Venerable Gregory of Sinai: life, works, theology

for an academic degree Author: (Deacon Dionisy Venyukov) Scientific supervisor: (Professor A.I. Sidorov) The basis of the ascetic-theological creativity of the holy fathers, captured in the written heritage of the Church of Christ, lies a sincere desire to express the living spiritual experience of Orthodox asceticism, one of the main features of which is that it is primarily the experience of active faith [5 I II .§1] 1, addressed to the revealed teaching about the dignity and purpose of man in his biblical understanding as image and likeness the beginningless and uncreated God. The experience of faith - faith in the high purpose of man, often not confirmed, often completely refuted by his present state - has as its immediate content a spiritual feat, consisting in an active and intense search for grace-filled sanctification, in the constancy of a person’s movement towards the ideal of moral Christian perfection, in the actualization of the spiritual possibilities of human nature and personality, in the changing of man over time in the image of the incarnate God, finally, in God-likeness and perfection. deification, in which the feat reaches its goal, finds its final fulfillment, completeness and highest meaning. The protagonist of the ascetic feat of faith and at the same time the battlefield of opposing forces is a free human personality, called to achieve Christian perfection. In its original god-like predestination, it draws a striving for movement, for the active revelation of itself in God and the grace-filled transformation of created human nature. The earthly life of a true ascetic appears in asceticism as his continuous step-by-step ascent along the ladder of ascetic work to the fulfillment of man’s eternal destiny - his immediate, grace-filled and personal unity with God in love and perfect knowledge, which, in fact, is God’s eternal plan for man, called by the grace of adoption to become what God is in essence. Such a high Christian calling in the feat of earthly life was fulfilled by the great ascetic of silence revered by the Orthodox Church and the famous mentor of monastics, St. Gregory of Sinaite. His personality, as one of the revivalists and active disseminator of contemplative asceticism among the monastics of Byzantium and Slavic countries, occupies an outstanding place in the history of the Orthodox Church of the 14th century. The religious type of personality of the Reverend Father, revealed from the words of his biographers, from historical evidence about him and from the pages of his own creations, makes a deep impression with its internal integrity, undistracted concentration on the one thing needed (Luke 10:42), undivided and complete devotion to the once chosen monastic ideal and tireless zeal in mastering the heights of Christian perfection. “This image is especially relevant and attractive in the context of the problems of modern man, who has a “split” consciousness and, as a result, has lost the integrity of his existence” [97.P.7]. The deep mystical talent of the Sinai ascetic, combined with tireless ascetic work, in a short time brought him closer to the desired goal of enlightenment of the mind and the mysterious Communion with God. According to one of the life writers of the Holy Father, “at the cost of severe ascetic deeds, he became so close to the disembodied angels that even in the shell of a body exhausted by abstinence, he enjoyed the vision of the heavenly blessed light” [55.P.10]. Having acquired the spiritual treasure of grace-filled unity with God in mental prayer, sobriety and contemplation, the Monk Gregory was not satisfied only with his own heavenly enrichment. Urged from above, he rushed to preach sacred silence, grieving over the diminishment of this purely spiritual work even among monks and hermits who had grown old in their exploits, and wishing to increase among them the talent of spiritual experience given to him. “He devoted the best years of his life to disseminating among contemporary monks information about human elevation from the active to the contemplative type of asceticism” [55.P.10]. Prayerful unity with God and illumination by the uncreated light of Divine grace - the main goal of the personal life path of St. Gregory of Sinaite - were reflected in his works and became the main subject of his theology. The personal experience of Communion with God and the theological erudition of the Holy Father allowed him to generalize in his creations the centuries-old ascetic experience of his numerous predecessors, ascetics and seers of the Holy Church. “The basis of the ascetic ideology of the Venerable One is radical optimism, outlining ways of experiencing eternal blissful life on earth... This is a preaching of sorrowful and joyful asceticism, bringing a person into the closest unity with God” [55.P.11]. Starting to study the life, works and theology of St. Gregory of Sinaite, which defines the scientific goal of this work and designates the subject of research, we note that the accepted formulation of the topic involves a holistic presentation of biographical information about the Holy Father in the context of his own testimony about his worldview, life tasks and the means of their implementation, contained in his creations. Turning to the voice of the personality of Saint Gregory himself and penetrating his worldview will allow us to more fully and more adequately interpret the few known facts of his life and work, reviews of him from his contemporaries and his own theological views. The latter, in our opinion, determines the relevance of the proposed research topic: the image of the spiritually integral personality of St. Gregory of Sinaite, clearly and comprehensively illuminated in the context of his biography, worldview and teaching, serves as indisputable evidence and another confirmation in the chain of church tradition of the integrity and soteriological significance of the spiritual experience of Orthodoxy, participation in which is relevant at all times for all those seeking salvation. To achieve this goal, it seems necessary to solve the following tasks: present in chronological order the available information about the life and work of St. Gregory of Sinaite; consider the famous works of the Holy Father, including those not yet translated into Russian; to illuminate the theological teaching of the Sinai ascetic in the refraction of his activities and writings, in particular: the dogmatic judgments of the Venerable One about the nature, purpose and objective conditions of human salvation; teaching about the basic ethical requirements necessary for life in Christ; the teaching about ascetic means of achieving Christian perfection, two types of asceticism and the primary importance of mental prayer and sobriety in achieving the goal of Christian life; finally, the doctrine of the uncreated Tabor light and the grace of deification. This work does not intend to consider the teachings of St. Gregory in its closest contact with patristic tradition, comparing it with previous and subsequent traditions, which, in the author’s opinion, could constitute a separate extensive study, since the creations and teachings of the Sinai ascetic are overwhelmingly based on the writings of many of the holy fathers. The names of some of them in his works are given by the Monk Gregory himself, often sometimes quoting or paraphrasing their thoughts, or using the following characteristic expressions: “historians speak,” “God-bearing men” and “theologians affirm” [5 I.§10,81,54,82]. The patristic erudition and influence of the patristic heritage on the works of St. Gregory was partly reflected in his work by one of the researchers of his life and teaching, Bishop Veniamin (Milov). However, it should be noted that only part of the creations of the Holy Father fell into the field of scientific vision of the Right Reverend Benjamin [55.P.167–217]. When working on the given topic and solving the identified problems, the author uses the method of critical analysis of historical evidence about the life and work of the Sinai ascetic, as well as the method of adequately conveying the thoughts of the Holy Father on a particular issue in accordance with the general direction of his views set forth in his biography and creations. The work takes into account the conclusions and judgments of a number of researchers of the life and work of St. Gregory of Sinaite. When reconstructing the theology of the Venerable Father, who, like most holy Fathers, did not give his teaching the form of a theological treatise, the author adheres to the principle of thematic systematization of individual statements of Saint Gregory, grouped into groups according to similarity of content, follows the order of presentation of general provisions, highlighting the features of theology and identifying the internal connection and consistency of its components. Reviewing historical information about the life and personality of St. Gregory, we should first of all note two well-known sources. The first is the Life of the Holy Father in Greek, published in 1803 by the famous theologian and church writer Nicodemus Agiorite in his book "N)eon \Ekl)ogion, peri)econ b)iouq _axiol)ogouq diaf)orwn +ag)iwn ka9i 2alla tin9a jucwfel6h dihg)hmata" and translated into Russian, which later became part of the Athos Patericon [8]. This edition of the Life of St. Gregory is distinguished by a significant historical and literary shortcoming: it is devoid of originality, since it is only a later retelling of one of the handwritten versions of the complete life of the Holy Father. For this reason, the main source of information about the Sinai ascetic should be considered the second edition of his Life 2, compiled by the holy Patriarch Callistos I of Constantinople, who before his priesthood was one of the closest disciples and associates of the Monk Gregory, who everywhere followed in the footsteps of his spiritual leader and adopted his very spirit [22.p.23]. According to Bishop Veniamin (Milov), Patriarch Callistus “described the life of Gregory Sinaite partly from his own memories of him, partly on the basis of stories he collected from people who directly knew the Rev.... Accuracy in theological, historical and topographical respects, a thorough mention of some small details of the life of the Rev., the sincere speech of the eyewitness of the events and a successful concept of biographical material - all this gives the biographical work of Patriarch Callistus an authoritative authenticity original” [55.P.17–18]. Thus, it appears that the second source is very reliable both in terms of reliability and in terms of completeness of material about known events and details of the life of the Holy Father. However, it is also necessary to take into account the fact that the Life written by Patriarch Callistus, like many examples of the magnificent Byzantine style, is characterized by the use of various figurative expressions and exquisite praise addressed to the person being glorified. This, in turn, combined with the most respectful attitude of his biographer towards St. Gregory, which he strives to convey to readers, could in some cases convey unjustified exaggeration to the conclusions and assessments of Patriarch Callistus about the merits and activities of the Holy Father. According to David Balfour, a researcher of the legacy of St. Gregory, the latter is, as a rule, the result of “the general tendency of Byzantine hagiography to place all holy men within the same stereotypical framework of extremely severe asceticism,” so that messages about their lives acquire over time the form of a “sacred legend” (sacred legend), containing, along with actual facts, also such information that may conflict with the facts known from other sources. In this regard, both should be subjected to critical examination in the light of objective scientific data [41.P.33]. As for the actual works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, most of them are recorded in the handwritten tradition of the late XIV - early XV centuries. Some of them are also represented by manuscripts of a later period – the turn of the 15th-16th centuries [42.T.53.№2.P.421]. For a long time, only five works of the Sinai ascetic remained widely known, included in the Greek Philokalia by the collectors of the patristic heritage and ascetic writers Nicodemus Agiorite and Macarius Notar, Bishop of Corinth. The text of the Philokalia, entitled Filokal)ia t6wn =ier6wn Nhptik6wn, was first published in 1782 in Venice and was reprinted several times subsequently. The works of St. Gregory of Sinaite were traditionally placed in the fourth volume of the Greek Philokalia and, in the original, Venetian edition, were also included in the 150th volume of the Greek series of the famous Patrology of Min [5 I-V]. When working on the dissertation, the author tried to use all available translations into Russian of the five works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, which were included in the Philokalia. To complete the study, the author also undertook a translation from ancient Greek into Russian of the recently discovered “Sermon on the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord” by St. Gregory and several additional fragments to his previously known works, the critical text of which was prepared and published by David Balfour [6.P.631–681]. The translation text is included in the dissertation Appendix. One of the first works about St. Gregory of Sinaite was a monograph by Bishop Alexy (Dorodnitsyn), published at the beginning of the 20th century, in which the author offered a brief examination of the views of the three most famous hesychasts of the 14th century: St. Gregory Palamas, St. Nicholas Cabasilas and St. Gregory of Sinaite - indicating some common features and differences in their theology. The advantages of this work include the creatively expressed interest in a new topic, the appeal to original creations, and the use of a comparative approach in research. Since the work was completed at the dawn of general theological interest in the hesychast movement of the 14th century, it naturally suffers from incompleteness, conciseness, and a review of only a small known part of the sources on the topic, which, however, should not be seen as a shortcoming of the work itself, which was done well and creatively. Among the studies on the life and work of St. Gregory of Sinaite, one should also note the monograph by Bishop Veniamin (Milov) [55], written in the first quarter of the 20th century, which covers in sufficient detail the life path of the Holy Father on the basis of sources known to the author and systematically expounds his dogmatic and ascetic teaching. An important feature of this work is the appeal to the primary sources and original texts of the works of St. Gregory. In his work, the Right Reverend Benjamin for the first time proposed a scientific translation of all the works of the Holy Father known at that time and critically analyzed the translations that preceded him into Russian and Slavic languages. When citing in this dissertation the works of St. Sinaite, which were included in the Philokalia, the author refers to the translation of Bishop Benjamin. Another feature of his work is his attempt to trace the dependence and influence on the views of St. Gregory of the patristic tradition that preceded him. Unfortunately, the comparison is based on the Russian text of the Philokalia in the translation of St. Theophan the Recluse, which has no scientific significance both in relation to the attribution of the texts and in relation to its scientific significance, and is therefore approximate. In addition, Eminence Benjamin did not have at his disposal all the works of St. Gregory, which is why his research is currently incomplete. Some of its shortcomings, in our opinion, is also a weakly expressed conceptualization of the views of St. Gregory: the author rather simply systematizes the material and limits himself to its paraphrased presentation. Early works on the details of the biography and the era of St. Gregory of Sinaite include studies by two pre-revolutionary authors I.I. Sokolov [22] and P.A. Sirku [23]. The first of them proposed his own Russian translation of the Life of the Holy Father as edited by Patriarch Callistus, the second published a critical text of the Slavic translation of the Life, made in the 16th century from the work of the same Patriarch Callistus. Each of the authors provided their translation with a detailed historical and archaeological commentary and the necessary explanations of the text. A.I. Yatsimirsky, in his short work [127], only introduces the reader to the personality of St. Gregory of Sinaite and the situation of the religious-mystical revival in the 14th century, and also makes attempts to highlight the similarities and differences in the works of the Holy Father and another leader of late Byzantine hesychasm, St. Gregory Palamas. From the point of view of the above comparison, as well as for clarifying the content of the phenomenon of hesychasm itself in the entire spectrum of its meanings, the works of Archpriest John Meyendorff [83], [85], [86], [88], [89], Archbishop Vasily (Krivoshein) [49], [51], [53], V.N. Lossky [76], [77], [80] and S.S. Khoruzhego [120], [121], [122]. Abbot Peter (Pigol) talks about the influence of St. Gregory of Sinaite on the development of contemporary monasticism, about his associates, students and followers among Byzantine and Slavic monasticism in one of his modern works [ 93 ]. Among the positive aspects of this work, one can highlight the author’s involvement of South Slavic sources, a description of the cultural and historical background of the era during the life and work of St. Gregory, accessibility in the presentation of the material and thoughtfulness in generalizing historical facts on the topic of research. Several publications by the modern Western patrolologist David Balfour are of great importance in the study of the life and legacy of St. Gregory of Sinaite. He is credited with the discovery and scientific publication of previously unknown works of the Holy Father [6], in particular, the already mentioned “Word on the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord” and some fragments. Belfort scrupulously examined all the available manuscript sources of the works of St. Gregory in most manuscript collections and libraries of the world. He also offered a commentary on the text of the Word, which is largely reproduced in the third paragraph of the second chapter of this dissertation. In addition, D. Belfort outlined his own vision of the origin of the previously known creations of the Holy Father, placed in the Greek Philokalia and Patrology of Abbot Migne [41], and also collected biographical information about the life of the Venerable Sinaite [42]. In general, today there is a satisfactory situation regarding the study of the circumstances of the life of St. Gregory of Sinaite and the influence of his personality and the teaching of contemplative asceticism on contemporary monasticism in Byzantium and Slavic countries. Apparently, all the surviving ascetic-theological works of the Venerable Father are available for research. The actual theology of the Sinai ascetic remains somewhat less explored, to which we strive to pay due attention in the proposed work. In order to take a holistic approach to presenting the teachings of the Holy Father in the work, it is preceded by a biographical sketch and review of the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite. Thus, the main part of the work is presented in three sections devoted, according to the topic of the study, to the biography of St. Gregory, a review of his works, among which five works in the form of collections of chapters and one of the homiletical genre stand out, and a systematic presentation of the theology of the Holy Father, which separately examines his dogmatic and ascetic views. 1. Sketch of the biography of St. Gregory of Sinaite 1.1. The early years and monastic formation of St. Gregory in Sinai and Crete According to the biography, the Monk Gregory of Sinai was born in the village of Kukul, located in Asia Minor, not far from the Greek city of Klazomen [22.p.76]. “Currently, on the site of this Byzantine city there is the village of Kelisman. Kukul is probably the current village of Wurdakh, located southwest of Kelisman” [93.P.28]. The time of birth of the Reverend Father is dated to the end of the 60s of the 13th century, approximately 1268 or 1269 [55.P.19]. His parents were noble, respected and pious Byzantines. In addition to Gregory, they had several more sons and took care to give them a good education for that time, which was predominantly religious in nature [8.P.318]. The Monk Gregory undoubtedly received his initial education in his parents’ home, and further education could have been acquired, for example, in the Lembian monastery, which then belonged to the category of royal monasteries, as a result of which it enjoyed the support of the Byzantine emperors and provided high education to young men from wealthy families [23.C.IV]. However, he could also join scientific knowledge in his homeland, but one way or another he was a very educated person: he thoroughly studied the Holy Scriptures of both Testaments and acquired excellent knowledge of the patristic heritage, which was later clearly reflected in his own creations. No other historical details about the childhood of the future Sinai ascetic have been preserved. His biography goes on to describe the important changes in the life of the Holy Father in connection with the captivity of Kukula by the Ottoman Turks. According to the hagiographical legend, during the reign of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282–1328), Gregory, at the age of 20, with some of his fellow tribesmen, was captured by the Turks under the leadership of Sultan Osman I (1288–1326). Having devastated Asia Minor, the Turks returned with many captured Christians, who were taken to a Turkish military camp located in the Thracian province near the city of Laodicea. The yoke of captivity, however, did not weigh heavily on Gregory for long. “When the Ottoman Turks softened a little towards the prisoners, they allowed them to visit the Laodicean church and take part in the service” [93.P.28]. The group of captives who came to the Orthodox church, as it turned out, were not unfamiliar with knowledge of church singing; moreover, with their skillful performance of church hymns, they touched the Laodiceans who were there. Moved by the singing of the Greek captives, the Laodiceans made every effort to ransom their fellow Christians from captivity, for which they collected the required amount of gold and other things and entered into negotiations with the influential Turks, which were soon crowned with success [22.P.78–79]. Having been freed from Turkish captivity, the Monk Gregory, apparently, never returned to his homeland, but immediately retired to the island of Cyprus to undergo severe ascetic labors. “The crystal purity of his soul, in harmony with his outer beauty, soon attracted to him the heartfelt love and reverent veneration of the inhabitants of Cyprus, who felt in the Reverend a spiritually extraordinary personality” [55.P.21]. The inhabitants of the island even believed that after his coming, the special care of Divine Providence spread over Cyprus. Foreseeing in him a great love for virtue, as Patriarch Callistus reports, God wished that the beginning of the ascetic life of the Monk Gregory be laid under the guidance of an experienced spiritual mentor and honored him with the acquaintance of one Cypriot desert dweller, who accepted Gregory and clothed him in the first monastic robe, the ryassophore [41.P.33]. “Before meeting the hermit, Gregory himself, undoubtedly, stayed in the main city of the island - Levkosia (for Europeans, Nicosia or Nicosia), located in the Mesaor plain, irrigated by the Piedium River... It is very possible that the hermit lived in one of the monasteries, or cells, or caves close to Levkosia, of which there were quite a lot there” [23.C.VI]. Having lived with the hermit for some time and become spiritually related to him, and also having received instructions from him regarding the first rules of an active monastic life, the young monk, in pursuit of more severe feats, leaves Cyprus and, “following the example of the God-seer Moses, goes to Mount Sinai, where the hair of his head is tonsured” [22.p.25] in the monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. In this monastery, erected in 527 on a sloping mountainside by Emperor Justinian I and which became one of the major centers of Byzantine-Eastern monasticism, the Monk Gregory was thus ordained into the minor schema and became a monk of the robe. “Lost in the depths of the East, far from the main points of turbulent political life, not taking part in the disturbing events of the time, the Sinai monastery served as a quiet refuge for lovers of monastic solitude and an unflickering center of true Christian enlightenment” [22.P.80]. Here, “a well-organized monastic life took place according to strict rules, which included the daily revelation of thoughts to the elder confessor. This correctly set up the ascetics and contributed to their rapid spiritual growth” [93.P.31]. Therefore, many Byzantine ascetics, striving for silence, retired to Sinai and here began life in the rank of novice monks. It was here that Saint Gregory went through a harsh monastic school. For more than three years he performed obedience at the Sinai monastery in the monastery bakery and kitchen. At this time, the Monk Gregory worked tirelessly to improve his soul, so that his entire future life, full of harsh and cruel self-restraints, was determined precisely at Sinai. Thus, “for a short period of time, he amazed everyone with his almost immaterial and ethereal life, fasting and vigil, continuous standing, all-night and constant psalmody at all times, and also with a petition to God and prayer, as if he was arguing with the fact that he carries an immaterial principle in a material body” [22.P.25–26]. His daily food consisted of a very small amount of bread and water, necessary only to maintain life. Every morning, at the first blow of the bell, he was always the first to stand in front of the doors of the unlocked church and the last to leave it at the end of the morning prayers. Every evening he came to the abbot and brought repentance, confessing his sinful thoughts with contrition of spirit. Having received the blessing from the elder, the Monk Gregory immediately went to his cell, where he raised his mind to God, performing psalmody. He often spent the whole night kneeling and reading the entire Psalter with emotion. Reading and singing psalms filled him with spiritual joy and heartfelt rejoicing due to the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit on his soul. Fulfilling with all diligence the obediences and instructions of the monastic charter assigned to him by the abbot, the Sinai ascetic quickly succeeded in cutting off his own will. His humility was so deep that, according to Patriarch Callistus, he never thought that he was serving people - but certainly the angels themselves, and was like a priest at the throne and altar of God. Moreover, reverently honoring the memory of the prophet Moses, the Monk Gregory forced himself to repeatedly climb to the “sacred peak of Sinai and worship there, where great signs were miraculously fulfilled” [22.p.27]. In the intervals between physical labor and prayer, the Monk Sinaite zealously immersed himself in reading the Holy Scriptures, so that after a short time he surpassed all the inhabitants of the monastery of St. Catherine in their knowledge of it. Possessing excellent calligraphic handwriting, he also copied sacred books, while indulging in the thought of God. Copying sacred manuscripts was considered a particularly godly act among Byzantine monasticism [107.P.444–446]. This was seen as a kind of feat, and some compilers of monastic rules directly ordered monks to spend their free time copying the spiritual and edifying works of the holy fathers and liturgical texts, which served as a natural means of replenishing monastic libraries. In such exploits, according to the Life, the Monk Gregory of Sinai spent the early years of his monasticism in the monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine on Mount Sinai. According to patrolologist David Balfort, this message of Patriarch Callistus is partly exaggerated (is exaggerated), since it is difficult to believe that “Gregory prayed all night together, and read all night, and never slept at all, and at the same time worked, and copied manuscripts, and studied, and climbed to the top of Sinai almost every day. But still, it should be recognized that Gregory was an exemplary young monk, very distinguished for his ascetic zeal and virtues among the many inhabitants of this famous monastic center, he was an example of what is called t9o praktik)on, +h pr)axiq” [41.P.34]. The exemplary monastic life of the Monk Gregory, his unflagging zeal and selflessness soon became a cause for great envy among some Sinai monks. Noticing the enmity against himself and not wanting to serve as a stumbling block for the weak in faith and deed, “a student of meekness and peace” [22.P.28], the Monk Gregory in the last decade of the 13th century leaves the place of his first exploits and moves away from there, accompanied by his disciple, the monk Gerasim. For his ascetic life in Sinai, the Reverend Father subsequently received the name Sinaite. His first student Gerasim, a native of the island of Euripus (now Euboea) and a relative of the ruler of this island named Fatsa, zealously labored with his mentor in Sinai, followed him everywhere on his numerous wanderings and subsequently “was elevated to the highest degree of work and contemplation, so that after Gregory he became an example and example of all good things for others” [22.P.28]. Having thus left Sinai behind them, Gregory and Gerasim headed to Palestine to worship the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and other shrines of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Soon after, they sailed by ship to the southern harbor of the island of Crete, known as “Good Landings” (Kalo9i Lim)eneq) and mentioned in Scripture in connection with the missionary travels of the Apostle Paul (Acts 27:8). Due to a long storm at sea, two travelers were forced to stay here for some time. Loving solitude and hating idleness, the Monk Gregory carefully explored the area around them in Crete in the hope of finding a quiet and comfortable place for silence. After a long search, he finally settled on one uninhabited cave, probably located in the labyrinth of Minos [93.P.34]. Having settled here and trusting entirely in God, the Monk Sinaite multiplied his labors and exploits in the fight against sinful inclinations and passions. Eating a small piece of bread and quenching thirst with an insignificant amount of water during intense physical activity brought the two hard workers to such exhaustion that their faces lost their healthy appearance, became pale and thin, and their emaciated bodies dried out. The ascetics could barely move from severe weakness, in fact fulfilling the words of the Psalmist: My knees grew weak from fasting, and my body lost fat (Ps. 108:24). With all this, the Monk Gregory sent tireless prayers to God and “always tried to find a guide in what he did not have time to read and learn in the books of Divine Scripture or what was not spiritually taught by any of the spirit-bearing and divine fathers and teachers” [22.P.29]. “Having no closest leader to the highest levels of asceticism, he felt a deep need for teaching mental prayer, silence and contemplation and longed to receive indisputable elder instructions in this direction” [55.P.27]. His prayers and searches received permission after some time: in a special revelation, the Lord inspired a certain Arseny, an ascetic of great spiritual experience, who had succeeded in both work and contemplation, to personally visit St. Gregory and teach him the rules of a silent life. Moved by Divine command, Arseny hurried to the residence of Gregory and, after mutual greetings, prayers and wishes, entered into a most edifying conversation with him, which became a kind of impetus for the further spiritual growth of the Sinai ascetic. The inspired Arseny, wise by many years of spiritual and ascetic experience, told the zealous listener about guarding the mind, true sobriety, mental prayer and purification of the heart by fulfilling the commandments, through which “one who has meditated and exercised with God, illuminated by light, becomes completely light-like” ($oloq fwtoeid6hq) [22.P.30]. After this, Elder Arseny turned to Gregory with the question: “And you, child, what kind of work are you doing, guided by God who arranges everything?” In response, the Reverend Father briefly described his departure from the world, his desire for numerous labors undertaken for the sake of Christ, and his other ascetic exercises. Knowing the path leading to the heights of virtues, Arseny smiled and noticed that everything that Gregory told him the holy fathers called doing, not contemplation. Blessed Gregory then fell at the feet of the silent elder and conjured him in the name of God to instruct him in the feat of contemplation. Arseny fulfilled this request, passing on to Gregory all his knowledge about active asceticism and mental prayer, and at the same time warned him against satanic temptations directed against contemplatives, including possible oppression from vicious and envious people incited by the devil. “This conversation... is of supreme importance, because it turned out to be a kind of milestone in the great hesychast movement that swept through the monastic world, triumphing in the 14th century over the philosophical and theological opposition of Barlaam, Akindinus, Gregoras and their supporters among the clergy and laity, embracing the Church (dominated by the Church) of the fading Byzantine Empire and spreading among the Slavic and others non-Greek Churches that depended on it, a broad and beneficial wave of spirituality and transformation, the consequences of which have endured for centuries and are felt even today” [41.P.36]. 1.2. Athos period of the Saint's life and the mission of silence A conversation with the hermit Arseny inspired the Monk Gregory of Sinaite to new travels, arousing an ardent desire to find like-minded people who had succeeded in contemplation. After listening to the man of God, he immediately boarded the ship and, together with his disciple Gerasim, went to Mount Athos, one of the main centers of monastic life of that time. It may be, as Balfour suggests, that he felt the need for a complete change of scenery and may have "sought confirmation from other witnesses; it is also possible that he felt that his calling was to impart knowledge and encouragement to the monks close to him" [41.P.36]. Be that as it may, on Athos, the Reverend Father, according to the biography, “visited all the local monasteries, as well as all those who were in silence, whom he found, and even those who lived far away and spent their lives in inaccessible places” [22.P.31], considering it his spiritual duty not to leave anyone without attention and spiritual worship and to ask everyone for prayers and blessings. While visiting the Athonite monks, the Sinai ascetic encountered a circumstance that surprised and upset him. He met with many ascetics who were distinguished by deep religious experience, spiritual reasoning and remarkable spiritual qualities, but, unfortunately, limited themselves exclusively to active asceticism and did not have any idea of ​​mental prayer, silence and contemplation. And only in the monastery of Magul, located near the monastery of St. Philotheus, the Monk Gregory found three monks Isaiah, Cornelius and Macarius, who had some modest idea (_ep9i mikr9on) about the contemplative feat they were looking for. The monastery of Magula was founded by the monk Savva Khald at the end of the 12th century. During the time of St. Gregory of Sinaita, it was considered one of the most comfortable and was distinguished by a strict ascetic way of life. Not far from the monastery, the Reverend Father, together with his disciples, erected silent cells or chambers (t9o +hsucast)hrion), where he retired for contemplation and hesychia. “Having established himself in the initial form of monastic life - doing (pr)axiq, _ergas)ia, t9o praktik9on), the Monk Gregory of Sinaite began the highest - contemplation (yewr)ia, t9o yewrhtik9on)” [ 93 .P.38]. If the first consisted mainly in withdrawal from the world, in the purification of passions through fasting, prayer vigil, psalmody, reading Scripture, silence of the mouth, renunciation of vanity, staying in the cell, kneeling and other bodily labors, then contemplation meant devoting oneself primarily to mental prayer, silence, sobriety or guarding the mind (noer9a proseuc6h, +hsuc)ia ka9i n6hjiq 2h t)hrhsiq no9oq). Keeping in mind the instructions of the Cretan hesychast hermit, the Monk Gregory implemented them in his life and subsequently acquired his own view of contemplation and the means of achieving it. The teaching of this is reflected in his works; its basic principles are also conveyed by Patriarch Callistus in his biography of St. Gregory. So he reports that first of all, the Monk Sinaite tried to gather all his feelings within himself and concentrate his mind on calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, praying earnestly “in a suffering soul and in a contrite heart, with deep groans and in a spirit of tenderness, softening the soil of the earth with hot tears that came in abundance from his eyes” [22.p.32]. And soon one amazing sign convinced him that the work he had chosen was pleasing to God. Through the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit, on one of the days of his silence, he felt an extraordinary change in himself: his soul was illuminated by the miraculous action of the Divine Fire, which immediately tamed every passionate movement in him and filled his soul with a feeling of inexpressible joy and joy. At the same time, his entire hesychastirium was filled with an indescribable, gracious light. “Trembling with the excess of joy that filled his entire being, he shed streams of tender tears in complete, gracious love for God” [55.P.32]. Here, the disciple and biographer of St. Gregory gives a description of his spiritual state, which he reported in response to a question from Callistus himself, then still an inexperienced monk. This lengthy answer in one of the manuscripts of the 17th century is an independent composition of the Holy Father [41.P.37]: “The soul, clinging to God, consumed by love for Him and enlightened, brilliantly surpassing every creature, living above the visible and completely embraced by the desire for God, cannot hide at all, as the Lord commanded regarding it, saying: Your Father, who sees the secret, will reward you openly (Matthew 6:18), and again: So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorified your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). The heart blossoms, the mind exudes, the face becomes joyful, according to the words of the wise: a cheerful heart makes a cheerful face (Proverbs 15:13).” “The soul, intensely turning its attention to the mind, through active virtue subdues all passions and makes them subordinate and enslaved; then natural virtues, like shadows behind bodies, follow her, closely surrounding her, accompanying her and even, as it were, guiding her in climbing the spiritual ladder and teaching her what is above nature. When, by the grace of Christ, the mind becomes enlightened from spiritual illumination, it brilliantly unfolds for contemplation and, having found itself above itself, to the extent of the grace bestowed upon it, contemplates more clearly and purer the nature of existing things, insofar as they adhere to similarity and order, but not in the same way as people who are engaged in vain and external wisdom talk idle talk and deceive, speaking from their womb and making false assumptions so that they turn into society - chasing only the shadow and not trying to follow, as it should be, the essential action of nature, for, according to Scripture, their senseless heart was darkened; calling themselves wise, they became fools (Rom. 1:21–22). Then, little by little, through many contemplations, the soul, having received the betrothal of the Spirit, is raised to the higher and Divine, placing the former in second place, according to the great trumpet of the Church - the divine Apostle, who clearly teaches and says: forgetting what is behind and stretching forward to what is ahead (Phil. 3:13). Then the soul, truly purified to such a degree, having shaken off all fear and rejecting all fear, united and clinging with love to the Bridegroom Christ, sees that its natural thoughts once and for all subside and, according to the teaching of the holy fathers, remain behind it, and it, having achieved invisible and ineffable beauty, converses alone with God alone, brightly illuminated by the radiance and grace of the All-Holy Spirit. And so, illuminated by this boundless light, she has only one desire - for God Himself, and through this amazing and new change she does not at all feel the base, earthly and material nature of this body. After all, the soul, without any admixture and without material partiality, is a completely rational nature, just as Adam, our forefather, was before the fall: he was first overshadowed by the action and grace of that infinite light, and then, because of the bitterness - alas! - crime, was naked from its luminous glory and radiance, from which it was revealed that man, this venerable living being, was naked.” “Every child, having achieved this through hardworking exercise and seeing himself in the state characteristic of [his nature], usually contemplates the resurrection of the soul before the expected general resurrection, so that the soul itself, thus purified, can say with the Apostle: whether in the body - I don’t know, whether outside the body - I don’t know (2 Cor. 12:2); Moreover, she, perplexed and completely amazed, exclaims in amazement: Oh, the abyss of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways! (Rom.11:33)” [22.P.34–37]. By asceticizing in this way, the Monk Gregory of Sinai reached the highest degree of spiritual enlightenment, which, of course, could not go unnoticed by his disciples. Every time he emerged from his silence for a conversation or joint prayer with the hermits, inexpressible bliss and joy involuntarily shone on his face. “The disciples were so inspired by his sight and gracious words that they seemed like a bright constellation around their sun - Abba Gregory” [55.P.33]. The number of the Reverend Father’s disciples grew rapidly, and he “gave everyone who came a share in spiritual benefits” [22.P.53], educated everyone and cared with courtesy and disposition for the correction of everyone. His instructions to his disciples tell about “concerns regarding the salvation of the soul, about abstinence in those who go to the salvation of the soul in one way or another, about patience and humility and that hopes should always be placed in God, from whom people receive all correction, that one should not neglect the rule, but at all times have an unceasing concern about death” [22.P.51]. The first and closest disciple of the Monk Gregory was the above-mentioned monk Gerasim, who joined the Saint back at Sinai. After the death of his teacher, Gerasim entered under the spiritual leadership of Patriarch Isidore [68.P.270–273]. “From the very beginning, perfectly educated in virtue and life characteristic of monks... he was a competitor of the great Gerasim, who made Palestine inhabitable... and erected honest monasteries” [22.P.37]. The disciple of St. Gregory also founded his monastery in Greece and spread hesychast teaching among the Greek monastics. Joseph, a tireless denouncer of Roman Catholic errors, and Nicholas of Athens, who courageously reproached Emperor Michael Palaiologos for the establishment of the Union of Lyons and was subjected to various deprivations, exile and imprisonment for this, were no less famous for their spiritual talents. With the advent of peace in the Church under Patriarch Joseph, this Abba Nicholas retired to Athos, avoiding the honor of episcopal consecration, and was here against his will appointed ecclesiarch of the Kareya monastery [107.P.27–29,317–319]. On Mount Athos, he met Saint Sinait and, captivated by his speeches, with all his heart he wished to become his disciple. Despite his own fame as a confessor and defender of the Church of Christ and his venerable age, Abba Nicholas, “shaking off human glory and honor as an empty and unnecessary burden,” joined the ranks of the disciples of St. Gregory, showing him all obedience [22.p.41]. Among the other disciples of the Holy Father, mention should be made of his biography, Saints Callistus and Mark, a native of the Klazomen region. Callistus came from the capital of the Byzantine Empire, from the outskirts of Galata, received an excellent education in his youth, took monastic vows presumably in the Xanthopoulus monastery [93.P.60], and a little later worked in the Iveron Monastery [23.P.XIII]. Callistus joined the disciples of the Monk Kallistus at the beginning of the 14th century and accompanied him on almost all his travels. “During the Turkish raid, he left the Holy Mountain with his teacher and followed him to the city of Thessalonica, to the islands of Chios and Mytilene, to Mount Lebanon, to Constantinople and Sozopol and, finally, to the Parorian desert” [55.P.34]. Upon returning to Athos, Saint Callistus, together with his teacher, built a monastery near the Great Lavra of Saint Athanasius. Fleeing from a second attack by the Turks, the Sinai ascetic and his disciples took refuge behind the walls of this Lavra, and from there, accompanied by Callistus, withdrew to Adrianople and then to Paroria. The Monk Gregory treated Callistus with fatherly love and initiated him into the secrets of his contemplation. “He saw with insight the invaluable benefit of Callistus’s communication... with the humble Mark of Klazomensky and blessed Mark and Callista to live in the same cell in unanimous brotherly love” [55.P.35]. The cohabitation of the two ascetics lasted for 28 years and was so close that “every time someone called Callistus, at the same time he heard an answer from Mark, and again, having called Mark, he saw Callistus appear to him” [22.P.45]. Subsequently, Callistus took part in the preparation of the Svyatogorsk Tomos in 1340, and then, at the invitation of St. Gregory Palamas, participated in the council of 1341 against the heresy of Varlaam and Akindinus, according to the assumption of P.A. Sirku, together with his teacher [93.P.61]. After the righteous death of the latter, Callistus twice occupied the see of Constantinople in 1350–1354 and 1355–1363, revealing the qualities of a caring shepherd and a wise church ruler. Of the information about some other disciples of the Reverend Father, only their names have been preserved. These are Bishop Jacob, who ruled the See of Servins for some time, and the monks Moses, Longinus, Cornelius and Isaiah [55.P.36]. Much more information remains about the blind Aaron and the Bulgarian Clement. Aaron, burdened with the disease of blindness, was convinced by the Monk Gregory that the deprivation of sensory light was in no way connected with the loss of spiritual vision. On the contrary, keeping eternal light in the soul, combined with unshakable hope in God and unceasing prayer, brings sanctification of the heart and illumination of it with uncreated Divine light. These instructions were not in vain: blessed Aaron, zealously striving in heartfelt prayer, soon received the gift of clairvoyance from God, so that he not only no longer needed bodily vision or a guide, but accurately predicted the approach of unfamiliar monks to his cell, their names, and anticipated the onset of church holidays and commemorations of saints, without knowing it in advance. Monk Clement was also honored with contemplation of the Divine Light. Dedicated by his teacher to a particularly contemplative life, preceded by the feat of patience, humility, hope in God, abstinence and remembrance of death, Clement practiced hesychia so carefully and diligently that in a short time he reached the heights of spiritual perfection for the sake of his simplicity and humility and repeatedly contemplated the shimmer of an extraordinary shining cloud over the Lavra of St. Athanasius. “Undoubtedly, not without difficult ascetic self-restraint, all the disciples of Gregory of Sinaite matured into a contemplative life. Saint Gregory sometimes deliberately subjected them to all sorts of tests. For example, the desire to keep them in unremitting contrition of heart prompted him, with outward feigned anger, to often shower them with reproaches” [55.p.38]. He called them either “thin gerons, grown old in vicious deeds,” or lazy and careless about salvation. Some were publicly expelled from meals and assigned strict penances, thus leading them to mourn their sins. The spiritual gifts of St. Gregory became known not only to his closest disciples. Soon, most of the Athonite ascetics showed genuine interest in his sublime spiritual teaching and began to flock in large numbers to his deserted dwelling. The power of his words during a personal meeting made an indelible impression on his listeners, inspiring them with ardent zeal for asceticism and fiery love for God. “Every time,” reports Patriarch Callistus, “he talked about the purification of the soul and how, by Divine grace, a person becomes godlike, Divine aspiration and some kind of extraordinary love, surpassing human efforts, settled, by the will of God, in our soul” [22.P.54]. Maintaining an unceasing inner heartfelt presence of God, the Monk Gregory, without harm to his soul, edified the hermits and Cenobites from different nations who came to him, who wanted to comprehend the path of sobriety and hesychia. Successfully spread among Athonite monasticism, his teaching on contemplation encountered, however, opposition from those who devoted most of their lives to active asceticism and preferred to consider pr)axiq as the only path leading to Christian perfection. In their eyes, the Monk Gregory seemed to be an unheard-of innovator, preaching some new teaching and boldly admiring the powers of the Protus (Pr6wtoq) of the Holy Mountain. The latter was the highest bearer of spiritual and teaching power on Athos, acquired by Protham back in the time of Emperor Alexius Komnenos by charter in 1095 [93.p.41]. The then Prot Abba Luke joined the opposition of the Sinai ascetic, both for reasons of differences of opinion, and mainly because of some infringement of his rights, condemning the spread of the teaching of silence without the official blessing of the Protat. To extinguish “the ill will towards himself from Luke and other Athonite monks, Gregory and his disciple Isaiah appeared in person at Protat, which was then on the north-eastern slope of the Holy Mountain and entered into negotiations with Luke” [55.P.40]. As the conversation progressed, Prot's strict critical attitude towards the personality and teaching of his interlocutor softened more and more. Having listened to the inspired and convincing reasoning of the Monk Gregory about the internal connection of two ascetic paths - active and contemplative, Abba Luke came to such spiritual delight that, bidding farewell to Gregory and Isaiah, he repeated with emotion many times: “Today I talked with the heads of the apostles - Peter and Paul” [8.p.336]. Thus, a schism among Athonite monasticism was prevented, and the spiritual authority of St. Gregory increased many times over and attracted even more seekers of silence to the doors of his cell. Valuing anchorage above all else, the Holy Father began to be burdened by the constant flow of visitors and periodically changed his place of residence on Mount Athos. “From time to time he was hidden from strangers either by the monastery of Simono-Peter, where an inconvenient zigzag rocky road led, or by deserted places near the Tsengress stream and near the town of Hrentviya, now topographically unknown, or by various cells that the Reverend himself built in many Athonite deserts” [55.P.41]. This state of affairs in the internal life of Athos was unexpectedly disrupted by the brutal invasion of the Turks around 1304–1305, who mercilessly plundered many shrines of the Holy Mountain and captured many monks, including the great contemplator. Only after a while did he manage to escape from Turkish captivity along with his students. The attraction to silence recalled in his memory the solitary life of Sinai, which at that time, however, was also subject to attacks by the Turks. Then, in search of a place convenient for silence, the Monk Gregory undertook a series of journeys, as Patriarch Callistus reports: he lived for two months in Thessaloniki, then, leaving almost all his disciples, secretly crossed to the island of Chios, then to the island of Lesbos, for some time he labored on Mount Lebanon, after which he crossed all of Bulgaria and arrived at the capital of the Empire [22.P.59,115]. A harsh winter kept him here for six months. “Tsar Andronikos Palaiologos the Elder (1282–328), having learned that the great Saint was in the city, often invited him to his place and many times offered him high church rank and position, but was always met with a categorical refusal from the Monk Gregory. The saint of God shied away from human glory” [93.P.42]. After six months of staying in Constantinople, the Sinai ascetic again boarded the ship to sail to the borders of Bulgaria. But, being captured by a storm, the ship led travelers to the western shore of the Black Sea, to the city of Sozopol. Here Gregory of Sinaite learned that in the northern part of Thrace, on the very border of Bulgaria and Byzantium, there was a remote and wild area called Paroria (t9a par)oria - border), which was perfectly suitable for hermit life. It was here that Saint Gregory settled with his disciples for the unhindered practice of silence. 1.3. New travels, stay in Paroria and the death of the Venerable The Parori desert was located between Odrin and Sozopol, and its most inaccessible part was called Mesomilia [22.P.115]. It turned out that one ascetic named Amirali already lived here with his disciples, who, according to the biography of St. Gregory, was an empty and vain man. Having discovered next to him the unexpected neighborhood of a monastic community that had settled nearby and was headed by the famous Sinai ascetic, Amirali was concerned about the growing glory of Saint Gregory and, against this background, the diminishment of his own authority among his disciples, and therefore moved his camp to a distance of one stage (_ap9o stad)iou) from the place of settlement of the Reverend Father. “The strong antipathy of the proud Parori hermit towards the Monk Gregory created a thickened atmosphere of relations between the native and alien inhabitants of Mesomilia” [55.P.44] and ultimately led to an unpleasant incident. One of Amirali’s students named Luke, who was once on Athos among the disciples of the Monk Gregory, when meeting him in Paroria, began to shower him with ridicule and insults, and then, driven by demonic seduction and malice, he grabbed a sword from under his clothes and rushed at his former teacher and father. Such an act frightened and outraged even Amirali’s students, who disarmed their brother in time. The victim himself, contrary to expectations, remained completely calm and not only did not show a negative attitude towards his offender, but moreover, as proof of his constant fatherly love for him, he wrote 150 ascetic chapters for his edification, as Patriarch Callistus reports [22.P.62]. Such a generous act touched Luke. Having softened, he repented from the bottom of his heart and fell at the feet of the “divine Gregory”, asking him for forgiveness, then subsequently again joined his community and acquired invaluable spiritual experience of silent work. After some time, now Amirali himself, “damaged by reason,” began to randomly shout and threaten the Saint that if he did not leave the place of his exploits, he would bribe the robbers so that they would forcefully expel the newcomers from Paroria. In response to this, the meek Gregory immediately retired with his disciples to a nearby mountain called Icy (Katakekruom)enh). There, east of Skopo, in the hidden desert, his first monastery was located. However, his wise decision not to inflame the conflict did not tame the “satanic enmity of Amirali,” who nevertheless resorted to the criminal help of robbers in order to deal with the monks he hated. “During the raid on the Icy Mountain, the robbers tied up Sinait... put him in chains and threatened to give them cash gold and silver. But, seeing the complete non-covetousness and meekness of the Reverend, they spared the innocent sufferer and quickly moved away from his cell” [55.P.46]. After this, the Monk Gregory left Paroria and crossed Sozopol by sea back to Constantinople, where he temporarily settled near the cathedral church of Hagia Sophia, more precisely in the Church of the Three Saints. The noise of the capital, however, did not contribute to unentertained prayer and therefore prompted the Holy Father to speed up his departure - this time to Athos. At first, the Monk Gregory sent his two inseparable disciples Callistus and Mark to the Holy Mountain, intending to soon join them, but he hesitated in Constantinople, so that Callistus, unable to bear the long separation from his teacher, returned to the capital with a threat to his life during the strong seas and the onset of cold weather. Thus, having waited out the winter in Constantinople, only a year after leaving Paroria, Saint Gregory reached Athos and settled in complete solitude near the Lavra of Saint Athanasius. But even here the long-awaited peace of silence did not last long, disrupted by another attack on Mount Athos by the Turks. The monk, in order to save his life, was forced to take refuge behind the walls of the Lavra, but he was burdened by being here among the large brethren and was thinking about a second trip to Paroria. Taking advantage of the first favorable opportunity, in 1331 he returned through Adrianople to the Icy Mountain in the community of a few of his students [23.P.44]. “The rumor about the return of Saint Gregory to Paroria quickly spread among the Parorian and Athonite silent people” [55.P.48], so that they began to flock from everywhere and settle near him. Among the new students of the Sinai ascetic were representatives of different nationalities: Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs - for whom he founded four monastic monasteries - laurels. The main one, called the Great Lavra, was erected in the Mesomil caves at a place called Pesuvia (Pa)izouba). “The numerous brotherhood of these monasteries led a harsh ascetic life according to the monastery charter given by the great founder and mentor” [93.P.44], probably modeled on the charter of the Sinai anchorites. Unfortunately, despite the significant increase in the number of monastic inhabitants in the Parori desert, local robbers did not cease to disrupt the secluded life of the God-loving hesychasts, disturbing them with predatory raids. To put a limit to their daring and ruinous attacks, the Monk Gregory decided to use the help of the Bulgarian Tsar John Alexander (1331–1371), known for his rare kindness and piety. The latter, having learned about the cramped situation and needs of the Parori hermits, built a tower to protect the monastery from robbers, which gave it the appearance of a fortress and was called the “Pirge of Sinaite” (+o to6u Sinà)itou p)urgoq) [22.P.10]. The robbers were publicly warned that if the raids continued, they would be subjected to the most severe punishment. The royal order soon had its effect: the attacks stopped, and some of the robbers left their previous vicious lifestyle and entered the monastery of St. Gregory. “Having outwardly secured the Parori laurels, John Alexander royally provided for the monasteries of Sinaite in material terms” [55.P.49]. Among his rich donations were money, land, herds of livestock, and a fish lake. Moreover, he built a church at the Great Parori Lavra at his own expense. As a result of such good deeds, the monasteries of St. Gregory began to grow stronger, and the monks now had the opportunity to labor without hindrance, caring for eternal salvation. From this time on, the Reverend himself preferred to retire to a solitary hesychastirium to exercise in contemplation. Like a fruitful vine, burdened with an abundance of great grace-filled gifts, he was informed from above about the time of his transition to eternity. After this, accompanied by one of his disciples, the Monk Gregory of Sinaite indulged in deep prayer in his solitary cell and reflection on the hour of death. Anticipating his imminent outcome and envying the greatness of the heavenly glory prepared for him, the insidious and crafty spirits of darkness, by permission from above, raised the last one against the Reverend - a fiery temptation. Like a huge dark cloud, they surrounded his whereabouts with hatred and, in the form of wild animals, with gnashing of teeth and insane cries, they tried to distract him from the saving work of prayer. For three days, as the Life of the Saint reports, this confrontation continued, and all this time the Reverend courageously cried out to God for help and with loud exclamations encouraged the disciple who was with him in the struggle. At the end of the third day, Divine power suddenly dispelled the demonic darkness before the eyes of the victorious warrior, filling him with divine consolation and joy. After this, the Holy Father thanked God for deliverance from the attack of fallen spirits and informed the disciple about his imminent death, which supposedly followed in 1346 [55.P.52]. “The Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Gregory of Sinaite four times a year. According to the month book of the Russian Orthodox Church, his memory is celebrated on August 8, in the Menaion of Metropolitan Macarius of the 16th century it is indicated on February 11, in the Greek Synaxarion of Nicodemus of the Svyatogorets - on April 6, and according to other Greek synaxarions - on November 27" [93.P.46]. Immediately after the death of the Holy Father, the monasteries he founded in Paroria continued their peaceful existence, patronized by the Bulgarian ruler John Alexander. This state of affairs is reflected in the biography of the Reverend, compiled after 1350. However, the heyday of Parori monasticism did not last long. Its gradual decline occurred in the third quarter of the 14th century and is explained by organized Turkish expansion. “The life of the Monk Romilus tells that after the death of Saint Gregory, Muslims often came to Paroria and, surrounding the tower, shot at the monks and killed them” [22.P.125]. Then the majority of the inhabitants of the monastery of St. Gregory decided to leave the place of silence dear to them and moved to other places, having first set fire to the feast of their spiritual mentor so that the Turks would not use it for their own purposes. Subsequently, there were no longer permanent and numerous monastic settlements in Paroria; only lonely ascetics, who despised the fear of death out of love for God and silence, still lived here in rare hermit hesychastics. 1.4. The contribution of St. Gregory of Sinaite to the hesychast movement and his relationship with St. Gregory Palamas In the final chapters of the Life of St. Gregory of Sinai, Patriarch Callistus expresses his own fundamental judgment about his activities. One involuntarily draws attention to the fact that almost the entire life of the Holy Father was spent wandering. Among the external reasons for his constant movements, one can highlight various kinds of unfavorable conditions that prevented the implementation of his monastic ideals. This included ill will on the part of unreasonable brethren, and frequent raids by heterodox enemies and robbers, and an atmosphere incompatible with silence in large cities and centers of monasticism, where he sometimes had to stay. But besides this, there were also internal circumstances and motives that determined the wandering lifestyle of the Reverend Father. The same Patriarch Callistus claims that Saint Gregory “always had the desire to flow around the entire universe in an apostolic manner” [22.P.68] for the sake of spreading the teaching of contemplation through active virtue and mental prayer. “At every time and in every place, under all circumstances of life and position, it was always a matter of the greatest concern for him to zealously encourage and inspire everyone to do wonderful things... to try to bind everyone in a union of love for each other and to instill agreement in unanimity and unanimity towards what is God-loving... and saving” [22.P.72]. In the places of his wanderings, the Monk Gregory actively propagated the doctrine of contemplative asceticism, mental prayer, silence and guarding the mind. His activities here were missionary in nature, and the word spread not only in Byzantium, Bulgaria and Serbia, but also in other countries, including Rus' [41.P.58–59]. Patriarch Callistus compares his teacher with the founder and legislator of all monastic life, Venerable Anthony the Great: “He made the desert and uninhabited land [Egyptian] inhabitable and built it with a city of the most sacred monks, and this one was the organizer of the desert and not only those who lived on Mount Athos, through words and contemplation, he enlightened everyone, brought them into true calm and an even disposition of spirit, moderating severity active virtue, and... bestowed excellent control of thoughts” [22.P.70]. Thus, in the presentation of the biographer and disciple, the Monk Gregory appears as a convinced missionary, striving to ensure that, if not everyone, then very many around him were imbued with his convictions, followed him, imitated him and reached the heights of godlikeness to which he himself was marching. In this sense, undoubtedly, “Saint Gregory of Sinai was a great mystic and a brilliant teacher” [41.P.51]. However, this does not mean that he was the exclusive representative of contemplative asceticism in the East, the only “initiator of the hesychast movement in the 14th century, the author of the Jesus Prayer and the inventor of the _episthmonik9h m)eyodoq (“artistic method”) of its performance” [41.P.51]. It is obvious that the merit of the Holy Father lies not in the discovery, but in the powerful influence on the hesychast movement and in the dissemination at that time of the little-known teaching about contemplative asceticism, which, nevertheless, never completely faded away, having its beginning simultaneously with the emergence of monasticism as such and, in the words of Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern), expressing “the most ancient line in asceticism” [71 .P.38]. In the works and life of St. Gregory, it received a unique formulation and detailed development, which largely contributed to securing his authority as an initiator and founder, although it would be more correct to speak of a systematizer and disseminator. Taking into account the latter, according to David Belfort, one should consider somewhat exaggerated statements about the Monk Gregory of Sinaite by Patriarch Callistus as the apostle of hesychasm and mental prayer. “Perhaps it is fair,” writes Belfort, “that while traveling through the great Athonite monasteries, he found people initiated only into the rules of external work t9o praktik9on: constant attendance at divine services, obedience, fasting, study of Scripture and the works of the Fathers, wakefulness and prostration (the rule of every monk, performed in the cell), silence, hard work and the like - an extremely stressful regime, but not necessarily conducive acquisition of the grace of contemplation (yewr)ia), since he devoted little time to the practice of internal prayer and did not teach the technique of its effective implementation. But Gregory could have missed meeting with some of those who - precisely because they were mystics - hid their spiritual experiences. It was fair for him to expect to find those people he was looking for (and found to some extent), mainly in monasteries and hermit cells, but we must not forget that they were not replenished exclusively by new recruits, who came directly from the outside world, but also included that part of the monks who began their feat in monasteries and later left them for the “desert”, seeking what Gregory was looking for, +hsuc)ia. It is also impossible to believe that even in the desert only three people were found who had only some inkling of what Gregory later came to teach” [41.P.50]. Among the representatives of the contemplative movement, Belfort cites the names of famous ascetics: Theoliptus of Philadelphia, spiritual mentor of St. Gregory Palamas; Patriarch Anastasia I; the same Arsenius of Crete, who dedicated the Monk Gregory of Sinaite; Nicodemus from the Vatopedi Monastery, who dedicated Gregory to Palamas; Maxim Kavsokalivit, whose conversation with the Monk Gregory was included in the Philokalia; Nikephoros the Hesychast, one of the first witnesses to the psycho-somatic method of prayer, still lived on Mt Athos when the Venerable One arrived there. “In fact, Callistus exaggerates involuntarily, firstly, because, like all hagiographers, he must maintain the good name of his hero; secondly, perhaps because he felt that Palamas, who let down him and his teacher Gregory at Thessalonica in 1325, had stolen too much of the limelight; and, finally, because Gregory, in a conversation with Callistus, himself exaggerates, of course, not his own valor and importance, but the negative impression from his initial acquaintance with the Athonites. We must not forget that he had not yet achieved the “wonderful change” that he experienced when he applied the teachings received from Arsenius of Crete in Magul. His hasty move from Crete to Mount Athos must have been driven by the belief that he would find many practicing initiates there. He was greatly disappointed, and this feeling of moral loneliness was reflected in his own biography, in which he appears as having a kind of monopoly of the true doctrine of the contemplative way of life” [41.P.51]. As for the actual components of this teaching, in particular, the use of the Jesus Prayer in its various forms goes back, as Archbishop Vasily (Krivoshein) claims, to at least the 6th century [50.P.38], although, according to Bishop Callistus Ware, one should not “assimilate its universal application in Byzantine spirituality; many authors did not attribute to it the central significance that it had among Gregory the Sinaite” [Cit. from: 41.R.52]. Another feature in the contemplative teaching of the Sinai ascetic is the psycho-somatic method, mentioned in at least two works that preceded the era of the Reverend Father: this is the treatise “The Method of Sacred Prayer and Attention,” according to the assumption of Professor A.I. Sidorov, written by an anonymous author at the end of the 12th – the very beginning of the 13th century [ 102 .P. 104], and “The Sermon on Sobriety and Preservation of the Heart” by the aforementioned Nicephorus the Hesychast, who lived in the second half of the 13th century [ 16 .P. 239–251]. One can agree with the conclusion of D. Belfort that the Monk Gregory “borrowed a lot” from these two works and wrote even more on the same topic, also adding an exposition of the “ascetical regime.” However, without any doubt, “the psycho-physical method existed at least a century before he learned about it from Arseny. The most remarkable thing about Saint Sinaite is his extraordinary gift of attracting disciples and conveying to them the lessons of ascetic-mystical experience and a particle of his fiery zeal” [41.R.52]. In light of the latter, it is worth dwelling in more detail on the acquaintance and relationship of St. Gregory of Sinaite with another, no less famous leader of the hesychast movement, who gave, in the words of Archpriest John Meyendorff, its “theological justification” [83.p.397] – St. Gregory Palamas. The future Saint was born in Constantinople in 1296 and was much younger than the Sinai ascetic of his name. At the age of 20, he, leaving the world and his career as a courtier, retired to Athos, where, within the walls of the Vatopedi monastery, he received tonsure from a certain elder Nicodemus and for three years was under his spiritual guidance. After the death of the elder, Palamas came to the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius and soon “surprised the brethren with his exploits and wisdom” [93.P.78]. In fact, in the Lavra, which at the same time became the place of temporary residence of the Monk Sinaite, the young ascetic spent three years and around 1323 moved to the monastery of Glossia, which was located not far from the monastery of Magul on the northwestern slope of the Holy Mountain, where the Monk Gregory asceticized at the same time. This was probably when they met for the first time. From the “Eulogy” to Saint Gregory, written by Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople, it follows that in Glossia he found himself in the company of “like-minded brethren” (filo9i ka9i +om)otropoi), who labored under the leadership of a certain elder Gregory, “great and glorious in those days in silence, and sobriety, and contemplation” (m)egaq d)e tiq ka9i perib)ohtoq _en +hsuc)i#a ka9i n)hjei ka9i yewr)i#a) [ 41.Р.45. Ref.67]. This elder is easily recognized as the Sinai ascetic. The assumption that the two saints knew each other is also supported by the fact that they simultaneously moved from Athos to Thessaloniki after the Turkish invasion of the Holy Mountain. Then a group of twelve like-minded brothers decided to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and after that “to spend the rest of the days in the silence of contemplation,” a convenient place for which, according to Patriarch Callistus, the Monk Gregory considered Mount Sinai [22.p.59]. But in Thessalonica, the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica appeared to Gregory Palamas and ordered them to stay here, with which everyone agreed, except for the Sinai ascetic, who preferred to be guided by the previous decision. Two months later, he left Thessaloniki together with his two students Callistus and Mark and went to the island of Chios in search of silence. Gregory Palamas, with the majority of those who remained, settled in the monastery of Verri and became a spiritual mentor for others. The next meeting of the two Gregori could have occurred after Palamas returned to Athos in 1331–1338 and settled as a hermit in the hesychastery of St. Sava near the Great Lavra. The Monk Sinaite then also came to Athos and was received with great honor in the same Lavra, in the vicinity of which he erected several hermit cells and devoted himself in them to an interview with God alone [22.P.64]. The next Turkish raid forced both ascetics to leave their secluded homes and take refuge behind the walls of the Lavra, from where, however, the Monk Sinaite soon withdrew again, burdened by frequent relations with its inhabitants. To summarize the above, it seems likely that “Palama was close to Gregory of Sinai in his youth and may have been formally under his spiritual direction,” then separated from him at Thessalonica, diverging on the question of his future residence. “The rather strange silence of the Life of Callistus regarding Palamas may be explained by the inconvenience of emphasizing the gap between the great mystic and the great future theologian who led away from him some of his Greek disciples. Palamas and Isidore evaded the wandering Saint and completed their journey defending the cause of hesychasm in the world... Sinaite remained away from the world with its theological disputes, personal strife and political upheavals, maintaining solitude, serenity and pure contemplation of the Divine light” [41.Р.49–50]. The separation of two great ascetics and saints in some private and insignificant issues did not affect the commonality of their worldviews and spiritual experience, built on principles traditional for Eastern monasticism and adequate to the spiritual experience of the Church. Although the lack of direct evidence casts doubt on the likelihood that Saint Gregory Palamas was a direct disciple of Saint Gregory of Sinaite, their unity in spirit, according to Bishop Alexy (Dorodnitsyn), “stands beyond any doubt and is certainly confirmed by comparison of the teachings of both, so that, even despite the absence of any data, one could recognize Saint Palamas as a disciple of Saint Sinaite, and the teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas serves as a complement, a further development of the teachings of the saint Gregory of Sinai" [44.P.138]. The closeness of the teachings of the two leaders of hesychasm is especially visible in matters of ascetic practice and silence, in a look at the properties and powers of human nature and their state before and after the fall of the ancestors, in a look at the supernatural nature of spiritual knowledge and the spiritual states of ascetics, illuminated by the uncreated light of the Divine. A brief comparative analysis of the teachings of both ascetics is offered in the works of A.I. Yatsimirsky [127] and Bishop Veniamin (Milov) [55]. Saint Gregory Palamas in his works theoretically substantiated the doctrine of hesychy and finally formalized the dogmatic teaching of the Church about the uncreatedness and communicability of Divine energies and the resulting accessibility of direct knowledge of God for all those who have been cleansed of passions [51.P.206]. He played the main role in the theological justification of Orthodox mysticism at church councils. Actually, the victory of the Orthodox in the hesychast disputes of the 14th century and the spiritual upsurge not only in Byzantium, but also in the Slavic countries were largely made possible thanks to the enormous influence of the personality and missionary works of St. Gregory of Sinaite. 2. Works of St. Gregory of Sinaite 2.1. Creations included in the Philokalia As mentioned in the introduction to this work, the Greek Philokalia included five famous works by St. Gregory of Sinaite. These five works of the Sinai ascetic take the form of small chapters (kef)alaia), quite independent from each other in content and with the brevity and capacity inherent in the anthology genre, revealing or touching on one or another topic. Traditionally they have the following Greek names, in the Minya edition also accompanied by Latin equivalents: 1. Κεφάλαια p)anu _wf)elima (Capita) – 137. 2. 4Etera kef)alaia (Capita alia) – 7. 3. Per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i proseuc6hq (De quiete et oratione) – 10. 4. Per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i t6wn d)uo tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq (De quietudine et duobus orationis modis) – 15. 5. Per9i to6u p6wq de6i kay)ezesyai (Quomodo oporteat sedere) – 7(8). These names, although they lead the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite in their first printed edition, cannot today be considered truly authoritative and completely satisfactory from a scientific point of view, based on data from a study of a number of manuscripts containing these works. A critical analysis confirming the inconsistency of the generally accepted titles of the five works of the Reverend Father, as well as a review of the themes of the works, is offered below. The title Κεφάλαια p)anu _wf)elima (Chapters are very useful), introducing the first and most extensive series of chapters of St. Gregory of Sinaite, according to the unequivocal statement of the researcher of his works David Balfour, “certainly cannot be attributed to St. Gregory himself” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.418]. The expression p)anu _wf)elima sounds like self-praise and is therefore inappropriate in the mouth of the Holy Father. “This is simply a type of short notes, often inserted in the margins and in the titles of manuscripts by medieval scribes on their own initiative” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.418]. The word “Chapters” alone can with good reason be taken into the title, probably coming from the author himself. However, this word equally applies to four other works of St. Gregory. In fact, the full title of the first group of chapters is Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq p)anu _wf)elima, and therefore it is perhaps more appropriate to call them simply “Chapters arranged in acrostic style” (Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq). An acrostic, which has the form of a sentence made up of the initial letters of the first word of each chapter, in this case serves as a lengthy title that explains the general content of individual groups of chapters of this work as a whole. In the original Greek, the acrostic looks like L)ogoi di)aforoi per9i _entol6wn, dogm)atwn, _apeil6wn ka9i _epaggeli6wn, 2eti d9e ka9i per9i logism6wn ka9i pay6wn ka9i _aret6wn, 2eti d9e ka9i per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i proseuc6hq: 8wn +h _akrostic9iq $hde, extending to 136 letters of the Greek alphabet, while the total number of chapters in the first work is 137. The discrepancy here is explained by the shortening of the word _epaggelei6wn by one letter - _epaggeli6wn, which adds the missing chapter. Translated into Russian, the acrostic sounds like “Their acrostic is as follows: various words about commandments, dogmas, threats and promises, as well as about thoughts, passions and virtues, moreover about silence and prayer.” In general, these 137 “very useful chapters” present a series of statements on various spiritual topics, contained in a traditional form. Their only heading is a number, and they range from 15 to 500 words each, with an average of about 100. As the extended subtitle shows, the subjects mentioned here are numerous and varied and are predominantly theological and ascetic” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.419]. So the first 25 chapters, as the acrostic narrates, are devoted specifically to “various words” (l)ogoi di)aforoi), including the commandments (per9i _entol6wn). It is noteworthy that “various words” mean some fundamental statements that describe the situation of human existence and all creation, the state of human nature, its essential qualities, as well as the vector of moral development or degradation freely chosen by man. First of all, the current state of a person is qualified by the Monk Gregory of Sinaite as unreasonable and corrupt, the opposite of purity and incorruption [5 I.§1]. Purity of the mind is defined as its natural state, protecting the mind from the lack of “essential wisdom of contemplation” [5 I.§2] and a single, indivisible knowledge of God. The Reverend Father calls the instrument of knowledge of the highest truth not the mental work of the mind, but a “favorable feeling” of truth [5 I.§3]. Possessing the truth in feeling is possessing grace, found “through faith and diligent seeking” [5 I.§4]. Grace reveals itself as a life-giving and constructive force, freeing the mind from blindness and endowing it with the ability to “see and be seen” [5 I.§5]. The assistance of grace is provided only to that mind which, rationally using its own volitional aspiration, is inclined to choose the best and most pleasing to God, crowning obedience to God with the constancy of its nature in goodness [5 I.§8]. The mind crowned with grace becomes an inhabitant of the spiritual paradise [5 I.§10], enjoys the gifts of renewal and sanctification in Christ, “although... due to temporary life, it still bears a corruptible body” [5 I.§11]. The unreasonable mind falls from grace “due to the action of passions” and “toleration of sins” [5 I.§12], immediately becoming the property and home of demons. Touching upon the relationship between the caring mind and the grace of sanctification and renewal, the Monk Gregory, faithful to the pattern of the acrostic poem he composed, in chapters whose numbers correspond to the words per9i _entol6wn, tells about the essence and purpose of the Divine commandments. The result of moving along the path of fulfilling the commandments should be entry into the city of salvation. However, not everyone walks along it judiciously. Some are completely carried away into the paths of vices, always “adjacent to virtues” [5 I.§14]. Such people forget that “the commandments [do not allow] either omission or excess, but [demand the implementation of] a godly goal and the Divine will alone” [5 I.§12]. The right path leading to God runs in the heart, in its authenticity and sincerity, evidenced by “heartfelt rightness” [5 I.§15]. Those who judiciously follow this path “tend to always prefer [to everything] the greatest ancestral commandment about the memory of God” [5 I.§17]. Moreover, the original dignity of incorruption, once lost by man, is returned thanks to the fulfillment of the commandments of obedience and fasting [5 I.§18]. The collection of all the commandments as a whole is likened to a mature person, in whom the integrity of nature and constancy of skills metaphorically depict the unity of the commandments, virtues and the enlivening grace of the Holy Spirit [5 I.§20]. The growth of the “body of commandments” to the extent of perfection comes at the cost of a persistent search for “pure rational milk [and honey] of maternal grace” [5 I.§21]. A diligent seeker of grace, acting as the “nourishing and nourishing power of the Spirit” [5 I.§21], assimilates the very “[meaning] of the content of the commandments” by directly fulfilling them and thanks to this effectively participates in the truth [5 I.§22]. Touching true knowledge opens to a mind purified and restored “in its original dignity” [5 I.§23], which thus “looks at God and receives Divine thoughts from Him” [5 I.§23]. This is how “the unfalse glory of [reasonable] beings is established in the true knowledge of visible and invisible things” [5 I.§25]. This concludes a single semantic group of chapters devoted to reasoning about the commandments (per9i _entol6wn). It is followed by chapters that, in traditional terms, reveal Orthodox triadology and partly Christology (per9i dogm)atwn). The monk Gregory of Sinaite calls the pinnacle and limit of knowledge “pure contemplation and knowledge of the two dogmas of faith, that is, the Trinity and the Two” [5 I.§26]. The first is the contemplation of the Holy Trinity as an “unfused and indivisible Unit” [5 I.§26]. The second is the confession “in Christ of two natures in one Person, that is, the One Son before the Incarnation and after the Incarnation in two natures and wills - Divine and human” [5 I.§26]. The Hypostatic properties of the three Persons of the Divine Trinity, the Monk Gregory “reverently” recognizes and confesses “unbornness, birth and procession” [5 I.§27], respectively. “The Father is unborn and without beginning, the Son is begotten and without beginning, and the Holy Spirit is emanating from the Father and given through the co-existent Son” [5 I.§27]. The unfused union of the Divine Persons is incomprehensibly combined with the simplicity of the Divine Unit, “without any sensory quality” [5 I.§29]. The One Trihypostatic God “is known and comprehended in three ways in everything” [5 I.§30]. Thus, in man, “the mind, the word and the spirit, existing in each other and in themselves,” reveal the image of the “inexpressible, primitive Trinity” [5 I.§31]. In conclusion, the Sinai ascetic convinces the reverent reader that “to know the One God is, according to Scripture, the root of immortality (cf. John 17:3), and to comprehend the power of the Trinitarian Unit is the whole truth” [5 I.§32]. The next semantic block, in accordance with the acrostic, is dedicated to the threats (per9i __apeil6wn) of eternal condemnation, which will take place “in hell... in a dark and gloomy land, in a land of eternal darkness (cf. Job 10:22)” [5 I.§33]. This is the fate of sinners after death and following God’s final verdict on them. However, even here on earth there are “fire, darkness, the worm, tartar... in heterogeneous voluptuousness, the all-consuming darkness of ignorance and the unquenchable thirst for sensual pleasures, in the trembling and stench of fetid sin” [5 I.§34]. Asking the question about the nature of afterlife torment, the Monk Gregory sees the makings of them in the habits of passions acquired in this life [5 I.§35], which, “like the germs of hellish torment, lurk in the souls of sinners” [5 I.§38]. The Divine reward thus revealed is fair, because “in eternity, rewards are equal to punishments... The quantity and quality of reward will be consistent with the skills and manifestations of passions and virtues” [5 I.§36]. So, “The Kingdom of Heaven is a virtuous life, [as well as] torment [hellish] is passionate habits” [5 I.§38]. Therefore, “the unbeliever is already condemned (John 3:18)”, and the careless one is enveloped in darkness, in which “no one can do (John 9:4)” [5 I.§39], preserving himself for the suffering of “the darkness to come” [5 I.§39]. Following the threats of eternal torment, intended to warn the frivolous and awaken the careless, St. Gregory of Sinaite turns to the theme of promises (per9i _epaggeli6wn), designed to encourage the discouraged and inspire the faint-hearted. The reward of the righteous is the Heavenly Kingdom, built by God “[in the image of] the tabernacle of Moses” [5 I.§43]. Its first part is the dwelling of all whose “nature, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit” [5 I.§41], has been preserved here “unsullied and pure” [5 I.§42]. The second, as spiritual, will be revealed only to those “who here in the darkness of theology... perfectly performed the sacred functions of the three powers of the soul” [5 I.§43]. They will “penetrate the God-created tabernacle and be illuminated with a lightning-fast radiance” [5 I.§43], “inexpressibly experiencing supernatural deification” [5 I.§42]. The future renewal will affect not only the soul, but also the body, which, “indescribably transformed from the spiritual to the spiritual” [5 I.§46], will lose bodily moisture and heaviness and, remaining material in nature, “due to perfect participation in deification,” will be clothed “in god-like subtlety” and will become “conformed to the face of the Son of Man” [5 I.§46]. The inheritance of the saints - the Heavenly Kingdom - is “the Divine state of the Son of God... deified nature... the imperturbable Divine silence of the super-intelligent world” [5 I.§47], “dispassion from which flows in full swing... the joy of the Spirit” [5 I.§48]. Its inhabitants will be “equal in terms of spiritual age” [5 I.§51], will become “angel-like minds and sons of the Resurrection of Christ” [5 I.§53], without ceasing to rise “in the multiplication of talents... and in the pursuit of good” [5 I.§54]. However, even on earth, the splendor of the glory of the Divine delights the spiritual powers of the elect, leading them into sacred amazement, which “is the pure and complete aspiration of the mind towards the boundless power that resides in the light” [5 I.§58]. Driven by Divine jealousy, the soul experiences “spiritual intoxication” [5 I.§58], intoxicated by “that which is higher than natural reason,” so that its mind is distracted from feelings and “even the sense of external relations is stolen” [5 I.§59]. Such are the promises of eternal salvation and the wealth of Divine gifts entrusted to the diligent seekers of heavenly glory. Having painted a convincing picture of the future reward for sinners and the righteous, St. Gregory of Sinaite turns his attention to the practical theme of keeping the mind, fighting passions and acquiring virtues (per9i logism6wn ka9i pay6wn ka9i _aret6wn). The beginning of the falling away from God, according to the thought of the Reverend Father, is “the division by sin of man of a single and simple memory” [5 I.§60], which before his fall was in continuous remembrance of the Divine, but is now turned “to the insidious and disastrous memorization of thoughts” [5 I.§61]. Immoral thoughts, flowing like a “river current” [5 I.§64] and being the words of demons and the forerunners of passions [5 I.§67], burden the passionate mind [5 I.§65], offering it “sinful consent, flooding the heart like a stormy flood” [5 I.§64]. Not all thoughts are sinful, but only those that are inspired by demons, while the “matter” of things “produces pure thoughts” [5 I.§68]. A sinful thought, having the form of a formless preposition [5 I.§67], as the first link, begins a kind of chain of sinful action: “Thoughts precede dreams, dreams are followed by passions. Passions go ahead of demons, and demons follow the passions” [5 I.§74], filling the mind with ghostly images in accordance with the spiritual structure of a person and depending on the inclination of the soul to the prevailing and active passion in it [5 I.§71]. Every passion stems from abuse, the cause of which is the inclination or preponderance of “some volitional impulse” [5 I.§75]. From the variety of drives comes the variety of passions, which attempts to enslave all the properties and aspects of human nature to the passionate skill [5 I.§76]. Passions “are divided into mental and physical; bodily... for sorrowful and sinful; mournful... to painful and educational” [5 I.§77]. Mental passions, in turn, are divided into irritable, volitional and mental passions, according to the natural forces of the soul. Mental passions, moreover, are divided into rational and imaginative passions [5 I.§78]. Each of the passions has diverse manifestations, can serve as a cause and be a consequence of passions adjacent to it, and in its action is nothing more than a distortion of the divinely established order of functioning of the natural forces and properties of human nature [5 I.§81]. Thus, having created man, God “did not create rage and animal carnal desire, but one active force of aspiration and zealous steadfastness of desire” [5 I.§82], which after the Fall in paradise became the object of the law of sin, which established the dominance of all kinds of passions in fallen nature. The majority of virtues, with the exception of the Divine, also originate from the three forces of the soul, “and are reborn from each other” [5 I.§85]. “The beginning... of the virtues is a good intention and desire for the beautiful” [5 I.§83], based on the cornerstone of faith, for the sake of which “he who enters the depths of silence... seems to sell all his own inclinations” [5 I.§83] in order to inherit the “face of the virtues” [5 I.§84]. Prudence, courage, chastity and truth are generic among the virtues [5 I.§85]. Their excess or deficiency produces eight vices in the soul: deceit and ignorance, arrogance and timidity, licentiousness and petrification, greed and resentment [5 I.§87]. Genuine virtue occupies a middle position and acquires the power of perfect steadfastness through grace, passing into an “essential internal disposition” [5 I.§86]. To perform virtues, only “personal zeal” is not enough, but the presence and action “in the members of the grace of the Spirit” is necessary, without which their entire assembly becomes lifeless and dead [5 I.§86]. United in the three forces of the soul [5 I.§87], virtues, unlike passions, are born in it naturally, and not contrary to nature [5 I.§89], stemming from free choice, or an internal disposition, or the grace of the Holy Spirit and are called accordingly active, natural and Divine [5 I.§88]. Essential in themselves, they act “at the appropriate moment, when, how and as much as they want” [5 I.§92], for grace tends to “create and unmistakably transform the virtues of the strong [in spirit] in relation to their qualities and properties” [5 I.§90]. This ends the cycle of narration about passions and virtues, which is fundamentally important for those seeking solitary silence and deep prayer, which are discussed in the next semantic block, called per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i proseuc6hq. The Monk Gregory of Sinaite prefaces his word on silence and prayer with a discussion about the power and effectiveness of the word itself in its various manifestations. Thus, the word of edification is not, under any condition, capable of “actively communicating Christ’s enlightenment” [5 I.§93] to those listening. Proceeding from four sources: teaching, reading, activity and grace, the spoken word changes “according to the moral order” [5 I.§94] of the preacher, producing “unequal sweetness” in the listeners [5 I.§95]. Speech emanating from the mouth of God carries within itself the rapture of the Holy Spirit. But the majority assimilates “mere images of spiritual words,” while the true bread of the future life, “consisting in the feeling of God the Word” [5 I.§96], is tasted on earth by a few, whose feelings have been trained by long-term experience “to participate in the mysteries of the Spirit” [5 I.§97]. Such struggle, enduring the “heat of silence” in the ever-present “contrition of the spirit” [5 I.§108]. The basis of their feat are five virtues: silence, abstinence, wakefulness, humility, patience - and three godly activities: psalmody, prayer and reading [5 I.§99], - to each of which the silent person devotes special hours of the day. However, even at night the zealous do not remain idle, but, measuring their strength and degree of success, spend time in prayer vigil, adhering to one of the three monastic rules [5 I.§101]. Strict regulation also applies to food intake, which should be consumed contrary to the whimsical demands of nature, using “with self-restraint only the Providence provided” [5 I.§102]. Silence requires first of all “faith, patience, strength and strength, love from the bottom of the heart and hope” [5 I.§103]. Among the passions that take up arms against the silent, the Monk Gregory of Sinaite, as an experienced silentist, notes insolence, gluttony, over-concern, and especially destructive pride. The admission of at least one of them violates the “order of silence” [5 I.§104] and entails all the others, making the healer seduced by them “a passionate enemy and accuser of the silent” [5 I.§104]. But of all the passions, the most debilitating for the speechless is the union of fornication and despondency, which have entered into “mutual communication and close connection” and are therefore indestructible, insurmountable and completely invincible [5 I.§110]. Fornication successfully fights against the soul and body, and despondency weakens the mind [5 I.§110]. Their combined strength is indestructible “before blissful dispassion,” in which they are overcome only by the power of the Holy Spirit, “bringing joy and deep peace of heart” [5 I.§110]. Worthy resistance to the enemy is provided by those who “the muddy and troubled sea of ​​silence” [5 I.§105] sail on a “light ship” of non-covetousness and abstinence, accompanying their voyage with deep contrition of spirit, crying about sins and thinking about posthumous horrors [5 I.§108]. There is, however, the only serene path that dispels the impenetrable darkness of passions. This “life-giving... healing remedy” is “unreasoning obedience in everything with faith” [5 I.§107]. The perfect novice “not only achieved silence, but by obedience he already realized it, having found Christ, becoming and being called His imitator and slave” [5 I.§107]. The most immediate and main activity of a silent person is unceasing prayer. It defeats the power of sin and opposing forces [5 I.§115]. The beginning of mental prayer lies in the cleansing action of the Holy Spirit, the middle is “educational power and contemplation, and the end is ecstasy and admiration of the mind for God” [5 I.§111]. Prayer reveals itself according to the degree of spiritual progress of the ascetic, being for beginners like a fire of joy radiated from the heart, and for those who are perfect, like an fragrant light acting in the soul [5 I.§113]. The sovereign mind, having entered the spiritual sanctuary of prayer, “mysteriously performs sacred acts on the spiritual altar as a sign of betrothal to God and partakes of the Lamb of God before the future incomprehensible pleasure” [5 I.§112]. Cloaked with wisdom, that is, with the power of “smart, pure, angelic prayer,” the mind, distracted from the senses, “becomes immaterial, luminous and inexpressibly united with God into one spirit” [5 I.§116]. In short, “effective prayer is the grace of the Holy Spirit” [5 I.§119] in the diversity of its manifestations and the richness of Divine gifts. The most amazing of them is the gift of humility, to find and comprehend which is the lot of very few [5 I.§115]. True humility, like prayer and faith, “is grace and a gift from above,” therefore “those who spread words about it are like those who measure the abyss” [5 I.§115]. He who initiates humility through humble speech, poverty of clothing and constant self-reproach is subjected to a providential test from demons. Crushed by them in everything, enslaved and experiencing the domination of every passion and thought and having no help [5 I.§117], the humble worker considers himself the last slave and worse than the demons themselves. Then, providentially tested, he acquires true, unimaginable humility, “which represents the Divine power acting in everything and producing everything” [5 I.§117]. Having exhausted the instructions on silence and prayer, the sublime Divine gifts of zealous ascetics, the Monk Gregory of Sinaite in the remaining chapters of his first work touches on various subjects of spiritual life, among which the main ones are discussions about the nature of man and the causes and types of spiritual warfare. Man, in the reasoning of the Sinai ascetic, is represented “as if by a special dual world” [5 I.§122], renewed in Christ. Endowed with the power of virtue, he is called “heaven, earth and all,” and for his sake every mystery is performed and spoken. The basis of any human activity lies in the three forces of his soul, in the nature of which, as in some “great world”, lie his “secret opponents” [5 I.§122]. These ministers of sin undertake a “military attack against those who are attentive to the heart,” as the center of all natural powers of man. The war against them is carried out in the area of ​​that of the natural forces in which the ascetic demonstrates the success of spiritual advancement. Thus, having “[the basis] of his power on the passionate loins and navel” [ 5 I .§122], the prince of the abyss, through the giant of voluptuousness, excites “a sea of boundless lust... reptiles in it, agitates it... and inflames [the tempted] to confusion, flooding them with streams of pleasures... to the point of insatiability" [ 5 I .§122]. The prince of this world also wages incessant warfare in the area of ​​irritable force, attacking “those striving for active virtue” through the giant of negligence. He also refers to the “mental and mental parts of the soul” [5 I.§122]. Through the giant of unreason, the airy prince “darkens the high mind with indignation... falsely presenting foggy images and transformations of spirits, instilling fear with ghostly lightning, thunder, and storm” [5 I.§122]. The servants of darkness, warring in human nature, “were once sublime minds,” but fell from this “immateriality and subtlety,” acquiring “some material roughness” and “solidifying” [5 I.§123]. Having lost the ability to enjoy Divine blessings, they became “somehow material due to the inclination to material passions” [5 I.§123], the skill in which “transforms nature and changes its actions in accordance with the free decision of the will” [5 I.§123]. Some of the demons are “dissolute and susceptible to carnal passion”, others are light and airy - “distract the soul from contemplation”, transforming into angels of light and skillfully imitating in the imagination any spiritual vision [5 I.§123]. The tireless destructive activity of fallen spirits is one of the three causes of spiritual war, which is also facilitated by the inclination of the human will and the abuse of existing things [5 I.§124]. “Our enemy, being shameless, sometimes unexpectedly and without reason begins to boldly fight us,” warns the Monk Gregory of Sinaite. “Do not let, my friend, the bloodthirsty leech drink blood... Do not allow the serpent and the dragon to become satiated with dust... Sigh until, having laid aside earthly things, you take refuge in the highest dwelling and are transformed in the image of Jesus Christ, who created you” [5 I.§125]. The shortest path to “the destruction of the five passions opposite to obedience: disobedience, contradiction, self-indulgence, self-justification and destructive self-love” leads to the heavenly palaces of repose [5 I.§121]. The unreasoning novice ascends to heaven along the five steps of the ladder leading to spiritual perfection: renunciation of the world, submission to the rules, obedience, humility and love. “Elevating humility” inactively carries the obedient upward, “transfers to the queen the virtues of love and, leading to Christ, presents to Him” [5 I.§120]. “From now on, one can immediately ascend to heaven through virtue alone... just as through disobedience alone we are cast down and cast into hell” [5 I.§121]. For the salvation of those going to heaven, God created a certain Divine community called the body of Christ or the Church. He who enters into it through Baptism becomes a member of the body (cf. 1 Cor. 12:27), revived by the Holy Spirit. But the one who, having accepted sanctification, killed himself with passions, although “by virtue of faith and rebirth ... has the Spirit, but [the Spirit] is motionless and inactive in him due to his spiritual death” [5 I.§129]. “The Spirit of Christ, completely abiding in all the members of Christ unfused and acting, revives those of them who are able to be participants in the [gracious] life and, through weakness, those who are separated from Him, humanely retains, as their own members,” but leaves unvivified “by the action and movement of grace,” as incapable of accepting it [5 I.§129]. Those who have fallen from grace become prey to all kinds of delusion, and are easily taken over by the cunning of demonic charm, which “in the richness and variety of its intrigues and ambushes... is almost incomprehensible” [5 I.§131]. This “great opponent of the truth” [5 I.§135] has three primary reasons: pride, demonic envy and punitive punishment. “Deception from envy and proud conceit receives quick healing” [5 I.§132] subject to the humble repentance of the seduced. But charms in the form of punitive permission, which happens as punishment for a sinful life, “God sometimes allows to continue until death” [5 I.§132]. In its essence, charm is of two types and has to do with “dreaming and acting.” Both of them are interconnected and lead to an “unnatural frenzy” of the mind [5 I.§131]. The beginning of dreamy charm is the proud acceptance of ghostly contemplation, which gives rise to blasphemy and confusion from extraordinary ghostly visions. They, in turn, produce trepidation and timidity in the soul, leading it to insanity [5 I.§131]. The second type of prelest originates in voluptuousness and an unbridled impulse towards immorality. “The demon of debauchery itself, having darkened ... the mind with a voluptuous fire, leads [those possessed by it] into a frenzy, dreamily showing some saints, presenting visions and various conversations” [5 I.§131]. In such a state, the insane charmer “attempts to predict false prophecies, prophetically announces visions... and, intoxicated by the excitement of passion, changes in character as if possessed” [5 I.§131]. For the purpose of complete enslavement, sometimes demons appear to those seduced by them in a frightening form, “depress them with fear... and forcibly move them... to sinful actions, in order to keep them captives until the end... destined for torment” [5 I.§131]. The final chapters of the first and most extensive work of St. Gregory of Sinaite correspond to the introductory words of the general acrostic *wn +h _akrostic9iq $hde and, apparently, therefore contain brief additional remarks about various aspects of spiritual life. Also, as a kind of addition to the first, the second work of the Reverend Father can be considered. This work of St. Gregory of Sinaite is traditionally published under the title 4Etera kef)alaia, which, apparently, traces its origins to the author himself. The main text of the Other Chapters contains seven sections, each with three headings. The first three chapters are devoted to the theme of becoming like Christ, the next three have their own titles: Per9i t6hq _empayo6uq _alloi)wsewq (On passionate change), Per9i t6hq _agay6hq _alloi)wsewq (On good change), Per9i t6wn kay\ $upnouq peirasm6wn (On temptations in dreams). We cannot exclude the possibility that the indicated chapter titles are “just the scholia of one of the copyists” of St. Gregory the Sinaite [42.T.53.No.2.P.419], although they may well belong to the author himself. The last, seventh, chapter of the work 4Etera kef)alaia is placed without a title and contains instructions on the pious acceptance of alms. Renewed by the bath of re-existence, according to the teachings of the Sinai ascetic, “must reach all the ages of Christ” [5 II.§1]. The grace of Baptism anticipates their power, and they are acquired through the fulfillment of the commandments. He who has not felt the ages of Christ within himself is far from the measure of a perfect man, and remains “a child in body and spirit, although he would be considered an old man and active” [5 II.§1]. The suffering endured for the sake of Christ carries within itself “life-giving mortification” [5 II.§2]. Suffering, born from immoderate pleasures, “acquires murderous mortification, because the voluntary bearing of Christ’s suffering is the crucifixion of the crucifixion and the mortification of mortification” [5 II.§2]. In the chapter “On Passionate Change,” St. Gregory depicts the dynamics of the movement of sin, which gradually embraces the entire composition of man. Relaxation begins with despondency, which produces exhaustion in the body, and then exhaustion in the soul, followed by voluptuousness. The carnal movement includes memory and imagination in the work of sin, increasing the degree of fascination with sin. Pretext, combination, consent and execution of a criminal deed complete the fall of the “defeated man” [5 II.§4]. Good change, like passionate change, has its own stages of development. Everything begins with patience and courage, and the crown of success is perfect love, humility and dispassion. However, in this life “no one has either perfect virtue or reduces vices at a time, but has virtue that increases slightly, and evil that little by little comes to nothingness” [5 II.§5]. Temptations in dreams, according to the explanation of the Reverend Father, are of a natural nature, but in some cases they are the result of sinful omissions. Passionate causes of expiration in beginners and the weak can be gluttony, idle talk, condemnation, vanity, agreement with dreams. For active ascetics, liberation of the body from the “tempting substance” is possible due to heavy food, excitement from a cold drink, weakness of the body and immoderate work. Those who have achieved dispassion have outflows only through the “substance of urine” at certain intervals, “when the rest of the seminal matter is destroyed by Divine fire” [5 II.§6]. In all cases, what happens arbitrarily and is sinfully caused by deviation from the virtue of abstinence is innocent. It is worthy to accept alms only for those who are in solitude - with all moderation, as if from the hand of God Himself, limiting oneself to what is necessary and giving to the poor from one’s poverty [5 II.§7]. He who adheres to such rules “rejoices in the fact that he is guided by God, and not by people” [5 II.§7]. The third work of St. Gregory of Sinaite is represented by the title 2Eidhsiq _akrib9hq per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i proseuc6hq, 2eti d9e ka9i per9i t6wn tekmhr)iwn t6hq c)aritoq ka9i t6hq pl)anhq: ka9i t)iq +h diafor9a t6hq y)ermhq ka9i t6hq _energe)iaq: ka9i $oti cwr9iq _odhgo6u, e_ucer6wq suneis)ercetai +h pl)anh (A detailed discussion about silence and prayer, moreover about the signs of grace and delusion, and about the difference between ardor and energy, and how easy it is to fall into delusion without a guide). As in the previous case, the lengthy title given is intended to briefly comment on the content of the entire work. His newly discovered lines say that this is “a message addressed to a certain Longinus” [42.T.53.No.2.P.420]. The name Longinus in Christian use originates from the Roman centurion mentioned in the Gospel in connection with the Crucifixion of Christ (see Matt. 27:54). Subsequently, he believed and, as legend tells, died a martyr in Cappadocia. The name Longinus was sometimes given to monks when they were tonsured. In this case, the addressee of the Venerable Gregory of Sinaite, with a significant degree of confidence, can be called one of his students named Longinus, mentioned in the 13th chapter of the Life of the Venerable Father, written by Patriarch Callistus. Why he is called shmeiof)oroq (standard bearer) in the text of the work can only be speculated. Abba Longinus the Standard Bearer was a famous miracle worker at the turn of the 4th-5th centuries in Alexandria. It is possible that such an address is intended to emphasize a respectful attitude towards the addressee. As part of the Greek Philokalia, the Epistle to Longinus has ten chapters. But a number of manuscripts of the 14th-15th centuries, analyzed by Belfort, contain a continuation of the last chapter with the addition of three more chapters 3 [ 42 .T.53.№3.P.700]. Some indication of the authenticity of this addition is the reference placed in the 12th chapter to the initial chapters of this creation, where the Monk Gregory writes that many who entered the path of enlightenment of the mind failed due to carelessness, and further describes the signs of the initial stage of the silent feat (tekm)hria t6hq _arc6hq). Another proof is also the mention of the following stages of spiritual development: enlightenment (+h mes)othq to6u fotismo6u) and perfection (+h telei)othq) - echoing the indication of all three stages in the 4th chapter of the Epistle to Longinus. This work of the Reverend Father introduces “the sphere of mystical theology proper: a treatise on silence, the practice of the Jesus Prayer, or the psycho-technical and unceasing invocation of the Lord Jesus” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.420]. Those born again from the Spirit, according to the ascetic of Sinai, have the law of the Spirit inscribed on the tablets of their hearts, guiding them through pure prayer to a mysterious conversation with God. But, unfortunately, many of those who received Baptism in infancy, growing physically, left without due attention the extraordinary greatness and glory of the gift received and the obligation to grow also “mentally and spiritually” [5 III.§1] by fulfilling the commandments. Such “out of carelessness and passionate habit fall into sensuality and darkness” [5 III.§1] and, losing the guideline of living and active faith, plunge themselves into doubts about their blessings. Spiritual darkness forces them to perceive as deception the grace entrusted to those who are granted it after many labors. Such destructive unbelief and slander take possession of everyone who deviates from the right path of salvation, no matter what level of spiritual maturity he is at. Thus, some, content with the beginning of the feat, “did not move further and did not care” [5 III.§2] about its continuation. Others, “having reached an average degree of enlightenment, were exhausted before the end” [5 III.§2], fell into carelessness and thus returned to the beginning of the path. And even those who have entered the measure of perfection, if they return to the deeds of average and beginners, then they fall and change to their previous state “due to carelessness and conceit” [5 III.§2]. Expressing the general church tradition and the experience of holy ascetics, the Monk Gregory distinguishes two ways of acquiring the Holy Spirit. According to the first, “the gift [of the Holy Spirit] is revealed through the fulfillment of the commandments,” which requires “great and long-term work” [5 III.§3]. The second way is to remain in obedience and continually call upon the Lord Jesus, or the remembrance of God. This path leads patient workers to the goal faster than the first, and therefore is more preferable, although it is associated with a number of dangers. Convincing everyone to “have only one heartfelt action” [5 III.§3], the Reverend Father warns the inexperienced against being seduced by the ghosts of truth that appear in the imagination. The only justified concern of the silent person should be the “warming and pleasing to the mind” effect of prayer, “completely formless and unimaginable” [5 III.§3]. But since even among beginners “prayer is always a moving internal action of the Holy Spirit,” those who practice it need “considerable contrition and humility” [5 III.§3], which protects against error. Genuine prayer, like biblical Wisdom, is acquired by those who do not tempt it and does not appear to those who do not believe it (Wisdom 1:3). Its action is varied: rising light, joy, trembling, fear, tears. For some, “at first there is an indescribable contrition and extreme tension of the soul” [5 III.§4], since the Divine Jesus penetrates to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow (Heb. 4:12) in order to “forcibly cut off the passions from all parts of the soul and body” [5 III.§4]. The tightness of purification is replaced by the spaciousness of the indestructible world and the movement of the living heart, which St. Gregory, following the Holy Fathers, calls the leaping, beating and breathing of the Spirit, the wave of God's truth, the edge. The Lord called this state a source of water flowing into eternal life (John 4:14). The leaping of the Spirit is of two types: joy of a calm nature, called the beating of the Spirit, and stormy joy, called the playing and fluttering of the living heart, which, “freed from the shackles of passions,” tries to rise to the sky and free itself from the heaviness of the body [5 III.§5]. It is also common for a perfect ascetic to experience Divine fear, which stems not from the trembling of anger and punishment for sin, but from trembling joy, called the beginning of wisdom [5 III.§6]. Actually, awe has various shades. Thus, with the trembling delight of joy, grace consoles the soul. Another kind of trembling comes “from carnal passion, when, due to excess blood, boiling occurs near the heart” [5 III.§7]. In general, the effect of experience that takes place in the heart of a silent person is either from grace or from delusion, in some cases from nature, which produces warmth from the concentration of the mind in the heart. “The action of grace is the power of the fire of the Spirit” [5 III.§8], which warms and cleanses the soul, tames thoughts and mortifies bodily movement [5 III.§9]. The fruits and signs of grace are the virtues operating in the soul. “The effect of delusion is the ignition of sin, inflaming the soul in pleasure, awakening a frantic passionate desire for carnal cohabitation in bodily movement” [5 III.§10]. An attentive ascetic should arouse suspicion and reject as senseless and dangerous everything that “is distinguished by unreasonable joy, conceit, excitement and disordered joy” [5 III.§10]. For the action of prelest “unnoticeably commits adultery [with a person], inflaming and scorching his members with voluptuousness” (ka)iwn ka9i flog)izwn a_uto6u t9a m)elh t#6h +hdupaye)i#a) [ 41 .§10 4]. Taking advantage of the ability of “natural desire” (t6hq fusik6hq _epiyum)iaq), delusion inflames the soul to the unnatural action of sin [41.§10 9–10]. Just as “the Lord is fire,” so “the demon remains cold” (jucr9oq _est9in +o da)imwn) [ 41 .§11 14 ], but “not by nature, but by falling away [from the fire of grace], being through sin deprived of Divine warmth, which turns his servants into flaming fire (cf. Heb. 1:7)” (o_u kat9a f)usin, _all9a kat9a paratrop)hn, di9a t6hq +amart)iaq t9hn ye)ian y)ermhn... t9hn poio6usan p6ur fl)egon to6uq leitourgo9uq a_ut6hq) [ 41 .§11 14–16 ]. The sinful disposition of the soul, deprived of Divine grace, is also distinguished by the property of coldness. The demon, being by nature fire, inflames a person, and “with the moisture of voluptuousness cools [him]” (t#6h +ugr)othti t6hq +hdupaye)iaq j)ucei), thus producing lust and making pleasure easily imaginable [41.§11 17–19]. This is how the struggle occurs over the possession of the will of a reasonable person by charm and grace. There is no communication between them, but “just as the sun, shining even in impurity, does not mix with it and does not harm itself, but even dries up the impurity, so grace remains unmixed with it and unsullied” ($wsper +o 4hlioq _en borb)or#w l)ampwn o_u m)ignutai o_ud9e bl)aptetai, _all9a ka9i xhra)inei t9on b)orboron, o4utw ka9i +h c)ariq _amig)hq _esti ta)uthq ka9i 2acrantoq) [ 41 .§11 22–24 ]. However, grace does not strive to completely abolish the effect of delusion, because “it serves as a means of testing our [will] according to our inclination towards this or that” (di9a t9o e2inai dok)imion t6hq +hm6wn _ep\ 2amfw +rop6hq) [41.§11 25–26]. The intention of grace is “together with our good will, little by little, to cast away this [deception] in the struggle” (met9a t6hq +hm6wn proair)esewq kat9a mikr9on _ekmei6wsai ta)uthn _en t#6w _ag6wni), so that, fighting lawfully (2 Tim. 4:7), “we may be crowned and became true confessors who defeated not the Greeks, but Satan himself” [41.§11 26–30]. Charms tend to act in the space of the three forces of the soul, “at times igniting in us the prepositions (t9aq... prosbol9aq... kay\ $wran _en +hm6in _an)aptousa), kindling the furnace of the flesh through voluptuousness, preparing the demons that assist it through thoughts (to6uq +upourgo9uq d9e da)imonaq di9a t6wn logism6wn =etoim)azousa)... to sacrifice [to sin] our mind, to subjugate and bring [it] into communication with ourselves” [41.§11 30–34]. Among the signs of delusion, the Monk Gregory of Sinaite notes “hardness of heart, unrepentance... [derived] from the substance of tears (t9o _ex $ulhq d)akruon), pomposity, gluttony, verbosity, negligence, boasting, the effect of uneven warmth (+h _en t#6w _erg)azesyai _an)wmaloq y)ermh), heaviness of the soul, relaxation of the limbs, wet joy (k)ayugroq +hd)uthq), movement and excitement of the body, representations of thoughts in the plexus of bodies (logism6wn e\ik)oneq _en periplok#6h swm)atwn)” [ 41 .§11 35–40 ]. Signs of grace and charm serve as a guide to their identification only in part, but reliable knowledge brings experience, for “vinegar [in appearance] is like wine, and bitter lettuce is like lettuce, but taste distinguishes both” [41.§11 44–45]. So, “watch the sweetness coming [to you],” St. Gregory repeats the warning words of St. John Climacus, “so that [it] is not in any way mixed in by bitter doctors who are more malicious” (m)hpwq _ek pikr6wn \iatr6wn, m6allon d9e _epibo)ulwn, suneker)asyh) [ 41.§13 61–62]. The fourth work of the Venerable Gregory of Sinaite, which has been reprinted several times since 1782, is traditionally placed under the title Per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i per9i t6wn (d)uo) tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq (On silence and two forms of prayer). “In reality, as the Slavic edition of 1793 confirms, only the first two words Per9i +hsuc)iaq... can be taken as a general title, because the rest of the given description refers only to the first chapter” [42.T.53.№2.P.420]. This part is a separate title for the first chapter, just as most of the chapters in this series have their own special titles. According to the researcher, this group of chapters represents a “real teaching message” [42.T.53.No.2.P.421]. There are different versions regarding who its addressee was. The most likely of them, according to Belfort, can be considered the one that names the addressee of St. Gregory as a certain Niphon: \Epistol9h ka9i e2idhsiq mikr9a per9i +hsuc)iaq Grhgor)iou monaco6u to6u Sina?itou _ek)enou pr9oq t9on grhgoro6unta +osi)wtaton N)ifwna, kat\ _ep)wnumon protrap)entoq par\ a_uto6u, _en kefala)ioiq ist), _anagka)ian p)anu (Message and brief discussion about the silence of the famous monk Gregory of Sinaite to the awake Holy [Father] Niphon, moved to his [writing by virtue] his name, in 16 chapters, very useful). Since Niphon is mentioned here as +h grhgor6wn, there is no doubt that he belonged to the number of hesychasts famous for their night vigils. There is some play on words in this title itself. The name Gregory means "wakefulness." The recipient of his message uses this meaning as the basis for his request addressed to the Sinai ascetic to write him something useful about prayer and guarding the heart. “This Niphon could possibly be the person who became the abbot of one of the monasteries of the Holy Mountain, and later Protos (Pr6wtoq). Accused of Messalianism for meeting the needs of the poor Bogomils, he was supported by Callistus, Philotheus, Palamas and Cantacuzene and acquitted at a series of church councils that ended in 1351” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.421. Ref.119]. Following the title given in a number of manuscripts, there is immediately a preface, which remains unedited and, apparently, is listed in the text as one of its chapters, which is why their total number becomes 16, and not 15, as in the text of the Philokalia. The text of the preface is based on five manuscripts dating back to the XIV-XV centuries, except one belonging to the XV-XVI centuries [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.421. Ref.120]. Proo)imion. \Ido9u kat9a t9hn k)eleus)in sou, +osi)wtate, prostacye9iq _epo)ihsa, o_uk _ex 2ergwn 1h l)ogwn _em6wn, _all\ _ek Yeo6u ka9i t6wn ta6uta suggrajam)enwn pat)erwn, m)alista d9e ka9i _ex +upako6hq t6hq s6hq t9on karp9on drep)omenoq. M9h yaum)as#hq: +o g9ar _ano)ixaq t9o st)oma to6u 2onou Ye)oq, ka9i di\ _on)agrou khr)uxaq ka9i di\ _el)afou lal)hsaq ka9i di\ 4ippou _el)egxaq, 4ina de)ix#h +eaut9on e\iq p)anta dun)amenon, t)i yaumast9on e\i ka9i _ek liy)inhq kard)iaq l)ogon _wfele)iaq _ombr)isei to6iq pisto6iq ka9i tapein6wq _ekzhto6usin a_ut9on; E\i g9ar ka9i +o no6uq nwyr)oq, timi)wtate p)ater, ka9i zofer9a +h kard)ia _ek pay6wn g)egonen, _all\ +o Ye9oq dunat9oq kayar)isai a_ut9hn p)alin, e_uca6iq +ag)iwn, _am)hn. “Preface. Here, according to your command, the most holy [father], being called, I did it - not by plucking the fruit from my deeds or words, but from God and the fathers who wrote this, and more out of obedience to you. Do not be surprised that God, who opened the mouth of a donkey and proclaimed through an onager, who proclaimed through a deer and spoke through a horse, to reveal Himself strong in everything - what is surprising if from a petrified heart He exudes a useful word to the faithful and humbly seeking Him. For even if the mind is slow, O most honest father, and the heart has become darkened by passions, yet God is able to cleanse it again through the prayers of the saints. Amen." Immediately after the aforementioned preface in the text of the manuscript there are the words Per9i t6wn tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq, usually placed in the title of the entire work, although obviously relating only to its first chapter as a subtitle. The text of the preface is clear, which cannot be said about the general title, which addresses a series of chapters to Niphon mentioned in it. The “most authentic” text is given above. But there are other variations of the title. The difference between them extends to individual words, names, sometimes almost the entire content. Below are some of them, proposed for comparison by Belfort [42.T.53.No.2.P.423–424]: 1. Grhgor)iou Sina?itou _epistol9h pr9oq t9on $agion N)ifwna t9on +hsuc)asanta _en to6iq bouleuthr)ioiq. 2. E2idhsiq mikr9a per9i +hsuc)iaq Grhgor)iou to6u Sina?itou pr9oq t9on grhgoro6unta kat\ _ep)wnumon k9ur \Iwake)im, protrape9iq par\ a_uto6u, _en kefala)ioiq ie). 3. E2idhsiq mikr9a per9i +hsuc)iaq Grhgor)iou to6u Sina?itou pr9oq tina _adelf)on, met9a p)istewq a\it)hsanta, protrape9iq par\ a_uto6u, _en kefala)ioiq ie). 4. E2idhsiq mikr9a per9i +hsuc)iaq Grhgor)iou to6u Sina?itou pr9oq tina _adelf)on, _en kefala)ioiq ie). 5. E2idhsiq mikr9a per9i +hsuc)iaq Grhgor)iou monaco6u to6u Sina?itou pr9oq t9on katep)wnumon _adelf)on to6u a_uto6u 2orouq Sin6a, a\it)hsanta per9i p)istewq. 6. To6u +ag)iou Grhgor)iou to6u Sina?itou e2idhsiq per9i +hsuc)iaq. 7. M)eyodoq prokop6hq e2ukoloq ka9i tace6ia per9i n)hjewq ka9i proseuc6hq ka9i prosoc6hq, ka9i p6wq cr9h ta6uta met)ercesyai. Thus, the presented material offers a choice of several possible addressees of the message of St. Gregory of Sinai: Niphon, Joachim, a certain brother, a brother of the same name from Mount Sinai. Finally, the last option is completely different from the previous ones: “An easy and quick way to succeed in sobriety, prayer and attention and how to do it.” The expression e2idhsiq mikr9a per9i +hsuc)iaq remains unchanged in almost all of the above descriptions, which, presumably, goes back to the Sinai ascetic himself. The entire text of his fourth work thus consists of 15 chapters, in some cases with their own titles: a0. Per9i t6wn d)uo tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq. b). Per9i to6u p6wq de6i _energe6in t9hn proseuc9hn. g). Per9i t6hq _anapno6hq. d). Per9i to6u p6wq de6i j)allein. e). Per9i diafor9aq t6wn jall)ontwn. q)-y). \Ant)irrhsiq a_uto6u. ib)-ie). Without titles, about monastic virtues. According to the expression of St. Gregory, there are “two ways of unity [with God]” through mental prayer [5 IV.§1]. In the first case, “the mind anticipates prayer [in the heart],” in the second, the anticipatory action of the Holy Spirit “attracts the mind with the fire of joy and binds it to invocation and union with the Lord Jesus” [5 IV.§1]. The action of Divine grace in each of the ascetics is “peculiar.” Sometimes its action takes place in the heart, produced by the reduction of passions and the revelation of Divine warmth through the constant invocation of the name of the Savior God. Sometimes grace attracts the mind to itself, “planting it in the depths of the heart and freeing it from the habit of circulation” [5 IV.§1]. Then he is taken captive no longer to Assyria from Jerusalem, but from the Babylon of the passions to Zion, conquers the passions “through activity” and “sees God in contemplation... as if invited to a magnificent meal” [5 IV.§1]. The blessed overshadowing in prayer is preceded by the intense work of gathering in the heart the mind scattered over the objects of the world. In order not to lose the well-deserved lot “at the hour of hearing” [5 IV.§2], the worker of prayer should not be interrupted in his prayerful groaning to God, sowing his seed in the morning and not giving rest to his hand in the evening (Eccl. 11:6). St. Gregory also describes the method of performing mental prayer used by the silent ones on the Holy Mountain. According to him, for better concentration, the worshiper takes a special position, sitting on a low bench and bowing his head to his bent knees. Experiencing from tension “in the chest, shoulders and neck... sensitive pain” [5 IV.§2], the ascetic forces his mind “to descend from the place of command [or from the head] into the heart... mentally or spiritually exclaiming continuously: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” [5 IV.§2]. Having spent a sufficient amount of time in such an invocation, performing it without fail “with a sorrowful mood,” with self-embarrassment and effort, the prayer book can move on to another part of the prayerful invocation of the Holy Name: Son of God, have mercy on me. It is not recommended to change the words of the prayer too often, because “plants that are replanted often do not take root” [5 IV.§2]. Above all, the one praying in the cage of his mind should observe his own breathing, restraining its haste in time with prayer, since “hearing sighs flying out of the heart darkens the mind, scatters thoughts and... betrays it into the captivity of oblivion or... imperceptibly tunes it to care” [5 IV.§2] about strangers. The importance of holding your breath during prayer is spoken of by many ascetic fathers, whose testimonies are given by the Monk Gregory of Sinaite. Reverends Isaiah the Hermit, John Climacus, Simeon the New Theologian command to “restrain the uncontrollable mind”, dissipated by “enemy force”; “reduce the retraction of the nostrils so as not to breathe unnecessarily,” connecting the “memory of Jesus” with your breathing and thus learning the benefits of silence [5 IV.§3]. The Lord Himself likened the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit to breathing, saying: The Spirit breathes where it will (John 3:8). Those who have received the pledge of the Divine Spirit in Baptism and those who cultivate it through diligent seeking remain in “inseparable and unfused communion with God” [5 IV.§3]. Those who neglect to guard their minds are also deprived of protective grace, carelessly falling into passions and, instead of the breath of the Spirit, being filled with “the wind of evil spirits” [5 IV.§3]. But it is not only through breathing that fallen spirits strive to trap the ascetic in the captivity of seduction. Their main weapon is the “impurity” of sinful thoughts, “rising and transforming in the mind” [5 IV.§2]. A prudent ascetic abhors the presence of unclean thoughts, leaving them without any attention, and does not allow any interruption in calling on the Lord Jesus. The Divine Name, according to the word of the Climacus, invisibly strikes the enemies of salvation, as if some kind of strong and invincible weapon [5 IV.§2]. The novice mind, attracted to the soaring of thoughts and forced to remain unceasingly in the heart, easily gets tired and strives to leave this initially cramped abode for it. To restore the sharpness of attention, it is permissible to devote some time to psalmody, and then courageously continue the “previous work” [5 IV.§4]. Those who remain in silence, on the advice of St. Barsanuphius the Great, should not be particularly carried away by church hymns, having only a “minor prayer rule” [5 IV.§4] and devoting the whole day mainly to prayer. St. Gregory dwells in detail on the topic of the relationship between active asceticism in the form of prolonged psalmody, manual labor and kneeling with internal prayer before God in contrition of the spirit. There are different opinions regarding this or that method of acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit, based, as a rule, on the personal spiritual experience of those who devote themselves to silence. “Those who have gained the grace of an active life through many labors and years... instruct others in the same way,” disapproving of those who “by the grace of God skillfully achieved this [gift] in a short time and with warm faith” [5 IV.§5]. Taking such successes as delusion, and not as a manifestation of grace, they deny “the extraordinary properties of prayer, uniquely produced in some by the Spirit” [5 IV.§5], forgetting that it is easy in the eyes of the Lord to suddenly enrich the poor (Sirach. 11, 21). Refuting the inconsistency of asceticism based on external work alone, St. Gregory asserts that various types of activity have a particular meaning. Heartfelt prayer, as a source of virtues, “is great and all-encompassing, and through it every good is acquired” [5 IV.§6]. Therefore, a person who works with his body “must also [work] with his mind so as not to appear righteous outwardly,” performing numerous external feats, but at heart being “overflowing with impurity and carelessness” [5 IV.§6]. Therefore, those who prefer to endure work for the sake of work and do not want to hear that grace exists, remain in darkness “due to great insensibility and ignorance” [5 IV.§6]. While condemning the highly intelligent, the Sinai ascetic approves of those who observe moderation in everything and devote little time to external labor and psalmody. A silent person, “partially singing psalms,” should most strive for prayer, so that his mind, “having spent all his spiritual strength on activity, does not show inattention in prayer and powerlessness in it” [5 IV.§7]. When the mind “is disturbed by the continuous mental cry and persistent affirmation [of attention in prayer], then it should be given a slight rest by releasing... into the space of psalmody” [5 IV.§7]. Those who are completely morally mature do not need psalmody at all, as they have established their mind in the unceasing memory of God and do not feel the need to distract it with extraneous activities. Training in prayerful attention is not instilled in everyone, but only in those who live in obedience. This science is not given to the disobedient, regardless of whether they are simpletons or scientists, so that “they are not inadvertently exposed to delusion, since the self-willed is not able to avoid conceit, which is usually followed by delusion” [5 IV.§8]. Those who act solely on their own initiative, due to the “impurity of their mind, not purified by tears through arrogance” [5 IV.§8], reflect in it shameful images of thoughts, and not prayer. The fallen spirits in their hearts, “troubled by the terrible name of God, gnashing their teeth, wanting to destroy those who scourge them” [5 IV.§8]. Thus, one who begins prayer outside of obedience with zealous effort does not avoid delusion for conceit, being skillfully deceived by unclean spirits through visions within the mind of light, fire, angels and Christ Himself. Doing with reasoning obliges you not to focus attention on what is figuratively represented and not to accept any “judgments of a sensual or rational nature emanating from the heart,” because “silence is the temporary suspension of undivine thoughts and not from the Spirit” [5 IV.§9]. The true beginning of prayer lies in the warmth of the heart, burning passions, and in unshakable love for God, bringing joy to the heart and confirming it with “undoubted notification” [5 IV.§10]. If the heart, drawn by an invisible force to the external, experiences even the slightest hesitation and doubt about the grace of the state it is experiencing, then it is obvious that the said movement does not come from God, but is sent by the enemy. The devil tends to use cunning cunning to offer the false instead of the true, “dreamingly modifying the spiritual” [5 IV.§10]. Instead of warmth, it produces an “uneven burning sensation”; instead of joy, it “excites wordless joy and wet pleasure” [5 IV.§10]. Trying to present deception under the guise of grace, the devil, however, does not succeed where “time, experience and feeling usually reveal... his deceit” [5 IV.§10]. Devoting oneself to the exclusive practice of mental prayer obliges the ascetic to selectively read the patristic writings. St. Gregory advises to put aside for a while those of them that “with their narration remove the mind from prayer” [5 IV.§11], and read mainly the instructions on sobriety and prayer. When reading orally, it is unacceptable to be carried away by the elegance of pronunciation, sophistication of speech and any sound pleasure. It is also sinful to imagine oneself among the assembly of the faithful with the desire to please its dreamily visible participants. Reading should be moderate, reverent, decent, calm, harmonious, reasonable, spiritual and judicious [5 IV.§11]. Another obligatory activity of a zealous silent person should be an hourly test of his own “inclination”, so that while practicing virtue, he will not be “unnoticedly robbed” [5 IV.§12]. The inclination of intentions is the subject of the vigilant supervision of the crafty enemy, who “always strives to devalue the work unknown” for the ascetic, so that what he does is “not according to God” [5 IV.§12]. In particular, he secretly fights the soul with vanity, admiring all spiritual ages and not allowing the monk to “improve in virtue, so that he carries ore, and in old age turns out to be barren” [5 IV.§12]. The enemy’s seduction also reveals itself where the one marching to heaven deviates from the thorny and sorrowful, but the only correct path to the crossroads of painless and easy, but deceptive progress. It is heart pain and bodily exhaustion that reveal to the ascetic the action of the Holy Spirit. Acquired by everyone in Baptism, this action, due to negligence about the commandments, is “buried by passions,” but “by God’s extraordinary mercy awaits our repentance” [5 IV.§14]. Any bodily and spiritual activity, perceived for the sake of His re-coming, but without pain and labor, does not bring the expected result, because the Kingdom of Heaven, according to the word of the Lord, “is perceived with compulsion (cf. Matt. 11, 12)” [5 IV.§14]. Painless work without “seething jealousy of the heart,” even if carried out for a long time, does not bring the reward of purity. On the contrary, painful labor frees us from the “painfulness of frivolous labors” [5 IV.§14], which courageously reject rest in entertainment and thus break the insoluble fetters of effeminacy. If the loins of the silent man “do not become relaxed from the labor of fasting” and if illness does not seize him, “like one giving birth to a baby, from the intense affirmation of the heart [in prayer],” then he “will not give birth to the spirit of salvation on the earth of the heart” [5 IV.§14]. The timely born fruit of silence is available only to those who study the science of virtues not independently, but on the advice of those who have improved and through the secret wisdom of experienced leaders, putting off “rest before old age” and zealously accepting the diseases of continuous activity [5 IV.§15]. The last of the five works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, included in the Philokalia, is “a treatise of seven unnumbered chapters, usually designated as Per9i to6u p6wq de6i kay)ezesyai” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.426]. In the Greek editions and in most Greek manuscripts in this work of the Holy Father there is no chapter numbering used by St. Paisius Velichkovsky in his Slavic translation of the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite and in subsequent Russian translations. As in previous cases, the given title of the work is not its general title, but only the subtitle of the first chapter. Moreover, its meaning is lost if the title is not given in full: Per9i to6u p6wq de6i kay)ezesyai t9on +hsuc)azonta e\iq t9hn e_uc)hn, ka9i m9h tac)ewq _an)istasyai (On how a silent person should sit during prayer and not get up hastily). This work of the Sinai ascetic describes in detail the “technique of silence” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.426], which is confirmed by the subtitles of its next chapters: Per9i to6u p6wq de6i l)egein t9hn e_uc9hn – krate6in t9on no6un – di)wkein to9uq logismo9uq – j)allein (How should say a prayer - hold the mind - eliminate thoughts - sing psalms). The fifth chapter, “On Psalmody,” is actually two chapters: its second part should be entitled Per9i to6u p6wq de6i tr)efesyai (On how to eat) or Per9i t6hq trof6hq (On food). This is evidenced by several manuscripts in Greek, the Slavic edition of St. Paisius and the Russian translation by Bishop Veniamin (Milov). The work ends with the chapter Per9i pl)anhq, _en #*w ka9i per9i poll6wn +upoy)esewn (On beauty and many things), as well as the answer to the question of what should be done when a demon transforms into an angel of light. “These seven or eight chapters contain a brief but significant description of the contemplative life, addressed in a very personal manner to a certain monk, whose name is not given, but who is undoubtedly real. His tone is remarkably friendly and warm and, although unambiguous in his demands and recommendations, is addressed to the addressee with respect and approval” [42.T.53.No.2.P.427]. The fifth work of St. Gregory of Sinaite is substantially reminiscent of the previous one, since it touches on similar topics, but with some important additions and features. The Reverend Father commands his disciple to patiently remain in mental prayer, without interrupting “due to painful sadness the mental cry and the continuous affirmation of the mind [in prayer]” [5 V.§1]. Experiencing pain in the head and shoulders, the silent person is obliged to endure it courageously, constantly gathering his mind and “seeking the Lord in his heart with tension and jealousy” [5 V.§1]. The Jesus Prayer should be said either in full, or, “due to the powerlessness of the mind,” half of it [5 V.§2]. The pure and perfect calling of the Lord Jesus is revealed only in the Holy Spirit, therefore, before acquiring His prayer, it is more appropriate to perform the prayer alternately with the mind and lips, since both tend to become exhausted with prolonged exertion. When the mind acquires the skill of standing before God in prayer, clothed in the power of the Spirit, then prayer is performed in it “undividedly and firmly” [5 V.§2], without the need for the sounds of the voice. The mind, not restrained by Divine grace, is characterized by instability and a tendency to spin, but not by nature, but as a result of man’s carelessness since the Fall. Having been separated from God by violating the commandments, man has lost his “rational sense” of God, so that his mind is “always led as a captive” and can only be established in the heart by once again submitting to God, making himself dependent on Him and gaining a joyful feeling of unity with Him [5 V.§3]. “When the action of prayer comes [in the heart], then it will completely keep the mind near itself,” for “thought is not subject to anyone except those who are perfect in the Holy Spirit and who have achieved undistractedness in Christ Jesus” [5 V.§3]. The beginner, being unable to resist the pressure of thoughts that fill his mind during prayer, gets out of the difficulty by diligently invoking the Divine Name. Burnt by invisible fire, they retreat from the weak mind and dissipate for a while. There is another way to combat thoughts, available to those who have not yet acquired the effect of prayer in the heart. Such, imitating the prophet Moses, stand with raised hands and call on God to drive away the invasion of thoughts. However, out of fear, the delusions do not act this way for long, lest the enemy in the meantime seduce them by showing some dreamy image of the truth [5 V.§4]. Regarding psalmody, St. Gregory reproduces the instructions of chapters 6–9 of his Epistle to Niphon. The purpose of singing psalms and hymns is to give some rest to the mind of the silent person, immersed in unceasing mental prayer. Devoting significant time to singing is appropriate for those who spend an active life, not a contemplative one. For the silent person, who has enough strength to abide in God alone, prolonged psalmody brings relaxation of the mind and inappropriate distraction. This is especially true in the case of the self-propelled action of prayer while sitting: one should not then, “leaving God inside,” get up to sing psalmody and “stand and conduct a conversation with Him outside, deviating from the heights to the earthly” [5 V.§5]. Long-term psalmody without measure and continuous engagement in many and varied deeds are a sign of ignorance of the fact that it is prayer that is “the source of virtues, feeding the strength of the soul” [5 V.§5]. Such people only through extreme tension of activity and after a considerable time achieve contemplation and acquire mental presence before God. But even among the Fathers revered by the saints, not everyone had the same measure and adhered to the same method of asceticism. “Many from an active life came to contemplation and stopped all [things], keeping the Sabbath according to the spiritual law... Others were saved by activity until the end [of life], calming down in anticipation of future reward. Some at the time of death were convinced [of salvation] or after death exuded a fragrance as evidence of their salvation,” not being rewarded during life, due to ignorance and captivity of the mind, “mysterious communion with God” [5 V.§5]. Some distinguished themselves with skill both in singing and in prayer, possessing abundant grace even during their lifetime and not encountering any obstacles. Those who remain in silence and sobriety of mind voluntarily choose as the rule of life constant abstinence and observance of strict moderation in everything. This also applies to bodily needs, among which the main one is the need for food. The womb, having a certain and natural power over a person, often becomes a source of stumbling and falling due to excessive pleasing to it. Thanks to the belly, “a collaborator of demons and a receptacle of passions,” man fell from the “first and second Divine dignity” [ 5 V .§6], initially being damaged for gluttony and upon restoration again moving away from God by neglecting the commandment of abstinence. The need for food is determined by the natural strength and force of habit. “However, the silent one must remain hungry every time, without being satisfied,” since a belly weighed down with food darkens the mind, not allowing him to perform prayer “intensely and purely” [5 V.§6]. Under the influence of fumes from the abundance of food taken, the mind tends to sleep, during which it is attacked by “countless fantastic images” [5 V.§6]. The prudent silent person therefore places a limit on the necessary eating of food, avoiding satiety and eating little by little from different foods, in order to thereby also put a barrier to proud conceit about the merits of his abstinence. In the penultimate chapter of the work, the Monk Gregory once again returns to the theme of delusion, the danger of which is so great for the ascetic that he does not find anything surprising in the fact that many who seek God, after diligent work, become victims of seduction. For “the free choice of a person is easily inclined towards community with enemies, especially among inexperienced ones, as those most persecuted by them” [5 V.§7]. “Near and around newcomers and self-willed demons usually deploy networks of thoughts and disastrous dreams... since their [spiritual] city is under the rule of foreigners” [5 V.§7]. Before the purification of passions, “shamelessly and arrogantly” those who strive to “enter God” are easily killed by fallen spirits as “arrogant and impudent in self-exaltation,” becoming “shame and laughter for demons and tears for people” [5 V.§7]. Therefore, the prudent prudence of beginners and the weak consists of reverent flight, when they “with fear avoid combat” with disembodied spirits and, “not venturing into it prematurely, thereby are saved from death” [5 V.§7]. But not only demons rebel against those who preserve the memory of God, imagining in their minds images of saints and angels. “The mind itself has a natural ability to dream... to build images, which it carefully solicits from those who do not pay attention to this and [thus] causes harm to itself” [5 V.§7]. The zealous mind always remains “indignant at dreams,” keeping itself “colorless, formless and formless” [5 V.§7]. Even what is revealed to him by the will of God, he tests with the advice of experienced people, protecting himself from deception in the future and acting thoughtfully in everything. God “is not indignant at the one who, strictly paying attention to himself, in order to avoid delusion, will not accept [signs] from Him without questioning [experienced] and a lot of research, but rather praises him as wise” [5 V.§7]. Beginners, therefore, should seek the advice of wise leaders who have been entrusted with Divine reasoning, or discernment of spirits (cf. 1 Cor. 12:10). A spiritual leader, alien to “what is incompatible with grace... has evidence for activity and its understanding from the Divine Scriptures” [5 V.§7]. Finding such a person is no small task, therefore “one who diligently strives in silence to achieve pure prayer... must go [toward his goal]... in great trembling and sorrow, constantly mourning his own sins, grieving for them and fearing torment, falling away from God and separation [from Him] now and in the future [age]" [5 V.§7]. Mental prayer, free from delusion, is accompanied by warmth, scorching passion and bringing silence and joy to the soul. This warmth does not come from somewhere outside, but “flows into the heart like a source of water from the Life-giving Spirit” [5 V.§7]. It is she who should be the object of search for the silent person, who always keeps his mind completely “naked.” He who does this walks along the “royal path”, is not afraid to call on God in prayer, going through his feat “in obedience with questioning and humility” [5 V.§7] and carefully preserving the three main virtues of the silent person: abstinence, silence and self-abasement. He does not frivolously entrust himself to “images that quickly appear,” but, being “slow,” he accepts the good and rejects the bad, remembering that the demon, “although it changes, cannot arouse meekness, humility, hatred of the world, or the cessation of [carnal] pleasures and passions” [5 V.§7]. Living with reasoning, he “senses the mind” to recognize the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the illusory dreams of Satan. This is the general content of the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, which were included in the Philokalia. It is noteworthy that in its first edition in 1782, in subsequent Greek editions and in the translation of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) published in 1793, the entire collection of five works is placed under the general title Κεφάλαια p)anu_wf)elima, given in the footer field on each page. This incorrectness could be neglected, but perhaps it hides something more than a simple “typographic permission” [42.T.53.No.2.P.427]. The fact is that the third work of St. Gregory, as shown above, was written to the monk Longinus, and the fourth group of chapters was written to Niphon. Therefore, it is quite likely that the remaining chapters were compiled for one of the spiritual associates of the Reverend Father or for one of his disciples. A possible addressee could be the new monk mentioned in the 15th chapter of the Life of St. Gregory, compiled by Patriarch Callistos. When the Sinai ascetic and his disciples first built secluded cells in Paroria, a certain monk Amirali had already settled down here nearby with his disciples, among whom was the above-mentioned Luke, who had previously been a student of St. Gregory on Athos. This monk unexpectedly discovered a strong hostility towards his former teacher, so much so that he even rushed at him with a drawn sword, but was promptly stopped by the Amirali community. Saint Gregory remained completely calm in connection with the incident, without feeling hatred or a desire to take revenge on the unexpected offender. On the contrary, he even expressed joy over what had happened and for the sake of Luke’s spiritual benefit he composed 150 ascetic chapters, “full of active and contemplative [wisdom]” (pr)axewq ka9i yewr)iaq _an)aplea) [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.428]. This disposition caused Luke to repent of his committed act, so that he again joined the ranks of the disciples of St. Gregory and returned to strict asceticism. So, Κεφάλαια p)anu _wf)elima, the number of which is 137, combined with the seven 4Etera kef)alaia and the seven or eight chapters of the last work of St. Gregory Per9i +hsuc)iaq gives a total of 151 or 152 chapters. Combined together, they are quite consistent with the 150 chapters written for the edification of the repentant Luke. So perhaps there is some justice in placing these chapters under the general heading of “very useful.” However, one should not hastily conclude that all of them were written in a short time by the Monk Gregory in the difficult conditions of his first journey to Paroria, since the chapters as a whole contain no less than 20,000 words of Greek text. Probably the Holy Father compiled his works over a number of years and, thanks to chance, handed Luke a copy of his collection, adding several chapters for his immediate spiritual benefit. They could be seven 4Etera kef)alaia, since the last seven or eight chapters on the contemplative life seem unsuitable for the case of Luke, whose behavior indicates his inexperience and perhaps youth; while the last work is addressed to the elder, as evidenced by its text. “Unfortunately, we cannot,” says David Balfour, “identify this group of chapters as Pr9oq Louk6an, which could accurately complete the system of designating addressees (Longinus, Niphon, Luke)” [ 42 .T.53.№2.P.428]. In terms of distinguishability of the titles of the works of St. Gregory, it is appropriate to designate groups of chapters simply by numbers I-V. An alternative, as Balfour suggests, is to use general titles, preferably going back to the author himself, rather than simply the subtitles of the first chapter of each series. In their final form, the common titles may look like this: Κεφάλαια A), 1–137 = Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq Κεφάλαια B), 1–7 = 4Etera kef)alaia Κεφάλαια G), 1–10 = E2idhsiq _akrib9hq pr9oq Logg6inon per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i proseuc6hq Κεφάλαια D), 1–15 = E2idhsiq mikr9a pr9oq N9ifona per9i +hsuc)iaq Κεφάλαια E), 1–8 = (Per9i +hsuc)iaq) 2.2. Translations of works included in the Philokalia The works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, included in the Philokalia, have been known in the original language since the 14th century. Their first translation into the Slavic language was carried out by the outstanding Russian ascetic and elder, the Monk Paisius Velichkovsky, and published by the Moscow Synodal Printing House ten years after the publication of the Greek Filokal)ia, that is, in 1793 [13]. In the next century, two Russian translations of some of the works of the Holy Father also appeared. One of them was made by an unknown author and published in the magazine “Christian Reading” in 1824 [15]. This is a translation of the first work of St. Gregory entitled Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq. In the second half of the 19th century, three works by the Sinai ascetic Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq were published in Russian; Per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i t6wn d)uo tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq; Per9i to6u p6wq de6i kay)ezesyai, translated by the famous ascetic and spiritual writer, St. Theophan the Recluse, and published in the printing house of the Athos Panteleimon Monastery as part of the Russian Philokalia [ 16 ]. Finally, at the beginning of the 20th century, all five works of St. Gregory of Sinaite from the Greek text of the Patrology of Min were again translated into Russian by Bishop Veniamin (Milov), for a long time they were kept in typewritten form in the library of the Moscow Theological Academy [55] and were published by the publishing house of the Moscow Novospassky Monastery in 1999 [14]. The translations presented are not equal in their merit, both in the composition of the works covered and in the quality of the translations themselves. The Monk Paisius (Velichkovsky) defined the principles that guided him in his translation work as follows: “In order to achieve the desired clarity [of Slavic speech], my first duty was to carefully preserve the spelling properly in all words of the singular and plural and not leave a single word without it, unless by mistake or oblivion; in other words, I used that type of translation that is called literal” [Cit. from: 14.P.150]. Excessive literalism in the translation of the Greek text, up to the preservation of cases, the order of Greek words and other features of Greek syntax unchanged in Slavic speech, led to the fact that the Slavic translation of St. Paisius in a number of cases presents a certain difficulty for an adequate understanding of the meaning. Some of the translated passages remain completely incomprehensible unless the original Greek is used. Among them are the following: 1. The origin of the royal right paths, that is, similar to the virtues of malice, disappear from the earth and proceed unsuccessfully [13.§14.C.172]. 2. Wisdom from her breasts in Christ gives warmth to the return [13.§21.C.174]. 3. To have an equivalence to the image existing in Christ will be prenatural deification, then there will be unspeakable suffering [13.§42.C.178]. 4. Horror is a hedgehog for those who have understood and united the magnificent glory of spiritual forces, a perfect exaltation [13.§58.C.180]. 5. They imagine our mind, but even more so they imagine from ourselves and are added by habit to the passions in the soul [13.§71.C.183]. 6. As a rule, Divine grace transforms, to it, and to the akin to non-delusion in those who are able to create [13.§90.C.189]. 7. The most elegant and brief image of the speech about the extremes with the environment of reduction, many having breadth [13.§2.C.215]. The above quotes are impressive due to the obscure phrases characteristic of the Slavic phraseology of St. Paisius. In some cases, following the technique of literal translation, he uses cumbersome speech structures and new words in his translation, such as: mountainous - 2ananteq [ 13 .§118.C.200], natural - fusiologik9oq [ 13 .§127.C.206], other kinship - +h _allhlogenesiourg)ia [ 13 .§13.C.230]. As Bishop Veniamin (Milov) notes, “despite the desire to preserve all the Greek verbal nuances on the pages of the translation, the Monk Paisiy (Velichkovsky) sometimes betrays his translation method. Some Greek expressions are not accurately translated into Slavic. For example, the word diafyare6isa [13.§11.C.171] the monk translates with two verbal participles: “corrupted” and “fallen to corruption”; the expression =Ier)archn 2econteq pr9oq t9hn Tri)ada [13.§43.C.178–179] replaces it with a more complete Slavic phrase: “The Priest in the Trinity is the property of the Intercessor”; words _epiyumhtik9on _ekka)iousi, t9o d9e dianohtik9on sugc)eonteq [ 13 .§72.C.183] assimilates a meaning that does not belong to them: “the desirable is liquefied, the violent is outraged, the verbal is confusing.” Further, _akras)ia [ 13 .§79.C.184] has the meaning of “unbridled”, di9a t9hn _adunam)ian [ 13 .§2.C.235] is expressed in the words: “due to weakness and infancy.” However, the presented examples of some lengthiness of speech are rare exceptions in the Slavic translation under consideration. Usually the Monk Paisiy Velichkovsky is lexically brief. He even often leaves untranslated not only individual Greek words, but also entire phrases and chapters containing the original comments of St. Gregory of Sinaite on the texts of the Holy Scriptures, as well as his speech about wet dreams and the rules for the use of alms by the silent” [14.C.152]. By allowing omissions of individual words and phrases, the Monk Paisius apparently did not act by accident, being guided in such cases by certain ascetic considerations, therefore omissions should not be considered as errors in the translation itself. The actual errors of the Slavic translation are associated to a greater extent with excessive literalism, and in some places with the assimilation of not entirely accurate meanings to Greek terms and inaccurate translation of individual phrases. For example, the concept yewr)ia is conveyed into the Slavic language by the term “godly vision” [13.§57.C.180], _ektar)attwn yolo6i – by the word “outrages” [13.§122.C.202], 2estin \ide6in ginom)enhn – by the word “it happens”, _alhy6wq – by the noun “truth” [ 13.§3.C.216]. The following expressions of St. Gregory of Sinaite are also inaccurately translated: 1. =O f)oboq... e_isagwgik9on ka9i t9on t)eleion... ka9i tr9omon de6i kur)iwq kale6in – There is introductory fear, perfect also anger, and trembling is truly worthy of being called [13.§6.C.218]. 2. Kayaro9i gegon)oteq, t9on _arrab6wna to6u pne)umatoq – Having received Christ through baptism through the betrothal of the Spirit [13.§3.C.222]. Thus, the Slavic translation of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky), although it has a number of shortcomings, still quite accurately conveys the content of the original, retaining, however, a certain difficulty for understanding due to the rare use in our time of the Slavic language itself and the peculiarities of the literal translation technique. Among the translations into Russian, the first in time, as mentioned above, was the St. Petersburg anonymous translation of the first series of 137 chapters of the work Κεφάλαια d_i_akrostic)idoq. Its text, like the previous one, has some errors, as well as major shortcomings. The latter, first of all, should include the translator’s ignorance of patristic terminology and the ascetic terms’ assimilation of arbitrary meanings. So, for example, the concept prosbol)h (adjective) is conveyed by him with the words “tide” [15.§64], “presentation” [15.§65], “suggestion” [15.§76,79]. The term +hsuc)ia (silence) is translated by the words “peace” [15.§83,99,106,107,110,111,113] and “solitude” [15.§104,108]; +hsuc)azwn (silent) – identified with the words “monk” [15.§99], “ascetic of peace” [15.§104], “silent” [15.§113]. The concepts noer9a proseuc9h (mental prayer) and pl)anh (prelest) - correlate with the words “spiritual prayer” [15.§111] and “deception” [15.§123,126]. “Neglecting patristic terminology, the author of the St. Petersburg translation is extremely inaccurate in the translation into Russian of certain commonly used words and expressions. He simultaneously assimilates to the word l)ogoq the meaning of mind and understanding [15.§2], chre)uonteq – widowed – translates by participle “not having at all” [15.§12]; +ol)oklhroq dikaios)unh – whole truth – brings closer to the concept of “complete perfection” [15.§32]; y)ewsiq – deification – sometimes accepted as the concept of “Divinity” [15.§46]; 2erwq and _ag)aph translates with the noun “love” [ 15 .§59], and the expression de6i _apokale6in and the numeral +ept9a erroneously translates with the words “not to be called” and the numeral “five” [ 15 .§3,117]” [ 14 .C.147]. Deviations from exact correspondence to the original in the St. Petersburg Russian text of the work Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq are clearly confirmed by the following comparisons of several Greek quotations with their translation by an anonymous author: 1. Prosbol6hq _ane)ideoq k)inusiq – Imageless representation [15.§67]. 2. E2idoq _aret6hq sumplhro6usin – A form suitable for virtue [15.§84]. 3. 2Aneu penyik6hq _ergas)iaq ka9i polite)iaq – Without heartfelt contrition [ 15 .§108]. 4. Di\ *wn a=i _aforma9i t6wn pay6wn t#6w b)i#w to6iq _ayl)ioiq +hm6in _epeis6hlyon – It is they [fornication and laziness] that give the opportunity for passions to intensify in us [15.§110]. 5. To9uq m9en g9ar l)ogouq, _enta6uya, t9a d9e pr)agmata t6wn musthr)iwn _eke6ise – Here we have the letters of the sacraments, and there is the being [15.§112]. 6. =H _akolas)ia... yol)wsasa t#6w t6wn \indalm)atwn sunousiasm#6w – Aspiration that disturbed the mind with representations of species [ 15 .§131]. “In these passages of the St. Petersburg translation, the translator’s desire to express himself elegantly and concisely is noticeable. For this reason, he incorrectly conveys the content of Greek phrases in Russian. This is a significant flaw, entailing distortion of the original text” [14.C.148]. In the St. Petersburg translation there are also some abbreviations of the text. Its author, in particular, omits chapter 11, which disrupts the correspondence between the chapter numbers of the original and the translation up to chapter 19. To eliminate the resulting discrepancy, the St. Petersburg translator arbitrarily divides chapter 18 into two chapters 17 and 18, thereby filling in one missing chapter. In addition, there are minor abbreviations of individual words and phrases in a number of chapters. Russian translation of three works of St. Gregory of Sinaite Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq; Per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i t6wn d)uo tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq; Per9i to6u p6wq de6i kay)ezesyai, written by St. Theophan the Recluse, is rather a paraphrase of the original text with arbitrary abbreviations and additions made at the initiative of the translator. This is explained by the intention of the great saint to offer a wide circle of believing readers the patristic teaching that is completely understandable. “Our collection,” notes Saint Theophan the Recluse regarding the Dorotolyubiya he translated, “has in mind not mental, but almost exclusively active life” [Cit. from: 14.P.133]. According to Bishop Veniamin (Milov), “satisfying precisely the needs of the believing soul, St. Theophan really gave society in the Russian Philokalia a clear, but at the same time too simplified in content and phraseology, inaccurate translation of the works of St. Gregory. The translation techniques of St. Theophan in handling the original text of the works under consideration are characterized by significant freedom. In the work Per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i t6wn d)uo tr)opwn t6hq proseuc6hq the saint left the entire first chapter completely untranslated. He often presents the thoughts of St. Gregory briefly. In order to maintain the count of 137 chapters in the work Κεφάλαια d_i _akrostic)idoq, he often translates one or two initial phrases of a particular chapter, and the rest is deliberately omitted. Thus, in the discussion of Saint Gregory of Sinai about Eden, Saint Theophan omitted details concerning the vegetation and irrigation of Eden [5 I.§10]. For clarity, he paraphrases the Rev.’s obscure remark about the reasons for the biblical designation of words about things by the term “thoughts” and thoughts by the term “words” [5 I.§66]. The pages of his translation do not contain excerpts from the teachings of St. Gregory about the multi-significant structure of the human body and the laws of bodily activity [5 I.§80–81], about the nature of demons and their relationship to people [5 I.§123] and the philosophical characteristics of the “divine orator, philosopher, scribe” [5 I.§118]” [14 .P.134–135]. In an effort to simplify the thought of St. Gregory, St. Theophan in a number of cases deviates from the literal translation of the Greek text of his works and, preserving only the general meaning of a particular chapter, presents it either in an abbreviated form, or in words and concepts different from the Russian equivalents of Greek words and expressions. In this regard, the accuracy of the translation of St. Theophan, in contrast to the translation of St. Paisius Velichkovsky, suffers from complete oblivion of the literal method, and the translation itself is replete with various deviations from the original text. These are the following examples of the latter: 1. L)hyh g9ar t9hn ye)ian _ex _arc6hq mn)hmhn _ap)wlese [ 5 I .§17] – Oblivion of God destroys us [ 16 .C.183]. 2. Kur)iwq d)uo e\isin _en pne)umati _ekstatiko9i 2erwteq [ 5 I .§59] – There are two types of frenzy in the spirit [ 16 .P.190]. 3. T9a +up)arconta yel)hmata [ 5 I .§83] – Desires [ 16 .C.195]. 4. To9uq k)opouq g9ar _ente6uyen ka9i to9uq t)upouq o_u t9aq _aret9aq kur)iwq _energo6umen ka9i _apolamb)anomen [ 5 I .§92] – The largest part of us only have certain similarities of virtues, and not their very essence [ 16 .C.198]. 5. S)ugcusin m9en t#6w no)i, y)olwsin d9e t#6h diano)i#a [ 5 I .§105] – [Passion] clouds the mind, darkens the heart [ 16 .C.202]. 6. O_ud\ _eme6in a8ima dunhye)ih pot9e [ 5 I .§125] – [Leech] insatiable [ 16 .C.211]. In some places, Saint Theophan deliberately allows repetitions or additions, trying to comment on any of the statements of the Holy Father that seemed difficult to understand to him. So, for example, regarding the short Greek phrase O_uc9i na6uta pr)axeiq e_is9in [ 5 IV .§2] he gives his own lengthy explanation: “We do not assert this, but the fact that, in addition to an active life, mental activity is also required, without which it is impossible to succeed in prayer” [ 16 .P.230]. He also owns the following remark, which is not confirmed in the text of the original [5 V.§2]: “[One must say] either Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, or change [these words] and say [another part of the Jesus Prayer]” [16.C.217]. “Along with arbitrary additions to the text in the translation, there are many sentences with incorrect placement of words that remain with the Slavic construction of speech, allowing one to reinterpret the true meaning of the content of many chapters of the works of St. Gregory the Sinaite” [14.C.140]. The following quotes can be cited in support: 1. I exist in a smart place for the people of thoughts and thoughts [ 16 .C.203] – 2Oclou 2ontoq nohm)atwn ka9i logism6wn _en t#6w kat9a di)anoian t)op#w [ 5 I .§108]. 2. [Man] acquired a certain kind of material fatness, calving according to rank and action, with which he was effectively qualified [ 16 .P.211] – =Ulik)hn tina pac)uthta $ekastoq k)ekthtai, kat9a t9hn t)axin 5h _en)ergeian swmato)umenoq, o8u _eneg6wn pepo)iwtai [ 5 I .§123]. 3. Madness is more than virtue, which seems to have such in self-delusion [ 16 .C.237] – \Ap)onoian m)allon 5h _aret9hn dok6wn _hp)athta [ 5 IV .§15]. Translating the works of various holy fathers, including the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, Saint Theophan quite often introduced into the text outdated words, Slavicisms and new word formations, which he often composed himself. These features of his translations probably should not be classified as errors. They emphasize the originality of the translator’s language and give a special flavor to his translations, since every translation, even a fundamentally literal one, bears the stamp of the author’s creative approach. We can highlight the following examples of the word creation of Saint Theophan: =ierourg9oq [ 5 I .§7] – priest [ 16 .C.181], chre)uonteq _ek Yeo6u [ 5 I .§12] – widowed by God [ 16 .C.182], +h +arm)onia [ 5 I .§41] – restoration [ 16 .C.188], kumatoum)enh [ 5 I .§64] – excited [ 16 .C.191], +h gennhtik9h t6wn pay6wn _epikr)ateia [ 5 I .§73] – passionate region [ 16 .C.192], _anyrwpar)eskeia [ 5 I .§79] – word of mouth [ 16 .C.193], gal)hnh [ 5 I .§84] – silence [ 16 .C.196], nark6wsan [ 5 I .§105] – stupefying [ 16 .C.202], fy)eggesyai [ 5 I .§117] – speaking [ 16 .C.206], _an)atasin [ 5 I .§118] – grief prostrate [ 16 .C.207], +ujopoi9oq [ 5 I .§120] – highly creative [ 16 .C.209], 2enedran [ 5 I .§131] – cutting off [ 16 .C.214], b)ian [ 5 IV .§14] – need [ 16 .C.236], o_ikeiws)amenoq [ 5 V .§3] – acquired [ 16 .C.224]. The Russian translation of the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, undertaken by Bishop Veniamin (Milov), is based on the study of the three translations described above, is largely free from their shortcomings and best meets the requirements of a scientific approach. Its author avoids the mistakes of too literal transmission of the original, skillfully translating its vocabulary and conveying the meaning in accordance with the requirements of the grammar and syntax of the Russian language, and at the same time does not allow excessive liberties in handling the original text, trying, if possible, to offer the exact meaning of individual words, phrases and sentences. Unlike previous translators, Bishop Benjamin, for greater clarity of content, provides his translation with explanatory or implied words, which he places in square brackets. In his translation, the author also pays due attention to the accuracy of the terminology adopted in Orthodox ascetic literature, and, among other things, distinguishes the meaning of the Greek words 2erwq (jealousy) and _ag)aph (love), preserves the nuances of the meanings of the words logism)oq (thought) and 2ennoia (thought), reproduces special ascetic meanings of a number of terms: n)hjiq - sobriety, pl)anh - charm, prosbol)h – preposition, +hsuc)ia – silence, +h noer9a proseuc)h – mental prayer, sk)irthma – leaping. 2.3. “Word on the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord” [DT] 2.3.1. Handwritten script Until recently, it was believed that the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite were limited to five well-known works that were included in the Greek Philokalia and later in the Patrology of Min. This statement remained true until 1981, when the previously unknown work of St. Gregory entitled “LOGOS EIS THN AGIAN METAMORFWSIN TOU KURIOU HMWN IHSOU CRISTOU” (“Word on the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ”) was first published in the periodical theological publication Yeolog)ia. The first critical edition of the text of this work, with commentary and translation into English, was carried out by the works of patrolologist David Balfour, a tireless researcher of the patristic heritage in its handwritten originals. The indicated work of the Holy Father was discovered by him in the library of the Great Lavra of Holy Mount Athos, in a manuscript of the 15th century (K6wd. Meg)isthq La)uraq 1201 (I 17) §2, ie0 a\i6wnoq, f. 19–32) [6.P.631]. The manuscript is a collection in which the “Sermon on the Transfiguration” of St. Gregory, after some hymnographic material, is located second among ten titles from three Words and seven Lives of saints. It is preceded by the Word of St. John of Damascus on the same topic and of the same considerable length. The manuscript containing the work of the Sinai ascetic under study is written in a clean and fairly legible handwriting, but in a number of places it is damaged by dampness, which, however, is not a significant obstacle to reading the text. The word is written in black ink, its title and the first letters of the chapters are written in red. The text is arranged in one column with 27 lines on each page, and is written on Italian ivory paper. The size of each sheet is 180x140 mm. The total number of sheets is 315 [6.P.634]. 2.3.2. Structure and content of the Word “The Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord” by St. Gregory of Sinaite is “a work quite scattered in composition, remarkable more for its flashes of brilliant phraseology and its unrelenting inspiration than for its logical disclosure [of the topic] and clarity of presentation” [6.P.634]. An interesting and attractive feature of this work lies, perhaps, in the fact that it preaches a doctrine that was gaining strength immediately before the start of the general church discussion about the nature and communicability of Divine energies at the councils of the second quarter of the 14th century, in which St. Gregory Palamas was an active participant. According to available historical data, the Monk Gregory of Sinai was not involved in this controversy, although he was indeed a principled supporter and guide to the life of this theological teaching and the underlying method of mental prayer and a contemporary of the beginning of the heated debate that flared up. It is noteworthy that the polemical fervor and sharp attacks against opponents, characteristic of the writings of the participants in the polemics, are completely absent in the measured and balanced speech of the Reverend Father. Unlike his contemporary, St. Gregory Palamas, St. Gregory of Sinaite “is not an apologist who defends the monastic method of prayer and develops a system of theology to justify it” [6.P.632]. In his ascetic works, the Sinai ascetic simply expounds the doctrine of prayer to his obedient disciples, while maintaining a strict, befitting teacher of spiritual life, but at the same time calm tone. And this composure and tranquility of the narrative, resting on the undoubted confidence in the correctness of what was achieved through a long and careful spiritual feat, again and again permeate the content of his “Word on the Transfiguration of the Lord.” St. Gregory begins his speech with an appeal addressed, as follows from the first two paragraphs, to those initiated into the secrets of the inner spiritual life, to ascetics who have succeeded in fulfilling the Divine commandments and have reached that measure of purity when its bearers “with an open face, like a mirror, reflect [in themselves] the vision of the majestic glory of [the Divine and] are transformed into the [true] image of their own nature” (t9hn y)ean t6hq megaloprepo6uq d)oxhq _anakekalumm)en#w pros)wp#w katoptriz)omenoi t9hn +eaut6wn t6hq f)usewq metamorfo)umenoi) [ 6 DT .§1 1–3 ]. Having reached the heights of spiritual life by transforming the mind “from the carnal to the spiritual” (_ap9o sark9oq e\iq pne6uma t9on no6un metamorf)wsanteq), raising one’s own perception “from the lowlands of sensuality, from [everything] imaginary and from the appearance of the fleeting world” (_ap9o t6hq t6wn a\isyht6wn cyamal)othtoq ka9i _ap9o t6hq fantas)iaq ka9i _epifane)iaq t6wn skedast6wn), they are invited to the “mental mountain of contemplation” (t9o 2oroq t9o noht9on t6hq yewr)iaq) [ 6 DT .§1 5–8 ] in order to insubstantially and diligently explore the peak of the sublime Tabor and fix your gaze on Jesus shining on it, approach this Light and “with the eye of the mind in close proximity” (diano)iaq 2ommati _egg)uyen _am)eswq), as far as possible, see the lordship of the feast of the Transfiguration and the magnificent glory of “the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth... eternal light and Divine radiance” (Monogeno6uq par9a Patr9oq, pl)hrhq c)aritoq ka9i _alhye)iaq... _àid)iou fwt9oq ka9i ye)iaq a2iglhq) [ 6 DT .§1 10,14–15 ]. Such an inspired invitation to ascend the divine mountain of admiration and, in the community of the three chosen disciples of the Lord, the apostles Peter, James and John, to enjoy “the glory of the shining light of Jesus there” (t9hn d)oxan t6hq fwtolampo6uq _eke6ise fwtocus)iaq to6u \Ihso6u) [ 6 DT .§2 18 ] involuntarily sets the listener up to expect to learn the sublime secrets of contemplation and touch the depths of supersensible comprehension [6 DT.§2 23–24]. “However, instead of telling his listeners his personal spiritual experience as a seer, the Monk Gregory launches into a lengthy exegetical exposition, comparing the theophany given to Moses and Elijah in the Old Testament with two events of the New Testament, namely: the Transfiguration and the Second Coming” [ 6 .P.634–635]. Therefore, most of the subsequent narrative represents a continuous quotation of Holy Scripture and symbolic exegesis of those passages that describe these events in biblical history. St. Gregory uses the exegetical background, apparently deliberately, so that the presentation of the mystical experience of contemplation is not of an abstract nature, but is based on Divine Revelation and emphasizes the essential side of genuine and unadulterated contemplation as participation in the triumph of the Divine Transfiguration, an event historical and at the same time timeless, the participants of which are the historically incompatible Moses and Elijah and “all who have loved [spiritual] visions.” ($apantaq... filoye)amonaq) [ 6 DT .§2 20 ], regardless of the time of their earthly life. Actually, the triumph of the Transfiguration on Tabor lies at the basis of all Old and New Testament theophanies, as a diverse revelation of Divine grace that accomplishes the Economy of salvation for the faithful. It remains the subject of an exhausting search, reverent contemplation and blissful participation of ancient and new ascetics and essentially reveals itself in the Transfiguration of the Lord. Therefore, this holiday, first of all, “[is] related to the [Old Testament] Law and [appears in it] hidden” (+h... 2esti nomik9h ka9i ski)wdhq), through terrible and unbearable images (fober9a ka9i 2astektoq) mysteriously hinting at the truth (t9hn _al)hyeian a\inittom)enh) [ 6 DT .§3 27–29 ]. Its second meaning lies in the symbolic confirmation of the guarantee of mental and spiritual change, which takes place, presumably, in the souls of successful ascetics (t9hn pneumatik)hn te ka9i jucik9hn _allo)iwsin +wq _en _arrab6wni) [6 DT.§3 29–30]. The third side of the holiday reveals to the contemplator the image and glory of Christ, Who is the Prototype and Prototype of spiritual perfection and the fullness of grace-filled gifts, expressing His “essential natural property and beauty” (7hyoq te 2on fusik9on ka9i k)alloq) [ 6 DT .§3 31]. Finally, the most sublime understanding of the feast of the Transfiguration is contained in the revelation of the “Divine and intelligent, eternal radiance” (+h ye)ia ka9i noht9h _a?idioq 2ellamjiq), in which at the end of times God will be seen saved face to face, standing in the assembly of the blessed gods and kings who are present with Him, surrounded by saints and distributing dignities and images prosperity of eternal bliss (_en m)es#w ye6wn +estwt6wn ka9i basil)ewn... +est9wq k)ukl#w +ag)iwn... diair6wn t9aq _ax)iaq ka9i prokop9aq t6hq _eke6ise makari)othtoq) [ 6 DT .§3 35–36]. Thus, the fourfold splendor of the triumph of the Transfiguration is revealed in two theophany, the first of which is a spiritual prototype of the second, more perfect one. We are talking about two ancient God-seers and prophets Moses and Elijah, each of whom was honored with the contemplation of God during his earthly life and, by Divine wave, centuries later appeared on Tabor before the transfigured Christ. St. Gregory compares what these prophets saw in ancient times with the New Testament theophany on the Mount of Transfiguration. Thus, the darkness into which Moses entered prefigured the light of the Transfiguration, which exceeds the strength of human nature; Mount Horeb, which Elijah climbed, symbolized Tabor, the mountain of “the coming mental Trinity, Divine and exalted glory” (to6u m)ellontoq nohto6u ka9i triadiko6u ka9i ye)iou $ujouq t6hq d)oxhq); and the storm and horrors related to the Divine radiance of the Word of God (t6hq yeandrik6hq _astrap6hq) [6 DT.§4 43]. In the Old Testament theophany, the formidable and powerful God appeared “in the fire, in the midst of tongues of flame and lightning, to the piercing sounds of trumpets, to the shaking blows of thunder and the noise of fire” p)atagoi ka9i pur9oq br)omoq), inflicting threats and great horrors on peoples for the sake of showing how unworthy and imperfect their dignity and structure were, how “unbearable and unapproachable His blessed essence” (t9o 2astekton ka9i _apr)ositon t6hq makar)iaq o_us)iaq a_uto6u) [ 6 DT .§4 43–44,47 ]. Therefore, Aaron, Hur and Joshua and the entire people of Israel were forced to remain at the foot of the smoking Mount of Revelation, as still unable to endure the intolerable effects of fire and darkness [6 DT.§6 87–89]. Now the same God shone on Tabor “in the God-primary light and trisian brilliance” (_en fwt9i yearcik#6w ka9i a2igl#h trissofae6i) and appeared “loving mankind and benevolent to us” (filanyr)wpwq +hm6in... ka9i a\is)iwq), talking with His companions Moses and Elijah and illuminating His disciples with “rays of goodness and showers of the Divine” (_akt6inaq _agay)othtoq ka9i _astrap9aq ye)othtoq) [ 6 DT .§4 53.51]. But even the chosen disciples of the Lord, as not yet completely purified, were “not able to bear His intolerable Divinity” (t9o 2astekton a_uto6u t6hq ye)othtoq o_uk _hd)unanto f)erein), while “the best of the chosen [from] the Law turned out [in comparison with them] to be the strongest and most exalted” (t6hn _egkr)itwn _eke6ise o=i n)omoi pr)okritoi _iscur)oteroi ka9i +ujhl)oteroi) [ 6 DT .§4 54.56 ]. However, the “mysteries for adoption” approved by God (o=i t6hq u=ioyes)iaq... mustagwgo9i) exceed the strength of all people, although sometimes economically “they are depicted as weak due to imperfection” (k1an _asyene6iq di9a t9o _atel9eq _ede)icyhsan) of those to whom they are addressed [ 6 DT .§4 57 ]. Therefore, despite the apparent superiority of Moses and Elijah, one should not conclude that they are superior to the apostles. Although they succeeded in becoming more like God than other men of the Law (t6wn d9e telewt)erwn +ap)antwn to6u n)omou yeoeid)esteroi), still the “spirit of slavery” (pne6uma doule)iaq) remained in them, and only later were they adopted as sons in Christ, “having received in hope what the sons of God have in Christ thanks [spiritual] rebirth (_ep\ _elp)idi l)aconteq, o8uper o=i u=io9i Yeo6u _en Crist#6w di9a t6hq _anagenn)hsewq) being from an infant state enriched by this adoption as their property and heritage (nipi)oyen a_ut9hn perious)ian ka9i klhron t9hn u=ioyes)ian peplouthk)oteq)” [ 6 DT .§4 62–64 ]. St. Gregory reminds us under what conditions the great prophets who appeared at Tabor were honored to see God in the Old Testament. Moses was called to be the first to ascend to Horeb, to enter into the darkness and into the clouds, to receive the Law on tablets of stone and the Divine command to establish statutes and erect the Tabernacle of Revelation [ 6 DT .§5 62–63]. And all the visions shown to him on the mountain of darkness were presented by God as prototypes of “His Transfiguration”, as a “predestination and example of parenting” for salvation (t6hq +eauto6u metamorf)wsewq... par)edeixe ka9i... procar)agmata ka9i t)upon paidagwg)iaq) [ 6 DT .§6 99–100]. The Prophet Elijah was also forced by Divine notification to hasten on a long journey, to ascend Mount Horeb and witness great signs in the form of “a strong wind, crushing those who adhere to silence” (pne6uma... kratai9on... t6hq suntrib6hq t6wn per9i +hsuc)iaq e\isagom)enwn), “a shaking of the heart and a strong flame purification" (susseism9on kard)iaq ka9i p9ur kayartik9on t hq dun)amewq) and, in conclusion, “the quiet breath of flowing light in which God becomes super-essentially comprehended through communion with Him” (a2uran... lept9hn fwt9oq ye)wmenoq, 2enya Ye9oq +uperous)iwq _en metous)iaq +hm6in kay)istatai gn)wrimoq) [ 6 DT .§5 71–74 ]. And so both great prophets, unexpectedly for themselves, one “from the assembly of the dead, and the other as if from Heaven” (t9on m9en... _ek nek)adwn, t9on d9e +wq _ex o_urano6u), supersensibly appeared before Christ. The Monk Gregory is of the opinion that the meek legislator Moses had on the Mount of Transfiguration “a ghostly appearance - visible, but not essential, so that [his] body was present there only in appearance” (sumbolik9on e7ice t9o e7idoq _en c)ariti +o pra)otatoq Mw~us6hq ka9i o_uk o_usi6wdeq... &hn t9o s6wma kat9a t9hn _epif)aneian) [ 6 DT .§5 79.83–84 ]. Seeing the One of the Holy Trinity incarnate and “clothed in impregnable light” (t#6w _apros)it#w fwt9i memorfwm)enon), contemplating His shining glory, Moses rejoiced and rejoiced, seeing “all the representative symbols of the Law fulfilled” (p)anta to6u n)omou s)umbola _ekbebhk)ota) [ 6 DT .§8 129,130]. Here the Monk Gregory of Sinai, as if an eyewitness to the events described, depicts the inner state and experiences of the great prophets of the Old Testament, for whom participation in the Transfiguration of the Lord was no less a revelation than for His apostles. Undoubtedly contemplating in the Spirit what was happening on Tabor, the Monk Gregory notes that special joy and jubilation that gripped the Old Testament righteous at the sight of “The Truth itself, which has already come and spread [everywhere] Its light” (t9hn _al)hyeian a_ut9hn... _elyo6usan 2hdh ka9i dial)amjasan) [ 6 DT .§8 134 ]. Then Moses “in trembling amazement and fear” (te met\ _ekpl)hxewq ka9i d)eouq) turned to Christ with some secret words, foreshadowing His outcome, which He intended to bring to fulfillment through free suffering in Jerusalem” (tin9a mustik9a t#6w Crist#6w... diwm)ilei, ka9i t9hn 2exodoq a_uto6u, 5hn 2emelle plhro6un di9a p)ayouq _en =Ierousal9hm, prol)egwn) [ 6 DT .§8 131–133 ]. And the fiery Elijah, “amazed at the incredible spectacle and their timeless assembly” (t#6w paradox#6w t6hq y)eaq ka9i _acr)onou sunele)usewq _ekplage)iq), “wanted to sharpen his jealousy against the disobedient, but was restrained by great joy that overcame his anger” (t9on z6hlon... kat9a t6wn _apeito)untwn y)hgein _hbo)uleto m)en, kate)iceto d9e t6hq car6aq t9on yum9on _eknik)wshq) [ 6 DT .§9 137–139 ]. The appearance of Moses and Elijah in the presence of the transfigured Christ was a silent refutation of those assumptions that hovered among the Jewish people about the origin and dignity of the appeared Messiah. To show the disciples that “He is not one of those whom He was considered [by the people]” (o_uk 2estin _ex *wn a_uto9i +upel)ambanon), “but is the God of the Law and the Prophets” (_all\ a_ut)oq _esti n)omou ka9i profht6wn Ye9oq) [ 6 DT .§7 122 ], the Lord presented “this light appearance on the mountain... exposing before them a weak ray of His Divinity" (t9hn fwtof)aneian a_ut9hn _en t#6w 2orei... ka9i _amudr9an _akt6ina ye)othtoq paragumn6wn a_uto6iq) [ 6 DT .§7 110,111 ] and foreshadowing the splendor of the future the glory of the general Resurrection and the beauty of His incarnation. For St. Gregory, the light of the Transfiguration is the revelation of the Divine dignity of the incarnate Son of God, who “by goodness appeared inexplicably, desiring to save humanity” (di\ _agay)othta _epifane9iq parad)oxwq, s6wsai boul)omenoq t9o _anyr)wpinon) [ 6 DT .§7 124]. “As God, He reveals Himself, shining like lightning, with outpourings of light” (+wq m9en Ye9oq _apastr)ajaq fwtocus)iaiq _emfa)inetai), “and as a person, He is recognizable, [being] accessible to vision, one with the prophets, through the flesh” (+wq d9e 2anyrwpoq met9a t6wn profht6wn di9a sark9oq e8iq gnwr)izetai yewro)umenoq) [ 6 DT .§7 114–115 ]. This Divine Word is not only God, but God and man – “the Giver of the Law and the Spokesman through the Law” (n)omou dot9hr ka9i lal6wn _en n)om#w), “formatively visible and contemplated in truth” (sumbolik6wq +or)wmenoq ka9i _alhye)i#a _optan)omenoq), “invisible in nature [by the Divine] and tangible in the light(f)usei _a)oratoq ka9i _en fwt9i kayor)wmenoq) essentially communicated for the sake of [His] love for mankind and contained through purity (ka9i o_usiwd6wq di9a filanyrwp)ian metec)omenoq ka9i cwro)umenoq di9a kayar)othtoq)", "The source of goodness and the abyss of light, both by [the excess of] goodness and thanks to [Its] radiance" (phg9h _agay)othtoq ka9i fwt9oq 2abussoq... t9o m9en di\ _agay)othta, t9o d9e di9a t9hn lampr)othta), "the existing Light and called [With light] above reason and reason” (f6wq @wn ka9i kalo)umenoq +up9er a\it)ian ka9i l)ogon) [ 6 DT .§6 101–106]. The transfiguration of the incarnate Lord in the face of the apostles and accompanied by the ancient prophets was prepared from the beginning of the century through many different views through Revelation (_ekfantorik#6w d9e e2idei kat9a pol)utropon yewr)ian... _#wkonomhtai) [ 6 DT .§10 140 ]. And just as the Old Testament theophanies served as a symbol of the Transfiguration, so the participants in the Transfiguration itself reveal the image and sacrament of the “super-infinite Trinity Godhead” (t9hn +uper)apeiron triadik9hn yearc)ian) [ 6 DT .§10 150]. The meekness of the long-suffering Moses and the zeal of Elijah symbolize the two natures of the Son of God, inseparably and inseparably conjugated in one Person, and “together with Jesus, the prophets depict the Trinity Itself Hypostasis, [hiddenly] existing in Three [Persons], but revealing [Itself] as a Unit” (o=i prof6htai... t9hn Tri)ada a_ut9hn +upostatik6wq s9un t#6w \Ihso6u +wq tritt9hn o7usan ka9i m)ian +upemfa)inousan) [ 6 DT .§10 145–146 ]. Also, “the number and image of the three disciples undoubtedly depict the [Divine] Trinity, which has already revealed itself and testified to itself by [apostolic] preaching” throughout the world (t6wn tri6wn mayht6wn +o _ariym9oq ka9i t)upoq t9hn Tri)ada... paro6usan 2hdh ka9i marturoum)enhn di a_ut6wn _en k)osm#w khr)uttein _ed)hlou) [ 6 DT .§11 151–152 ]. The significant symbolism seen by the Monk Gregory in the Tabor light appearance and its eyewitnesses poses the question: why didn’t the Lord take all the disciples with Him, but only a few? The answer to it precedes the description of the very event of the Transfiguration of the Lord, borrowed by the Venerable Father from the Gospel testimonies of the holy apostles: only the chosen ones from the 12 ascended Tabor with Jesus, because “even then there was a certain difference in them in knowledge, faith, deed and love, although there is one grace of the Spirit” (_epeid(h... ka9i _en _eke6inoq +up6hrce diafor9a kat9a ge gn)wmhn ka9i p)istin ka9i k)opon ka9i _ag)aphn, k5an m)ia &hn +h c)ariq to6u Pne)umatoq), who gave each of them “different talents” (diafor9a... t9a car)ismata) [ 6 DT .§12 164–166]. Paraphrasing in his own words what happened on Tabor, the Monk Gregory pays special attention to the impact of the uncreated light of the Transfiguration on the apostles of Christ. “Thrown into amazement and captivated by [this] Divine light” (2ekplhktoi d9e... gen)omenoi t#6w nò9i ka9i t#6w ye)i#w fwt9i k)atocoi gegon)oteq), they fell to the ground, and when they woke up, they were as if “in a frenzy of mind and intoxication of the spirit” (_ap9o t6hq to6u no9oq _ekst)asewq ka9i m)eyhq) [ 6 DT .§12 170,177 ]. Their mind, being absorbed in the ineffable light, becomes separated from the world of things and is deprived of sensory perception of its relations sc)esewn), and “the Lord calms the feelings themselves with the light of [His] power” (t9aq d9e a\isy)hseiq... _amauro6i t#6w fwt9i t6hq dun)amewq). With this “light He separates the mind from the feelings, and the feelings from the relations of the world, makes the mind captured by Divine jealousy 2erwti), so that he constantly drives away all attachment to sensory [objects delivered] through the sensory perception of the surrounding world ($olhn $oshn 2ecei, +o no6uq pr9oq t9a a\isyht9a di9a t6wn a\isy)hsewn prosp)ayeian _apwyo)umenoq)" [ 6 DT .§13 179–184]. The state of admiration that visited the three apostles at the hour of the Transfiguration is the reward of all zealous ascetics, who keep a constant and warm memory of God in a heart cleansed from passions. For such, it is also “the guarantee of eternal bliss in another world” (_arrob(wn t6hq _eke6ise _àid)iou makari)othtoq), when the worthy “will be transformed into only light and glory, becoming unchangeable (_en +en9i fwt9i ka9i d)ox#h metamorfwy6wmen diaiwn)izonteq), thanks to the light will become snow-white on the top of the spiritual Selmon, the mountain of the world that surpasses the understanding, singing with joy to God (_en Selm((w pne)umatoq t6hq +up9er no6un e\ir)hnhq fwt9i cionwy6wmen 2anwyen... pericore)uwmen m)elponteq)" [ 6 DT .§17 211–215 ]. The further narration in the “Word on the Transfiguration” takes the form of a lengthy monologue, as if continuing the Gospel words of God the Father, which came from the cloud that overshadowed the apostles: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 17:5). This loud proclamation of God the Father from the midst of the “shining cloud” (_ek fwtolampo6uq nef)elhq) [ 6 DT .§18 221] can be considered as a kind of answer to the prayer request of the Lord Jesus Christ: glorify Me, Father, with You, with the glory that I had with You before the world was (John 17:5). The Father’s glorification of the Son sounds in the Word in the first person, borrowing material mainly from Holy Scripture: “This is My Beloved Son, the Only Begotten (O8ut)oq _estin +o U=i)oq mou +o _agapht)oq, +o monogen(hq), who was transformed on Tabor this day according to humanity (+o metamorfwye9iq _en t#6w Yab(wr s)hmeron kat9a t9o _anyr)wpinon)... the true image of My Hypostasis, the radiance of My glory (cf. Heb. 1, 3), the unchangeable reflection of my super-essence (+o carakt(hr t6hq _em6hq +upost)asewq, t9o _apa)ugasma t6hq _em6hq d)oxhq, +h _apar)alaktoq t6hq _em6hq +uperousi)othtoq e\ik(wn)... My mighty hand and My almighty right hand (cf. Isa. 53:1)... My hypostatic Wisdom and Power (1 Cor. 1:24)" (+o _em9oq kratai9oq brac)iwn ka9i +h _em(h pantokratorik(h dex)ia... +h _enup)ostatoq _em(h sof)ia ka9i d)unamiq) [ 6 DT .§18 223–227 ]. The appearance of the Son of God on earth in the form of a man became the revelation of God the Father to the world. In the Son the Father was glorified, who through the Son “enlightened and renewed the world” (t9on k)osmon _ef)wtisa ka9i _an)eplasa) [ 6 DT .§18 230]. The natural relationship of the Son to the Father is expressed by St. Gregory in the categories of causality, emphasizing Their hypostatic properties and understood “divinely” (yeoprep6wq): “He is the Born Light, I am the Unborn... He is the Word [Who was] in the beginning, and God from the beginning - before the ages (A_ut9oq t9o gennht9on f6wq, _eg(w t9o _ag)ennhton... a_utoq +o _en _arc#6h L)ogoq ka9i pr9o t6wn a\i)wnwn _en _arc#6h Ye9oq). I am the Beginning of the Beginning and the Father of the Word and the super-existent Mind, above [any] mind (\Eg(w t6hq _arc6hq _arc(h ka9i to6u L)ogou Pat(hr ka9i no6uq +o +up9er no6un +upero)usioq). He is Light, I am the Source of Light. He is Life, I am the Cause of Life" (a_utoq t9o f6wq, _eg(w to6u fwt9oq +h phg)h: a_ut9oq +h zw)h, _eg(w t6hq zw6hq a\it)ia) [ 6 DT .§18 239–242 ]. The action of the Father in the world is accomplished in the Son, has the meaning of providing for the world and saving the world, communicates the true knowledge of the Father, revealed in the light of His glory (_en t#6w fwt9i t6hq d)oxhq a_uto6u), while the Father Himself remains at the same time the Light, unapproachable (t9o _apr)ositon f6wq) in its super-essence for the creature [ 6 DT .§18 248 ]. The acquisition of Divine gnosis is carried out not on the path of intellectual work of the mind, but through likeness in spirit to the incarnate Son and through His indwelling in those who do the will of the Father (di9a t(hn m)orfwsin... di9a t(hn _eno)ikhsin). The fullness of knowledge will be revealed only in the future century thanks to the complete perfection and deification of the saved (di9a t(hn tele)iwsin... ka9i t(hn _eke6iyen y)ewsin) [ 6 DT .§18 249–250]. The economy of the Son of God in the history of the world continues with the action of the Divine Spirit, with whose coming, in fact, the direct vision and knowledge of God in the Trinity was revealed. St. Gregory of Sinaite, in traditional terminology, expounds the doctrine of the unity of the Holy Trinity and the unity of the Divine Hypostases, calls the procession from the Father the personal property of the Holy Spirit, and expresses the participation of the Spirit in the Economy of salvation with the concepts of new creation and perfection (kainourge6in ka9i telesiourge6in) [6 DT.§18 256]. The revelation of the Father and the Son is given in the Spirit, according to dignity, to those whom the Father wills and attracts, and is metaphorically expressed in the mutual discovery and coexistence of mind, word and spirit in the nature of man pne)umati) [ 6 DT .§18 274 ]. Man, according to the thought of St. Gregory, has a mind, a word and a spirit, identical in nature and inseparable in essence (o_usiwd6wq kay\ +up)ostasin no6un ka9i l)ogon ka9i pne6uma +omofu6h ka9i _adia)ireta k)ekthtai) [ 6 DT .§20 304]. The listed components of human nature can be designated as hypostatic due to their personal nature and direct relationship to the human hypostasis. On the other hand, they are consubstantial due to natural unity and have a certain relationship to the Divine Word. Not existing outside the Word (_ekt9oq to6u L)ogou), the mind, word and spirit, nevertheless, in the way of being and essence (t#6w trop#6w t6hq +up)arxewq ka9i t6hq o_us)iaq) are different from the Word of God, while remaining incomprehensibly associated with Him thanks to the participation of His creative energy [ 6 DT .§20 307,308]. The unity of mind, word and spirit in man allows us to denote them by the general concept l)ogoq, which conveys the essential specificity of these properties of human nature, their joint action or participation in a single action. St. Gregory counts 12 types of detection of this action, which is always, moreover, threefold in itself: first, the word is born from the mind and spirit (pr6wton m9en genn6atai _ek no9oq ka9i to6u pne)umatoq), then it is discussed, subjected to comprehension, and thus brought into connection with the mind and spirit (e7ita boule)uetai logiz)omenoq ka9i diat)iyetai met9a to6u no9oq ka9i to6u pne)umatoq) [ 6 DT .§21 320 ]. This circulation of the word demonstrates its difference from the mind and spirit and at the same time its natural identity with them, and in this sense serves as one of the images of the hypostatic unity of the Holy Trinity. In addition, l)ogoq occurs, is collected, drawn, sent, given, spoken, heard, seen, known and is (pro)ercetai, sunt)iyetai, gr)ajetai, p)empetai, d)idotai, l)egetai, _ako)uetai, +or6atai, gnwr)izetai, fanero6utai) [ 6 DT .§21 321–323]. Used here as a synthetic concept that unites mind, word and spirit, l)ogoq symbolizes the consubstantiality of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and its manifold action is comparable to the uncreated energy of the Divine, common to the Three Persons and manifesting itself in the diversity of creation and industry in the world. The energy of the Life-Giving Trinity is at the same time the energy of the Word of God, which “always occurs providentially and mysteriously for the sake of our salvation” (e\iq t(hn +hm6wn... swthr)ian _ae9i pronohtik6wq te ka9i mustik6wq pro)ercetai) [ 6 DT .§21 328–329 ]. Bearing the imprint of the personal participation of the Second Hypostasis, this eternal energy is thus symbolized by l)ogoq in its irreducibility to mind and spirit, remaining always equal to itself (pantaco6u... ta_ut9on), endowed with mind, living and active (2ennoun ka9i z6wnta ka9i _energ9on) [ 6 DT .§21 326]. Following anthropological comparisons in the doctrine of the essence, hypostatic differences and action of the Most Holy Trinity, St. Gregory provides a concise presentation of soteriology with an attempt to indicate the correspondence in the Economy of the Son of God to the mentioned 12 types of detection of the action of the human l)ogoq. Thus, the Divine L)ogoq, pre-eternally born of God the Father, in agreement with the Father and the Spirit, before the beginning of time, prepared the eternal plan of the Economy for the salvation of the world (t(hn proai)wnion t6hq o\ikonom)iaq boul(hn met9a to6u Patr9oq ka9i to6u pne)umatoq _acr)onwq di)eyeto) [ 6 DT .§22 336–337]. Then, in the last days, the Son of God duly came into the world: being completely simple in Divinity, he allowed complexity in Himself, being represented bodily in the Spirit (sunet)eyh _en +eaut#6w plastourghye9iq _en pne)umati, +o e\iq $apan +aplo6uq) [ 6 DT .§22 339 ], making His own what belongs to us (t9a +hm6wn o\ikeio)umenoq) [ 6 DT .§23 359 ]. Sent by the Father into the world, He was baptized in the Jordan, was witnessed from above and taught the people (baptiz)omenoq... marturo)umenoq 2anwyen ka9i did)askwn) [ 6 DT .§22 340 ]. And this Divine Word intercedes for us before the Father in the Holy Spirit and arranges our salvation according to the will of the Father (_entugc)anei t#6w Patr9i _en pne)umati +up9er +hm6wn ka9i e\iq boul(hn diat)iyetai), comes in His energy to renew and remake us, so that His seed, instilled in us, abides ( 1 John 3:9 ) (pr9oq t(hn +hm6wn kainourg)ian ka9i metapo)ihsin pro)ercetai _energ(hq ka9i sp)erma a_uto6u _en +hm9in did)omenon m)enei) [ 6 DT .§23 350–352 ]. “He unites with our members, and we become secretly His instrument for the fulfillment of His commandments (sunt)iyetai to6iq +hm6wn m)elesi ka9i 2organon a_uto6u gin)omeya pr9oq t(hn t6wn _entol6wn _ergas)ian krupt6wq), for He produces in us both will and action of good will ( Phil.2:13 ) (a_ut9oq g)ar _estin +o _energ6wn _en +hm6in ka9i t9o y)elein ka9i t9o _energe6in +up9er t6hq e_udok)iaq)” [ 6 DT .§23 353–355 ]. “The Son of God is eternally sent to those who believe from the Father in a mysterious way and is given by Him according to [the abundance of] grace (p)empetai _ae9i di9a to6u Patr9oq e\iq +hm6aq mustik6wq ka9i _apost)elletai di\ _agay)othta), as an implanted word that can save the souls of the faithful (James 1:21) (+wq 2emfutoq +o L)ogoq +o dun)ameoq s6wsai t6aq juc6aq +hm6wn)” [ 6 DT .§23 358–360 ]. “He is heard by the ear of the soul, leaping into the heart and interceding for us before the Father with unspeakable groanings (Rom. 8:26)” stenagmo6iq _alal)htoiq) [ 6 DT .§23 363–364 ]. “God the Word incarnate reveals Himself [now] and will be revealed in glory at the end of these days (cf. Luke 21:27), when those who believed in Him will appear in glory, as it is written, to the shame and reproach of the unfaithful and evil-believing (e\iq a\isc)unhn t6wn _ap)istwn ka9i kakop)istwn ka9i 2oneidoq), when also the righteous will shine like the sun (Matt. 13:43), in this unspeakable transformation and change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 109:1), ascending from glory to glory and from corruption to incorruption (cf. 1 Cor. 15:53) and from the flesh uniting with the Divine Spirit, becoming and appearing in appearance truly verbal then (logiko9i kur)iwq t)ote ka9i gen)omenoi ka9i +or)wmenoi), uniting in every possible way with the eternal Word and the One God, [being] incomprehensibly deified [by Him] (t#6w proaiwn)i#w L)og#w ka9i m)on#w Ye#6w +eno)umenoi p)ant#h ka9i yeourgo)umenoi parad)oxwq)" [ 6 DT .§23 369–377]. In the next paragraph of his Word, St. Gregory returns to the theme of the Tabor Epiphany and this time focuses on the state of nature and all creation at the moment of the Transfiguration of Christ. In his description, heaven and earth were equally amazed at the appearance of Divine glory in the Transfigured Lord and glorified their Creator, contemplating in Him together both God glorifying and Man glorified - in one Person: “Then even the mountains rejoiced, rejoicing, according to what is written: Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in Your name (Ps. 88:13); Heaven also rejoiced, and the whole earth leaped, rejoicing, contemplating on the mountain its Lord, who shone brighter than the sun (+up9er $hlion... _ekl)amjanta) - sensually and intelligently (a\isyht6wq te ka9i noht6wq), enlightening and sanctifying all creation. Moreover, the Heavens told His glory, comprehending, as if animate (kay)aper 2emjucoi), [as] she shone; and the firmament [heavenly] announced with [its] radiance [that] by the hands of the [Heavenly] Father mankind was created - very good (Gen. 1:31). Above - the powers [heavenly] trembled, looking; below - the earth was horrified with joy and trembling. So, every creation, every nature, every breath (Ps. 150:6) praised and glorified its Lord and King, Who first appeared as the Creator and Organizer (pr)oteron +wq kt)istin, +wq dhmiourg9on), [now appeared] transformed on the mountain and changed like God, shining more powerfully than the sun (+up9er $hlion l)amjanta): as a man glorified by God, and as God glorified above man; as God - glorified and as man - through God and co-glorified with God (+wq Ye9on doxaz)omenoq ka9i +wq 2anyrwpon di\ a_uto6u ka9i s9un a_ut#6w sundoxaz)omenon); as God - shining and as man - co-shining (+wq Ye9on _astr)aptonta ka9i +wq 2anyrwpon sunekl)amponta); as a man - known, and cognizable - as a God-man, who appeared at first in the flesh and [now] contemplated in the light (+wq 2anyrwpon ginwsk)omenon ka9i +wq Ye)anyrwpon _epiginwsk)omenon, sark9i pr)oteron _epifain)omenon ka9i _en fwt9i yewro)umenon); as a person - met and as God - visible from above; as a man - transformed and as a God-man - attested from above, with a shining face stronger than the sun and clothes white as snow, shining with light” [ 6 DT .§24 386–406]. The theme of the glorious Transfiguration of the Lord, in which the Son of Man was glorified, “having shone forth with the Divinity and deified the [human] mixture perceived by Him with the glory of the Divinity” (_apasr)aptwn ye)othti... yeo)urghson t9o f)urama t#6h d)ox#h t6hq ye)othtoq), in the reasoning of the Sinai ascetic is directly related to the theme of redemptive suffering, which now God is glorified in the Son of Man, suffering for humanity (+o Ye9oq _edox)asyh _en a_ut#6w p)ascwn _anyrwp)othti) [ 6 DT .§24 413,409,414]. The one Hypostasis of the Son of God, thus, shines in two natures with the dual glory of the God-man Christ. At the final stage, the Word of St. Gregory acquires the poetic expressiveness of a doxology-hymn, in which he calls on everyone to take part in the rejoicing of creation and in the glorification of the Transfigured Christ: “Let us contemplate together with Moses and exalt ourselves with Elijah, let us theologize with John and confess together with Peter, draw closer to the light with Jacob and to His glory, as the Only Begotten of the Father, we will look as far as possible, for He, glorified in the council of saints (Ps. 88:8), on this day is contemplated great and exalted above all on Tabor, shining, as it is written, before all those around Him (Ps. 88:8). Great and worthy of praise, great and terrible, great and all-creating, great and strong, and powerful, and unapproachable - His greatness has no end and His mind is unsearchable (Is. 40:28). His essence is incomprehensible, His wisdom is inexplicable, His greatness is boundless (+h o_us)ia a_uto6u _akat)alhptoq, +h sof)ia a_uto6u _anerm)hneutoq, t9o m)egeyoq a_uto6u _aperi)oriston), His height is beginningless, His beauty is indescribable, His power is immeasurable, life His is eternal (t9o $ujoq a_uto6u 2anarcon, t9o k)alloq a_uto6u _am)hcanon, +h d)unamiq a_utou 2afatoq, +h zw9h a_uto6u a\i)wnioq), His light is unfading, His kingdom is imperishable and endless (t9o f6wq a_uto6u _an)esperon, +h basile)ia a_uto6u _adi)adocoq ka9i _ap)erantoq). How praiseworthy, how terrible, how exalted, and strong, and invincible (+wq a\inet)oq, +wq fober)oq, +wq +ujhl9oq ka9i kratai9oq ka9i _a)htthtoq) now shining on Tabor, like God, brighter than the sun” [ 6 DT .§25 423–436]. The inspired call to contemplate and sing the glory of the Divine ends in the Word with a prayerful appeal to the Transfigured Lord, whose poetics are close to the praises of the Psalter and, probably, it is no coincidence that it is meaningfully based on its many times quoted texts: “Lord Jesus, our God, who is like You, who will be like You, who [can] become equal to You (t)iq $omoi)oq soi, t)iq +omoiwy)hseta)i soi, t)iq \iswy)hseta)i soi) and will duly glorify and sing You, who exceeds praise and Divinity and [your very] Essence (t9on +uper)umnhton ka9i +up)eryeon kai +upero)usion)? You are strong, O Lord, and powerful, and the truth of Your Divinity shines around You in every creature (+h _al)hyeia t6hq ye)otht)oq sou k)ukl#w sou _apastr)aptousa _en $apasi). You rule over the fury of the sea of passions (to6u kr)atouq t hq yal)asshq pay6wn), so that you tame its fury and the excitement of both [restless] waves of it” [6 DT .§26 443–448]. “Lord, in the light of Your Face always make us worthy to walk; in the light of Your Transfiguration, [revealed] now, we will see You, the unapproachable Light of the Father. Enlighten our eyes with the brilliance of Your Divinity, so that we may not fall asleep in the darkness of eternal death. Raise up for us the light of joy, the light of truth and knowledge (f6wq e_ufros)unhq, f6wq _alhye)iaq ka9i _epign)wsewq). God, You illuminate our lamp - our darkened and careless [about salvation] mind (t9on skotein9on ka9i _hmelhm)enon no6un) and always enlighten the darkness of our ignorance, so that we can see, praise and glorify You. May the light of Your Face (Ps. 4:7), shining on Tabor, appear upon us. May our minds be transformed by the light of Your glory. Give us wine to drink from the source of Your [intoxicating] love, from which Your saints will be nourished in the coming house of fatness (Ps. 35:9) [of Your Kingdom] o2ikou sou o=i $agioi meyusy)hsontai). Grant us to take refuge [under the cover] of the shining cloud of Your wings. Enlighten us with the radiance of Your [Divine] energies, but deliver us from the burden of [Your] light due to [our] unworthiness (_all9a m(h baruny6wmen t#6w fwt9i di\ _anaxi)othta). Take us to the mountain of [Divine] contemplation. Shine upon us [with Your light], like the sun, and appear to us for the sake of [Your] goodness. Fill our minds and understanding with glory, gathering them [from the scattering of the world] to Yourself, like Moses and Elijah (t9on no6un +hm6wn ka9i l)ogon +wq Mw`us)ea ka9i \Hlio9u pr)oq se sunagag(wn d)oxhq 2emplhson). Illuminate with Your radiance the three powers of our soul, as [Illuminated] Your three disciples” [6 DT .§27 465–481]. “Make us worthy of the coming Transfiguration, join us in glory with Your perfect saints. Their standing and rank (t6hq st)asewq ka9i t)axewq _eke)inhq) according to Your goodness and show us unworthy participants, when You appear among the multitude of gods and kings. O Most Divine Word, shine in the midst of this host of holy lights and stars of righteousness (_en +hl)ioiq pollo6iq +ag)ioiq ka9i _astr)asi dika)ioiq), like the Sun of Truth, and, giving each according to his dignity, illuminate, and deify, and enlighten, as if by nature, (kat\ _ax)ian $ekaston diair6wn kataug)aseiq ka9i yeourg)hseiq ka9i fwtie6iq, +wq p)efuke) by Thy grace and love for mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen" [6 DT.§28 487–496]. 2.3.2. Spiritual Sources of the Word “The Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord” by St. Gregory of Sinaite is largely based on the description of the Transfiguration in the three synoptic Gospels. In this regard, we can say that the Gospel testimony is the starting point of the Sinai ascetic’s reasoning and the main spiritual source of the Word. The latter is confirmed by the repeated reproduction of the Gospel story in question in the text of the Word, with the transfer of some details and detailed explanations to them. However, according to Balfort, “in the strict sense of the word... it represents more an outpouring of mystical and dogmatic theology than an exegetical study” [6.P.637], which is especially evident from the frequency of quoting the fourth Gospel. Upon closer examination, it becomes obvious that St. Gregory does not strive for an accurate transmission of the Gospel messages and parallel passages from the Old Testament. “He has a mystical perception of what happened and strives to convey to his listeners the vision of Divine glory and the anticipation (foretaste) of heavenly bliss with which the Transfiguration inspires him; he is inclined to skip certain details and give a somewhat exaggerated interpretation of others” [6.P.639]. So, for example, he says that the Lord’s disciples “were burdened” (bebarhm)enoi) with Divine light, while this expression, found only in the Apostle Luke, was used by him in relation to being burdened with sleep. St. Gregory also does not emphasize that Christ was transformed during prayer (Luke 9:28–29) and that after the completion of the vision He touched the disciples in order to return them to the reality of the sensory world. On the contrary, in the description of the Divine light, the Holy Father repeats again and again that its radiance surpassed that of the sun (+up9er t9on +hl)ion), while the Evangelist Matthew simply notes that His face shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2), Luke makes an interesting description of the change in Christ’s appearance - the appearance of His face changed (Luke 9:29), and Mark does not mention this at all. The expression +up9er t9on +hl)ion actually occurs when describing the conversion of the holy Apostle Paul, when on his way to Damascus a light from heaven was revealed to him, surpassing the radiance of the sun (Acts 26:13). In the description of Christ’s clothes, if Matthew sees them as white as light, and Mark as shining, very white, like snow, as a bleacher on earth cannot bleach (Mark 9:3), then the attention of the Sinai ascetic is focused on the expression of the Apostle Luke leuk9oq _exastr)aptwn - white, shining, which St. Gregory repeatedly cites as a characteristic feature of the appearance of the Transfigured Christ and His eternal glory. It is noteworthy that some words are invariably repeated in the text of the Word in different forms, which apparently expresses the author’s desire to emphasize their special significance for conveying the essence of the events he describes. Thus, “the noun _astrap9h (lightning) occurs five times in the text, and the associated verb _astr)aptw and its constituent forms - 14!” [6.P.640]. The word f6wq (light) occurs in 42 cases, including in various derived nouns (fwtof)aneia, fwtocus)ia), adjectives (fwtolamp)hq, fwtein9oq) and verbs (fwt)izw, fwti6w). Similarly, the word d)oxh (glory) and the verb dox)azw derived from it occur up to 30 times; the word l)ampw (to shine), its compounds and cognates, such as l)amjiq, 2ellamjiq, lampr)othq. The vocabulary of the Reverend Father in describing the Divine radiance is rich and varied: p6ur, a2iglh, _akt)iq, faidr)othq, _apa)ugasma, fruktor)ia, marmarug)h, faidr)unw, _apost)ilbw, kataug)azw, periaug)azw. “With the constant repetition of such terms with visible connotations, an image is built of a magnificent and brilliant spiritual world in which God is comprehended as a metaphysical Light - a Light in the contemplation of which the souls of the blessed are absorbed, emitting their own radiance as a result of His presence in them, and are deified by communion with Him” [ 6 .P.640]. The theme of acquiring the uncreated light is central to the practical teaching of hesychasm, the organic part and historical continuation of which can confidently be considered the teaching of St. Gregory of Sinaite. It emphasizes with particular force the Divine origin of the light of grace and its deifying effect on man. At the same time, the nature of light remains incomprehensible to reason and inexpressible in words due to its uncreated nature and the absence of its adequate similarities in the created world. Therefore, the Monk Gregory persistently repeats that the light revealed on Tabor surpasses the radiance of the sun (+up9er t9on +hl)ion). This inexpressibility, however, does not become an obstacle to communion with the uncreated light, which in the “Word on the Transfiguration” appears as an eternal and unchangeable attribute of the Divine nature of Christ, which in the Tabor light manifestation temporarily revealed itself in a visible way for the three chosen disciples of the Lord. Incomparable to anything sensible, uncreated light, however, cannot be reduced to exclusively intellectual enlightenment or rational comprehension, and is not only subjective, arising in consciousness as a kind of dream or idea. Such an understanding deprives the uncreated light of the Transfiguration of any real content and does not correspond to the patristic view of its nature and, in particular, to the spiritual experience of St. Gregory. In this regard, the biblical example he cites is the Old Testament theophany of the prophet Elijah, during which God appeared to the prophet in the sound of a light breath of wind (fwn(h a2uraq lept6hq) (1 Kings 19, 11-12). This auditory phenomenon in the work of the Holy Father is deliberately correlated by him with a visual phenomenon and is conveyed as a quiet breath of light (a2ura lept(h fwt9oq) [ 6 DT .§5 73 ], which in both cases indicates the participation of the senses in the knowledge of God, and not just an intellectual revelation of Him. The visualization of the Divine Light in the work of the Sinai ascetic, thus, serves as a refutation of the idea of ​​its purely rational nature, but at the same time is completely understandable and to some extent necessary in the context of the description of the Tabor Epiphany. In the context of the entire teaching of St. Gregory about the light of the Transfiguration, there is no doubt that this light, “as supernatural and grace-filled, is decisively different from both the ordinary sensory and the natural-rational” [50.P.184], and its visible detection is explained not by simple accessibility to sensory vision, but rather by a change in the sense organs themselves and all human means of cognition due to the influence of the Divine light itself on them. The ability to perceive the uncreated light of the Divine is naturally inherent in man, but is effective only to the extent that the soul is cleansed from passions. Therefore, the Monk Gregory comments in detail on the stupor into which the apostles Peter, James and John fell on Mount Tabor at the moment of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The influence of the light of the Transfiguration left them exhausted, “for they were not yet able to bear His intolerable Divinity due to imperfect purification” (di9a t9o _atel9eq t6hq kay)arsewq) [ 6 DT .§4 55]. Subsequently, “when the Comforter descended [on them] in fire (kat9a go6un... +o Par)aklhtoq _en pur9i, di9a t6hq kayartik6hq dun)amewq), the disciples, enlightened by the purifying power, knew the Son and in the [spirit of] knowledge saw Him in themselves, the One Who [before] they did not understand exactly (o=i mayhta9i fwtiy)enteq t9on U=i9on _ep)egnwsan ka9i _en a_uto6iq a_ut9on kate6idon gnwst6wq, $onper _akrib6wq o_uk _eg)inwskon)” [ 6 DT .§24 378–381 ]. Thus, the revelation of the Divine light in this world is available only to those purified by the Holy Spirit, and in its fullness it will be given only in the life of the next century, when “God will be visible [face to face] and shine [Divine], standing in the midst of the gods present and a multitude of kings, surrounded by saints, judging and sharing the merits and images of success in that bliss” [ 6 DT .§3 34–36]. “But even in the future century, no matter how complete the revelation of the glory of God and its direct contemplation face to face in the vision of the uncreated light will be, the secret Divine super-essence will still remain forever invisible and inaccessible to creation, as surpassing in its greatness any created ability to perceive” [50.P.191]. In conclusion, we can point out one more feature in the teaching about the Tabor Light of St. Gregory the Sinaite, noted by the publisher of the critical text of his “Herald on the Transfiguration.” Thus, unlike his many “predecessors in hesychast circles,” who emphasized, as Belfort believes, that “the most typical theophanies of God are gentle and tenuous,” Gregory—in his Word at least—gives preference to fire and lightning, which seems to be slightly at odds with tradition. He knows other biblical episodes that justify his title of Elijah +o p)urforoq, and he seems somewhat reluctant to concede the preponderance of the more subtle manifestation of the “joyful light” of God - that f6wq =ilar9on +ag)iaq d)oxhq (“quiet light of holy glory”), Which, in the words of a very ancient hymn, the Orthodox sing fwna6iq a\is)iaiq (“with favorable voices”) when they perform the evening service” [6.P.641]. “Fortunately, comparison with his other famous works helps to correct the impression that the author may be overly interested in the more vivid and dramatic forms of Divine illumination. But however deplorable his unconscious slips or deliberate biases may seem, taken as a whole his Word... of the great historical theophany and its timeless foundation in the life of the Blessed Trinity: it is a text replete with words and expressions selected from Scripture, the only true source of human knowledge about such things for the Orthodox Christian. Although Saint Gregory of Sinai may, in some respects and to a limited extent, have been influenced by Plato and Plotinus, inherited by him through Pseudo-Dionysius and perhaps Evagrius, he is not aware of it. It is based on the Holy Scriptures” [6.P.642]. 3. Theology of St. Gregory of Sinaite As Archbishop Vasily (Krivoshein) rightly noted in his time, “religious life, whether we understand it as a person’s communication with God or as their understanding of Him, can always be defined as a mutual and two-way relationship and action of God and man, Creator and creature” [51.P.114]. Indeed, the idea of ​​the two-way nature of Communion with God is both logically justified and has practical confirmation, since in general any communication necessarily presupposes the joint action of its participants, which, in a specific application to the communication of God and man, is indisputably confirmed by the spiritual experience of many enlightened God-seers and ascetics of the Orthodox Church. Actually, the form of communication with God depends on a person’s ideas about God, about himself, and on how correct these ideas are and correspond to reality. The last condition is fully met by the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church, which is based on direct Divine Revelation and, although formally it has the form of testimony about God and His creation, in its essence it is a feeling and experience of the reality of Divine life and the created existence established in it. Dogmatic teaching stands in a necessary and close connection and, one might say, has as its constituent and central part the experimental comprehension of Divine truths, or, what is the same, active participation in Communion with God, which is traditionally associated with the concept of ascetic theology, which includes both the actual practice of genuine and undistorted Communion with God, and a description of its means and conditions. As Vladimir Lossky writes: “Christian theory has a highly practical significance, and the more mystical this theory is, the more directly it strives towards its highest goal - unity with God - the more “practical” it is” [80.P.10]. The theology of the Church is thus fundamentally unified and rooted in the mysterious experience of a person’s personal encounter with God. Therefore, according to the testimony of the same author, the Church has never made “a sharp distinction between mysticism and theology, between personal experience of knowledge of the Divine mysteries and the dogmas approved by the Church... [And] if mystical experience is a personal manifestation of the general faith, then theology is an expression of what can be experienced by everyone” [80.p.9]. According to the teachings of the Church, only he can be called a true theologian, whose life became a practical ascent to the heights of Christian perfection and whose feat was crowned by communion with the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). As one of the most exalted representatives of Orthodox theology, Saint Gregory the Theologian, briefly put it, a theologian is one who is “established in contemplation” [Cit. from: 65.P.94]. The life of all the holy fathers of the Church corresponds to this criterion to one degree or another, and their teaching, which has become a verbal expression of their experience, as a rule, is internally organic, holistic and clearly demonstrates the certainty of the “close and inextricable connection and interdependence of the dogmatic and ascetic teaching of the Orthodox Church,” so that “any attempt to artificially isolate the ascetic and dogmatic elements of the patristic teaching cannot be carried out without violence against their content” [51.P.202]. The above fully applies to the teachings of St. Gregory of Sinaite, as set out in his works. This teaching is predominantly practical in nature and perfectly depicts the deeply ascetic life of the Holy Father, his rich and grace-filled spiritual experience. Dogmatic provisions and ascetic instructions are inextricably linked and intertwined in him, as if mutually complementing and substantiating each other, imparting to the thoughts of St. Gregory solidity, persuasiveness, rooted in church tradition and verified by personal spiritual practice. The Holy Father’s reasoning on dogmatic topics is in the nature of a brief and precise narrative, as a rule, alien to polemical refutations and evidence, rather in the form of positive testimony, the main value of which is not in the validity of abstract argumentation, but in the revelation of a living, active, grace-filled faith [5 I.§28,119]. The latter circumstance also determined the brevity of the dogmatic statements of St. Gregory, who, apparently, deliberately avoids excessive development and complex structure of dogmatic formulas. Pursuing in this case the goal of emphasizing the connection of genuine theology with the sacrament of Communion with God, the Reverend Father, like no one else, is aware that it can be adequately conveyed only by ineffable verbs (2 Cor. 12:4) of eternal life, while earthly definitions serve only as an indication of Divine truths and in themselves, even in full armor of philosophical and theoretical provability, are devoid of the reliability and indisputability of their experimental verification. “Most [people] know and assimilate in memory only the images of spiritual words, but they have not tasted the true bread of the future life, which consists in the feeling (our italics - V.D.) of God the Word” [5 I.§96]. This once again confirms the holistic nature of the theology of St. Gregory of Sinaite, his subordination to the practical tasks of salvation, the solution of which he sees in the ascetic lifestyle of man and his aspiration towards his true destiny - likeness to God and direct communication with God and knowledge of God, which takes place beyond the capabilities of his created nature. The theology of the Holy Father is imbued not with theoretical interest, but with hope for salvation and confidence in the achievability of Christian perfection, resting on complete trust in the experience and teaching of the Church of Christ and the testimony of Divine Revelation: be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). 3.1. Dogmatic teaching 3.1.1. The original dignity and purpose of man The primordial man, according to the teachings of St. Gregory of Sinai, was created in the image of the Triune God (Gen. 1:27) and in the entire composition of his nature revealed the stamp of perfection of the “Trinitarian Unit” [5 I.§32]. Inspired by the Divine breath of life (Gen. 2:7), he disproportionately rose above all the inhabitants of the visible created world, being in the full sense a rational being. Based on the biblical testimony about the creation of man, the Monk Gregory emphasizes that the Divine breath, which brought to life the rational soul [5 I.§82], was the action of the Holy Spirit, Who, although he imparted to man the qualities of a being endowed with reason and freedom, at the same time retained an absolute natural difference from the consequences of His creative activity, excluding any emanations of Divine existence into the created world. the nature of the human soul. A categorical statement of the natural inequality of the creative action and the rational person created as a result, however, does not exclude the possibility of communication between the Creator and the perfect of visible creations, the basis of the nature of which is the mysterious image of the Trinitarian Unit, indicating a certain correlation in the existence of the Divine and human, on points of contact - but not of natures, but rather of the personal nature of their existence (t#6w kay\ $uparxin trop#6w) [ 6 DT .§20 308,310 ]. In fact, St. Gregory prefers to see the image of God in man in the trinitarian nature of his soul. “Just as God is Trinity in Persons with the Unity of His being, so in the human being He reflected the “unclear image” of the Trinity [5 I.§31], giving man the consubstantial mind, word and spirit” [55.P.56]. Stating that a person “essentially and hypostasis has a mind, a word and a spirit, identical in nature and inseparable” (o_usiod6wq kay\ +up)ostasin no6un ka9i l)ogon ka9i pne6uma +omofu6h te ka9i _adia)ireta k)ekthtai +o 2anyrwpoq) [ 6 DT .§20 303–304], St. Gregory dwells in detail on the relationship and interaction of these three components of the rational nature of man: “The word is pronounced and spoken through the voice, and the mind [reveals itself] through the word” (di9a t6hq fwn6hq t9on l)ogon ka9i di9a to6u l)ogou t9on no6un... _ekfwno6umenon ka9i leg)omenon), which “by nature contains [in itself] the mind that gives birth to it,” which in turn “has a natural word that opens it” (2ecei... +o l)ogoq fusik6wq t6on a_ut9on genn6wnta no6un ka9i no6uq fusik6wq t9on a_ut9on _apokal)uptonta l)ogon) [ 6 DT .§19 280–283 ]. This interdependence of mind, word and spirit, which St. Gregory sometimes denotes by the term +h fwn9h (voice, sound), is explained by the identity and unity of their nature, while each of them retains an independent existence in unfused conjunction with the other two. Thus, “the voice, always accompanying the word, reveals the action of the word and belongs to the word and is called the living and revealing energy of the word” zwtik)h te ka9i _ekfantik9h), which “does not [come] from the word outside, but [is] in the hypostatic and self-existent essence” (ka9i o_uk _ex a_uto9u ka9i kat\ o_us)ian +upostatik9h ka9i kay\ a+ut9hn +ufest6wsa) [ 6 DT .§19 289–292]. The characterization of the spirit, or voice, as hypostatic and self-existent is given here as an analogy with personal relationships within the Holy Trinity, and when applied to human nature, it probably means the relation of the spirit to the person, or hypostasis, of the very bearer of this nature and the irreducibility of the spirit to other aspects of the self-identical and simple nature of the soul. Non-fusion and inseparability also characterize the relationship between the word and the mind: “The word, always [remaining] reasonable, [is] contemplated, and emitted, and occurs (\Ae9i... 2ennouq +o l)ogoq +or6atai ka9i p)empetai ka9i pro)ercetai). And the mind [invariably] remains verbal, always containing [in itself] a rational word (ka9i +o no6uq logik)oq _estin, _ae9i l)ogon _eno)usion 2ecwn). He pronounces the word connected with the mind... manifested through the breath (ka9i 2ennoun prof)erei t9on l)ogon... _en pne)umati fanero)umenon). So every utterance by nature and essence contains the mind and the co-pronounced word (4Wste p6asa fwn9h fusik6wq 2ecei ka9i o_usiod6wq no6un ka9i l)ogon sunekfwno)umenon)” [ 6 DT .§19 293–296]. What has been said about the hypostasis of the spirit, as one of the components of the human soul, is also true in relation to the mind and word, which are consubstantial with it. All three principles, or aspects, of the rational nature of man are not accidental and temporary properties, determined by compliance with the moment of time and the circumstances of life, but represent its essential and irreducible accessory. The coexistence of mind, word and spirit explains not only their joint existence, but also their unfused interexistence in each other, as well as joint activity or participation in a single action. “We call mind not the one [which] exudes along with the word, but the one [which] naturally and hypostasis belongs to the word (o_u t9on ce)omenon s9un t#6w l)og#w, _all9a t9on 2onta fusik6wq kay\ +up)ostasin t#6w l)og#w). [And] when we talk about the word, then [we mean] not something that comes out [outside] and dissolves in the air, but the very beginning of literature, [which] hypostatically exists in the mind and by nature is [always] busy with thinking (o_u t9on proerc)omenon ka9i e\iq _a)era lu)omenon, _all\ a_ut9o t9o logik9on t9o kay\ +up)ostasin 2on te t#6w n#6w ka9i fusik6wq logiz)omenon). And when we talk about breathing, we [mean] not the drawing in and movement of air, but the essential and vital force itself (o_u t9hn +olk9hn to6u _a)eroq ka9i for)an, _all9a t9hn o_usi)wdh a_ut9hn zwtik9hn d)unamin), self-existent and occurring in the word and producing sound in the air (t9hn kay\ a+ut9hn +ufest6wsan ka9i proercom)enhn _en log#6w ka9i t9on j)ofon _en _a)eri poio6usan)" [ 6 DT .§19 296–302]. So, a distinctive feature of the nature of a rational person is his creation in the image of a perfect God, who reveals himself, according to the thought of St. Gregory of Sinaite, primarily in the trinitarian nature of the human soul, while retaining its natural simplicity - that is, in the mind, word and spirit. Another feature in the teaching of the Holy Father about the primordial nature of man lies in the definition of the rational integrity of his nature, which was a distinctive feature of both nature itself and its activity. On the one hand, the integrity of human nature and existence is explained by the created origin of man. All elements of human nature were brought to life from non-existence and therefore, in relation to the God who created them, are united by what is called creatureliness, infinitely removed from the ever-present Divinity. Such integrity of created man stems from his ontological status: human existence is not necessary, it is a consequence of the free will of the Creator. But for all its created unity, created being is far from uniform in the quality of the forms included in it, the collective bearer of which man has become. In addition to ontological, created, unity, a manifestation of the integrity of human existence is the unfused conjugation in his nature of two heterogeneous principles - material and spiritual, which is crowned by the dominance of the rational power of the soul in man, as a result of which his entire nature is called rational [5 I.§1,2,112]. In his doctrine of the body (t9o s)wma, +h s)arx) the Monk Gregory limits himself to defining the incomprehensibility of its composition, in which, just as in the soul, he distinguishes “a threefold and one dispensation, adorned with septenary and dual numbers, arithmetically signifying time and nature” [5 I.§80]. Due to the fact that the soul and body constitute a single person and, thanks to this, have a mysterious dual existence in the form of unfused coexistence (t6hq sunup)arzewq) [ 5 I.§81], therefore, in the body the essential properties of the soul are reflected and manifested, such as: spirit, word and mind - as if belonging to the body itself. This seal of mental properties determines the threefold structure of the body while maintaining the unity of its biological organization. Moreover, the existence of the body is described by the laws of time and space, therefore it carries a symbolic numerical designation of these two categories of the sensory world: the number seven embraces the entire period of created formation and corresponds to the six days of creation and the entire history of mankind until the end of time, and the number two denotes the actual complexity of the nature of the body, consisting of different elements, which determines its formation or change in time, in contrast to the simple and unchangeable nature of the soul. The existence and development of the body is regulated by the laws of its nature, which are for its “moving members... a kind of connections... [and] represent numerous expressions of [our] own properties” (t6wn \id)iwn \idiot)htwn) [ 5 I.§81]. The comparison of the action of the Divine in the created world and the action of the soul in the bodily members made by the Monk Gregory is very characteristic: “As God [animates all creations], so the soul brings into action the members of the body and moves each of them to its characteristic activity” [5 I.§81]. The soul, thus, can be considered not only as the highest principle of the two-part nature of man, but also as a “natural law” and “the power of activity of each species and member” [5 I.§81], that is, as the self-propelled energy of the body, responsible for its natural functioning. The close conjunction and interaction of the spiritual and material principles in the single rational nature of man “shows the glory of God in the bodily bearer of the Trinity splendor” [5 I.§81] and constitutes the “indisputable and incomprehensible” knowledge of the pure mind [5 I.§80]. Let us turn to the concept of “reasonableness” of the primordial nature of man, a key concept for St. Gregory of Sinaite. This concept in the theology of the Holy Father is closely connected with his ideas about the moral integrity of the nature of the soul and its natural powers. Actually, the rationality of human nature is the result of man’s gracious participation in God, which originates in the very act of his creation by the Divine breath of life: “The thinking soul was created through a breath and thanks to the breathing of rational life into it” [5 I.§82]. The simultaneity of the action of the breath and the moment of emergence from non-existence of a rational soul is noteworthy, which raises a fundamental question about the quality and method of its existence. As already noted, the nature of the creative breath is radically different from the nature of what it created. Nevertheless, the natural way of being (+o kay\ $uparxin tr)opoq) of the created rational nature of man presupposes its necessary participation in Divine action, which should be understood not as a one-time act or a set of acts or influences, but as an unchangeable and essential basis of created being in general and rational being in particular. Thus, man began his existence in a state of “well-being” (to6u e7u e7inai), in the words of St. Maximus the Confessor [Cit. according to: 32.P.73], the teaching of which is repeatedly referred to by the Monk Gregory of Sinaite [6.P.636,671; 5 I .§137], that is, being in the field of the life-giving action of Divine energy, or grace, meaning personal and direct communication of a person with God and knowledge of Him. The paradoxical situation of the existence of primordial man is noteworthy: created from non-existence, he remained in his “natural” state of participation in grace, uncreated Divine energy, which “naturally,” that is, by nature, is inherent only in God, but not in man or any other creature. Here the mysterious and antinomic nature of the Divine image reveals itself in created man, which is the inescapable basis of his existence and has a direct connection with such properties as rationality and freedom. The deprivation of this image is equivalent to the abolition of the person himself as a person, as a free person, who has in himself the reason for his own activity - patristic “autocracy” (t9o a_utexous)ion), and is not determined by anything external in relation to his own self-consciousness [62.P.85–94]. His freedom, belonging to the number of “essential characteristics of creation” as such and being one of the “elements of human godlikeness,” presupposes participation in Divine life and can “be realized only... in genuine communication with the Prototype.” Freedom and rationality are thus not opposed to grace, but insist on its necessity for their own preservation and undistorted discovery. “Only as long as a person is in communion with God,” writes Archpriest John Meyendorff, “does he remain a true person, rational and free” [87.P.127,141]. The antinomy of the nature of human rationality and freedom, which constitute both givenness and givenness, his natural property and the gift of grace, is explained by the complete unknowability of the image of God, the impossibility of unambiguously indicating and defining its content, which goes back to the Divine Archetype. The mysterious nature of the image of God is complemented by the biblical concept of likeness to God, which precisely conveys the essence of its antinomic dynamics: the image of God is indestructible in human nature, but thanks to human freedom it is subject to the risk of distortion, that is, it allows for the possibility of loss of rationality or deprivation of grace, and in addition to the above, the possibility of voluntary postponement of likeness to God, as a process of moral formation of man, created, in the words of St. John of Damascus, by being “deifying” [Cit. from: 80.P.96]. So, the image and likeness of God are equally connected with the concept of “reasonableness” and reflect two aspects of reasonableness. The first is substantial: rationality as an essential property or, according to patristic terminology, a feature of the image of God. The second is moral or energetic: rationality as free participation in the grace of deification. In the latter case, the rationality of human nature acquires from the Monk Gregory of Sinaite the qualities of a dynamic property, directly related to the action in his nature of grace “as the life-giving and creative power” of God [5 I.§5]. Its actual dynamics lie in the unforced nature of grace-filled communication, the presence of which is a natural and reasonable state of human nature, and withdrawal, as a result of a possible choice of free will, is identified by St. Gregory with the unreasonable state of deprivation of the cover of “Divine Light” [5 I.§5], which covered the sensual nakedness of the primordial in paradise. Here, the full existential content of the concept of “reasonableness”, as an unchanging characteristic of the image of God in man, is combined with its moral aspect, which allows changes in the form of an increase or decrease in grace: “Those who lose grace endure it for unbelief and carelessness and find it again through faith and diligent seeking” [5 I.§14]. Thus, the primordial man, thanks to the communion of Divine grace, was a perfect and undistorted image of the Holy Trinity, was in a state of “well-being” and preserved bodily incorruptibility, the external expression of which was the absence of moisture and heaviness in the body [5 I.§46]. “His will stood, as it were, on the line between good and evil. She showed neither inclinations towards evil nor a preponderance towards sin. She had only the freedom to incline towards evil or turn away from it” [55.P.56]. His primordial memory was distinguished by indivisible simplicity [5 I.§60] and the ability to purely contemplate natural and supernatural, Divine objects [5 I.§98]. The entire nature of primordial man demonstrated an unambiguous and integral striving to fulfill its purpose - deification, that is, to achieve the unchangeable constancy of nature in goodness through the grace-filled unity of man with God in love and free obedience to His will, that unity in which the created limitations of man are radically overcome, unity with the uncreated Divine grace or the “descending” energy of the Divine, communicable and accessible knowledge and communion [83.P.402]. 3.1.2. Features of the state of fallen human nature The fall of the first man in paradise entailed a mutual degradation of his rational nature - moral and ontological. What happened was what Archpriest John Meyendorff accurately expressed: “Nature ceases to be completely natural if it abandons its purpose, that is, communication with God and constant growth in the knowledge of the Unknowable” [87.p.126]. Man, created “not without inclination towards evil, but not with inclination,” abused his God-given freedom in favor of infidelity to God and, using “the power of volitional aspiration (t9hq yelhtik6hq 4exewq), changed [negatively]” [ 5 I.§8.75], lost power over his nature and, as a result, lost to some extent both his freedom and names of a rational being: “To be to some extent rational or to become pure and incorruptible by nature, as it was before, is impossible [now for man] due to the dominance [over purity] of sensual irrational skills, and [over incorruptibility] – the state of corruption of the flesh” [5 I.§1]. The withdrawal of Divine grace through the fault of the primordial Adam was not slow to have a destructive effect on his nature, which stood on the line of immortality and corruption, only striving for the “immutability” of perfection, but not yet having the final “constancy” [5 I.§8] in good and immobility towards evil. In the nature of the body, previously “incomprehensible in the formation of its composition” [ 5 I .§80], as a result of the deprivation of grace, “corruption” (+h fyor)a) [ 5 I .§1] and “decomposition” [ 5 I .§9] into the elements, the desire for decay and destruction manifested themselves with all force. However, bodily death was only a consequence of the so-called first death - the death of the rational soul of a “widowed man in alienation from God” [5 I.§12], who turned away from the source of incorruptible life and dispassion and showed an undisguised interest in everything that is called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the hair and the pride of life (1 John 1:16). An attempt at self-deification, contrary to the expectations of the first man, but in full agreement with the definition of the Creator (Gen. 2:17), cast Adam into an unnatural state - a state of deprivation of “the pure and reasonable milk of maternal grace” [5 I.§21]. “As a result of sin, Adam was deprived of communion with God, his nature, once damaged, lost the properties that it possessed thanks to communion with God... Adam became a slave to the lower principles of his own nature... instead of ruling over them through the mind that connected him with God” [87.p.127]. In the Fall, the mysterious and incomprehensible nature of the rational soul, in which the “grace of the Spirit” dwelt before as another “living soul” [ 5 I .§86], underwent unusual and unnatural increases in the form of passions (o=i p)ayoi: “The instrument of evil - disobedience... perverted all the powers (+eaut6hq dun)ameiq) of the soul, weakening its natural attraction to virtue" [5 I.§61]. The essence of each passion is a stable anti-natural inclination (+h ponir(a 4exiq), from a moral point of view, characterized as resistance to the will of God. All the powers of the soul, as it is said, were subject to such inclinations, which before the Fall acted exclusively in accordance with nature. “The soul, created rational and thinking, in itself, from the beginning of its creation, has the power of a certain desire and an irritable power that excites the courageous jealousy" [5 I.§81]. However, "God did not create rage and animal carnal desire, but one active force of desire and zealous persistence of desire" [5 I.§82]. The last definition of the essence of spiritual forces in human nature is repeated repeatedly by St. Gregory. It expresses the traditional patristic view of the nature of the primordial dispassion (+h_ap)ayeia) of the soul, achieved in the feat of faith, which is not equivalent to the Stoic ideal of emptying it of all feelings and complete suppression of spiritual forces. Desirable, or lustful (t9o _epiyumhtik)on, +h _epiyum)ia), volitional, or irritable (t9o yumoeid)eq, +o yum)oq), and rational, or verbal (+h d)unamiq logik)h, +o no6uq), principles constitute the inherent properties or forces of the soul [5 I.§87], revealing themselves in the God-established activity inherent in each beginning. The natural state of these forces is called virtue: “Just as the origin of virtues takes place in our soul, so does the source of passions. But the former are naturally born in it, while the latter are born contrary to nature” [5 I.§89]. The anti-natural disposition of the soul and its properties owes its appearance and further development to a stable inclination to the action of the free will of man, inclined with the sanction of the mind to an unworthy desire: “The soul finds the reason for the generation of good and evil in desire, which - like the tip [for drawing] a line or an arrow on the yoke of a scale - in which direction it bends, it accepts influence and acts in that [direction]. The will is subject to a double action, because it contains both in itself, [namely]: good by birth, and evil by the free inclination of the will” [5 I.§89]. Thus, the once dispassionate soul and incorruptible body of primordial man, as a result of the sinful self-determination of his will, “corrupted and co-dissolved according to the natural law of unification and influence on each other” [5 I.§82]. “Following disobedience, when [man] fell into corruption and the carnal rudeness (t#6h pac)uthti) of dumb animals, then, of necessity, irritability and carnal passion arose in him...” [5 I.§81]. Elsewhere, St. Gregory rephrases this thought as follows: “Having created the body, [the Lord] did not put into it from the beginning irritability and unreasonable carnal lust. Subsequently, due to disobedience, it took on mortality, corruption and the traits of animals, to which it became like...” [5 I.§82]. “And every time the flesh dominates in a person, so through rage and carnal desire he opposes the desires of the soul... [Now] as a result of the mixing and union with the soul of the incoming carnal properties, man has become like beasts of burden and, having subjected himself to the law of sin, by force of natural necessity has turned from rational to stupid and from man to beast” [5 I.§81]. For the first time, fallen man is faced with a new pattern of his existence, which, in contrast to the previous free acceptance or rejection of grace-filled communion with God, does not leave him the opportunity for the same free attitude towards this new reality. As Archpriest John Meyendorff rightly notes, “if the original existence of man presupposed free communication with God through the highest elements of the human makeup, especially reason, then the Fall entailed slavery to Satan through passions, which became inevitable due to the damage of human nature, which fell away from God” [87.p.127]. In other words, having lost grace due to free self-determination, a person now, by virtue of “natural necessity,” experiences the action of the so-called law of sin - a rigid mechanism of violence driven by passions, behind which the ungodly will and power of “demons” is skillfully hidden [5 I.§82]. As a powerful means of influencing a person, fallen spirits use sinful or sin-oriented thoughts, which, as Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlahos) describes, are “not just thoughts, but suggestions of the mind, combined with images and impulses coming through sight or hearing, or through both together” [65.P.101–102]. The place where thoughts are discovered becomes the spiritual center of a person - the heart, this verbal altar or sanctuary of the soul [5 I.§7,112], henceforth captive and becoming the throne of passions and demons. The human mind, having once bowed to the adjective (+h prosbol9h) [ 5 I .§64] of the serpent, has since lost power over its own heart and is excommunicated from the “mysterious sacred rite” [ 5 I .§112] on it to God. He, in turn, is taken captive by graceless sensory knowledge and perception of the world, the multiplicity of impressions of which fragments the once uniform memory of the mind and fills it with a multitude of thoughts (a=i _enno)iai), including sinful thoughts rising from the heart (o=i logismo)i). “The beginning and cause of thoughts lie in the division by sin of a single and simple memory, which [thereby] destroyed the [continuous] remembrance of the Divine and, turning from simple to complex, from monotype to variety, doomed itself to destruction by its own personal forces” [5 I.§60]. It is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the meaning and location of the mind and heart in human nature. In the biblical-patristic tradition, these concepts are usually interchangeable. As mentioned above, the soul is considered by the holy fathers both as an integral substantial part of a single human nature, and as a self-propelled energy influencing the body, and through it the surrounding world. In both cases, the concepts of mind and heart serve as synonyms for soul. But in the strict sense of the word, the heart means the actual essence of the soul, and the mind primarily correlates with its energy and can be called the active heart or rational heart action [65.P.30–31]. Upon closer examination, it is the heart that is the focus of the mental-physical organization of a person and the unifying principle of the three forces or abilities of the soul: rational, desirable and irritable. According to the thought of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, “the heart is the natural center, since from there the blood disperses throughout the body; the center is anti-natural, since passions dominate there; and the center is supernatural, since the grace of God operates there” [Cit. from: 65.P.33]. Thus, the heart as the essence of the soul, a certain spiritual organ, always occupies a central position in human nature, being capable of receiving and transmitting not only the energies of its own nature, but also the sinful suggestions of demons and the supernatural influence of Divine grace. Speaking about the location of the heart in a person, the holy fathers use the name “heart place,” which is the subject of search for new practitioners of mental prayer and is located in the region of the heart as a bodily organ. In turn, the mind, being the natural energy or verbal force of the soul, has its natural seat in the heart itself. Only in this repository of peace is he able to protect himself from the unnatural dispersion of external activity and keep his heart from being enslaved by sinful thoughts trying to penetrate it. In the Fall, in fact, there was a falling away of the mind from the constant remembrance of God in the heart and its combination with the lower part of man’s thinking ability, the mind, intended for recording and processing data from the sensory world. As a result, the natural energies of the soul - the mind - found itself in captivity of sensory knowledge, sterile in relation to the spiritual and at the same time dangerous due to the possibility of gross addiction to the impressions of the world, the abundance of which literally tears apart the once silent and motionless mind - sometimes to the point of complete oblivion of God and enslavement of sensuality. Thus, according to the teachings of St. Gregory of Sinaite, after the fall in the verbal sphere of the soul, processes of splitting and complication, analogous to the general tendencies of the nature of fallen man towards corruption and death, revealed themselves with all their force. The power of the mind, contrary to its natural purpose of undivided contemplation of the Divine nature, began to dissipate in created objects [5 I.§68; 5 IV.§1; 5 V.§3]. Man, having lost rational integrity, rushed towards non-existence, carried away by the law of sin [5 I.§82]. This desire is a natural result of the unnatural state of human nature and a negative confirmation of his super-created predestination, his original destiny for deification. 3.1.3. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity and Its participation in the salvation of man The perfection of God-likeness remained unrealized in fallen man, not brought to fulfillment and immutability, but the incomprehensible image of the “Trinitarian Unit” [5 I.§29] is not abolished in man by the fall. The dynamics of the fall distorted this unshakable foundation of human existence, but established in man by the Divine hand, he cannot be destroyed by created will. Moreover, it is subject to restoration to its original purity by the decision of the uncreated will of God, who remains unchanged in His promises. In his teaching about the Trinitarian God, the Monk Gregory avoids, as has already been said, abstract and lengthy reasoning. His triadology is a statement of the immutable truths about the Divinity of the seer and seer of God, amazed by the contemplation of the greatness of Divine perfections and penetration into the secrets of the economic salvation of the Consubstantial Trinity. The triadology and Christology of the Holy Father are thoroughly soteriological, permeated with the eschatological spirit of the fulfillment of times and the hope of the incorruptibility of the future age, when the saints, clothed in only light and glory, will see face to face “this super-infinite Trinity Godhead” (t9hn +uper)apeiron triadik9hn yearc)ian) [ 6 DT .§10 150 ], not needing more of plans and symbolic guidance (procar)agmata ka9i t)upon paidagwg)iaq) [ 6 DT .§6 100 ]. From personal experience of grace-filled spiritual attainments, the Monk Gregory of Sinaite testifies: “The limit [of Orthodoxy] is pure contemplation and knowledge of the two dogmas of faith, that is, the Trinity and the Two: recognition of the Trinity [is] and contemplation of It as an unfused and indivisible Unit. The duality [recognition consists] in the acceptance and confession in Christ of two natures in one Person, that is, the One Son, before the Incarnation and after the Incarnation in two natures and wills - Divine and human - infinitely glorified" [5 I.§26]. Here, a peculiarity in the theology of the Sinai ascetic attracts attention - his desire to emphasize the internal connection of the two main dogmas of the Orthodox faith about the Trinity of the Divinity and the two natures of the incarnate God the Word. Drawing figurative comparisons between sensory examples and the existence of the Divine, he certainly mentions and relates both dogmas together. So in the “Word on the Transfiguration” in the three disciples of the Lord on Mount Tabor, Saint Gregory sees a prototype of the Holy Trinity and the truth of the Divine (o=i... tre6iq s)umbolon t6hq Tri)adoq 7hsan ka9i t6hq _alhye)iaq... t6hq ye)othtoq) [ 6 DT .§15 189 ], and in the two prophets Moses and Elijah are the image of the House of the one Christ, binary in nature (o=i... d)uo t)upoq t6hq o\ikonom)iaq to6u =en9oq ka9i diplo6u t9hn f)usin Cristo6u) [ 6 DT .§15 191 ]. Then, again returning in thought to the mystery of the Holy Trinity and as if turning his gaze from one contemplation to another, the Reverend Father in the great prophets themselves, who supernaturally appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration next to Christ, together with Him sees Hypostasis the Trinity Himself, existing in three Persons and revealing Himself as a Unit (t9hn Tri)ada a_ut9hn +upostatik6wq... +wq tritt9hn o7usan ka9i m)ian +upemfa)inousan) [ 6 DT .§10 145–146 ]. Moreover, the Lord deliberately presented those and other prototypes and symbols at the same time, as if uniting together in an extraordinary way, revealing and creating the two dogmas of faith (+wq e\iq 5en yaumas)iwq sun)ajaq ka9i de)ixaq ka9i poi)hsaq t9a d)ogmata) [ 6 DT .§15 193]. Emphasizing the fundamental connection between the dogmas of the Incarnation and the Holy Trinity, St. Gregory uses the apophatic terminology of the Chalcedonian creed to describe the relationship of the Son and the Father: The Father abides in the Son unchangeably, unfused, inseparably, immutably (_apar)allaktwq, _asugc)utwq, _acwr)istwq, _atr)eptwq) [ 6 DT .§18 245–246 ]. While this definition itself is taken from the sphere of Christology and serves as an expression of Orthodox theology about the union of two natures in Christ. In the same manner of statement, relying on the confession of the Church and his own contemplative vision, Saint Sinaite testifies to the personal properties of the three Divine Hypostases: “Begotten, unborn and procession are three unchangeable and immutable properties of the Most Holy Trinity, [which] must be reverently confessed. The Father is unborn and without beginning, the Son is begotten and without beginning, and the Holy Spirit is emanating from the Father and given through the co-existent Son” [5 I.§27]. In “The Homily for the Transfiguration,” he dwells in more detail on the relationships of the Divine Persons, without, however, changing the nature of the presentation and producing with his speech the irresistible impression of conveying direct revelation from above: “The Son [abides] in Me singly,” St. Gregory theologizes, as if through the mouth of God the Father, “and I am in Him—threefold: the first, because of the perception [of human nature], and the second, because of the Divine existence.” (a_ut9oq _en _emo9i monadik6wq, k_ag(w triadik6wq _en a_ut#6w, t9o m9en di9a t9hn pr)oslhjin, t9o d9e di9a t9hn 4uparxin t6hq ye)othtoq) [ 6 DT .§18 236–237 ]. “He shines in Me, comprehended individually... I will shine in Him, known in the Trinity. He is entirely in Me [abides] immutably, and outside of Me - without expiration, and with Me - outside of time (a_ut9oq 4oloq _en _emo9i _atr)eptwq ka9i _ex _emo6u _arre)ustwq ka9i s9un _emo9i _acr)onwq). But He is not after Me, and there was no other God and Son besides Me or before Me (ka9i met\ _em9e o_uk 2esti, ka9i pl9hn _emo6u 1h pr9o _emo6u Ye9oq ka9i U=i9oq o_uk _eg)eneto 2alloq). He always fully [abides] in Me and in Himself indivisibly, and I am entirely in Him [abide] and in Myself dispassionately [and] inseparably kay\ a+ut9on _apay6wq, _acwr)istwq). And My Spirit in fullness [comes] from Me and in Him [rests] and [again] in Me [abides] and in Itself inexpressibly (ka9i t9o Pne6um)a mou 4olon _ex _emo6u ka9i _en a_ut#6w ka9i _en _emo9i ka)i kay\ a_ut9o _arr)htwq)" [ 6 DT .§18 260–268 ]. Some similarity to intra-trinity relations can, according to the thought of the Holy Father, be compared with the tripartite nature of the human soul [6 DT.§18 247,20 303–305]. “So in man there is a mind, a word and a spirit, existing in each other and on their own, and the mind is not separated from the word and the word from the spirit, so that the mind speaks verbally and the word is expressed with the help of the soul, then by virtue of this attribute man bears a vague image of the inexpressible, primitive Trinity, briefly revealing thereby his [creation] in the image of God” [5 I.§31]. “The Mind is the Father, the Word is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is truly the Spirit, as the figuratively God-bearing fathers teach, developing the dogmatic teaching about the Holy Superessential and Prenatural Trinity, about the One God in three Persons” [5 I.§32]. Here Saint Sinaite follows the ancient tradition of using created analogies in Trinity theology, some systematization of which was proposed in his works by St. Maximus the Confessor [59.p.154]. While theologizing about the Trinity of God, St. Gregory does not lose sight of the Divine essence, calling God a simple and uncomplicated Unit (+h Mon)aq) [ 5 I .§29], and His blessed essence unapproachable, unbearable and incomprehensible for creation (t9o 2astekton ka9i _apr)ositon t6hq makar)iaq o_us)iaq a_uto6u) [ 6 DT .§4 47 ], (+h o_us)ia a)uto6u _akatal)hptoq) [ 6 DT .§25 431 ]. Being in line with the general Church teaching and tradition, the Holy Father thus confesses the complete incommunicability of the being of God, the absolute mystery of the Divine essence, which cannot even remotely be adequately compared with anything created (2apoioq) [5 I.§29], surpasses the power of knowledge of rational beings and the very human ideas about existence, essence and Divinity. The highest and super-existent God ($ujistoq ka9i +upero)usioq) [ 6 DT .§27 460 ] exceeds praise, and Divinity, and the very essence (t9on +uper)umnhton ka9i +up)eryeon ka9i +upero)usion) [ 6 DT .§26 445 ] and dwells in the unapproachable light (_en t#6w _aprosit#6w fwt9i) [ 6 DT .§8 129 ]. However, “God is not limited to the concept of a transcendent and absolutely inaccessible essence: He acts, reveals and communicates Himself; and man, according to the unanimous testimony of the patristic tradition, was created from the beginning in order to participate in God, without ever becoming “God in essence” [87.P.227]. The Monk Gregory of Sinai remains faithful to this tradition, distinguishing in God His unapproachable super-essence and communicable energy, which is revealed in the fact that, while remaining inaccessible in essence, God entirely abides in us and everywhere at the same time, comes and comes ineffably, inexpressibly and godly (4oloq _en +hm6in _esti ka9i pantaco6u, ka9i pore)uetai _arr)htwq ka9i 2ercetai, 4oper _est9in _energe)iaq dhlwtik9on... _afr)astwq ka9i yeoprep6wq) [ 6 DT .§21 333–334 ]. Confessing “the single action of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” [5 I.§113], St. Sinaite brings together the concepts of nature and energy, as cause and its timeless effect. Energy is the natural activity of nature, the movement of the Divine nature, through which creation receives existence in time and becomes involved in God. As a property of nature and essence itself, energy is also related to hypostasis. Since any nature exists exclusively in a hypostasis, which is the subject of natural action, energy can accordingly be called both natural and hypostatic (fusik6wq ka9i kay\ +up)ostasin) [6 DT.§19 297]. Likewise, Divine energy relates to the nature of the Divinity and the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, existing in God not as a separate Hypostasis, that is, self-hypostasis, but in the Hypostases of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is, hypostatically, and, as an indispensable attribute of the Divinity, is uncreated and eternal. Energy, or grace, being imparted to creation, forms the basis of the existence of creation and the well-being of rational beings, which in the latter case means the closest participation in God and knowledge of Him. “By grace we know the Father most intimately in the Son by nature and essence, in the Father the Son as in his Cause, and the Spirit by procession” U=i9on a\itiat6wq ka9i t9o Pne6uma _ekporeut6wq gin)wskomen c)ariti) [ 6 DT .§19 285–287 ]. Thus, as G. Manzaridis writes, “Participation of the Divine nature is paradoxically both possible and impossible, or, as one might also say, it is participable in a nonparticipable way,” that is, as a supernatural entity, it remains outside of any communion, but thanks to its natural energies, communion becomes possible” [43.R.109]. The created world, called out of non-existence and contained in being by the powerful creative “let it be” (Gen. 1:3), bears the stamp of the single action of the Trinitarian Deity, secretly providing for the world and preserving creation within the limits of nature and the laws of its nature. “The infinite God in everything is known and comprehended threefold. He contains everything and provides for everything through the Son in the Holy Spirit. And there is not a single [Person of the Holy Trinity] who is outside or separately from the other [Persons] anywhere thought, named and confessed” [5 I.§30]. “For there is one grace of the Father, who fills [all things] through the Son in the Holy Spirit (M)ia g)ar _estin +h to6u Patr9oq c)ariq di\ U=io6u _en Pne)umati +ag)i#w plhroum)enh), and one Godhead and one God, worshiped in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (ka9i m)ia ye)othtoq ka9i e8iq Ye)oq _en Patr9i ka9i U=i#6w ka9i +ag)i#w Pne)umati proskuno)umenoq)” [ 6 DT .§20 313–314 ]. The joint action and participation of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity took place not only during the creation of the world of created beings, but continues to this day in the diverse providential vision (kat9a pol)utropon yewr)ian) about the world and about the salvation of man who has fallen away from God [6 DT.§10 140]. In the latter case, the participation of each of the Divine Hypostases is accomplished in a special way and is called the Economy of the salvation of man, whose sad fate after the fall was shared by all visible creation and with whose salvation the hopes of all creation are connected for liberation from slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:22) [5 I.§11]. As the Beginning, Source and Cause of the Divine Hypostases of the Son and Spirit (+h \Arc(h, +h Phg(h, +h \Ait)ia) [ 6 DT .§18 240–243 ], God the Father also belongs to what is understood as godly (yeoprep6wq noht)eon) [ 6 DT .§21 334 ] primacy in The economy of human salvation, which is expressed in the law-making action of God the Father (t9on Pat)era...nomoyeto6unta) [6 DT .§8 126], showing favor towards fallen humanity and blessing His Only Begotten Son for sacrificial service to the world. The divine will for the salvation of man was accomplished in the depths of the Divinity pre-eternally (2acronwq), before the existence of creation itself, and constituted the economic plan or council of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (t9hn proai)wnion t6hq o\ikonom)iaq boul9hn) [ 6 DT .§22 336]. After the fulfillment of times, the Divine Word and the Son of God “duly” came into the world for the salvation of the world: being completely simple in Divinity, He allowed complexity in Himself, taking on bodily shape through the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit (pro6hlyen kairo6iq \id)ioiq _ep\ _esc)atwn e\iq t9hn +hm6wn swthr)ian, sunet)eyh _en +eaut#6w plastourghye9iq _en Pne)umati, +o e\iq 4apan +aplo6uq) [ 6 DT .§22 337–339 ]. St. Gregory contemplates in reverent awe the mystery of the Incarnation, in which the Divine Trinity, in his words, was incomprehensibly divided in Christ, however, without adding to Itself, so that the Trinity would not become a quaternity as a result of the Incarnation of the Word (Tri9aq _en Crist#6w diaire6itai d)ica prosl)hjewq... 4ina m9h e2ih tetr9aq +h Tri9aq di9a t9hn to6u U=io6u s)arkwsin) [ 6 DT .§20 309–312 ]. The Holy Father sees division in Christ both in the mode of being and in relation to the essence (t9o m9en... t#6w kay\ 4uparxin trop#6w, t9o d9e t#6w kat\ o_us)ian l)og#w) [ 6 DT .§20 310–311]. Here his terminology goes back to the Christology of St. Maximus the Confessor and to the trinitarian theology of the great Cappadocians 4, for whom the concept t#6w kay\ 4uparxin trop#6w means hypostatic being in God, and the term t#6w kat\ o_us)ian l)og#w denotes essential being or the essence of God. This established terminology, first applied in triadology, is used by St. Gregory in connection with the doctrine of the Incarnation, which, as noted above, is a feature of the theology of St. Sinaite: he strongly emphasizes the unity of the two main dogmas of Orthodoxy - the three Persons of the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation. Thus, according to the thought of St. Gregory, the Second Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity in the Incarnation became what it was not before, that is, a man, transferring his own, Divine, way of existence (t#6w kay\ 4uparxin trop#6w) to the created human nature perceived by Him. Moreover, the latter received existence not in its own hypostasis, but in the Hypostasis of the Son of God, and became, according to traditional dogmatic usage [ 59 .P.42–43], hypostatic (_enup)ostatoq), not only without introducing the fourth person into the Holy Trinity, but also preserving the natural difference from the Divine essence (t#6w kat\ o_us)ian l)og#w) (Crist9oq... +eter)othti +wq 2anyrwpoq dien)hnoce f)usewq) [ 6 DT .§15 195 ], so that in Christ all the fullness of the Divinity shone bodily (p6an t9o pl)hroma t6hq ye)othtoq l)ampw swmatik6wq) [ 6 DT .§18 224 ]. And now, by the favor of God the Father, the Son of God is the true Image of the Fatherly Hypostasis and the radiance of His glory (+o carakt9hr t6hq +em6hq +upost)asewq, t9o _apa)ugasma t6hq +em6hq d)oxhq), an unchanging reflection of the super-essence of the Father, His hypostatic Wisdom and Power (+h _apar)allaktoq t6hq +em6hq +uperousi)othtoq e\ik)wn... +h _enup)ostatoq +em6h sof)ia ka9i d)unamiq) [ 6 DT .§18 224–228 ], impregnable Father's Light (t9o 2aduton... patrik9on f6wq) [ 6 DT .§27 467 ] – abiding from eternity in the Father's womb (_en t9o patrik#6w m)enei k)olp#w) [ 6 DT .§21 333 ] and before the morning, without expiration, born from the essence of the Father (+o _ek gastr9oq pr9o _ewsf)orou t6hq to6u Patr9oq o_us)ian gennhye9iq) [ 6 DT .§23 348], takes shape, putting on a body, perceives material roughness and becomes flesh incomprehensibly, making His own what belongs to man (gr)afetai swmato)umenoq, ka9i... pac)utetai ka9i s9arx g)inetai parad)oxwq... t9a +hm6wn o\ikeo)umenoq) [ 6 DT .§23 355–358], that is, human nature in its fullness, which St. Gregory also calls human confusion (t9o f)urama) [ 6 DT .§24 408]. Being after the Incarnation in two natures, one and the same Son and Christ becomes the true Mediator between the Holy Trinity and humanity that has fallen from Her (a_ut9oq Tri)adoq ka9i +hm6in mes)ithq... gen)omenoq), being, according to the word of the Apostle, Filling everything in everything (Eph. 1, 23) (t9a p)anta _en p6asi) [ 6 DT .§15 196], that is, the source of the revival of all creation and the grace-filled renewal of man. According to the Gospel expression of St. Gregory, Christ is the cornerstone “Stone of faith, connecting us with Himself, and a pearl of great price,” for the sake of acquiring which “he who enters the depths of silence, as it were, sells all his desires” [5 I.§83]. From now on, everyone who believes in the incarnate Son of God, “living and acting in Christ,” can be the abode of Christ [5 I.§27]. With the coming of the Savior of the world, those who believe in Him are given the “land of the meek or the Kingdom of Heaven” as their inheritance, into which they enter, “having received the grace-filled birth of sonhood and renewal through the resurrection” [5 I.§47]. According to the thought of St. Gregory, God the Word, once incarnate, “always happens providentially and mysteriously for the sake of our salvation” (e\iq t9hn +hm6wn... swthr)ian _ae9i pronohtik6wq te ka9i mustik6wq pro)ercetai) [ 6 DT .§21 328–329 ], “eternally sent to us in a mysterious way from the Father and given [by Him] according to [the abundance of] goodness” (p)empetai _ae9i di9a to6u Patr9oq e\iq +hm6aq mustik6wq ka9i _apost)elletai di9a _agay)othta) [ 6 DT .§23 338–339 ], is contained by those who love Him through purity (cwro)umenoq di9a kayar)othtoq) [ 6 DT .§6 104 ], “unites with our members, and we become intimately His instrument for the fulfillment of [His] commandments, for He works in us both to will and to do for good pleasure ( Phil. 2:13 )" (sunt)iyetai to6iq +hm6wn m)elesi ka9i 2organon a_uto6u gin)omeya pr9oq t9hn t6wn _entol6wn _ergas)ian krupt6wq) [ 6 DT .§23 353–354 ]. If the House-building of the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity was marked by Her Incarnation and the deliverance of humanity from the power of sin, corruption and death, then the action of the Holy Spirit in the economy of salvation consists in the moral improvement of those who believe in Christ, in their assimilation of the fruits of salvation, in guiding them to achieve the perfect image in Christ, in elevating them to grace-filled unity and knowledge of God on the basis of free assistance, or synergy (+h sunerg)ia) [87.P.144]. The Holy Spirit, whose era in the Church is called by St. Gregory the transition from the Economy itself to the knowledge of God (_ek t6hq o\ikonom)iaq _ep9i t9hn yeolog)ian) [ 6 DT .§1 4], was taught to the holy apostles according to the promise of Christ on the day of Pentecost, descended on them in fire (_epid)hmhsaq +o Par)aklhtoq _en pur9i) [ 6 DT .§24 378–379 ], produced a gracious cleansing (t#6w kayartik#6w pur9i t#6w to6u Pne)umatoq) [ 6 DT .§6 92 ] and honored their communication with the Divine radiance (ye)iaq... lampr)othtoq metous)ian) [ 6 DT .§6 90]. From that time, as S.M. writes. Zarin, the grace of the Divine Spirit dwells in every “true Christian, in the very center of his religious and moral activity - the heart, combines with his will, penetrates it... the whole life of a Christian, all of his truly Christian behavior turns out to be permeated by the presence of the Holy Spirit, Who assists man... in all his actions, thoughts and decisions, in which only the truly Christian perfection of man is expressed, his likeness to God is realized" [ 62 .P.94]. Those who remain faithful to God by fulfilling His commandments are filled by the Holy Spirit with His gifts and imparted “the knowledge of the truth... in a gracious sense of it” [5 I.§3]. Such are richly saturated in Christ with the pure rational milk of maternal grace [ 5 I .§21] and, like the ancient kings and high priests, “are truly anointed in the new grace (_en t#6h _anakain)isei) of the Spirit” [ 5 I .§133]. On the contrary, everyone who, after Baptism, has not retained the “renewal of the Spirit” [5 I.§42], having fallen from this second dignity “for unbelief and carelessness” [5 I.§4], becomes “alien to grace and unenlightened by the Holy Spirit... remains inanimate by the action and movement of grace, as incapable of receiving it” [5 I.§129]. For “the Spirit of Christ, completely abiding in all the members of Christ unfused (_agim6wq) and acting, revives those of them who are able to be participants in [gracious] life,” however, “through weakness, it holds those who are separated from Him as their own members,” but lifeless, insensitive, dead and motionless due to spiritual death [5 I.§129]. Humanely holding back those who have fallen away, the Lord, according to the word of Scripture, educates them with a rod and a club (Ps. 22:4), that is, according to the explanation of St. Gregory, by judgment and Providence, through which they are punished and punished here, in order to avoid “finally present and future judgment” [5 I.§16]. In this way, the Economy of man’s salvation and God’s providential care for all creation are carried out in time, in which all the Persons of the Divine Trinity equally participate, each in a special way peculiar to Him, but in a single grace-filled action, so that, according to the testimony of St. Gregory, “no one comes to the Father except through the Son and the Spirit; and no one comes to the Son except through the Father and the Spirit, as He has declared (John 14:6); and no one can see and know (o_ude9iq d)unatai... \ide6in ka9i gn6wnai) the Father, unless... the Son reveals Him in the Spirit to those whom, according to dignity, He Himself wills (_apokal)ujei _en Pne)umati kat\ _ax)ian _en o8iq 1an bo)ulhtai)" [ 6 DT .§18 270–273]. 3.2. Ascetic theology According to the apt expression of Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlahos), “spiritual life... is not some kind of anthropocentric state, but the experience of assimilating uncreated Divine grace” [65.P.65]. In Orthodox ascetic writing, such assimilation of grace, which, in fact, consists of the spiritual re-creation of fallen man, is traditionally divided into two stages: doing (+h pr)axiq) and contemplation (+h yewr)ia) [ 5 I .§127], where the first pursues the goal of cleansing a person from passions through “invisible warfare” with them and achieving dispassion or purity of heart [ 5 I §111; 5 III.§2]; the second is called enlightenment, that is, the mystical state of union with God and simultaneous contemplation or knowledge of Him [5 I.§23,26,57,111,130]. The two stages of ascetic feat correspond to three stages of spiritual perfection: purification of the heart, enlightenment of the mind and perfection itself, or, in the words of St. Gregory of Sinaite, resurrection [5 III.§2]. This division is also traditional in the ascetic tradition of the Church and is confirmed by the testimonies of many ascetic holy fathers. So, for example, the Rev. Nikita Stifat writes about this: “There are three degrees in those who succeed in ascent to perfection: purifying, enlightening and mysterious, or perfective. The first is characteristic of beginners, the second - of average and the third - of perfection. Ascending in order through these three degrees, the diligent ascetic grows in accordance with the age of Christ and becomes a perfect husband according to the age of Christ’s fulfillment (Eph. 4:13)” [13.p.151]. It should be noted that the ascetic ascends to these steps not as a result of his personal efforts and ascetic exercises, but as a result of the regenerating influence of Divine grace on him, which sees in the ascetic’s works a confirmation of the sincerity of his intentions and uses them as a reason for reward, which St. Gregory calls “undeserved” [5 I.§42], as a free manifestation of the goodness and love of God. The free nature of Communion with God, which presupposes the unforced cooperation (+h sunerg)ia) of God and man, also determines the fundamental continuity of the ascetic feat and the maintenance of the unrelenting strength of man’s aspiration to God throughout this feat. This means that all kinds of “stops” and “rests” in the procession to heaven in the language of Orthodox asceticism are tantamount to moving backwards, and even just one weakening of the power of zeal for God can throw those who have achieved the mysterious Communion with God to the state of beginners and inexperienced [5 I.§4.129; 5 II.§1,2]. Therefore, the spiritual rebirth of fallen man, according to the thought of the Venerable Sinaite, should represent a consistent and continuous assimilation of the spiritual “ages of Christ” [5 I.§55,56]. “Everyone baptized into Christ must reach all the ages of Christ, because he has already anticipated their power and through the commandments can find and assimilate them. Conception [in the life of a Christian] is the pledge of the Spirit, birth is the action of joy, Baptism is the cleansing power of the fire of the Spirit, transfiguration is the contemplation of the Divine light, crucifixion is the mortification of everything [sinful], burial is the guarding of Divine jealousy in the heart, resurrection is the life-giving awakening of the soul, ascension is the frenzy and rapture of the mind to God. Whoever has not acquired and felt [the named states] is still a baby in body and spirit, although everyone would consider him an old man and active” [5 II.§1]. So, the restoration of the image of God distorted by man, in the vision of the Holy Father, unfolds into an active and continuous process in which Divine grace finds a fallen person [5 I.§21,96,116] and, with his desire and active participation, taking the form of an ascetic feat, raises him from a subnatural state of decay to the immutability of deification [5 I.§8]. 3.2.1. Stage of active asceticism The beginning of the revival of the soul lies in a radical renewal of a person’s view of himself, and, first of all, the recognition of his current state as unnatural and graceless [5 I.§1,4]. Such self-esteem is accompanied by an awareness of one’s guilt before God, unity with Whom was interrupted by the free initiative of man [5 III.§4]. As a result, an inspired, volitional decision matures in a person to return to the path of fidelity and obedience to the Creator [5 I.§122]. His ascetic feat acquires the features of repentance embodied in life - as a change of consciousness and the entire “old” way of life - becomes a feat of repentance [5 II.§2.5]. The putting off of the “old” man is accompanied by the putting on of the “new” man, living according to the dictates of the Spirit of God and wholly clothed in Christ, Who is the foundation and beginning of all virtues and on Whom all good things are established and based [5 I.§83]. The purification taking place at this time (+h k)ayarsiq) “is expressed in disdain for everything material (especially... passions associated with the material world), in the “refining” of the flesh by fasting and vigil, in fleeing from any reason that causes passion, in shedding tears, repentance for past deeds, in arranging external affairs with the spirit of righteousness... Man extinguishes the power of his sinful nature, stops the lips of the wild animals – passions, becomes spiritually strong” [65.P.55]. Thus, repentance at the initial stage generally means an ascetic lifestyle. In relation to human nature, active asceticism, or the struggle with passions, is, in the words of St. Macarius the Great, nothing more than gathering “in love for the Lord the heart scattered throughout the whole earth” [Cit. according to: 120 .P.38], that is, the restoration of the integrity of his nature lost by man by bringing dispersed and scattered spiritual forces and feelings into a single spiritual center [5 I.§7.98]. The culmination of the gathering of the heart is the bringing down of the human mind to this spiritual center, carried out by the action of grace with the intense prayerful effort of the ascetic [5 I.§116; 5 IV.§1]. It is prayer that is the main means in the hands of the ascetic in the matter of gathering his nature, as can be seen in the example of memory scattered by sin: “The healing of primitive memory from the insidious and disastrous memorization of thoughts is determined by its return to primordial simplicity... Memory is completely healed by continuous and strengthened by prayer the remembrance of God, which, having dissolved with the spirit, is directed from natural objects to the supernatural” [ 5 I .§61]. The Monk Gregory pays special attention to prayer as a kind of all-weapon for ascetic work in his creations. First of all, he considers the commandment about prayer, or constant remembrance of God, to be “the greatest ancestral commandment” given to man by God Himself back in the Old Testament: Remember the Lord your God always (Deut. 8:18). It is “in the nature of all those who strive for salvation to always prefer” this commandment to any other work and to give it the main place in the list of ascetic means of salvation. For “for [violating] it people perished and through it they can be saved. Oblivion [of God] eradicates the Divine memory at the root and, eclipsing the commandments, thus exposes man completely naked” [5 I.§17]. Prayerful activity accompanies a Christian throughout his life, forms the basis of his feat at every stage of his improvement, producing a corresponding action in him each time: “The beginning of mental prayer is the action, or cleansing power, of the Holy Spirit and the mysterious sacred action of the mind... the middle is enlightening power and contemplation, and the end is ecstasy and admiration of the mind for God” [5 I.§111]. Just as the fruits of the prayerful action of the Spirit of God in the soul at the beginning and end of the feat are different, so are the very experiences of a successful soul experiencing the touch of uncreated grace varied: “Prayer for beginners is like a fire of joy radiated from the heart, and for perfect ones it is like a gracious light acting [in the soul]” [5 I.§113]. “In some [its action] is expressed as rising light, in others as tremulous joy, in others as joy, in others as a mixture of joy and fear, in some as trembling and joy, sometimes as tears and fear... For others, at first there is an indescribable contrition and extreme tension of the soul, like grief giving birth in the pangs of birth, according to Scripture (Rev. 12:2), since the living and active Word, that is, Jesus, as the apostle says, goes to the separation of soul and body, joints and marrow (Heb. 4:12), in order to forcibly cut off the passions from all parts of the soul and body. In others [ascetics] there shines through indestructible peace and love towards everyone, in others - joy, which the fathers often call leaping (+h sk)irthma), like the strength of the spirit, and the movement of a living heart. This [state] is also called the beating or breathing of the Spirit, inexpressibly turning to God (Rom. 8:26). Isaiah calls it the wave of God's righteousness, the great Ephraim calls it the tip (+o nugm)oq), and the Lord calls it a source of water flowing into eternal life (John 4:14). [The Lord] actually called the [grace] of the Spirit water, beating in the heart and spreading with great intense force” [5 III.§4]. So, the action of prayer for St. Gregory is equivalent to the action of Divine grace, therefore, in prayer itself, the goal of asceticism is achieved - the acquisition of grace, which itself supersensibly produces changes in human nature, first restoring its lost integrity, and then elevating a person to god-like perfection and deification. “The wisdom given by the Spirit, according to theologians, is the power of intelligent, pure, angelic prayer, the sign of which is the mind, which in prayer does not see any image and does not see with the sensory eye either itself [that is, appearance] or anything else, but is often distracted from the senses by the light [acting] in it, because then the mind becomes immaterial, light-like and inexpressibly united with God in one spirit” [5 I.§116]. “The power of prayer” is, therefore, the power of grace, which alone has the power to break sin and forces that are contrary to man [5 I.§114]. It is not surprising, therefore, that the oblivion of God overshadows all the commandments [5 I.§17] and, being nothing more than a deprivation of grace, reduces a person to the level of unnatural nakedness, wild sensuality. St. Gregory directly points out that “grace... is effective (_energoum)enh) prayer” [5 I.§119]. In this capacity, prayer is called mental [5 V.§7; 5 IV.§1] or cardiac [5 III.§3; 5 IV.§1], produced by the Spirit of God [5 III.§4]. The analogy with the biblical story about the Divine breath (Gen. 2:7), which made the primordial man a living soul, that is, bearing the image of the Creator, is noteworthy. St. Gregory also calls the action of prayer “the breath of the Spirit” [5 III.§4], which again revives a reasonable person from a state of spiritual death. Returning to the theme of asceticism, St. Gregory tells at length how the power of prayer is acquired and indicates the following methods for this: “The action of the Spirit, which we mysteriously received in Baptism, is acquired in two ways. First of all... the gift of the [Holy Spirit] is revealed by fulfilling the commandments with the help of great and long-term work... And insofar as we keep the commandments, the [Spirit] clearly illuminates us with His characteristic brilliance. Secondly, the Holy Spirit appears in obedience through the knowledge and continuous invocation of the Lord Jesus, that is, through the memory of God. With the skill of the first way of life [the gift of grace] is found more slowly, with the skill of the second - faster, if [only] you diligently and patiently dig the earth in search of gold [grace]. And if we want to find and know the truth without wandering, then we will strive to have only one heart action, completely formless and unimaginable... Let us take care of only one thing, to have the action of prayer taking place in our hearts, warming and pleasing the mind and igniting the soul to the inexpressible love of God and people” [5 III.§4]. The human body does not remain indifferent in this prayer work. The whole person “is cherubically worthy to converse with Jesus through pure prayer” [5 III.§1]. St. Gregory, faithful to church tradition, describes in detail the psycho-somatic technique of prayer, giving it the functional meaning of a method or means, especially useful for beginners. The power of prayer is still the power of the grace of the Spirit, Who breathes freely where He wants (John 3:8). “Solomon said: In the morning sow your seed - of course, prayer - and in the evening do not let your hand rest, so that prayer, having an occasional break in its constancy, does not lose its [deserved] lot at the hour of hearing, because you do not know whether one or the other will be more successful (Eccl. 11:6). In the morning, sitting on a bench with a height of one span of 25 cm, force the mind from the place of command, [or from the head], to descend into the heart and hold it there. Hanging your head as if from fatigue, and experiencing sensitive pain in your chest, shoulders and neck [from tension], mentally or spiritually exclaim continuously: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Then, through self-restraint and toil, often and as if with a sorrowful mood, always have the three names [just mentioned] constantly eaten like one food. Those who eat me, it is said, will hunger even more (Sir. 24, 23). Turning your mind to the other half of the prayer, say: Son of God, have mercy on me. Having read this half [of the prayer] many times, you should not often, out of laziness, change it [to the first]. And plants that are replanted frequently do not take root. Next, hold back the breath of your lungs so as not to breathe unnecessarily, since hearing the sighs flying out of the heart darkens the mind, scatters thoughts and, expelling the mind from the heart, consigns it to the captivity of oblivion or, instead, imperceptibly sets it up to be overly concerned about others, which should not be acquired. If you see the impurities of insidious spirits, that is, thoughts rising or transforming in your mind, do not be amazed, do not dwell on them, even if you remember the good explanations of some things, and do not delve into them, but, holding your breath as far as possible, keep your mind in your heart and repeating without interruption the invocation of the Lord Jesus, you will soon burn and push away the thoughts, invisibly scourging them with the Divine name. That’s why Climacus says: “In the name of Jesus, strike your enemies, since neither in heaven nor on earth is there any stronger weapon”” [5 IV.§2]. The intense feat of self-assembly through counteraction to passionate thoughts by the constant invocation of the omnipotent name of God is likened by St. Gregory to the laborious [5 I.§18] construction or cultivation of the symbolic “body of commandments” [5 I.§21]. The diversity of energies of human nature, in a state of fall, scattered by passions throughout the world, by long-term and persistent prayer gathering into a single spiritual center, is finally united and ordered by the Holy Spirit in full accordance with their natural purpose and activity. This natural activity of energies purified from passionate layers of the now dispassionate human nature reveals itself as a “collection of all commandments” [5 I.§22] or a spiritual “body of commandments” [5 I.§21]. Thanks to the action of Divine grace, the renewed strengths and energies of man acquire stability in the natural, that is, natural for them, aspiration for God, as before they were just as easily inclined to fall and sin, being in the attitude of passion. The new attitude - primordial dispassion, demonstrates the intact harmony of the stable combination of spiritual energies, consistent with nature, called virtue. The manifestation of this natural harmony of forces in specific activity is the all-round activity of a person according to the commandments, life as the constant fulfillment of the commandments or the simultaneous functioning of all members of this “body of commandments” enlivened by grace: “The commandments form, as it were, a body, virtues, like crystallized internal qualities (+wq poiot)htwn $exeiq), are bones, and grace is a living soul, moving the body and doing things according to commandments" [5 I.§20]. Thus, at the stage of purification, or active asceticism, a person, with the help of God’s grace, comes to a state of healing of spiritual forces, to which the ability of pure natural action and the ability to perceive the supernatural influence of uncreated grace returns. A person’s mind turns to God, desires leave the narrow confines of self-love and the captivity of passionate complacency, the will acquires steadfastness in resisting sin and in the desire to reach God and unite with Him. Healing the nature of a person’s spiritual powers is also accompanied by his liberation from the attraction to passionate pleasure and the suffering it produces [5 I.§37,38; 5 II.§2], from this despotic bond and powerful weapon in the hands of the devil, with which he drags the whole world into the pursuit of sensual pleasures, spurring it with the fear of suffering, which increases, according to the law of sin, in proportion to the strength of pleasure [5 I.§109,118]. Purification of the heart, as a result of the “invisible war,” also means delivering it from the soaring of countless thoughts and passionate impulses [5 I.§122], from the combination of sinful excuses with desirable and irritable spiritual forces, and from the passions thus born, which nest in the heart and contain it in their power. If previously a person necessarily obeyed the “law of sin” [5 I.§81] and constantly experienced its destructive effect, now by the power of grace another law is established in him - “the law of the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2), “which speaks and acts in the heart... frees the mind from the law of sin and death” [5 I.§19]. The life-giving grace of the Spirit of God elevates a person from former slavery to a new principle of existence, the active manifestation of which becomes the “law of commandments,” that is, “heartfelt, immediate faith,” through which “every commandment flows and produces the enlightenment of souls, in which the following fruits of true and active faith then appear: abstinence, love and... God-given humility as the beginning and strengthening of love” [5 I.§24]. Here, faith, defined by St. Gregory as immediate [5 I.§24], grace-filled [5 I.§28], living [5 I.§119], effective [5 III.§1], appears as a synthetic concept that embraces the law of the spirit of life and the law of the commandments and interprets their close connection as “the fulfillment of the commandments by the spirit” [5 I.§28]: “He who does not see faith operating in himself has acquired the opposite faith - dead and lifeless... One must reveal faith by successes in [good] deeds or have it shining and active in the light, as the divine apostle says: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith from my works (James 2:18), emphasizing here that grace-filled faith is revealed by deeds according to the commandments, just as the commandments are fulfilled and shine through faith in grace. Faith is the root of the commandments, or, better, the source that waters them to increase. It bifurcates into confession and grace, remaining indivisible by nature” [5 I.§119]. He who has achieved dispassion (+h _ap)ayeia) in his purified nature through the ascetic feat demonstrates the fulfillment of the necessary condition for direct and mysterious communication with God. This is the silence (+h +hsuc)ia) [ 5 I .§83,111] of the nature of a person who has retired into dispassion from passionate excitement - the incessant formation of passions, and has achieved silence (+h sig)h) of external feelings [ 5 I .§59,116]. Such pacification of nature - evidence of purity of heart or heart silence - is nothing more than the restoration of its primordial integrity [5 I.§41], although the perfect incorruption of the body remains the property of the future century [5 I.§8,45,46]. 3.2.2. Contemplation and deification - the stage of spiritual perfection Those who have entered the peace of dispassion achieve mysterious Communion with God, which takes on the character of a free, personal union with God “into one spirit and body” [5 I.§41], accompanied by direct contemplation and knowledge of the Divine, which is known through communion with Him (_en metous)ian... kay)istatai gn)wrimoq) [6 DT.§5 74]. This stage in the ascent to perfect communion with God, as mentioned above, is called theory (+h yewr)ia). The invisible battle with passions and the stage of purification organically flows into contemplation of God [5 IV.§1], enlightenment [5 IV.§8] and union [5 I.§127] with God. Man becomes a truly verbal being (logik9oq kur)iwq... ka9i gen)omenoq ka9i +or)wmenoq) [ 6 DT .§23 375], a church of the Spirit and a priest according to His will [ 5 I .§7], acquiring in the heart “the land of the meek, [which] is the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Divine state of the Son [of God]” [5 I.§47]. Contemplation of the uncreated Divine light, which St. Gregory of Sinaite with inspiration calls unapproachable (_apr)ositoq) [ 6 DT .§8 129;18 234 ] and unalloyed (_akraifn)estaton) [ 6 DT .§7 118 ], trisolar and super-existent (tris)hlion ka9i +upero)usion) [ 6 DT .§18 234 ], intelligent and eternal radiance of the glory of God (ye)ia ka9i noht9h _à)idioq 2ellajiq) [ 6 DT .§3 34 ], (2apaugasma t6hq +em6hq d)oxhq) [ 6 DT .§18 252 ], a ray of Divine radiance and light manifestation (t9o fwtof)aneian a_ut)hn, _akt6ina ye)othtoq) [ 6 DT .§7 110 ], (2ellajiq ye)ia) [ 6 DT .§6 96 ], surpassing the radiance of the sun and producing unspeakable transformation and change (t9on +up9er $hlion... _exastr)aptonta) [6 DT .§25 421], (t9hn _arr)hthn... metam)orfwsin ka9i _allo)iwsin) [6 DT .§23 373] – constitutes an essential side of the spiritual work of the ascetics of silence. The uncreated light, like the natural robe of the Divine, illuminates the diligent worker, so that his mind is immersed in the light and permeated with light, thus acquiring pure spiritual perception, in the words of G. Manzaridis, the spiritual perception being strengthened by divine grace [43.P.101]. Such a mind becomes capable of penetrating the secrets of the world order and the depths of existence of the spiritual and Divine world, depicted before his purified gaze by grace. The stage of enlightenment is characterized by the completion of the previously experienced “lack of essential wisdom, contemplation and single and indivisible knowledge” [5 I.§2], “visible and invisible things: visible or sensory, invisible or mental, rational, spiritual and Divine” [5 I.§25]. Contemplation of God is accomplished by a purified mind, which becomes the supersensible eye of the soul: “Just as the sensory eye, glancing at letters, receives sensory perceptions from them, so the mind, when it is purified and restored to its original dignity, looks at God and receives Divine thoughts from Him. As a book, he then has the Spirit, instead of a reed pen, the thinking ability and language... Instead of ink, the mind has light. Immersing thought in light and filling it with light, [the mind] inscribes words with the Spirit in the pure hearts of those who listen. Then he will realize what has been said about how everyone will be taught by God (John 6:45) and how God will give knowledge to man by prophecy and in the Spirit (Ps. 93:10)” [5 I.§23]. According to Gregory of Sinaite, “there are eight main objects of contemplation: the first is God, the formless, beginningless, uncreated, the Cause of everything, the Trinity One and essential Deity; the second is the order and structure [of life] of intelligent forces; third – arrangement of the existing one; the fourth is the economic descent of the Word; fifth – general resurrection; sixth - the terrible second coming of Christ; the seventh is eternal torment; the eighth is the Kingdom of Heaven... All of them are clearly contemplated and are [in memory] for those who have acquired complete purification of the mind with the help of grace” [5 I.§130]. As indicated, theoria is closely associated with the undivided knowledge of truth [5 I.§2]. Essentially, contemplation and knowledge are two sides of a single state of enlightenment, which St. Gregory calls “the unfalse glory of [reasonable] beings” [5 I.§25.57]. Those clothed with the glory of knowledge do not stop there, but forgetting those things which are behind (Phil. 3:13), they stretch forward, preferring the most excellent way to all things (1 Cor. 12:31). At the highest states of perfection, a person is overwhelmed by the power of amazement and ecstasy: “Amazement is the complete elevation of the powers of the soul to what is known, characteristic of the magnificent glory [of the Divine]... Amazement is the pure and complete aspiration of the mind to the boundless power abiding in the light. Ecstasy represents not only the admiration of spiritual powers to heaven, but also a complete frenzy of the feelings themselves. Jealousy (+o 2erwq) for God is twofold: it is spiritual intoxication, arousing the desire [for salvation]” [5 I.§58]. “The types of jealousy are heartfelt and frantic. The first belongs to those who are enlightened, and the other to those who have already perfected themselves in love. Both, acting, distract the mind from the feelings, since Divine jealousy is the intoxication of the spirit with that which is higher than the natural mind, and thanks to it, even the sense of external relations is stolen [from a person]” [5 I.§59]. The essence of the ecstatic state, according to the thought of St. Gregory, consists in the elevation of perception from the lowlands of sensuality, from everything imaginary and the appearance of the fleeting world to God _epif)aneiaq t6wn skedast6wn) [ 6 DT .§1 5–7 ], which, however, does not necessarily mean the separation of the mind from the body, but is definitely accomplished as overcoming natural human abilities. St. Gregory Palamas writes about this in the following way: “Having achieved the action characteristic of itself, which consists of turning inward and preserving itself, surpassing itself through it, the mind can be combined with God” [12.§I.3.45.P.109]. In a state of ecstasy, the mind, like the verbal energy of a person, admires “to the third heaven” the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who powerfully possesses the mind and places it beyond its own capabilities. Then “the mind becomes separated from the world of things... deprived of sensory perception of relations [of the world]” (+o no6uq... 2exw t6wn 2ontwn g)enhtai, t9hn m9en a2isyhsin _afaire6itai t6wn sc)esewn) [ 6 DT .§13 179–180]. According to the thought of St. Gregory, what occurs is not a separation of the mind from the body, which in this case does not constitute an obstacle to the ascent of the mind to grief, but a separation of the mind from feelings and feelings from the relationships of the world, when the mind, seized by Divine jealousy poie6i t#6w ye)i#w 2erwti), constantly drives away all attachment to sensory objects delivered through the sensory perception of the world (4olhn 4oshn 2ecei +o no6uq pr9oq t9a a\isyht9a di9a t6wn a\isy)hsewn prosp)ayeian _apwyo)umenoq) [ 6 DT .§13 182–184 ]. The thoughts of St. Gregory are echoed by St. Gregory Palamas: “To unite with God (Ye#6w suggen)esyai) is truly impossible unless we, in addition to our purification, become outside, or better to say, above ourselves, leaving everything that relates to the sensory world, and rising with thoughts, inferences and all knowledge and even reason itself, being entirely under the influence of mental feeling... and reaching ignorance, which is higher knowledge, or, what is the same, all philosophy" [Cit. from: 51.P.142]. Obviously, as a result of frenzy and union with the Divine, a person, who has not yet put off the corruptible body, for some time is supernaturally delighted from the limits of his own nature and undergoes changes in the sphere of the organs of cognition. The Monk Gregory calls the method of perception acquired in this way a “gracious feeling” [5 I.§3], a “spiritual feeling”, without which “it is impossible to tangibly feel the Divine sweetness” [5 I.§97], a “reasonable feeling” [5 V.§3], “a sense of the mind” [5 V.§7]. “What should we call this faculty, which is neither feeling nor thinking? In any case, no differently than Solomon, that is, with an intelligent and Divine feeling” [12.§I.3.20.P.80]. The name itself forces priority in the designated supernatural feeling to be given to the participation of the mind. We are talking about the sovereign mind (+h +hgemonikoq nôuq), which, through the action of grace, reigned in a heart cleansed of passionate inclinations and enriched with natural heartfelt feelings. However, the priority of the mind in the new ability of perception is limited only to calling it smart. The very expression “smart feeling” (+h noer9a a2isyhsiq) contains a logical contradiction and indicates the antinomic, superior nature of logical comprehension, the nature of cognition simultaneously by the mind and feeling, as something unified. It is rather an insight and direct vision of God, transcending both the mind and the senses. It is characteristic that the named state is a secret for the contemplator himself, as St. Gregory Palamas says: “By some supernatural knowledge, he knows for sure that he sees light, which is higher than light, but what he sees, he then does not know and cannot find out the nature of his vision due to the unsearchability of the spirit with which he sees” [12.§I.3.21.P.82]. And indeed, the mind, planted in the heart and united with God, becomes different, incomprehensibly and supernaturally uniting with feeling, which in this case should be understood generally as the unity of feelings as such with mental forces, desirable and irritable. “The senses definitely contemplate the sensual, the [spiritual] forces – the mental... When by the Spirit they are brought into unity, becoming one-formed, then they directly and essentially recognize Divine and human things as they are by nature, clearly perceive the meaning in them and, as far as possible, purely contemplate the only cause of everything - the Trinity” [5 I.§98]. In a state of direct unity with the Creator, the revelation of Divine grace embraces the whole person - his body, soul and spirit, and creates new spiritual feelings in him, transforms the being of the contemplator, without suppressing his natural abilities, but transferring them, as it were, to another level [53.P.217]. Thus, the new ability of perception involves the whole person in cognition, having previously imparted to the totality of his energies the supernatural quality of “sameness.” In fact, a person reaches a new level of wholeness - uncreated, grace-filled, and undergoes “inactively” (payhtik6wq) [ 6 DT .§4 38] the grace-filled transcendence of his nature. “The whole man, created in the image of God, participates... in this uncreated Divine life and, without losing his created nature, without identifying with the Divine light, becomes uncreated by grace and without beginning” [53.P.218]. Possession of the full measure of such a supercreated dispensation “is the reward of the future immutable deification” [5 I.§8], (t9hn _eke)iyen y)ewsin) [6 DT.§18 250], which will be experienced supernaturally and inexpressibly by those who have received and preserved the Spirit here [5 I.§42]. “The spiritual sanctuary is the rational action of the mind, mysteriously performing sacred acts on the spiritual altar as a sign of the betrothal to God and the partaking of the Lamb before the future incomprehensible pleasure. Eating the Lamb of God on the mental altar of the soul does not mean only comprehending [Him] and being in communion with Him, but also being, as it were, the Lamb itself after accepting His image in the future. Here are only words; there we hope to receive the very objects of the sacraments” [5 I.§112]. The “root of immortality” [5 I.§32], infused into human nature by the grace of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee on earth, will vegetate in the next century and give the perfect fruit of the “dignity” [5 I.§56] of God-likeness brought to fulfillment. The deified man [5 I.§47] will receive grace as his eternal and unchangeable property and, being created by nature, by grace will take upon himself the perfect image of the “Lamb of God” and become a created god, incomprehensibly experiencing, as his own, the Economy of the Son of God. Divine and uncreated grace, according to the teachings of St. Gregory of Sinaite, also makes uncreated those who perfectly partake of it. Saint Gregory Palamas writes about it this way: “The grace of deification is completely irrelevant and has no power in nature capable of receiving it. Because then it would not be grace, but a manifestation of an action corresponding to a natural ability... Deification would then be a work of nature, and not a gift of God, and a person could be a god by nature and be called him in the proper sense of the word” [12.§III.1.26.P.290]. Therefore, outside the communion of deifying grace, man remains a created consequence of Divine energy, and his relationship with God is limited to the relationship of the creature to the Creator. When he is united with the grace of deification, then, while remaining created by nature, he at the same time surpasses the created world for the sake of the uncreated grace abiding in it, possesses this grace “as if by nature” (+wq p)efuke) [6 DT .§28 494] and by it is determined by the Divine properties of uncreatedness. “A person who has received deification is rightly called in two ways: beginningless, eternal, and heavenly... thanks to the uncreated and ever-present grace from the ever-present God; both a new creature and a new man - for the sake of himself and his nature, although he is called so together with the grace connected with him" [Cit. from: 43.R.110]. The Monk Gregory of Sinaite notes the properties of the deified and especially the incorruptibility and spiritualization of the body. “According to incorruption and deification, the saints... will be angel-like minds and sons of the Resurrection of Christ” [5 I.§53]. Those who have been transformed “in the image of Jesus Christ” [ 5 I .§125] while still on earth, “as [almost] incorporeal and incorruptible,” having cleansed the “mind with tears,” resurrected the “soul by the Spirit,” and subjugated the flesh to the mind, will change “their “clay” vessel by nature into the light-like and fiery face of Divine beauty, because incorruption is the drying up of bodily moisture and fullness [ 5 I .§45]. Having been indescribably transformed from the soul into the spiritual, the incorruptible body, without moisture and heaviness, will remain [still] earthly, so that it will be together earthly and heavenly in god-like subtlety. As it was originally created, so it will be resurrected in order to be conformed to the appearance of the Son of Man as a result of perfect participation in deification” [5 I.§46]. “The kingdom of heaven is like a tabernacle built by God. It [modeled] on the tabernacle of Moses has in two curtains an image of [the life of] the future age. The first part [of the Kingdom of Heaven] will include all those sanctified by grace, and the second, as spiritual, will include only those who, here in the darkness of theology, being, as it were, priests, have perfectly performed the sacred functions of the three powers of the soul. The latter, having as their intercessor the [One] Jesus of the Trinity, the greatest of the priests and the first of the high priests, will penetrate into the God-created tabernacle and be illuminated with a lightning-fast radiance” [5 I.§43]. Summing up the study of the personality and work of St. Gregory of Sinaite, we should once again note the factors that influenced his spiritual formation and determined the significance of the figure of the Holy Father in the history of hesychast writing and movement. This is, first of all, his own extraordinary spiritual experience as an active ascetic ascetic and contemplative theologian, who consistently ascended the steps of praxis to the heights of theoria - Communion with God and knowledge of God, as well as the encyclopedic knowledge of St. Gregory in the field of patristic ascetic and theological writing. The example of his own life as a tireless worker of silence and a missionary of the highest forms of spiritual life not only inspired many of his students and followers to the zealous feat, immortalized his memory in church hagiography and ascetic writing and continues to inspire all those seeking salvation and Christian perfection, but also provides the best and most comprehensive illustration of his creations and theology. In his works, the Monk Gregory depicted a panorama of the free self-determination of man in relation to the God who created him, amazing in its dynamics, and outlined the unforgettable path to the mental and divine mountain (pr9oq t9o ye6ion 2oroq t9o noht9on) [ 6 DT .§1 7; 2 16 ] of the transformation and deification of rational man. Man, according to the teachings of St. Gregory of Sinaite, bearing within himself the incomprehensible image of the Holy Trinity, before the beginning of his existence, was intended by God to be graciously likened to that super-existence that has no beginning outside itself - the Divine being. Created by the deified, he in his very created nature receives an impulse towards a supernatural givenness, a striving towards the complete transcendence of his created nature, towards the immutable goodness of eternal deification. The catastrophe of the Fall did not abolish the Divine plan for man, but the path to the perfection of God-likeness became disproportionately more difficult and even unattainable for him - without the saving participation of the grace of the Incarnation, which bridged the gap between God and fallen man. As a result of the fall, passions and decay became an unnatural “norm” of existence for a person who was in a state of spiritual death. His life was complicated by the tragic duality in his nature, aspirations and personal self-determination, the inevitability of suffering and the exhausting struggle with sin, which blocked the procession to heaven. The ascetic feat of self-gathering, or “invisible” warfare, returns the original integrity of human nature, cut by sin, and at the same time, crowned with dispassion, he is introduced into the Holy of Holies of Communion with God and the knowledge of God. The incredible dynamics of human development from a subnatural state of corruption and gravitation towards non-existence to a super-created transformation by the light of grace distinguishes St. Gregory’s view of his nature and purpose. The fullness of perfection takes on an eschatological perspective from the Holy Father. Incorruptibility, immortality and the immutability of deification become the property of eternity for created man, who, however, “in the next century... will never cease to rise in the multiplication of talents and will never weaken in the pursuit of good” [5 I.§54]. List of used literature 1. Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in Russian translation with appendices./ Synodal translation. 4th ed. – Brussels: Publishing house “Life with God”, 1989. – 2536 p. 2. H KAINI DIAYHKH. \Ay)hnai _adelf)othq “O SOTHR.” 1987. 3. 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Applications. Our Holy Father Gregory of Sinaite's speech on the Holy Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ 1. All those who with open face, like a mirror, reflect [in themselves] the vision of the majestic glory [of the Divine and] are transformed into the [true] image of their own nature, [rising] from glory to the glory of contemplation, like from Christ to the Divine Spirit, that is, from the Economy [of salvation] to the knowledge of God, as having completely transformed [their] mind from the carnal to the spiritual, [mountain] having raised perception from the lowlands of sensuality, from [everything] imaginary and from the appearance of the fleeting world - come, let us climb the mental mountain of contemplation and immaterially and diligently explore its peak, and we will see and hear. Not on the splendor and proportionality of everything that exists before us [affirming ourselves], but with the eye of the mind in the immediate vicinity let us fix [our] gaze on Jesus, shining [now] on Mount Tabor, and let us approach this Light as far as possible; Let us see the brightness of the Feast and His glory, apostolically speaking, let us see the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, full of eternal light and filled with Divine radiance (John 1:14). 2. So, come, all who have reached this Divine mountain of rapture, as the great Isaiah exhorts us (cf. Isaiah 2:3), let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord and see the glory of the shining light of Jesus there, let us also call three chosen disciples [of the Lord] - and best of all, those who loved [spiritual] spectacles - who, in amazement, enjoying the vision and not being able to bear the brightness of the sight [of the Lord] on Tabor], they were completely exhausted. Let us beg them to assist us in everything that concerns the content of this Holiday, and we will see in how many meanings the mystery of this content reveals itself and what is accomplished in it. 3. Reason proclaims [to us] that the present Feast reveals itself, through a sublime [God]revealed proclamation, fourfold and, in a superior sense, individually, and is thereby comprehended and occurs in four meanings. And first of all, this Feast [is related] to the [Old Testament] Law and [appears in it] covertly - mainly through the terrible and unbearable, and [thus] from afar mysteriously hints at the truth. In the second meaning, it is a model and truth, certifying, as if in the form of a pledge, a spiritual and mental change. Thirdly, this is the image and glory of [Christ], the Beginning and the Prototype and the Prototype, [His] essential natural property and beauty, the image of [His] image and likeness of Christ, according to us, for our sake and through us, imagined [by humanity] and forming [our] nature with His Divinity. Finally, it is the Divine and intelligent, eternal radiance, manifesting which God will be seen [in the age to come face to face] and will shine forth [Divinely], standing in the midst of co-present gods and a multitude of kings, surrounded by saints, judging and sharing the merits and images of success in that bliss. 4. So, seeing all this, the divine man will undoubtedly understand the fourfold splendor of both [theophany] and will be inactively initiated into what is mysteriously happening among the saints. For one image [relates] to another image as being more perfect in each case; [thus] darkness [relates] to the light, and Horeb to Tabor, one [being a mountain] of virtues, the other [a mountain] of the future mental, Trinity, Divine, sublime glory; [so] also the storm and horrors [that broke out] there [refer] to the Divine brilliance [of the Word]. For there God was visible in the fire, in the midst of flames and lightning, with the piercing sounds of trumpets, with [shaking] blows of thunder and the noise of fire; also that whole mountain [was] enveloped in smoke, and [in the middle of everything] the Lord, bringing terrible threats and great horrors upon the nations, thereby also showing them how unworthy and imperfect their dignity and structure were, how unbearable and unapproachable His blessed essence. Therefore, the terrifying light, and the vision of those “behind” [the Divine], and the impregnable darkness, and the vision of fire, and the difference of standing [before God] were used there. But here the same God shone ineffably on Tabor and appeared humanely and favorably towards us, was visible in the God-original light and trisian brilliance, talking with His co-presidents Moses and Elijah, and, illuminating His disciples with rays of goodness and showers of the Divine, [He] brought [them] into exhaustion, for they were not yet able to bear His unbearable Divinity. cause of imperfect purification. Therefore, the best of those chosen from the Law turned out to be the strongest and most exalted [in comparison with the chosen disciples of the Lord]. And it is not surprising, for the generally accepted secrets to adoption turn out to be superior to all people, although they were presented as if they were weak due to [their] imperfection. And despite the fact that they [Moses and Elijah] received superiority, yet [they] were by no means [higher] than the apostles, but only succeeded to a greater extent in becoming like God than all the perfected men of the Law. For the spirit of slavery remained in them, although they were subsequently adopted as sons in Christ. The great [gain] for them was that, although after death, they fully accepted with hope what the sons of God possess in Christ thanks to [spiritual] regeneration, being enriched from their infancy by this adoption as their property and inheritance. 5. Then Moses and Elijah, as chosen from above, were both prompted to ascend Horeb, [each] in his own favorable time. The first [is called] to enter the darkness and inside the cloud and receive the Law on stone tablets, also to establish statutes and become a priest [before God] on behalf of all and for all the people, in addition, [is called to become] the most enlightened, by revelation, seer of symbolic images [of truth]. Whereas the second, having received the Divine notification, is ordered to hurry and ascend to the same Horeb and is honored to emerge from [the cave] Magar, [where] he was instructed to wrap his face in a mantle. And so he sees a great and strong wind, crushing those who adhere to silence, and a shaking of the heart and a strong flame of purification and, in conclusion, a quiet breath of flowing light (cf. 1 Kings 19: 11-12), in which God becomes super-essentially comprehended for us through the sacrament [of Him] - the God who, through what was foretold [by the prophets] and fulfilled steadily mysteriously guides and educates us from afar to [perfect] knowledge of God. Now here are the same men who once contemplated and testified to the splendor of the Divinity, direct eyewitnesses of both the first and second theophany, chosen from among all those under the law, appearing supernaturally and together as co-presenters [of Christ]. For one from the assembly of the dead, and the other, as it were from Heaven, Christ in an instant suddenly placed right before Him. And it is truly a miracle how He raised the lawgiver from destruction! I think, as others do, that the meekest Moses had [then] by grace a ghostly appearance [of his body], visible, but not essential. [His] flesh was present [there] only in appearance. But even if he appeared with a body, everything is possible for God, Who also [once] deigned to ascend through the air with a body in a supernatural way. 6. There [at Horeb] Aaron and Hur and Joshua [Joshua] with others were forced to remain below, [at the foot of the mountain], as they were not yet able to endure the intolerable [effect] of fire and darkness. Whereas here Christ, by the example of [His] disciples, [fully] showed what imperfection [means] in such [deeds] and that none of those hitherto imperfect is able to accommodate the communication of the Divine radiance before [his] hearing and understanding are purified and the flesh is refined and becomes incorruptible, [refined] in the cleansing fire of the Spirit. Look: the darkness there [on Horeb] symbolized the light, and the cloud symbolized the present cloud of the Spirit [on Tabor]; fire [prefigured] purification; the sound of the trumpet [was] a thunderous broadcast of the Divine Word; the peals of thunder [prefigured the Gospel] sermon. There is the brilliance of lightning, and here is the Divine radiance, surpassing the sun. The law [of old prefigured] the law of the Gospel, and the dark and difficult to describe mountain [Horeb was] an image of mountain [Tabor]; the fiery signs of both theophany [were] clearly distinguishable. And all the revealed symbols [shown] to the lawgiver [Moses] on the mountain of darkness, the Lord presented [as prototypes] of His Transfiguration and, so to speak, the destinies and example of schoolchildren, [prophetically] predicting what happened there. For He is the Giver of the Law and the Spokesman through the Law, representatively visible and contemplated in truth, invisible by nature and tangible in the light, essentially communicated for the sake of [His] love for mankind and contained through purity, the Source of goodness and the abyss of light, both due to [the excess of] goodness and due to [His] radiance, existing Light and called [Light] above reason and reason. 7. It was from that time that He began to remind His disciples [of His Divinity], asking [them]: Who do people say that I am? They answered: Some for Elijah, some for Moses, others for one of the prophets (Matthew 16:13-14). For this reason, He showed this very manifestation on Mount Tabor and reveals Himself, revealing to them the weak ray of [His] Divinity, as much as they could contain, in order to also show the splendor of the coming glory and the imperishable beauty of His incarnation, [in which] God truly became man above man. And, as God, He reveals Himself, shining, like lightning, with outpourings of light, and as a man, He is recognizable, visible, one with the prophets, through the flesh. And this Divine Word is not only a man, but God and man. The same One [in one Person], as He testified before them, illuminating and purifying their minds with an unalloyed light that overcame the feelings of the elect, and with the coverings of the Divine, overshadowing them with the cloud of [grace] of the Spirit and assuring them with the thunderous voice of the Father. Also, He suddenly presented the chosen and great ones from among the prophets as witnesses, thereby also proving that He is not one of those who He was believed to be, but He is the God of the Law and the Prophets, who by goodness appeared to us inexplicably, wanting to save mankind. 8. There, [at Horeb], first Moses saw in the darkness that the One Who Exists [is] the Triune God, that is, the Father, who gives law through the Son in the Spirit. Although the rest and the Jews themselves madly believed that the Father [is] One [God]. But here, seeing on Tabor the Existing One and the One from the Holy Trinity - incarnate and clothed in an unapproachable light and [contemplating] His shining glory, I rejoiced, rejoiced, seeing all the representative symbols of the Law now fulfilled. And he turns to Christ Himself with certain secret [words] in trembling amazement and fear, and, foreshadowing His outcome, which He intended to bring to fulfillment through [free] suffering in Jerusalem, he was overwhelmed with inexpressible joy, seeing the Truth Itself, which had already come and spread Its light. 9 . Afterwards, Elijah the fiery one, recognizing God, Whom he had seen before, [coming] in fire and wind [quiet] (1 Kings 19:11-12), seeing [Him] now shining brighter than the sun on Tabor, and amazed at the incredible spectacle and [their] timeless gathering, wanted, to tell the truth, to sharpen [his] zeal against the disobedient, but was held back by this joy that overcame [his] anger. 10. [From the beginning of the century] it was arranged in a godly manner through Revelation, through many different views, [as] theologians assert that Moses and Elijah, seen together with Jesus in ancient times - [one] in darkness, and [the other] in light - also now [should] stand next to [Him], for [themselves] they determined this providential establishment and decision, or even their own words. The prophets showed both [an example of] long-suffering meekness and zeal, as well as the two natures of the Word, or even, together with Jesus, the Trinity Itself Hypostatically, [hiddenly] existing in Three [Persons], but revealing [Itself] as a Unit. And even the very sensual side of the Holiday, let it be allowed to say so, to a large extent expressed the mystery of the double triad, [covertly] hinting at the singularity and trinity of the Divine, as having already appeared above and below and by faith abiding everywhere - this is the super-infinite Trinity Godhead. 11. Without a doubt, the number and image of the three disciples also depicted that the [Holy] Trinity Itself, having already revealed itself and testified about itself, is preached through them throughout the world; or [the number and image indicated] the trinity of virtues, I mean: faith, hope, love; or also served as a prototype of the three powers of the soul, so that what is written in the Law is fulfilled exactly, [which] reads: In [the mouth of] two or three witnesses every word will be established (Matthew 18:16). For truly in the midst of their assembly [stands God] the Word, the Author of every word and saying, and every prophetic utterance and Law that had to do with His Dispensation and coming [into the world], was completed, and every scripture and word concerning Him was fulfilled and completed in Him, the Giver of the Law and [its] Fulfillment, Who is the beginning and the end of the Law and the Prophets. 12. But why didn’t He take all the disciples [with Him] to show them this unspeakable vision on Mount Tabor, but only a few? Because even then there was a certain difference in them in knowledge, faith, deed and love, although the grace of the Spirit is one. And therefore, after the [Ascension] of Christ, they accepted different gifts, although they all preached the same news. That is why, taking [with Him] the chosen ones from the twelve, He ascends Mount Tabor. And this is what happened: when they looked at Him, suddenly His appearance shone brighter than the sun, and His clothes became dazzling white, like light. They, amazed by their minds and being captivated by the Divine light, fell to the ground: one on their back, and the other face down, defeated by the radiance [shooting] from the source of light, and, as if surrounded from everywhere, froze [in place]. Peter, waking up and seeing His glory, was struck by the terrifying greatness of the unexpected vision and, looking in awe at the two men, Moses and Elijah, standing next to Him, he turned to Christ with the words: Master, it is good for us to be here - and then - let us create three tabernacles for everyone (Luke 9:33), - not knowing what he was saying, [being] in a frenzy of mind and intoxication [of the spirit]. 13. For when the mind is absorbed in this ineffable light and becomes separated from the world of things, then it is deprived of sensory perception of the relations [of this world]; The Lord calms the very feelings with the light of [His] power. Or else, He separates the mind from the senses, and the senses from the relations [of the world] by the light of [His Divinity] and makes the mind seized by Divine jealousy, [so that] the mind continually drives away all attachment to sensory objects [delivered] through sensory perception [of the world]. 14. Notice also the Divine purpose in such a matter: even what happens in the sensory world has educational significance and affirmatively [explains] the content of the Holiday. Moreover, this very proposition mysteriously hints at the difference [produced by] moral change. 15. For the three [disciples] were a type of the [Holy] Trinity and the truth of the Divinity, which He showed [to the apostles as] witnesses, and the two [prophets] were an image of the House of the one Christ, who is dual in nature. [The Lord] presented these and other witnesses representatively [pointing to] two dogmas of faith in relation to the Trinity [Divinity] and the duality [of Christ], as if uniting together in an extraordinary way, revealing and creating these dogmas. Undoubtedly, after due time, they will also constitute one [by the will of] the [Divine] Trinity Itself, although Christ, as a man, is distinguished by nature [from the Divine nature]. Therefore, He becomes the Mediator (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5) between the Trinity Itself and us, being all in all (Eph. 1:23), when He stands as God among the gods and clothes everyone with glory, according to [his] dignity, and, passing by, distributes the gifts of [His] grace in a Godly manner. 16. And who is capable of sufficiently expressing all the hidden symbols that the God-primary manifestation of light mysteriously presented there in an inexplicable form and knowledge: before - in darkness, after - in the light of the Transfiguration? For then, in due time, these images of truth [were no longer] fully distinguishable for the understanding of those who loved [spiritual] visions and beauty, [were] no longer obvious their inherent properties and images, reflections of unchangeable things and parts of wholes, spreading from them eternal existence everywhere. For there are things [once] past and now belonging to the past, and also there are things present and future and, [of a kind], predestination in each case of a certain disposition and state, [arising] at the present moment, [but] before the onset of the future. 17. So darkness, as was said, served as a prototype of the Transfiguration, and now both of them have already been accomplished. But it is the Transfiguration that is the truth of that theophany [which is present] in each [of them]. And this last at the same time is a guarantee of eternal bliss in another world and participates in unspeakable outpourings of light, when [and] we will be transformed into only light and glory, becoming unchangeable, and will become snow-white on the top of the spiritual Selmon, [mountain] surpassing the understanding of the world (cf. Phil. 4: 7), [by the action of] the original light of God, as it is written, and the illumination of [the Divine], praising [God] with jubilation. 18. “They were afraid,” says the Evangelist, “[when] they entered the cloud. And a voice came from the cloud, saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 17:5).” Then truly the thunder of the boundless Lord Jesus thundered from the mountain, as from Heaven, in a storm of light and the sound of the glory of His coming. Likewise, the Father in the highest lifted up His voice, the voice of power from [the midst of] the shining cloud, saying, as it is written, to the disciples: “This is My Beloved Son, the Only Begotten, who was transformed at Tabor on this day according to humanity. He is the true Image of My Hypostasis, the radiance of My glory (cf. Heb. 1:3), the unchangeable reflection of My super-essence. He is My mighty hand and My almighty right hand. He is My hypostatic Wisdom and Power (1 Cor. 1:24), through Him I created the ages and brought all things into existence from nothingness, in Him I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17), and through Him I revealed Myself [to people] and in Him I enlightened and renewed the world. In Him [people] knew Me, and through Him I was glorified [in the world], in Him I am glorified to this day, and through Him I have glorified you and will glorify you again. It is He who revealed My name to people, and I revealed Him in the Jordan and testified and showed Him. He glorified Me, and I glorified Him this day and [again] I will glorify Him with unapproachable light. He [abides] in Me unfused, and I am in Him unchangeably, shining like lightning in the Trinity in a manner befitting of God. He [abides] in Me singly, and I in Him - threefold: the first - because of perception [of human nature], and the second - because of Divine existence. He is the Born Light, I am the Unborn. He is the Only Begotten Son, I am the Unborn Father, the Beginning of all things. He is the Word [who was] in the beginning and [is] God from the beginning - before the ages. I am the Beginning of the Beginning and the Father of the Word and the super-existent Mind, above [any] mind. He is Light, I am the Source of Light. He is Life, I am the Cause of Life. He is the Sun of Truth, shining in Me, [and] I am known in Him [as] the trisolar and super-essential Light, and in Him all the fullness of the Divinity shines bodily (Col. 2:9). In Him I am well pleased, and in Him I pleased and chose you. In Him I remain unchangeably, unfused, inseparably, immutably. In Him I shine, and manifest, and provide, and purify, and enlighten, and in Him I sanctify you. In the light of His glory you will see Me - the unapproachable Light. In Him you will know Me and in Me you will see Him. And first - through likeness [to Him], and then - thanks to complete perfection. Or in other words: through the indwelling [of Him in you] - here, and thanks to deification - there. In the Spirit you will see the Son, in the Son you will know the Father. In the light of the Spirit you will see the radiance of My glory, in the Image - the Prototype, from yourself - the superexistent. And you will see clearly and understand that He is in Me and I in Him (John 10:38), being unmingled, I am known, as He declared to you. He shines in Me, and I perform miracles in Him. He accomplishes new things in Me, and through Him and the Spirit I perfect the unspeakable. He speaks in Me and does nothing apart from Me and the Spirit (cf. John 8:28), and through Him and in Him and with Him, speaking and dwelling, I perform [My] deeds in the Spirit. Now He shines in Me, comprehended individually, but then I will shine in Him, cognized in the Trinity. He [abides] entirely in Me, immutably, and outside of Me - without expiration, and with Me - outside of time. But He is not after Me, and there was no other God and Son besides Me or before Me. He always fully [abides] in Me and in Himself indivisibly, and I am entirely in Him [abide] and in Myself dispassionately [and] indivisibly. And My Spirit in fullness [comes] from Me (cf. John 14:26) and in Him [rests] and [again] in Me [dwells] and in itself is ineffable. Through Him I become known and with Him [I give] to commune Myself [to those worthy], and in Him and in the Spirit I dwell and make you My abode (John 14:23). No one comes to Me except through Him and the Spirit. And no one comes to Him except through Me and the Spirit, as He declared to you (cf. John 14:6). And no one can see and know Me, unless, as I said, He reveals Me in the Spirit, according to dignity, to those whom He Himself wills, just as the word reveals the mind hidden in it, and the mind [reveals] the word going on in it in the Spirit.” After which He cried out from above, urging them: “Listen to Him (cf. Mark 9:7), believe in Him, follow Him, preach Him, abide in Him, and He in you. Receive Him, and He will accept you, and He will enlighten you, and He will sanctify you, and He will give you everything.” 19. So, as we know, the word is pronounced and spoken through the voice, and the mind [reveals itself] through the word. For the word by nature contains the mind that gives birth to it, and the mind naturally has the word that reveals it, so that we, being enlightened [from above], have received knowledge and are advancing in the knowledge of the Son in the Spirit and the Father in the Son. Or, to speak more clearly and appropriately, by grace we most intimately know the Father in the Son by nature and essence, in the Father the Son as His Cause, and the Spirit by procession. For the Spirit is given [to the worthy] in and through the Son, just as the voice [communicates itself] in the word and with the word, and the word reveals itself to come from the mind. For the voice, always accompanying the word, reveals the action of the word and belongs to the word and is called the living and revealing energy of the word. Moreover, [it] does not [come] from the word outside, but [remains] essentially hypostatic and self-existent. For the word, always [remaining] reasonable, [is] contemplated, and emitted, and occurs. And the mind [invariably] remains verbal, always containing [in itself] a rational word. He utters the word connected with the mind, and always knows [how] to produce this word, which appears through the breath. So that every utterance by nature and essence contains in itself the mind and the co-pronounced word. We call mind not the one [which] flows out together with the word, but the one [which] naturally and hypostasically belongs to the word. [And] when we talk about the word, then [we mean] not something that comes out [outside] and dissolves in the air, but the very beginning of literature, [which] exists hypostatically in the mind and by nature is [always] busy with thinking. And when we talk about breathing, we [mean] not the drawing in and movement of air, but the very essential and vital force, self-existent and occurring in the word and producing sound in the air. 20. So it is shown: man essentially and hypostasis has mind, word and spirit, identical in nature and inseparable, being, according to what has been said, also in this respect the image and glory of the [Holy] Trinity. For the Son never left the Father and the Spirit, or the Father - the Son and the Spirit, or the Spirit - the Father and the Son. Neither has anyone ever existed outside the Word [of God] or separately from the spoken [word], although, according to the way of being and essence, they remain incomprehensibly separated, being united, and [also incomprehensibly] united, being separated. Moreover, the [Holy] Trinity is divided in Christ, [but] without adding [to Itself]: both in the way of being, on the one hand, and in relation to the essence, on the other, so that the Trinity does not become a quaternity due to the Incarnation of the Word. For there is one grace of the Father, who fills [all things] through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and there is one Godhead and one God, worshiped in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 21. [Now] those who love learning should understand exactly [how] to reveal true piety, [using] natural examples, especially [arising] from ourselves, for [the latter] are more reliable than [the former] and are undoubted as evidence. For the word, which naturally [dwells] in us, tends to act in 12 forms, and in each of them, occurring in three ways, it is known and occurs. First it is born from the mind and spirit, then it is discussed, [being subjected to] comprehension, and is brought into connection with the mind and spirit. Then [the word] occurs, is collected, outlined, sent, given, spoken, heard, seen, known, appears to [everyone] willing and unwilling. Moreover, it itself [remains the same] for everyone, everywhere and for itself, so that, according to this example, [taken] from nature, the word is tripartite without deficiency, [is] everywhere, endowed with intelligence, alive, active and, moving, [remains] equal to itself. Likewise, the Word of God, dispassionately begotten from the Father before the ages, is eternally born [by Him] in accordance with the Spirit [proceeding from the Father] and is communicated to those who hunger for [Him], as the Great Maximus teaches. For [the Son of God] always occurs providentially and mysteriously for the sake of our salvation. For He Himself testified to His eternal birth, by which He is eternally born from the Father inexpressibly, as [a word is born] from the mind, - [when] He declared to the Jews: “You do not know where I come from or where I am going” (John 8:14). For He abides entirely in the Father’s bosom and is entirely in us and everywhere [at the same time], proceeds unspeakably and comes, in which precisely [His] energy is revealed. However, this should be understood [as] an inexpressible [word sacrament] and in a godly manner. 22. So, the Word [who was] in the beginning is [eternally] born of God the Father. Then, [in agreement] with the Father and the Spirit, before the [beginning of] time, He prepared the eternal plan of the [Divine] Economy [of our salvation]. Then, in the last [days], He duly came [into the world] for our salvation, [being] completely simple [in Divinity], He allowed complexity in Himself, being represented [bodily] in the Spirit. [As] it is written, and the Word, having become coarse, became incarnate (cf. John 1:14). He was sent by the Father [to the world], baptized [in the Jordan], witnessed from above and taught [the people]. The [Eternal] Word was taught by grace to those who believed [in Him], proclaimed and preached in the world, heard by those who accepted [It] by faith, seen by those who were worthy, and known by those who were pure in understanding. And [now] It is known by those who are united with Him and foreknown [by Him], as it is said, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). He reveals Himself to those whom He knows, and He will reveal Himself at the end of days to every tribe and tongue. Or in other words: [about how] under the guidance of [God’s] Providence the salvation of each [person] is accomplished, it would be more accurate and thorough to say as follows. 23. God the Word, born without issue, before the star, from the womb (Ps. 109:3) of the essence of the Father, [having as a goal] the salvation of each of us and [all] those who believe in [Him], intercedes for us before the Father in the Spirit and arranges [this salvation, acting] according to the will of [the Father]. And now the Word comes in [His] energy [to] renew and remake us, and His seed, which was dwelt in us, remains (1 John 3:9). Here He unites with our members, and we become secretly His instrument for the fulfillment of [His] commandments, for He works in us both to will and to act for good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). Then He takes shape, putting on a body, and the Word puts on substance and - truly speaking in the Gospel - inexplicably becomes flesh (John 1:14) and dwells in us in the Spirit, making His own. He is eternally sent to us in a mysterious way from the Father and given [by Him] according to [the abundance of] goodness. To everyone who believes [in Him] and keeps [His] commandments, He is given as the implanted Word, able to save our souls (James 1:21). Through the image of calling [the name of Jesus], the word addressed to us in the Spirit is expressed that no one can call Jesus Lord unless he calls on Him in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). He is heard by the ear of our soul, leaping into the heart and interceding for us before the Father with unspeakable groanings (Rom. 8:26). The incarnate Word is contemplated by the pure of heart in five ways: [The Word] is truly known by those who have become familiar to Him in the light of glory, and He first foreknew those who became His property and is now known by them, for He actively knows His own and they [know] Him, uniting Himself with them, as He Himself said. Behold, God the Word incarnate reveals Himself [now] and will be revealed in glory at the end of these days (cf. Luke 21:27), when those who believed in Him will appear in glory, as it is written, to the shame and reproach of the unfaithful and evil-believing, when the righteous also will shine like the sun (Matt. 13:43), in this unspeakable transformation and change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 109:1), ascending from glory to glory and from corruption to incorruption (cf. 1 Cor. 15:53) and from the flesh combining with the Divine Spirit, becoming and appearing in appearance to be truly verbal then, uniting in every way with the eternal Word and the One God, [being] incomprehensibly deified [by Him]. 24. So, when the Comforter, as the examples given, descended [on them] in fire, the disciples, enlightened by the purifying power, knew the Son and in the [spirit of] knowledge saw Him in themselves, the One Who [before] they did not understand exactly, [although then] it fell to them to know only partly what was perfect. And when the Son shone unspeakably on Tabor in the light of His power, they clearly discerned the Father of lights in that voice from above and the Spirit in the shining cloud, they understood the [Holy] Trinity as an ever-flowing outpouring of light and radiance, truly shining in the transfigured Christ. Then even the mountains rejoiced, rejoicing, according to what is written: Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in Your name (Ps. 88:13); Heaven also rejoiced, and the whole earth leapt, rejoicing, contemplating on the mountain its Lord, who shone brighter than the sun - sensually and intelligently, enlightening and sanctifying all creation. Moreover, the Heavens told His glory, comprehending, as if animated, [how] it shone; and the firmament [heavenly] announced with [its] radiance [that] by the hands of the [Heavenly] Father mankind was created - very good (Gen. 1:31). Above - the powers [heavenly] trembled, looking; below - the earth was horrified with joy and trembling. So, every creation, every nature, every breath (Ps. 150:6) praised and glorified its Lord and King, who first appeared as the Creator and Organizer, [now appeared] transfigured on the mountain and changed: like God, shining more powerfully than the sun; as a man glorified by God, and as God glorified above man; as God - glorified and as man - through God and co-glorified with God; as God - shone forth and as man - co-shone; as a man - known, and cognizable - as the God-man, who first appeared in the flesh and [now] contemplated in the light; as a person - met and as God - visible from above; as a man - transformed and as a God-man - attested from above, with a shining face stronger than the sun and clothes as white as snow, shining with light. And undoubtedly the Son Himself a little later said to His Father before [His] suffering: Glorify Me, Father, You Yourself, and deify My [human] confusion with the glory of the Divinity, which I had with You before the world was (John 17:5). Therefore, the Father cried out to Him from above: And I glorified, undoubtedly shining with You on Tabor and testifying and sanctifying You, and I will also glorify You more excellently and more perfectly on the Cross (John 12:28). And therefore again at the same moment He said more precisely: Now the Son of Man is glorified, shining forth in Godhead, and God is glorified in Him (John 13:31), suffering for humanity. If God was glorified in Him here, worthy of wonder, then He will glorify the Son in Himself in the future, showing the Lord Jesus, who is most divine over all, who exists and abides and is to come, as the Unsetting Sun of righteousness (Mal.4:2) and the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). 25. So let us also glorify and, chanting, exalt and exalt now on Mount Tabor the Transfigured [Lord], who shone brighter than the sun, who fully assured [them]. Let us contemplate with Moses and exalt ourselves with Elijah, let us theologize with John and confess together with Peter, let us draw near to the light with Jacob and to His glory, as the only begotten of the Father, let us gaze as far as possible, for He, glorified in the council of saints (Ps. 88:8), is on this day beheld great and exalted above all on Tabor, shining, as it is written, before all those around Him (Ps. 88:8). Great and worthy of praise, great and terrible, great and all-creating, great and strong, and powerful, and unapproachable - His greatness has no end and His mind is unsearchable (Is. 40:28). His essence is incomprehensible, His wisdom is inexplicable, His greatness is boundless, His height is beginningless, His beauty is indescribable, His power is immeasurable, His life is eternal, His light is unfading, His Kingdom is imperishable and endless. How praiseworthy, how terrible, how exalted, and strong, and invincible is He who now shines on Tabor, like God, brighter than the sun. 26. For who from the angelic and prophetic host will be equal to the Lord, who will be like the Lord in favor and will - who from the sons of God who are in the grace of adoption? None! For He is glorified to the extent of the understanding of the saints - the great, and exalted, and terrible God, who is above all, as it was foretold (Ps. 88:8), and therefore, as inspired by God, in humility of spirit, let us cry out to Him in amazement. “Lord Jesus, our God, who is like You, who will be like You, who [will be able] to become equal to You and will worthily glorify and sing You, who exceeds praise and Godhead and [very] Essence? You are strong, Lord, and powerful, and the truth of Your Divinity shines around You in every creature. You rule over the fury of the sea of ​​passions, so that you tame its fury and the excitement of both of its [restless] waves. You have humbled the proud enemy, as if defeated (Ps. 88:11), and [every] thought that rises up against us. By the hand of Your strength You have scattered the Jews, Your enemies. Thine are the heavens—Thine throne and Thy creation—and Thine is the earth—Thine dwelling place and the footstool for Thy incarnation. You have established this universe and the next. You founded the harsh and impenetrable north wind and the boundless sea. Mountains Tabor and Hermon now rejoice in Your name, rejoicing (Ps. 88:13), having seen You transformed on them and shining brighter than the sun. 27. Following this, turning to God and the Father, let us exclaim with David in these [words]: “Thy hand, [Heavenly Father], is Thy [Only Begotten] Son, made man with much power. May Thy almighty hand be strengthened, O Most High and Superexistent Father, and may Thy right hand be exalted, now transfigured with us among the miracles [it has created]. Blessed are we, Thy people, who lead the shouting (Ps. 88:16), the song of victory, with which we who have believed have won the victory through Thy Son.” Therefore, let us now lift up [our] prayer to the Son in the Spirit, thanking Him with tenderness: “Lord, in the light of Your Face always grant us the honor to walk; in the light of Your Transfiguration, [revealed] now, we will see You, the unapproachable Light of the Father. Enlighten our eyes with the brilliance of Your Divinity, so that we may not fall asleep in the darkness of eternal death. Raise up for us the light of joy, the light of truth and knowledge. God, You illuminate our lamp—our darkened and careless [about salvation] mind—and You always enlighten the darkness of our ignorance, so that we may be able to see, praise and glorify You. May the light of Your Face come upon us (Ps. 4, 7), shining on Tabor. May our minds be transformed by the light of Your glory. Give us wine to drink from the fountain of Thy [intoxicating] love, from which Thy saints will be nourished in the coming house of fatness (Ps. 35:9) of Thy [Kingdom]. Grant us to take refuge [under the cover] of the shining cloud of Your wings. Enlighten us with the radiance of Your [Divine] energies, but deliver us from the burden of [Your] light due to [our] unworthiness. Take us to the mountain of [Divine] contemplation. Shine upon us [with Your light], like the sun, and appear to us for the sake of [Your] goodness. Fill our minds and understandings with glory, gathering them [from the scattering of the world] to Yourself, like Moses and Elijah. Illuminate with Your brilliance the three powers of our soul, as you [enlightened] three of Your disciples, who were not able to fully clearly look at the unbearable beauty of Your Divinity, due to the materiality and earthliness of this corruption, which still retained its dominance over them. 28. Protect us from the sorrow that besets us, from oppression [passions], deliver us, overthrow our enemies, protect the right faith, preserve [Your] Church, strengthen the Orthodox sovereigns. Make us worthy of the coming Transfiguration, join us in glory with Your perfect saints. Show their standing and rank according to Your goodness and those of us unworthy to participate, when You appear among the multitude of gods and kings. O Most Divine Word, shine in the midst of this host of holy lights and stars of righteousness, like the Sun of Truth, and, giving to each according to his dignity, illuminate and deify and enlighten, as if by nature, by Thy grace and love for mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen". (additions, according to some manuscripts, to the work E2idhsiq _akrib9hq pr9oq Logg6inon per9i +hsuc)iaq ka9i proseuc6hq) (10. The action of delusion... ignites the confusion of the flesh, having the reason... to attract... the soul, so that through the skill of pleasure a person little by little drives out grace from himself). [The effect of prelest] imperceptibly commits adultery [with a person], inflaming and scorching his members with voluptuousness. And he thinks that it is Divine grace and consolation acting [in him] and inflaming the mind unreasonably, and not the scorching effect of sin, but rather delusion and voluptuousness. For the Climacus, implying this, asked about this and says: “I acquired from those who assisted [me] a burning [coming] as if from outside.” In the same way, the movement of natural desire, participating [in the nature] of man, inflames him to a special, [unnatural] action of prelest. 11. It is proper to know that delusion is the burning of sin, and the action of sin is a voluptuous spirit, willingly cohabiting with the lust of the flesh through the pleasure [born from eating] food. The Lord is fire, [from which] it is obvious that the demon remains cold. [He is cold] not by nature, but by falling away [from the fire of grace], being through sin deprived of Divine warmth, which turns his servants into flaming fire (Ps. 104:4). Likewise, our sinfulness remains cold due to the deprivation of Divine [grace]. The demon, being by nature fire, inflames a person, and cools [him] with the moisture of voluptuousness, producing lust and making pleasure easily imaginable, by imitation of which he, without a doubt, destroyed [himself], having acquired shamelessness as [his] constant pleasure. Thus, there is a struggle because of the will of [man] between two [opposing warrs] – delusion and grace. There is no communication [between them], but just as the sun, shining even in impurity, does not mix with it and does not harm itself, but even dries up the impurity, so grace remains unmixed with it and unsullied, but exhausts it greatly, however, does not want to completely abolish [the effect of delusion], because it serves as a means of testing our [will] according to inclination towards one thing or another. For [grace] desires, together with our good will, to little by little overthrow this [delusion] in the struggle, so that, legally fighting the good fight in the field of our mind (2 Tim. 4:7), we would be crowned and become true confessors, defeating not the Greeks, but Satan himself. Prelest acts by igniting the temptations in us over time, while kindling the furnace of the flesh through voluptuousness, preparing the demons who cooperate with it through thoughts in order to torment and force us to [worship] the idol of lust, or rather, an excuse to sacrifice our mind [to sin], to subjugate and bring [it] to communion [with ourselves]. And these are the signs of delusion noticed in [its] action: hardness of heart, unrepentance, in some also tears [derived] from the substance, pompousness, arrogance, gluttony, verbosity, negligence, boasting, the effect of uneven warmth, heaviness of the soul, relaxation of the limbs, moist sweetness, movement and excitement of the body, representations of thoughts in the interweaving of bodies. There is no joy or bloom of countenance in all such [states], but, on the contrary, [those possessed of them] remain always gloomy and burned by the flame of voluptuousness. The Great Macarius also secretly points out this: after he has listed the signs of both [that is, charm and grace], he finally says that vinegar [in appearance] is similar to wine, and bitter lettuce is like lettuce, but the taste distinguishes both; for from the above signs it is possible for anyone who wishes to understand and determine the [taste] of each. 12. So, we have just spoken about the beginning [of the feat] and about its signs, as far as was in our power. Enough has also been said about charm. There is no need to say much about the average action [of grace] and about perfection, for “it has God as a teacher about itself,” according to Climacus. Of the inexperienced, no one will touch him, even if he is wise, lest through unbelief he drag himself and others into the depths of despair. For as a reminder to you and for the benefit of many, I did not write this down on my own, but for the sake of the obedience of those who sought it, I did it with all my heart. 13. May God, through your prayers, allow me to find the path that you cultivated, Father, in deed, in writing, and in word. For [this] says the Climacus: “When I was tempted by this wolf, I felt unreasonable joy and tears and consolation, deceptively produced in the soul, and I thought as a child that I had acquired fruit, and not corruption.” And again: “Watch,” he says, “the sweetness that comes [to you], so that [it] is not in any way mixed in by bitter doctors who are more malicious.” Here and further, when quoting the works of St. Gregory of Sinaite, the first Arabic numeral means a link to the source given in the general bibliographic list at the end of the work; Roman numeral in upper case - the serial number of one of the five writings of the Holy Father included in the Philokalia (I – V); abbreviation DT in upper case - the title of the essay “Discourse on the Transfiguration”; the second and subsequent Arabic numerals with a paragraph symbol - the corresponding chapter in each essay; Arabic numerals in uppercase – the serial number of the line(s), according to the text of the manuscript. Its Greek text was published by: I.V. Pomyalovsky, prof. Life of St. Gregory of Sinai.// Notes of the Historical and Philological Faculty of Imperial St. Petersburg. university. – St. Petersburg, 1895. – Part 35. The publication is based on the only manuscript of the 16th century, stored in the Synodal Library (now in the State National Museum), number 280 according to the Mattei catalog and 394 according to the catalog of Archimandrite Vladimir. The manuscript contains 342 leaves with four Lives of various saints and other materials. It once belonged to the monk Simeon Svyatogorets, and was later brought to Moscow by Arseny Sukhanov [22.P.8]. Russian translation from the publication of I.V. Pomyalovsky with a foreword and comments by Prof. I.I. Sokolov [22]. The publication of the Slavic translation of the Life of the 16th century was carried out by P.A. Sirku [23]. Other manuscripts in Greek containing the Life of St. Gregory of Sinaite are included in the Athos Codex No. 5680 [41.P.32. Ref.28]. Their translation into Russian is included in the Appendix of the dissertation. See more about this: V. Bashkirov, prot. The Human Nature of Christ in the Teachings of St. Maximus the Confessor. - Typescript. – Zagorsk, 1990. – 231 p.