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“But stay in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of My Father” (cf. Luke 24:49. Acts 1:4). That is, what Joel said: “your sons and your daughters will prophesy” (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). It is added (in the prophecy of Joel): “blood and fire” (Joel 2:30); Blood - because of His crucifixion, and fire - because of tongues (Acts 2:3). Thus, the Lord, seeing His disciples after His death falling into sorrow among the crowd that had gathered for this holiday, sent His builders to confirm the faith of those wavering and sent His strong pillars (Gal. 2:9) to lift and support the minds of the weak. And they (the Jews) saw in the apostles the same power of Him, which they considered to have perished along with His body. And when they saw that the name of the slain Christ restored the dead, His death in their eyes seemed greater than His life. For during his life He Himself resurrected; when he was considered dead, the name of the dead began to work miracles over death, so that it was clear that even if He subjected His name to death, since He died, then death could in no way resist His living power. All the sorrows that befell the tribe of Judah passed, but its kingdom was not destroyed like the kingdom of Ephraim, from which it was clear that something was hidden in the tribe of Judah. So, let it consider whether what was hidden in it still remains in it, and whether it retains the honor that it always had before? If it no longer has honor anywhere, then (it means) that obvious propitiation that was hidden in it was also taken away from it, and since it moved to the pagans, then its honor followed it. And so, the prophets always prophesy among the pagans, for their writings are constantly read, and faith in them is preserved, and signs always happen, because the signs performed in ancient and past times are reproduced by faith, and sacrifices are always offered, like those ancient sacrifices and (as the house of Jonadab offered them) (Jer. 35: 6-7). But there are some (and of them) who have taken possession of the edges of the truth and joined them, and it (the truth), by its virtue and strength, does not allow them to perish. Do not seek the power of words whose meaning is uncertain and fluctuating, but pay attention to their connection, precisely when they are spoken and what they tell, and strive not for crossroads, but for the firmness of sound conviction. The Testament (Old), in which the Spirit wrote the members of Christ, clearly showed His hidden form in the sacraments. He designated many things by names, and expressed the hidden through the obvious; marked times and indicated numbers; He established hours and moments and concluded secrets in names, and wisdom in explanations. The wisdom of the ancients was more distinguished by deeds than by words, and they preferred the abundance of wisdom with silence to the exercise of the tongue. Honor piety as God. Know that it is good to do good, and understand that it is bad to think evil; for even if you did not do what you are thinking about, the evil that you are thinking about is, as it were, imprinted on your soul; but (also) the image of goodness remains inscribed in you. A good person is, as it were, the thought of God, and the mind that seeks the secret is a prophet for those who need it. Whoever, having abandoned the truth, resorts to its ghost, is put to death by this very refuge. Do not ask God for wealth that you cannot keep, for the gifts of God are not destroyed. Prompt your soul so that with the wisdom invested in it, it will know what is worthy (of this), and with the free will with which it is endowed, do what is commanded. What happens in the thoughts of the wicked is in itself worse than them. Words that are not holy are sound and ringing. Verbosity is not without sin; verbosity is an indicator of a lack of wisdom and knowledge. Plato was asked by his comrades, students of Socrates: “Which of the goods is the most excellent?” “He said: “The first (of these) is wisdom, because everything else is destroyed and each (other) is counteracted by another thing: abundance - poverty, love - death, glory - envy, health - illness. The abundance of the mind is eternal; it consoles the rich in the labors of wealth, relieves the poor and relieves them from the fear of poverty, strengthens the elders, guides children with advice and tames youth. When misfortunes occur, it remains like a ship (on the sea), because it is a power that surpasses everything.” For the Lord, what is difficult for us is easy, and what is impossible for us is achievable, just as He Himself taught us by His example at His first Coming, when He was humble and full of grace. And he showed us that the number of our requests is greater than we can express, since His ear and His blessings were inclined towards us, looking at our disposition. After all, it is not for the sake of many words that we are given what we ask, but that through love we take possession of all treasures, this was clearly shown to us when he commanded us to beware of (the example of) the scribes and Pharisees, who prolonged prayers and increased covetousness. And (being) merciful, He taught us about Himself that, although we become silent, our prayers will be written down with Him. For a few words, the Lord justified the publican and released him with the praise of the heavenly sons, who rejoice over the repentant. His voice called Zacchaeus, and the sound of this voice became like leaven in his heart: and he brought him down from the fig tree, and mysteriously (removed) him from his works. The voice of the Lord put a limit to the sins of one whose unrighteousness knew no bounds. The Lord called upon His mercy upon the son of Timaeus when he saw his need, and among his many cries the Angels were messengers of His help. So the sinful wife, who tried to help her wounds with the many medicines she took, came to the One for Whom everything is possible, so that He who heals all wounds would somehow show His mercy. It is He who loves the righteous and has mercy on sinners. He justifies the good and protects against the evil. He fights for the righteous and the penitent, and when those who were in labor (began) to murmur because of the idle, who turned out to be equal with them in payment, and not in labor, then the words spoken against those who inherited mercy, He turned on those who received payment, showing them that although they did not receive mercy, the due reward was not taken away from them. This happened to them to their praise, for he did not show them mercy so as not to deprive the truth of what belonged to the truth, for having received mercy by grace, those who accepted payment in justice were valued. So, just as it behooved him who could not reject to do something for the weak that exceeded justice, so it became him who was the wisest not to do something that would be condemned as exceeding the bounds of mercy. But if God seeks and kills, then does a nature manifest in Him (through this) is evil by origin? Not at all. Or if He is merciful and merciful, then does not truth govern Him? But when He condemns, He is not indecisive because of the desire for a person to repent, because, without knowing (what He is doing), He is merciful and long-suffering, and His thoughts are not in fear and timidity about whether a person will convert, as if this were hidden from Him. But since His foreknowledge is (always) in Him, it becomes a vessel for the administration and dispensation of His merciful will. And when he judges with justice or shows mercy, the outcome of both is clearly open before Him, since this is not hidden from the One who is the author of it (the outcome). This world suffers with each of us, that is, through ourselves, but God (suffers with us) only through knowledge, just as we suffer through knowledge with those who suffer illness. You might be interested in: