Феодор Эдесский

Brief information about St. Theodore of Edessa Our holy father Theodore lived during the reign of Heraclius and Constantine the Bearded, around 660 A.D. First, he underwent the feat of ascetic life in the monastery of St. Sava, and then, by Divine election (ψήφο), ascended to the episcopal throne of the city of Edessa. He performed many miracles both during his life and after death, and with his divine teachings he made many witnesses (μάρτυρες) of Christ and saved many, and on July 11, 6, he departed to the eternal abode, as it is written in his life contained in the book “Kalokairini” (“Summer”). Whether he left any other works besides those presented here, we cannot say for sure. But the real 100 chapters compiled by his labors are included among other ascetic books. For these chapters of sacred sobriety, who read them with reason, provide abundant fruit of spiritual benefit. Those who wish to be saved: come and reap a bountiful harvest. At the end of the present [hundred] chapters a speculative [word] was added, which also bears the name Theodorovo. Having noticed that it, together with one hundred chapters, is of one sober character (χαρακτήρα) and expression (έκφραση) of the word; we, based on these and other reasonable (εύλογα) signs, conclude that this is a genuine work of Theodore. Active chapters of our venerable father Theodore of Edessa 1. Since by the grace of the good God, having renounced Satan and his works, we united with Christ, both at first in the bath of rebirth, and now again in monastic vows, we will keep His commandments. This is required from us not only by our strict vow, but also by our natural duty; because, being originally created by God to be very good, we should be so. Although sin, which arose from our inattention, has produced in us something that is unnatural to us; but, by the abundance of the mercy of our Great God, we are again called out, renewed by the passion of the Impassive and redeemed at the price of the blood of Christ the Lord, thus freed from the ancient ancestral crime. Judging by this, if we become righteous, then there will be nothing great in this; but it will be all the more worthy of pity and condemnation if we fall away from the truth. 2. Just as a good deed that occurs without right faith is completely dead and ineffective, so faith alone, without righteous deeds, does not deliver us from eternal fire. For whoever loves Me, says the Lord, will keep My commandments (John 14:23). So, if we love the Lord and believe in Him, let us testify to this by fulfilling His commandments in order to gain Eternal Life. If we despise the observance of His commandments, to which all creation submits, then how can we call ourselves faithful, we, who are more honorable than any creature, and are the only ones among them who are disobedient to the commandments of the Creator and who turn out to be ungrateful to the Benefactor? 3. By keeping the commandments of Christ, we do not deliver anything to Him, who needs nothing, and to the Giver of all good things, but we benefit ourselves, deserving for ourselves Eternal Life and the enjoyment of ineffable blessings. 4. Anyone who opposes us in fulfilling the Commandments of God, be it a father, or a mother, or anyone else, is disgusting and hateful to us, so that we do not hear: whoever loves father or mother more than Me, or any other person, is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). 5. Let us bind ourselves with all our might by fulfilling the commandments of the Lord, so as not to be bound by the insoluble bonds of evil lusts and soul-destroying pleasures: in what case will a judgment be pronounced about us about the barren fig tree, saying: cut it down: why does it occupy the land (Luke 13:7)? For everyone, he says, who does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3:9). 6. He who is overcome by lusts and pleasures and turns to peace will soon fall into the snares of sin; sin, once committed, is like fire in a reed, like a stone rolling down a mountain, like a stream expanding due to the addition of tributaries. This is how it happens; and all sin destroys the one who commits it. 7. The soul, through sin, emerges from its natural rank, and, driven wild by this and filled with thorns of sinful pleasures, becomes the dwelling of terrible beasts, according to what has been said: there the onocentaurs rest, there the hedgehog nests, and the demons meet with the onocentaurs (Isa. 34:14, 15), - which are various sinful passions. When she calls herself into her natural rank (for she can, if she wants, as long as she is connected to the flesh), she will tame herself by diligently working on herself and begin to live according to the Law of God; then the animals that had previously nested in her will flee, and the guardians of our life, the Angels, will arrive, celebrating the day of her conversion with a day of joy and joy; then the grace of the Holy Spirit will come upon her, teaching her how to not only preserve herself in goodness, but also succeed even more in it. 8. The fathers call prayer a spiritual stronghold, without which we cannot go out into battle, lest we be wounded by the enemy’s spears and taken back to their country. But no one can acquire effective, pure prayer unless he sits before God in the rightness of his heart: for God is the One who gives prayer to the one who prays, and who teaches man reason. 9 . The fact that passions disturb the soul and attack it with abuse is not in our power; but what slows down passionate thoughts in us and sets passions in motion is in our power. The first is sinless, as it is not in our power; and the second, if we bravely resist and win, he delivers crowns, and if, having weakened, we are defeated, he subjects us to torture. 10. There are three main passions: voluptuousness, love of money and love of fame. They are followed by the other five spirits of evil; and from these finally many many passions and all kinds of various sinful inclinations are generated. Why does he who defeats the first three chiefs of passions and leaders at the same time overthrow the five passions that follow him, and then conquers all the passions? 11. What we have done out of passion, the memories of passions revolt the soul. But when passionate memories are completely erased from the heart, to the point that they do not even come close to it; then this serves as a sign of remission of previous sins. For as long as the soul is passionate about something sinful, it is necessary to recognize the dominion of sin as inherent in it. 12. The passions of the body and the love of substances are usually diminished and faded from bodily suffering (arbitrary deprivations and bodily exploits); and the spiritual and invisible are destroyed by humility, meekness and love. 13. Passionate lust fades through abstinence with humility; flaming anger tames love; the inquisitive thought is concentrated by diligent prayer with the memory of God. This cleanses all three parts of the soul. Wanting to correct them, the divine Apostle said: have peace and holiness with everyone, except for them no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). 14. Some are perplexed as to how to say whether a thought sets passions in motion, or passions set in motion a thought; because some say this, and others say that. I say that thoughts are set in motion by passions; for if there were no passions in the soul, then passionate thoughts would not bother it. 15. It is the custom of the demons who always fight against us to put obstacles in the way of virtues that are feasible and easy to implement, and to put a strong desire on the unbearable and untimely (which is not the time for us to take on yet), namely: they force those who succeed in communal obedience to do the works of the silent ones; and silent people and hermits are encouraged to adhere to the rules of social life. They act in the same way in relation to every virtue. But let us not misunderstand their intentions (2 Cor. 2:11), knowing that everything done in its time and in its measure is good, but what is done immeasurably and untimely is harmful. 16. Those who move in the world and encounter objects of passion are fought by demons, drawing them into passionate deeds, and those who live in deserts, where there are no such objects, are outraged by passionate thoughts. In this second type of warfare it is much more difficult to win than in the first. There, business requires time, place and other conveniences; the mind is mobile and uncontrollable in its thoughts. To combat this invisible battle, pure prayer was given to us, in which we were commanded to remain unceasingly. It makes the mind strong in battle and always ready for it, since it can be performed without the participation of the body. 17. Pointing to the complete mortification of the passions, the Apostle says: And those who are Christ are flesh crucified with passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24). For when we mortify the passions, we destroy the lusts and subordinate the wisdom of the flesh to the spirit; then only we take on the cross and follow Christ. And withdrawal from the world is nothing other than this mortification of passions and the manifestation of the life hidden in Christ. 18. Those who are distressed by the uprisings (επαναστάσεις) of the body, which is the container (έδρα) of death (Rom. 7:24), and those who are tired of its non-stop (αδιάκοπο) almost war, let them not condemn the flesh for this, but themselves; for if they had not given her strength, extending their care for her to lust, they would not have suffered so much from her. Or do they not see those who have crucified their flesh with passions and lusts, and who bear the deadness of Jesus in their mortal flesh, as they have it as a partner moreover in good things - not in conflict, but submissive and guided by the Law of God? Let them do the same, and then they will taste the same peace. 19. Any connection of thoughts with any forbidden lust, or inclination to lustful pleasure, is sinful for a monk. For first the thought begins to darken the mind with the lustful part, then the soul leans towards sinful pleasures, unable to withstand the battle, and finally, surrender occurs, which, as it is said, is sin. If this continues, then a passionate attraction is generated, which little by little leads to the very act of sin. For this reason, the prophet pleases those who beat the Babylonian babies against stones (Ps. 137:9). The meaning of this is clear to the wise and prudent. 20. The angels, being servants of love and peace, rejoice over our repentance and success in virtue, which is why they try to fill us with spiritual contemplations and assist us in all good things. On the contrary, demons, the servants of anger and malice, rejoice when virtue is diminished, and devote all their labor to dragging our souls into shameful dreams. 21. Faith is the good (αγαθό) of the internal (εσωτερικής) disposition (διαθέσεως) of the soul; it gives birth to the fear of God in us; the fear of God teaches the observance of the commandments or the organization of a good active life; from active life grows honest dispassion; and the birth of dispassion is love, which is the fulfillment of all commandments, connecting and holding them all within itself. 22. How the feeling of the body, when it is healthy, feels what illness is taking hold of it; he who does not recognize this suffers from insensibility: so the mind, since it preserves the entire activity characteristic of it, is aware of its strengths and sees where passions, more tyrannical, come from, and directs a more urgent confrontation to that part. But his situation is disastrous if he spends his days in insensibility, like someone fighting the enemy at night, since he does not see the enemy’s thoughts. 23. When our mental strength is relentlessly devoted to the contemplation of virtues, and when the force of desire rushes towards it alone and to its giver, Christ the Lord, and the force of irritability is armed against demons; then our powers act according to their nature. 24. According to St. Gregory the Theologian, the rational soul is tripartite. And he called the virtue of mental power prudence, knowledge and wisdom; the virtue of irritable strength - courage and patience; and the virtue of the power of desire - love, chastity and abstinence; and truth (δικαιοσύνη) has its part in all of them, teaching them to act decently. With prudence she fights with the enemy angels, defending virtues; looks at things dispassionately with chastity; with love he makes all people love him as he loves himself; by abstinence he cuts off all sweetness; Arms himself with courage and patience against invisible battles. Such is the euphonious harmony of the spiritual organ. 25. He who strives for chastity and desires blessed purity, which can accurately be called dispassion, must mercilessly oppress and enslave the flesh, calling on Divine grace with a humble mind, and he will receive what he wants. He who fattens the body without abstinence in food and drink will be tormented by the spirit of fornication. For just as water in large quantities extinguishes a flame, so greed and thirst, or in general any abstinence with humility of soul, destroy the kindling of the flesh and shameful dreams. 26. May the passion of rancor completely recede from your soul; and do not give room for enmity in yourself. For like fire hidden in straw, rancor nesting in the heart is like fire. But above all, pray warmly for the one who has offended you and do him any favors as much as you can, in order to deliver your soul from death and not be reckless during your prayer. 27. In the souls of the humble the Lord rests, but in the hearts of the proud there are passions of dishonor; for nothing strengthens them against us so much as high-wise thoughts; and on the contrary, nothing so effectively uproots these evil stems from the soul as blissful humility, which is rightly called the killer of passions. 28. May your soul be cleansed more and more from evil memories, and may it be enlightened by the kindest thoughts, always keeping in mind what has been said that during the exodus, a lustful heart is a prison and bonds, and a hardworking heart is an open door. For truly pure souls, upon their departure from the body, are accompanied by Angels, guiding them to a blessed life; souls, defiled and not cleansed by repentance, are intercepted - woe is me! - demons. 29. The head is beautiful, decorated with a precious diadem, glittering with Indian stones and margaritas; but incomparably more beautiful is her soul, rich in the knowledge of God, shining with luminous contemplations and having the All-Holy Spirit dwelling within itself. And who can adequately depict such a blessed soul in words! 30. Do not allow anger and rage to dwell in your soul: for an angry man is disgraceful (Proverbs 11:25); But wisdom rests in the heart of the meek (Proverbs 14:33). If the passion of anger dominates your soul, then those living in the world will be found better than you, and you will be covered with shame, turning out to be an unfit monk. 31. In every temptation and in every battle, have prayer as an invincible weapon, and you will overcome by the grace of Christ. But let it be pure, as our wise teacher commands us, saying: I desire that men say prayers in every place, lifting up clean hands without anger and doubt (1 Tim. 2:8). – Whoever neglects such prayer will be given over to temptations and passions. 32. It is written that wine gladdens the heart of man (Ps. 103:15). But you, who have vowed to weep and weep, reject such joy from yourself, and you will be delighted with spiritual gifts. Having fun with wine, you will spend your life in cohabitation with shameful thoughts and will experience many sorrows. 33. Spend the holidays not in drinking wine, but in renewing your mind and spiritual purity. By filling your belly with food and drinking wine, you will anger more than the one to whom the celebration is dedicated. 34. We are commanded to always remain vigilant in psalmody, prayers and readings, and especially on holidays. A waking monk refines his mind for soul-beneficial contemplations, but sleeping a lot makes his mind white. But be careful not to delve into empty memories and sinful thoughts during your vigil, for it is better to sleep than to stay awake for the sake of such vanity and desecration of yourself by inappropriate activities. 35. He who feeds a snake in his bosom and an evil thought in his heart will both be killed: the one who is struck in the body by a poisonous sting, and the one who puts a deadly poison [thought] into the soul. But just as we hastily defeat the spawn of vipers, we will not allow evil thoughts to be born in our hearts, so as not to suffer bitterly from them later. 36. The pure soul can rightly be called a chosen vessel, and a fenced garden (κλεισμένος), and a sealed source (Song. 4:12) and a throne of feeling (αισθήσεως) {seat of knowledge - trans. Yungerova} ( Proverbs 12:23 ). But the soul, defiled by unclean passions, is filled with the stench of the stench of sin. 37. I heard from experienced and active elders that sinful thoughts in the soul are born from [excessive] decoration in clothes, satiety of the belly and harmful conversations. 38. Let the desire for possessions not take root in the souls of ascetics. A money-grubbing monk is a leaky ship, tossed about by the waves of over-concern and plunged into the depths of sadness. The disease of covetousness (φιλαργυρία) is the parent of many passions and is rightly called the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). 39. Non-covetousness and silence are a treasure hidden in the field of monastic life. Go and sell everything that you have and give it to the poor, and with this you will buy the field that you have dug and having found the treasure, guard it carefully within yourself from theft, so that you may be enriched with unstolen wealth. 40. Having begun to live with your spiritual father and having felt the benefit from him, do not allow anyone to distance you from loving him and cohabiting with him; do not condemn him in anything; do not speak ill of him, although you will be rebuked by him and even beaten; do not open your ear when someone else speaks evil of him; and do not make friends with anyone who reviles him, lest the Lord be angry with you and blot you out from the book of the living. 41. The feat of obedience is based on renunciation of oneself and everything, as we have experienced. Let the one who passes through it protect himself with three strongholds: faith, hope and all-honorable and Divine love, so that, being protected by them, he can successfully fight a good deed and receive the crown of righteousness. 42. Do not be a judge of your father's affairs, but a doer of his commandments. The demons, as usual for them, will begin to point out to you his shortcomings in order to deafen your ears for his lessons, and through this either make you a weak and fearful warrior in battle, or through thoughts of unbelief alone weaken you and make you lazy towards any kind of virtue. 43. He who does not listen to his father’s commandments turns out to be a transgressor of the best points of his vow. Whoever introduced obedience into himself and cut off his will with the sword of obedience, he fulfilled what was due to him, which he promised to Christ the Lord in front of many witnesses. 44. Observing the monks, we saw clearly and confirmed that the enemies of our life, demons, are very angry at those who labor in obedience to their fathers, gnashing their teeth at them and plotting all sorts of malicious intrigues against them. And what don’t they do, what don’t they inspire, in order to tear them away from their father’s bosom? They present pretexts for disobedience, as if they were blessed, create displeasure, arouse hostility towards the father, present his instructions as reproofs, and the reproofs, like sophisticated arrows, pierce the heart. And why, they say, did you, being free, become a slave, and the slave of a heartless despot? How long will you wear the strap of slavery without seeing the light of freedom? “After this they suggest: it would be better for you to engage in hospitality, go after the sick, take care of the poor. Then they praise the feat of perfect solitude and silence; and all kinds of evil weeds sow in the heart of the ascetic of piety, just to throw him out of the spiritual fence of his father and, having taken him out of the benign (ήσυχο) pier, throw him into the raging sea choked by a storm. If they finally succeed in this, then, having taken him into their power, they force him, like a prisoner, to act according to their evil desires. 45. Do not let go of the memory of this malice of your enemies and opponents, being in obedience to your spiritual father, and do not forget the vows of your title before God: do not be overcome by abuse, do not be afraid of accusations and reproaches or ridicule, do not be carried away by excuses of sinful thoughts, do not run away from fatherly severity, do not dishonor the good yoke of humility with impudent self-indulgence and self-will; But having put the word of the Lord in your heart, that he who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22), run with patience the fight that is set before you, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:1, 2). 46. The goldsmith, putting gold into the crucible, makes it purest, and the novice monk, who devotes himself to the feats of submission to the will of the fathers and is burned by all the sorrows of life according to God, who studies obedience with great difficulty and patience, having melted out all the bad morals, is filled with humility, everything is made bright and worthy of Heavenly treasures, a sorrowless life and a blissful stay, from which sadness and sighing and where unceasing joy and gladness are planted. 47. Right and deeply rooted faith gives rise to the fear of God; the fear of God teaches us to keep the commandments: for, he says, where there is fear, there is keeping the commandments; in keeping the commandments consists active virtue, which is [pure prayer and] the beginning of contemplation; the fruit of all this is dispassion; through dispassion, love is established in us; and the beloved disciple speaks about love: God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). 7 [I heard a certain well-composed chapter addressed to a certain [person]: “Therefore, nothing, it is said, is combined from those who cleanse the body with those who are cleansed; and the virtues all together purify the soul and abide with the purified]. 48. How truly beautiful and good the monastic life is! How truly beautiful and good it is when it flows within the limits and according to the laws that its leaders and leaders, taught by the Holy Spirit, laid the foundation for it. For a soldier of Christ must be without things (possessing nothing), unconcerned with any plans or worldly affairs, as the Apostle says: no soldier interferes in the affairs of this life in order to please the commander (2 Tim. 2:4). 49. It is proper for a monk to be soulless, passionless, alien to any sinful lust, not a lustful person, not a wine drinker, not sluggish (νωθρός), not lazy, not money-loving, not voluptuous, not slanderous: for if someone does not renounce all such things, then he cannot properly lead this angelic life; for those who do exactly this, it is a good yoke and a light burden, since, in this case, Divine hope makes everything easy for them. This life is pleasant, its deeds are delightful, the part of it is good, which will not be taken away from the soul that has acquired it. 50. Having renounced everyday worries and accepted the monastic feat, do not desire wealth to be distributed to the poor, for this is one of the presumptions of the evil one, leading to vanity, in order to plunge the mind into busy work. Let you only have bread and water, and with these alone you can earn the reward of hospitality. Even if you don’t have them, with one good disposition you will receive the stranger and give him a word of consolation, and in this way you can earn the reward of strangers. You have an example of this in the poor widow, about whom the Lord testified in the Gospel that with her two mites, due to her good will, she surpassed the alms of the rich. 51. This is said to those who live in silence. Those who are in obedience to their father, have one thing in mind, not to deviate in anything from the commandment of their father; for by doing this properly, they fulfill everything required of them; on the contrary, those who deviate from the exact fulfillment of this duty will remain unskilled in every form of virtue and spiritual life. 52. Here is my other advice to you, Christ-lover: love wandering, that is, be like a wanderer, alien to the events of your country; do not be distracted by parental concerns and related loves; run in the city and sit patiently in the desert, speaking to the prophet: Behold, I went away, ran and settled in the desert (Ps. 55:8). 53. Look for places solitary and remote from the world, and although the poverty of necessary needs will oppress you there, do not be afraid; If your enemies surround you like bees or angry wasps, raising all sorts of attacks against you and disturbing you with all sorts of thoughts, do not be afraid, do not incline an obedient ear to them and do not run away from the field of competition, but even more courageously endure everything, chanting to yourself and saying: I patiently trusted in the Lord, and He listened to me and heard my prayer ( Ps.39:2). And you will see the greatness of God, God’s intercession, care and all saving providence for you. 54. You should have as friends people who would edify you and agree with you in their way of life; for the Scripture says, let men of peace be your friends, spiritual brothers, holy fathers, about whom our Lord said: My mother and My brothers are they who do the will of My Father who is in Heaven (Matthew 12:49). 55. Do not be addicted to various and expensive dishes and do not eat them extensively; for the lover of pleasure, says Scripture, died alive (1 Tim. 5:6). And if possible, avoid satiation with expensive dishes. For it is written: do not be deceived by the filling of your belly (Proverbs 24:15). 56. Do not allow yourself to be outside your cell often if you have chosen a silent life, because this is very harmful - it takes away grace, darkens thoughts, and weakens jealousy. This is why it is said: wandering (περιπλάνηση) of lust perverts (διαστρέφει) the gentle mind (PremSol.4:13). Stop relations with outsiders, so that your mind does not become soaring and disturb the order of your silence. 57. Sitting in your cell, do not do your work meaninglessly and do not spend time in idleness: for, they say, a person who travels aimlessly will work in vain. But acquire good deeds for yourself, gather your mind, always have the last hour of death before your eyes, remember the vanity of the world, how seductive it is and at the same time how unstable and insignificant, think about the circumstances of the terrible trial at the Judgment, how our bitter accusers will then apparently represent our grandfathers, the words and thoughts that they put in, and we accepted, bring to mind the hellish torment, and how souls will be imprisoned in them, also imagine that great and terrible day - I mean the day of the general resurrection, the appearance before God and the final determination of the unfalse Judge, imagine the torment that will engulf sinners, shame and conviction of conscience, and how they will be rejected by God and cast into eternal fire, to the never-ending worm, into darkness impenetrable, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, while surveying all the other torment, do not stop, groaning, pouring tears on your face, your robe and the place where you are sitting. With such thoughts, as I saw, many acquired an abundance of tears and wonderfully purified all the strength of their souls. 58. Think also about the blessings set aside for the righteous, their placement at the right hand of Christ, the blessed voice of the Master - the Lord, the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven, the gifts that surpass their understanding, the sweetest light, the joy that has no end and is not interrupted by any sorrow, those heavenly abodes, the cohabitation of Angels and all the other things promised to those who fear the Lord. 59. May such thoughts remain with you at the table, may they accompany you to sleep, and may they rise with you. See that you never forget them, but wherever you are, do not take your mind away from remembering them, so that evil thoughts flee from you, and Divine consolations fill your soul. The soul, not being protected and armed with these thoughts, cannot properly maintain silence: for a spring that does not contain water bears this name in vain. 60. And this is the way of life that the silent ones are supposed to lead: fasting as much as they can, vigil, sleeping on bare ground and all sorts of other arbitrary deprivations, for the sake of future repose; for as the Scripture says, the sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18); especially pure prayer, unceasing and uninterrupted: it is a strong wall, a gracious refuge, protection of virtues, destruction of passions, well-being of the soul, purification of the mind, repose for the suffering, consolation for those who cry; prayer is communication with Angels. Pray, ascetic, day and night, with fear and trembling, with a cheerful and sober mind, so that your prayer may be acceptable to the Lord: for the Scripture says: the eyes of the Lord [are turned] to the righteous, and His ears to their prayer. (Ps.33:16). 61. Some of the ancients very correctly and in accordance with the case said that of the demons opposing us, the first to enter into battle are those who are entrusted with gluttonous desires, which inspire the love of money and incline to vanity; the others, all walking behind them, take away those wounded by them. 62. And truly, looking closely, we learned that it does not happen that a person falls into any sin or into any passion if he has not first been wounded by one of these three. Why did the devil then direct the Savior to these three thoughts? but the Lord, appearing inaccessible to them, ordered the devil to withdraw back to Himself, granting us victory over him, as the Good and Humane-loving Master, who clothed himself in a body similar to us in all respects, except for sin, and showed us the correct path to non-sinning, along which, walking, we create in ourselves a new man, renewed in the image of the One who created him (Col. 3:10). 63. David’s word teaches us to hate demons with complete hatred as enemies of our salvation. And this is very useful in the matter of success in virtues. But who will be this one who hates the enemies of salvation with complete hatred? The one who does not sin not only in deed, but also in thought. If the vessels of their love, that is, the causes of passions, are in us, then how can hatred of them be established in us? For a voluptuous heart is powerless to harbor hatred towards them. 64. The wedding garment is the dispassion of a rational soul, estranged from worldly pleasures, renouncing all indecent lusts and devoting itself entirely to God-loving thoughts and purest contemplations. As soon as she indulges the passions of dishonor and becomes stronger in them, then she takes off this garment of chastity and puts on torn and defiled rags, just as in the Gospels it is shown that he, bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness (Matthew 22:13), had a robe woven from such thoughts and deeds, which the Word of the Lord considered unworthy of the Divine and the incorruptible bridal chamber. 65. About pride, which hates everyone, one of the wise said correctly: the fierce abuse of pride, like a certain tyrant, stands at the head of all thoughts with which three and five capture our mind. 66. It will be marvelous if someone, always satiating himself with plenty of food, can acquire dispassion. What I call dispassion is not the act of avoiding sin: for this is abstinence; but if someone has completely stopped the very flow of passionate thoughts from the heart, that is what is called purity of the heart. 67. It is more convenient to cleanse an unclean soul than to restore one that has been cleansed and again wounded by the wounds of passions to health: for those who have just renounced worldly bonds, no matter what sins they may fall into, the achievement of dispassion is more accessible; and for those who have tasted the good words of God (Heb. 6:5) and have already flowed along the path of salvation, and then again turned away to sin, access to dispassion is blocked by barely surmountable obstacles. This is due to an established sinful habit and an ingrained inclination to sin, no less because then the demon of habitual sin, spinning before the eyes of the mind, constantly presents to it images of this sin. However, a zealous and hardworking soul will conveniently accomplish this most difficult task with the assistance of the grace of God, humanely long-suffering towards us, calling us to repentance and accepting those who return with unspeakable bounties, as we learn in the Gospels with the parable of the Prodigal Son. 68. None of us by our own strength can escape the arts and wiles of the evil one, but only by the invincible power of Christ. Therefore, those who dream of abolishing sin by the deeds they perform and the power of their will are dangerously mistaken, which is abolished by the grace of God alone {the desire of God alone}, because it was abolished through the sacrament of the Cross. Why, the luminary of the Church, John Chrysostom says that human effort alone is not enough if he does not receive help from above; and again, there will be no benefit from help from above if there is no personal effort. Judas and Peter demonstrate both: he, having received so much from grace, did not receive any benefit from it, because he did not apply his will and did not bring his effort; and Peter, although he zealously expressed his readiness, but because he did not receive help from above, fell. Therefore, I ask, placing everything on God, both not to sleep ourselves, and, being jealous, not to think of fixing everything through our own efforts, but to show God our will and from this it is good to ask for His help. Just as the Psalmist teaches us, saying: unless the Lord builds a house, the builders labor in vain (Ps. 126:1). 69. It is also impossible to step on the asp and basilisk and trample the lion and the serpent (Ps. 90:13), unless someone, having first cleansed himself as much as is possible for human strength, receives the strength to do this from the One who said to the Apostles: behold, I give you power to tread on the serpent and the scorpion and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). That is why we are commanded in prayer to beg the Heavenly Father: do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13). For if we, by the power and help of Christ, do not get rid of the kindled arrows of the evil one and do not become worthy of gaining dispassion, then we work in vain, hoping to correct something like this with our own strength or zeal. So, whoever wants to resist the deceptions of the devil and make them unsuccessful, and become a partaker of the Divine glory, must seek God’s help and Divine intercession with tears and sighs, with an insatiable desire and a fiery soul, night and day. He who wishes to receive such must make his soul pure from all worldly sensuality and from all passions and lusts. For it is about such souls that God says: I will dwell in them and walk (2 Cor. 6:16), and the Lord said to the disciples: whoever loves Me will keep My commandments, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). 70. One of the ancients spoke a very reasonable and favorable word regarding thoughts, saying: torture thoughts on the threshold of the heart (at the entrance to it), whether they are ours or from those that are opposed; and bring our dear and good ones into the inner repository of the soul and keep them there, as in an inconspicuous treasury, and having tormented the enemy with the scourges of rational reasoning, immediately drive them out, not giving them rest and place even in the vicinity of your soul, or better yet, completely beat them with the sword of prayer and the most Divine teaching, so that such extermination by thieves will cause fear to fall on their leader himself. Know that whoever tortures his thoughts so thoroughly is a true zealot for the fulfillment of the commandments. 71. He who strives to cut off the thoughts and movements that fight and confuse him, let him gather more companions and allies (συμμάχους) and bring them closer to himself for a joint confrontation, such are spiritual humility, bodily labor and any other ascetic self-mortification, and especially prayer from a contrite heart with many tears, as David sings: look at my humility and my exhaustion, and forgive all my sins (Ps. 24:18) and: do not be silent to my tears, O Lord (Ps. 38:13), also: my tears were bread to me day and night (Ps. 41:4). Again: he dissolved my drink with tears (Ps. 101:10). 72. The rival of our life, the devil, with various thoughts belittles our sins and often covers them with oblivion, so that we relax ourselves in our labors and no longer think of mourning our failures. We, brothers, will not allow ourselves to forget about our failures, even if it seems that they have already been forgiven to us because of our repentance, but we will always remember our sins and we will not stop mourning them, so that, having acquired humility for ourselves, like a good cohabitant, we avoid the snares of vanity and pride. 73. No one should think to bear the burden of labor and succeed in virtue on their own: for the author of all good things for us is God, just as the author of all bad things is the deceiver of our souls - the devil. Why, when you do something good, bring thanks to the Author of it; and when something bad comes to you, take it to the head of such things. 74. He who combines appropriate activity with knowledge is a commendable spiritual cultivator, who waters the spiritual field from two most pleasant sources. At the same time, knowledge inspires the mind with the contemplation of the best, and the activity corresponding to it mortifies the earthly members: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust (Col. 3:5). When these are killed, then the beautiful flowers of virtues bloom, bearing abundant spiritual fruits - love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal. 5:22, 23). Then, finally, this chaste worker, having crucified the flesh with passions and lusts, speaks with the God-bearing preacher: and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). 75. And again, O lover of Christ, do not forget, lest it be hidden from you, that one passion, having found its place in you and taken root to the point of habit, brings other passions into the same house; for although passions compete with one another, as well as their culprits, demons, they all seek our destruction in agreement. 76. He who causes the color of the flesh to fade through labors, and who cuts off all its will—this is who bears the marks of Christ the Lord on his dead body (Gal. 6:17). 77. The end of ascetic labors is the peace of dispassion, and the various consolations of the flesh - the passion of dishonor. 78. Do not allow yourself to consider the many years of your monastic life to be a valuable thing, and do not be caught in self-praise because of your long stay in the desert and patiently performing cruel feats there, but keep the Lord’s word in mind that you are still an unbreakable slave (Luke 17:10), and have not yet fulfilled the commandments of your Master. And in fact, while we are in this life, we have not yet been called back from exile, but we are still sitting on the rivers of Babylon (Ps. 137:1), we are still tormented by making bricks of Egypt (Ex. 1:14), we have not yet seen the promised land, since we have not yet put off the old man, which is corrupted in the deceitful lusts (Eph. 4:22), have not yet Having put on the image of heavenly things, we still bear the image of earthly things. So, there is no road for us to self-praise, but we must cry, praying to the One who is able to save us from the bitter slavery of Pharaoh, to pluck us from his cruel tyranny and lead us into the good land of promise, so that we may finally find peace in the Sanctuary of God, being worthy to be placed at the right hand of the Majesty of the Most High. We can receive these blessings, more than the great mind, not from the deeds that we manage to do in righteousness, but through the immeasurable mercy of God. Let us not cease to shed tears day and night, imitating the one who said: I am weary with my groanings, every night I wash my bed, I water my bed with my tears (Ps. 6:7). For those who sow in tears will reap with joy (Ps. 126:5). 79. Drive far away from yourself the loquacious spirit, because all-evil passions lie hidden in it: from it lies, from it insolence, from it ridicule, shaming, blasphemy and much more; so it truly confirms what was said: if you talk too much, you will not escape sin (Proverbs 10:19). – But a silent (reasonable) husband is the throne of feelings (Proverbs 12:23). But the Lord also said that we will have to give an answer for every idle word (Matthew 12:36). 80. To those who slander and reproach us or attack us in other ways, we received the commandment not to respond in kind, that is, not to slander and not to reproach us, but, on the contrary, to speak kindly about them and bless them. For when we make peace with non-peaceful people, then we are in battle, or in battle, with demons; when we are in hostility and warfare with our brothers, then we make peace with demons, whom we have been taught to completely hate with hatred and to constantly wage war with them. 81. Avoid causing your neighbor to stumble with an evil word, so that you yourself do not be stumbled by the all-evil devil. For listen to what the prophet cries: the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and the flattering (Ps. 5:7) and again: the Lord will destroy all flattering lips, an arrogant tongue (Ps. 11:4). Likewise, avoid condemning your brother when he falls, so as not to fall away from goodness and love. For whoever does not have kindness and love for his brother has not known God; for God is love, as John, the son of thunder and beloved disciple of Christ, cries (1 John 4:8). – If Christ and the Savior of all laid down His life for us, then we must lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16). 82. Love is rightly called the mother of virtues, the head of the law and prophets. Let us take up every kind of labor until we receive holy love, and through it we will be torn out from the tyranny of passions, and we will ascend to heaven, ascending on the wings of virtues, and we will see God, as far as this is accessible to human nature. If God is love, then he who has love has God in himself. When it is not there, then there is absolutely no benefit to us and it is completely impossible to say that we love God. For St. John says: if anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20), and again: no one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us, and His love is perfect in us (1 John 4:12), hence it is clear that love is the highest good of all the blessings indicated in the Holy Scriptures; - and there is not a single type of virtue that co-creates and combines man with God, which would not be connected with love and does not emanate from it, ineffably somehow embraced and protected by it. 83. Receiving the brethren who come to us, let us not be burdened by this or consider it a suppression of silence, so as not to violate the rule of love, we will also not invite them as those who do good to them, but even more so as those who ourselves receive goodness from them, and we will receive them strangely, as we are obliged to them, with prayer and a joyful face, as the example of Patriarch Abraham showed us. Why does the Theologian teach, saying: my children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth; and this is how we know that we are of the truth (1 John 3:18, 19). 84. The Patriarch, having chosen hospitality as a permanent practice, sat in front of his tabernacle and invited those passing by, then all without distinction, the wicked and barbarians, offering a meal without hesitation. Why was he honored with this wondrous meal, having received the Angels and all the Lord strangely. Let us also strive to receive strangers with all zeal and readiness, so as to receive not only Angels, but also God Himself. For the Lord says: just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40). It is good to do good to everyone, but especially to those who do not have anything to repay (Luke 14:14). 85. Whoever's heart does not see him in violation of God's Commandments, or in negligence, or in accepting an enemy thought, is pure in heart and worthy of hearing: blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8). 86. Let us try to achieve the goal of intelligently managing our senses, especially our sight, hearing and tongue, setting ourselves the law of neither seeing, nor hearing, nor speaking passionately, but everything for the benefit of our soul. For nothing is more prone to sin than these organs when they are not controlled by reason; and on the contrary, nothing more favorable than them is favorable to the cause of salvation, when reason rules them, keeps them in line and leads them where they should and where they want. For when they go on a rampage, then the sense of smell becomes effeminate, and the sense of touch furiously extends to what it should not, and an innumerable multitude of passions enters; when they maintain their order with reason, then great peace and undisturbed silence manifest themselves everywhere in us. 87. Just as precious myrrh, although it is enclosed in a vessel, smears the air of a home with a fragrance, filling those standing not only close to it, but also those far from it with a pleasant sensation, so the fragrance of a virtuous and God-loving soul, being emitted by all bodily senses, reveals hidden virtue to all who see it. For whoever sees that the tongue does not utter anything inappropriate or indecent, but everything that is useful for those who hear, that the eyes look modestly, the ear does not receive any inappropriate melodies and sayings, the feet step gracefully, the face is not distorted by laughter, but rather indicates tears and crying that are ready to flow. - Who, seeing all this, does not recognize what an abundant fragrance of virtues lies within. Why does the Savior say: let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). 88. Which way Christ and our God in the Gospel called narrow and sorrowful (Matthew 7:13, 14), he later called a good yoke and a light burden (Matthew 11:30). How is it that both, seemingly opposite, are seen as one and the same? – So: by its nature, this path is cruel and difficult; and according to the will of those who perform it and according to good hopes, it is desired, beloved and sweet more than sorrowful for the souls of good-loving souls. That is why you see that those who have chosen this narrow and regrettable path walk along it more readily than along the long and wide one. Listen to what blessed Luke says about the Apostles, how they, after being beaten with whips, returned from the face of the council, rejoicing (Acts 5:40, 41). But this is not the nature of scourges; it is not sweetness and joy, but sorrow and illness that they cause. If the scourges were sweet for Christ’s sake, what is marvelous if for His sake other types of suffering and embitterment of the flesh are the same? 89. Tormented and held captive by passions, we often ask ourselves in bewilderment, why are we suffering this? – It should be known that such captivities happen to us due to our retreat from the contemplation of God. If anyone clings with his mind to our God and Master, then, God is faithful, the Savior Himself of all will deliver such a soul from all captivity, as the prophet says: I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is on my right hand, so that I would not be shaken (Ps. 15:8). What is sweeter than to always have the Lord at your right hand, covering, protecting and not allowing you to be shaken? But it is up to us to be worthy of this. 90. The fathers said well and indisputably correctly that man will not find peace except by acquiring and establishing in himself such an inner disposition that in the world there is only God and him, not at all turning his mind to anything, but desiring His One and remaining clinging to Him alone. Such a person will truly find peace and freedom from the tyranny of passions. Says the Psalmist, my soul clung to You, and Your right hand received me (Ps. 62:9). 91. Self-love, voluptuousness and love of glory drive out the memory of God from the soul. For pride is the parent of much evil. And when the memory of God is cut off, then many rebellions of passions settle in us. 92. Self-love is the parent of innumerable passions. Why, when someone purges self-love from his heart, then he will easily gain power over other passions, with the assistance of the Lord. For from it anger, sadness, rancor, voluptuousness and unbridled insolence are usually born; and the one defeated by it is inevitably defeated by other passions. We call self-love a passionate disposition and love for the body with the fulfillment of carnal desires. 93. He who loves something constantly desires to be with it, and turns away from everything that prevents him from consolidating and communicating with his beloved object. Obviously because the one who loves God desires to always be with Him and talk. This is achieved by us through pure prayer. We should take care of her as much as we have; for she appropriates us to our Master. This was the one who said: God, my God! I turn to You in the morning, my soul has thirsted for You (Ps. 62:2). For he who, having removed his mind from everything bad, is continually wounded by Divine love, is drawn to God in the morning. 94. From abstinence and humility, as we have learned, dispassion is born; and from faith comes knowledge; through them the soul succeeds in prudence and love. And those who have infused Divine love into their depths, on the wings of pure prayer, continually rise to its very heights, until we all come to the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13). 95. Active virtue enslaves lust and curbs anger; and through knowledge and contemplation the mind is inspired and, having ascended above everything material, it moves to God and the true in Him receives bliss. 96. Our first feat is to diminish passions and overcome them with strength; and the second feat is to acquire virtue and not leave your soul empty and inactive; the third is to soberly guard the fruits of our virtues and labors, for we are commanded not only to work diligently, but also to guard vigilantly (Gen. 2:15). 97. Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, says the Lord (Luke 12:35). The good girding of our loins, through which we become well adapted and easy to do, is self-control with humility of heart; By abstinence I mean cutting off all passions. And the light guide of the spiritual lamp is pure prayer and perfect love. In this way, those who are well-disposed are truly like people who wait for their Lord, who, when He comes and knocks, will immediately open to Him, and He, having come with the Father and the Holy Spirit, will make an abode with them (John 14:23). And blessed are those servants whose Lord, when he comes, will find them doing so {watching} (Luke 12:36, 37). 98. A monk, like a son, must love God with all his heart and with all his thoughts; as a servant, to revere Him and obey Him, and with fear and trembling to fulfill His commandments: to be on fire with the Spirit, to be clothed in the full armor of the Holy Spirit, to rest in the hope of receiving Eternal Life, to do everything commanded unforgivingly, to be sober, to guard your heart from evil thoughts, to constantly practice holy God-thinking in good thoughts, to carry out judgment on oneself every day regarding conjectures and deeds, to fill in what is missing, and not to be proud of what has been done, calling oneself an inexcusable slave, who has not fulfilled one’s duties properly, to thank the All-Holy God for everything and to Him to attribute everything that is correct in one’s life, to do nothing at all out of vanity or man-pleasing, but to do everything in secret, receiving praise from the One God; first of all, and most of all, in my soul I am protected by the Orthodox faith in all the dogmas of the universal Church, handed down to it from the apostles, preachers of God and from the holy fathers; for those who live like this have a great reward - endless life and an indestructible abode with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial and Trinitarian God. 99. The end of the word, listen to everyone: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is everything for man, says Ecclesiastes (Eccl. 12:13). I, he says, show you in brief words what the path of God is: fear God and keep His commandments. The fear here, of course, is not introductory, the fear of torment, but perfect and perfection-creating, which we are obliged to have out of love for Him who gave the commandments. For if we do not commit sins out of fear of punishment, it is clear that if we were not about to undergo these horrors, then we, having a sin-loving disposition, would certainly commit them without stopping. If, not out of fear of punishment, but out of disgust for sins themselves, we abstain from them, then we act out of love for our Master, fearing to anger Him. When we are afraid so as not to omit something from the commandment, then such fear is pure, because it happens because of goodness itself; and it cleanses our souls, being tantamount to perfect love. And whoever has this fear and keeps the commandments is the whole person, otherwise a perfect, true person, not lacking anything. 100. A courageous soul, throughout its entire life, has, as it were, two burning lights: the active and the divinely contemplative, and thereby accomplishes what is necessary; and the unmanly soul is more exhausted from pleasures. Knowing this, let us fear God and keep His commandments with such fear that we may be perfect in all its fullness, and not lacking in any virtue (James 1:4), having a humble mind and a contrite heart, and having our cheeks wetted with tears at all times, and constantly lifting up to the Lord the prayer of the divine Arsenius the Great: “My God! do not leave me; I have done nothing good before You, but grant me, by Your grace, to make a beginning for this.” For all our salvation lies in the goodness and love of God. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Toro of our venerable father Theodore. The word speculative What a great feat it is to break these strong bonds of material love, free yourself from work and acquire the skill of doing good! Truly, a valiant and courageous soul is needed to renounce everything material. What we should look for after this is not only purification from passions: for this is not yet virtue in itself, but only preparation for virtue; but the acquisition of virtues must also be added to the purification of bad habits. The purification of the soul is: in the mental part, the application and complete abandonment of worldly charming morals, that is, worldly worries and concerns, bad inclinations and inappropriate fortune-telling and riddles; in the lustful part - not to strive for anything material and not to look at feelings, but to be submissive to reason; in the irritable part - not to be indignant at anything that happens. And after such cleansing and destruction of everything that makes our powers unclean, and their improvement, an ascent to spiritual perfections and deification is required: for he who has turned away from evil must do good (Ps. 33:15). At the same time, one must deny oneself first of all, and thus, taking up the cross, follow the Lord to achieve the highest state of deification. What kind of ascent to perfection and deification is this? As far as the mind is concerned, this is the most perfect knowledge of existence and of Him who is above all existence, as far as is accessible to human nature; in terms of lust - finite and unceasing lust and desire for the first good; in terms of irritation - the most energetic and active movement towards the desired, incessant and unrelenting, not stopped in its progress by any of the encountered sorrows; but uncontrollably, and without turning back, marching. The movement of the soul towards the good should be as much stronger than its movement towards the bad as mental beauties surpass the sensory ones, so that its care for the flesh should be allowed only to the extent necessary to satisfy its needs and maintain life, so as not to otherwise lead our animal body to violent disorder. But it is easy to establish this for yourself; it is very difficult to put into action; for it is impossible to eradicate outdated habits of the soul without difficulty. Just as learning any art is not acquired without sweat, so also towards the blessed nature - God - intense gaze and prostration of attention is achieved through much labor and over a long period of time, until the desiring power becomes accustomed to the consequences of such striving and tastes its fruits. At the same time, our mind must show resistance to sensuality, which attracts us to the earthly, which is why we struggle and fight with the flesh, which does not stop until death; although sometimes it seems to be diminished due to the taming of anger and lust and the bending of feelings under the yoke of the one enriched with experienced knowledge and art in the battle of the mind. It should, however, be noted that an unenlightened soul, since it does not usually use help from God, can neither truly be cleansed nor ascend to the Divine light, as it is said; for what is said must be considered to be said about the faithful. To further clarify this, it is necessary to briefly explain what differences there are in our knowledge. Of the local earthly knowledge, one is by nature, and the other is supernatural. What this second is will clearly be from the first. We call natural knowledge that which the soul can obtain through research and exploration, using natural methods and forces, about creation and the Author of creation - of course - as much as this is accessible to the soul associated with matter. For the energy of the mind is weakened by its contact and dissolution with the body, and for this reason it cannot be in direct contact with mental things, but has the need to think about them in fantasy, the nature of which is to create extended and dense images. So, the mind, since it is in the flesh, has a need for appropriate images of things in order to judge and understand them. What knowledge the mind, being such now, will receive in this natural way, we call this natural. And supernatural knowledge is that which comes into the mind in a way that exceeds its natural ways and powers, or in which what is known comparatively exceeds the mind associated with the flesh, so that such knowledge is obviously characteristic of the incorporeal mind. It comes from the One God when He finds the mind cleansed of all material attachments and embraced by Divine love. It is not only knowledge, however, that is so divided, but also virtue: for another virtue is such that it does not exceed nature and is rightly called natural; the other is influenced by the first source of good, and, as it exceeds our natural strength and state, should be properly called supernatural. Having explained this, we believe that the unenlightened can have natural knowledge and natural virtue, but not supernatural ones. For how could he have acquired them without being involved in the supreme culprit acting here? And the enlightened one can have them both. I’ll just add one more difference to this; supernatural virtue cannot be acquired without first acquiring natural virtue; but nothing prevents one from becoming involved in the knowledge of the supernatural without the natural. However, it must be known that just as animals have feeling and fantasy, man also has them, only he has these powers much better and higher; so in relation to natural virtues and knowledge, it happens that both the enlightened and the unenlightened have them, but the enlightened one has them in a much better and higher state than the unenlightened one. I'll add more. Of the knowledge called natural, that which deals with virtues and the inclinations opposite to them, there are also two types: one bare, when the one who philosophizes about such dispositions has not experienced them in practice - which knowledge is sometimes wavered by doubts; and the other is active, and, as it were, sincere, when knowledge is confirmed by testing such dispositions in practice - which knowledge is obvious and true, never wavers and does not allow doubts. While this happens, we learn that there are four things that oppose the mind in the acquisition of virtue: first, a predisposition to habits that are contrary to it, which, due to long-term habit, leads to an inclination towards earthly things; the second is the action of feeling, which, carried away by sensual beauties, carries away the mind along with it; the third is the weakening of the energy of the mind to which it is subjected due to its connection with the body. For vision to the visible, and in general feeling to the sensible, do not have the same relationship as the mind to the mental. I am talking about the mind of the soul still existing in the body. For immaterial minds come into more effective contact with the mental than vision with the visible. But just as when vision is clouded, it is unclear, inaccurate and more blurred in reflecting the forms of the things it sees, so our mind, although it is conscious of the mental, cannot effectively see mental beauties; and at the same time, he cannot desire anything from it, since the measure of disposition occurs in proportion to knowledge, and he immediately returns again to the sensual beauties that appear more clearly to him; for he, of necessity, strives towards what is good before him, whether true or not true. In addition to all this, there is also [fourth] – attacks by inhuman unclean spirits. And it is impossible to say how many and what kind of nets they set to catch souls, alas! - everywhere along the way there are many forms and diversity, in feelings, in words, in the mind, in everything that exists, one can say, which not a single soul would have escaped, if He who had taken into His frame the lost sheep - those who fix their eyes on Him, had not made them superior with His immeasurable care. To avoid all this, we need the following three means, of which the first and greatest is an all-hearted turn to God with our eyes and asking Him for a helping hand, placing all our trust in Him, out of the sincere conviction that if He does not intercede, we will inevitably fall into captivity of those who attract us to themselves. The second, which, as I believe, serves as the cause of the first, is the constant feeding of the mind with knowledge. By this knowledge I mean the knowledge of everything that exists, sensory and mental, as it is in itself, and what relation it has to the first cause, as if it exists from It and for It, and the contemplation of the Author of all things, accessible to us, by guidance from what is from Him. For the study of the nature of creatures cleanses one from a passionate disposition towards them, frees one from being seduced by them and elevates them to their beginning, allowing, as in a mirror, to see in the beautiful, wonderful and great the most beautiful, the most wonderful and the greatest, or better yet, that which is above all beauty, wonder and greatness. Always revolving in such thoughts, can the mind not desire the real good? For if he sometimes rushes towards what is alien to him, will he not much more rush towards his own? Having been captivated by this soul, to what of the things below will it allow itself to cling, when it usually distracts it from the One who loves it and the one it loves? Yes, she will even become dissatisfied with life in the flesh, as one who poses obstacles for her to acquire and taste true blessings. For even if it is not clear, as has been said, the mind sees mental beauty in material things, but mental blessings are such and such that even a small outflow from the sea of ​​this beauty and the faint appearance of its rays can convince the mind to fly over everything unthinkable and strive towards those same blessings, without at all allowing itself to retreat from its sweetness, even if because of this it happens to fall into something bitter. And the third thing that must happen with this is the mortification of our spouse’s flesh; for otherwise it is impossible to clearly and separately see the said appearances of these heavenly goodnesses. The flesh is mortified by fasting, vigil, sleeping on bare ground, the harsh clothing necessary and tedious labor. Thus the flesh is mortified, or better said, crucified with Christ. Having thus become refined and purified, light and comfortable, it comfortably follows the movement of the mind without resistance and grief rises with it. Without this, all our efforts to achieve this turn out to be in vain. This honest trinity, when it is in harmony with itself, gives birth in the soul to the face of blessed virtues. And it is impossible for those adorned with this trinity to show any trace of sin, or to lack any virtue. In such people, the mind is no longer confused by either acquisitions, as if already abandoned, or glory, as if already spat upon, from which the soul, while attached to them, is wounded by many passions. And just as I assert that it is impossible for a soul committed to wealth and fame to soar, I do not say that it is possible to take care of them for a soul that has labored in the above-mentioned three spiritual works for quite a long time, so that it has even reached the point of becoming proficient in them. For if, in such a mood, she does not consider anything to be true good except the good of the Supreme, and of other goods, the best is that which, as she is convinced, is more similar to the first; then how can she love and graciously accept gold and silver or other valuable things? Let this also be said regarding glory. Even this most insatiable thing, I mean, care, then does not attack the mind from the opposite side. For what would a person who is not partial to anything here and who is not involved in any of this take care of? The cloud of worries is made up of fumes from the main passions: voluptuousness, love of money and love of fame; so free from these, alien and worries. The named persons, who are skilled in these three spiritual works, do not lack prudence, which is considered the friend of wisdom, and is the most powerful of the means leading to grief. For in the science of virtues lies the exact recognition of both what is good and what is contrary to it; and this requires prudence. Under his guidance, experience and struggle with the flesh teach how best to do good and resist evil. And fear is inherent in them. For as love increases, fear also increases; and as great as the hope of receiving good is, so great is the fear of not receiving it. And this gnaws at the soul of those wounded by love much more than threats of countless torments; for just as one can receive most blissfully, one cannot receive one most wretchedly. In order for the word to flow to us in other ways along the way, we must begin from the end; for everything that happens from its end receives both the distinction of parts and their orderly relationship. The end of our life is bliss, or, what is the same, the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God. And it itself is not only the vision of the most royal Trinity, but at the same time the acceptance of the Divine attraction, and, as it were, the perception of deification, and with this attraction the completion of what is lacking in us, and the improvement of the imperfect. And this is what serves as food for mental beings - this is the replenishment of what is missing through the Divine attraction. Here a certain unceasing circle takes place, beginning with the same thing and ending with the same thing. For the more one understands, the more he desires, the more he desires, the more he tastes, the more he tastes, the more he is aroused to greater understanding again; and immediately this motionless movement, or, perhaps, motionless immobility, begins again. So, the end of our life, as far as it is accessible to our comprehension, is this. Now we should consider how to go about it. For rational souls, who are intelligent beings and are not much different from the minds of angels, life here is a struggle, and life in the flesh is given to them for achievement. The reward for feat and struggle is the said state - a gift worthy both of Divine goodness and Divine truth: truth, because these benefits are achieved not without one’s own labors and sweats; goodness, because the gift immeasurably surpasses any one’s own labor, and also because the very thing to be able to do good is the gift of God. But what is the feat here? The rational soul is associated with the animal body, which has its existence from the earth and gravitates towards the earthly. It is dissolved with this body in such a way that from these two, soul and body, completely opposite to each other, one being has taken place without transformation, however, or confusion of these parts - let it not be! - but in such a way that from these two, bearing what is characteristic of them by nature, one person took place in two perfect natures. Thus, as a binatural being, this composite animal, man, has become one, and manifests in action what is characteristic of each particular nature. And it is natural for the body to desire something similar to itself—the corporeal. Such a desire for something like this is natural to all beings, since their very existence is determined by the incorporation into themselves of something similar to themselves. It is natural for the body to enjoy similar things in feeling; He also appreciates rest when he is tired. This is what is natural and desirable to our animal nature. The rational soul, like an intelligent nature, naturally and desirable is the same intelligent, and enjoyment in that manner characteristic of that. First and foremost, love for God is naturally rooted in her. And she naturally desires to enjoy Him and other mental things, but she cannot do this without hindrance. The first person could easily perceive and enjoy both the sensual and the mind with his senses. But he should have been primarily occupied with being not the worst, but the best; although on his own he could enter into communication with both the mental through the mind and the sensory through feeling. I do not say that Adam should not have used his senses, for it was not in vain that he was covered with a body; but that he should not primarily enjoy the sensory and for the sake of the sensory, but should, seeing through sensory impressions the beauty of creatures, flow to the Creator of it and enjoy Him with amazement, having special reasons to be amazed at the Creator, and not to cleave to the sensory and marvel at it, leaving the mental beauty of the Creator. This is how Adam should have acted. But how he, using his senses poorly, began to marvel at the sensual beauty and, seeing the fruit beautiful for vision and good for food, tasted it, leaving the enjoyment of mental things; then the righteous Judge, deeming him unworthy of the contemplation of God and all things - things despised by him - expelled him, making darkness his cover and all immaterial objects (Ps. 17:12). For the unclean should not have been given the holy; but what he loved, God allowed him to enjoy it, leaving him to live by feeling with small traces of intelligent life. This is why the feat of achieving communication with mental things has become the most difficult for us, for it is not in our power to enjoy the mental in the same way as we enjoy the sensory with our senses, although we receive great help in this through baptism, being purified and elevated by it. However, as much as is available to us, we still must exercise in the mental, and not in the sensory; to marvel at this and desire it, but not to marvel at anything from the sensual and not to desire to enjoy anything in itself (both sensual and to satisfy sensuality); for truly it cannot have any comparison with the mental. We see that both the essence of essence and the beauty of beauty can be more amazing. But as they are, we must treat them as they are. To love the shameful more than the most noble and the base more than the honorable, everything surpasses madness! And this is also when they treat creatures this way, whether mental or sensory. But what can we say if we treat the One who is above all in this way, when we prefer ugly and insignificant substance to Him? And this is what our feat now is - to pay attention to ourselves with care, so that we can always enjoy what is mental, stretching both our mind and desire, and not at all allow ourselves to be robbed of being sensual, being carried away by that feeling to the point of surprise at it for its own sake. But if you need to use your senses, you must use it in order to recognize the Creator from creatures, seeing Him in them, just as we see the sun in the waters, since in existence the first Creator of everything is reflected, as far as this is possible for Hero. This is the task that lies before us; but how to fulfill it, you should think about it. For, as has been said, the body desires to enjoy the things proper to it through the senses, and the more satisfied it is, the more it desires. And this is contrary to the aspiration of the soul. Why should the first concern of the soul be to put a bridle on all feelings, so as not to delight in the sensual, as it has been said. Since the stronger the body is, the more it strives for its own; the more strongly it strives for this, the more uncontrollably it becomes, then the soul must strenuously try to mortify the flesh by fasting, vigils, standing, sleeping on bare ground and all sorts of other deprivations, so that, having exhausted its strength, it can be humble and submissive in its spiritual deeds: this is the main thing that it must fulfill. But since it is easy to wish for this, but difficult to fulfill, and many omissions are allowed against what should be due to theft of feeling with all attention, then a third cure has been wisely invented - prayer and tears. The prayer gives thanks for the blessings given and asks for forgiveness of sins and the sending of strength for further success; since without Divine help the soul, as has already been said before, cannot do anything regularly alone. It also brings unity with Him Whom the soul has sought, and delight in Him, and with the desired strength, a complete aspiration towards Him - which is the most important thing in a worthwhile life, that is, this inclination of the will to desire this as much as possible. And tears have great power: they appease the Lord for our sins, cleanse the defilement caused to us by sensual pleasure, and give wings to the desire for heavenly things. So this is what it’s all about: the main thing is the contemplation of mental or spiritual goods and their complete desire; because of this, the enslavement of the flesh, of which the parts are: fasting, chastity (σωφροσύνη) and so on, all of which are lifted up by each other; for the same, and at the same time, prayer. Each of these activities is decomposed into many parts, which, however, are all connected, so that one is required by the other, and one cannot exist without the other. Let no one think that the love of fame and the love of money belong to bodily passions. Bodily passion is pure voluptuousness, which finds its proper remedy in the mortification of the flesh. These two passions are products of ignorance. Having not experienced or known true blessings, mental or spiritual, the soul came up with false blessings, thinking with wealth to be consoled in the impoverishment of spiritual blessings; At the same time, she cares about wealth both to satisfy lust and love of fame and for himself, considering it a certain good. What we will say is that all this is a product of ignorance of true blessings. The love of fame does not happen because of the poverty of bodily needs, for it is not something bodily that is satisfied by it; but because of lack of testing and ignorance of the first good and true glory. And not only the love of fame, but, in short, the root of all evil is ignorance. For it is impossible for one who, as he should, has come to know the nature of things and where each of them comes from and what purpose it has, then forgetting about his final end and rushing to the earthly. The soul will not desire such a good that it probably knows that it only seems good. Even if a habit tyrannically draws her to something, she, by virtue of an accurate and clear knowledge of the matter, can defeat the habit itself. But even when there was no habit yet, she was seduced due to ignorance. So, most of all and early, one must try to acquire true knowledge about everything that exists, and then, in accordance with this, inspire one’s will with the desire for the First Good, in order to despise all this (real goods) and recognize their complete (μεγάλη) vanity. For what helps us achieve our goal? And I will say briefly: for a rational soul united with a body, one thing is to strive for the ultimate goal. Since the power (ενέργεια) of the will (βουλήσεως) without understanding (νόηση) is not moved (invalid), then the intelligent (νοερή) action (ενέργεια) was perceived (i.e., it must do this with mind). So, does understanding exist for the will, or for both itself and for the will, which seems fairer (for the bliss that not only brings the here life of a virtuous person, but also represents itself, contains both actions - understanding (νόηση) and desire (will), that is, love and spiritual (πνευματική) pleasure), whether both of these actions are the main ones, or one of them - let anyone who wishes to think about it. In the present case, we allow both actions, one of which we call activity (πράξη), and the other contemplation. And it is impossible to obtain one without the other, when we talk about these two higher actions (ενέργειες); and in the actions of the lower ones and those that come after them - it is possible. Those that prevent these actions, or rebel against them (deviate towards the opposite), we call vices. And those that promote them, or free us from obstacles, we call virtues. We call the actions of virtue corrections (κατορθώματα, achievements), and we call the actions of vices offenses and sins (αμαρτήματα) 8. The peculiarity of any action is that it [strives] either for the worse or for the better, this is the final goal (which the one who acts strives to achieve); and this action consists of understanding (νόηση) and desire (βούληση, will). The text is provided only in Russian, see the source for the original. – Editorial of the ABC of Faith According to the Greek Philokalia, July 19th. In the manuscript of Paisius Velichkovsky to the 47th chapter there is a postscript from a certain Slavic book, which in the printed Philokalia is a continuation of the chapter, but this chapter is not in the Greek Philokalia. We tried to translate it. Translation from the magazine “Christian Reading”: “We call the consequences of virtue perfections, and the consequences of the opposite - misconduct and sins.”