Spiritual Instructions

First of all, my son, avoid pride and love humility: from humility comes the knowledge of truth; from the knowledge of the truth is faith; hope comes from faith; from hope love; from love obedience; from obedience the constant fulfillment of the commandments. My son, avoid vice and love virtue. Try to keep the eye of your soul not dark, but clean and light. In virtue, imitate not those who are less, but those who have achieved more in it than you. Do not be afraid of the slander of vicious people. Hide all your good deeds. Run away from everything that can harm your soul. Never abandon the will of God in order to fulfill only the will of man. Do not complain about anyone and do not insult anyone in any way. Do not envy someone who succeeds in something through lawless means, but humble yourself before everyone, so that God may be with you. If you have begun to perform some good deed, then do not abandon it. Never weaken your love for God. Perform every task willingly and patiently, and God will be your helper. He Himself will bring your affairs to the desired end. Do not engage in conversations related to the empty objects of this world. Try to be successful in all virtues and avoid negligence in performing them. My son, if you strictly fulfill all this, you will receive an inheritance that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and which no man has dreamed of in his heart (1 Cor. 2:9). Whoever has achieved less than you in Christian virtues, consider him as your equal in piety; but whoever is equal to you in virtues, consider him more perfect than yourself. My son, remove all vicious thoughts from yourself and be sure that the Lord will never forget your labors, with which you strive for perfection. He Himself will make it easier for you. My son, imitate those who have loved the Lord with all their hearts and who constantly and zealously please God with good deeds; do not be ashamed to follow them, for they are more perfect than you. But do not imitate those who strive for the pleasures of this world, because they will never find bliss in them. To receive a blessing from above, imitate those who, out of love for God, wandered through the mountains and deserts. Be calm and do not be afraid of anything when you do something in accordance with the will of God, but beware of transgressing God’s little commandment. The Lord Jesus Christ will give you strength and Himself will assist you in doing your good deeds. Just as our fathers were perfect, so those who imitate them can become perfect in virtue. My son, run away from idle talk, so that the Spirit of God does not depart from you, run away from all sins and do not condemn anyone for them. My son, do not associate with the proud, but associate with the humble. Don't be a hypocrite or a liar. Never show anger in your words, but always speak meekly and wisely. Your very silence should be prudent. Both in the words and in the silence of our fathers, wisdom and prudence were always visible. My son, do not try to gain glory before people, but try for yourself to be wise, meek, long-suffering. Take care of your salvation and love all people. If your neighbor is in sorrow, be sad with him and participate in his misfortune. My son, love humility all the days of your life. Never ask anyone about reprehensible subjects. Your words should always be edifying and pleasant, for both benefit and harm can come from words. My son, try to make your heart so pure that it does not think about anything bad, but always strives for good and thus acquires spiritual peace for itself. If you are visiting one of your neighbors, then keep the fear of God in your heart and use prudence in your conversations with your neighbor, so that your spirit will be calm and not distracted when you return home. Do not say much in front of a person whose rank is greater and higher than you. My son, love your spiritual fathers more than your carnal father, for the spiritual fathers care about your salvation. When in any company of people, do not talk much; and if you need to ask about something or if you are asked about something, speak with humility and in short words. My son, if someone offends you, do not hate the person who offended you, but consider yourself worthy of being offended by everyone. If anyone comes to you on any matter, treat him kindly and humbly. If your boss orders you to serve others, fulfill his order willingly, so that you can receive a double reward from God - for obedience to your boss and for serving others. If you are innocently convicted of some sin, humbly and patiently endure this condemnation in order to receive a crown of reward in your future life. When they talk about something bad, don't listen. If someone has done you harm or insulted you, do not take revenge. My son, do not be proud or boast about anything, do not quarrel with anyone, do not speak too quickly or too loudly. Do not hate anyone, but love everyone as yourself, because Scripture says: love your sincere person as yourself (Matthew 22:39). My son, always remember your mentor, who instilled in you the rules of virtue. Don't forget these rules. Fulfill them strictly so that, according to God’s promise, you will receive long life as a reward. The words of the Apostle Paul, which he said to Timothy: learn from these, abide in these, so that your progress will be revealed in everyone (1 Tim. 4:15), apply to yourself. My son, voluntary poverty is nothing more than abstinence from everything that a person does not need; Solitude is removal from worldly noise; A pious journey undertaken to some holy place, for a true Christian, consists of always going to church for worship. My son, always be busy with something; Accustom your heart to thinking about God, and your tongue to always speak the truth. Love dishonor more than glory and honor; more work than peace; more the loss of worldly things than the gain. Good and faithful servant, if you are assigned to serve others, then listen carefully and do strictly and promptly everything that is commanded to you. If you are among those similar and equal to you, then listen more to what others say than to speak yourself; try harder to serve others than to be served. A person who loves to deceive is not capable of any good deed. If your conscience does not convict you of sins, then guide those who blaspheme the name of God with their lives on the path of truth. Since such people are removed from God and are spiritually dead, then use every effort so that they leave their wicked deeds, turn to God and live holyly, so as to receive eternal life as a reward. My son, imitate our Lord Jesus Christ and love silence. Our Lord did not answer Herod when out of curiosity he asked Him about many things (see: Luke 23:9). My son, when you want to do something and see that it is inconsistent with the will of God, do not do it. Your spirit must always be occupied with God and be, so to speak, in heaven; your body, being on earth, must be in conformity with the spirit and be the church of God. My son, deliberately causing offense to your neighbor or being proud before him, without feeling your own shortcomings, is a great sin. Do not speak about anything before you have thought about it, for words that have no meaning in themselves are like thorns and thistles. Don’t teach anyone anything, don’t offer anything to anyone before you actually do it yourself. Meditate on the works of God. Perform prayer with diligence and with attention: for prayer performed without attention is nothing more than empty words. My son, stay away from those people who are reckless in their deeds. If you have done any good deeds, do not boast about them and do not say: “I did this and that.” If you are vain, you will act foolishly and your deeds will have no value. Do not order others to do what you yourself have not yet done: there is no benefit to you when others do what you yourself do not do. A wise person knows when to do or say something: he thinks about everything in advance and then begins to speak or do; on the contrary, a reckless person acts rashly: he does not even keep the secret entrusted to him. My son, to those who do not understand your words, do not speak them. Live peacefully with everyone, but do not take advice from everyone. Do not make everyone your friends, and before you choose a friend, test his loyalty, for the whole world lies in evil. Choose for yourself a friend who fears the Lord. Cling with all your heart to God alone, because all people, with the exception of a few, are treacherous: vanity and deception are visible everywhere on earth. My son, if you love a calm life, then do not deal with those who live viciously; and if necessity forces you to deal with them, then protect yourself from their vices. If you want to please God, then love Jesus Christ with all your heart: He will free you from your sins and lead you into eternal life. If you intend to do some good deed, then do not tell anyone about it, but do the good deed in secret. Run away from guilty pleasures. Whoever cleaves to them, God deprives him of His favor. Remember that your sins are countless, and the time of your death is always close to you. After death you will have to give an account of your deeds, and if you are condemned, then no one will save you from punishment: there neither brother can redeem brother, nor father can free his son. My son, consider your house a prison in which you must be imprisoned for your sins. Show humility in everything: in your gait, in your clothes, in the things that belong to you, and in your very way of life. Be content with little in everything and love arbitrary poverty. Do not boast about your prayers or spiritual deeds. When you visit your neighbor, speak to him simply and frankly, without any cunning. If they praise you for your deeds, do not rejoice at it, but hide everything that is worthy of praise as much as possible from everyone and do not allow anyone to praise you. My son, if you want to convict someone of sin, then convict meekly and philanthropically, because you yourself are subject to errors and misconduct. Always remember your death and do not forget the eternal punishment prepared for sinners. Constantly remembering this will protect you from sins. Do not leave solitude: our fathers say that in solitude it is more convenient to constantly remember death and avoid sins. My son, eat simple and non-luxurious food. Protect yourself from anger and maintain peace of mind. Advise both young people and old people so that they never give in to anger. Try to acquire spiritual courage, which consists of standing firmly in the truth and resisting its enemies. Enemies will move away from you and will not return to you if you courageously arm yourself against them. My son is a wise man and expresses his wisdom in his face. Be wise so that your silence stops the mouths of slanderers. If someone falsely accuses you of sin, do not be afraid of this accusation, because it stems from the spirit of malice, which uses all means to remove a person from virtue. My son, extinguish in yourself any inclination towards sensual pleasures and expel all vicious thoughts from your heart. The Apostle John, at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, divides all sensual earthly pleasures into three types. All that is in the world, he says, is carnal lust and human lust and worldly pride (1 John 2:16). Carnal lust is intemperance in food and vicious desires, which are necessarily born from this intemperance. Lust for hair is an unclean view of objects, from which an unclean idea is born in the heart. Worldly pride is the glory of this world, those earthly virtues and honors to which our corrupt heart constantly strives. My son, this truth is to reap the fruits of life. Try to acquire spiritual wisdom so that you can later receive an inheritance with the saints. Only in real life do we have the opportunity to acquire this wisdom. My son, protect yourself from vanity, which often disturbs the peace of a person in solitude. Your spiritual exploits will then be perfect when you accustom yourself to perfect obedience. A truly pious person bears the yoke of the Lord from his youth: he serves everyone, he submits to everyone; whoever hits him on one cheek, he offers the other; he is calm and cheerful when people slander him or slander him; he is content with small and simple food; and our Lord Jesus Christ never leaves him and strengthens him until he migrates to eternal peace and bliss. Our Lord is merciful. He helps those who love and seek Him to endure all the disasters of this world. My son, rejoice when misfortunes befall you, for from them the fruit of salvation is born. Do not get carried away by the pleasures of this world: for they will be followed by a lamentable and disastrous death. My son, watch constantly, remove from yourself all negligence and laziness, so as not to be rejected in the next century. Die daily to live forever. In order not to fall into negligence and not perish in the last hour of your life, remember your pious labors and be careful that through your negligence they do not become futile. Love the Lord until the end of your life and you will receive mercy from Him. Do not move away from God because of perishable earthly goods, but always remember and fulfill everything that you promised to do when moving away from the world and entering monastic life. Pay attention to your clothes and remember those tears of repentance with which you watered them when you put on them. My son, water your bed with your tears and pray to the Lord Jesus Christ that He will atone for your sins, that He will renew the spirit of righteousness in your womb (Ps. 50:12), that He will send down to you the strength to accomplish your good deeds and give you His eternal Kingdom as an inheritance. He, as our Creator and Savior, must be given glory and honor, must be worshiped together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. The instructions were translated from Arabic into Latin by the Maronite Abraham of Ehillene and were first published by him in Paris in 1646. The translation offered in this collection was made by A.S. Krasnoselsky from the publication of Galland’s “Library of the Ancient Fathers”. Published by: Christian Reading. 1826. Part 21. pp. 3–17.