition from active to contemplative life. The spirit matures, and when the passions are truly purified, it naturally soars. In this soaring without a leader, he most often falls into the evil hands of enemies of the air, falls into delusion and either dies or stagnates in it. That is why all fathers are resolutely commanded not to touch this treasure without an experienced father, one who knows and has himself walked the path to it. There is just one experience here - a pointer. And you can’t understand what’s there, even though it’s written in clear words. The self-made worker struggles without fruition, and often to his own detriment. Under guidance, he soon understands with faith, enters the inner sanctuary and sees in spirit. These are the benefits of living under experienced guidance, without any reward! True, the Lord is merciful: the one who seeks and “hopes... His mercy will prevail.” But He also leaves us on a more ordinary path. The person himself is always confused. And what he could do in a day, he does in a year, does and redoes. Maybe he does so, but since he’s not sure, he starts to redo it again. Both time and effort are wasted. But what is especially important is that it is rare who will avoid conceit without obedience. The novice, says Climacus, does not see his deeds, because he does not do them on his own, but, even if he works miracles, he attributes everything to his father and his prayers; on the contrary, whoever is alone inevitably stands in the thought that he himself does good deeds, and falls into conceit (Homily 4, paragraphs 54, 55). A certain Euthymius, who came to Barsanuphius after a long silence, showed this by experience. How much work was needed to bring him to the consciousness that he was self-righteous! And God granted that he finally said: I am damned (answer 160 ff). On the contrary, what a tender character is formed in one who lives under guidance! First, humility is formed in him, from humility dispassion, silence of spirit and the light of God; further – simplicity, kindness, childhood; this is the measure of the age of Christ, as depicted by Saint Climacus. This is leadership in its essence, this is what it requires of the leader, this is what it obliges the led to, and this is what it promises great fruits. All this constitutes the distinctive attributes of leadership and certainly exists and must exist wherever true leadership exists and is established. Being thus unique in itself, it appears in real life in more than one form. The first, the most extensive, and the most general, and the most ubiquitous, is “church shepherding”; the second is “monastic abbot” and the third is “patronymic”, or “eldership”. That shepherding has precisely such properties is evident from the fact that the flock is entrusted or entrusted to the shepherd for shepherding, that is, education; she listens to the voice of the shepherd, follows him and is only where he indicates. The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; he is the guard to whom it is said: “I will require their souls at your hand.” The mutual union and relationship between the shepherd and his flock is expressed by the apostle in the following place: “obey those who guide you... for they keep watch over your souls, so that they may reward the word” (Heb. 13:17). Apparently from this the giving of oneself to the shepherd of the flock and the responsibility of the shepherd for their souls. In other places, the flock is depicted as a field, silently presenting itself before the cultivator, and the shepherd as a worker (1 Cor. 3:9). Hence the commandment: “Be present in season and without season” (2 Tim. 4:2). So it was in the beginning, so it is and should be until now. The Lord Jesus Christ raises twelve apostles; the apostles, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, form the Church, in which the heart and soul are one, under their leadership and orders. And then, after scattering across the face of the earth to preach, wherever they sowed the seeds of faith, everywhere they left mentors and leaders - shepherds and obliged the faithful to resolute obedience to them, and they themselves were made responsible for their souls. It is in this very force that shepherding is revealed in the apostolic epistles; in the same way it remained understood in the Church. Therefore, in his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer exhorted us to remain in submission to the bishop and presbyter, for sanctification, in order to sing harmoniously, like strings tuned in harmony. The Lord of the House sends him to rule His house; look upon him as the Lord. This is how it was done afterwards. The bishop and elders are not mute witnesses to the salvation of others and not just unfounded preachers of the path of the saved, but active agents who cultivate the flock like a field. For this reason, the general court of the Church subsequently acquired certain rights for them, with the goal of having in their hands the opportunity to save others, as if from fire in an admiring manner. That the monastic abbot is of the same nature is obvious. This is the essential structure of the monastic way of life and pleasing God. Anyone who enters the brotherhood is accepted on the condition that he will not have his own will and his own mind, but will live in unquestioning obedience and under the guidance of the superior father. When they come to the monastery, they say: I want to save my soul. The superior is also a person who can rule for salvation; With this condition, he is elected by the brethren, and with this they surrender to him. Eldership consists of when those seeking salvation surrender themselves not to the abbot, but to another most experienced person in the monastery or outside it. For the most part, in fact, he is now replaced by confessors, and in other monasteries by elders, with whom it is blessed to reveal thoughts and into whom the entire monastery is divided. The covenant with each other here is invisible, conscientious, but nevertheless strong and fruitful. For hermits and hermits, this is the only way of leadership, as we see from history. Everything that is written in Fatherland books about obedience comes to him. The strength of its action, by the way, depends on the fact that, without being public and official, it evokes greater frankness and sincerity. Therefore, now if there is leadership, then it manifests itself in this form. Now the question - where and how to find a leader - is resolved by itself. Take the one whom God has sent and trust him, as Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer teaches. The types of leadership shown embrace the entire Christian life. Consequently, whoever is awakened, he always already has a leader above him. He who has awakened in civil and social life should follow the leadership of the shepherd; whoever is in a monastery, let him entrust himself to the abbot or to whomever he indicates. “In this”, whoever is “called” to the “title”, “let him abide in that” and uses the offered guidance, without willfully running from one place and herd to another, with arrogance, contempt, much less leaving himself a self-confidently unique path to perfection. This is very dangerous and it is one of Satan’s wiles that, having repented, a person, feeling the need for a leader, wants to run away from his rightful one, without sorting it out, without looking around, without exploring. While in sin, he did not think about salvation; He also judged everyone, he put everyone on his level. Now, having repented and turned to God, one, as it seems to him, thinks that the others all remained where he was before, that is, in darkness, in sin, and he himself arose, rose, entered the light of God. Whereas, in fact, he may have entered for the first time the field in which others have long been active and acquired art, although outwardly they moved in ordinary life alongside him. Here the trick of Satan is obvious - to leave him without guidance, alone to himself, the consequence of which is inevitably a fall and delusion or a transition from place to place, which only frustrates and does not create. After this, the one who has repented or embraced zeal for the salvation of his soul can only renew the union, or covenant, with the father, which is given by God for the organization of life in the person of a shepherd, or rector, or confessor. Before, he had not thought about it and, nevertheless, was under it, but outwardly, according to routine; Now let him restore faith in its true meaning and, by faith, unite with it from the heart, that is, let him come and say: save, I trust, I will deal with every need, with every embarrassment - and only then do so. On the part of those persons, the obligation is always unchanged; none of them can or should refuse this. You shouldn’t refer to impossibility either: you stand in such a line because you want, but stick to your purpose. And before the Church, and before the court of God, and before the court of men, this is his business. He is responsible for every soul, especially for one that is ready to surrender to him and does. At the same time, the only thing that can truly determine is whether to stay with such a father forever. The inability to lead will now be revealed, and a conscientious priest or confessor will immediately admit: I cannot take this upon myself. After this, although there will be a change, it will be done legally and, most importantly, with advice. He who is unable can indicate who is able, and this matter will be arranged in God’s way, and not willfully, not at random. It should be so. But meanwhile, there is no doubt that very often those persons bear only the names of their rank, and not the power of it; often a shepherd - “a thief is a thief who crawls elsewhere” or a wolf in sheep’s clothing; often the abbot is a simple shipman, instead of a helmsman, and the elder is an old man only in gray hairs. And this happens either obvious to everyone, or very invisible, deeply hidden under a plausible appearance. Therefore, there is always a danger of falling instead of a true leader to a false one and then suffering instead of benefit - harm, instead of salvation - death. An inexperienced helmsman ruins the ship. I suffered a lot, said Peter of Damascus, from those to whom I resorted. Many of the elders, says Cassian, instead of nourishing them, plunged those who turned to them into despair - and he gives examples of this. Such complaints can be heard and encountered at any time. One word “live as you live” or “what a lot to get up to” - will greatly extinguish all zeal and, therefore, again bring the poor man, who has only just come to his senses, into the same situation. The question arises: what should a person do in this case, who is aware of the need for guidance and the extreme danger of remaining without it, who also knows the obligation to turn to this and that, and yet, not without reason, can fear that he will not suffer harm, that he will not be pushed back into the same abyss? On the other hand, often - and even often - those who stand in the line of leaders are fully aware of their importance, the full force of the obligation and the greatness of the responsibility that rests on them, they have zeal, they burn with zeal to be what they should be, and yet, due to their spiritual age, they see that they are still far from being able to accurately, as they should, lead others. Due to inexperience and ignorance of the path by which others should be led, they can rightly fear that they would destroy others out of zeal for their salvation and, instead of guiding them, mislead them. The question is: what should he do in this case? How to lead, recognizing oneself as incapable of doing so, not having achieved it to that extent? It is obvious that both questions directly relate to the present order of things. It is impossible without leadership. But in its true form it is very sublime and is becoming impoverished at the present time. The question is: what should we do? Where to turn - both those seeking guidance and those destined to be a leader? As for the first question, the wise rule of the holy fathers can be applied to it: do everything with anticipation, in devotion to God. We should not shy away, as we saw before, from the appointed leaders, but we can not give in to them completely, immediately, but wait for God’s special dispensation in this case, a special beckoning, a heartfelt inclination, meanwhile, consisting in devotion to the will of God, in a prayerful, painful appeal to Him, so that He Himself will show us the way. So, fearing deception, cry out in sickness to God, may He tell you the way, if you go the wrong way, completely surrendering, in strong hope, to His providential care, and the Lord will never leave. A priest or rector is sometimes not useful to anyone, but for others he is the only one useful. He himself changes with him, where wisdom comes from - and salvation is arranged from the Lord even where it is not expected. All the strength here lies in decisive devotion to the will of God, who wants everyone to be saved. Saint Dorotheus solves this question in exactly this way. If, he says, someone does not have a person from whom he could ask for advice, then what should he do in that case? If someone truly, with all his heart, seeks the will of God, then God will never leave him, but will guide him in every way according to His will. If someone does not sincerely seek the will of God, then at least he goes to the prophet - and God will inspire the prophet himself to answer him according to the desire of his corrupted heart, as the Scripture says: “and if the prophet is deceived... he speaks the word, “The Lord has deceived that prophet” (lesson 5). So says Climacus. But even then, when you clearly see that the betrothed is not useful to you, does not resolve doubts, does not give advice, does not create at all due to inexperience or inattention, do not rush to leave him or change him. For who will you change it to? Everyone around you is as unknown as this one, but God gave this one. It was indicated to you by God, for everything we have is from God; and what about the other one? But what can we do here? Need. Feel it, the pain, cry out strongly to God, asking Him not to leave you in danger and not betray the charms: either instruct this, or point out something else - and be under Him yourself, with waiting, patience, crying. What to do under it? After all, you have to act to save yourself? Necessary. But the order of a pious life is known; walk in it and be at peace. This is enough for the first time. For the repentant, everything is covered in the darkness of obscurity and uncertainty. Let him not move out of his providentially arranged order. It's more humble, safer, stronger. He who is in darkness does better by staying in one place than by running from place to place, for it may happen that he will fall into a hole. Undertaking something special, different, great is very dangerous; remain humbly in simplicity. If you start changing from the very beginning, you won’t stop. In thoughts one can, let’s say, cling to another, but again to the one whom God sends; You can even seek it actively, especially prayerfully, may the Lord Himself indicate, but still wait and endure until a decisive instruction comes. Given by God - do not resist, do not judge, do not neglect. Expect something different from God. The Lord will not forsake, but will give if necessary. This must be accepted as law in order to avoid arbitrariness, inattention to God’s providence, and the danger of being confused by the enemy. But here’s another thing: from time to time the darkness will begin to thin out, the structure of life will become more and more exposed, the vision of fears and deviations will become clearer; Needs, perplexities, and doubts multiply. All this requires clarification, admonition, and pacification of the spirit. The appointed mentor does not decide, does not inspire confidence, and does not encourage frankness. What to do in this case? Some advise, while remaining under this guide regarding the general order, in private cases that actually concern us, to do everything with reasoning - reasoning will determine what is useful and what is harmful - and they cite the words of the Apostle to this: “hold all things that are tempting” (1 Thess. 5:21), and especially the general opinion of all the holy fathers that the highest of all virtues is the virtue of reasoning. But this opinion of the holy fathers should not be taken without the restrictions that they believe. Moreover, the holy fathers affirm that reasoning is a gift acquired through long labor, humility and diligent prayer. Whoever has acquired this gift, keep it and use it for the benefit of yourself and others. Anyone who has not accepted, should not dare to formulate his own understanding, or words, or deeds under any circumstances. His job is to question the skilled and experienced. In relation to the one who has begun, the following rule should be laid down: do everything with reasoning, but all your reasoning should consist in one rule - do not create anything according to your own reasoning, but ask about everything whether this is good, and whether this is going, and whether it is coming to you - for not everything is good for everyone, but, as Peter of Damascus points out, time, beginning, condition, age, strength, health, upbringing and so on make a lot of difference in this. Why do you need to know that you will solve all this as it should, without getting lost? Reasoning must be set as a goal, one must seek it, and for this purpose one must practice it experimentally, but not by oneself, but by the way others reason, one must learn to reason. So, reasoning is good and great, practice it, but never trust it until you become stronger in it through experience and the advice of others. Others say: listen to the Divine Scripture and the teachings of your fathers - and you will learn everything. There is no doubt that reading is among the primary means of education of the Christian spirit and is needed as much as light for the body of the eyes, for the world. Saint Nile of Sora teaches: now there is only one guide - Divine and Fatherly Scripture. Elder Paisius taught and acted in the same way. And for sure: the spectators of the path of the saved one became impoverished, but, according to God’s vision, they left us descriptions of this path. Stick to them. Moved by the Holy Spirit, they wrote laws of care and guidance on the path of salvation. If it is not possible to find a mentor, says Elder Seraphim, who can lead to a speculative life, then in this case we must be guided by the Holy Scripture, for the Lord Himself commands us to learn from the Holy Scripture, saying: “test...”. One must also carefully read the fatherly writings and try as much as possible, to the best of one’s ability, to carry out what they teach and thus little by little ascend to perfection. But again: what, to whom and how to read? And then: what from what you read and learned should you take as a rule and what should you not take? Who will tell the unskilled and inexperienced? The rule in itself is good, but not for me; it will come to me, but not now. How many are dying precisely because they want to take upon themselves everything they read! There are, they say, people of such a build that, no matter what disease they hear about, they immediately transfer it to themselves and begin to get sick. The same can be true for readings that are not guided by the council. So, read, delve into, research, enrich yourself with spiritual wisdom, but what exactly to do yourself, what to set as a rule, do not decide for yourself; otherwise: do everything with advice, and not according to your own understanding. I read it - go and ask how it is, whether it is coming to you and how you can fulfill it. But the question arises: who should I ask? The betrothed is silent, has lost trust - you are afraid to open up to him. Remaining indecisive is dangerous: it is stagnation, empty procrastination. What to do? There is only one thing: do everything with advice, with expectation. Never decide on anything suddenly - whether you have judged something yourself or read something - but wait until it is established, and in the meantime seek advice and solutions. At every time and in every place you can find people practicing piety, zealous, seeking the Lord and always more or less experienced. You must enter into brotherly communication and cordial communication with them, and then confide all bewilderment and doubt to them. One, two, three, they will sort it out somehow, one by one or all together, and decide. Do as they decide, and you will not act according to your will and reason. Everything done in surrendering oneself to God, not according to one’s own understanding, is pleasing to God and saving. Therefore, when the betrothed does not decide, and the Lord has not yet indicated another to whom to surrender, wise people advise doing this: if there is something doubtful and we have no one to decide, cry to God about your need and go to one or another reverent and respected and be sure that God, who watches over everything and contains everything, will not leave you without a true decision, will not let you into delusion, as long as the need is painful and your trust is strong. This applies to special cases, but in general we can remain with this law, because our whole life is made up of special cases. And in this way a special life will be created, “according to advice.” This is a new, mostly modern image of leadership. Man, in surrendering himself to God, is admonished by the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures, uses his own reasoning, but does not decide anything himself, but does everything with advice and questioning. Here the leader is God and Scripture; renunciation of will and reason - in advice; the original strength is devotion to God with a painful, fearful cry for deliverance from delusion, delusion and mistakes. Such a life is simple and humble, and for the humble the Lord reveals secrets and does not shame the one who trusts. The baby will teach you to say what you need, says Saint Dorotheos, and if you don’t believe, then the prophet won’t use it. When, on the contrary, someone asks and already wishes and expects a definite solution in advance, then this is already a charming rule of action. In this case, it is better not to ask. When you ask, let the scales of the heart stand level, not tilting either on the right side or on the side, and the Lord will guide you. The path of a truly Christian life is unknown, and you cannot follow it at your own discretion. God's guidance is hidden - walk as if in darkness, but do not take your hand away from the hand of God. From the life of Elder Paisius it is clear that he was formed precisely in this way. He met many advisers, and according to the advice of everyone, he laid down his life, and although he did not have one nurturer, which caused himself, as he himself admits, great harm, he was formed in one spirit and matured into a perfect husband. His initial beginning throughout his life was a painful fall to God. It both instructed him and united his spirit despite all its diversity. Taught by the experiences of his whole life, he finally reached the law and the beginning of leadership. Having clarified all the need for a leader, depicting what he should be like, remembering with tears that now there is “nowhere” to find such a person, he concludes: “Hence, brother, we now have an extreme need to learn from the Divine and Fatherly Scripture with much sorrow and with many tears day and night and, with like-minded zealots, elder fathers consulting, to be instructed in the commandments God and the works of our saints. And so, by the mercy of Christ and our compulsion, we can receive salvation.” This is what all fathers advise; This is what Saint Nil of Sora advised and did: “First of all, the spiritual fathers instructed everyone; in these difficult times, even though it is worthy of much crying and sobbing, for such an impoverished zealot, God Himself and the Divine teaching of the venerable father is the teacher and mentor.” So this is now the best, most reliable way of guidance or education in the Christian life! Life in devotion to the will of God, according to the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures, with the advice and questioning of like-minded people. By the grace of God, it can and should be successful, for it contains all the conditions for improvement, cutting off one’s will and understanding. But it is obvious that it is far below personal, active leadership and education. There is no all-seeing person in him, but only, as it were, fortunetellers; there is no one who acts decisively, but those who move timidly. It is impossible to heal and improve so decisively and quickly, to maintain the spirit of jealousy so successfully, to enter into contemplation so safely. That is why there are so few successful and accomplished people today. True, they are God’s, but whomever God perfects, he will not keep under wraps. It only needs to be added that this method is much more fruitful if someone acquires one adviser and, uniting heartily, lives with him in mutual revelation and admonition, or spiritual friendship. One sees and knows the other and, thus, can advise more quickly and reliably. Scripture in devotion to God is light for them. Being mutually wise, they mutually guide each other in devoting themselves to God and the Lord, Who promised to be in the midst of the two gathered in His name. At the same time, however, one must not be separated from what has been named by God, but every mutual decision and determination is good if one can trust it and carry it out with his permission. A mutual love union will give strength, and resorting to a spiritual father will give God's blessing. This kind of consultation, or mutual guidance - again, if given, for God gives a friend - is very fruitful. Remember the two monks who lived during the time of Macarius the Great in mutual union and mutual guidance and strengthening - to what measure of perfection they reached! Elder Paisius tells about himself that from the very beginning he diligently sought a nourisher with painful prayer to God, wandered here and there: here and in Moldova, and Wallachia, and on Mount Athos - and did not find everything. I only found, he says, by turning to reading the writings of my fathers, that I lost a lot because at first I lived without active leadership. How did he end up? “Having not found,” he says, “where to obey, I decided to live my life along the royal path, with a single, unanimous and like-minded brother, instead of my father; Have God as your mentor and the teaching of the holy fathers, and obey one another and serve,” without, however, separating from your spiritual father, as he says elsewhere. This path, he says, is blessed by all fathers. He was a monk, and such a rule is more suitable for monastic life. But it is not impossible in public life and, as far as one can see from the current course of affairs and our state, it should be recognized as the only true one. Those who are unanimously zealous, instructed by the scriptures of the fathers in the tradition of God, peacefully and comfortably remaining in the same order, walk the straight path to Christian prosperity. This includes the great praise of friendship sung by Sirach, which is only fully applicable here. “A friend is faithful - blood is strong... He who fears God will find him (Sir.6:14,16). So, regarding leadership, we can lay down the following rules: be afraid to remain without any leadership; seek it as the first good. For the first time, walk in a certain pious order, under your chosen father. When the Lord indicates by obvious, great, experienced benefit from him that this is your nourisher, surrender to him. The opposite will appear - desire something else, but seek it with fear, patience, waiting, waiting for God’s instructions or meeting whom God will send, remaining in the same order of pious life and under the same father, in non-separation from him. Meanwhile, enter into a frank alliance with like-minded people and, with their advice, walk in God under your spiritual father, trusting. If you meet one like-minded person, join him sincerely, without leaving others, and live with him soul to soul, for the Lord’s sake, for salvation. Just keep the main thing - resolute devotion to God with a painful cry for deliverance from delusion, and never follow your mind and will in anything, and whatever you do, do it with advice - and God will arrange a path invisibly, invisibly, intangibly, unknown to you. At the same time, one also naturally recalls a special way of guiding oneself and educating oneself through interviews or questioning not just one, but many ascetic fathers, known at one time in their own place or in others. So the Monk Anthony the Great walked among them all and assimilated the virtues of them all. So Saint Basil the Great flowed around Egypt, Palestine, Syria, asking and consulting with the holy fathers at that time, and in this way he formed himself, and compiled a system of ascetic life, which he implemented in his monasteries and flock, which we are still guided by. Saint Cassian the Roman compiled a whole book of conferences from this; Sophronius and John did the same, compiling their “Lemonar”. The Monk Nil of Sorsky walked around the East, learned and taught others the monastic life. This method of teaching and guidance can still be used today. But it is obvious that it must be undertaken by a man strong in faith, already successful, especially called, burning with love for spiritual wisdom, with a strong mind and in those places where an active life is expected - otherwise, who knows what might happen? And again, of those who are truly ascetic, how many are there who are active in different ways? And not to be tempted by this diversity, to see the unity of the spirit hidden beneath it - what a strong soul is required for this! This is a feat of pilgrimage with the goal of becoming spiritually wise. The timid will not decide on it, but anyone else will not easily come to this idea. And whoever comes and matures in it, let him act with dedication to God, resolving himself to all kinds of hardships - and God will arrange his path for good. These kinds of wanderers are needed in their time in order to learn the types of real asceticism, to see in what state it is exactly now, and then, in relation to the present state of Christianity, to its external life, to definitively clarify and establish the rules of asceticism that are currently applicable whenever possible. Although the essence of asceticism is one and unchanging, its appearance can be varied. The same is the solution to the second question - how to lead others if he realizes that he himself has not yet reached the level of a true, reliable leader? According to the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures - in devotion to God. The mentioned Elder Paisius says: “In ancient times, many from the holy fathers, from the enlightenment of the grace of God, the disciples learned their lessons, and were not bookish. In modern times, the holy fathers do not at all command anyone to teach from themselves, but from the Holy Scriptures and from the teachings of the saints.” An appeal to God for admonition for the sake of saving the souls entrusted to Him by Himself cannot remain unheard: “Call and I will hear.” This most of all can go to the leader standing in his place. And one more thing - of these, most of them are already higher than others in that they have more methods in their hands, have seen and heard more, have touched at least some education and spiritual experience. Now, having become zealous for the salvation of himself and others (there is nothing to say about those who are careless), he has entered the proper path and, better than others, can see both back and forth. Even if the objects are confusing and inseparable, he has Scripture describing them - he will go deeper, judge and, perhaps, find out. At the same time, let him place himself in the ranks of those being led and with great zeal seek the advice of one or many - and, thus, succeeding more and more, together with himself he will attract and lead all those who come through him to God. When, realizing his weakness, he inspires those led that there is now only one path of salvation - reading and listening to the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures, and inclines them towards this, then a union of people will be formed, delving into the Scriptures to discover the saved path and mutual guidance under the appointed head and mentor. This is the ultimate definition of life-saving, safe guidance at this time. He was guided by Saint Nile of Sora, who says: I do not fulfill, but indicate the Scriptures. Whoever wants to live with me, here is a rule for him - follow it; no - move away. The same is true in the life of Elder Paisius; it was clarified in detail both by himself and by the contemporary Elder Mikhail. And the holy monk Dorotheos, compiling a guide to asceticism, instead of a preface, placed a convincing instruction on diligent reading and obedience to the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures, instilling that this is the only reliable and safe way of salvation. In this way, the first inevitable need of the repentant will be satisfied, namely: guidance, nurturing. His other essential need is the rules of life, determination of how to do what. We have already partially seen the need for these rules. We must not forget that it is not such that it is only better than others, but is essentially necessary. Rules are the safest fence for a life-saving life. Without rules, it is impossible to maintain constancy of zeal, firmness of intention and acquire strength of will. A jealous spirit, like strength, is maintained and strengthened by exercise; with a lack of it, it inevitably weakens and depletes itself. When rules are laid down, then if they are properly placed, there is always something for pious pursuit, there is something that reminds of the new life and occupies attention with it. The transition from task to task is a continuing friction of the spirit, one, in one tone, according to one drawing. This constantly ignites the fire of jealousy. And if there were no rules, there would be intervals, calms, stops, deviations - and life is not singular, and tension is relaxed, and jealousy should cool down. That is why Saint Isaac the Syrian says (Homily 85, p. 534) that the darkening of the mind, confusion within, disintegration and all disorder in life depend on the fact that it is not assigned a certain rank or order. Otherwise, everything will depend on the presence of mind - but can you rely on it? He is the intermittent breath of the wind. I want everything to be done quickly; If you become lazy, you won’t be able to do much. When the rule is laid down, like it, like it or not, do it - and you will continue to do it. Rules are needed for the development and formation of forces. A new life has begun - all forces, therefore, must be given the appropriate direction. But they are all alien to it, they are differently tuned, and therefore it is necessary to determine exactly how to act with them in the new spirit, just as everyone shows a recruit warrior every small movement until he gets used to it. Without rules there will be no equality of education and development. What dry sticks are to young plants, so are the rules to pious activities. When there is a measure for everything and they follow not the inclination of the heart, but the established rule, they will not deal with some more and less with others, but how much and how is legalized. That is why there will be no success in one part more than in another, but everything, proportionate to one another, will grow harmoniously according to one drawing to the extent of the destined perfection. And in general, what happens without rules and a plan or drawing? They are building a house - drawing up a drawing; they start a war - they write a plan; The court is dressed up and given a program. Every business has its own rule, measure, weight, number. What do the regulations mean - military, educational, judicial and others? Rule, order, blueprint for action. Without this, no kind of active life can take place or be organized: they are imprinted with the characteristic features of a certain circle of activity. The same is true in the ascetic life of a Christian. If it has its own character, then it must also have its own rank. That is why there is always a special need for them. Anyone who is committed to business now requires instruction on how and what to do. Without rules, he gropes, as if in darkness, with indecision, with fear. He walks with them cheerfully, without hesitation, trusting. Because what do those seeking salvation do? They always ask: what should I do, what and how to do? All stories about fatherly traditions consist of them. Entire patericons are composed of such questions and answers - sometimes about fasting, sometimes about vigil, sometimes about prayer. It is necessary, however, to draw up the rules themselves according to the rules. Regarding this, it should be noted: 1) whoever has a leader, draws down the rules himself. The student is a humble, non-reflective performer. Whoever is deprived of this blessing should, with all caution, delve into the fatherly writings and experiences of their lives and, in consultation with whomever he can, accept what is found there into his own rules of action; 2) when determining them, one must use great prudence and strict reasoning, so that instead of benefit one does not cause harm, instead of creation there is ruin: not everything is for everyone. Age, strength, past life, upbringing, life circumstances, level of ability, character, etc. - all this should be taken into account and rules should be set accordingly. It is impossible for a scientist and a warrior, a trader and a servant to act in the same way; 3) we must, however, remember that these rules, with all their external diversity, in their entirety must express the spirit of life and asceticism in one form or another. For example, the rules of bodily activity are different, but in their essence there should be one thing - unsparingness of the flesh, its constraint. It is not the external that is valuable, but the internal – the spirit with which everything is done; 4) the law that must be adhered to in the application of rules is “moderation”, comprehensive proportionality with the strengths of the person. This is the common praise from all of them: “there is no price for moderate work.” It is necessary to establish them in such a way that there is no room for either relaxation or excessive severity. The latter exhausts without use and exhausts, while the former makes you lazy and extinguishes the jealous spirit. The moderate rule contains the spirit in appropriate combustion; 5) another law naturally follows from this law, namely “graduality”. The spirit matures through exercise, becomes stronger and requires the most difficult tasks - in proportion to this, the measure of the rules must increase. Fasting, prayer, and labor gradually rise from strength to strength. It must gradually elevate the rules in them. Standing on one thing is almost the same as retreating back; this is the most extreme danger; 6) because it is obvious that the best leader in constructing rules is “experience”. Try it and whatever you find useful, stick with it. This is how they learn through experience the measure of food, prayer, and other things. And it should not be decided definitively until experience establishes what is best for something: it is safer. There will be no theoretical arrogance and inconsistency with real life, and therefore no need to deviate from the rules - which is very harmful; 7) you just need to apply sincerity and conscientiousness to this, keeping in mind the goal - labor for salvation and pleasing God, without any indulgence to self-pity. It must be firmly kept in mind that everything “preferential” is delightful. A true assessment of the rule of the useful is some of its difficulty. It sobers, strengthens and keeps you in good spirits; and as soon as preferential treatment appears, run from such a rule as from an ulcer; 8) we should also not lose sight of the fact that the rules must embrace the whole of life, in all its volume, in all manifestations: body, soul, spirit, external activity, internal family activity, civil activity, personal and social activity. The whole person must be surrounded by rules. Only under such a condition will there be both the required evenness of development and the expedient spirit of the rules, or tone; 9) now it goes without saying in what mutual subordination all the rules should stand. Namely: the bodily must be subordinated to the spiritual, the spiritual to the spiritual, the external to all this. These rules should be level and mutually beneficial. If a rule of one department interferes with another, one must immediately suspect that it is not in its proper form, that is, it must either be canceled or changed. And indeed, whoever rises to the contemplation of the entire system can rarely make mistakes in choosing a rule and determining the measure for it. Just as for a skilled architect or painter, the measure of one part often serves as an indication for constructing the entire plan of a house or a human figure - so it is in these rules. Whoever builds will not allow anything to deviate from the general plan and style. This is the whole art of the rule-maker. The goal of everything is the spirit, which must be in God; 10) the totality of all such rules will constitute the rules of asceticism. Since asceticism corresponds to the types of real Christian life, and Christian life comes in two forms - social and monastic, then there must be a special rule, general and special monastic; and here again - one is a dormitory, and the other is a hermit; 11) acting according to these rules is asceticism, which involves exertion of strength and labor; the skill in them is an ascetic virtue. From this it is clear that there is no Christian life that is not ascetic, not toiling, not sweating. He who refuses heroic deeds retreats from life. This skill is the goal, it is the fence, the safety of life. Ascetic virtues are a solid, indestructible wall of a truly Christian life. They say: the rule is for a while. No, labor is in the rules for a while, but the rules never cease. Only over time will they turn into juice and blood and will be fulfilled willingly, kindly, which at first happens with coercion. This is why we must value ascetic virtues! Never carelessly throw away what you have acquired. Take care of even a small thing: it will lead to more. If you have gained a foothold in something, you are safe on the one hand. In order for the rules outlined in the manner shown to lead to the desired good and be able to withstand their purpose, for this purpose one must behave in relation to them in the following way: 1) when the entire plan of action is outlined and the entire set of rules is determined, turn to God with a strong cry, may He give a blessing for their constant, useful, and pleasing fulfillment. Reject all arrogance, conceit, and dreamy advance appropriation of the perfection that will come through them. Approach with timidity, fear, apprehension - you would not be disgraced by retreat and violation; 2) make a covenant with your heart - not to deviate from the established rule, despite any labors and sacrifices. Therefore, afterward, do not allow even the thought of leaving this or changing that: let it stand as it is; 3) for this purpose, accept them with faith that they are pleasing to God, and, therefore, as the law of conscience, as the will of God, exactly required of you, and, thus, consider violation of the rules a crime. It is better not to define than, having defined, to retreat. Through this, an unstable character is formed, always ready to do this way and that; 4) therefore, fight temptations that are against the rules. For the first time, the enemy especially fights through them. And since he succeeds in few things, he hopes that he will succeed in others. The holy fathers laid down their lives for them. Resilience in them is a reflection of the enemy, victory. And it has already been proven by experience that no rule can be established without a struggle, as long as it is truly useful. A rule without struggle is useless, flattering, false. Having imposed rules on himself, the ascetic places on himself a good and saving, but “difficult” yoke. These are bonds on his self, very tangible while it is still alive and strong; these are indicators of right activity, difficult at first, due to inexperience and unfamiliarity. Walking on them, he is constantly tired and performs them with illness. Because of this, the path he begins to follow is always and everywhere narrow and regrettable. Tightness, need, and sorrow constitute an inevitable part of the path of the saved; this is the first thing that anyone who enters it encounters, what he should expect, what he should prepare for. This kind of tightness and difficulty is inevitable by the very nature of Christian life and asceticism in it. We must live in the cutting off of our will and reason, in the struggle and destruction of passions, or in constant self-mortification and self-crucifixion. Fighting passion is the same as tearing living flesh from living flesh, taking out the deepest and jagged splinter. You have to keep everything you want for yourself, apparently deprive yourself of a lot, become exhausted, and get sick. On the other hand, becoming accustomed to a good life or a new life requires constant tension, internal and external. Not a single true good is given for nothing, but is acquired through sweat, tears, and toil. Ascetic virtues - fasting, vigil, prayer and others - are difficult and painful before mastery, and very often after. But we are not yet ordered to dwell on them: they are the means to moral dispositions. In planting these latter there is even more work, but they are also a means of life in God. Life in God requires labor and achievement just as much as this divine treasure is more sublime than bodily work. Thus, both here and here - work, sweat, illness. After all, we tear away evil, and beloved evil, it hurts; we plant goodness, unloved goodness - it hurts again. “Turn to God,” says St. Macarius the Great, “in order to perceive the former glory. But know that through much labor and the sweat of your brow you will receive this wealth. Before (in paradise) he received without difficulty, but without difficulty he lost; Now it’s not given that way. Anyone who wants to be saved, let him strive as hard as he can to purify himself. Then, for the sake of the violence that we commit to ourselves, the Lord will have mercy” (Homily 4:10). You must do violence to yourself and force yourself to do every good thing, although your heart does not want it (Homily 1: 13-14). “Great feat and secretive and invisible labor are required to explore thoughts, to train weak spiritual feelings, to distinguish between good and evil, to strengthen and awaken weakened spiritual members to God. We must constantly have this same secret feat and labor inside our hearts during every fulfillment of the commandments, until we come to perfection, where everything will be easy” (Sermon 2: 13-14). Internal achievement and labor are always accompanied by external sorrows. “You are not of the world,” says the Lord, “I have chosen,” I have separated “you from” it; “For this reason the world hates you... You will be in a world of sorrow.” And exactly: “many sorrows for the righteous.” Whoever you are, strong or powerless, just begin to act according to God - now there is anger, sorrow and need, when you act according to a clear conscience, without pleasing people, keeping in mind only the glory of God. That is why all the saints, especially Isaac the Syrian, set sorrows as distinctive signs of both the truly virtuous and the true virtue. Even so: if you do true good, expect sorrow. And here the enemy is not asleep. He warms and complicates our inner life, and makes our outer one difficult and surrounded with obstacles. And besides, he himself will either blow with ghosts, or appear, or especially with some terrifying inspirations and attacks inside, like the wind or like a fiery arrow, he will burn through you, the saints say. Thus, as soon as someone steps on the right path, there is enmity against him from all sides, both from within and from without, both visible and invisible. He is a lamb among wolves. So he is told at the beginning: “many are the tribulations of the righteous” (Ps. 33:20), “through many tribulations it is fitting... to enter the Kingdom” (Acts 14:22). There will be sorrows, “for this” we “lie down” (1 Thess. 3:3), “enter through the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13). Read also: Matthew 6:24; John 15:20; 1 Peter 4:12–13; Sir.2:1; Matthew 5:10; James 1:12; 2 Cor.4:8-17; 1 Pet.4:1; Rev.7:14; Matthew 7:13–17 and more. We are all in darkness and the shadow of death, in the hands of enemies, evil and cunning - the outcome cannot be easy. And those who seek external freedom endure a lot of labor and sweat; so here - how many hesitations and defeats, fears and fears! Maybe someone will ask: what about the Lord? And the fact that He, as it were, deliberately arranges such a sorrowful path, either in order to share His sorrows, or in order to hide us from ourselves in this bleak state. The Lord cannot show His love to those who seek Him better, says Saint Isaac the Syrian, than by subjecting them to sorrows. That is why this is even an undoubted sign of God’s favor, a sign that He turned His eye, chose the one who begins to suffer for the sake of righteousness, for the sake of His name. Such a person enters, as it were, into cleaning, like gold into a crucible. Those who are strangers to suffering, those for whom everything is preferable, are “adulterers,” according to the apostle. Labor, tears, sorrows are the best cleaning, like a beating for linen. That is why, from the beginning of the world until now, the apostle reviews the righteous and sees every one of them suffering, sickly, and weary. Patriarchs suffer; prophets suffer; The Lord, the hero of heroism, is greater than all; the apostles too; further – martyrs, ascetics and all the saints, as John the Theologian sees in “Revelation”. “Where did you come from?.. from great sorrow” (7:13–14); They are the ones, as they say, who did not spare their souls. That is why he who begins to work for the Lord must prepare his soul for temptation. Expect not peace, not sweets, not benefits, but toil, bitterness, deprivation, and not only wait, but seek. One must know firmly that whoever creates virtues, but without labor, stands in exploits, but gracefully, without painful compulsions, is on a charming path. Something is wrong here. It is impossible to stand peacefully between people in truth. The worldly spirit is a carnivorous kite - it immediately attacks. That's why you have to be ready for anything... The Holy Fathers define this readiness very simply and in few words. Namely: go as if to death, and place such a covenant in your heart that you are the giver of death, which is constantly preparing for you not to know how or from where. Only he, they say, will stand unshakable who follows the path of true Christian life with such dispositions. For as soon as he dies with the feeling and covenant of his heart, whatever he encounters will be weaker than what he expects, that is, weaker than death. To this they apply the Savior’s parable about the king calculating his army at the outbreak of war, and about the owner beginning to build a house. Calculate, they say, the sorrows that await you and die in thought and feeling, because only death will be the sufficient amount that must be expected on the path of Christ. “He cannot be My disciple,” says the Lord, “who... does not hate... his own soul.” To be ready, as if to die, is mostly fully clarified and is often repeated by Saint Isaac the Syrian: whatever you encounter, he says, say that you are dead, and you will feel better; peace and tranquility are the things most hated by God. This is needed not only by those who have renounced the world; Those living in the world need such a disposition even more. All this brings down the “true” zealots of piety; “false” is easy. To such a covenant with your heart you must also add firm and undoubted trust in God Almighty, you must hold the faith that, despite all the darkness of the path, you are God’s, not rejected, not despised, but cherished by Him; that He is with you, holding you at the same time as they are tormenting you from all sides. Imagine yourself being held by the hand of God, like a dirty piece of cloth that is being crushed to cleanse. Keep faith that no matter what the temptation, internal or external, you can do it, because the Lord will not allow you to be tempted more than you can. He leads and educates wisely. Remember also that His help is near, that it is immediately ready as soon as you call, and that only with such help can you overcome and not fall; and therefore attribute every victory to Him. What is transferred without an appeal to God and not referred to Him after the transfer is displeasing to Him and is fruitless, for it always leaves arrogance and memory of itself. However, one should not be plunged into sorrow: courageous arrogance is repugnant to God and is always punished. Stand ready for anything, even death, but expect this in firm trust in God and surrender to Him. Where and how it leads, let it lead as it pleases. Do not cross, do not desire this and that, neither benefits nor sorrows. Let him lead; walk with an open face, expecting everything sorrowful, in hope and surrender to God. Without such a disposition, you cannot take a step on the true path. All those who return back return precisely from failure to prepare themselves for heroism and struggle, or from arrogance. Your heat may help, but not for long. It cools down naturally – and the person is left with nothing to do with it. From this it is clear that he who embarks on the path of Christian life, still weak, sick, unsettled, must already possess great strength and strength - otherwise he will fall under the weight of sorrows and deeds prepared for him. The force that makes him bearable and all his labors fruitful is “jealousy,” zeal, diligence, concern for pleasing God and the salvation of the soul. Just as one who seeks the right treasure does not look at difficulties, is not delayed and is not afraid of obstacles, so a Christian, when he has zeal and searching, will overcome everything and pass all paths comfortably. Seeking brings everything; The Lord gave him a special promise: “seek and you will find.” Quest is the vital spirit, with the extinguishing of which life freezes. This is the fire brought by the Savior to earth; it is His light and belly. The steamboat stops when the steam is released, and the one flowing after Christ falls or rolls back when it cools down. This is what you should stock up on when entering into doing the commandments and purifying the passions! Without this, it is impossible to begin this work in the true spirit; and even if someone starts, he will work without fruit, sluggishly, gradually. This is idleness. There are many people who go through exploits and labors, but without fruit: the fruit comes from the spirit, but the spirit of God is in zeal. He goes into passionate and unclean nature through feats or rules of life that are akin to him and us, and there he establishes healing, heals and performs. Consequently, asceticism, doing, is a conductor of grace; and the path or thread that leads is the spirit of jealousy. That is why all the fathers especially insist that this spirit not be extinguished. Saint Isaac the Syrian calls him a barking dog and commands him to constantly irritate him. Saint Cassian considers the one who has lost this spirit to be the one to whom the Lord said: “Imam vomit you” because he is neither warm nor cold, sluggish, does and does not do, or does this and does not do that. Macarius the Great says: seek and understand; this is the beginning; Enter through this door. You just seek, and the Lord will not forget His... He who has diligence already communicates with God. Saint Barsanuphius almost constantly repeats the advice to kindle within oneself the fire brought by the Lord. And in Climacus, jealousy “that” is a fire that consumes boastfulness, “that” is a good, reliable and safe foundation. That is why he commands us to hasten to restore it when it happens to be destroyed in some way. Others think that it is better to replace jealousy with firmness of will or will, fearing rashness from jealousy; but firmness of will is dangerous - it is close to calculating reason, cold indifference and selfish action. In the world she goes; in the Christian life it is dangerous. Jealousy is also dangerous if left alone; but whoever protected her with obedience or renunciation of his will and reason and bound her with rules has nothing to fear - just be jealous. Jealousy, however, presupposes speed of action, but not rashness or thoughtlessness. It means: go, don’t hesitate, don’t stand still, drive with zeal, but drive along the indicated and definite path, under supervision. The whole structure of this zeal can be expressed this way: seek in hope, without definition and without ceasing. This is the thought of Saint Macarius the Great, which he repeats almost incessantly. It is obvious that the lack of something included here either spoils jealousy or weakens it (for example, Word 4, 18, 27–28). There is a lot of work ahead, a lot of dangers - go, there will be fruit. The farmer works in sweat and eats bread, and so do you. You will soon pass through sorrow, enter into peace and enjoy both here internally and there. You are a warrior; look at the crown and do not be afraid of death. Signs of purity, the beginnings of fertilizing the heart, will soon appear. The more decisively, the sooner, the better and the more saving. Drive, do, work, but do not determine the fruit. Fruit is a gift from God for the sake of labor, and giving a gift is in the will of the Giver. Therefore, no matter what you do, do not say: I have achieved or I will achieve, but: if I achieve. The shipbuilder swims three quarters of the way, but still hasn’t swam and can’t say whether he’ll make it. So do you: never consider yourself an achiever, but only a seeker. Do not believe in the diminishment of passions, do not rely on the strength of your virtues. You can destroy everything at once. Don't look back, but forward. Everything you have has been given by the Lord; It is in His power to take it back. Therefore, nothing should be considered true, but only cry: Lord, save me! Weigh the fates, save me! Therefore, never say to yourself: well, now you’ve worked hard, you can rest. Such concessions and easing are the first enemy. The thought seems to be small and weak, but it is the most insidious traitor: it opens the gates to enemies. Whoever stands against him will fall. It was noticed by the Holy Fathers, and it is constantly instilled in every beginner: look, don’t say: enough is enough, you can relax, but say: why are you here? or: why aren’t you doing anything? Or, turning to God, pray that He will help you make the beginning of salvation - and continually begin. Continuously begin and strain yourself, but don’t even think about benefits, but just accept in your heart that you will bear burdens and labor until death, that what lies ahead is not relief, but all the overwork. This is the true structure of a jealous spirit, safe, strong, giving neither weakness, nor unbridled ardor, nor arrogance, nor conceit! “Let me not boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” says the holy Apostle Paul (Gal.6:14). How did the holy apostle reach such a disposition that he did not want to boast about anything else except the Cross of Christ? The cross is in every way sorrow, oppression, humiliation; how can one boast about it? And so, however, the Apostle Paul boasts about him; Along with him, of course, all the apostles, and after them all the other crusaders, boasted. Why is this so? God-wise men saw the great significance of the cross, highly valued it and boasted that they were worthy to wear it. They saw in him, instead of crampedness, breadth, instead of sorrow, sweetness, instead of humiliation, greatness, instead of dishonor, glory - and they boasted of him, as someone else boasts of some magnificent decoration and distinction. Oh, if only the Lord would grant us such meaning and disposition as to understand and feel the power of the cross and begin to boast about it! About the meaning of the cross, here is a brief general explanation: the Lord accomplished our salvation by His death on the cross; on the Cross He tore to pieces the handwriting of our sins; By the Cross he reconciled us to God and the Father; through the Cross he brought down upon us the gifts of grace and all the blessings of heaven. But such is the Cross of the Lord in itself. Each of us becomes a participant in his saving power only through our own cross. Each person’s own cross, when united with the Cross of Christ, transfers the power and effect of this latter to us, becoming, as it were, a channel through which from the Cross of Christ every good gift is poured onto us and every gift is perfect. From this it is clear that each person’s own crosses are as necessary in the matter of salvation as the Cross of Christ is necessary. And you will not find a single one saved who was not a crusader. For this reason, everyone is fully covered with crosses, so as not to be difficult in seeking to bear the cross and not be far from the saving power of the Cross of Christ. You can say this: look around you and within yourself, see your cross, carry it properly, united with the Cross of Christ - and you will be saved. Although everyone reluctantly bears his cross, and for the most part the cross is not simple, but complex, not everyone looks at it through the Cross of Christ; not everyone turns it into the dispensation of their salvation; That’s why the cross is not a saving cross for everyone. Let's review all possible crosses and figure out how each of them should be carried so that it can be a force for salvation. There are many crosses, but there are three types of them: the first type is external crosses, made up of sorrows and misfortunes and, in general, from the bitter fate of earthly existence; the second is internal crosses, born from the struggle with passions and lusts for the sake of virtue; the third is crosses of spiritual grace, placed with perfect devotion to the will of God. Now I will tell you a few words about external crosses. These are the most complex and varied crosses. They are scattered along all our paths and meet at almost every step. This includes sorrows, misfortunes, misfortunes, illnesses, losses of loved ones, failures in service, all kinds of deprivations and damages, family troubles, unfavorable external relationships, insults, insults, lies and in general the earthly lot, which is more or less difficult for everyone. Who doesn't have any of these crosses? And it’s impossible not to be. Neither nobility, nor wealth, nor glory, nor any earthly greatness can relieve them. They have grown together with our earthly existence from the moment the earthly paradise was concluded, and will not depart from it until the heavenly paradise opens. If you want these crosses to be your salvation, use them according to God’s intention when assigning them in relation to man in general and in relation to you in particular. Why did the Lord arrange it so that there is no one on earth without sorrows and hardships? Then, so that a person does not forget that he is an exile, and would live on earth not as a relative on his native side, but as a wanderer and alien in a foreign country and seek a return to his true fatherland. As soon as a person has sinned, he is immediately expelled from paradise and outside paradise is surrounded by sorrows and deprivations and all kinds of inconveniences, so that he remembers that he is not in his place, but is under punishment, and takes care to seek pardon and return to his rank. So, seeing sorrows, misfortunes and tears, do not be surprised and, enduring them, do not be annoyed. That's how it should be. Complete prosperity and happiness do not suit the criminal and the disobedient. Take this to heart and bear your share complacently. But why, you say, do I have more and the other have less? Why am I burdened by troubles, while others are almost happy in everything? Am I torn by grief, while another is comforted? If this is a common fate, then everyone, without exception, should share it. Yes, that’s how it sounds. Look closely and you will see. It’s hard for you now, but it was hard for someone else yesterday or will be hard tomorrow, but now the Lord allows him to rest. Why do you look at the hours and days? Look at your whole life, from beginning to end, and you will see that it is hard for everyone, and very hard. Find who rejoices their whole life? The kings themselves often do not sleep at night because of the pain of their hearts. It’s hard for you now, but haven’t you seen joyful days before? God willing, you'll see. Be patient! The sky above you will also clear. In life, as in nature, there are sometimes bright and sometimes dark days. Has it ever happened that a menacing cloud did not pass? And was there anyone in the world who would think so? Don’t think about your grief that way, and you will delight yourself with hope. It's hard for you. But is this an accident without cause? Raise your head a little and remember that there is a Lord who cares for you like a father and does not take his eyes off you. If grief befalls you, it can only be with His consent and will. No one like Him sent it to you. And He knows very precisely what, to whom, when and how to send; and when he sends, he sends for the good of the one who is subject to grief. So look around - and you will see God’s good intentions for you in the sorrow that has befallen you. Either the Lord wants to cleanse some sin, or take away a sinful deed, or cover it up with a smaller grief from a greater one, or give you a chance to show you patience and loyalty to the Lord, so that later he can show you the glory of His mercy. Some of this, of course, comes to you. Find out what exactly it is, and apply it to your wound like a plaster, and its burning sensation will be quenched. If, however, you do not clearly see what exactly God wants to give you through the grief that has befallen you, build up a general, non-reflective belief in your heart that everything that comes from the Lord is for our good, and interpret to your restless soul: this is what pleases God. Be patient! Whoever He punishes is like a son to Him! Most of all, pay attention to your moral state and corresponding eternal fate. If you are a sinner - as, of course, you are a sinner - then rejoice that the fire of sorrow has come and will burn away your sins. You keep looking at the mountain from the ground. And you are transported to another life. Stand in court. Look at the eternal fire prepared for sins. And from there, look at your grief. If he has to be condemned there, what sorrows would you not want to endure here, just so as not to fall under this condemnation? I would wish that they cut and burn every day now, rather than fall into indescribable and never-ending torment. Isn’t it better, so as not to experience this there, now and not bear so much grief so that through this you can get rid of the eternal fire? Say to yourself: because of my sins, such blows were sent to me, and thank the Lord that His goodness leads you to repentance. Then, instead of fruitless grief, recognize what sin you have, repent and stop sinning. When you settle down like this, you will, of course, say: I still don’t have enough. For my sins I’m not even worth it! So, whether you bear a common bitter share or experience private sorrows and sorrows, endure them complacently, gratefully accepting them from the hand of the Lord, as a cure for sins, as a key that opens the door to the Kingdom of Heaven. But don’t grumble, don’t envy others, and don’t indulge in senseless grief. For in grief it happens that some people begin to be annoyed and grumble, others are completely lost and fall into despair, and others are plunged into their grief and only grieve, without moving their thoughts around and without raising their hearts to the grief - to God. All of them do not use the crosses sent to them properly and miss the favorable time and the day of salvation. The Lord puts the work of salvation into their hands, but they reject it. Trouble and grief befell. You are already carrying a cross. Make sure that this bearing is for salvation and not for destruction. For this, it is not necessary to remove mountains, but to make a small change in the thoughts of the mind and the disposition of the heart. Arouse gratitude, humble yourself under a strong hand, repent, correct your life. If faith in God's rule of all has departed, return it to your bosom - and you will kiss the right hand of God. If the connection between grief and your sins has been hidden, sharpen the eye of your conscience - and you will see, mourn the sin and moisten the dryness of grief with tears of repentance. If you have forgotten that the bitterness of this fate redeems you from the bitterest eternal fate, revive the memory of that - and you will add to complacency the desire for sorrows, so that for the small sorrows here we may receive eternal mercy from the Lord. Is all this much and difficult? Meanwhile, such thoughts and feelings are the threads by which our cross is connected with the Cross of Christ, and from it flow the forces that save us. Without them, the cross remains on us and weighs us down, but has no salvific value, being separated from the Cross of Christ. Then we are unsaveable crusaders and can no longer boast about the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Having told you little of the many things about external crosses, I invite you, brothers, to walk in wisdom, redeeming the time of grief and sorrow with complacent, grateful and repentant patience. Then we will feel the saving effect of sorrowful crosses and we will rejoice, being exposed to them, seeing through them the light of glory, and learn to boast about them not only for the sake of the future, but also for the present fruit from them. Amen. Of the three types of crosses, I told you a few words about one, namely about external crosses - sorrows, troubles and deprivations. Now I will say something about the second type of crosses, internal crosses. We encounter internal crosses during our struggle with passions and lusts. The Holy Apostle says: “They are like Christ, having crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Crucified? It became a cross on which these passions and lusts were crucified. What kind of cross is this? Fight them. To crucify passions means to weaken them, suppress them, and eradicate them. If a person overcomes any passion several times, he will weaken it; if he fights a few more, he will suppress it; he will still overcome it and completely eradicate it with the help of God. Just as this struggle is difficult, regrettable and painful, it is truly a cross planted within us. For someone struggling with passions, sometimes it’s as if his hands are nailed, a crown of thorns is put on his head, and his living heart is pierced. So it becomes difficult and painful for him. Labor and pain cannot but exist, for although the passions are alien to us, having come from outside, they have grown so close to the body and soul that their roots have penetrated into all their structures and forces. Start to pull it out - and it hurts. It is painful, but it is saving, and this saving power can only be achieved through pain. There is a polyp disease - some body alien to us is born in our body, grows and takes root. If you don’t cut it out, you won’t be healed, but if you start cutting it out, it will hurt. It may hurt, but this pain restores health. But leave it, don’t cut it out - it will also hurt, only this pain does not lead to health, but to an increase in the disease, maybe even to death. So how is Siberian disease treated? They will cut out the pimple and burn the area, and then smear and rub something poisonous on it. It hurts, but it's healing. If you leave it like this, the pain will be pain, and death will not be avoided. Likewise, the fight against passions or their eradication is painful, but salutary. But leave the passions, do not eradicate them - they, too, will cause burden, pain, suffering, but not for salvation, but for destruction and spiritual death, for “the rewards... of sin are the death” (Rom. 6:23). What passion is not painful? Anger burns, envy dries, lust weakens, stinginess prevents you from eating and sleeping, offended pride murderously devours the heart; and every other passion: hatred, suspicion, quarrelsomeness, man-pleasing, addiction to things and persons - causes us its own torment, so that living in passions is the same as walking on knives or coals with bare feet or being in the position of a person whose heart is being sucked out by serpents. And again, who doesn't have passions? Everyone has it. As soon as there is self-love, all passions are there, for it is the mother of passions and cannot exist without its daughters. But not everyone has them all to the same degree: for one, one, for another, the other predominates and rules the others. And when everyone has passions, there is also torment from them. Everyone is tormented and crucified by passions - only not for salvation, but for destruction. So, carrying passions, you are tormented by them and die. Isn’t it better to take charge of yourself and create suffering within yourself, also due to passions, but not for destruction, but for salvation? One has only to turn the knife and, instead of satisfying the passions, hitting oneself with them, hitting the passions with them, starting a fight with them and going against them in everything. And here there will be pain and suffering of the heart, but healing pain, which will immediately be followed by a joyful calm, as happens when a healing plaster gets on a wound. If someone gets angry, for example, it is difficult to overcome anger and unpleasant; but when you overcome, you will calm down, and when you satisfy him, you will worry for a long time. If someone is offended, it is difficult to overcome oneself and forgive; but when you forgive, you will have peace, and when you take revenge, you will not see peace. An addiction has ignited - it is difficult to extinguish; but when you extinguish it, you will see the light of God, but if you don’t extinguish it, you will walk like one killed. So in relation to any passion. And passion torments, and the struggle with it causes sorrow. But the first destroys, and the second saves and heals. Anyone who is passionate must be told: you are perishing on the cross of passions. Destroy this cross and build another one - a cross to fight them. And crucification on him will be your salvation! All this is clear as day, and the choice, it seems, should be very easy. And yet, he is not always justified by deeds. And we should be surprised at our blindness. Another suffers from passion - and still satisfies it. He sees that by satisfying himself he causes more and more harm to himself - and he satisfies everything. Inexplicable hostility against ourselves! Some people are going to rebel against passion, but as soon as passion awakens with its demands, it immediately follows it. He gets his act together again and gives in again. Several times like this - and all the success is the same. An incomprehensible relaxation of moral strength! What is flattery and deception? The fact is that passion promises mountains of pleasure for self-satisfaction, but the fight against it promises nothing. But how many times has it been experienced that the satisfaction of passion does not bring happiness and peace, but torment and languor. She promises a lot, but gives nothing; and struggle promises nothing, but gives everything. If you have not experienced this, try it and you will see. But it’s our grief that we can’t muster the strength to experience it. The reason for this is self-pity. Self-pity is our most flattering traitor and enemy, the first fiend of self-love. We feel sorry for ourselves and destroy ourselves. We think that we are doing good to ourselves, but we are doing evil; and the more evil we do, the more it is desirable for us to do evil. That is why evil grows and brings our final destruction closer to us. Let us be inspired, brothers, and courageously go to the cross of self-crucifixion, through crucifixion and the eradication of passions and lusts. Let us reject self-pity and kindle the jealousy of self-torment. Let us take the heart of a doctor who, in need, makes cruel cuts and cauterizations to loved ones and revered persons. I will not tell you the method and the entire course of the struggle. Get down to business - and it will explain everything and teach you everything. Bring to mind that peace, that joy and that light that will settle in the heart after overcoming the passions, and thereby kindle your jealousy to rebel against them. Light, peace and joy arise from the very beginning of entering into this struggle and all grow and rise until in the end they culminate in a peaceful dispensation of the heart in which God rests. And the God of peace truly abides with those who reach this degree. Then it turns out that the cross is definitely the tree of life. The heavenly tree of life remained in paradise; the tree of the cross was erected on the ground in its place. The goal of this is the same: a person will eat and live. Come, cling to him with your lips and drink life from him. You will cling to the cross when, having rejected self-pity, you become jealous of self-crucifixion; and you will begin to drink life from it when you enter into a struggle with passions. Each overcoming of passion will be the same as receiving life-giving juices from the life-giving cross. Increase your speed and you will sooner get drunk and full of life. Marvelous is the property of self-crucifixion! It seems to take away, but while taking away, it gives; it seems to cut off, but by cutting off, it grafts in; it seems to kill, but by killing, it lives. Exactly the Cross of Christ, by which death is trampled upon and life is granted. What a blessing, but what a lot of work! The first step is difficult - the first overcoming of oneself, the first determination to fight; and then, no matter the battle in battle, it gets easier and easier. And jealousy will flare up more strongly, and the ability to overcome will increase, and the enemy will weaken. Just as in ordinary warfare warriors are afraid to just start, and then they no longer look at anything, everything becomes handy and easy for them - so in spiritual warfare: just start, then the battle will heat up and ease itself. And then, the more zealous and lively the fights, the sooner the end of the battle and the closer the peace. Don't have enough strength to start? Pray. The Lord will send. Surround yourself with thoughts about the danger of remaining in passions - and you will drive yourself out of their darkness towards the light of freedom from them. Revive the feeling of the torment of passions - and you will be inflamed with annoyance at them and the desire to escape from them. But most of all, having confessed your weakness before the Lord, stand and push at the door of His mercy, crying out for help. Help is coming! The Lord will look at you, and the light from His eyes will burn in you self-pity and kindle jealousy to cheerfully arm yourself against passions. And then, even if the Lord is with us, who is against us? The heroic Lord, who inspired us with zeal to enter into the feat of struggle against passions, Himself and to resist in it, give us strength, so that under the sign of Your Cross we wage good warfare, looking to You, the Leader and Finisher of our faith, Who through the Cross arranged salvation for us and gave us life in it. Amen. It remains to explain to you the third type of cross that saves us - the cross of devotion to the will of God. I will also say a word or two about him, because the complete teaching about him exceeds my strength. The most perfect Christians ascend to this cross. They know him, and they could speak about him clearly, completely and with power. Where can others say this? And it is impossible not to remember that any of you, having overcome one or two passions and somewhat calmed down from their anxieties inside, did not think that you had already done everything that should and is expected of Christians. No, and not everything is done yet. Those who have even completely cleansed themselves of passions have not yet performed the main Christian action, but have only prepared for it. You have cleansed yourself of passions - now offer yourself pure to God as a pure and immaculate sacrifice, which is the only one befitting Him the Most Pure. Look at Calvary. There, the cross of a prudent thief is the cross of cleansing oneself from passions, and the Cross of the Lord is the cross of a pure and immaculate sacrifice. And it is the fruit of devotion to the will of God - unquestioning, complete, irrevocable. Who lifted our Savior to the Cross? This devotion. In the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord Jesus Christ prayed that the cup might pass by, but he spoke a decisive definition about this: “Not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). From His word: “I am,” those who came to bind Him fall. But then they knit Him. Why? Because He first bound Himself to devotion to the will of God. Under the Cross, all creation trembles and the dead accept life, but He remained motionless on the Cross, for He gave up His spirit to God. Such are all those who have grown into perfect men, who have reached the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ. They are all crucified, so to speak, according to the will of God. Every personal movement, thought, and desire is nailed onto it. Or they don’t have the latter in the usual sense and form at all: everything that belonged to them died, being sacrificed by the will of God. What moves them is God’s beckoning, God’s inspiration, which, being imprinted in their hearts in only one way known to them, determines all their activities. The Holy Apostle Paul depicts this state in relation to himself as follows: “You have been crucified with Christ. Now no one lives, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:19–20). As soon as he was crucified with Christ, he, the apostle, the most perfect man, ceased to live himself, but Christ began to live in him. Or he became in such a position, about which he writes in another place: “God works in us both to will and to do good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). This is the height of Christian perfection that a person can achieve. He is the forerunner of the future state after the resurrection, when God will be all in all. Why are all those worthy of achieving it often in conflict with all the orders of earthly existence and either suffer persecution and torment, or become and are revered as fools, or retire into the desert. But in all these types of external fate, their internal destiny is one: united, with one God abiding in the heart. They live and act alone, hiding in the inner, deepest silence, in the complete absence of any movements. They say that high in the last reaches of our atmosphere, all movement of the earthly elements ceases. One universal element rests calmly there. This is the image of those who were crucified with Christ, who stopped living their own lives and began to live only by Christ, or, in other words, who ascended to the cross of devotion to the will of God, which alone qualifies and acts in them with the denial of all personal considerations and actions. I have nothing more to tell you about this. And this is said just to hint to you that this is where the end is, this is where we need to be and what to achieve, and so that, knowing this, you are disposed to consider everything that you have and do good as nothing if you have not reached this height of spiritual life defined and expected from us. Many people think that Christianity is the same as other types of life; but it’s not that. It begins with repentance, culminates in the struggle with passions, and ends through the co-crucifixion of the pure inner man with Christ, immersion in God. “You have died,” says the apostle, “and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). Here everything happens inside, invisible to people, and known only to conscience and God. There is nothing external here. It is, of course, a decent shell, but not a decisive witness, much less a producer of the inner. External good behavior, as often happens, is the beautiful appearance of a coffin full of bones! Knowing this, let us stand, brethren, on Golgotha ​​at the crosses and begin to apply ourselves to them and them to ourselves, as we may to each. Simon of Cyrene, who carried the Cross of the Lord, is the image of those crusaders who are subject to external sorrows and hardships. Whom the prudent thief crucified and who the Lord depicts on the Cross, I just said before this: the first depicts those struggling with passions, and the Lord depicts perfect men, crucified in devotion to God. And who does the cross of the evil thief represent? Depicts those who work for passions. Passions torment them, torment them, crucify them to death, without giving any consolation and any good hope. By these signs, everyone try on crosses for yourself and determine for yourself who you are - Simon of Cyrene, or a prudent thief, or an imitator of Christ the Lord, or an evil thief due to the passions that consume you? Whatever you find yourself, expect that to be the end for you. I will only add: get out of your head that through a life of comfort you can become what we should be in Christ. If true Christians experience joy, it is completely by accident; The most distinctive character of their life is suffering and illness, internal and external, voluntary and involuntary. Through many sorrows one must enter into the Kingdom, and into that which appears within. The first step here - the turning of the will from bad to good, which constitutes the heart of repentance - is reflected by mortal pain from the wound of contrition, from which blood then oozes throughout the continuation of the struggle with passions and which closes after the acquisition of purity, which elevates the Christian to the cross of co-crucifixion with Christ in the will of God. Everything is sorrow, illness, and hardship. We can say this: consolation is evidence of the indirect path, and sorrow is evidence of the right path. Considering this, rejoice, crusaders! What about you, those who are consoled? Abraham's word to the rich man in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Here you are comforted, while others suffer for the sake of Christ and His holy law; but in the next world it will be the other way around: those who follow the path of the cross will be comforted, and those who are comforted will suffer. You usually say: it’s like you can’t have fun or allow yourself any pleasure. Yes, you do the main thing first, and then allow that too. Otherwise, the only thing someone has to do is that today there is a ball, tomorrow there is a theater, there is a walk, and cheerful reading and conversation, and various entertainments - a transition from one pleasure to another. But about the main thing, about how to achieve what every Christian should be, there is no thought. What fruit can you expect from such a life? It’s as if our inner relationship to God in Christ will mature on its own, despite these external disturbances?! How can he mature? Does a candle burn in the wind? Will life end with poison? No. If you want good for yourself, give up pleasure, enter the path of the cross of repentance, burn out in the fire of self-crucifixion, temper yourself in the tears of heartfelt contrition - and you will become gold, or silver, or precious stone, and in due time you will be taken by the heavenly Master to adorn His most luminous and most worldly palaces. Amen. Examples of recording good thoughts that come during thoughts of God and prayer, numbering 162 1 I have written to you more than once so that you write down in a special notebook the thoughts that come during prayer or in addition to it - such thoughts that, having come, do not quickly go away, but occupy the mind and heart for a long time and in their way improve the soul. To encourage you to diligently pursue this kind of work and to provide an example, I am sending you a notebook in which one person sometimes wrote down similar thoughts. See how it's done and do the same for yourself. 1. The heart is a sponge full of different liquids. Squeeze and it will flow. Pressure of the heart - impressions and circumstances of current life that evoke from the heart either good or bad, judging by what the part of it contains that is pressed on. Pay attention. This can lead to good self-knowledge. 2. It happens that no matter where someone pokes his nose, everyone shuns him. This is an image of an alarmed conscience, which, whether it turns to God, sees Him turning away its face; whether to angels and saints - and they don’t want to look at him; whether towards people living together - even they seem to treat them with contempt; whether to himself - and he sees nothing in himself on which he could dwell with consolation. And it's still here. What will happen there?! Keep this in mind often. 3. Have you ever experienced disappointment? Alas, how amazing she is! She was tested by the holy fools. We hoped to meet the Groom - but failed. And it wouldn't be so hard. One could be consoled by the hope of seeing Him some other time. But the trouble is that the Groom Himself rejected them once and for all. These virgins were not vicious, but something very necessary was missing in them. Why? It’s worth thinking about this now and making up for what’s missing in advance, so that we don’t experience the same fate for ourselves. 4. In schools, during exams, it sometimes happens that everyone thinks that he knows the subject, but when they call him, he doesn’t say a word, and he gets a zero. Be careful that you don’t suffer the same thing when they call you to an exam from where there is no return. Here the matter can still be corrected, but there it will be impossible to correct it. 5. Is there a threat of rejection? Yes. For Satan is rejected. And you have nothing on which to base the privilege of non-rejection when you are burdened with sins. How can this be? We must correct ourselves and cry out for mercy with relentlessness, like a widow to a judge. 6. Because of your sins, you are a charred brand, a corpse swollen, blue and filled with stench, a darkness in which you cannot see anything. 7. The Lord is on the Cross. Stand before Him mentally and think, with what gaze would the Lord meet you from the Cross? Stay longer in this position, and your conscience will clearly tell you about this. 8. It is said about ancient Israel: “loose, thicker, wider - and” forgotten “God”. The same goes for the children of the new Israel, when they, satisfied with what they have, indulge in carelessness and carelessness about pleasing God. They are full and resting. 9. On what you rest your hope, that is God for you. If on the estate, then the estate is yours; if in power, power is your god; if there is something else on something else, there is God for you. When the true God desires to convert someone to Himself, He first destroys the false gods, so that, having experienced their unreliability, you will turn to Him more quickly and sincerely. 10. In everyday life, it happens that another servant, who has been guilty and driven away, is accepted again by the owners when he confesses his guilt and promises to be good. They accept him if he is guilty a second time, bowing to his pleas and promises. They accept it a third and a fourth time... and as much as patience and leniency allow. But if the servant still gets caught in the same troubles, they finally say to him: go away and don’t come forward; and then, no matter how much he begs them, they do not listen to him, saying: we have already lost faith in you. Is it not possible for the same thing to happen to a sinner who has repeatedly returned to the same sins and still does not stop returning? Let the person responsible for such falls think about this. 11. It happens that someone else is entrusted with the management of an estate, but he is a superficial person: he makes, makes and alters all plans, not taking into account the needs and requirements of the farm, but according to his own fantasies - he fusses a lot, but there is no sense, and the estate is soon upset. The same thing happens in the moral order, when someone suffers from a floating mind - and he is not bad, and he does things, but there is no point: everything is not towards the goal, but just like that, off the shoulder, into the wind. 12. Where did the one who did not have a wedding garment get to? I already sat down at the table. And what is the end?! “Binding his hand and nose... cast him into utter darkness” (Matthew 22:13). Those who think about being something need to think about this more often. 13. Another product passes from hand to hand, and everyone praises it. But an expert in the matter will only look at how he sees the falsity - whether it was made by mistake, or due to inability, or intentionally. The same thing happens in moral terms: some deeds are considered very good and praiseworthy, other persons are considered saints. But an expert will immediately understand the matter and recognize the face in a few words. 14. “Remember from where you fell,” is heard in the conscience of one who took up the work of salvation as he should and succeeded somewhat in it, but then scattered and returned to his previous deeds or even worse ones. How sad it is! 15. When someone who has returned to the path of repentance begins to work on himself, then, seeing how everything seems to fall out of his hands due to the extreme breakdown of his strength and the persistence of bad habits, he involuntarily cries out: “Beholden by fate, save me, Lord.” 16. What is spirit under the power of soul and body - and what is soul and body under the power of spirit? Let everyone judge this for themselves. The ascent from the realm of the flesh to the spirit is represented by Saint Pelagia, Saint Mary of Egypt, Saint Taisia, Saint Moses Murin, Saint David and the like. 17. A matter of utmost importance is happening in the world, humanity and every person under the influence of the incarnate economy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We, too, are brought into the movement of events in this direction by the all-ruling right hand of God. Therefore, you cannot joke not only about life in general, but also about every activity, remembering where it should be directed. And not a single minute should be wasted. In a plant, for example, and in an animal body, not a single moment passes without something happening there, in general, and in particular in every particle, that is required for life. But there this is happening unconsciously and involuntarily, and a rational creature must do the same thing in a moral and religious order independently, consciously and spontaneously. 18. A business-minded person - a scientist, a practitioner in some field, an artist - sacrifices everything Divine to his deeds, always pushing it into the background - namely prayer, contemplation of God, deeds of piety - and he rests his trust in his deeds and strengths. 19. A sinner - since every sin has already been condemned - should feel the same way as a condemned person feels, about whom the death sentence has already been pronounced and only a few minutes remain before its execution. The door is about to open and the executioners will enter. 20. The action of the grace of the Holy Spirit is preceded by the forgiveness of sins with the cleansing of the heart from passions; forgiveness and cleansing are preceded by hatred of everything sinful; and to this hatred is a feeling of condemnation and rejection of God. This last comes when the conscience awakens under the influence of the fear of God and begins to sort through all the shame and wrongs of life. The main thing is to awaken the fear of God and conscience. These are the elements of our spirit. They come to life through the action of prevenient grace. 21. Patriarch Jacob worked for Leah for seven years and for Rachel for seven years. Leah is the image of an active life (action), and Rachel is a contemplative life (mind). Both, it turns out, are obtained through labor - that is, both action and reason. 22. A person who receives inattention and coldness becomes indignant and irritated. What about God, who is everywhere? But we cannot boast of always paying attention to Him and having a warm, heartfelt attitude. 23. Whoever is in place, his established life flows calmly. But if he happened to lose his place, everything would fall into disarray. It also has its place in spiritual life. Whoever holds on to it, everything is calm inside, and whoever moves away from it, turmoil immediately begins inside, the most terrible and destructive of any external turmoil. 24. He who behaves as he should, works without sparing himself, pays attention to himself and kindles religious feelings in his heart. As soon as he begins to delay the work of pleasing God, this is immediately followed by wandering thoughts and a cooling of the heart. If you don’t stop, you will quickly fall into negligence and carelessness, insensibility and absent-mindedness. This is mental paralysis, or the immersion of the soul in death. 25. There are also internal punishments from God. This is the taking away of spiritual feelings. This happens when the heart tastes something passionate, but had the opportunity to avoid it. Then it becomes incapable of receiving spiritual feelings and will remain so until every trace of passionate combat evaporates. 26. There is a peace-keeping thought. Having forgotten itself, the soul begins to move and rearrange everything in the world in its own way - things, persons, and events. The enemy puts her on a chair and builds her into a world government monkey. Is there anything funnier than this ugliness? 27. During prayer, the enemy usually brings to mind some things, as if they are extremely necessary, and then takes them away from these things and takes them to who knows where. It is necessary to instill in the heart the conviction and decision to prefer God to everything, at least during prayer. It should belong to him all the time. But let us inseparably devote even this short time of prayer to Him. This, however, is not enough. We must ensure that we continually walk before God with fear and reverence. For He is everywhere, and in all His greatness. 28. The anointing of the doors with the blood of the Passover lamb was a symbol for us. What does it mean? It means the mysterious anointing of our souls with the blood of the Lord Savior in holy baptism. We must pray that this blood penetrates us everywhere and imprints everything in our spirit, soul, and body. And she will be a silent intercessor for us at the trial, which will decide on life or death - eternal. 29. Prayer is mental, or mental, and there is prayer of the heart, prayer of feeling. The first one is never pure and unperturbed. Only feeling can impart these qualities to prayer when the heart is filled with some kind of religious feeling. God gives this, but we ourselves must try to lead our hearts into such feelings, especially before prayer. Prayer will warm up this feeling - and it can go smoothly on its own. 30. In the production of repentance, sorrowful regret that we offend God with our sins gives a more lasting decision not to sin than regret that we destroy ourselves with sins, although this is also appropriate for repentance and conversion. 31. Whoever does not experience the effects of the grace of the Holy Spirit in his heart, his salvation is in doubt. For such a state may also depend on the fact that there is absolutely nothing in the soul. But usually the Holy Spirit does not quickly reveal the effects of His grace - out of fear that the person himself will eat this goodness out of sight. 32. There are two resolutions from sins - mysterious and everyday (physical, as it were). In the first, conscience is resolved - and the person joyfully feels freed from all condemnation for sins; in the second, nature is freed from all the passions that bind it. Feats of self-mortification and works of good deeds and prayers lead to this latter. And this is God’s (physical) penance, even if the priest does not impose church penance; but if you impose it, then God’s penance soon ends with it. The Church’s prayers for them and charity for them help the deceased to achieve this same resolution. 33. «Упразднитеся и разумейте, яко Аз есмь Бог» ( Пс.45:11 ). To abolish means to expel from the soul everything that could obscure the face of God, visible to the mind with corresponding feelings, that diverts attention and feeling from God. Но как упраздниться сим образом при делах? Be determined to fulfill them as God’s instructions, and not as your own undertakings or something imposed from outside. 34. Враг непрестанно около нас хлопочет. His first task is to occupy himself with something secondary, at least not bad, and distract him from the main thing - the only thing he needs. When he succeeds in this, then he begins to throw in bad things and little by little leads to bad thoughts and feelings... 35. Вообрази царя в его приемной. Нашло много лиц разного рода с целию просить – кто о чем. But instead of turning to the king with petitions, some of them look out the window, others collect rubbish, others admire the decorations of the hall, others quarrel. Noise. На царя никто почти и не смотрит. Таковы бывают и наши церковные собрания и домашние молитвы. А все жалуемся, что не услышаны молитвы! 36. God is building His spiritual city in Heaven. Materials are prepared here on earth, in the Church of God, from human souls. Their validity is determined by death. The good ones are placed in the building in the appropriate place, the bad ones are thrown into their place. 37. How to represent God? In Heaven, in yourself, or something else? No way. Acquire the skill of standing in the conviction that God is everywhere and, therefore, in you and sees all your secrets, and in this conviction, hold yourself reverently before the invisible God, without any of His imagination. But pray that God Himself will teach you this. 38. God creates the inner man. But God begins to act within when a person recognizes himself as completely nothing in all parts and surrenders himself entirely into the hands of God, into the omnipotence of God. 39. Everything is in the Lord the Savior. He propitiates the Father and sends the Holy Spirit. Having completed the economy of salvation, He became our Master, and we are His servants, purchased by His blood. Can you feel it? 40. When you hear people say about someone else: he’s full, he’s collapsed and he’s dozing, don’t forget to think that this is an image of your carelessness from complacency. 41. Prayer happens as they say: if you get attached, you can’t pull it back by the ears; Otherwise it’s like this: pull on the reins and you won’t be able to pull them. 42. You hear what they say about something else: he’s arrogant. Look, the angels of God would not say that about you, judging by the way you behave in relation to God in prayer. Wouldn't you like to have His friend? The king of the earth, no matter how merciful and condescending, cannot tolerate familiarity and denies access to himself to those who are arrogant. And the King of Heaven, do you think you will indulge? 43. The peace of the flesh destroys all that is good, earned through labor. It is as if the owner himself were breaking off a beautiful tree with his own hands, which had been restored with great diligence. 44. The heart is a pit of snakes. Snakes are passions. Their abyss: carnality - eat, drink, sleep to your heart's content; idleness, laziness; covetousness, amorousness, stinginess, self-interest, reliance on possessions; selfishness, pride, vanity, people-pleasing, conceit; anger, hatred, envy, gloating; over-concern, absent-mindedness, etc., etc.... What to do? Whichever one sticks out, hit it on the head. Hammer – ruthlessness towards oneself. 45. One of the elders wrote: I am like a horse that grazes without an owner: whoever wants to sits down and rides; As soon as one gets off, having been run over, another sits down and does the same, and so on. He spoke about wandering here and there with his thoughts. Through them the enemy comes at us. It should be added that he does the same through busy work and much care in soaring conceit. 46. ​​The one who repents at first only sees his own sins, but when the internal disorder subsides somewhat, he begins to see the passions covering the soul under the sins. First he cried out: God, be merciful to me, a sinner; and here, in addition, he adds: God, cleanse me, a sinner, or: heal my soul. 47. The Annunciation and the Incarnation correspond in us to the beginning of the search for salvation and the acceptance of grace, which lays the seed of new life; and Christmas corresponds to the formation of the inner new man. 48. Truly we sit in darkness; and this is not only when we live carelessly, but also when we begin to care about salvation. Life gives you to notice and feel this, but you can’t think of it. 49. Do you hear people say about someone else: where have you gotten yourself into? It is very decent to repeat to yourself when thoughts of arrogance come across. 50. At first, repentant feelings are more out of self-preservation - that one has died; then they go into sorrow because of the offense to God. This, presumably, will last for the rest of my life. 51. Business is an urgent duty. They should not be disparaged, they are valuable. But salvation cannot be based on them. This is not their business, but the work of God’s grace - both as saving mercy and as power for salvation. 52. What is the house uninhabited? Empty, musty, homeless. Such is the soul that does not repent and does not have the fear of God. 53. God, having created the world, improves it and leads it to the final goal. Every creature is a tool. But unfree creatures are submissive instruments, and free ones are stubborn. They slow down bringing the world to its goal. Since this goal cannot be achieved without their correctness, now all God’s care is directed toward guiding and keeping rational creatures on the right path. The basis of this care is embodied economy. And this is what the Lord said: “My Father is working hitherto, and I am working.” 54. The enemy turns the unrepentant soul into a cesspool into which he throws all sorts of rubbish. 55. Have you seen how sometimes a pack of dogs surrounds a person? The poor guy just turns around, fighting back with whatever he can. But someone stronger runs up to him - and the flock scatters. The same thing happens to those who repent and follow the path of self-correction. The enemy sometimes arouses in him a flock of passions, which, like dogs unleashed from a chain, first one or the other begin to tear him apart. And only help from above disperses this flock. 56. If you notice traces of passionate movements, but don’t have anything to do with them, then don’t dream too much about yourself. There are no cases, perhaps only because there are no cases for them. If occasions arise, you will find yourself more sensual than a Turk, more evil than a bashi-bazouk, more selfish than a Jew. 57. At first, the works of repentance, no matter how strong, seem like nothing; but later, when the conscience is satisfied, they may seem like something. We shouldn't let this happen. 58. The sacramental remission of sins occurs immediately through confession, at the moment of priestly resolution, and the remission of traces of them from nature is accomplished through the labors of repentance. The dead, who have not achieved this in life, reach this there through the prayers of the Holy Church. 59. The spirit of tightness and languor that approaches the heart from below and tries to seize it all is not a good quality. It needs to be torn off. This tightness is indefinite; good sorrow always has as its object definitely one’s sins and one’s unworthiness. 60. It happens that externally the service is going well, but internally it is very faulty. There is also an employee who is outwardly in order, but inwardly looks like he has his hair cut. 61. It seems that it would be better to call spiritual life internal. This is clearer, more comprehensive, and more accurate. 62. Not only carnal sin, but every indulgence of the flesh in food, drink, sleep, rest, position either suppresses spiritual movements or diminishes the strength of their tension. 63. Do not approach prayer with care, otherwise your prayer will not be prayer. Everyone begs for the ability to cut off care. With it the enemy throws souls here and there like wheat in a sieve. 64. Without care, the soul goes to prayer and goes to the Lord. And with it, prayer is full of it, and it is all through prayer. 65. Spiritual appropriation from others (attributing successes to oneself) appears in different forms and is the cause of a teaching retreat from grace. Hence petrification, oblivion, darkness, loss of energy. The remedy against it is to accept everything as if from the hand of God, with gratitude, as a gift, and to always live in surrender of oneself to God, all the tea from above. 66. Good thoughts that suddenly visit and come into the soul come from the Lord or from a guardian angel. They organize everything inside, illuminate both internal and external and put you in a joyful state. Enemy thoughts and bad thoughts produce confusion and darkness, accompanied by self-satisfaction, and bad ones always bring with them a storm of passionate movements, more or less strong and destructive. 67. Inner life has its own statutes and laws, its own correctness and malfunctions, its own rewards and punishments, which are not coordinated with external ones, but go on as usual. Outside is one position, and inside is another. 68. After repentance and the work of purification, conscience from time to time goes through everything sinned in life - and judges. Behold the judgment before it. It's very humbling. The enemy sometimes fakes this; only he brings to mind some deeds that, according to human judgment, are unkind, deeds of foolishness and oversight, but he does not touch upon those by which God is offended. Judgment with conscience, one might say, with grace, revives repentance and hopeful contrition, dissolved by the joy of pardon; and this enemy brings a joyless and heavy burden. 69. Why is the soul empty? From the fact that the Visitor of souls came out due to some fault of hers and for some teaching. Perhaps there is a natural pause - a rest of all forces, which, as creatures, cannot maintain themselves in constant tension without exhaustion and rest. 70. Stages of evasion from the one thing needed, or decline from the spirit: 1) passion for some activity - studying something, handicrafts or artistic endeavors; 2) as a result, benefits in labor for the cause of salvation - in prayers, vigils, fasting, solitude, etc.; 3) from this, attention to oneself weakens and the internal structure is ruined, which gives the enemy access to sow unkind thoughts and excite passionate movements; 4) this is not far from inclination to passion - and sin. 71. We must combine the feelings of the perishing and the being saved. There is only truth here. 72. Two ways to purify the heart – action and contemplation. They begin together in the truly marching and walk hand in hand; but at first the action goes ahead, and then it outstrips its contemplation, and in the end it completely absorbs it. 73. During the period of cleansing, God not only allows falsehoods and misfortunes, but also brings them in as effective means of cleansing. The latter are especially fruitful, because after them a special power is sent to the soul to transfer them. The tempted one can, however, sin in this, as in the first case. Look. 74. That wrong exists and happens in us is indicated first by the commandments and demands of conscience, then by the peaceful dispensation of the heart, and finally, by the eye of God in the heart. 75. In building salvation, deepen the foundation. This foundation is a feeling that never goes away: blind, naked, leprous, paralyzed. 76. God arranges meetings with people so that we pass on to each other the good that is in us from God and mutually enrich each other. The enemy is instigating and doing everything possible to make these meetings not only useless, but also harmful. Listen! 77. The enemy, when tempting, applies himself to the characters of people: he acts this way with those of the mind, another way with those of business, and another way with those of the heart. And he doesn’t always inspire evil, but he is content if he manages to occupy his attention with trifles. He just wants to distract from the main thing, the only thing needed, and waste time. Everything is his benefit. 78. Inside, the structure of thoughts about the main thing varies from time to time, but the essence of the matter must remain unchanged, namely: I am a sinner and worthy of condemnation and execution, but I do not despair of salvation for the sake of the Lord Savior’s death on the cross. 79. Having taken up penitential labors and not seeing success, do not be timid. Seek and seek, relying on the promises of God. You have just fallen behind one bank, but the other is not yet visible at all. Work harder with the oars - with penitent, ascetic means - and the shore will appear. Then your work will be more fun. All you have to do is receive even one piece of obvious help - and it will be a vision of the other shore. Then there will be no place for worrying about the success of your business - unless you become lazy. But who, besides you, will be to blame for this? 80. Set up a barrier at the entrance of the heart and post strict guards to it. Ask anything suitable - thoughts, feelings, desires - whether it’s yours or someone else’s. Drive away strangers without pity and be unforgiving. 81. A sincere person does it because it is pleasant, useful, necessary; and spiritual - because duty, virtue, is pleasing to God. And in spiritual life there are pleasant, useful and necessary things of the spiritual rank, but here they are subject to the laws of the spirit of life about Christ Jesus. 82. External goodness without internal self-correction is the same as the wounds being healed, but the thinness from which the wounds are left, or that the house is rotten, plastered and painted. 83. God the Father, by His good pleasure, calls us sinners to His Only Begotten Son by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Son of God washes the one who has heeded the calling with His blood, and the Holy Spirit regenerates him, clothing him in Christ. Then the Father accepts him into His active and living favor, into His embrace. 84. The Holy Church on earth is the same as a brick factory. The final Church of God is being built in Heaven, and bricks and other things are being prepared on earth, in the Holy Church. The clay is crushed, beaten, burned - it is silent and becomes a brick, fit for a building. Be like this in your spiritual life - and you will appear fit for the heavenly church of God. 85. When you squeeze a bottle filled with water, the water will begin to gush out of it in a fountain upward, as soon as it finds or breaks through a hole. Constrict yourself during prayer with the fear of judgment - and a cry from your heart, like a fountain, will rush to grief, crying out for mercy. 86. In the world God builds His work. And all the powers of heaven are listening. Take heed too. Everything is a means. The goal is known to God alone. Everything is transitory; there is only one God who is essential. Abide with Him. He is everywhere by His being, and not only by knowledge. Beware so as not to be condemned, like those who grimace and act outrageously before the face of the king. 87. Just as recipients undertake for baptized infants, replacing infants in what they cannot fulfill on their own, so for those who have departed, who have passed on to another life with the active beginning of true life, not completed, what they themselves cannot fulfill for this purpose is performed for them by the community of believers until they are purified and mature. After that, they reward the believers with their prayer for them. Behold the circulation of vital forces in Christ Jesus our Lord. 88. No one enters the inner curtain by deed, only the Lord the Savior entered this way. Yet all Christians enter who enter, mentally, or by feeling, or by contemplation. This is a state, not a movement. It is the fruit of the whole system. This veil means that the Lord is invisible: “cover Your darkness.” 89. Someone said: it seems that on major holidays - the Holy Resurrection of Christ, the Nativity of Christ, the Descent of the Holy Spirit and others - as well as on Sundays and days of remembrance, those who have passed away before the time of purification are given the freedom to visit where they lived before, especially with those who pray for them, and in a dream to reveal to them their condition to intensify their prayers or to console them. 90. How to contemplate God in the heart without diminishing His greatness? Holding the thought that He is the most innermost, and not putting His presence into any form. 91. The merciful God wants His rational creatures to live in joy: some enjoying their inherent well-being, others, whose well-being has been upset, comforted by the confidence that this is in relation to them an indispensable means of establishing their well-being here, but even more so there. Without complacently submitting to what God has ordained, you can take away the saving effect from the prevailing circumstances and thereby irreparably harm yourself. 92. The predecessors of temptation, or arousal of passion, are frequent thoughts about it and giving oneself benefits and consolations of the flesh. We need to sober up. 93. It is another thing to reason about objects of faith, and another to believe. In the latter, nothing is significantly added, but there is a different structure of the heart and a different taste in what is known. 94. It also happens that even though there are no bad deeds, the state of the heart is bad. God rejects such a one, although he does not look bad. Take a closer look to see if you belong to this kind of people. 95. God arranges the salvation of everyone this way: whoever is fit, He draws him to the Son; The son of the future accepts; accepted is transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. This is the first period, preparatory. It lasts from the calling until the moment when it is spoken in the heart: God is all active in all - and complete surrender of oneself to the all-acting of God is born. From here begins the Divine action in man through human, however, forces, or God-human. Xie – second period. The third period is peace in God, whose real place is there, but its beginning is supposed to be here. Most people are in the first period; some part - in the second; The third is achieved here by rare people, but there by everyone, however, in their own rank. This is eternal bliss. 96. No one knows God the Father except God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; and no one knows the Son except the Father and the Holy Spirit; and no one knows the Holy Spirit except the Father and the Son. From this mutual knowledge comes both mutual will and mutual interaction, which, converging in one, give unity of knowledge, unity of will and unity of action. Just as all Persons are one in essence, then all are in all. No Person is united in anything, except birth and procession. But in relation to these latter it is appropriate to say: the Father, giving birth to the Son, in no way separates Him from Himself and the Spirit; and brings forth the Holy Spirit, not in any way separating Him from Himself or from the Son. The Son, when born, is not separated from the Father and the Spirit; and the Spirit, proceeding, is not separated either from the Father or from the Son. The Father gives birth to the Son and expels the Holy Spirit without primacy or dominance over Them. Likewise, the Son is born from the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, not thereby becoming subsequent, but remaining sucking on Him and not becoming less than Him, but remaining equal to Him in everything. 97. The Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, knowing themselves mutually and being united in this knowledge, know that each of them has the same, and not the same, being that the others have. The Father, giving birth to the Son and bringing forth the Spirit, knows that their being is the same as His, intransitive. The Son who is born knows that His being is the same as that of the Father and the Spirit. The outgoing Spirit knows that His being is the same as that of the Father and the Son. Thus, They have the same consciousness of the unity of being, or the consciousness that, despite the trinity of Persons, They are one God. 98. Temptations are necessary due to our present situation. We are in captivity. Just as someone who escapes from an enemy fortress still has to endure a lot before reaching the border of his fatherland, so it is here. 99. Knowledge of objects of faith is of three kinds: rational, or scientific; experienced, formed under the work of purifying the heart; and living, given directly to those who entered the region of light. This latter is true contemplation, the beginnings of which also appear in the second degree. 100. Comprehension or perception of spiritual things occurs in prayer. But reading prayer does not give this - it gives its own, or short prayer, combined with the thought of God. 101. Just as an organ is started - and it plays the already started song itself, so the enemy starts a dream in the soul - and moves away, watching. The dream itself drags on and on. When the daydreaming ends, the enemy runs up and manages to start another daydream - and again runs back and looks. When this dream ends, he runs up and starts a third one, and so on. If they beat him back, resolutely cutting off all dreams, he is not arrogant - he moves away a little and keeps looking at how to start his dream from another direction again. And he doesn’t leave until he has time to do it. This is his whole business. When a movement of passion appears in a dream, he runs up and acts to captivate and lure sympathy or even consent, complete or incomplete. If he succeeds in this, he further teaches how to bring his plans into action. And there is no moment for him to take his soul out of his sight and stop his evil intentions against it. 102. Those who take a fortress first shell it, then make an attack. The same is true in spiritual warfare. The enemy first shoots arrows of thoughts, then, when he sees that they are already weakly reflected - they have fallen in love - he makes a strong attack through the excitement of passion. If in the first period the soul behaved as it should, then in the second it will stand courageously. 103. The enemy is carried away by the pleasures of sin. And the Lord, distracting from sin, allows the repentant and sincerely turning to the good path to experience the sweetness of life in peace with Him and conscience. This sweetness is purer, lighter and more peaceful than the sweetness of sin, which is always cloudy and disturbing. Why does one who has experienced the sweetness of the Lord have a strong weapon in this to resist the attraction of the sweetness of the enemy’s sin. 104. When you notice an impulse to do something as quickly as possible, know that it is from the enemy to harm or ridicule you, no matter how bright it may seem. 105. The Spirit of Christ is complete selflessness and readiness to sacrifice oneself for the glory of God and the good of others. It is reflected throughout human nature. The demons smell him and run, further and further. 106. The enemy constantly tries to defile the heart with his impurities - and manages to throw heaps of thoughts and often sinful feelings into it. This happens to a sleeping person when there is no attention. Having woken up and noticed this, you must immediately clean everything up so that not a trace of it remains. How? In the name of the Lord Jesus, “He has a spade in His hand.” The handle in this shovel is contrite repentance and the determination forward not to wake up the enemy’s machinations by inattention. The hand with which this shovel is taken is faith with the hope that the Lord will not abandon. The engine of labor is jealousy. Its support and basis is non-self-pity. Go, armed with all this, into your heart and clean everything there - and do not give up work until not a single speck of enemy remains. 107. The enemy tempts only to the point of intercourse, and then leaves the person, and he brings it to the end himself - so that the deed is done by him alone and he is all to blame; the enemy is on the sidelines. This is wonderful! 108. When the enemy sees that someone has decided to give up slavery and take the path of good, he does not directly contradict this, but hastens to break the firmness of the decision in an external way, namely: he inspires such a person to do some task from his usual activities, presenting it as urgently necessary and occupying his entire attention. When attention is drawn into the matter and all its production, then he manages to throw thoughts into indulgence in what the person was holding in his slavery. And it happens that before he has time to finish the job, his good intention is shaken - everything goes back to the old way again. 109. Every person usually acts on his own - he conceives, ponders and carries them into execution with the help of God. But at times, everyone becomes an instrument of the action of higher forces, from which, through him, the required good is transferred or transmitted to those around him. This is evidenced and accompanied by a state of inspiration to speak or do something - when a person speaks and acts not because of personal considerations, but because of an uncontrollable feeling and attraction. At the same time, he himself may not be able to retain what is suggested. In this case, it is only a conductor, just as a gutter is a conductor of water. But he can learn that. In this case, they achieve a double benefit. 110. Both in faith and in life one must establish a single conviction: in faith - that God came to earth and arranged for our salvation; in life - what you have been bought for, why you must work tirelessly, in the hope of bringing you into peace here too, and not just there. The root of life is zeal for God, in devotion to His protection, guidance and all-action. 111. Every person is dual - both good and unkind. For some, good prevails, and for others, evil prevails. But even with the first, the unkind is not silent, but with every good undertaking, it offers itself to attention either directly or indirectly; and in the second, the good is not silent, but always reminds of itself, in every bad undertaking. It sometimes seems that what is unkind in us is some kind of evil face, grafted onto our nature, which is good by creation, vigilantly looking at everything in us and constantly urging us on with its suggestions. 112. Vigor - a constant tension of internal energy, keeping the soul and body in line - is cut off by the urge to rest or reverence on something created, with pleasure and satisfaction in it, in addition to God and the Divine. There is an abyss of subjects for this - everything that exists besides God and Divine things. Let attention see this and discourage it. 113. At the very beginning of prayer, our unkind always suggests some matter as if necessary, in order to concern us with it. If someone who begins to pray is not careful, then his thoughts go into the proposed task, and he forgets about God and prayer - he bows like a doll. To avoid this, before prayer, you must throw everything away with a firm thought and begin to pray with your bare soul, so that when you pray, it is the only thing you care about. 114. We cannot be without things to do and activities. God has given us active forces, which require exercise. Therefore, everyone has their own affairs and activities. They require attention, but, on the other hand, moral progress, which is more important than anything else, requires that attention always be in God. How to reconcile both? We must do all our deeds and activities as the works of God, imposed on us by God, and dedicate them to God. Then, while doing them, let us not lose sight of God, for in this case the inevitable concern is how to make everything we do pleasing to God. 115. So that things and activities do not absorb all your attention, you need to do them without passion, without becoming addicted to them. The skill for this must be acquired by constantly straining and disposing oneself to do one’s work not because one’s soul is in favor of one or another, but out of a sense of duty. The definition of what is necessary and the motivation for it must be taken from the Divine realm. Then doing business will be both diligent and detached—detachment not into emptiness, but straight to God. Then, even when starting to pray, it will not cost anything to throw them out of your attention. Yes, they will naturally fall out of it as soon as the hands are accepted from them. Yet this comes from the habit of constantly being in the presence of God and with a reverent feeling. 116. The Wise One said: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear” of God. And one of the elders used to say: acquire a reverent thought towards God - and then everything will be in order with you, both inside and outside. Playful schoolchildren usually make noise and uproar until the teacher arrives, but as soon as he appears, they are all in their places and quiet. The same thing happens inside from reverent thoughts. 117. God gives and instills reverent thoughts - but not for free, but to those who seek and work at it. The best way to search is to overextend yourself in prayer both in church and at home. Work at this without self-pity, but with the desire to embitter yourself for self-indulgence. Always keep your mind in the memory of God, or always walk in the presence of God. But all such work is preparation. True reverent thoughts are instilled by the grace of God, or freed from bonds. For it is natural to the spirit, but is bound by the corruption that has come. 118. When jealousy is strong, the enemy sits calmly in his ambush, in the bodily organ of passion, lying in wait, waiting for the right time to attack. As soon as a certain indulgence and desire for relaxation is allowed inside, he immediately comes out and begins to either throw up a thought or excite a bodily movement. If this is not rejected with hostility, but, on the contrary, responds with some kind of sympathy, then after this he intensifies his attacks, hastening to kindle passion and cause regret, which is the threshold of the matter, if it is not erased. How important it is therefore to hit the enemy at the head, that is, at his first shooting thought or movement! In order not to frighten, the enemy sometimes retreats after a single or double call for sympathy in order to create carelessness in the enemy and suddenly strike him again with a strong onslaught. This is not scary for those who keep themselves alert and tensely ready to resist attacks. 119. Having finished the prayer, do not think that it is free, but always be as if you were standing at the liturgy - may your mind always be cheerful and your thoughts chaste. 120. Do not divide the Lord Savior into God and man, but inseparably contemplate Him as God incarnate, worship Him as God and trust in Him. 121. Worship on anything other than God, a sense of right to benefits, peace of the flesh, dissolution of the limbs are dangerous thoughts and actions, the evil of which, however, is rarely recognized. 122. We must believe that the Lord is in us, for in baptism we put on Him, in communion we accept Him. If you lack such faith, pray: Lord, add faith to me - and it will add it. And about all the points of our confession, regarding which you recognize the weakness of faith, also pray: add faith to me, Lord. And don’t stop until it does. 123. Contemplation of God as the most hidden, as Saint Ephraim the Syrian calls Him, in the thought that He is hidden for all creatures, for angels and saints, is the highest and purest contemplation of God. It is a direct guide to the fact that when thinking about God, do not have His imagination, but believe only that He is within, as He is everywhere. 124. In the movement towards God, the procession begins with mental activity; from it, with real action, spiritual feelings are born; from them they move on to spiritual contemplation. All this is not going according to any system. God guides those who surrender themselves to Him as He pleases. Just do your own thing - do the deeds of duty in the family, citizenship, in the Church, deeds of charity, asceticism and prayer - everything is from God and for God. And God, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, will lead you to Himself along the indicated path. 125. Christians offer God a sacrifice - Divine - according to Divine institution. No one would have thought of such a sacrifice - and if he had thought of it by some miracle, he would not have dared to begin making it. But the Lord Himself established it, and gave the commandment: “Do this,” and He Himself acts in the sacrifice, through dedicated persons. What is ours? The spirit is contrite, the heart is contrite and humble, with a firm determination not to offend the great Benefactor and to do everything else for His glory. 126. How to achieve the state of constantly standing before God? Begin by walking before Him with the appropriate feelings. From here the fear of God will come, which will lead you to the desired goal. This is a real way - spiritual - to a spiritual state. But the mechanical one, like that of Gregory Sinait, is only a help and alone does not lead to the goal. But with mental techniques it is necessary to combine active ones: keep a clear conscience, refine the flesh, remain in prayer - all in a spirit of contrition and humility with reverence. 127. Dishes. The enemy is trying in every possible way to prevent this good from being achieved - all his efforts are aimed at this. His first trick is to slip in some things and tie them to doing them. They may not be bad, but the bad thing is that, having occupied thought and feeling, they deviate from the main thing, forcing either to push it into the background, or to completely forget it for a while. Both are extremely dangerous, especially the latter. His second method is to guide him to give peace to the flesh, to allow benefits in food, sleep, rest, to allow himself freedom of movement and freedom in impressions on the senses. All this seems like a trifle, but it is extremely ruinous. Keep your eyes open. 128. With every effort, strive to reach the point where the work of accomplishing your salvation is consciously attributed to God, worshiped in the Trinity, inseparably, in a single act, combining the favor of God the Father, the sprinkling of the blood of God the Son and the sanctification of God the Holy Spirit. By the good pleasure of the Father, the grace of the Spirit unites with the Lord into one spirit, soul and body. And behold salvation! 129. Humanity is united with the one Trinitarian God through the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. For the Son of God, having become incarnate, did not stand outside the Trinitarian unity, but remained in it. He became incarnate, as the Holy Church sings, “do not forsake the bosom of the Father.” since He perceived humanity in His Person, then at the same time it was combined with the Trinitarian unity in which He now resides. Then every believer, becoming one with the Lord according to the Christian sacraments, is also united with Trinitarian unity. 130. May the merciful Lord allow us to reach the depth of the foundations for the suffering of the Lord the Savior. This has been predetermined from eternity. Consequently, it was part of the plan of the universe and the direction of the world towards its final goal. It is incomprehensible how this is, but undoubtedly it is. 131. The Lord’s suffering represents a ladder along which He descended lower and lower, not only to extreme humiliation and exhaustion, but even to the point of calling out to God the Father: “Where have you forsaken Me?!” So deep is our fall! Oh, if only the Lord would allow us to comprehend and feel the full horror of sin! What kind of sacrifice was required?! And the merciful Trinitarian God did not retreat before her. O abyss of philanthropy! 132. We must pray that God will grant us to contemplate the Savior, as the Son of God incarnate and in this incarnation abiding by God, contemplating at the same time His inseparable essence and consubstantial Trinity. 133. The Sacrament of Body and Blood is a supper of love for the faithful, but first it is a sacrifice. All over the world people make sacrifices to God. The true sacrifice is ours alone, priceless – the Body and Blood of Christ the Lord. She continuously stands in the Church, connecting Heaven and earth. Christians should remember this. For all believers everywhere are one Church. Why is what is done in one private Church not alien to all private Churches, and therefore to all Christians? 134. The bloodless sacrifice is offered by the Lord Jesus Christ, as the head of the Church, with all Christians, both living and dead. A great liturgy of this kind has meaning wherever it is celebrated. A bloodless sacrifice has power because the Lord who performs it is united with His blood sacrifice on the cross. Thus, all private sacrifices, combined with the single sacrifice of the cross, make it through them intercessionary to ascend from everyone and cover them with her intercession. 135. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the head of the Church, collects the prayers of everyone and has them in His Person, intercessively presented to the Trinitarian God, by Whom it is decided what will happen, and what is decided is acted upon by a single Trinitarian action. 136. In the morning, when you wake up, bring to mind that you are again joining the choir of God’s creations, glorifying God and submissive to His will in nature and in Heaven in the ranks of angels and saints - and take care not to lag behind them either in glorification or in submission to the will of God. Keep this in mind. 137. Everything heavenly is in great light. The Tri-hypostatic, tri-radiant Divinity is hidden due to the inaccessibility of the Divine Light, which is only intellectually contemplated. But God the Word incarnate, although he shines with a light of such strong intensity to which created light can only extend, is, however, such that it is approachable to created eyes and is perceived or contained according to the perfection of the creature looking at Him. Surrounding Him are heavenly ethereal forces. Our Lady Theotokos is closer. Next are the apostles and prophets, enlightened by God while still on earth. Behind them are secondary recipients of the Divine revelation of the will of God. Then all the saints in different degrees - saints, martyrs, saints, righteous of all walks of life. Everyone is filled with light emanating from the face of the Lord Savior, beyond all description. Below them are those who have repented, but have not had time to purify themselves and are moving towards purification through the action in repentance of received grace and the prayers of the earthly and heavenly Church, perfect saints, glorified in Heaven. Here the light, as it purifies, begins from “slightly dawning” to its contiguity with the full light of the saints. 138. Pray like this: Lord God, Father Almighty, through Your paternal compassion we share with both of us. Lord God, Son of the Redeemer, sprinkle me with Your Divine blood. Lord, Holy God, Reviver of the Soul, by Your Divine grace revive my soul, deadened by sins. Holy Trinity, consubstantial and indivisible, one God, existing everywhere, containing everything and seeing everything, look with your merciful eye on me, a great sinner, and in the image of destinies arrange for me the salvation of your name for your sake. 139. When the heart feels the embrace of God, then the sweetness emanating from here allows a person to forget everything that exists. If he manages to preserve this, then from now on his life will begin to be a mother-in-law in such a way that being mind in heart before God will be his only need, but everything else will be incidental. 140. The believer, zealous to work out his own salvation, has entered the right path to salvation, but he is not yet in the house of the saved. He needs his mother-in-law, to work, to fight with fear and apprehension, if he achieves it. 141. Prayer is commanded by God so that His goodness, in the face of His righteousness, may be a basis for mercy. For it is unrighteous to ignore the prayer of those who trust. 142. There should not be a minute of idleness. But there are deeds that are visibly performed by the body, and there are mental deeds that are invisible. And these are the essence of the real deal. The first of them is the memory of God, which does not go away with mental-heartfelt prayer. No one sees this, but people who are so inclined are in constant, intense activity. This is also the only thing needed. Once you have it, don't worry about other things. 143. God created creatures for bliss - and is comforted by them. What about grief? Sorrows, sufferings, troubles are the path to bliss. The Lord is also comforted by those who mourn, because they go straight to bliss. Bliss - through sorrow and suffering; that's the law. God favors us and let us suffer. And it helps those who suffer - not to get rid of it, but to endure it. Deliverance from suffering is an exception to the general law. 144. Thank God first for the fact that He, who is infinitely great, allows you, the most insignificant, to open your lips and talk to Him in prayer. For this prayerful appeal and appeal to God is a condition for receiving God’s mercies, although God already knows what someone needs. Prayer is the opening of the mouth to receive blessings from the Lord, but the blessings that He is pleased to bestow upon you, and not those that you desire. That’s why not everything we ask for comes true. And don’t ask like that: give it urgently. But say: Thy will be done. If you help, glory to You, and if you don’t help, glory to You. Give me only patience. Let your prayer be an outstretched hand to accept the gift, whatever and when it pleases the Lord to give you. 145. Don’t let go of the idea that the end – and judgment – ​​is just around the corner. Expect every minute that they will shout: so-and-so, come out - like in exams. And with this, remember how you will appear and what you will bring in justification. If there is nothing to do, then cry out: Lord, have mercy! God, be merciful to me, a sinner! For the sake of Your Son, who was crucified for us, forgive everything and cover all my sins. 146. Walk in the presence of God, but without diminishing the sense of the greatness of God. See the infinitely great mind of God, looking inside your heart and seeing everything there. 147. The Church is a living body, livingly united with its head - the Lord Savior. Every believer must ascend to the feeling of a living union with all believers and with the Head (this happens naturally among true Christians) - and in this feeling, ascend in prayer to the Lord, and through Him to the Most Holy Trinity. You will find an explanation for this in every member of our body. If consciousness were given to him, he would immediately realize that he is connected with all other members, starting with the nearest ones, and with the head, and through them with all that exists. 148. He who trusts in the Lord must feel as he feels when he is in an impregnable fortress - safe from all enemies - or as he feels when he is accepted under the protection of a powerful king and protected by him. 149. Do not let go of your thoughts the hopes and promises of Christians - both those determined for this life and those set aside for the future. This will fully revive and support the energy of your moral powers. Work as expected, work tirelessly in prayers, fastings, and acts of charity as much as you have the strength. If you act this way, peace of conscience will soon come; then the pacification of the heart will begin as a sign that the passions have begun to fade away - for all the anxieties of the heart come from them. When the heart is completely at peace, it will mean that passions have frozen. Then wait for the presence of God: grace will shine forth - and you will tangibly feel the presence of the Trinitarian God within you, according to the promise of the Lord Savior. This is the threshold of heaven. These are the promises for this life. And they are definitely fulfilled in all zealots for salvation who are merciless to themselves. What will happen in the next world, we cannot even imagine. So, as soon as the urge to indulge and be lazy comes, quickly remember these promises - and you will overcome laziness. For at the same time you will have to think about the fact that the more relentlessly and urgently you do everything, the sooner you will receive what you are looking for. And if you are lazy, it may happen that you won’t get anything at all. For the benefit you give yourself after your work will be considered a reward for it - and there is nothing to give you for it. 150. From receiving the sacraments, grace is always obtained - and happens in us - but it is not always immediately introduced. Those who are properly prepared are infiltrated, and those who are not prepared are not infiltrated, although it happens inside. The same thing happens here as in a furnace when a fire is lit. The firewood has been laid, the fire has been set. But until the fire starts in the wood, until then they and the arson are next to each other; and when they are busy, then the arson fire goes into the firewood and continues to occupy them log by log until it has occupied everyone. We are raw firewood. Just as an arsonist will not ignite damp wood until it dries out the place of fire, so the grace received by us - damp from sins and passions - first dries out a certain part of us (if this has not been done before) in order to penetrate, and when it dries, it is introduced. Having taken root, it continues to dry up part by part of our nature from the dampness of passions - and to take root in them until it embraces everything and fulfills it with itself. The first introduction of grace is evidenced by a certain fire in the heart. This is the beginning of the grace-filled cleansing and remaking of everything internal. It attracts the greatest efforts and does its work among them. The end of this is the manifestation of grace-filled gifts; but this is not the end of progression in degrees of perfection. And the Apostle Paul said: “I am persecuting.” Others consider this first act of grace (the light in the heart) to be the final one - and give up. Because of this, the action fades and fades away, and they remain living only in the memory of it - imagining, however, that it is in them in its present form. 151. God wants us to pester Him in prayers, not for His sake - He knows everything - but for our own sake, so that we are always ready to accept mercy from Him whenever it pleases Him to grant it to us. Prayer is the stretching out of hands to God to receive His mercy. He who always prays always has his hands stretched out; and whenever the Lord deigns to grant him mercy, he is always ready to accept it. Imagine a beneficent person who does not give out alms at a certain hour, having the custom of placing it in his hands when they are outstretched, and passing by someone who, having looked around, does not stretch out his hands. Thus, of those who come, those who have outstretched hands always receive, and those who do not, do not receive. Afterwards, at least don’t ask. So God, when He will distribute His mercies, does not say, but only says: always have your hands stretched out to Me in prayer, so that when I decide to give mercies, you will be ready to accept. Thus, he who always prays will never miss mercy, and whoever does not always pray, it is not surprising that he will miss mercy. 152. The tangible evidence of our fall is the heaviness of the soul to rise to the mountain - to God and the heavenly. How much attention and effort does this require?! And yet the soul floats down like fog spreading across the earth, and grief does not fly freely. 153. Believing in the power of the Most Pure Mysteries, that this is truly the Body and Blood of the Lord, one cannot help but believe that angels are also present here every time this sacrament is performed. 154. Just as in the parable the kvass put into the flour continuously acts, fermenting it until it brings its entire mass to complete sourness, so the restorative forces, placed through the embodied economy not only in humanity, but also in all creation, act and produce their work. How and what is done in the general realm of existence is invisible to us, but what is done in the Church and especially in every believer is visible. The Lord Savior, the grace of the Holy Spirit, the guardian angels, the saints of God and the entire structure of the Holy Church recreate and improve souls and through this complete the Kingdom of God. And it will continue like this until everything predetermined is fulfilled. Glory to the boundless love of mankind, who led us into this current of the salvific restoration of all with the promise to lead us into His perfect Kingdom, if we prove ourselves worthy of it. 155. When the soul is deeply disturbed by the movements of some passion, then it loses its peaceful dispensation for a long time, becomes unstable, shaky and unfit for prayer. The Lord leaves her - and she barks. Repentance and tension prepare one for composure, and holy communion completely restores the proper structure of the soul. 156. God, having created the world, gave everything a course in accordance with the purpose of the world, known to Him alone. The forces of the world, according to the laws laid down in them, continuously act on their own, supported by the almighty right hand of God only in their existence. But God, who is omnipresent and contains everything, often enters into the flow of things that proceed in this way, with a special influence, here or here, not due to the error of the direction of the acting physical forces, but according to His special plans, the implementation of which could not be entrusted to the physical forces either in parts or in their combined action. This is especially seen as necessary because of the freedom of rational creatures, by which they can deviate from the direction determined by the will of God in the general plan of existence. Since such deviation upsets the general flow towards the goal according to the plan of world existence, it is necessary to return them to the proper direction so that the common goal is achieved. This is accomplished by special direct influences of God in addition to natural forces. The central influence of this kind is the embodied economy, around which all others revolve. 157. There is mental life - and mental faith on mental grounds; and mental prayer, moving in mental ideas; and mental activity according to the definitions of the mind. And this is life, but not real. There is no heart here, and it is left with the opportunity to configure itself in its own way, regardless of the philosophizing. It also moves under the impressions of mental ideas, but superficially, just as the surface of waters is roughened by the light breath of the wind. Since this kind of action does not go deep into the heart, its formation and structure go on as usual - perhaps not at all corresponding to mental constructions. 158. God’s gracious gifts are different - and different gifts come in different degrees. So in the natural order: some are for painting, some for music, some for sculpting, some for other things are the most capable; and in each genus these abilities are revealed in different degrees. For example, we see so many people who are capable of painting, but some are mediocre, others are very good, others are excellent. And all of them, not excluding the last ones, are still only imitators. Above them are the originals. So it is in spiritual life. Prayer, for example, is a gift, but prayer books stand at different degrees of prayer. This happens in matters of faith, and in works of charity, and in deeds of selflessness, and in everything. We must assume that this depends on the person himself. God is generous and ready to reward everyone, no matter how much someone can accommodate or how much capacity someone manages to form within themselves. Here, however, are the secrets of God’s providence for each and every one. For everything is from God and natural, and not only gracious. 159. “My Father is working hitherto, and I am working,” said the Lord. Of course, the Holy Spirit also works inseparably with Them. What are they doing? They lead the world to its final destination, the One Trinitarian God known. How? Through the works assigned to each creature. Creatures are called into being, so that each in its own place and at its own time does its specific work. By each creature doing its own thing, the world moves towards its destination. Similar to this is a brass music orchestra. Reasonable creatures must realize this - and diligently do what is right for anyone in their circle. 160. The final end of the movement of the world can be recognized as its spiritualization in rational creatures by a moral order, and in others - by some other order. St. Paul gives reason to think this way when he says that in the next century our body will not only be incorruptible, but also somewhat spiritual and even spiritual. Since even then it will not be isolated from the whole concert of being, but will consist of an essential connection with everything, then we must conclude that everything will be coordinated with it, that is, not only incorrupted, but also spiritualized. We see this spiritualization taking place in rational creatures due to the incarnate economy. But we must assume that, by virtue of the same economy, it also takes place in the material world, only invisible - we must believe this because of the boundless greatness of the embodied economy. But at the end of the world this invisible will appear visibly, and everything will be spiritualized. Doesn’t this mean: “the heavens will be new and the earth will be new.” This appearance of them now will grow old and disappear. 161. Since God’s first determination about man is that he should be in a living union with God, and this union is expressed when someone lives in God with his mind and heart, then as soon as someone strives for such a life and, even more so, becomes involved in it to some extent, it must be said that he fulfills the task of life for which he was introduced during existence. Let the worker in this kind of life be aware of this and let him not be embarrassed that he is not clearly doing any things, especially important ones. This one thing brings everything together. 162. The Trinitarian God leads the world to its final destination. Since the urgent condition for the completeness of the world is the salvation of people, all of God’s care is now directed towards this. His only concern is to convert sinners and to cleanse and spiritualize those who have converted. For this is the entire incarnate economy, for this are the angels and the saints. All forces are directed towards this, and everyone continuously acts in this way at the behest of God. But not everyone is saved. Because God does not force anyone. Anyone can judge what percentage of those who are willing is by the percentage of those who are perfect in all generations. Taken from letters to various persons about various subjects of faith and life. You might be interested in: